The Conservative Cave
Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: TheSarge on September 10, 2008, 05:37:02 PM
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7:58 a.m. - United Airlines Flight 175 departs Boston for Los Angeles,
carrying 56 passengers, two pilots, and seven flight attendants. The
Boeing 767 is hijacked after takeoff and diverted to New York.
7:59 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 11 departs Boston for Los
Angeles, carrying 81 passengers, two pilots, and nine flight
attendants. This Boeing 767 is also hijacked and diverted to New York.
8:01 a.m. - United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 carrying 38
passengers, two pilots, and five flight attendants, leaves Newark, N.J.,
for San Francisco.
8:10 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington's
Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles, carrying 58 passengers,
two pilots, and four flight attendants. The Boeing 757 is hijacked
after takeoff.
8:46 a.m. - American Flight 11 from Boston crashes into the North
Tower at the World Trade Center.
9 a.m. – Bush arrives at Sarasota, Fla., school for speech. White House chief of staff Andrew Card tells him a
plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.
9:03 a.m. - United Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the South
Tower at the World Trade Center.
- U.S. Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New
York area airports.
9:05 a.m. – Bush is visiting a second-grade class when Card whispers to him that a second plane has struck the
towers. President delays plans to address the tragedy, deciding to get more information first.
9:21 a.m. - Bridges and tunnels leading into New York City
are closed.
9:25 a.m. - All domestic flights are grounded by U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration.
9:30 a.m. – Bush meets privately with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who briefs him. He delivers
first remarks on the tragedy.
9:45 a.m. - American Flight 77 crashes into The Pentagon.
10 a.m. – Aboard Air Force One en route to Louisiana, Bush calls Vice President Dick Cheney and puts America's
military on a high alert status. Sifts through reports from staff, including erroneous report that a car bomb had
struck the State Department. Gets news that plane has crashed near Pittsburgh.
10:05 a.m. - The South Tower at the World Trade Center collapses.
10:05 a.m. - The White House is evacuated.
10:10 a.m. - A large section of one side of The Pentagon collapses.
10:10 a.m. - United Flight 93 crashes in a wooded area in
Pennsylvania, after passengers confront hijackers.
10:28 a.m. - The North Tower at the World Trade Center collapses.
11:40 a.m. – Bush arrives at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., where he makes series of telephone calls from a
general's conference room. Tells Cheney in telephone call, "It's the faceless coward that attacks." He also talks
to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and New York Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
1:15 p.m. – Bush departs conference room for Air Force One in a camouflaged Humvee. Talks to Cheney again
en route to Nebraska air force base and schedules a 4 p.m. meeting of his national security staff. Also talks to
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki. "I know your heart is broken and your city is strained
and anything we can do, let me know," Bush says.
3:07 p.m. – Bush arrives at U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
4:36 p.m. – Bush departs for Washington. En route, he calls first lady Laura Bush and says, "I'm coming home,
see you at the White House." Works with aides on his prime-time speech.
7 p.m. – Bush arrives at White House to prepare for address.
8:30 p.m. – Bush speaks to nation (text below).
8:35 p.m. – Bush attends national security meeting.
10:21 p.m. – Meeting has ended. Secret Service radio squawks with news that Bush has gone home to bed:
"Trailblazer. Second floor of the residence."
Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack
in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their
offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and
dads, friends and neighbors.
Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.
The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled
us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.
These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But
they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.
Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch
the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of
American resolve.
America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and
opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.
Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best
of America, with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors
who came to give blood and help in any way they could.
Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government's emergency response
plans. Our military is powerful, and it's prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New
York City and Washington, D.C., to help with local rescue efforts.
Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured and to take every precaution
to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.
The functions of our government continue without interruption. Federal agencies in
Washington which had to be evacuated today are reopening for essential personnel
tonight and will be open for business tomorrow.
Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for
business as well.
The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts.
I've directed the full resources for our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find
those responsible and bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the
terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.
I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly
condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world
leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance.
America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the
world and we stand together to win the war against terrorism.
Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have
been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray
they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm
23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you
are with me."
This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and
peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.
None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is
good and just in our world.
Thank you. Good night and God bless America.
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Fort Worth, TX.
Back then NPR was one of the few streaming radio broadcasts. But it locked up, as did CNN.com and all the rest of the alphabet coms.
I told my colleague "I think this is big."
I went to the company restaurant which had a TV -- and saw the towers fall.
I will hate islam with a white-hot hate for the rest of my life.
I also could not get home for 3 weeks. And I still have the flag pennant and pin I bought on 9/12 to this day.
May everyone who follows the evil dictates of muhammed die in incredible agony and live out eternity in pain and suffering for eternity.
To say today "that is a perversion" is willful blindness. Die in agony, scum.
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It's probably the single most defining moment in my life.
Put things into sharp focus and perspective for me.
It's the reason I'm back on active duty today.
And seven years down the road it does NOT get easier to remember what I was doing that morning.
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Living about a mile and a half from the Quik-E-Mart in Mesa, AZ where that asshat went in and shot the Sikh that was running the counter. Dipshit.
Needless to say, things were interesting in my neighborhood.
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For the first time in my life the entire downtown skyline in Midland was devoid of lights in any of the buildings.
There was a sheriff's deputy parked in the parking lot of my daughters Charter School.
All I wanted to do at the time was hug my then girlfriend who is now my wife.
Didn't sleep a wink that night.
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Thank you for posting this. I've been thinking about tomorrow a lot lately. Because of the type of work I do, the date "9/11" comes up (it's inevitable because of assigned due dates for projects) and I can't type it or write it without going back to that Tuesday morning.
I was driving to work in Dallas when they broke in to announce that a plane had crashed into a building in NYC. Within minutes, I was at the office and I sat in the car waiting for more news. I finally walked inside to find everyone in the conference room watching the TV. I saw the second tower get hit and everything that followed.
I couldn't get in touch with my husband until later that afternoon because the phone lines were messed up. He had been evacuated and finally made it home that afternoon. I will never forget how stunned, angry and numb I felt for the next several days. I couldn't talk. I couldn't express my grief and sadness.
I worked close to Love Field in Dallas and I can clearly remember how eery it was to see the skys empty. And, the way that people out in public walked around shell shocked but yet made an effort to look in your eyes. Almost as if seeking comfort in their fellow man.
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I got woken up by a call from a friend and told to turn on my TV. This would have been about 0850 or so NY time, 2250 my time.
Sat there the rest of the night and a fair part of the next day with my jaw on the floor.
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I had turned the TV on and went to turn the coffee pot. I sat down and stared at the TV. They were still showing a replay of the first plane, when they broke in live and showed the second tower being hit. It was over 2 hours before I even moved .
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I was on the computer, I happen to have the TV on in the Family room but couldn't see it. My friend I was talking to on AIM told me what she had just heard and right after she told me it came on my TV. I went and picked up my kids from school because I didn't know what else would happen.
It was so unreal.
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I was driving my 3 year old daughter to preschool with my 2 year old son. I was listening to Howard Stern and he was talking about Pam Anderson's boobs when one of his minions announced that a plane hit the WTC. They thought it was an accident and a small plane so they went back to talking about Pam Anderson's boobs. That was the last time I ever listened to Howard Stern.
I rushed home to watch the news and then decided to go get my 3 year old out of preschool when the second plane hit. They weren't letting the kids go home because they didn't want the kids to panic. I have to say I was very panicked. The only thing I could think to do was 1. call my hubby 2. get as much cash as I could out of the bank and 3. buy lots of bottled water.
Rumors were going insane around here because of the "lost" plane in Pennsylvania. There were rumors about how the plane was going to try to take out the international airport and there is enough jet fuel to blow a hole 20 miles wide there. There were rumors that it was going to take out the nuclear power plant 15 miles away. There were rumors it was going to try to take out buildings in Pittsburgh too. By the time the passengers became heroes everyone in this state was freaking out. It was almost a relief when it crashed in the field in Shanksville.
I watched TV pretty much nonstop for 2 days. When I had to sleep I taped the news so I could watch it later. My heart was broken and it still makes me cry today to remember how horrible it was to know that 3,000 of our fellow citizens lost their lives. I only hope and pray that we never forget the horror of that day and become complacent.
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It's done by and for the marines/navy...but there are words spoken in there that could have come from me.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfxGwhgsn5I[/youtube]
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I was at work getting our residents ready for work. I was preparing breakfast and had the TV on. At about the time the first plane hit, I turned off the TV before any of the reports started coming on. We ate breakfast and I turned the TV back on afterwards just after the second plane had hit. When the residents went to work and I went home, I just picked up my then 2 month old son and held him as I watched TV and spent time online the rest of the morning.
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I was picking up some stuff on my way to work (just before 6 am Pacific Time) when I heard about the first plane hitting on KFWB in Los Angeles. It initially reminded me of a plane (B-25, IIRC) which hit the Empire State Building during WWII. But when they reported the second plane over the radio, I knew it was no accident. I was in a McD's drivethru waiting for breakfast when I heard the news of the second plane.
I told the cashier about it. She asked how many people were hurt. I immediately replied, "Thousands," even though there were obviously no reports of casualties at the time. By the time I had driven from Alhambra (work base) to where I was working that day (Lynwood), the first tower had already collapsed. We did our work as quickly as possible (about 2 hours) and went home. Mrs. Sparky was already in front of the TV, crying. I don't recall moving from the TV much the rest of that day.
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For anyone that may not have the link or may have missed it when someone posted it.
September 11, 2001 news coverage (http://www.archive.org/details/sept_11_tv_archive) at archives.org.
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I was smoking a cigarette at Moody AFB in Valdosta GA between 845 and 9am. I then went to make a phone call and our lead had pulled up CNN on the computer and said............hmm a plane hit the WTC.
Thought nothing of it.................then he yelled out later that it was a jet and not a small plane.............we all said WTF.........this as all know was happening over minutes...............the entire lab walkd into our breakroom, put a 20dB amp on the small antenna cable and pluggeg it into the tv.
The boss started saying something about getting back to work.....................and within seconds we all saw the second plane hit. I don't think anybody moved our said anything for a few minutes.
As the day crawled on we started hearing all the rumors.
I hurt my hand pretty bad when I thought it was stronger than the block wall................I barely slept that night. The following morning I had to sign my first born away in blood as mission essential personel were all being allowed on the base....................................................................out between 845 and 9am smoking...........on my break while working on equipment needed to get aircraft in the air (mission essential, 2 hours arguing at the gate to be let on the base).............lord what is that sound I was hearing (sounds a lot like a weedeater and mower) yep you guessed it..........there was the grounds contractor with many less than illegal employees cutting the bases grass............that was the first time I had laughed in almost 24 hours
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It's done by and for the marines/navy...but there are words spoken in there that could have come from me.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfxGwhgsn5I[/youtube]
That's a great video................and I'm happy to say that I currently help make every last one of those vertical capable aircraft in that video continue flying
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My mom woke me up with a phone call and told me to put on the news...I was pretty much numb and frozen as I watched the news for the next 2 hours. I had just moved to Miami from New York a few months early and I couldn't get through to any of my friends or family.
My cousin worked in the Twin Towers and later that night when I was finally able to get through to my aunt, she told me he was in China on a business trip. I was still devastated though for those who weren't so fortunate.
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God Bless Our Military! I love the hell out of all of 'em too!
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I was staying at my parents place and my mom banged on my door and told me to turn on the TV...that a plane had just hit the WTC.
My first thought was that someone in the tower at LaGuardia or JFK was gonna get fired.
Flipped on the TV listening to Jon Scott on FNC...some talking head was on and the towers were in a box in the left corner of the screen.
All of the sudden I saw the second tower get hit.
Fox guys were asking if that was a tape loop of the first one or did another plane hit?
Confirmed...another plane has struck the WTC.
"That's not an accident" I say to myself suddenly very panicked.
Throw my clothes on come down the stairs and stop at the tv in my mom's office to hear the president give his first briefing on the situation from the school in Florida.
Race out to my car and floor it...gotta get to the station.
All five stations in our cluster have switched to AP News piped in through our AM studio.
Ten minutes out from the station AP news is talking w/ Ron Fournier from Crystal City...looks like a plane has struck the Pentagon.
Screeching into the parking lot in my station sprint up the stairs with my alert roster in hand.
Hit the front door as my GM...a former Force Recon Marine comes out of his office.
"You getting called up"?
"Don't know yet Dale...let me call and see what the situation is."
"If you've got to go to Austin," he tells me, "get out of here and take all the time you need".
Left the station a couple hours later got a haircut while the replay of the towers coming down was playing...all eyes on THIS GUY
Drove back to Midland about mid day...drove past my daughters school...Sheriff's Deputy parked squarely in front of the building in the parking lot.
Went to my g/f's house (now my wife) and we just held each other.
Drove home that night looked to my right at the skyline of downtown...nothing...pitch black...first time in my life.
Didn't sleep for the next 24 hours.
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I was still pretty hungover from a b-day party I attended the before. Switched on the tube and 3 minutes later the 2nd plane hit the south tower.
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I was at our condo on the Cape, I was selling cars at the time and had every tuesday and sunday off. Mrs. RC came home from getting her hair done, her face was pale and she asked if I was watching tv.
All morning my 2 year old and I had been playing games on the floor. No tv. We turned it on about 10 minutes before the second plane hit.
I know several guys that went back after 9/11/01. All are home in one piece - thank God - although not "whole."
God Bless the USA.
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As I am keeping an eye on Ike, let me reflect on 9/11. I woke up at 9:00 AM, while I was in college. A friend then told me two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center and one of them had collapsed. I was in shock and total disbelief. Then I asked the person working front desk if something bad had happened and he said, "Yes" in a somber tone. I ate breakfast and went to class. We had class that day, but it was not really class. It was just discussion about the attacks. After class, all I did was watch news coverage and checked the Internet for the next 4 days. I was saddened and scared. It was the worst week of my life. It felt like yesterday for me and yet seven years has passed. I try not to think about that awful day, but it keeps coming back, especially the World Trade Center.
:bawl: :bawl: :bawl: :bawl: :bawl: :bawl:
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Living about a mile and a half from the Quik-E-Mart in Mesa, AZ where that asshat went in and shot the Sikh that was running the counter. Dipshit.
Needless to say, things were interesting in my neighborhood.
Sikhs and Muslims hate each other. They have been at each other's throats for ages.
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As I am keeping an eye on Ike, let me reflect on 9/11. I woke up at 9:00 AM, while I was in college. A friend then told me two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center and one of them had collapsed. I was in shock and total disbelief. Then I asked the person working front desk if something bad had happened and he said, "Yes" in a somber tone. I ate breakfast and went to class. We had class that day, but it was not really class. It was just discussion about the attacks. After class, all I did was watch news coverage and checked the Internet for the next 4 days. I was saddened and scared. It was the worst week of my life. It felt like yesterday for me and yet seven years has passed. I try not to think about that awful day, but it keeps coming back, especially the World Trade Center.
:bawl: :bawl: :bawl: :bawl: :bawl: :bawl:
It should be required that the film from that awful morning be played back in real time, 8:30-11:00 AM Eastern. On all channels.
The USA has totally wiped that morning from their minds. That is the only explanation of why nearly half support those who perpetrated it and have provided aid and comfort to The Enemy.
You supporters of the terrorists who did this: Screw You. I hope you get to spend Quality Time with the bastards that want to destroy us. I want for you to be slowly beheaded. And I will watch a film of that with great satisfaction. Because your treason against the USA deserves nothing less.
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It should be required that the film from that awful morning be played back in real time, 8:30-11:00 AM Eastern. On all channels.
The USA has totally wiped that morning from their minds. That is the only explanation of why nearly half support those who perpetrated it and have provided aid and comfort to The Enemy.
You supporters of the terrorists who did this: Screw You. I hope you get to spend Quality Time with the bastards that want to destroy us. I want for you to be slowly beheaded. And I will watch a film of that with great satisfaction. Because your treason against the USA deserves nothing less.
Yeah, you're right, it should. I keep thinking about it, even at parties, when it should be a time of having fun. I actually go to YouTube and watch 9/11 clips. I wish there was a DVD set of the 9/11 coverage from the first airplane crash to end of the news coverage on 9/15. The DVD should be available for free. Hell, it should be in the public domain.
To all the people who blame America for 9/11 and 9/11 Truthers, I have a message for you:
GO **** YOURSELVES YOU SHIT EATING SOULLESS ****ERS!!!!!!!! YOU ARE ALL ******* PATHETIC AND WORTHLESS EXCUSES OF DNA MOLECULES!!!!!!!! **** YOU ALL TO HELL!!!!!!
:bird: :foff: :angryvillagers: :redbird:
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I was getting my kids ready for school when they did the breaking news thing. Was watching a live picture on the tv when the 2nd plane hit. I don't think I moved from the front of the tv all day.
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It should be required that the film from that awful morning be played back in real time, 8:30-11:00 AM Eastern. On all channels.
The USA has totally wiped that morning from their minds. That is the only explanation of why nearly half support those who perpetrated it and have provided aid and comfort to The Enemy.
You supporters of the terrorists who did this: Screw You. I hope you get to spend Quality Time with the bastards that want to destroy us. I want for you to be slowly beheaded. And I will watch a film of that with great satisfaction. Because your treason against the USA deserves nothing less.
Yeah, you're right, it should. I keep thinking about it, even at parties, when it should be a time of having fun. I actually go to YouTube and watch 9/11 clips. I wish there was a DVD set of the 9/11 coverage from the first airplane crash to end of the news coverage on 9/15. The DVD should be available for free. Hell, it should be in the public domain.
To all the people who blame America for 9/11 and 9/11 Truthers, I have a message for you:
GO **** YOURSELVES YOU SHIT EATING SOULLESS ****ERS!!!!!!!! YOU ARE ALL ******* PATHETIC AND WORTHLESS EXCUSES OF DNA MOLECULES!!!!!!!! **** YOU ALL TO HELL!!!!!!
:bird: :foff: :angryvillagers: :redbird:
The videos available HERE (http://www.archive.org/details/sept_11_tv_archive) , are downloadable, and can be burned to a DVD. I've downloaded some old public domain movies from that site.
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There are really two sets of people in this country.
1. Those who saw 9/11/01 and never need to see it again as every image and every detail about that day are seared in your memory......................most everyone here on this website that I know
2. The dumbass traitorous ****wads that need to watch it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until it is finally seared into their empty minds......................the truthers, liberals, Paulistas.............you get the idea
I really don't care to watch the videos of that day as it still stirs me and pisses me off as much as it did that day..............that however doesn't mean I have forgotten it.
Even the bunnies remember 9/11 and blame the American hating terrorist
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It should be required that the film from that awful morning be played back in real time, 8:30-11:00 AM Eastern. On all channels.
The USA has totally wiped that morning from their minds. That is the only explanation of why nearly half support those who perpetrated it and have provided aid and comfort to The Enemy.
You supporters of the terrorists who did this: Screw You. I hope you get to spend Quality Time with the bastards that want to destroy us. I want for you to be slowly beheaded. And I will watch a film of that with great satisfaction. Because your treason against the USA deserves nothing less.
Yeah, you're right, it should. I keep thinking about it, even at parties, when it should be a time of having fun. I actually go to YouTube and watch 9/11 clips. I wish there was a DVD set of the 9/11 coverage from the first airplane crash to end of the news coverage on 9/15. The DVD should be available for free. Hell, it should be in the public domain.
To all the people who blame America for 9/11 and 9/11 Truthers, I have a message for you:
GO **** YOURSELVES YOU SHIT EATING SOULLESS ****ERS!!!!!!!! YOU ARE ALL ******* PATHETIC AND WORTHLESS EXCUSES OF DNA MOLECULES!!!!!!!! **** YOU ALL TO HELL!!!!!!
:bird: :foff: :angryvillagers: :redbird:
FYI: You know it wasn't rabbits that did it.
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Rabbits are more covert about the never ending war. Hijacking is not one of their tactics and were quick to condemn to the 9/11 terrorist attack along with the ptarmigans. In fact both ptarmigans and rabbits stopped fighting for a whole month because of it. In fact, there was even talk of a treaty because of 9/11.
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Rabbits are more covert about the never ending war. Hijacking is not one of their tactics and were quick to condemn to the 9/11 terrorist attack along with the ptarmigans. In fact both ptarmigans and rabbits stopped fighting for a whole month because of it. In fact, there was even talk of a treaty because of 9/11.
Fortunately, said treaty never materialized....
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Fortunately, said treaty never materialized....
It was the Easter Bunny and Bugs Bunny fault.
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I was working at Starbucks still back then. I had gone into work at 4:30am, and I believe I was supposed to get off around 10 for school.
Well, Starbucks didn't have a tv or radio. It was a normal Tuesday morning, busy as hell. I was running a register. Then after I rang up one of the regulars, he told us a plane hit the World Trade Center. Then eventually another customer told us about the second one. We were pumping all the customers when they came in for information. The cell phone networks and regular phones were all tied up. I was trying to call my dad and see WTF was going on. My boss was doing the same, trying to call his wife.
We had no clue. My time to leave came, and I stayed. The rest of the staff went home except me, one girl and the manager. Our DM, Kirby called and I talked with him a minute. We were stunned.
Starbucks never closes early, EVER. And we were waiting word from Seattle to shut down. I started pre-closing everything, washing dishes and getting prepped to close, at 11am. It was strange. Then eventually we got word. At this point it was just me and the manager. I wrote out a sign to put on the front door and this jackass customer came up right when we were pulling all the furniture in and said "Why are you closing? It's not like we're in New York." My manager just looked at him, dumbfounded and said in his angry papa voice "Some of us would like to be with our families right now."
It was around 2pm when we finally got out of there. We went to this Colter's BBQ across the street. It was me, my mananger, my roommate (a Starbucks store manager at a different store) and two other store managers. Colter's had $2 beers on Tuesdays and most importantly a tv. None of us had see a tv all morning.
We went and sat at the bar, the only customers in there. And stared at the tv. It was shocking. We were quiet for a long time.
Another thing, this was all in Las Colinas/Valley Ranch, Texas. Near the DFW airport. The silence of no planes in the sky was strange. A not normal quiet.
When we left, I was driving home and I saw one of the planes AA was sending to New York loaded with supplies take off.
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The way I remember it, I had just gotten done feeding some cats (not mine), and was trying to get the internet set up, as I had just days before moved here to the eastern slope of the Sandhills of Nebraska.
The first thing that popped on the internet was an e-mail from a nephew, telling me to hurry and turn on the television. I did, but by then both towers had gone down, the Pentagon had been struck, and there were rumors of an airplane down somewhere in Pennsylvania.
The most memorable thing, for me, was a couple of days later, when there was some sort of national service at a cathedral in Washington, D.C. There was George Bush, looking resolute and determined. I hitched a bone-sound-conduction thingamajig up to the television, and the first thing that resonated through the skeletal structure was "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," which I have since thought should be our national anthem.
Over the past seven years, I've often regretted that all those decent and civilized people died, and that it was too bad the towers weren't loaded with primitives instead that morning; the world and humanity in general would've emerged much better off.
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I was sitting right here at my computer (diff computer, diff desk though) when my oldest son says from the living room "Dad, you better come see this..."
I remember exactly where I was on the I-215 driving to work and heard on the radio that the second had tower collapsed.
Later in the day everyone at my work stood outside with lit candles for the people who had died. Plus we were told the company would reimburse us for any flags we bought to fly at home, work or on our cars.
It WAS a different world before 9-11. Its one of those defining moments like when I was a kid and saw my mom standing at the kitchen sink crying her eyes out in Nov 1963. I asked what was wrong and she said the President had just been killed. Or when I was at March AFB in 1981 trying to find an account when I heard that Ronald Reagan had been shot.
These people who are in denial about the different path our world took that day are too afraid to face the truth of what a dangerous world we live in. Those same people probably do think that Islam is a religion of peace and that we deserved what happened at the WTC. **** 'em.
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That day, weatherwise, was a lot like today here. Crystal clear. Perfect. I remember walking into school to teach thinking about how beautiful the day was. The first plane hit while I was with my homeroom class. I had the next period off. We were in the faculty room in complete silence. Riding home, there were police cars at every exit on I-95. My wife was pregnant with our first child. Before bed, I was on my knees praying for the world I was bringing a child into. I didn't sleep much that night.
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My husband took me on a crusie to Alaska for my BD in early Sept. I was sleeping soundly in a hotel room in Fairbanks when he woke me up and said "look at the TV we are being attacked" it was somewhere around 5AM and pitch dark in the room, I took a look through my sleepy little eyes and thought "this looks like a die hard movie" went into the bathroom and the next words out of his mouth were "there are people jumping out of that building" my knees went weak and my heart broke. When the pentagon was struck I thought we are probably going to war. It was another week before we could catch a plane home to Florida. The Alaskan people were wonderful.
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At the time, I used to walk to work, so left home around 6:30 to get to work around 8. I don't do TV or radio in the morning. My first hour at work was dedicated to phone calls and faxes, so I could catch Rush at 9:00. (They let us listen to radios in that department) But on that day I decided not to listen to Rush as he had been getting boring. It was all about the Augusta golf tournament. The news right about then was horribly trivial.
Anyway, everyone in the office was real quiet, listening to their radios and not talking much and I had no clue until I called the main branch in Denver. The lady there she was in a rush because they were closing down the main tower in Denver. I asked what is going on in Denver and she told me both of the World trade center towers had been taken down by aircraft. I couldn't believe it. I refused to believe it. I had been there. Those things were huge. They couldn't fall down in a single morning. She hung up and then I listened to the radio.
I remember I kept the TV off when the kids got back home, and when they went to bed then I watched what happened. I still couldn't believe it.
What I remembered as the most chilling was the staff at a new york hospital waiting for survivors to be brought in from the site.
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It's probably the single most defining moment in my life.
Put things into sharp focus and perspective for me.
It's the reason I'm back on active duty today.
And seven years down the road it does NOT get easier to remember what I was doing that morning.
:usflag:
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I was in Laurel Maryland getting my oil changed. Our son was about 12 days old and my wife was still on maternity leave and it was the first time I had been out of the house on errands in a while. And it was a beautiful day.
I left the Quick Lube just as they were announcing that a plane had hit one of the WTC towers. I took it in as kind of a background abstract. I was wondering which Cessna or Cherokee pilot had taken a wrong turn and augured into a building actually. When I came out from the gas station they announced it was a passenger jet and my hackles stood up a little and I was thinking Holy Crap those poor people in New York. A few minutes later I was in the pet store getting food and the radio the clerks were listening to announced that a second passenger jet hit the other tower.
When they said that it was apparently deliberate and that there were other planes airborne and inbound I dumped my crap and jumped in the car and headed for home.
I was in a small caravan of vehicles heading for Fort Meade and we were running in a line with our hazards on hitting 65 on the surface streets. Our quarters at Meade were in the field grade officers section a stones throw from the main NSA facilities. And right below the glide path for BWI Airport. I wasn't worried about debris from something hitting the NSA Building so much as I was our quarters getting hit by chunks of passenger jet when they took it down with missiles or guns. On the road to the base we almost got run off the road by a column of blue suburbans led by a state police car that was running up the center line flat out headed for the interstate. I have no idea to this day who might have been at the base that they were getting out of dodge that day.
Waiting in line to get through the gate when the news hit that the Pentagon had been hit. I may have been one of the last people to ever get onto Fort Meade with a simple ID check and a wave because as I was pulling away from the gaurd a duece and a half and humvees full troops were piling past to secure the gate area and ever after that it was a stone bitch getting through the barracades and vehicle checks. I had a good laugh when in the following days people were bitching about the "Libertys" they were giving up in the name of security. Everytime I went grocery shopping with my kids after that day I was subject to a full vehicle search while some kid with a machine gun covered my car.
I walked in the door and my wife was standing in front of the TV and there was one of the WTC towers coming down.
I had heard about the collapse on the radio and it took her a minute to get the words out that it wasn't a replay of the first tower going but a live shot of the second coming down. We moved the crib away from the windows and into a protected hallway and then I ran to my daughters school and pulled her out. They were standing there with a clipboard in the lunchroom checking the kids off as they were picked up. They had already cancelled classes.
When we got home I was feeling something was "Off" and it took me a while to realize that it was the absense of noise every 10 minutes or so as a jet for BWI would coast over headed for a landing. When we heard jet engines overhead I rushed out in the back yard and looked up in a mild panic and burst into tears when I saw the two F-15's flying CAP over the base. My neighbor was a LTC in the Air Force and he was out there with me doing the same thing.
Spent a good chunk of the day playing "Are you alive" with friends of ours that worked or had duty at the Pentagon. One of our best friends missed dying with her coworkers and the army folks they were meeting with by the grace of a Starbucks stop and bad traffic that delayed her. She spent the morning helping to get the walking wounded headed to where the medics and the EMTs were doing aid, lent a hand carrying a couple of stretchers and then went home and crawled into bed for three days. We accounted for everyone we knew and it was a week before we found out that the wife of my wife's assignment officer and the guy who had helped her steer her career to best effect died that morning. He always told her it was his job to look after a fellow Sicillian. God Bless him we would not be where we are today without the guidance he gave her.
He had retired the year before because he wanted to spend more time with her after so many weeks and months spent apart over his career.
I watched things unfold over the next few days on TV.
I was never really a political guy before 9/11. It was my wake up call.
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I was working at Starbucks still back then. I had gone into work at 4:30am, and I believe I was supposed to get off around 10 for school.
Well, Starbucks didn't have a tv or radio. It was a normal Tuesday morning, busy as hell. I was running a register. Then after I rang up one of the regulars, he told us a plane hit the World Trade Center. Then eventually another customer told us about the second one. We were pumping all the customers when they came in for information. The cell phone networks and regular phones were all tied up. I was trying to call my dad and see WTF was going on. My boss was doing the same, trying to call his wife.
We had no clue. My time to leave came, and I stayed. The rest of the staff went home except me, one girl and the manager. Our DM, Kirby called and I talked with him a minute. We were stunned.
Starbucks never closes early, EVER. And we were waiting word from Seattle to shut down. I started pre-closing everything, washing dishes and getting prepped to close, at 11am. It was strange. Then eventually we got word. At this point it was just me and the manager. I wrote out a sign to put on the front door and this jackass customer came up right when we were pulling all the furniture in and said "Why are you closing? It's not like we're in New York." My manager just looked at him, dumbfounded and said in his angry papa voice "Some of us would like to be with our families right now."
It was around 2pm when we finally got out of there. We went to this Colter's BBQ across the street. It was me, my mananger, my roommate (a Starbucks store manager at a different store) and two other store managers. Colter's had $2 beers on Tuesdays and most importantly a tv. None of us had see a tv all morning.
We went and sat at the bar, the only customers in there. And stared at the tv. It was shocking. We were quiet for a long time.
Another thing, this was all in Las Colinas/Valley Ranch, Texas. Near the DFW airport. The silence of no planes in the sky was strange. A not normal quiet.
When we left, I was driving home and I saw one of the planes AA was sending to New York loaded with supplies take off.
We weren't far from each other then! I was working in Dallas and my office was near Texas Stadium. We would often eat at Jason's Deli outside or somewhere in Los Colinas and it was eery not to hear/see planes.
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We weren't far from each other then! I was working in Dallas and my office was near Texas Stadium. We would often eat at Jason's Deli outside or somewhere in Los Colinas and it was eery not to hear/see planes.
I was at that Starbucks there at 635 & MacArthur then, across the street from that Jason's Deli. That Colter's we went to was in the same shopping center as Jason's Deli.
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I was home and sleeping in on my day off. I was awoken by the sound of hte TV in the living room since my father can't hear well if at all. He lost most of his hearing to old age and from illness during his stay at a German POW camp during WWII.
I got up to see the first tower was on fire,no one knew what had taken place. After awhile ifigured like some of the news people that it was a repete of the accident during or after WWII of a plane hitting the Empire State Building only it was the WTC this time. The talking heads were still going on about the causes and I decided to go see if anyone at my unit had heard about it. Surprisingly enough they had no clue. They had the radio and the TV in the exercise room turned off. I told them about what happened and the three of us went to take a look at the news on TV. Myself,SFC Wilson and SSG Hausen watched as the second plane flew into the second tower and thats when we all knew we were going to war.
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I watched a documentary on the History Channel last night "107 minutes that Changed the World." It was a mix of amature video tape, 911 calls, the police/fire radio and a few cell calls seamlessly edited together. It was amazing. I was completely reminded of how I felt that day, and I admit, I cried a bit as well. It's not for the squimish, they did show a few of the people that jumped to their death (not up close, but for instance someone far away was video taping the first tower that was hit and it showed them falling down the side, but it also showed the shock of those that were seeing it).
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If the Sept 11th attacks had taken place a month later my older brother dennis might not be here today. He was a Navy Reserve officer, a Commander at the time and his offices were working at another location at the time the plane hit the Pentagon. Also a niece of mine was at work in D.C. when she saw the plane hit the Pentagon from her office window.