Memories of that day-A long read

This morning we were all sitting in the squad room watching the History channel. They were showing video that different people had taken that day in New York. Most of the guys I work with are under 40 so this is our Kennedy assassination. 3 of the guys were still working in the jail. One of our troopers was in the academy. He remembers being in class and the commander just walking in saying that all operations were canceled for the day and to return to their rooms and watch the news. I was 21 years old then. Just a punk kid compared to what I am today. I remember getting out of the shower and my girlfriend at the time saying some idiot had flown his plane into the WTC tower. I remember thinking that there wasn't even any fog. As we continued to watch, we saw the second plane hit. Shortly after, reports started coming in of the Pentagon and Flight 93. I sat on my couch until about 9 o'clock that night just trying to wrap my mind around what had happened and the totality of the lives lost on that day. I cried for them. I cried for the survivors. I cried for their families. Watching the show was like reliving that morning. I could see it on the faces of my brothers. Nobody spoke until the show was over.

I don't really know how to end this. Just sharing what I felt on that day.

I will always remember turning the tv on was like 630am and I expected to see Thomas tank playing as my son loved to watch while having breakfast I was shocked and I had only very recently lost my Dad and among the many feelings was one of missing him so much in a time so uncertain if that makes sence. I cannot imagine the impact for those directly involved in this terrible happening and for those precious families that lost loved ones.

I was having an ultrasound done that early morning because I was 34 weeks pregnant with our first daughter and having some problems. The tech had just found out that we were having a little girl & was doing all the other checking when someone came in to tell us what had happened. The tech asked us if it was okay if she turned on the tv that she has in her room and we told her it was fine. We watched, horrified as they showed the 2nd plane crashing. It was so confusing and unreal. By the end of that appointment we were so full of different emotions. Incredible relief and happiness because our little girl was alright, but at the same time horrible sadness, anger, fear and confusion for what was happening in the East. Then on the way home we heard on the radio about the plane that had crashed into the Pentagon & then the other plane that was missing at the time. We were scared. For days whenever we heard a plane fly over, we would stop what we were doing and just listen because we were so afraid.

My husband was out of town, I called him because I couldn't figure out how a plane could crash into the WTC, then everything started unfolding. I went and picked up my kids from school (we live close to a major military base, we had no idea what the targets were) and brought them home. My best friend was out of the country, and my mother was supposed to be on a plane at that exact time. No way to reach them of course. I was terrified and confused and PISSED OFF. Then the towers fell. And I remember watching on television as people that were fleeing, covered in ash and debris, were stopping and turning around and picking people up and everyone was helping each other, staying in that danger to help make sure everyone else could get away, too. Just ordinary people. No one is ever allowed to say New Yorkers are rude ever again.

My mother was fine, they were literally standing on the tarmac for 6 hours waiting to find out what was going on, and didn't get a flight home for another week. My husband couldn't get a flight home and had to drive. My best friend eventually made it home, too. All commercial and private air traffic was grounded for days, and I remember how quiet the world was. When I heard military helicopters flying low overhead I was terrified.

And then I remember Jon Stewart. And The Onion. Remembering how to laugh, and the indomitable American Spirit, and the outpour of support from around the world.

Those things are what I remember most about that day.

I had the day off from work so I was in a really good mood. I was at the chiropractor's and had just gotten a back adjustment. He came back into the room and said "Go home and turn on your TV. We're under attack." I thought he was joking because he generally joked with me. I thought I'd get home and find some spoof of War of the Worlds or something.

I got home and turned on the TV in time to see the station replaying the planes hitting the WTC. I was stunned and sat down on the coffee table in front of the TV. Bizarrely, I thought "I shouldn't be sitting on the coffee table" because I always yelled at the kids when they sat on it. But I couldn't get up. I literally couldn't get up. I had a lot of emotional turmoil when this occurred - disbelief, sorrow, fear and anger. One of my sisters came in and we stayed together almost all day watching TV. We were worried about another sister who had been taking a flight out of NY that day. Nobody knew her flight number or what time her flight had been scheduled to leave. Thankfully, she called my mom in the evening to say her plane had been rerouted and she was safe. My heart goes out to the people who weren't as lucky and lost family and friends on that day.

I remember talking on the phone to a friend for most of that morning who was going through some marital problems. It was also her birthday that day and her husband was making the day miserable for her and their kids, and she just needed a shoulder to cry on. I didn't have a clue what was going on in NYC until my mom called me almost as soon as I got off the phone and asked me if I was watching the news. When I told her, 'No', she told me to turn on the TV right away. At first I though I was just seeing the result of some sort of freak accident- until that second plane hit.

The interesting thing was that the parents of the troubled friend I had been talking to that morning happened to be vacationing in New Jersey at that time visiting family, and as they were planning out the days of their vacation they thought they'd take a day trip to NYC on the 11th to see the twin towers and stuff, but as my friend's mom was praying, as was her habit every morning and evening, she kept getting a bad feeling of dread every time she thought about visiting NYC on the 11th. As the 11th drew closer, the bad feeling became so strong that they decided to cancel and visit NYC some other time. When the 11th came and they saw what happened, they were so thankful they had listened to that still, small voice, and at the same time so devastated at what was going on. Also- my friend's uncle used to work in one of the towers and had just retired one month before the 11th.

A friend of my Hubby was in Washinton DC driving to a meeting on the 11th and saw the jetliner that flew into the Pentagon. It flew right overhead as he was driving in his car and it totally freaked him out because it was so dang low in the sky and going so fast. He was certain something wasn't right with it to be flying so low and wondered if it would crash. Then he shortly saw smoke rise in the sky off in the distance in the the direction that it flew, which was towards the Pentagon. I know there are certain groups of conspiracy theorists that question whether a plane actually flew into the Pentagon, but I'm certain of it because of the eyewitness testimony of my hubby's friend.

I remember being glued to the TV all the rest of that day and for several days after, praying for the safety of the rescue workers and that more people would be found and rescued in time, and I'll never forget the eerie silence in the sky due to air travel being shut down everywhere.


IrishLass