@techmom99 --chilling.
DH had just started working at the Pentagon. I had no idea anything had happened; I was out chitchatting at the bus stop. Went inside and my sister im’ed me to go turn on the news at the same time a good friend was calling to tell me that she could jump in the car and drive up from GA if I needed her to do so.
I finally saw enough news to figure out what had happened. I had no idea where DH was in the building so just had to sit and wait. He was able to call an hour or so later and said they were told to just start walking away from the building - no cars, buses or metro. He hitched a ride home with a random lady.
My high schooler called me right as I was figuring out what was going on and said they had told any students with a relative at the Pentagon they could call home (no cell phones allowed at that time). She opted to stay at school and I called after I heard from him. They gave her the message 4 or 5 times that he was OK. I also called the middle school so they could let my DD there know - even though they didn’t announce anything, the kids heard the teachers talking and knew what was up. I met my youngest at the bus and she immediately asked what had happened since kids left school all day.
DH’s office had smoke damage and they worked in another building for a few months. They were watching the news about NYC, felt the building shudder and the power went out. Emergency lighting came on and people started evacuating to the center courtyard, until told to leave the premises all together when the last plane was heading that way.
We are in the DC suburbs. My friend had taken S and her S to AM gymnastics class and I was grocery shopping when I ran into a woman I know who told me about planes hitting the twin towers. Honestly I didn’t get it and thought it was an accident. Heard more details by the time my friend brought the boys back and then had to make the decision as to whether to send S to his PM kindergarten class. I chose to send him in order to keep things as normal as possible. There were several folks who pulled their kids out of the school and took them home so the kids knew something was going on. D was in 5th grade and they were aware of the Pentagon being hit and I remember she had a friend in her class with both parents who worked there. Thankfully her friend’s parents were both on the other side and unharmed. No one from our immediate community was lost.
I debated all day whether or not to post, but here it is.
I went to the store this morning and one of the first things I noticed is that it was sunny and a beautiful weather day, much like 9/11/2001. As a two time WTC survivor (2/1993 & 9/11), I never really quite felt safe when we moved back to the building after the 93 bombing. At the time we were working on B3, and the bomb went off on B2 (one level above us). One of our co-workers was a Vietnam veteran and told us to leave, because one thing he knew was a bomb when he smelled it. I remember all of us immediately exiting outside of the building, I did not have a coat on. We had to check in at our midtown office to make sure that everyone was accounted for and I purchased a pea coat from Lord and Taylor. My kid was safely in elementary school at that time, they had a hoe down that evening as a PTA event and I went put on a brave front, not letting anyone at school know I had been in the bombing hours before.
9/11 was like an ordinary day. I had the option of working from home and had been working from home for a couple of weeks. I decided to go in to meet with some people and to get out of the house. It was primary day and I remember telling my daughter “don’t come to the building, because I was not going to be there long.” I reminded her again and called her on her phone to tell her don;t come to the WTC. I had gotten to work at about 8 am (back on B-3). I supported a 24 hour facility at the time.
I remember a co-worker who used to work 3rd shift calling us from the stage door deli telling us to get everyone out of the building now because a plan just hit the building. We immediately rounded everyone to exit the building. I remember the Police, Fire Department, FBI and Port Authority in the building. They were directing everyone out so quietly and orderly, I thought it was a hoax (because things were moving along like any other evacuation).
I remember standing on the steps at Brooks Brothers across the street at liberty plaza looking at 1 WTC and the smoke. I started walking toward the bridge; when I heard the boom, everyone started running, and I got pushed down. I got back up and immediately thought about the passage from the bible where God told Lot and the family to leave Sodom and Gomorra and to don’t look back. I never looked back to see what was going on.
I remember being at Brooklyn Bridge and saying to my self, that there was no way I was going to cross that bridge without my kid who was attending school in Manhattan. I think I never walked down so many back streets in Manhattan in my life. In my head, I was making check points; if I could get to police plaza, I would be ok. I could get to Independence plaza, I would be ok. If I could get to Stuyvesant, I would be ok. I got to the Tribeca Bridge at Stuyvesant and it looked like one of those old war movies; the police were directly every one to “go north” and to walk uptown. Again, I never turned around to see what was happening at the WTC despite all of the helicopters and planes above my head.
I remember asking a man if I could use his phone so that I could call my sister who worked in Gramercy to let her know that I was ok and if she could pick up Chicky. the Man said come with me and he would let me use the land line at his business. I walked in I met his wife who hugged me and asked me if I was ok. I said yes, but I needed to talk to my sister to let her know that I was ok. While talking to my sister and asking her to pick up my daughter, they asked me where did I need to go, because they needed to go up town to pick up their daughter from school. They drove me to my daughter’s school. My daughter saw me and started crying, and I remember having to hold it together. Her friends who had parents in the building asked me if I saw their parents. I could only tell them what I knew at the time; the first responders where doing an amazing job of keeping things calm and getting people out of the building.
I remember getting to my sisters job and rambling about this is it; I am never going back to work in that building. y sister told me that “there is no more world trade center”. I told her that “you don’t understand. I am never going back there again!!” My sister took me to the television at her job’s break room where I saw the loop of the buildings falling down. I fell to the floor crying because I could not believe that I was able to walk away from that. We stayed at her job until mass transit was running again to Brooklyn and she drove me home.
I remember spending days watching nothing but the Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, because the events of the day were running non stop on every other channel. We lost 2 co-workers that day who were on one of the upper floors. I have a friend whose sister was never recovered. I remember months later my boss returned an award engraved with my name on it that I had on my desk at the WTC and had been recovered. It sits on my dresser of a reminder of the day .
It literally took me years before I could go to downtown Manhattan again. I remember having a sense of dread the first time I rode the E train later and getting out at the Chambers Street station. I have never been to the memorial and right now I can’t bring myself to go. It hurts to watch the memorials, so I find myself channel surfing for something else. It seems like the 15 years have gone by in the blink of an eye, but there are moments when I am reminded and can relive it like yesterday.
I look at everyday since 9/11 as a blessing and take none of them for granted. I also think about the frailty of human life and how the lives of some families changed forever in an instant that day. I never forget those that were lost on 9/11 (and I have had a few why me moments of survivor guilt). The sweet thing is that every year on 9/11, my next door neighbor (who is now 77) buys me a card and slips it into my mailbox expressing gratitude that I am still here.
We live in a suburb of Chicago but the paranoia was so strong. I had left my preschooler at a sweet class called “lil beach exploreres” and you had to drive down to the lake to pick them up. But the police closed the beachfront because the water treatment facility is there and we had to leave our cars and walk down with id in hand to get our kids. Then the mother of the child we carpooled with called and told me not to pick her up for afternoon preschool because " she looks like Muslim and I Don’t want her outside" ( they are Iranian Jews). It was moot though because the police requested that all the synagogues close for the day and that’s where the school was.
In the meantime my mom was calling me to say she was worried about the 24 year old kid of my cousin who had just gotten a job in NY and " i think they are in the Twin Towers" when pressed my mom admitted that she wasn’t sure maybe it was just an office somewhere in Manhattan. My mom can be a bit of a drama queen so didn’t think about it again until she called me the next day to say " Jake made it out. " I was like ’ out of where?’ Turns out he was in the second tower to get hit. They were originally evacuated and then told it was all ok and to go back up. But his much older boss had been trapped in a hotel fire many years before and told his employees "when a fire alarm goes off you get out no matter what they tell you.’ He saved the lives of 8 young people who worked in an upper floor that way.
My thoughts are with you today. I have also not been to the memorial yet. I couldn’t even bring my son to visit Pace and had to have my D take him.
@sibbie719, I offer my sympathy as well. I was mugged on my way to work very early on the day of first bombing so I also have crazy memories of both, but certainly not so upfront and personal. Peace to you, and you too, @techmom99.
@sybbie719 , I’m sorry you have that story to tell (in a way) but am honored you shared it as it must be tough. Your story needs to be told AND heard.
I was actually a few blocks away when the first WTC attack occurred.
Took place during an afternoon HS class which started as usual until we heard a loud boom and then 2-3 police helicopters coming in and landing in what was a vacant lot across the street. We then heard a vague announcement that the school was under some sort of lockdown and they wouldn’t let us out until it was lifted.
When the lockdown was lifted at the end of the school day, the subway system was so snarled up I ended up walking with a HS buddy back to his father’s loft in the Chinatown area. It was only after arriving at the loft did we hear more details about the attack on the radio. Ended up staying with my friend and his dad until 7-8 pm as that was when subway service to my home started running reliably again.
I was home in bed, asleep, having finished my regular 6pm - 4am shift at #1 World Financial Center (across the street from World Trade Center). My wife woke me up when the first plane hit, but initial reports were that it was a small plane, so I went back to sleep. She woke me up again when the 2nd plane hit and I jumped out of bed and watched the rest of the day on TV. I called my office, but everyone had already safely evacuated so there was no answer. That building required a year of renovations before it was reopened,but we moved back to our midtown office and never re-occupied the downtown office.
Oh Sybbie. What a powerful and compelling story. Survivor guilt can be as traumatic as the memories themselves.
The case manager who handled my dad’s care (after my mom died) had several clients in an assisted living place down in the financial district. She had medicines they needed and planned to get down there to get the meds to them. She got close, but was stopped before she could get to the building. I think she was somehow finally able to get someone to get the medicines to the clients.
My friend’s brother was a firefighter. The went to the towers. He did not return.
I had just dropped my children off at school when I heard on the radio about the first plane crashing into the tower. By the time I got to the gym the second plane had crashed into the south tower. From the treadmill I watched a bank of TVs from every major channel of the events unfolding live. As many of posters described upthread this was raw footage. Overload. There was incorrect information being reported.
When the first tower collapsed the woman next to me turned and asked, “What is happening? What am I watching?” I told her I thought the second tower would also collapse.
I don’t recall how long I watched, but I did watch until Flight 93 crashed and the second tower collapsed.
Kind thoughts to everyone who lost someone in this trajedy.
I was in preschool at the time and my father worked in a government building. Subsidized preschool was part of the employment perks so I was in the building at the time.My preschool teacher was just going hysterical for some reason (I later surmised that she was probably watching the television). I remember the thunder of footsteps above me as people were hurrying down. My father grabbed me and we evacuated and rushed home. I’ll never forget the fear on my father’s face because I kept asking “What’s wrong, what’s wrong” but he wouldn’t answer me.
All I have to say is “wow” Sybbie. {{hugs}}
I was in the NYC suburbs and saw the news on AOL within minutes of it happening. I hadn’t been to the Towers in years, but oddly enough that Sunday we were in Chinatown and took the kids to see the towers. On Monday I was running around in Queens helping a friend dig up plants from her parents garden. If we’d gone a day later we would have been stranded with all the bridges closed.
I remember what a gorgeous day it was and so quiet with no more planes flying. (We are under a flight path.) My kids were in elementary school and middle school. I figured they were safe there, but they were pretty mystified by why upset parents kept coming to pick up kids. I had friends who were doctors who asked me to look after their kids if they had to work late to help the injured, but there weren’t enough injured to get to affect the Bronx hospitals.
Our school was incredibly lucky. There was a parent in the building who made it out and several who worked in other buildings right across the street from the Towers, but no parents were killed.
Hugs Sybbie.
@sybbie719, thank you for sharing your story.
I worked in DC at the time. When we could see smoke from the Pentagon where I worked, I decided it was time to call it a day. I was recently remarried, but I had been a single mom with sole custody/responsibility for 2 young kids, so I took my safety seriously. Normally I took Metro home, but I called someone I knew who drove, and me and three others who lived in Maryland walked many blocks to where he worked. Then we all left DC quickly. We were worried someone might bomb metro, so we didn’t want to take it. We actually got home pretty quickly, but if we had stayed another hour it would have taken many hours to get home. Once we were in the suburbs, traffic wasn’t nearly as bad. I can’t remember, but it seems like we may have stayed home from work/school for a couple of days after that.
Very sad day in history.
Sybbie719–thank you for sharing.
I was in upstate NY watching on tv, as were many of you. I had a nephew living in NYC. Sister could not get in touch with him all day. But he was ok.
A former student of mine died. She worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. I have kept her exams. I just find that I cannot shred them.
A very close friend’s H is a NYPD. He spent many, many very long days in the search and rescue in the aftermath. She told me that the pictures on tv didn’t even begin to convey the atrocities. The heat, stench and amount of rats was overwhelming. The smell of death permeated.
My H and I visited the museum at ground zero about a month ago. We spent over 4 hours. It was an incredible experience. I highly recommend it if you visit NYC.
I was in a fairly unique position of being in a B-52 loaded with…“special weapons”…at the time the towers were struck. Unbelievably frustrating to be in a position to strike back EXTREMELY HARD, but not knowing yet who was responsible. Air Force One landed at our base after leaving Florida, and that added to the overall tension and confusion. So many different emotions being a military member during those times…
^^I was working at the Pentagon that day supporting the Global Thunder worldwide nuclear command and control exercise. What was supposed to be the climax of the exercise turned into a very strange day. I’ve talked about this elsewhere in this board. After the Pentagon was hit, I evacuated to the parking lot and watched the smoke billowing from the other side of the building. Thinking to myself that I wasn’t going to be allowed back into the building, I got in my car and drove on the empty freeway home in time to see the second tower fall on TV.
Thank you to all who are sharing your stories.
We are a thousand miles and a time zone away, but in a community with many in the airline industry. While our experiences were much less traumatic, they will stay clearly in our memories.
Since this is CC, here is our college story: D2 was getting ready to head to her first year at college (school on quarter system) on the West coast. We watched in disbelief and sorrow along with everyone else. When I got home from school, D2 had the flag already hanging at half staff on the porch. We were ready to fly out that weekend, But then all flights were grounded. Suddenly we had to figure out how to get her to school if flights didn’t resume. We counted backwards to the last day DH and D2 could set out by car. Fortunately planes were allowed to fly the day before our deadline. Lots of families arrived on campus from the East coast in rental vans, RVs, vehicles of whatever type. They had to set out not knowing if flights would be operating. Flying that day was so surreal. DFW seemed deserted except for military personnel with big weapons. Same with our landing at SFO. The flight was about 30% full. On my return flight out of SFO, some guy who thought he was special (probably made that flight regularly) got up from his chair in the waiting area, turned to me and said “Hey, watch my bag, ok?” Then he sauntered over to the ticket counter and started chatting with the folks there, Hell no! I gathered up my stuff, walked to the ticket agents and said there were abandoned bags in the gate area. Mr Important rolled his eyes but went back to his bags. Good Lord, how clueless can he have been?