Aa
911
All Americans experienced 911 as a tragic event. For me, it was very personal; NY is my city - I was born and raised in it and my company had an office in the World Traded center in both towers; one on the 55 floor and one on the 85th floor.
I was at a meeting in Connecticut when the news was announced. I went to my PC to see what was happening and then the second plane hit. I was so stunned that I left the meeting without saying a word and went home. I couldn't contact anyone that I loved that was in or near the buildings and maintained a state of dread until the next morning when the phones began to work once again. I was one of the lucky ones; I lost no one close to me.
My very good friend lost his daughter and I read the names over and over as the magnitude of this was incomprehensible to me. Every year I listen to the role call of names to hear the name of my friend's daughter.
After three days, the streets were opened up and I went back to work at my Maiden Lane office. As I came up out of the subway, I could immediately see that the light was different without the shadow of the two giant buildings. The smell was overwhelming. There was dust everywhere. I turned to face the wreckage as did all the people with me exiting the subway. We all burst into tears at the sight. When I got to my office, there were memos from the desks of people in the trade center that were blown two block on to my window sill.
When I left that night, again I had to walk by the wreckage. The skeleton of one of the buildings was standing about 100 feet in the air. It was back lit with all the flood lights of the workers searching for bodies. I was transfixed by this. I couldn't walk or speak. I just stared at the skeleton watching the smoke drifting through the girders and thinking of all the senseless killing that had taken place here. That experience has changed me forever.
Everyone in my company got out of the building without being hurt. Two of them were heroes; they carried a woman in a wheel chair down more that 75 flights. She was abandoned by the people she worked with.
I was at a meeting in Connecticut when the news was announced. I went to my PC to see what was happening and then the second plane hit. I was so stunned that I left the meeting without saying a word and went home. I couldn't contact anyone that I loved that was in or near the buildings and maintained a state of dread until the next morning when the phones began to work once again. I was one of the lucky ones; I lost no one close to me.
My very good friend lost his daughter and I read the names over and over as the magnitude of this was incomprehensible to me. Every year I listen to the role call of names to hear the name of my friend's daughter.
After three days, the streets were opened up and I went back to work at my Maiden Lane office. As I came up out of the subway, I could immediately see that the light was different without the shadow of the two giant buildings. The smell was overwhelming. There was dust everywhere. I turned to face the wreckage as did all the people with me exiting the subway. We all burst into tears at the sight. When I got to my office, there were memos from the desks of people in the trade center that were blown two block on to my window sill.
When I left that night, again I had to walk by the wreckage. The skeleton of one of the buildings was standing about 100 feet in the air. It was back lit with all the flood lights of the workers searching for bodies. I was transfixed by this. I couldn't walk or speak. I just stared at the skeleton watching the smoke drifting through the girders and thinking of all the senseless killing that had taken place here. That experience has changed me forever.
Everyone in my company got out of the building without being hurt. Two of them were heroes; they carried a woman in a wheel chair down more that 75 flights. She was abandoned by the people she worked with.
I watched on the morning news while the second plane hit. Then as the details of the sufering of the victims was replayed, I was crushed. Then I was angry beyond belief. I hate to think of what I may have been capable of doing at that time.
Everytime I think of those people jumping out of windows ....gives me lots of emotions to incredible sadness and downright making my blood boil.
Poor Kaleid Sheik Mohammed....he planned it with his nephew and poor little baby was waterboarded by the CIA.....ohhhhhh...poor baby.
Me feel so bad.....
Not.
Poor Kaleid Sheik Mohammed....he planned it with his nephew and poor little baby was waterboarded by the CIA.....ohhhhhh...poor baby.
Me feel so bad.....
Not.
For me, unforgetable images.I own an import export messenger service(with my brothers)
I worked out of the office at West Broadway & Duane street. I heard the
first plane hit(we felt a rumbling).I went outside to see what was going on
and like everybody else on the street, you thought it was an accident.
After the second plane hit, what can you say? shock.
The police made us leave(along with several thousand others)
I only got to Walker street, and watched as the first tower came down.
Twenty plus minutes later, the second tower.
The sirens, the people around me screaming in horror,the smoke or soot
flying at us, then everything just seemed to stop.
A third of my customers were in the towers. (steamship lines,
banks, freight forwarders, etc)
These customers who I talked with for years but never met,
(sort of like this forum) three of them gone.
Like you, getting back to the area seeing the wreakage,
I don't have the proper words to describe what I was seeing.
I won't forget
mitchw
I worked out of the office at West Broadway & Duane street. I heard the
first plane hit(we felt a rumbling).I went outside to see what was going on
and like everybody else on the street, you thought it was an accident.
After the second plane hit, what can you say? shock.
The police made us leave(along with several thousand others)
I only got to Walker street, and watched as the first tower came down.
Twenty plus minutes later, the second tower.
The sirens, the people around me screaming in horror,the smoke or soot
flying at us, then everything just seemed to stop.
A third of my customers were in the towers. (steamship lines,
banks, freight forwarders, etc)
These customers who I talked with for years but never met,
(sort of like this forum) three of them gone.
Like you, getting back to the area seeing the wreakage,
I don't have the proper words to describe what I was seeing.
I won't forget
mitchw
I was sitting in my office working, when my then 13 year old son called me. He was hysterical, speaking unclear and kept on saying that I had to call my brother in NY and check if he and his family were okay. A plane had flown into the twin towers. I thought he was somehow exaggerating. I tried to calm him down and explained to him that his uncle had recently moved away from the city... I only realized what had really happened, when I got home half an hour later and turned on the TV. That's when I started making my calls to check that they were okay. We were all in shock for days and weeks. So many lives lost. I think the whole world was crying. In Denmark we light candles when it gets dark and put them in the windows to remember the lost ones... So this was done all over for many days.
May God bless every soul lost in this tragedy and also all the people from all over the world who lost their loved ones.
May God bless every soul lost in this tragedy and also all the people from all over the world who lost their loved ones.
This is one American story we all can share and will never forget. I just moved back to the states 2 weeks before 9/11! I was sitting in the Doctors office waiting for my first American physical, for my first American Job, in 16 years. I was married to a European and lived in Europe for 16 years. The TV was on in the waiting room, as we all impatiently purused through fluff filled magazines, waiting to be called. Then it happened...The special report....and then we all saw it live on TV. Sitting mouths agape, not sure if it was real, until we heard the familiar voices of the news anchors. One of the nurses came running and screaming out of the office....my son is there...my son is there. I can only liken the feeling to seeing the space shuttle blow up, which I also saw live on TV...but 3,000 times worse!
We were all in a panic.... all I could think of was my family and getting to them as fast as possible, as they kept saying there are more planes in the air...and one named came from my city! I ran out and drove as fast as I could, with hundreds of others on the highway. All of us looking up towards the sky, then towards eachother with a look of fright and confusion and oneness, all at once. We all drove in a mad dash to somewhere, some like myself, with the pictures of the planes and towers still fresh in my mind. For some reason Howard Stern, who I never listen to was on the radio... he was the only one getting through and getting the info out through the radio....I never thought I would say it was Howard Stern who got me through that crazed highway and safely home to my family that day. My brothers, who did not live that close to my parents either, had the same idea...and we all met almost at the same time at my parents house.... I walked in to find my father weeping infront of the television. And for those who think this was only an American tragedy affecting only Americans..... my father was not born in this country. But he is one of the most patriotic people I know! We all held eachother....watched and weeped together.
I remember there after being so angry at the media for replaying the scene over and over again for months....and how the poor people who had lost loved ones like those of you here, were feeling everytime they had to see it.
I am so sorry for all those who lost loved ones that day.... we all lost that day....but it is unimaginable to me how those who experienced it first hand, cope with their loses and this day every year.
My heart goes out to you all.
We were all in a panic.... all I could think of was my family and getting to them as fast as possible, as they kept saying there are more planes in the air...and one named came from my city! I ran out and drove as fast as I could, with hundreds of others on the highway. All of us looking up towards the sky, then towards eachother with a look of fright and confusion and oneness, all at once. We all drove in a mad dash to somewhere, some like myself, with the pictures of the planes and towers still fresh in my mind. For some reason Howard Stern, who I never listen to was on the radio... he was the only one getting through and getting the info out through the radio....I never thought I would say it was Howard Stern who got me through that crazed highway and safely home to my family that day. My brothers, who did not live that close to my parents either, had the same idea...and we all met almost at the same time at my parents house.... I walked in to find my father weeping infront of the television. And for those who think this was only an American tragedy affecting only Americans..... my father was not born in this country. But he is one of the most patriotic people I know! We all held eachother....watched and weeped together.
I remember there after being so angry at the media for replaying the scene over and over again for months....and how the poor people who had lost loved ones like those of you here, were feeling everytime they had to see it.
I am so sorry for all those who lost loved ones that day.... we all lost that day....but it is unimaginable to me how those who experienced it first hand, cope with their loses and this day every year.
My heart goes out to you all.
In memory of all who died and lost and suffered 7 years ago.
As I saw it on the news, I thought it was a movie, not real...this could not be happening....shocked, disbelief, crying hysterically and calling friends, family all over the US. For days I cried. The more you watched the harder it hurt. I can't even watch the movies on it now without breaking down thru out and especially at the end when they show the people that died and you think of their families and children. I have goosebumos as I write now. We have a memorial service every year at one of my jobs, many retired service men. I see many of them still cry, most of us do.
It is still incomprehensible, Eric.
My sympathies to all that lost a loved one, went thru this first hand.
LL
As I saw it on the news, I thought it was a movie, not real...this could not be happening....shocked, disbelief, crying hysterically and calling friends, family all over the US. For days I cried. The more you watched the harder it hurt. I can't even watch the movies on it now without breaking down thru out and especially at the end when they show the people that died and you think of their families and children. I have goosebumos as I write now. We have a memorial service every year at one of my jobs, many retired service men. I see many of them still cry, most of us do.
It is still incomprehensible, Eric.
My sympathies to all that lost a loved one, went thru this first hand.
LL
USA
September 11, 2001
" In Memory"
_________________________________________________________________________
!* * * * * * I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
! * * * * * !_______________________________________________________________
!* * * * * * !
! * * * * * ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!* * * * * * !_______________________________________________________________
! * * * * * ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!* * * * * * !
! * * * * * !_______________________________________________________________
!* * * * * * !_!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_________________________________________________________________________
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
_________________________________________________________________________
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
_________________________________________________________________________
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 11, 2001
" In Memory"
_________________________________________________________________________
!* * * * * * I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
! * * * * * !_______________________________________________________________
!* * * * * * !
! * * * * * ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!* * * * * * !_______________________________________________________________
! * * * * * ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!* * * * * * !
! * * * * * !_______________________________________________________________
!* * * * * * !_!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_________________________________________________________________________
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
_________________________________________________________________________
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
_________________________________________________________________________
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing Eric. I always appreciate your insights about life and what is of true value.
I wish you peace and good health, always.
Hector
I wish you peace and good health, always.
Hector
Having grown up in and around the shadows of the World Trade Center, the possibility of New York without it... was inconceivable. I was one of the fortunate not have lost a loved one in the tragedy of 911, but I have many classmates and friends of friends who mourned a loved one that day.
As a staffmember affiliated with a major hospital about 80 miles away, I remember the initial reaction when it hit: everyone get prepared. *Both towers down?! We'll need all the supplies and staff we have on hand...!* Everyone got into high gear, and everything was set and ready for any NY hospital overflow. As the disaster unfolded, and the hours went by, the slow, sickening realization that there were few survivors was absolutely devastating. My only solace was that hopefully for most it was instantaneous and painless... it's the survivors and those they leave behind who hurt. I had never imagined I'd be in a situation where I'd actually hope and pray so hard for injured patients to arrive -- because it would mean injured, but transportable... and alive!... but it never happened.
My brother and sister-in-law both were within a mile of ground zero, and when I finally reached them that night (after they each walked for 8 hours the 200 blocks to the bridge off the island), the only description my brother could muster was: it was Armageddon. His wife was so covered in soot and ash and everything from the collapse that he didn't recognize her at first when they reunited, but they were physically unharmed. I do recall that what amazed him was the way New York held itself together. No looting, no riots... no "opportunist" behavior -- just Americans helping each other -- and what Andiamo's staff demonstrated -- true heroism. What he found that day was a city without prejudice: (he joked that no one could tell who was white or black or otherwise, because EVERY one was gray from the soot... ) people helping strangers, everyone being kind -- American humanity at its best in the face of the worst.
God Bless America and God Bless us all.
~eureka
As a staffmember affiliated with a major hospital about 80 miles away, I remember the initial reaction when it hit: everyone get prepared. *Both towers down?! We'll need all the supplies and staff we have on hand...!* Everyone got into high gear, and everything was set and ready for any NY hospital overflow. As the disaster unfolded, and the hours went by, the slow, sickening realization that there were few survivors was absolutely devastating. My only solace was that hopefully for most it was instantaneous and painless... it's the survivors and those they leave behind who hurt. I had never imagined I'd be in a situation where I'd actually hope and pray so hard for injured patients to arrive -- because it would mean injured, but transportable... and alive!... but it never happened.
My brother and sister-in-law both were within a mile of ground zero, and when I finally reached them that night (after they each walked for 8 hours the 200 blocks to the bridge off the island), the only description my brother could muster was: it was Armageddon. His wife was so covered in soot and ash and everything from the collapse that he didn't recognize her at first when they reunited, but they were physically unharmed. I do recall that what amazed him was the way New York held itself together. No looting, no riots... no "opportunist" behavior -- just Americans helping each other -- and what Andiamo's staff demonstrated -- true heroism. What he found that day was a city without prejudice: (he joked that no one could tell who was white or black or otherwise, because EVERY one was gray from the soot... ) people helping strangers, everyone being kind -- American humanity at its best in the face of the worst.
God Bless America and God Bless us all.
~eureka
An unforgettable day filled with fear, panic, rage, heartbreak, pride and respect - all jumbled together in my memory. I was working as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan and was in my office at the courthouse in lower Manhattan just a dozen or so blocks from the WTC. We heard the first plane hit the North tower and saw the second plane strike the South tower. Most of the Court Officers responded to the WTC to assist in the evacuation, many were injured and 3 were killed in the collapse of the towers. I remember I had an appointment to interview a witness at the North tower on September 12. My witness got out alive and we eventually got a conviction in that case, in spite of the fact that the NYPD officer working the case with me perished in the collapse of the towers. Its still hard to talk about that day. Since then I never go into the city without shoes I can run in and a bottle of water.
Eric, your story brought back memories...........our office was also in a meeting. Of course, someone is always late to a meeting and here came ours (thank goodness) running up the stairs yelling turn on the tv, NYC is under attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, we had no idea what he was talking about, It was only a matter of a minute or two with the tv on when the second tower was hit! Just reading & typing this, tears fall down my cheeks & my chest & stomach are in knots I can not even imagine seeing your very own office building looking like that. Eric, our friend, you truly are a SVR:-)
Sunqueen, my deepest sympathy for the loss of your brave father. He did not fight that one, but so many others.............he was a true HERO who never let go of what he loved, his job; which was saving lives!!!! You should be real proud of him:-)
Judi
Sunqueen, my deepest sympathy for the loss of your brave father. He did not fight that one, but so many others.............he was a true HERO who never let go of what he loved, his job; which was saving lives!!!! You should be real proud of him:-)
Judi
"Not everyone affected by 9-11 died that day."
I really loved that! How right you are! I am sorry about your personal experience and loss also and thank you also for sharing! I know I was changed that day and I did not have any extremely close connections. I can just imagine the impact it had on so many...
I really loved that! How right you are! I am sorry about your personal experience and loss also and thank you also for sharing! I know I was changed that day and I did not have any extremely close connections. I can just imagine the impact it had on so many...
Thank you for posting this and sharing your thoughts.
I too was born and raised in NY. I lost several friends in the WTC, including a firefighter that I grew up with. My father was a retired NYC police officer. I called him to see how he was doing because I knew it was hard to watch. He said he couldn't turn off the television and couldn't stop crying. A few days later, I got an email from my step-mother informing me that my father was hospitalized with aspiration pneumonia. He choked on his own snot and was not able to recover because of complications caused by years of smoking. He ended up being placed on a ventilator and was hospitalized for more than 6 months. I move to FL to take care of him so that he could die at home.
Not everyone affected by 9-11 died that day.
Most surely we all remember the horror.
I too was born and raised in NY. I lost several friends in the WTC, including a firefighter that I grew up with. My father was a retired NYC police officer. I called him to see how he was doing because I knew it was hard to watch. He said he couldn't turn off the television and couldn't stop crying. A few days later, I got an email from my step-mother informing me that my father was hospitalized with aspiration pneumonia. He choked on his own snot and was not able to recover because of complications caused by years of smoking. He ended up being placed on a ventilator and was hospitalized for more than 6 months. I move to FL to take care of him so that he could die at home.
Not everyone affected by 9-11 died that day.
Most surely we all remember the horror.
Thank you for writing this! I always try to remember 911 in a special way each year. The words you wrote are so inspiring and poignant - I can't imagine what so many people faced that day and for that matter for the past seven years. I do remember - I do pray for the families - I will never forget! I am sorry that you witnessed those memories firsthand but I am glad you shared them with us! Thank you!
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis Social Community
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
