It's That Time Again 9/11 9th Anniv.

[TheSarge]

As we are all aware of...the 9th anniv. of 9/11 is just right around the corner.

I'm asking folks as a way to remember what happened on that day 9 years ago to please change your avitar to the front page of your hometown newspaper from that day or to one that you prefer from the website below.

http://www.september11news.com/

That link provides thumbnails of hundreds of newspaper front pages. Find the one form your hometown or since mine isn't there...find the one that sums up best how you felt that day.

Just a thought.




Can we sticky this again this year through Sept. 11th?

[Ptarmigan]

I never forget the 9/11 anniversary. In fact, I don't forget 9/11 on any day, even on Christmas. Thanks for reminding others. 

[TheSarge]

I never forget the 9/11 anniversary. In fact, I don't forget 9/11 on any day, even on Christmas. Thanks for reminding others. 

I'm honestly amazed at how fast this year has passed.  It seems like yesterday I was asking folks to do this for the 8th anniv.

[Ptarmigan]

I'm honestly amazed at how fast this year has passed.  It seems like yesterday I was asking folks to do this for the 8th anniv.

I know. It felt like yesterday despite happening in 2001. I remember 9/11 so well. I was so horrified and saddened by it. I was so glued to the TV for the next few days like everyone else. It was really clear and nice day, the sky was blue. The news was slow. Then all Hell breaks lose.

Video before it happened.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaVYdg9BoNI[/youtube]

Initial report.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP5uIPyYDlQ[/youtube]

So amazed and horrified at how the world changed so much from there.

[formerlurker]

Will do.

[formerlurker]

[debk]

I know. It felt like yesterday despite happening in 2001. I remember 9/11 so well. I was so horrified and saddened by it. I was so glued to the TV for the next few days like everyone else. It was really clear and nice day, the sky was blue. The news was slow. Then all Hell breaks lose.

So amazed and horrified at how the world changed so much from there.

I already had the Today Show on that morning, kind of watching it, laying in bed pondering what I needed to do that day, work-wise, errands and stuff.

I heard Matt and Katie say that a plane had gone into a building in NYC, and I started paying attention. My first thought was ....oh-uh, somebody's filming a movie and something went really wrong. I was thinking a Bruce Willis type movie.

It never occurred to me, that it was a jet-liner, a terrorist act and deliberate.

I will never ever forget the sight of the second plane going into the second tower. I honestly truly thought it was a simulation of what they thought might have happened with the first plane. I sat there, just stunned.

And then I started to cry.

When the NBC guy, at the Pentagon, while Matt and Katie were talking to him, said "we just felt a horrible thud and noise"...I knew immediately it was either another plane or a bomb.

What would be hit next? Is this what it was like for those at Pearl Harbor?

That night, there were maybe 10 or 12 of us, sitting in the bar area of a favored restaurant, watching the tv. Everyone, had tears on their cheeks......

How can anyone EVER forget 9/11?

[cavegal]

I hope I never forget!  I think all of us same thinking folks.. (anti-libs) will not forget..

[IassaFTots]

My newspaper is on there, but I opted for this one instead.  To remember the horrifying 12 hours it took after the Pentagon was attacked to find out my stepmother was alive and well.  She had a meeting every Tuesday am at the Pentagon.

[debk]

My newspaper is on there, but I opted for this one instead.  To remember the horrifying 12 hours it took after the Pentagon was attacked to find out my stepmother was alive and well.  She had a meeting every Tuesday am at the Pentagon.

My SIL was going through the same thing. Her stepmother worked within a block of the World Trade Center. Jen couldn't find anything out, as she couldn't get through on the phone lines. When she did get through, she found out her that her stepmother was IN a plane, circling NYC trying to land after the second plane went in to the WTC!!!! Her stepmother said that everyone on the plane was terrified, because they could see the destruction, but didn't know why.

[Chris_]

I haven't forgotten 9/11 and never will.

My dad was on Long Island that morning.  He is a truck driver and runs a lot to the east coast.  My mom couldn't get a hold of him for about three hours.  My dad was finally able to call us and say that he was fine.  He could see all the smoke and traffic was at a stand still.  I believe the city shut down the bridges that day in fear of an attack on those.  I'm not 100% positive about that since I wasn't there.  It was just very scary. 

[formerlurker]

I haven't forgotten 9/11 and never will.

My dad was on Long Island that morning.  He is a truck driver and runs a lot to the east coast.  My mom couldn't get a hold of him for about three hours.  My dad was finally able to call us and say that he was fine.  He could see all the smoke and traffic was at a stand still.  I believe the city shut down the bridges that day in fear of an attack on those.  I'm not 100% positive about that since I wasn't there.  It was just very scary. 

They shut down everything in NYC -- commuters were stuck there, thousands walked across the bridges to get home.

New Yorkers will never forget 9/11. 

[formerlurker]

I was getting my first ultrasound for my oldest son when the first plane hit.  We heard about it in the car to Hanscom AFB and I thought it was a small plane that hit the tower.   

When we were at Hanscom the second plane hit and the base was locked down immediately -- very very impressed on how quickly they locked the entire base down (jersey barriers brought in to surround key buildings).    By the time we got home my husband was called and told to return to his base and pack his bags, he was heading out.     Special Ops at Hurlburt AFB in Florida was gone by nightfall.   

I will never ever forget that day.   

[Mike220]

I was a senior in high school when it happened. I was asleep when the first plane hit. I remember my mom calling me and telling me what happened, but my first thought was "Big deal, some jackass in a Cessna ****ed up. A bomber hit the Empire State Building in the 40s and didn't knock it down." Wasn't until I woke up a little later and flipped on the TV that I went "OH, ****!"

When I got to school that day, the admin told the teachers to leave the TVs off in school so no one could see anything. Except for when I went to staff period for ROTC. Our Lt. Col. let us watch the entire time we were in class.

I also remember that I didn't have to go to work that week. I was working in a law firm library in one of the skyscrapers in downtown Dallas, and not knowing if anything else was a target, the firm told everyone to stay away until further notice.

[NHSparky]

I was living in CA and on my way to work in Alhambra to pick up some material, when I heard on the radio the first plane hit just before 6 AM.  The first thing that immediately came to mind was when a B-29 bomber hit the Empire State Building in (I think) 1945 or so, and didn't think too much more of it at that point.

But as I was waiting in the McD's line, the second plane hit.  At that point I knew in my gut it was no coincidence.  I told the people in the drive through that the planes had hit.  They asked if anyone was hurt, and the only word I could come up with was, "Thousands."

I then got my stuff at Alhambra, and got down to where the actual work was going on in Lynwood.  Traffic on the freeways was a NIGHTMARE, but NO flights were coming in (the route I took was the 605 to the 105, which you can see the planes coming in).  On the way, the first tower collapsed.  The second collapsed just as I got to Lynwood.  We did our work as quickly as possible and all went home.  By that time, the freeways looked like a ghost town. 

Got home just after noon to see the ex- sitting in front of the TV and bawling.  That was the first time I actually SAW what happened, and it was worse than I had imagined.

[CrimsonNan]

I haven't forgotten and never will.  Remember when some one said that on that day we were ALL New Yorkers.  We still are no matter where we live.

[TheSarge]

When I was a kid...I never understood why my mom would get teary eyed when she talked about where she was when Kennedy was killed.  And at the same time amazed that she could remember down to the smallest detail where she was and what she was doing when she heard the news.


I understand completely now.

[littlelamb]

That is why I will ALWAYS remind my kids about that day

[Eupher]

Mrs E and I were living in Salt Lake City. Getting ready for work, we had the news on and saw what was being reported.

I saw the towers come down on TV at work in the break room. My first thought was, "Oh, the humanity."

Pearl Harbor, as horrific and dastardly as that was, pales in comparison to this. Hawaii wasn't even a state in the union at that time, yet the nation mobilized and went to war with the intent to win the damned thing.

It took about a year for short-memoried Americans to start questioning the GWOT and to start lobbing spitballs at GWB.

Appalling. Simply appalling.

And now we have a Muslim president.

Even more appalling.

[debk]

I was living in CA and on my way to work in Alhambra to pick up some material, when I heard on the radio the first plane hit just before 6 AM.  The first thing that immediately came to mind was when a B-29 bomber hit the Empire State Building in (I think) 1945 or so, and didn't think too much more of it at that point.

But as I was waiting in the McD's line, the second plane hit.  At that point I knew in my gut it was no coincidence.  I told the people in the drive through that the planes had hit.  They asked if anyone was hurt, and the only word I could come up with was, "Thousands."

I then got my stuff at Alhambra, and got down to where the actual work was going on in Lynwood.  Traffic on the freeways was a NIGHTMARE, but NO flights were coming in (the route I took was the 605 to the 105, which you can see the planes coming in).  On the way, the first tower collapsed.  The second collapsed just as I got to Lynwood.  We did our work as quickly as possible and all went home.  By that time, the freeways looked like a ghost town. 

Got home just after noon to see the ex- sitting in front of the TV and bawling.  That was the first time I actually SAW what happened, and it was worse than I had imagined.

My brother, who lives in Chicago, was in Silicon Valley for a work conference. The conference had started on Monday. When they all found out about it, the conference was immediately cancelled so that all could get back home to their families. About that time, he heard that parts of downtown Chicago were being evacuated. He and the other 3 guys from his territory couldn't find a way back to Chicago. They all crammed into their small rental car and drove it home. They went straight through, only able to talk to their families by phone, and he got home sometime on Thursday....he was overwhelmed when he finally got home to see the news videos.

What happened was not something you could comprehend just hearing about it on the radio or someone telling you over the phone.

A person had to actually see the images on tv to fully TRY to comprehend the devastation.

As overwhelming as it was to watch on tv....I cannot possibly think what it would permanently do to one's psyche, to have been there in person.

[TheSarge]

I remember seeing this skyline:



Completely dark for the first time in my entire life that night.  You've got to remember...Midland was a site for a potential terrorist attack at the time for three reasons.  I actually sat through a green light just staring in disbelief as it sunk in what I was seeing.

And I'll never forget driving by the charter school two of my kids were attending and seeing a Sheriff's Deputy in his cruiser parked diagonal across the drop off lane at about 2pm that day.

I remember for the first time in my life too hearing a national radio news broadcaster on AP describing both of the towers being "gone"...and hearing his voice crack as he said it.

[debk]

I can't remember if it was after the plane hit the Pentagon, or the one went down in PA... local tv announced that Oak Ridge National Labs was evacuating all non-essential personnel, the labs were locked down and security extended the perimeter out from the gates to the main roads. Within a day or two...those big cement barriers were installed at the few gates that are still left open today. All the others were permanently barricaded.

I was so caught up in what was on tv, that it didn't occur to me, that the labs could be a target.

Most people around here have always known, that if enemies were able to bomb the labs and explode them...we would either be dead or soon to be. I don't think anyone ever thought about an airplane could fly into them.

Who ever thought about a plane deliberately flying into an office tower in NYC....or any city/town in the US?

Who ever thought about planes and bombs hitting Pearl Harbor?

But it happened and we forgot, particularly after the Cold War ended, that there was always a possibility that it could happen again.

Will we eventually forget that it did happen again, and again become complacent? Or if some Americans have already become complacent, how long before the rest of us do?

[Ptarmigan]

I was totally horrified on 9/11. Like many, I woke up thinking "No Way!" and than realizing one of the towers crashed, "Not Good!". I was so horrified by what happened. I didn't even want to know how many people died. I was deeply saddened that day. I was so glued to the TV for the next few days. 9/11 really affected me and I didn't know anyone who got killed and injured. I really miss the World Trade Center.

[lastparker]

done.  Thanks for the 'minder.

[ConservativeMobster]

can someone pls tell me how to change my avatar?