9/11/2001

[TheGrey]

I can remember everything about that morning; the smell of the cleaner and floor polish at the vet clinic, the name of the dog on the table awaiting his groom (Rocket), the color of scrubs I was wearing that day (dark blue scrub pants, solar system scrub top). My spouse had called, told me to turn on the TV and that a plane had hit the WTC. I told the doctor and his office assistant to turn it on, an we watched the second plane plow into the building. It's odd; I remember hearing nothing for a few seconds. I could feel the air push completely out of my lungs as I slowly understood that what I was witnessing had no prior context that could fit into my experiences. I was horrified; I was enraged and outraged. All I could do was shake for a minute.

I still feel the breath leave my body when I remember.

[SideShow Bob]

I was on a bus heading to a team building, outdoor adventure camp when we heard about the first building being hit, then as we were exiting the bus, the other building was hit.

[Gman]

I can remember everything about that morning; the smell of the cleaner and floor polish at the vet clinic...

Interesting that you mention this, since smells can really 'fuse' memories into our minds.

[Joe_K]

First day of school. I was 12 years old. I Listened to the whole thing on AM radio. Never Forgive, Never Forget.

I pray our current administration finally does justice to all the American lives lost to Islam going back to the 1700's.

9/11 was not the first or the last strike.

I still believe there is/was more than what the official story is, whether that is the Saudi connection, or purposeful neglect by individual actors, our government dropped the ball before, during, and after the event.

We will have to wait till all .gov/.mil reports are declassified....in 150 years.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

[OtterbatHellcat]

Interesting that you mention this, since smells can really 'fuse' memories into our minds.

I'm interested in the fact that you would mention this. Highly psychological, and quite intellectual in analyzing the experience of remembering.

Then again, you might actually be .......just a creepy bastard...

[Gman]

Some education on the phenomenon, and personal experience with smells bringing back memories and being a creepy bastard.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Creepy bastard Club? Is there a place for that?

[68Charger]

My oldest born daughter was about 7 months old, being nursed by my wife as I am getting ready for work (an extended contract for a trading network for NASDAQ)... when I heard on the news of the first plane, I figure oh shit, better get to the office quick now... cut breakfast short and started hauling ass faster than usual into COS.

I'm on Hwy 115 right near Juniper valley restaurant when I hear on the radio the second tower was hit... I'm in shock for a bit, but then get angry and start doing 85 on a nearly deserted hwy...

I get to the office about 7:40, and what few people are already there are looking at news on their computers, or on TV screens in common areas. I login, reach our NOC on the East coast and ask what's the plan... since I normally do Backbone upgrades or Customer installs... I figured damage control is first on the menu.
It was a Tuesday, and the next several days were a blur..

We would get to the office as early as we could, join a "triage" conference call bridge to get an assignment, and would get on a separate call with a field tech to bring up a circuit to a backup location for a customer to resume trading when the markets could reopen... which was decided to be Monday, 9/17 come hell or high water.
Legally, the markets couldn't open unless 2/3rds of the traders could login... so our goal was for 90% or better to have access to do so.

I remember working 16-20hr days through the weekend... most of it was just a blur of calls, IP addresses, and router names. But one stood out- LATE Sunday night I worked with a tech in a Connecticut sales office to turn up the 2nd circuit of a redundant pair for Cantor Fitzgerald... I remember the story of Howard Lutnick, losing almost 3/4 of their staff, including his brother... surviving only because he was late that day dropping his son off at kindergarten.

I turned up up the first T1 circuit up to their sales office in CT on Thurs or Fri, and was pleased to mark off the redundant circuit that night so they would be able to participate in that historic market open... I heard from the tech they had a rough time and had lost many on 9/11, but you can imagine how blown away I was when a documentary came out called "Out of the clear blue sky"

http://www.outoftheclearblueskymovie.com

It was then that I realized I had a (albeit small) part in a very large picture.
I still cannot watch even clips of Lutnick with a dry eye... his story really humanized the experience from another point of view. It really changed my point of view from one of anger and contempt for our enemies to recognize the loss and be compassionate for those that lost so much that day, and in the battles since.

RIP, victims of 9/11...

[Scanker19]

I had the privilege/honor to go to the memorial in NYC last year. It is one of the most surreal experiences i've ever had. It's really unexplainable unless you've been there. you seem to run the gamut of emotions, and since I was Alive when it happened it made it even more so. Make a day and go, but only do that on that day, the experience could emotionally drain you.

[CO Hugh]

The question to ask is why we're still fighting the same enemies in the same place 16 years later? Negotiating with the primitive scum is a fools game. Drop a thousand MOABs on every little village and encampment from Afghanistan into Pakistan. Annihilate the Taliban. Wipe them off the earth just as they murdered American citizens in New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, and our soldiers in Afghanistan and beyond. That's winning, Mr. Trump.

I believed when it happened that it required a gang style war, ie dead bodies no press conferences and no holding territory. After reading about it I believe the real comparison is the wars against the Indians, a war that took more than 200 years. On 9/11 I thought a tactical nuke in Afghanistan was too much by 2004 or so not so much.

The saudi's are dependent on the US and are very afraid of the terrorists and radicals who have in their sights the royal family. There are a lot of Saudi nationals in the US and very odd the support they receive, Al Turki comes to mind, John Suthers traveling to Saudi Arabia to swap spit with them.

I also belive it is a ruling class problem, ie both parties, that they don't understand the threat of ISlam, and how to counter it in nontraditional means.