15 Years

Amen! Proud to say my future son-in-law is NYC firefighter

Remembering is important. I myself was on NATO orders doing an exchange with the German Air Force that day.

Things changed in a big way after that, not least of all for people who travel.

Fifteen years, it is indeed hard to believe. So much suffering.

Still so fresh - even 15 years later. We will never forget.

We were in Caernarfon Castle when we first heard what had happened. We kept hearing bits all day but it was not until later that day when we checked in to our hotel and watched the news that the gravity of the horrific event became apparent to us.

I was in Scotland staying on Mull and visiting Staffa and Iona on 9/11. I was on Iona when the North Tower fell. I didn't know then. We were all just enjoying the gorgeous day and I remember seeing a robin singing its heart out inside the Abbey Church.

I has been a few years since I sat and listened to the names of those who died on 9/11. It is hand to listen and it is emotionally exhausting. Since April I work within a block of the Memorial and catch glimpses of it nearly every day. There always huge crowds there and for the most part they are respectful. When I visit the Memorial, I walk over to the north side of the north pool and look for Doug Stone's name. Doug was on Flight 11 the plane that flew out of Boston. He was on his way to California to visit his son. Doug was the finance guy at the printer that I worked for in Vermont. He became partners with my manager when the company was sold. It was a small company and when the company had to change how they paid me, Doug made sure that I didn't suffer financially because of the change. I think of him and his business partner and friend Tad as I look out over the water and block out the crowds. I am so glad that the family members got the Memorial to themselves today.

Pam

I appreciate this post Nigel. I will never forget how the UK stood with during the nightmare, even lowering flags, and offered to help us in any way. I'd also like to give a shout-out to Canadians as well. When our airports had to shut down and flights were shunted to Canada, Canada welcomed our stranded citizens who had been been trying to return home to the USA. Canadian citizens living near where the stranded Americans were on planes graciously came out to the airports bringing food, comfort, blankets, and supplies. Much love should go out to Canada and the UK on this day.

About 2 months ago we had friends from Australia stay with us. One of our neighbors, a retired General, asked if we would like her to set up a private tour of the Pentagon . I thought, they aren't going to care but I was so surprised at their enthusiasm, excitement and respect they showed. When we stopped at the 9/11 Memorial, they told us how they were so stunned and upset when they heard the news of the attack. Such a sad event brought the world together at least for a short time.

In my case I was working on the trading floor at one of the big Swiss. First reactions were that our news feeds had been hacked because this just could not be! More thought it was some kind of stupid war of the worlds type stunt, but no it really was true and our counter parties, people we spoke to almost everyday were in serious danger!

Over the following days as the full impact on Cantor Fitzgerald started to crystallise, we started to realise that our contacts were not in danger, they had in fact been killed. I remember one young guy who discovered that every single person he knew at Cantor Fitzgerald had died! He was off work from months as a result.

May they all rest in peace.

I've been reading this past week so many memoirs/articles about 9/11 that today feels more like Memorial Day to me than anything else. I'm feeling very reflective today, and more than a little sad ...

Thanks for posting this Nigel.

We will never forget...

We spent about 10 days after it happened in England. The Brits were amazing. The flowers, memorials and momentos left with the personal stories were amazing. In every town and city we visited there was a memorial and a book of condolence. So many left personal stories, photos or post cards of their visits to the WTC or Washington DC. Without fail everyone who heard we were Americans expressed their sorrow about the events.

The Friday following the attacks we were at Coventry Cathedral. The Bishop was there to deliver a special reading of the regular Friday Litany of Reconciliation. It was a very moving service - if you've not been it is delivered in the remains of the cathedral from the 1940 bombing by the Luftwaffe. A new Cathedral was built next to the old one. It is a very special place.

Makes electing good people to lead us more important than ever.....

Well said, BG, it is important to elect good people.

Yes, every year, I reflect upon and remember this terrible event. I will never forget where I was when I saw the first plane crashing into the first tower. A co-worker called me to his computer with CNN news on the screen showing the frozen image of the first plane. We scratched our heads in puzzlement over what it was. Then we got back to work - I was in a meeting and did not know what actually happened for another hour.

I went to the 9/11 Museum in NY last summer and paid my respects. It is beautifully done, if you ever go to NYC.

Judy B

I should add that while I was in Scotland after 9/11 I was surrounded by wonderful people. For some reason I did not encounter any fellow Americans until I left the next Tuesday, one week after the attack. I think that we often forget that 67 British citizens died that day. I flew home on an American flight from Glasgow to Chicago. It was the same crew that had taken off the week before and had been turned back two hours into the flight. They were edgy to say the least, but incredibly professional. It was a hard time.

I was still a middle school assistant principal (an administrator at a school for 11-14 year olds). All day we were trying to calm parents, students and staff. My fellow asst. principal's brother worked in Tower 2. She was devastated but worked hard all day and we both nearly broke down when he called her just after lunch time saying he had had to run an errand and was not in the tower. Our school was located about halfway between the 2 nuclear plants near Charlotte and almost in the middle of a major fuel (gasoline, jet fuel, etc.) depot area, locally know as tank town (for all the huge tanks of fuel). I went out to check the bus lot a bit early that day. I was both terrified and a bit relieved when a black hawk helicopter rose over the near by houses and circled the school, then headed back towards tank town.

Hubby and I were in London on 7-7, in fact we were in Paddington Station. We were to fly out that evening to Hong Kong. Very 'interesting' day wondering if we'd be able to get to the airport, if our flight would get out and trying to reach our families in the USA to let them know we were safe (the days before cell phones, etc. were common).

I always remember those 2 days and constantly pray that some day soon we will find a way to stop the terrorism.

Thank you Nigel for the remembrance.

I watched the documentry this morning called 102 minutes that changed the world, it was extensive coverage of the events as they unfolded, many newsclips i remwmber watching on the actual day as event unfolded.
It was as horrifying to see it all again as it was on the day of, it was so much worse than one could imagine. Made me cry when they had an audio clip of a phone call where a fireman or some 911 operator instructed someone who was in the Tower to " stay put " and " dont try and decend" and the person was obviously asking if they should evacuate. Hindsight being 20/20 , i am silently screami g " run run" ..

Nigel, thank you for posting this.

I was in college on 9/11 and just returned from Italy two weeks before. My mom and sister came to the gate with me in St. Louis before my flight departed, and I only remember that because after 9/11 they stopped allowing unticketed passengers to the gate.

I was getting ready for class in the morning and on TV saw both planes hit the towers. In the car on the way to college, I heard about the Pentagon and the Shanksville, Pennsylvania plane crashes. It was still so early in the morning - before 9:30 Central Time - that I wondered what else would happen that day.

They had TVs on rolling carts in the hallways in every building I was in at school. My university is near the St. Louis airport which grounded all flights. Only fighter jets flew. The silence was so eerie.

I went to class that day because I wanted to be around people and not alone all day. I took an English lit class that fall and on that day the professor said he would hold class because he didn't know what else to do. He said it so plaintively. That simple honest statement stayed with me all these years. No one knew what to do that day.

After watching several of the 15th anniversary shows on t.v. last night, I woke up today to brilliant blue-sky-sunny and cloudless weather in central Pennsylvania - exactly like that on the morning of Tuesday 9/11/01. In fact, the weather was so perfect that day, when I returned to my office following an early morning meeting and was told that a plane had crashed into the WTC, my first reaction was that it couldn't have been an accident. (I assumed that NYC was experiencing the same weather conditions as we were.) A day that started out so beautiful quickly transpired into the most horrific one of my lifetime.

My husband was a recruit division commander at the Navy's boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois (just north of Chicago). Many of the recruits had family in danger, and it was a long day while they waited for news. Those kids - and they were kids - entered the Navy for a variety of reasons but after that day, it became a very different reason. Then many signed up because of 9/11.

I was working in a hospital in the Chicago 'burbs and from the moment it happened, we were glued to the TV. So much fear and anxiety for so long after. The annual events bring it all back.

Pamela, thank you for sharing the story of your friend, Doug, it really brings it home.

As Sarah said, the relative silence in the skies in the days after was eerie. It served as a constant reminder of the burden others were enduring.

Nigel, Thanks for posting this.

I watched the towers being built and even visited half completed offices before the WTC opened.

I was no longer living in NYC when they came down and it felt so helpless to see the rubble and everyone fleeing over the Brooklyn Bridge and the incessant beeping of the fire fighter's locator devices. Tragic.

I was lucky and no family members were there that day and I only had to wait about an hour to hear from them.
Many of my sister's neighbors were not lucky.

We remember.