OT: Remembering September 11th

[Philo & Gunge]

Hard to believe it's been 3 years ago today. :( :( :( Can't say much now.

[Pietro]

This (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=6594) post was made by TTTP veteran, dendawg on the day of the attacks - this sure was something...:(

-Pietro:daffy:

[cbrubaker]

Wow. Three years ago...

I remember seeing this on TV when it happened. Of course, I live in Japan, so this was not live, but still.

In Memory of those who died in 9-11-2001

[Philo & Gunge]

I was in school the day of the attacks, various parents kept picking up their kids to bring them home. I thought it was some holiday (I called it "Christmas-Halloween-Thanksgiving-Easter Day" or something like that :p ). I didn't find out what happended until I came home. What a shocking experience! In the immortal words of :bosko: : "The dirty fox/cur/etc."

[Philo & Gunge]

On the bright side, it's my grandma's birthday. To celebrate, I will post her famous phrase, "Misty! Where are you, Misty?" (Misty is my grandma's puppy rat terrier who never listens).

[Martin Juneau]

Already 3 years. And that's probably not finish... :rolleyes:

[Daffysleftfoot]

I was starting my second year of animation school when it happened. I first heard it on the radio in the morning on the way.

The whole thing inspired me to make a short film in my second year even though it wasn't required. If I could find a way to put it on the internet, I would. :)

[Billy Joel Fan]

I was goin to make a post about this this morning but I didn't know if it was alowed

When I 1st herd about the atticks I got a call over the phone and somebody infomed me that a plane had hit the WTC I was just waking up so i though the person was BSing yea yea a plane into the wtc then I turned on my TV just to see the 2nd plane hiting the 2nd tower I knew it wasent a accendent how could it be with a clear day and the 2 largest bilds in nyc when it seamed like secs before the 1st tower collasped then I just got a verry sick feeling in the pit of my stomic

I think the hardest thing was seeing/hearing pepole talking about there friends relitives mothers fathers sons and daughters whom were at the WTC bilds & were not accounted for and what makes it more worse for me was my aunt and uncle were both to be at the WTC that day and wondering if thay were ok after a week of making calls around nyc i found to my relave that my aunt got moved out to Long Island that day and my uncle was caught in traffic that day

thats my story

Billy Joel Fan

I'm in a new york state of mind

[Emmanuel Cruz]

Man, it's scary how three years have passed already since that horrible day. I was in 8th grade when it happened, and that day changed me forever. It does bother me a bit though that I was the only kid in school who actually wore something to reflect on that day, and the hopes of a brighter future from what happened. I wore a shirt with a bald eagle on it, as well as a U.S. flag pin.
It's annoying to see that many kids in my school do not care about what happened and pass it off as another day. Some moronic kids in my history class made a joke about the planes crashing into the buildings, and they got mad at me because I gave them a dirty look for their stupid remarks. Because I'm the only one who takes such a thing in a serious and respectful.

My best wishes and prayers to all families who had to suffer the nightmares of losing loved ones in this tragedy, and I hope that all these radical terrorist scum be brought to justice, and no mercy spared on them.

God Bless America, and You All.

-Emmanuel:bosko:

[frizfrelengfan]

I was in my office in lower Manhattan when it happened. I witnessed the second plane hitting the south tower from a window in my building. I did not see some of the worst horror, but it was bad enough and I will never forget it. For a long time I looked up in fear whenever I heard an airplane overhead.

I did not know anyone personally who died in the attacks, but being from Long Island that's just lucky chance. My first job out of college, and that of a college friend, were in the WTC. I moved on; he stayed, and was in the north tower when it was hit. I contacted him a few days later and found that he got out safely.

We move on. September 11 is also my dad's birthday (75 this year), and we celebrated by giving him a surprise luncheon. He was surprised and delighted.

I pray for the victims and the rescue workers. I pray for the families of the victims and the rescue workers.

[cabe624]

Living only about a 1hr. & 20min. away from NYC, I've been there countless times... I can still remember my first trip there when I was younger, which was the first (and unfortunately the last) time that I went to the top of one of the Twin Towers. It was really an experience you can't put in words - the view of the Manhattan skyline was incredible.

When I saw those towers collapse on 9/11, my heart dropped. It was really unbelievable to witness the horrors of that day. Even though I wasn't directly effected by that tragedy, I'll never forget it. I found out what had happened much later - after the Twin Towers were hit and collapsed - around 11:30 am. It wasn't until later when I turned on the television that I witnessed what had really happened. Even 3 years later, IMHO, I still don't feel safe. They say that another attack is inevitable - let's hope we get Bin Laden and his partners in evil before they get us.

May God bless the victims, their families, and the United States of America.

[Geezil]

Until that day, I worked on one of the higher floors of 3 World Financial Center, immediately next to the Twin Towers. Though that building still stands (and my company has since relocated), several floors were devastated in the collapses, including the one my editorial group occupied. Thank Heaven and the Manager Thereof, they all ignored the public address announcement to stay put, and made their way over to the West Side Highway well before the first tower fell.

Meanwhile, in what everyone we know Out Here seems to agree was another case of Divine Intervention, I was 15 minutes late that morning heading out to the subway train in Queens, and that made all the difference. My train went as far as the City Hall station, which is about seven blocks from the site of the WTC, and where the conductor announced that we were being discharged from the train because a jet had just crashed into one of the towers (communication of accurate details was still a bit sketchy at that point). As those of you familiar with the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority under everyday conditions will understand, my first silent thought re the conductor was, "OK, you guys have come up with some doozies in your time, but this..."

The thought was forever interrupted at that point when I got close enough to see that the conductor's face was ashen.

Making my way upstairs to lower Broadway, I came back into the daylight just in time to see a police officer waving his arms frantically toward the growing number of walking wounded (both literally and figuratively so) heading north, and yelling "Move! Keep moving north and don't stop walking!"

I'll just add that he didn't have to tell me twice. And I won't attempt to describe here how the other people's faces looked as they passed me or as I passed them ... but I will never forget any of them.

And from then on, I also was in a kind of shock while hiking northward toward Times Square; following the growing crisis on my Walkman radio; stopping here and there in search of a working pay phone and (once having found one) trying to clear my thoughts long enough to get through to anyone I knew, to let them know I was OK and to tell my wife in turn. (Her job at that time was over on Long Island, at a "closed" corporate site where only incoming customer calls were answered, as a result of which it took another seven hours before she even found out that I was still alive and well.)

Oh, and about halfway to Times Square, I encountered a bit of darkly humored counterpoint: On one corner were a trio of early-20s-aged folks still handing out flyers about the citywide primary elections that had been scheduled to take place that day. "Excuse me," I asked one of the three, "haven't any of your people found you yet to tell you that the primary's cancelled, or why?" "No," he said ...

By 4:30 PM, if I'm recalling this right, the subway trains were running again, and I got home to Queens by about 6:15. My wife, who had been caught in a once-in-a-lifetime traffic jam on the Long Island Expressway, made it home about 20-25 minutes later, just as I was about caught up on answering a mountain of frantic e-mail and answering machine messages.

I leave the rest to your imagination.

Burt, aka Geezil

[Tom Stathes]

I will never forget 9/11. I had just entered 7th grade, and I beleive we were in Science class. For some reason, all of the teachers were in the hallway talking to eachother, and then eventually kids were being picked up. The teacher told us that no one was certain what happened, but that a plane hit one of the twin towers. I felt a bit strange about it at first, but I hunched it off thinking that oh, a small plane probably crashed and there was little damage.

Then I remember being dismissed, and all of the kids were talking about what happened, details still sketchy (and the towers were long gone by this time anyhow.) I'll never forget walking home and seeing to younger kids motioning with their hands planes crashing into a building and giggling. Regardless of our age difference, (and even though I think of consequences and told myself not to), I wanted to give them a good punch. I knew something terrible had happened.

Then I eventually walked home, where mom was frantic on the phone, and I finally saw the images on T.V. I still have two tapes of news coverage that I popped in some hours later. This memory will always stay with me.

Tonight, I could see the lights shining from ground zero up into the sky from the corner of my block.

I always wanted to feel that this never affected me, but this just wasn't true. About a year later, I would have recurring dreams of planes hitting buildings, one dream imparticular involved my grandma and I going through actual drills of evacuation of the twin towers while actually getting hit, over and over again.

A most horrible etching into my life, and even though I did move on (even though the dreams still turn up), I will NEVER forget.

-Tom

[RetroMan]

I'll never forget that day... while in the car, mom turned on the radio to listen to her morning talkshow, but there was nothing but music (which was quite rare, the man never missed the show). When I got to school, someone came yelling "plane crashed on world trade center!!!", I first though, "big deal, same thing happened to the Empire State in '45"... oh brother. I didn't really understand what happened until we went to the cafeteria, where all TVs were tuned to CNN... we all saw the north tower collapse (live) and we all thought it was world war III. It was mass hysteria on campus. I got home, my parent were scared to death and we didn't know what to expect.
To this day, I haven't been aboard an airplane and I get extremely nervous whenever a relative or a friend does.

[GeniusIntheLamp]

I also remember that day. I was working in downtown Chicago (I worked for a travel agency at that time) and was less than an hour into my work day when we heard on the radio that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. At first, I thought maybe it was an errant small plane. Then, when the newscaster came on and announced that the second plane had hit, then we in the office knew that something was going terribly wrong. Then came the report of the plane hitting the Pentagon, and a flurry of unconfirmed (and ultimately false) reports of other attacks. I didn't hear about the plane going down in Pennsylvania until I reached Union Station.

On my way to Union Station, my co-worker Ray and I avoided walking by the Sears Tower (which I passed every day on my way to and from the office). Predictably, Union Station was packed with other people who were sent home for the day. I was lucky enough to catch the first train back to the western suburbs. And I will tell you this: There wasn't a single person whose eyes weren't fixed on the Sears Tower as the train left Chicago.

When I got into my car to drive home from the Westmont station, with almost uncanny timing, the radio started playing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel. When I got home, I remember calling my mother to tell her I was OK (I had contacted my father's office while I was on the train) and watching the news, wanting to get more information. Finally, I was so overwhelmed emotionally and mentally that I shut off the TV. I was barely functional the rest of the day.

My boss's brother Eric had an office in downtown Manhattan and saw the first tower go down. He was on the phone with my co-worker Mark, and just as he was talking to Mark - the phone went dead. Eric didnt get out of the office until after 10:00 that night.

The next day, I was visiting my grandmother and talked about 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. Her little fox terrier was sitting in my lap and actually let me hold her (the dog normally hates being held). My grandmother told me that while she was watching the news, that dog never left her side.

Over the last 3 years, we've caught some key lieutenants, but we haven't gotten the Big Catch yet. Let's hope we bring him back here in chains or reduce him to a heaping plate of pork roast.:sailor:

[angelidollinda]

E Pluribus Unum



God bless everyone who had died on this day

[Dave Bennett]

It is interesting to read everyone's memories and experiences of that momentous day (and surprising to learn how many young people we have here who were still in school just 3 years ago!).

Your account, Burt/Geezil, really created an atmosphere unlike any I'd previously read. I'm glad something altered your path that day.

I was working on a "Charlie the Tuna" commercial that morning - very early here on the West Coast - and put the TV on a soon as it was mentioned on the radio, so I was watching 'live' when the second plane hit.

Here's hoping all the affected families and loved ones made it through this anniversary day with healed hearts and only good memories of the ones they lost.

[Boy Wonder]

I remember the day all too well for my taste, but it would be a good thing to let it all out:

I was in 7th grade (middle school), and I was walking to lunch at around 11:30 AM EST, and I hear a kid say, "King Kong just climbed the Tower!" At the time, I thought "Cool, it finally happened." At around 1:00 PM, an announcement was made over the loudspeaker to go to the advisory rooms to tell everyone what happened. I went home, and I saw two building burning, and sure enough, it was the towers. I didn't cry, but my heart went out to all those people who had to die because. Don't forget folks, the plane in PA that crashed (because of very strong unarmed passengers) could have wrecked in the White House. The Pentagon was not wrecked by a plane like people say. The roof line was still in place, and everything around the blow-up was never even touched. Why I say that? A Boeing 757 had 8600 gallons of fuel onboard, and the Pentagon would have went to rubble if the plane really struck there. Take a look at the footage, and ask "What could fit in that space?" It looks more like Missles. because they wreck in small areas do they?

Now riddle me this Batman, why didn't the American Airlines people see something on the bottom of the plane? It turned out to be some explosive thing that made a flash just before it hit the towers. And riddle me this again, how did the towers collapse? It was because of carefully-wired explosives that went off at the same time like a demolition crew. not the "weak" steel as once thought.

I also developed a little "curse" off this day: I usually develop a pretty bad cold on and or around 9/11. It started on 9/11/01 when I got a bad cold after school, and only stayed 3 periods the next day. 9/11/02 saw some sinus pressure added to the cold, and same result with the three periods. 9/11/03 saw me tough it out (ninth grade now) and now I have a cold today. Weird, isn't it?