9/11 Thoughts

[phrogpilot73]

I was the ODO back at New River. Most of the squadron was in Dawson, WV for some mountain area training. The Ops Chief ran into the ready room and told me I needed to turn on the TV. Watched the second plane hit live. 20 minutes later got a phone call from the Wing CG's staff inquiring how many aircraft we could send to NYC. We never went, but a week or so later - I was flying up to Dawson to swap out aircraft/crew and flew over a barn that they guy was in the process of turning his entire roof into an American flag.

 

[sickboy]

I remember sitting in High School trying to get in some girls pants instead of learning math like I was supposed to. We had a field trip to the Pentagon scheduled for the next day. It was canceled. I also remember being RPTed at Great Lakes and right when everyone was starting to tire, the RDC's would play the news report from that day over the PA system. Suddenly everyone started to put out again.

Our unit got a letter from Major General Kelly, I've attached it.

 

[GroundPounder]

My memory is of my phone ringing off off the hook that morning, as I had taken a few days off and my wife and I flew to Boston. We flew over the twin towers on the way up, and we made plans to take our next trip to NYC.

We flew out of Boston on the 10th, and many of my co-workers were not aware of when we were comming back. While in Boston, we took a duck tour of the downtown area, and happened to sit next to a group of people from LA that had flown in for a wedding. During or conversation they told of their plans for the Monday, and that they would be flying home on Tuesday. I've always wondered if they were on one of the two flights out of Boston.

My next thought that day was that some of the people that I served with would probably not survive what was sure to happen. Sadly I was correct.

I've since been to NYC and reccomend the church as well, there are gash marks left in the pews from the emergency service workers that used the church for rest and religion during the aftermath.

Ya'll be careful, and thanks for your continued service.

 

[Slammer2]

One of the guys who was an instructor at the karate school with me was a controller for the Oberlin control center. I guess they handle some major traffic between cleveland and chicago and other various places. He said the place went nuts once the flight stopped responding turned around back the way it came. Im not too sure now but I believe that it was United 93 that turned around over Cleveland.

 

[Cron]

I was a senior in HS at the time. I remember seeing a dozen teachers crowded around a TV; I joined them and saw the 2nd plane hit. I went to one of my classes right after and told my teacher what I just saw. Her eyes widened and in a half-whisper she said 'But my husband works there...". My mouth just dropped. It was at that moment that it really hit me that there were real people on those planes and in those buildings. Some of them neighbors. I sat down behind my desk thinking I just informed my teacher of her loved one's death. Thankfully, he happened to call about 10 minutes later saying he was ok; as it turns out, he worked on one of the lower floors and managed to escape.

All in all, it was probably the worst day of my life...I can't even describe the feeling I felt when I saw the smoke and debris with my own eyes. Then seeing all the pictures of the missing souls for months after. Every time I think back to that time I experience a profound sense of sadness and then anger. I still haven't been able to bring myself to visit Ground Zero to this day.

 

[badger16]

One of the big reasons I joined. I was a senior in high school at the time and just could not believe there were people out there that would actually do something like that. Really turned my head toward getting into a cockpit and trying help out those guys on the ground who are giving a lot more then I ever could imagine. Our generations Pearl Harbor and definitely a changing point in all of our histories.

 

[Layzee101]

I was also a senior in highschool. I recieved my final select on the 10th so I figured what better tribute than to swear in and sign on the 11th.

 

[BACONATOR]

Damn. I'm younger than all the damn applicants.

 

[Spekkio]

I was a freshman at SUNY Albany, and, typical to freshman, was planning on sleeping until 935 before my 945 class. My suitemate from Staten Island woke me up at 915-ish exclaiming that someone crashed a plane into the WTC. My immediate reaction was "what idiot drove his tiny personal plane into the Twin Towers?" I turned on the TV and saw that it was worse than I thought. Went to class, which was immediately dismissed, and got back to the room in time to see the second plane hit.

I remember going back to school after Thanksgiving break that year and the pillar of smoke was still in the air and quite visible. I spent most of the day worrying about my uncle, who had just been promoted to Cpt in the FDNY. We finally heard from him, but he was pretty shaken up -- the promotion made him move firehouses, and his old crew was first to the scene. None of them survived.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Was just starting my freshman year of college.....logged my first civvie flight the day they lifted the post-9/11 flight restrictions.

 

[Sky-Pig]

2 years into shore duty at NAVAIR down in Pax. My wife called to tell me that a plane had flown into the WTC...I was in a brand new, totally wired building...without a single TV. Finally drove home and arrived shortly after the 2nd plane hit. Jumped back in the car and sat in traffic as the sentries shut down the gates to the base. Not a good feeling in some many ways. Drove back home and watched the entire day unfold on CNN...spend a lot of time clenching and unclenching my fists.

Went back to work the next day at a contractor's building (base was still shut down) and started planning what we needed to add to the EP-3 to fight the war we knew was coming. Frustrating time to be on shore duty...but at least we could do something to help.

I was flying on station when Iraqi Freedom kicked off...but I wanted so badly to be operational during the hot war phase of Enduring Freedom.

 

[Single Seat]

I was flight instructing for a certain "school" in Florida. That morning we were getting ready for an aviation safety seminar, and some guy came in and said that a plane had hit the WTC, we were all thinking a light civil or something. Then someone came in and flipped on a TV and we watched in horror as the second plane hit. When the first tower collapsed I got up and left, went to my girl friends house and we just sat glued to the news all day. Within 48 hours the FBI was raiding our school, and seized just about everything in my desk short of my pen. Student records, log books, everything.

The next day I called my officer recruiter and had him submit the package he'd been sitting on for me. I was being sworn in a few weeks later, and began the wait for OCS.

 

[scoolbubba]

I was in physics class that morning dorking around on a computer when i checked cnn and saw a plane hit the WTC. Thought 'that sucks, hope some people made it out ok' and didn't think any more of it. Next class was History, and the teacher told us what was going on, but in a similar vein to a previous post told us 'we had a lot to cover before our test.' Three of us got up and walked out to another history teacher/my lacrosse coach's classroom and flipped on the tube. The guy sputtered something about detention and my thoughts were "yea right, explain this to your boss."

Third class of the day was math, and we were watching news coverage again when some idiot opened his trap and said "this is awesome..maybe we'll get a week off school!" I threw my textbook at him and was being restrained by my teacher until he picked me up and took me out of the classroom. The principal was understanding, but apparently there are mandatory sentencing guidelines for high schoolers with short angry man syndrome.


I think I might be the only person in the country who got suspended from school on Sept 11th.

 

[zab1001]

I was 6 months into my Fleet squadron, sleeping off my first night of liberty in a looong time in Bahrain. My TACCO woke me up by pounding on my door. Skipper had an all hands meeting. Flew a very interesting, very tense hop that night in the NAG. 2 weeks later shipped off to Secret Moonbase Alpha and helped kicked off OEF.

 

[Blutonski816]

I was climbing on the bus for school when I heard on the radio that the first plane had hit. Everyone thought it was just a freak accident. When I got off the bus, we heard about the 2nd plane hitting. The whole day, contrary to the wishes of the staff and teachers, there was no real class. Everyone was tuning the radio and TVs to the news. The computers were No-Go as the network was Lagged out. It wasn't until 2nd period that we knew that the Pentagon got hit too. My last class that day was MC JROTC. The COL and SGTMAJ were as reassuring as they could be; their faces betrayed no emotion despite the paplpable emotion in the air. A handful of seniors ended up finding themselves in the Middle East in the years that followed.
It wasn't until I got home from school that I learned about United 93 crashing in Shanksville.

As I look back, like everyone who was cognizant that day, I remember where I was & what I was doing. Sometimes I feel as if I should have felt or showed more about what happened. I wasn't one of those who "saw the second plane hit live on CNN." I didn't feel the "call to service" that day, as I knew years before that I wanted to Fly Navy.

It was a rude awakening for an America living in its post-Cold War bubble.

A lot of good people died that day because we as a Nation had repeatedly failed to realize there was a world beyond the 50 states.

I just hope that we as a nation never forget that sacrifice nor those made since.