Sept 11th Timeline
MCPO NYC USN (Ret.) sends this to help you remember;
For those of you who followed me over here from paratrooper.net, Mark still has the booklet “Even Soldiers Cry” available. It recounts the story of our experience on 9-11-01 as a discussion forum. That link it to Facebook, if you can’t get there from here, I loaded the booklet on to TAH.
ADDED: Our buddy, Aunty Brat takes a look back at 9-11 and how we’re still waiting for justice for that day.
Category: Terror War
On 10 September 2001, I thought I understood how my father must have felt when he heard the news about Pearl Harbor.
On 11 September 2001, I realized how wrong I’d been. And I was in a way glad that my father had already passed, and didn’t have to experience his homeland being attacked again.
May we never forget.
Thanks Jonn. On Sept 10 and 11 here in NYC we go the mass, ceremonies, toast our friends and famililies and reach out to those who were most affected.
Here is an email I send to a senior member of the Port Authority who saw the worst and lost many:
Subj: Eve of Sept 11th
Dear XXXX,
On the eve of September 11th, sitting here on a park bench in a peaceful city … Thanks for the sacrifice of your department. Will be thinking of those brave servants who went in harms way, never to return and breath the cool air on these calm and reassuring nights that I don’t take for granted.
Terry
Chicago was shut down. The Loop was evacuated. You didn’t even know if the banks would be operating, so you took money out at the ATM. The buses and trains were loaded to the hilt with people leaving.
Now I wonder if they even pay attention.
I was driving back to Bad Kreuznach from Wiesbaden feeling pretty good when I heard what had happened on the radio. As soon as I got back to my barracks room I turned on the TV just in time to see the first tower collapse. I came VERY close to becoming physically ill right there. I still get the shakes every September 11th now.
[…] This ain’t Hell… […]
Most/many/some of us will never forget.
I was stationed at Ft Campbell on that day on DRF 1. I was headed home to take a shower after PT when I heard the news. I got home, woke up my now ex-wife, and turned on the news. I threw on my BDU’s without bothering to shower and headed back to my unit. I was one of the last ones to get on post before they locked it down. We had Soldiers sitting in line 8-12 hours just to get on post. Local buisnesses were bringing out free drinks and snacks to those stuck in line. A couple hours later I was sitting in the turret of a Hummer behind a locked and loaded M2 at gate 4 thinking that if I have to fire the people at the US Calvary store were going to have a bad day.
Like most Americans, I will never forget where I was when I heard the news and rushed to the TV to see the second plane strike the tower. I will never forget that day. Much like my father who heard the radio broadcast of Pearl Harbor and enlisted. I know they call my father’s generation the greatest generation. I think each generation can be the greatest if our American resolve is restored to the values we had then. It seems a long shot in my mind, considering the President and his Administration and how much America has changed. But I still believe we are the greatest nation on earth. I have done my part in defending her and I hope like all who read this blog who have done the same that we will always have a generation ready to defend our country. From all enemies both foreign and domestic. God Bless America!
I had just lost my job on September 10th, and was alternating between browsing online job listings and the Wehermacht-Reenactor Yahoo Group. I watched as a few posts were made about the attacks, and turned on the news. A month later I was finally able to enlist in the Regular Army (two years had been wasted waiting on a BP waiver for the VA National Guard).
Below is part of what I posted on Facebook earlier:
“September 11, 2001 changed the lives of many. Sometimes I lose sight of why I enlisted, and why I reenlisted until I couldn’t any more. When surrounded by fellow Soldiers it is easy to immerse myself in the pettiness that comes with this occupation at times: one-upmanship, conflicts with leaders and subordinates, unearned rewards and unrecognized accomplishments. On occasion things must be taken in perspective, though. The thousands of Americans and our allies who have given their lives in the Global War on Terror (domestically and on foreign soil) did so selflessly in many cases. Stories of individual and collective heroism abound in places like Fallujah or COP Keating, but let’s not forget those men and women who spent their last moments in abject horror, yet who so often took the courageous path twelve years ago. Men like Rick Rescorla—a decorated veteran of the Rhodesian and Vietnam wars who once stated that “the real heroes are dead” in regards to his service. This was the same man who, as Morgan Stanley’s Security Director, insisted on regular evacuation drills and who was last seen heading back up the WTC: he is credited with saving around 2700 people through his preparations and personal actions that day. The passengers of United Airline Flight 93 also come to mind as an example of Americans banding together to go down fighting for each other. It is easy to lose hope when watching the evening news or even strolling through the aisles at Wal-Mart, but there are many common people out there who make a difference every day.”
THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT. The heroism demonstrated that day by the men of that department is beyond my comprehension. Not two or three men, nor 20 or 30 men, but hundreds of men went beyond the call of duty that day. My eyes well up whenever I think of them and their sacrifice. God bless them and their families.
I went searching for something that was played over and over in the aftermath of 9-1-2001. Took me a while, but I found it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5peYnpW75ro
It’s about 6 minutes long.