Never Forget (1 Viewer)

Irish

Straight Flush
Supporter
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Messages
7,713
Reaction score
27,018
Location
NJ
imrs.jpeg


Remembering the loved ones we lost 18 years ago today and those who continue to protect and serve. Never forget!
 
18 years? Thats incredible, it does not feel that lt was that long ago.

I still remember exactly where i was and what i was doing, down to the tiniest of details.
And the following days and weeks, even months of the surreal sense of shock. For everyone
 
18 years? Thats incredible, it does not feel that lt was that long ago.

I still remember exactly where i was and what i was doing, down to the tiniest of details.
And the following days and weeks, even months of the surreal sense of shock. For everyone

Same here. I know exactly what I was doing when this shit happened.
 
View attachment 336255

Remembering the loved ones we lost 18 years ago today and those who continue to protect and serve. Never forget!
I know the man who took this picture.
Good guy who lives in my town.
He donates all proceeds from this picture back to 9/11 funds. He now teaches journalism at a local University.

Here is more about him and that day:
 
This day always feels like a kick in the nuts every year. It's been interesting as an educator to see the difference between students over the years. My son's school is doing a freedom walk and is having all students wear red, white and blue. The building I work at nothing was/is done, not even an acknowledgement on the morning announcements and it breaks my heart. I always put some artwork up for the students or spend a few minutes 9n it because I think it's important. Here's the picture I put up today for the students:

20190910_190302.jpg
 
Today is my parents Anniversary. 18 years ago, they went on their first vacation since I was born (I'm the oldest) without kids (it was their 30th Anniversary). They went to Las Vegas. My in-laws went to a wedding in Ireland. I had just been laid off (Sept 6), and threw my back out the day before. I laid on the couch all morning in shock, as scared as I have ever been in my life. What will happen with our parents? When will they get home? My wife's uncle was in tower 2, and made it out. It still hits me hard every year. I never expect that to change.

Mark
 
Had the TV on getting ready for work that morning. Was watching the news, showing the first tower burning, when the second jet hit. I'll never forget that moment. You knew right at that moment it was terrorism.
 
This day always feels like a kick in the nuts every year. It's been interesting as an educator to see the difference between students over the years. My son's school is doing a freedom walk and is having all students wear red, white and blue. The building I work at nothing was/is done, not even an acknowledgement on the morning announcements and it breaks my heart. I always put some artwork up for the students or spend a few minutes 9n it because I think it's important. Here's the picture I put up today for the students:

View attachment 336285

That's great that you do that for your students. My kids are 13 & 10 and the school's handling of it has varied year to year. We've had some discussions with them about it and now that they're a little older have had them watch some of the news specials on TV, adding in our own experiences in watching everything unfold. We also make a big point to stress how folks reacted to the tragedy and came together for one another. Them having not experienced/lived through that and growing up in today's divided culture, they honestly have trouble believing it, its sad.

I knew folks in both towers, all thankfully made it out. My dad was in the city that day and was tentatively scheduled for a meeting one of the upper floors, had trouble getting in touch with him as the wireless network was jammed immediately following, made for a very stressful time.
 
We're getting to the point now too where now young adults weren't old enough to really remember what happened.
 
For sure, one of those events that are burned into our memory. Everyone remembers where they were the day that it happened and the sick and stunned feeling. Yes, never forget those lost and the brave men and women who were the first responders and those who worked after to help return NYC and the whole USA to some sort of normalcy. Yep, hard to believe it’s been so long. Thanks @Irish for the 9/11 reminder
 
I was a jr in high school and we had TV's in every class with the news on. As young adults/kids we were all in shock. The teachers didn't tell us what was going on, they kept quiet as of course it was a shock to them as well. It's sad it takes tragic events to bring humanity together like this did. Thanks for the post.
 
My Dad was in Texas that day thankfully, as at the time he often worked in tower 2. I still have his swipe badge for WTC. I was in college and watched it unfold live in the student union at Towson University. Still remember walking to class before the towers fell and before most students knew what had happened, thinking the world will never be the same. And it hasn't been.
 
My Dad was in Texas that day thankfully, as at the time he often worked in tower 2. I still have his swipe badge for WTC. I was in college and watched it unfold live in the student union at Towson University. Still remember walking to class before the towers fell and before most students knew what had happened, thinking the world will never be the same. And it hasn't been.
Wow. It's amazing how the little things that are normally so inconsequential, every once in a while, become so critically important.
 
I remember where I was and how I felt when JFK was assassinated, and 9/11 the same way. Two years in 'Nam and the deaths of close family members never left me with that same sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I worked at the time across the highway from the Pentagon, so heard the crash directly -- we were already watching the scene from NYC, having seen the second plane hit, live. I also heard two secondary explosions about ten minutes later, which I've never seen explained.

The plane that hit the Pentagon went right underneath my wife's brother in D ring. He survived by about 8 feet. After they got all the survivors out of the strike area, he walked to our house, about two miles away, where he set up a mini-command post for his Pentagon office. Everything, especially transportation, was pretty much shut down -- he couldn't get to his home in Maryland until late the next day.

And if it hadn't been for the heroics on Flight 93, it might have been much, much worse.

Eighteen years later, and we're still fucking around in the middle east. The bro-in-law mentioned above retired from the Army, and still works at the US Institute for Peace, dealing with that area every working day.

As a nation, it's been pretty obvious since Vietnam that we don't learn well, if at all.

From Facebook:
A2509A14-4101-433E-8861-78422E5900A8.jpeg
 
Last edited:
You definitely never forget where you were, when you heard the news. I can recall every little event from that morning with incredible detail.
I shared this before, but 5 years ago, I attended a conference for work in NYC over 9/11. My wife and I took a cruise around Manhattan around dusk on 9/11, and got several great photos of the skyline, including these. It was a very powerful/emotional time to be in the city.

Never forget!

F1199C7C-65DB-42CF-AF5C-F3FC8E415295.jpeg
05138EF8-E6B6-425F-9484-5D28657C92C5.jpeg
 
This day always feels like a kick in the nuts every year. It's been interesting as an educator to see the difference between students over the years. My son's school is doing a freedom walk and is having all students wear red, white and blue. The building I work at nothing was/is done, not even an acknowledgement on the morning announcements and it breaks my heart. I always put some artwork up for the students or spend a few minutes 9n it because I think it's important. Here's the picture I put up today for the students:

View attachment 336285

My school encouraged us to use lesson plans today, but I just wanted my kids to see snippets of what happened, explain briefly why it happened, and then have them think, feel, and write in step. I asked who knew anything about 9/11 and one kid said "lots of people died" and another said "its a sad day". At 18 yrs since, we've officially crossed over to the generation of students who were not born when it happened, so it may as well be WWII to their minds...

I showed footage of the smoking tower and the second plane crash. Of the Pentagon crash. Then I showed them this video poetry reading by Billy Collins and had them write their own poem about a bad time in their lives or about something that scares them, or how this made them feel. Then I told them a bit about my 9/11, spent panicked uptown and spilling into the streets trying to walk to get my ex-wife, who worked downtown, out of the city. Amidst the exodus we made home to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn through Queens, and arriving home around 10:30pm. There were army tanks and armed soldiers on our streets. Everything smelled of fire and the debris, soot, and paper rained down all day.

I worked in the WTC until 1 month prior. My brother worked in the WFC but was laid off a few days before. My old co-workers were all on their way in as it happened and just turned around and left the city asap.

The kids were mesmerized and I was emotional. I've never been more scared or nervous in my life, and I lost nobody. Never forget.

 
The Drew and Mike show was morning radio at the time...now they're a podcast. Theybdisba short show and then re-broarcast the 9/11 show from 18 years ago. The confusion was fascinating to listen to again. I can't hear that audio without getting pissed off all over again.

And if it hadn't been for the heroics on Flight 93, it might have been much, much worse.

Preach.
 
Last edited:
I remember where I was and how I felt when JFK was assassinated, and 9/11 the same way. Two years in 'Nam and the deaths of close family members never left me with that same sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I worked at the time across the highway from the Pentagon, so heard the crash directly -- we were already watching the scene from NYC, having seen the second plane hit, live. I also heard two secondary explosions about ten minutes later, which I've never seen explained.

The plane that hit the Pentagon went right underneath my wife's brother in D ring. He survived by about 8 feet. After they got all the survivors out of the strike area, he walked to our house, about two miles away, where he set up a mini-command post for his Pentagon office. Everything, especially transportation, was pretty much shut down -- he couldn't get to his home in Maryland until late the next day.

And if it hadn't been for the heroics on Flight 93, it might have been much, much worse.

Eighteen years later, and we're still fucking around in the middle east. The bro-in-law mentioned above retired from the Army, and still works in the US Institute for Peace, dealing with that area every working day.

As a nation, it's been pretty obvious since Vietnam that we don't learn well, if at all.

From Facebook:
View attachment 336316
I'm in my 40s, and remember my teachers in school telling me they remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when JFK was assassinated, as well as my grandparents telling me the same about Pearl Harbor, and how as a kid thinking why would you remember those details, I was just reflecting on those thoughts earlier today..... now I understand that part of it. The rest still doesn't make sense.

Thank you for your service well Larry.
 
Sobering thread Eric, thanks for posting.
I was driving home from work this morning and the radio station was playing different news reports from that morning.
It felt like 18 years ago all over again, just as it seems to feel every year.
My brother was doing consulting work at the pentagon at that time and fortunately was late leaving for work that morning.
He was about a mile away when the plane hit.
I still have the pictures he took from the hilltop on the other side of 395 near Crystal City.
So thankful the dumbass overslept that morning!
E7DC9890-2B92-4C4F-8677-4E0C21CE24F1.jpeg
 
I was in the Navy on 9/11/01 and was driving into work when the first plane struck. I thought to my self what a terrible accident. I stopped at 7/11 for coffee. As I drove the rest of the way on base, I heard that the second plane had hit the towers. At this moment I knew it was no accident. I boarded my ship about 45 minutes later and the Skipper was on the Quarterdeck greeting us as we came aboard. His words will forever be in my memory, "The Pentagon was just attacked, we are at war gentleman, make preparations for underway".

We left San Diego shortly after - ordered to patrol the west coast for the next 30 days. We were not scheduled for a workup, we left port that morning with no idea what was next. The following 5 days were on high alert. Tracking every plane in the sky the first few hours, orders to fire SM2 missiles at any that appeared to veer off course. We were at high alert for 96 hours, no news of what was happening stateside, no contact with our families. The thought of having to push the button to launch missiles that would certainly kill hundreds on a plane, but possibly save how many lives, weighed on our minds. We returned to port about a month later, and the military was forever changed for me. We now stood armed watch, two on the flight deck, one on the bow, and a watch on the 02 deck with a scoped rifle. Standing orders to report any incoming small craft with potential to fire.

I lost a shipmate from boot-camp and my technical school in the Pentagon attacks. We graduated 1st and 2nd in our class, I had first pick of orders. The Pentagon was one of my choices. Danny was engaged, he asked me if I would take orders to the 'C' school - Small Combatant Communications Pipeline, with follow on orders to the USS McClusky (FFG-41). He wanted to be stationed on shore duty, so he could marry and start a family. I agreed, took the orders, and he when to the Pentagon - where he passed away on that somber day. 18 years later, I have my 18th drink in his honor. There is a remote possibility it could have been me. I no longer think of it that way, but he is the 1 of thousands who passed that day that I knew - a friend, a shipmate, a sailor. As this day draws to a close, I sit with 2 drams of Scotch, and toast to the memory of Daniel Caballero.

Fair Winds and Following Seas.
 
In October last year we visited New York and we visited the memorial.
It's really an impressive place... We could really feel what happened with all the personal effects still there, the rests of the sturcture, the testimonies, ...
Also Ground Zero is a very special place. Very peaceful place.
Visiting this place made us realize once again how life is precious.
Once again because 2 years ago, on 1st October 2017 we had to run to a safe place when a man started to shoot from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. I would never imagined finding myself in such a situation, hearing a machine gun shooting in a crowd...
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom