Thread: remember today

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It is amazing how disasters become implanted in the mind.I got up this morning and proudly put up "OLD GLORY".I can remember as a kid when Pearl Harbor was bombed and it has never went away.

Texas is facing a major Hurricane (IKE) this week end,I pray there is no loss of life like some of the Hurricanes of the past. Prayers to all that have lost Loved Ones in their life time.

I was at work when I heard and at first I thought it was some kind of a cruel joke. When I finally saw the pictures I had the same horrible lost feeling as I had watching the Cuban missile crisis unfold. I kept thinking this was the beginning of a retaliation process that would finally escalate to the nuclear level. My main worry was the legacy of ashes it would leave to my grandkids.

Glad Don Dalton put up his flag today...everytime i see and old ragged flag at a police station, fire station, post office or even a hotel...i go in and ask them if they need money for a new flag and that they should be ashamed...usually within a week it has been changed...have a friend in north carolina that does the same thing...he got some slack from on of the hotels so he called the boy scouts in town and had them go back to the hotel and complain...the next day a new flag was flying...

My memory of 911 is like the day JFK was assassinated. The morning of 911 my daughter called and franticly said turn on the TV, I was in shock and the more I watched the more I could not believe what was happening. Earlier I had seen all of the bombing in Israel and the people be killed in sidewalk café’s, a thought came to my mind that, that could happen here, and now it was. As we watched in disbelief my wife said do you think the towers will fall? I said no being an Ironworker and have worked on buildings in Chicago. I kept thinking I would see helicopters dropping water any minute but they never came. I wasn’t thinking how big the planes were with all of the fuel, and all of the things that would go up in flames as soon as the planes hit. My thoughts turned towards my niece that I helped her decide to join the Army so she could get college money after serving. She joined in August, and one month later all hell broke loose. I thought why did I tell her to join. The buildings did fall to my disbelief I was stunned. At night I would look up to the sky and see nothing but stars no planes, and where we live is a holding pattern for O’Hara Air Port that always has so many planes over our house high in the sky. Over the days, months, and maybe a year the people were all ready to do whatever necessary to protect our Country. My niece did get sent to Iraq she was in supply so they needed people with that training. I was scared the entire time she was there, I tried to send cars of support every day. At times she drove an 18-wheel fuel tanker truck, she stands about 5’ tall but she did her job, and thank God she got home safe. I had a nephew plus great nephews, and cousins sent over there like most people that had young kids as relatives. Our leaders for a while had the chance to make this a point in time that future generations could have thought like World War II that we did the right thing but we went after the wrong people. I am as American as any body else, I’m the eight-generation in this Country, and I was a Soldier willing to put my life on the line for the good of this Country. You can’t go back and change the mistakes; all we can do now is hope and pray that the war ends soon and that this Country will take care of the ones that were injured. I have always been 100% behind the Soldiers they are doing what they are told to do. My brother went to Vietnam like he was told, and later died from cancer as a lot of Vets did from Agent Orange I stayed state side like I was told. If we could all be more kind to one another as Don stated earlier it would be far better for all of us.

Richard

Very well said Richard. Thank you and your niece.

I was in line in my 87 Jaguar at the vehicle emission inspection station when they announced the second plane. Every car in both lines pulled out and left; I remember thinking that the nukes were next and praying I could get to my kids before they hit.

Originally Posted by jyardgirl

I was wondering if this is how everyone thought when they struck pearl harbor. Maybe some of the guys here remember.

That is a great question. I wasn't born yet, but I remember talking to many older guys when I grew up and they had a deep seated hatred for anything Japanese. I know that you can't blame a whole nation for the dictates of a handful of people who run that Government, but I can see how they felt that way. If we had dropped a bomb and leveled the country that was harboring the idiots who were responsible for 9/11, I would have been thrilled at the time. We were all so angry, hurt, confused, and scared at the same time. It still astounds me that after 7 years we still can't find that Camel Jockey who lives in a cave. Get the Mafia on the case, they will take care of him in a couple of weeks.

Don

That's what I was thinking also Don, or the IRS one of them for sure would have chased him to the end of the earth.

Richard

I was still in High School and didn't even know about it until around 11:00 going to my next class and I was about to turn right down a hallway when someone said it to me. I thought that maybe they were lying (you know how kids like to stretch stories) and it was just some plane that hit it accidentally.
Then in class the teacher told us about it (we didn't get to watch much TV, teachers acted like nothing happened). Wish I could have joined the military right then and got sent over but I was not finished with high school and couldn't. I could still go and would like to but I am trying to figure everything out right now. A little action in Iraw would be nice but from what my friends tell me over there, it's not action now, it's sitting around and keeping order there (or trying to). Instead I joind a fire department to keep me busy and serving someway until I figure out what to do.

I was just getting off work from working the night shift at the Hospital. I remember the day shift coming on and mentioning something about a small aircraft flying into the twin towers. As I got in my car, I was listening to the news when the first reports of a commercial airliner were coming through. When I got home I flipped on the T.V. and saw the second plane hit. I was sick to my stomach. All of those people trapped in those two towers(it was terrible. My wife and I had tickets to go to europe in Feb after 9/11. All of the europeans were so nice to us, even the Parisians! Yesterday my wife flew out to Ohio on the anniversary of 9/11, I was a little worried about her flying on 9/11, but she said the airports were packed. I too went down memory lane with the anniversary of 9/11 and these posts. What a terrible date in history!

I was driving to work on the expressway when the first one hit. Radio reported it as a light plane. I was at work when the second hit. Knew then that this was no accident.

My niece who works in NY and lives in NJ, was on her apartment balcony and saw the first plane hit and then watched the entire event. She was thoroughly frightened afterwards. Her younger sister, who had friends working at Cantor Fitzgerald, was in France on business and couldn't get home due to the FAA lockdown. They, like the rest of us, will never forget.

I was eating breakfast and turned on the news---reports of a small plane hitting a building---little later became the first tower---saw the second plane in the distance and having flown out of NYC many times I knew that it didn't belong there and was going to hit the other building--I wa sin NY on a layover when they tried to blow the towers up the first time, watched the smoke out my hotel window---

After the buildings fell we went out to buy some hard groceries--potatoes, beans, rice, canned stuff sacks of flour/sugar and filled up out fuel tanks and went to the local red cross to give blood---place was swamped with people for the same thing--absolute zoo---

Last night I went thru my log books to see when and how much I had flown the 2 UAL planes---I've never been able to do that before and as I read the crew names--

Jerry