911

I was in NY and saw the towers burning from the window. My friend in VI was first to call me to see if I was in the area and let me know what the news was reporting. I was working at a university and stayed at the phone because I knew parents from around the world would be calling. Many people in the building were still at the window and saw the second hit and the buildings collapse.

It was a scary day. I was the only person in my department who was able to get to work the next few days. So sad.

I was a locomotive Engineer for the LIRR. I worked half nights on a b-level, dual-mode diesel out of Penn Station scheduled out at 5:10pm back then. We were held in Jamacia to have mechanical personel and bomb sniffing K-9 units inspect the train prior to release to proceed out of Jamacia, west toward Penn Station. Only emergency personnel (fireman, police, doctors, nurses, ect) were allowed on-board.
Traveling west through Kew Gardens, and Forest Hills, F-14's were flying overhead. We made it into Penn, unloaded the few emergency responders we had, then operated straight through to West Side Yard. All train service was suspended for the next 24 hours. We were the first eastound with regular passengers to leave the next day. Smoke rose from downtown for the next three days.
Very surreal indeed.

Thanks for those recollections. My sister was in NYC living a block from Gramercy Park and she saw the first plane fly over her building so she knew something was wrong. I had moved to STX after living in NYC for 13 years, so it was surreal watching the footage from here. In a way I wished I was still there; however I would have had a long walk home from the time life building to Carroll gardens Brooklyn due to the suspension of mass transit, causing millions to walk home!

Have had a home in NY suburbs, as well as being in stx for last 30 years, but this was such a local catastrophe for folks living in NY..(or NJ, or CT etc). Father of someone on my son's soccer team, firemen and cops living in neighborhood, and on and on. Luckily my DIL and her sister were not in their employer's WTC office that day, but most everyone living here knew victims in the buildings, and/or on the planes. The lucky ones were the ones who left the building in the beginning and did not go back in when they were told it was ok, which actually happened...
A 24 year old best friend of one of my sons worked in a WTC building that did not fall...but they were on a floor in the 50's, with big windows, and could not get out for hours. All he spoke of to my son the next day was seeing people jumping from the building next door before it collapsed...

With love in my heart, I remember.

i remeber where I was on that day. Working in a trauma center about 60 miles from NYC. We went on alert to expect mass casualties. None came. I was not affected personally until several years later. I was on a solo vacation to Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda. Last night of my trip, I stopped at the bar to have a night cap before returning to my room to pack. I met a woman at the bar, also alone and we we sruck up a conversation. She asked why I was traveling alone and I explained I had divorced several years earlier and liked to travel and was still mourning the divorce. I asked her why she was traveling alone. She said she had been widowed several years earlier and was still mourning her loss. I asked her how long she had been widowed and she said since 9/11. She and her dream husband had only been married 6 months. He was a trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. She also stated that her mother in law had just filled suit against her to recover her settlement money stating the two had not been married long enough for her to deserve it and that she just needed to get away somewhere to process things. I said her story won and proceed to buy the next several rounds of drinks. We stayed at the bar for hours drinking rum and smoking cigars and reminiscing about our lost loves. We laughed, we cried and we hugged. In the wee hours she took my hand and stated that she didn't want to be alone that night and if I wanted to pretend we were married for the night? It was a beautiful night together. Therapeutic for both of us. The next morning we parted and decided to meet for lunch before my departure. We had lunch and lounged on the beach together until I had to leave. We exchanged contact info and hugged goodbye. I had, in the mean time, arranged for a large bouquet of flowers to be brought in from STT with a note that read "Thanks for the chance for tropical romance". I had a email from her by the time I got home thanking me for the flowers. We stayed in communication for some time and even planned a trip together. I eventually stopped hearing from her. A couple years later, friends convinced me to try and get back in touch with her. The contact info I had was no longer current. I did an extensive Google search for her. Eventually, I found her obituary. She died a year and a half after I met her from cancer. My friends theorize she was diagnosed about the time she stopped communicating with me as to not drag a casual acquaintance into her ordeal. I still feel bad for not being there for her in her time of need. Want a tragic life for such a smart, attractive, accomplished young woman. She hated being a lawyer and had gone back to school to become a teacher. Her name was Carrie and I pray for her, and all the others, every 9/11.

About two weeks before the attacks while working in a car dealer in northern NJ I was speaking to my service advisor about repairs to his clients car. A few minutes into the conversation we were interrupted by two men shouting at the car rental agent. Both had middle eastern accents and were looking in our direction when I commented about them and their behavior. They had the coldest most lifeless look in their eyes I had ever seen. My immediate reaction was what's the problem with the two terrorists. Afterwards I gave myself a mental slap for thinking such a thing never mind saying it.

Two days after the attacks the dealership was crawling with the FBI and local authorities. I went to the service desk to find out what was going on. The advisor from two weeks earlier called me over to his desk and asked, "remember the two guys who were shouting at Roy the rental agent"? Yup, why? It was then that I learned they were two of the 9/11 hijackers who flew into the Pentagon.

Fifteen years later and every year since I hear their voices and remember their eyes and how they looked at me. I often wonder what might have happened if I had reacted to my thoughts and talked to the police or other law enforcement.

Sausage and Pdmargie thanks for sharing. Both stories blew me away and PDmargie I feel so very sad now - what a tragedy!

I am born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. While I was living in VA when this fatal day occurred, my soul bleed for New York. My friends were in the 1st tower, and didnt listen when told to stay in the building. They escaped via the stairwell, and are alive today to share their story.

My brother was the 1st military branch dispatched to the scene. It changed his life forever. He was the apart of the cleanup crew. He still cannot speak about what he had to do, without crying.

My prayers always to all of those that lost love ones as well as those that sacraficed their lives for others.

Proud American

The very first, and last, three steel high-rise buildings that collapsed due to fire; I will certainly remember it.

I was active duty in Alaska at the time, we had to patrol our buildings perimeter for a week 24x7 with M16's.... in ALASKA... I'll certainly remember that for a long time.

My mom called and woke me up, I turned on the TV and with in 30 min I was called into work.