Nine Years ...

reply to post by schrodingers dog


I'll second that motion .

Come on folks , let's keep it clean . It's not gonna kill us to be civil towards each other through one thread .

This one aint about who's right or who's wrong .

That day is still fresh in my mind, my daughter had a ticket to fly to New York that day at 4:00 PM, as I was watching the events unfold I panicked as I couldn’t remember if she had left the day before, I was so confused and forgot I talked to her the night before about her flight for the following day. Her destination was two blocks from the WTC where her district office was located, it turns out they were alright but she didn’t know that for three days. Later when the public could fly again she did go to New York, she was very nervous about getting on that flight and as her mother I was also, I kept calling the airline and watching the news until I knew she arrived safely, her flight back home was just as traumatic.

My other daughter’s former law partner and good friend had moved to New York two months before and his offices were in the WTC, he didn’t make it. He had a wife and twin daughters two years old who were still in Michigan as he hadn’t found a home yet so they could move there. My daughter is still very close friends with his wife but she never talks about it, nor does her friend. She has devoted her life to those two little girls who don’t remember their father, what I know is that she had never been in a new relationship since that time. I know most of my daughter’s friends but have never met her, maybe that is for the best, what would I say to her or not say to her. My daughter tells me she has not gotten over it, maybe she never will, but she is in my thoughts and prayers, God bless them.

reply to post by LoneGunMan


I care! I've been there!

thanks OP for this thread of story telling and civility.

on "THAT day"...

my wife and i were brand new to san francisco. i had an office downtown in the mission district. ( corner office with fish tank and stereo - ahhhhhh the height of the dot com...)

i got up and did my usual routine getting ready for work.
when i got on oak st. heading down to my work, there was NOBODY out and about. i was wondering if it was a holiday i had missed or something.??

i had flipped on the howard stern show that was being broadcast on live 105 at the time, and that's where i learned what happened on "that day".

when i got to work my manager had left me a message to go home if i came to work that day. ( i was so new they didn't have my cell number yet)

i remember the people that i DID see downtown were all looking at each other, with a look that you normally don't see here. (people don't really "look" at others here in general)

i called my father whom i don't get to talk to but once a year, (his accordance) and we talked about what happened. "that day" brought a lot of people together after cell phone networks opened back up.

then afterward, nobody could laugh or joke for what seemed to be a month long.
never forget.
-zoo

It's odd how things you are not connected to can become so vivid in the mind. I didn't lose anyone i knew on 9/11 and yet the moment i switched on the TV and saw it is crystal clear in my memory.

I had walked downstairs to make some toast, did that, switched on the TV and saw the headline along with that flaming gash in the building. My immediate thought was simply that a plane had acccidentily flown into the building and i thought of the families of those who would be dead. I watched for maybe 2 minutes before i got up and called in someone who was washing a car on our drive. We both sat there watching what we thought was a simple tragedy. Then the second plane came flying in.

Both of us just sat in stunned silence as that plane crashed into the second tower and the realization that this was not a simple accident but an attack decended upon us. We carried on watching as the pentagon was hit and the towers collapsed. As the second tower collapsed i remember saying "Theres going to be a war". I'm not psychic obviously i just knew that someone would have to pay for this terrible incident because the public would demand it.

I suppose that's all i have to say about the matter. I watched for the rest of the day, felt sorry for the people involved and when i went to sleep that night i just feared the world that would come out of it.

Not sure if this is very helpful or if it's what you were after but it's just how i reacted.

Nice thread.

Peace.

reply to post by thedman

Originally posted by thedman
reply to post by nh_ee
...
Usual truther comparison of apples to oranges.....

thedman - it's such a shame that "respect" failed on the first page of this thread!

You do people a service when you explain why the two events don't really equate.

You do people a disservice when you make negative generalisations and you really say more about yourself than those you attempt to belittle.

Regards,
JJ

[edit on 31-8-2010 by JohnJasper]

A very noble thread, shrodinger... thank you.

It is fascinating to read what others remember of that day.

Myself, it is a bit blurry.

I was in middle school, and our social studies teacher was late to class - so we were all probably goofing around and wondering where she was...

Then, she came rolling one of the school T.V.'s into the classroom... eyes red and tears running down her face.

I vaguely remember seeing fire and smoke on the screen after she turned on the news... I'm not sure I can claim I saw the second plane hit as my memory is not complete.

I think after those couple days, we all went back to being kids. I don't remember the events playing a very significant role in my midwest childhood.

But now I know that all of the 'adults' were probably talking about it nonstop.

Fast forward to the fall of 2008... my first semester at college.

Someone had etched the word 'zeitgeist' into one of the bathroom stall walls... so I googled it.

7 years after the event, and I had no idea that there was a third tower... I hardly knew about the other plane that crashed or the 'plane' that went into the pentagon...

It honestly scared me that I didn't know a damn thing about that day.

How could I have lived for 7 years post 9/11... and not know about WTC 7?

It was too much of a reality shift, so it catapulted me into the rabbit hole ever since.

It is quite dark down here... but I have learned to be the light yourself.

reply to post by thedman


Read the OP please, out of respect please don't go there. This isn't about how it happened, but people's feelings and reactions.

I think perhaps if there was any good to come of 9/11 all of us held our children, husbands or wives a little closer. Everyone was thinking of their families safety. It certainly made us all appreciate the ones we love and sweet shortness of life.

[edit on 31-8-2010 by Asktheanimals]

reply to post by schrodingers dog



I was answering the conspiracy loon who brought up Empire State Building
as some sort of comparison to WTC

My experiences that day

Working at oil-chemical refinery Linden NJ

Was in my office in basement with my partner when boss came in just after 9AM. He had witnessed second plane slam in WTC 2 with dozens
of my fellow co-workers. Told us that planes had hit WTC and both buildings were on fire. Told him that was pretty sick - he said was true
Go up and look for yourself. Went to top (5th floor) and watched as WTC towers burned until South tower collapsed and smoke/dust obscured scene.

Let us out just after lunch - were preparing the refinery for Iwo Jima.
Cranes dropped huge concrete blocks in road to block access. Called in all duty cops to man gates. Went to my firehouse and listened to
tranmissions from scene - chief had placed us on standby with county fire coordinator in case needed. Also covering for Paterson which had sent entire day shift to WTC to fight fires. Heard the radio call to clear area around WTC 7 . Watched on TV as WTC 7 collapsed.

Alot of great posts here by everyone.

I was really mad the islamic fanatics had killed so many ppl
and attacked our country.

I was sure we were going to war and not half arse it this time.

I bought the official story for a few days til I looked at it closer
then I thought some things seemed off a bit.

The speed the towers fell at did not match pancake theory.

The building 7 thing didn't make sense either, but I was at best
thinking bombs might have been hidden in building 7 in the parking
garage like they did in the WTC years before.

Thou I did not know about the FBI ties to the earlier van bombing
years before in the parking garage at that time.

After I watched "9/11 press for truth" is when I started to really
question the official story.

When I heard they would not release the video tapes from
multiple buildings around the pentagon I remembered they
pulled the same stunt here in OKC at the OKC bombing.

That is when I got upset and knew they were hiding something.

I also came across Jayna Davis's book The 3rd terrorist, and
it was quite illuminating in regards to OKC.

To this day I still do not presume to know the whole story,
but one thing is obvious.

They lied, and they did it knowingly, and repeatedly.

I think fear of what could happen to them has keep the lie rolling.

I think some were under the impression it was allowed to happen.

I think some think if the FBI had involvement in the first one,
then did they in the this one ???

The deal around FBI agent John P. O'neill was odd, he had been
basically booted from the FBI for being to aggressive on pursuing
Al-qaeda and made some mistakes as well.

I think he was setup to be honest, and why he ended up dead in
the towers.

When the Sibel Edmonds story broke showing that the Taliban and
members of Al-qaeda were on the US payroll right up until the
day before that was the last straw for me.

That said at some level there was US involvement.

The fact the were running injected targets into radar with a scenario
much like what happened at the exact same time made me very
suspicious as well.

When the EXACT same deal happened on 7-7-7 in london I knew
it was not coincidence.

Running a drill of same event, and the real things happens during
the drill that mirrors the drill.

I read several books after that, watched several documentaries
and found some actually hurt the truth movement.

But I always came back to the 9-11 timeline site, and the show
"9/11 press for truth".

When the israeli men admitted on TV in israel they were sent
there to document the event, and a woman saw them dancing happily
I knew they at least knew prior to the event.

They were arrested for it and later released.

It made me think of the USS Liberty incident too.

Again, good posts by everyone, and you are totally entitled to believe
what ever you want, but I ask you offer the same to me.

Much respect to those that died on 9-11 and the innocents who died
half way around the world that had nothing to do with it, and the
brave military ppl that have died doing what they think is right.

Good Luck to all the good ppl !!!

With what is coming, we are going to need it...



[edit on 31-8-2010 by Ex_MislTech]

reply to post by Ex_MislTech

The building 7 thing didn't make sense either, but I was at best
thinking bombs might have been hidden in building 7 in the parking
garage like they did in the WTC years before.

So they hid bombs in the garage ? Just one problem WTC 7 didn't have a parking garage! It did have have a receiving dock on the east side

A shipping and receiving ramp, which served the entire World Trade Center complex, occupied the eastern quarter of the 7 World Trade Center footprint. The building was open below the third floor, providing space for truck clearance on the shipping ramp

Even if they hid bombs in the building why did it burn for 8 hours before collapse? That makes lot of sense ..... Plant exposives in building then watch it burn for 8 hours

Now the fire would either destroy the wiring/det cord connecting the explosives or cause them to detonate from the heat.

Premise of "controlled demolition" is to detonate explosives in proper sequence to cause building to collapse

Only in a conspiracy fantasy would this all make sense.....

reply to post by thedman


thedman - Go Away!

This thread is not about proving or disproving theories but about people relating their memories. It is quite proper that it would include what caused them to lose faith in the official story or the alternative theories.

Several people have said that they have discounted all conspiracy theories except the official one but I don't see this as the place to challenge them. I believe the same holds true for the ones who have doubts about the official theory.

The building 7 thing didn't make sense either, but I was at best
thinking bombs might have been hidden in building 7 in the parking
garage like they did in the WTC years before.

It's obvious in the quote above that Ex_MislTech was surmising about a possible scenario, not stating it as a fact.

The 9/11 conspiracy theories are being discussed in 100s of threads at ATS and beyond. If you just have to debunk, please do it elsewhere.

Regards,
JJ

(edited to add quote)

[edit on 31-8-2010 by JohnJasper]

reply to post by JohnJasper

It's obvious in the quote above that Ex_MislTech was surmising about a possible scenario, not stating it as a fact.

Was pointing out the flaws in logic - aka planting alleged bombs in building
and then watching it burn all day

Point of planting explosives is to detonate them as soon as possible

I woke up late for work. Since I was late, I didn't have time to sit around and watch TV.

No radio in my car.

I got to work (at a small airport in the northwest working for a large airline), and only 2 people were there... Normally there would have been 15-20, and probably more, since we had a barbecue scheduled for after our noon launch.

When I walked into the break room, the station manager and ramp manager were sitting there, glued to the TV. I sat down, and nobody said a word for more that 5 minutes. I just sat and watched in awe. I couldn't comprehend what was happening.

After someone finally decided they told me to go home, as all US flights were grounded. I went to a friends house, and watched the news loops over and over and over. Just unbelievable.

Regardless of what anyone thinks/knows/believes happened, this day was a defining day in the history of our Nation. As it turns out, it was a turning point for many nations, though maybe not the way they thought it would be at the time.

the morning of 9/11, i was asleep following a long night of studying(finals were upcoming for CS degree) and my phone rang off the hook....constantly, continually until annoyed, i picked up and sleepily barked out "what?!"...it was mom..the only woman we all know that can hockey check you back to your senses ..." Boy! dont you yell at your momma! baby turn on the TV."

suddenly awake, i turned on the TV after apologizing to moms, and i seen it....tower 1 smouldering...a camera helo circling and the tickers on the bottom screaming that a plane has hit the tower. My first words to her were "mom, this is just a movie trailer lol, whens it coming out?" not believing what i seen on my screen....then my cellphone began ringing off the hook as well.

it's my "brother from another mother" a best friend of mine and active US Marine. i pick up, now i have 1 phone on each ear "hey, it's jeff, we're at DefCon 2, i cant talk much, but i'm fine...will maybe call you later" as the second plane struck tower 2, he hangs up.

i hear my mom scream, i tell her to calm down and stay put and i throw on my clothes, call my GF and dad. he's an army vet, been out for a while but still a gov. person. He tells me to meet at their house, grab my GF and we'll discuss a plan for the event this isnt an isolated issue.

i call my GF but she's already en route to her parents house, so i let here go, and arrive @ my parents. when i get in, theres a nice amount of "boom sticks" in various array of strip-n-clean. we discuss the possibilities, and reminds me that, should things get bad enough, we (me and him/any other servicemen former) could both be possibly reactivated, he, frmr army, me, navy only out for a few yrs. we talked over a plan of action if this was a major US issue and not just isolated to NY, then the towers fell, one after the other and we looked at each other, then back to the TV, cold. so with the plan i went back home, still not believing what i just seen/the implications that will not doubt reverberate across this country, and i got pissed....super pissed.

i replayed the towers/innocent peoples demise in my head, heading home and thoughts/questions kept playing back..."that played out like a movie..almost staged, i dont get it..." "who would be so bold?!" and "who did we piss off?" but more so..."i've seen documentaries on the design/construction of the towers, including the japanese architect...how in the hell could they have fallen like that?!"

weeks later, after graduating, i sat on the edge of my bed holding a marine recruiters card....i wanted revenge, i was mad, no one attacks us like that and expects to live....i wanted heads to roll, but i had to calm myself and realize, who's really responsble for this?

At that time I was living basically right by the mixing bowl and was about ten minutes drive from the Pentagon(via the hwy). I was working off route 28, the road that Dulles is located off of, and we were located directly under one of the major inbound flight routes. We would often watch the jets come in, literally non stop, ruffly a minute or two apart from each other.

I had to be at work by 9am, and it took me a half hour to get out there, so by the time I had finally made it to my office things were in full swing. As I'm sure you can imagine, the DC Metro area is riddled with federal agents, and while standing outside our building, we were already seeing them racing down the road towards (downtown) DC(via 66).

But, I think the thing that stands out most to me about that day, is after the Pentagon was hit, there was a flood of emergency, police, and fire responding to the scene, racing down route 28. It didn't stop until well into the afternoon. I think this really touched home with a lot of us that were there that day. Not only had the city where we lived been hit, but we were actually watching first responders that were soon to be helping the injured and fighting the fires. It made it very real. Another thing was that all of the phones in our 30 line office were basically dead, our cell phones were basically dead. Every once in a while you might get a dial tone or connect a call, but this was rarely for a few hours.

I have tried to convey this before to everyone who didn't see it with their own eyes, but afterward I drove past the Pentagon. It was very late at night, and the entire area was lit up with lights. Wanting to keep my distance, I chose to use 395 late at night so that I could get a good look at it, the view I had would have been the one that would of had a perfect perspective to be able to watch, from the side, the actual jet coming in and hitting the Pentagon. One thing that I always stress, and I'm sure the WTC site was the same way, but viewing the Pentagon site through photos and or video does not even begin to come close to being able to portray the actual hugeness of the Pentagon and more importantly the size of the impact hole. Looking at it with my own two eyes, it was easy to imagine that something gigantic caused the impact damage(hole/collapse).

My girlfriend was sitting in a apartment on the 7th or 8th floor, in a building located next to the Pentagon. There happened to be no phone there, she worked for a airline out of El Salvador, and she was visiting at the time. She had just recently endured a decent size earthquake in San Salvador. The apt she was in, faced away from the Pentagon. She said that when the jet impacted that the entire building shook and the windows shook as well very loudly. She instantly assumed that there had been a earthquake, then she began to hear the sirens, needless to say she was very upset. She didn't think to turn on the TV for over a hour, once she did though she finally realized exactly what had happened and that that was no earthquake she had thought it was.

Thankfully, I didn't loose anyone I knew in the Pentagon attack, I had a friend though that did. What amazed me, was the instant overflow of patriotism. There are millions of people in the DC metro area, and the mornings and five o'clocks rush hour traffic is incredible. The amount of people on the roads is unbelievable, a trip that might take you ten minutes with out a rush hour, will take upwards of two hours. This is no exaggeration, but what was amazing was even that night of 9/11, every single car on the road either had a flag on their antenna, or a flag that you place in your rolled up window(like from car dealerships). Or they had a flag literally hand drawn or printed out from a computer, put up in their back windows. People put flags up everywhere.

I have to mention this also, sometimes I would have to drive from dc to Ohio. I had to take one of these trips right after 9/11. I will never forget, and we are talking about a four hundred plus mile trip, which is mostly on highways out in the middle of no where. Every single bridge that passed over the highways, the entire way there, had a US flag attached to it. Literally, every single bridge, it was unreal to think that on some of these bridges that were literally in the middle of no where there would be a big flag attached to it for all of us traveling below to see.

My job also required me to fly a lot, I would say a month or so after 9/11 I had to fly to New Orleans flying out of Dulles. I'll never forget the fully geared soldiers walking around or standing posted. All of them with their rifles in their hands. They were at almost every major airport I went to for awhile after 9/11, it was a strange site to see.

Anyways, that was my 9/11 experience, thanks for everyone else who is also sharing their experiences.

First off; Though I've been skimming this site nearly every day for about half a year now,
yet I've never posted anything myself.
But reading trough this thread I realized, I've actually been subconsciously longing for a place
to share my memories of that day.
So I'd like to start by personally thanking you, the OP, for making this thread.

I actually don't remember much from that day, yet the things / images I do remember are crystal clear.

I was coming home from school, just a day like every other.
When I look back to the hours before seeing the incident, I remember really feeling like a child. Not a care in the world.
I haven't had quite that feeling ever since.

As I approached my house, I noticed how silent everything around me was.
Normally at that time a day, the town would be steaming with activity, cars and sounds.
I remember going inside my house, and shouting "I'm home!" like I always do. But I got no answer.
So I went upstairs to see if anyone was home.
As I walked into the livingroom, I saw my mother sitting with her eyes glued to the TV,
with tears streaming down her face. I asked her what was up, and yet she still didn't move her eyes from the TV.
So I sat down next to her and then I saw it. Re-run after re-run of the first plane hitting the tower.
And then the second. We sat in complete silence for nearly 10 minutes until my brother came in, slamming the door as he always does. It was like a hypnothist snapping he's finger.

From there on out, I have no memory of that day. I basically went autopilot the rest of the day.

I remember seeing on the news the same week how G.W.Bush was told the news.
He was reading a book to a class of 4th graders or something, yet the book was upside down.
In retrospecc I can only look back at that day with anger. The sheer arrogance...

In my breif period here at ATS, I still haven't felt like posting anything yet.
So thank you again OP, I personally think there should be a lot more threads like this.

S&F

I saw it unfold on TV.

The first thing I thought when the first plane hit was, "Wow. That's a bad accident. What a bad pilot. Tragic."

Then the next plane hit, and I remember my mom yelling, "They hit it again!"

I thought, "they?" I was not conspiratorial at this time. I believed most of what the TV told me. That being said, the weird part is...

I immediately thought the government did it.

That's my story...

[

When the israeli men admitted on TV in israel they were sent
there to document the event, and a woman saw them dancing happily
I knew they at least knew prior to the event.


Has everyone forgotten the footage that immediately came from Gaza and the West Bank that day when they found out 'The Great Satan' had taken a bloody nose? Do you not remember seeing the Palestinians dancing in the streets and celebrating, or did that get taken of US tv a bit sharpish? In UK I remember them showing it for at least a couple of hours, and then someone pulled the plug on it. No happy Jews there. I think they empathise with people running explosives into buildings.
Anyway...
As I recall 9/11, I was in a pub having a beer (5 hours ahead of you guys) when they showed it on the 'breaking news'.Saw the first tower on fire, watched as the second tower got hit. Remember thinking how weird it was with the cameras focused on the towers (after the first hit), as if expecting something else to happen. Was shocked, but remember about a week or so later, feeling angry that the US suddenly expected the world to sympathise and drop everything to accomodate their wounded pride and loss.

My country has been main land car bombed and had shopping precincts blown up by the IRA for over 30 years. Funeral parades targeted, Christmas shopping stores, you name it. Did the US give a #? No. Some elements even supported the Irish armed struggle against the UK. When the boot is on the other foot, suddenly it isn't ok, or is it just the volume of numbers that makes it more shocking and different?
America, like the UK and various parts of Western Europe, has been sticking its nose in all over the world and is no longer welcome. I guess that's foreign policy for you, regardless of distance.