9-11 ten years later

[gmas rabbit]

I cannot believe it. It has been 10 years already since 9-11. They were talking on the tv last night about the number of people who are still getting sick from the exposure to the collapse of the twin towers ( something like 20,000 ). I feel so bad for the families that lost loved ones and are still bearing the scars not only from the lose, financial burden, lives not lived to full potential and the illnesses. 10 years ago I went out to my daughter's in Alberta to babysit when she was due to deliver. Several days later they attempted to induse labour and were going to send her home. She started to hemmorage, and Logan was born by "C"section. At the time we were told they didn't think that they could save either. But things turned out fine and 3 days before 9-11 they were released from the hospital. The day of 9-11 it was my 50th birthday and we all got up with great expectations. Life seemed good, Logan and my daughter were home and healthy, we were going out to celebrate. We never left the house once the TV was turned on. 9-11 this year I am celebrating my OMG I cannot believe I am that old birthday. 9-11 the event that changed our thinking, sense of safety, our communities and country. What are you doing that day?

 

[Little Cow]

I was commissioned as a naval officer in May 2001 after serving 4 years as an enlisted sailor and completing a scholarship/commissioning program in Washington DC. I actually knew a few of the folks killed in the Pentagon attack. Anyway, after commissioning, I was sent to Newport, RI for training as a Surface Warfare Officer (officer of the line onboard war ships). We were about to do our physical resdiness test when we heard the news. We gathered in front of a tiny tv in a coffee shop in our schoolhouse. Soon after, we ordered off base in case the War College was a target. I went to the barn where I boarded my horse and spent my time with her. We could smell smoke for more than a month.

 

[Violet23]

I was in Grade 7 in school that morning, my teacher for first class came in and told us the news. we were all young kids, it didnt really register with most of us. i cant remember but i think the rest of the day continued on as normal, but when i got home everyone was in front of the tv. i remember the look on my teachers face very vividly though, hard to believe its been 10 years already...

 

[TinysMom]

I'm sure almost everyone has memories of where they were when the attack happened. I think back to mine fairly often.

We were stationed at Andrews AFB in Maryland and the night before - I went into the bus station about 1 am to pick up Art from his trip home to see his mom.

I was tired and having a hard time getting out the door that day (I was a freelance merchandiser and had 4 stores to visit).

We rarely watched tv - and so we didn't realize until after we heard the news on the radio - that when we'd had a bad thunderstorm a couple of days earlier - it had knocked our cable out! That meant all of our news came from the radio....and neighbors.

I remember Art getting coffee in the kitchen and listening to the radio and coming into the living room and saying a large plane had flown into the towers. My first response was "terrorist attack?" and he was like "I don't think so".

I went back to my paperwork and he straightened up the kitchen - and then came back in and said, "A second plane has hit the other tower..".

We decided then that I should stay home that day - good thing too because the lines getting onto the base were something like up to 6 hours long.

That day changed life for us as we knew it (as a military family). We now started having to go through checkpoints and getting the car randomly inspected (more than before) and we had barricades to drive around, etc.

We lived near the back gate and several times we were evacuated due to bomb threats....

At church that Sunday - we heard stories from some members who worked at the Pentagon (in the area that was hit). One woman got to work - got violently ill and had to turn around and go home. Another man was wearing brand new shoes - wound up turning around about halfway to work to change them for his old comfortable shoes. Both people would've been in the section that was hit...

It also changed our lives because Art was due to retire....he wound up having to stay in the Air Force another year.

Anyway - those are my memories...

 

[Marisa (now MarisaAndToby)]

I was also in grade 7 I believe. My teacher asked us all if we knew what was going on, I did.

He then went on to explain to us that the world would likely never be the same in our lifetimes, which really has held true. Some things just can't be undone, and global relations are forever changed.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I was watching the news and saw the second plane hit. Two of our friends that we met up with earlier in the year at Sturgis were there helping with the rescue efforts--NYPD- and were killed in the first collapse. I did three combat tours in Asia and truly wished I was back in my helicopter over MECCA with a full load! I've calmed down a little since.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I remember first hearing about it on the radio on the bus to school, I was also in grade 7. There was some talk in the halls at the beginning of the day and then some discussion in social studies. I really don't remember much of what was said at the time or really understood what was going on. I am not sure that anyone really knew what was going on that first day.

 

[BunnyLove♥]

I didn't get it at first either. I was in sixth grade. My mom got a call from her sister in Canada funnily enough and she turned on the news. I knew it wasn't good, but not how serious it was. Then I went to school. Half the school didn't show up and this was on the other side of the country in California. My first period teacher was from New York and he just full on busted out hysterically sobbing and that's when I realized how big what had happened was. After school my mom freaked out and bought 20 gallons of water and duck tape to seal off windows and doors and such. The next day she had us flee to Mexico. We only stayed there for a night or two, but still an example of how panicked people were. (and how nutty my mom is. haha.)

 

[Dustiechick]

I was 7 or 8 years old and every morning I would go downstairs and watch CBC kids. That morning the only thing on the CBC channel was news, and I remember going to my parents and being all mad that there were no cartoons and thinking the tv was broken. And my parents came down and saw it. They were shocked. And not understanding the situation I was still confused and disappointed about pack of usual programming..

 

[sbaxter]

9/11 was one of my 4 yr olds first days at school and due to an accident in the garden my husband was in a burns unit having skin graphs he struggled to watch the news as he knew just how much suffering those that walked out wounded felt esp those with burns May they rest in peace those that did not make it

 

[Bassetluv]

On September 11, 2001 I was sitting in my cubicle at work; had my headphones on and was listening to a local talk show. The host of the show interrupted a chat he'd been having with a caller to say that there was a news report of a small plane hitting one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. That was all he knew; that's all that was reported. In fact, he went on to discuss it for a moment with another on-air person and they stated that the reports were saying it was a small two-seater private plane. Yet as soon as I heard them say that the plane hit the tower a cold chill went down my spine...for some reason I immediately had the feeling that this was a deliberate attack, not a miscalculation on the part of a private plane. In fact, I went to a couple of colleagues and said that something odd was happening in New York. I was visibly shaken, yet didn't know exactly why.

Then when the newscast came on at 9:00, details still hadn't been much more than the original report...but halfway through the news came the report that a second plane had hit the South Tower, and that's when I got up and ran around. telling people that there was an attack taking place in the U.S. What really frustrated me was that no one would listen to me...when I told them that two planes had hit the Twin Towers in NYC, the largest reaction I got was, "Really? Weird"...and then they went back to what they were doing. Of course once the news was finally released that it was two planes, and that they were passenger jets, people began to sit up and take notice. Within an hour our building went into lockdown mode (even though I'm in Canada, it's a government building) and someone set up a tv in a conference room so we could follow the events. I watched for the first 5 minutes or so and then had to leave the room...I just couldn't watch any more.

To this day I can't comprehend the full magnitude of what people in NY around the Twin Towers went through....or the people at the Pentagon, or of the friends and relatives of everyone who was lost, from the four jets that were taken over by the terrorists to everyone who was in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon that morning. As far away as I was from all that took place, it still affected me profoundly.

May such events never happen again. ray:

 

[gmas rabbit]

Amen to that.

 

[LadyKat]

I remember I was living in Toronto, Ontario at the time. I was on the Street Car on my way to university class when the regular radio programing was interrupted to bring news that a plane at hit one of the towers. I remember thinking that it was a tragic accident. It was 8:50 in the morning. I was still on the street car when the next plan hit. I remember my instant shocked reaction when I knew this was no longer an accident and the other people on the street car started to tell those who did not have radios on about the what was happening.

I continued on to my class, where I had to shut down my radio. The small classroom of 60 was a buzz with the news. The last person to show-up for class announced that the pentagon had been hit. The class was a buzz again with people crying, people in shock. We did not do to much learning during that class.

I left the class room and my friend I went back to her dorm where we watched some of the news casts and images being shown. We were quiet, the whole thing felt so surreal.

During the following class we heard rumours (not sure if it was true or not) that they had evacuated the larger towers downtown, like the twin banking towers, the CN Tower and tourist attractions like the Eaton Centre just in case. We started to wonder what the University would do as we were only a few blocks away from the Eaton Centre. What if the terrorists attacked Toronto?

After the following class we were walking down to a bookstore when we found out the President was going to make an address. We watched this address from the corner of Yonge and Bloor on the giant screens mounted on the buildings. The sound coming from my little portable radio. Everyone in the area was frozen in place as they starred at the screens.

The whole day I was in Shock and it felt so Surreal.

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

I remember my bf had booked a holiday to Thailand for my 21st bday which was in November. I remember we were at home watching TV late at night when breaking news suddenly interrupted the program. It was late at night, we stayed up till we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. Needless to say, i was not looking forward to my trip to Thailand anymore.

The people that are sick now, are any of the illnesses due to asbestos poisoning?

 

[irishbunny]

I don't remember it that well, I was eight when it happened I just remember watching it on TV at home. We were the only country outside the US to have a national day of mourning, due to the high number of Irish people affected.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Numb is the only word I have to describe my feelings that day. Same as when we were sent home form school the day Kennedy was killed in Dallas.

 

[gmas rabbit]

They did an interview on first responders at the Twin Tower site. Ordinarily 30 in 10,000 get cancer. Right now 300 in 10,000 have cancer and it has not been included in the compensation bill. They are struggling on their own. New bill I think is being presented this week.