Never Forget

[Wilco Worshipper]

[EL the Famous]

prayers/thoughts out to my main man Martin and any other members of VC who lost family/friends. peace.

[Sir Stewart]

Peace.

[Lammycat]

I knew one guy from high school who lost his life. My brother lost 5 fellow firefighters from his squad. I always flash back to watching with a fifth grade class people jumping from the tower(s) and wondering if my brothers were safe. I still get uneasy thinking about the footage and the day.

[cryptique]

It was definitely one of those "I remember where I was when..." events.

 

Hard to believe it's been six years already.

[Wilco Worshipper]

One of my best friends worked in the city at the time and lived just outside of it. I remember trying and trying to find him all day. He didn't have a cell.

 

Luckily, he and his co-workers made it home safely. I still remember him describing their walk across the GW Bridge back into Jersey, it gives me the chills EVERYTIME.

 

 

My oldest daughter was suppose to go to afternoon pre-school that day. When I saw those 1st few clips before 10am, I literally thought the world was ending. We didn't leave the house, or the television, all day.

 

 

 

Sympathy, prayers and love to those who were lost and those left behind...

[caliber66]

I was driving home from North Carolina (after seeing footage of the first plane hitting the tower, and thinking "I really hope that was an accident"), listening to news feeds as they faded in and out of range all the way.

[Sir Stewart]

I believe one of the greatest gifts I've ever received is that I was asleep that entire morning, having been working all night previous. I was excused from having to witness all that horror as it was happening.

[isadorah]

my office was right next to the whitehouse that day. we had no idea what was going on, there was no evacuation plan for DC, all the bridges except one were closed, it was during rush hour, the police were trying to turn traffic around on one way streets, communication systems were down, it was quiet and eerie except for the sirens and the occassional fighter jets going over. i still get goosebumps when i hear a fighter jet. i walked home with colleagues, 4 miles into northern va, and it wasn't until 12noon before i could get a phone call through to my family to let them know i was ok. it was quite an emotional day.

 

on my way into work this morning (my office is now nestled near the FBI building and the Capitol building), there were memorial services at the various police/federal buildings and bells chimming at the hour that the pentagon was hit. it made for a sad morning.

 

it is very tragic how many lives were lost that day, and i think equally tragic how many people were affected and still hold strong memories.

let's all hope the world gets better soon.

[Twisted Acres]

prayers/thoughts out to my main man Martin and any other members of VC who lost family/friends. peace.

 

Thanks Kev... we can't forget that day, despite all that this administration has done to distort what it means. 9/11/01 is a massive collage of personal tragedies. My family misses my stepbrother Troy immensely, just as thousands of families miss a loved one. Now as much as then, I wish he stuck around to take his son to school instead of going to work early, but it's a bit foolish to dwell on what-ifs.

 

MSNBC has done something interesting on the past couple of anniversaries... they've re-broadcast the Today Show from 9/11/01, matching up the time, so that 9am on 9/11/01 was shown at 9am on 9/11/07. I force myself to watch it, just to ensure that I revisit exactly how I felt on that morning. Being unable to reach anyone from my home in NJ, wondering about Troy, and about other friends who worked at WTC 1 and 2 and throughout lower Manhattan, and later wondering about the many friends of ours with the FDNY, knowing that they were there simply to help save lives, and becoming victims themselves when the towers gave way.

 

In those maddening, heartbreaking moments, Patti and I lost nearly a dozen friends and acquaintances, and a brother. We miss every one of them immensely, and we'll never ever forget them, or that day.

[mountain bed]

I was asleep when Michelle woke me up saying "A plane just hit the WTC!". I told her that I'd check it out when I got up. She then came back in just a few minutes later crying her eyes out.."We're being attacked!". I then got up & went to the TV & I think for a good hour all I could say was "Oh my God".

 

It still chills me to think about that moment. Things have never been the same since. For a time (however brief) it was great how everyone seemed to come together. I always think about those first responders & how brave they were/are. People like that make me proud.

 

I have nothing but respect for those who have lost loved ones in the tragedy. All the best to them on this day.

[embiggen]

I was at the Trade Center today, like I am every morning. the emotions are palpable just walking through the train station and out onto the street. for some reason, I didn't think I would be emotional today, but sure enough, I saw the police officers dressed in black, the protesters who think 9/11 was an inside job, and all the other mourners and I teared up. I can't imagine the sadness ever going away each anniversary. I find it difficult to listen to the names. it's all too much...

[Wendy]

Mart, my heart goes out to you at this anniversary of your losses. I was obviously not paying attention here, not aware how deeply you and your family were touched by 911.

 

And Lammycat, how difficult it must have been for you to be in charge of 5th graders during those moments, how to explain to them what was happening, how to comfort them as they had to have been so scared - ???

 

No, no one will ever forget that day.

[quarter23cd]

As long as we're doing "I remember when..." stories, I guess I'll add mine. I had just showed up for my first day of some lousy temp job in White Plains (a short train ride north of the city) and I remember knocking on people's office doors, asking where I should go, and thinking it weird/rude that nobody even looked up from their computer screens or acknowledged that I was standing there and talking to them. There was just an eerie vibe. Finally, the manager pulled me aside and told me "A plane hit the Trade Center. You can go home. All our clients are in the city and everybody's freaking out. There's nothing for you to do today."

 

I really didn't grasp the magnitude of what was happening until that long drive home, listening to the radio, when the second plane hit, reports of people jumping (still the worst image of that day, to me), reports about the Pentagon. I remember being unable to contact friends who were in the city that day, or my parents who live in northern VA and work in DC. Such a helpless feeling. I remember my wife (gf at the time) being unable to sleep at night for weeks and tensing up whenever she heard a plane or helpicopter outside (which was almost constantly). I remember being grateful that nobody I directly knew was lost (I had only been living in the area a few months), but I was amazed how, in such a large merto area of millions and millions of people, everybody knew somebody.

 

The next week I was working yet another temp job, this time in Stamford, CT, for a company who had lost one of their offices in the Towers. While I was there, they were making room for everyone who survived from that office--giving them a place to come to work. I remember those people coming in--I doubt any work got done, but that wasn't the point. I remember the freaked-out look a lot of them had, not just from what they had just experienced, but also being that this office was on the top floor of the tallest building in Stamford. Lots of people seemed to spend the days looking uneasily out the window. Some just had to leave altogether because they couldn't stand being there.

[lamradio]

I was in the middle of class at The Berklee College of Music in Boston.. A teacher came out and said that we were under attack.. I instantly went home to find my (at the time girlfriend, now wife) crying in front of the TV.. And then we started seeing images of the hotel where the hijackers stayed. I remeber saying "hey, thats right down the street".. I could literally see it from my front window.. My parents were calling all day and telling me to stay home and away from the Subways etc.. It was scary being in downtown Boston.. I can't imagine what it was like being in downtown NYC.

[Atticus]

this morning getting ready for work I reflected on how my mindset has changed over the years with regard to this day. At the beginning I was still very angry and entertained thoughts of vengeance. That later progressed to feelings of sadness and memory. Somehow I seem to have come full circle to anger, but with different rationale.

 

I'm still angry about the attack, and I certainly mourn the devastating losses incurred, but I think more of my anger now stems from how irresponsibly I think we've handled the world stage since the attack. I credit a portion of that view-change as well as my increased willingness to listen to other ideas and points of view to many folks on this board. So out of a horrific loss I've gained a more varied and inclusive context to view the world and a fantastic community of folks to share ideas, laughs, tears and opinions with. For that I'm thankful.

[quarter23cd]

I'm still angry about the attack, and I certainly mourn the devastating losses incurred, but I think more of my anger now stems from how irresponsibly I think we've handled the world stage since the attack.

I was going to write something similar, but couldn't think of the appropriate way to word it. Looking back on that day is actually good for me, just to remind myself about all of it.

 

Honestly, as much as I am angry about everything that has happened since that day, when I think about the day itself, mostly what I feel is sadness for the humanity of it--of people lost and of those who survived, trying to find a way to come to grips with what happened. Anger doesn't even register in my range of emotions--which is a hard thing to explain, because its not that I'm not upset or angry about what happened or want justice for those responsible, but, my god, just being close enough to it that I was sort of on the periphery of events that day--not directly affected myself, but close enough to see first-hand those who were. And those are the images I carry with me--of tremendous empathy for the human toll.

 

It used to bug me, hearing the reactionary, angry fist shaking, bring-em-on talk on the radio (or, for that matter, Toby Keith songs) because all that anger sounded more like wounded machismo pride than anything else. This was so much bigger than that.

[MattZ]

I used to work in those buildings and knew scores of people there that day. Thankfully, they all got out ok. I still don't go down there unless I have to. The only thing more upsetting than seeing that hole in the ground is seeing the people taking pictures of it. And the street vendors selling buttons and bumper stickers.

 

This is tough day. I have been choked up a couple of times already.

[IATTBYB]

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who lost someone. I am one of the lucky ones, as the only person I know who was near the scene was one of my best friends who was at the Pentagon. He came out of the attack without any injury. It was a few anxious days however until his family and friends heard back from him.

[bjorn_skurj]

What an awful and crazy day that was. I found out recently that a girl I went to high school with actually escaped both attacks on the WTC. Vibes and prayers to all who lost somebody on that day.

[a.miller]

I'll add my story....

 

I was stuck at a dead-end job, six days a week. On the night of the 10th, I called into work saying I wouldn't be in the next day. I went out, got really drunk and spent the night with an ex-gf. I woke up, wondering what the hell had happened....then I turned on the TV. I remember telling my ex, "You don't have to go to class today." What a dark, horrible day.

 

The tidal wave that 9/11 caused is immense. It's amazing to me how that day changed our foreign affairs and (somehow) led to war with Iraq, along with a totally incompetent administration. What a terrible blow to this country.

 

I'll never forget that day -- the feeling of helplessness. My prayers to all those who lost someone.

[Sir Stewart]

My Russian-born nephew became a US citizen that morning, in a ceremony in Plymouth, MA.

[kathyp]

I wrote something last night that I meant to post on my site, or here, or somewhere else and I couldn't do it. I have nothing really that I can add other than another "where I was" when it happened. (Home. Half asleep with an ER rerun humming in the background. I actually thought it was part of the show for a few moments.)

 

I didn't know anyone directly affected by 9-11, other than a few people I knew online and I got in contact with both of them early on. I watched some of this morning's re-airing of that day. I was struck by how (at least at first) eerily calm those reporters seemed.

[MattZ]

I think I posted an open letter of sorts on here awhile back. Maybe soon after I joined? Thanking Jeff for playing two free solo shows at the Downtown Rising concert series in Tribeca a couple of years ago. Looking back and remembering how wonderful those two nights were is the only way I can stomach walking down Church Street or Chambers Street nowadays. My most recent memories of that neighborhood are happy ones of hanging out waiting to get in to the shows, grabbing beers before the show, walking out of the shows elated, etc. It helps that now, my most recent memories of that neighborhood, are happy ones and not jarring scary ones. I still try to avoid going down there, but when I do I have something to smile about.

 

Jeff probably never read that open letter. And he probably won't read this one either. But he gave me back part of my city and I am forever grateful. That's no small task. I hope he knows how special those two nights were for some of us. I think he does.

 

All my thoughts and best wishes go out to everyone on here (and anywhere else for that matter) that lost someone or something that day.

[MattZ]

I have one more story to share (sorry)...

 

AGIB just seemed like the perfect album for today, as I discussed with a couple of people (including SirStewart in a PM -- thanks again SirS). The general feeling of today in NYC, the grey and rainy weather, etc. I listened to it twice at work and Less Than You Think was particularly powerful today. Wasnt sure why, but I got choked up listening to it.

 

So then, I leave work to head home tonight. And I had somehow forgotten about the most intense part of these 9/11 anniversaries. The two blue lights that shine at night up to the heavens from where the two towers stood.

 

Only this time, because it was so grey and cloudy and rainy in NYC, the cloud cover blocked the lights up to the sky for the first time that I can remember. And this resulted in a weird sort of image where the blue lights appeared to pierce through the cloud cover. I am not kidding.

 

A fist so clear and climbing

Punches a hole in the sky

So you can see for yourself

If you don't believe me...

 

 

There's so much less to this than you think.

 

(I took the pic with my cellphone so I hope it at least gets the point across)