9-11-01 Never Forget!

[Venturous]

September 11, 2001, is one of those days we all remember where we were when...

 

I was working a 7am - 3pm shift at the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center. The day started out like most. We worked the early morning rush into the Charlotte, NC hub. Then I took a break.

 

I headed to the 'crack shack'. That is what we smokers (I quit in 2006) nicknamed the outpost the FAA gave us. Basically a 12 X 14 shed with electric, nicotine stained furniture and a TV. As I entered I noticed all my fellow smoking controllers glued to the TV which was showing the WTC bellowing smoke. As we all speculated whether it was a small aircraft accident or what, we all watched in horror with the rest of the world as the second jet flew into the second tower. It was clear.. America was under attack.

 

The page system came on with a manager ordering all controllers to the control room immediately. I ended up working Sector 32 which is a high altitude sector covering an area from north of Charlottesville, VA to Greensboro, NC at altitudes from 24,000' to 33,000'

 

The first order that came down was to divert any aircraft inbound to the New York area to an alternate airport. So we took care of that. Next we were ordered to broadcast 'ATTENTION ALL AIRCRAFT. COCKPIT DOOR SECURITY PARAMOUNT'

 

Then, the young woman controller working the sector beside me began to sob. She was just told over the radio by one of her flights that an aircraft just crashed into the Pentagon. Shortly after, we were ordered to divert all air traffic headed to the Washington DC metro area to alternate airports. That included IAD, DCA, and BWI. We then took care of diverting those flights.

 

At one point many of us heard a supervisor come down the isle exclaiming ' We just shot one down over Pennsylvania' I have no idea if that was just bad info or what. But it has been a burning question in my mind ever since.

 

Then, the decision was made at FAA headquarters to ground ALL flights. This was the first time in aviation history that this decision was made. After I was issued the order, I started clearing flights into RIC, GSO, ROA, and RDU. I tried my best to split them up evenly so not to overwhelm any one airport. Within a few minutes, that seemed like hours, my radar scope was completely blank. That feeling was so unexplainable!

 

Afterward, all sectors were combined to one radar scope and I took another break. The only flights left in the air at this point were fighter jets assigned to fly combat air patrol over Washington DC and New York.

 

At one point after all flights had been grounded, John Ashcroft, the US Atty General was in Ohio. He took off in his G4 and headed for DC. We all listened as that G4 tried to get permission to enter DC. The fighter pilots who were flying a combat air patrol over Washington DC assured his pilot that if he entered the CAP he would be engaged. Ashcroft apparently ordered his pilot to ignore the fighter pilots warning relayed by the controller and continue on.. You could hear the stress in that pilots voice as he was stuck in middle. Finally, approval was received and Ashcrofts G4 was escorted by fighter jets through the CAP and allowed to land in DC.

 

Since our facility was so critical, we had double backups for power. A huge room full of batteries that are charged by massive diesel generators. When they fired up the generators, a huge plume of black smoke came from the exhaust pipe. Apparently a neighbor saw this and called CNN to report that our FAA facility was just bombed. The idiots at CNN reported this without confirmation. My wife had just picked up my sons from school after hearing the news. As she returned she found our neighbor there to consul her as he had seen the CNN report.

 

We at the center heard about the CNN report and we all tried to call home to reassure our families all was OK. But it took forever to get a line to work. I finally got word to Lisa that we were just fine.

 

When I first walked outside, I could not believe my eyes. In that short time, they had put jersey barriers in front of our main entrance. And the rooftops were full of Leesburg SWAT in full gear. More police were swarming the facility with bomb sniffing dogs.

 

I am proud of how my coworkers all handled themselves during this time. We later learned that many things by the FAA and other agencies could have been done better. But this type of attack was unprecedented. I am also proud of how we all as Americans seemed to put our differences aside long enough to make sure these bastards did not bring our nation down. They did cause much hardship for many years, but they could not break the spirit of Americans. And never will.

 

Never Forget!

[etcswjoe]

I was on leave in Va when it happened helping my brother put on a new roof, his father in law came out and told us a plane had hit the Word Trade Center.

 

I was stationed at the Naval Personnel Command in Millington Tn and my wife called hysterical wanting me to come home, I had to wait two hours in line to get gas before I could leave. The base was locked down tight and it took me several hours to get back in and it was like that for months after.

 

I lost several shipmates when the Pentagon was hit and I will never forget.

[BG Hawks]

Never forget is right. Thanks for sharing your stories and your service that day.

[Jrichard]

Hey Gary ----thank you for that remembrance of that day----------Last Sunday they did a "Rattle the runway" at Dulles--and then on to The Pentagon for some time to reflect!------Thanks again ---jrichard:clap2::usa::usa:

[Carbon_One]

911 is one date in history of our great country that never will be forgotten. Thanks Venturous for your story. I was at work as well and it was very eerie for me to not see a plane anywhere in the sky as we live near an airport and its flight paths.

[dacheedah]

I was on the PD, I watched lt on tv and saw the second plane hit. At work right after I was assigned to take the patrol boat out and sit behind the water company. It was eerie not seeing any plaines in the sky. Instructions were given to protect our water supply so someone was also at street level.

[b2dad]

No, we will never forget!

 

My story is that of a worried mother. Jason had just started flight school and I was worried sick that they would call him up right away to serve in whatever capacity was needed. All I could think of was him leaving for overseas / sandpit without me getting to say goodbye. Talk about a rude awakening...I was the "Viet Nam" generation and thought when that was over, we would never go to war again, much less have an attack here on our home soil. To think that we were going to put our sons and daughters and other family members in harm's way again...it still makes me emotional.

 

My sister (now retired army) was stationed in DC at the time. Thank goodness she didn't work at the Pentagon. she did send me pictures of alot of the destruction and we cried together.

 

I certainly understand the why...and hope we find every last terrorist and rid this world of them, but as a mother...it's hard.

 

I will NEVER forget! Thanks again for sharing your stories.

Edited September 11, 2014 by B2MOM
grammar

[bongobobny]

Patti makes an excellent point, our home soil was invaded, unlike Viet Nam, Korea, and all the Central and South American skirmishes as well as Kuait, etc! How quickly we forget that fact! We are at war, and will continue to be at war with any terrorist group that either has or can cause damage to our country. I will continue to support our troops and the decisions made by our Government related to this threat!!!

 

 

9/11 NEVER FORGET!!!

[cowpuc]

Thanks for that amazing story Gary and THANK YOU for this thread!! Also THANKS to all our free world service men and women who are serving right now, hunting those low life scoundrels who brought us war, murdered those innocent people and continue to perpetrate such atrocities on our way of life..

My mother was just a little girl when Pearl Harbor was blind sided years ago. Her birthday is December 8th and, because of the extreme trauma of Japans actions against us and losing a birthday party as a child, can remember well EXACTLY where and what she was doing when the news that we had been attacked happened.. I have had many discussions with her about it thru the years but NEVER really understood the deep emotions connected with such a horrendous thing until that filth did what they did on 9/11.

Tippy and I had suffered a house fire in our home in Ravenna about 4 weeks before the attack happened. On 9/11 I was curled up on a couch in our living room watching TV, half the living room area was blocked off with plastic so drywall dust couldnt get into the kitchen.. Tippy and the kids were sleeping in a trailer we had gotten to live in while the house was being remodeled..

All of a sudden a news break came on with pictures of the 1st Tower that had been hit coming on.. Thinking it was an accident of some sort, my mind instantly went into feeling really really sorry for those folks in NYC who were suffering.. I went and got Tippy and we watched in horror as the second plane did its unforgettable damage.. INSTANTLY I SCREAMED - "THATS AN ACT OF WAR" - "WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!"..

I now KNOW what my mom and millions of other Americans felt like on December 7th, 1941. I will never wonder again how people, like my mom, can have such vivid memories of times so long ago. I will never forget the memories of 9/11/2001 - truly a day of infamy for all of us who appreciate living in our free society!!

[Yammer Dan]

I saw something that day. Working Super Max in a Maxium Security Institution. The boys that couldn't behave in Max security. Badest of the Bad. Always hearing from them how screwed up our system is. Waited to her them cheering for the terrorists that morning. These misfits were 99 per cent cursing the terrorists right along with us and talking what we should respond with. There were a couple of screwballs that wanted to cheer the terrorists but they shut up very quickly when those hardened criminals responded. Left them no doubt what would happen if they didn't shut up. Convicts and I smiled at each other a few times that day. We were togather. I remember one statement from a convict to one of the ones that had started to cheer the terrorists. "Hey the Sgt. is a Vet why don'tyou talk that Sh** to him. We ain't seeing nothing. You fell down the stairs!!" Not one of those wanted out of their cells for anything that day. Didn't want to shower, didn't want to go to the rec yard. Didn't attempt to cheer any more and showed up with some strange bruises the next few weeks.

[Ky. Rider]

Also, remember how patriotic and religious the country became after that. I have never seen anything even close to those sentiments that lasted a few months then begin to fade. Flags flew everywhere, displayed on vehicles, clothing and businesses unlike anytime since WW2. That part of it was invigorating to say the least.

[Eck]

I was on the phone with my wife, when all of a sudden she said: OMG a plane just hit the WTC..I ran next door to my office to the break room where there was a tv and watched it. I yelled out the break room door for everyone to come in and watch it.

I will never forget that day..

[BigLenny]

This morning I worked for an hour or so in my office at my house before I decided to hit the road and go see some customers. As I walked through the living room to leave, I grabbed the remote to turn the tv off because my wife had left it on before she left to go to work. It was on mute, but I noticed it was on the History Channel and they were showing a documentary on voice recordings of people who were trapped in the WTC towers after the planes hit. They had several family members experiences with when they received phone calls from their loved ones while they were in peril. I couldn't leave it. I sat down and eventually watched the whole program and so many of the same heart breaking feelings came back to me. Our country certainly has stood strong, but all of the loved ones of the people who died are still dealing with the great losses they experienced. It's amazing that it has been 13 years. That time has flown by. But, when you watch a program like I did this morning, it's like it happened last year. Makes me wonder if it will always feel like that til our generation passes?

 

Just 2 weeks before 9/11 we had gotten back from a wonderful two week vacation that my wife and I had taken with our 3 teenaged kids to Washington DC and New York City. On our first day in New York we went to the Empire State Building, then on our second day, we went to the World Trade Center and then rode the Staten Island Ferry and such. We as a family feel so blessed that we had taken that trip and experienced the beauty and incredible heights of the WTC towers. It was the best vacation we have ever taken as a family. However, when we received news that the first plane had hit the north tower, and we all watched in horror as the second plane hit live on TV right in front of our eyes, we could not fathom the idea that either one of those buildings would ever come down. They were so freakin huge! Not only in height, but girth. The idea that they could be brought down was so far fetched, it was like a crazy dream. Nobody in our whole family besides me, my wife, and our 3 kids had ever physically seen the WTC towers. We tried with every amount of words we had to describe to our family and friends just how huge these buildings were, and how unbeleivable it is for them to actually collapse. It's still as amazing to me today as it was back then. I want to always remember to take the time to respect the lives of all of those innocent people who died by remembering them on 9/11. I guess I did that by taking the time to stop and watch the program like I did this morning and seeing the sadness in the eyes of the loved ones who still today are heart broken, and I felt it with them again.

 

3020 people lost their lives that day. Lets not ever forget.

[Donvito]

On September 11, 2001, I was working at a petroleum and chemical storage facility in Bayonne, NJ which is just across from the World Trade Center. We all carried walkie talkies to communicate within the 600 acre facility and were in our daily morning meeting when a report of smoke coming from a tower came over the radio. We continued our meeting until a transmission reported a plane crashing into the second tower. We all went outside and watched the events unfold.

 

The following Saturday, a Rolling Thunder ride took place from various spots in NJ to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel, NJ. I'm not a veteran but I rode along side my brother who was a Marine and served in Vietnam As we rode, thousands of people lined the streets and overpasses waving American flags and cheering. It was an incredibly moving experience and all the bikers were wiping their eyes. I'll never forget.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Donvito

[Barrycuda]

I was just coming out of the Brooklyn battery tunnel, which is 2 blocks away from the towers. Since it is a one way street, I had to rush past the area, take a detour (with passengers) and get the hell out of there. As soon as I took the bridge back across Brooklyn, they locked down the area. No one in or out. People were walking across bridges to get home or away. I had to find my girlfriend at the time 8 hours later because no cell service. I have 7 rolls of film undeveloped from that time. I also saw heavily armed military surrounding the area and taking supermarket shopping centers into mini command centers. The next 6-8 months were 24 hour flatbeds hauling debris away onto a barge. The smell was sickening. People were bootlegging DVD s of people falling or jumping to their deaths near Chinatown causing riots between the NYPD and FDNY.... Criminals jumping in dead fireman suits to loot and rob the area....I'm not one of those who saw it on TV. Sadly I was there and my next door neighbor, a FDNY lieutenant passed away. His wife gave birth 2 days later...

Edited September 12, 2014 by Barrycuda

[cowpuc]

I was just coming out of the Brooklyn battery tunnel, which is 2 blocks away from the towers. Since it is a one way street, I had to rush past the area, take a detour (with passengers) and get the hell out of there. As soon as I took the bridge back across Brooklyn, they locked down the area. No one in or out. People were walking across bridges to get home or away. I had to find my girlfriend at the time 8 hours later because no cell service. I have 7 rolls of film undeveloped from that time. I also saw heavily armed military surrounding the area and taking supermarket shopping centers into mini command centers. The next 6-8 months were 24 hour flatbeds hauling debris away onto a barge. The smell was sickening. People were bootlegging DVD s of people falling or jumping to their deaths near Chinatown causing riots between the NYPD and FDNY.... Criminals jumping in dead fire and suits to loot and rob the area....I'm not one of those who saw it on TV. Sadly I was there and my next door neighbor, a FDNY lieutenant passed away. His wife gave birth 2 days later...

 

I am still just plain speechless when I hear of your history involving 9/11 Barry. I just cant even imagine!!! You have no idea how thankful Tippy and I are that you made it through all you did being right there at ground zero and did not develop a scornful attitude.. To survive is one thing, to survive and go on living a great life and loving your fellow man is heroic my friend!!

[DragonRider]

It was something I will never forget, for one thing the wife and I were in Boston for a couple of weeks in Sept, 2001, visiting my cousin and her family. We flew out of Boston's Logan airport on 9/9/2001, just 2 days before it happened. Logan was a very busy airport that day with the Boston Marathon being over and everyone leaving Boston, we were diverted from 1 flight to another that wasn't so crowded make it home. Then 2 days later I am sitting there watching the news and couldn't believe what I was hearing, when I first saw the video of the first plane hitting it looked like a smaller jet like a 737, didn't learn that it was a 757/767 till later, then my daughter came over to tell me that her now husband who was working in N. Y. at the Fox Bldg, had called to tell her what happened so we sat in stunned silence and watched as the second one hit. He said from where he was when he came out of the bldg it was after the 2nd plane had hit and they started herding people out of Manhattan, he walked across the Brooklyn Bridge like so many others did. The death toll of all these attacks was higher than the death toll at Pearl Harbor!

 

At that time I was driving Hot Shot and later that day went out on a run and it was really strange not seeing any contrails or hearing any jets in the air, very very eerie. It is a day I will never forget. God Bless America.

Edited September 12, 2014 by DragonRider