I Will Never Forget

[QuantumJo]

I Will Never Forget

I was with my brother, RC, at Majeskies Nursery picking up some supplies for the water garden job we were to install for a customer that morning. My Max Webster tape was in the deck, the tunes were loud and the bed was full of field stone, rubber liner, cinder block and various bags of decorative stone and mulch. It was a bright sunny Tuesday morning with not a cloud in sight. I was looking forward to completing the job, getting paid and having some ice cold beers when we were done.

When we arrived, my partner was at the job digging the hole for the water garden. The first order of business was to get the supplies off the truck. About half way through emptying the bed of its contents, the homeowner, a woman with silver hair, walked up to us and said “There was a terrible plane crash this morning”. I was saddened by the news and remember thinking that I would see it on the news in the evening when I got home. My brother and I continued to empty the supplies from the truck. As I was on my way to the back yard with a wheelbarrow full of cinder blocks, I noticed that the homeowner had brought out a portable color TV set and placed it on a table in her garage and plugged it in… and there it was, thick smoke bellowing from the top of WTC 1 and 2. I could hardly believe what I was seeing.

Soon afterwards I was watching the footage of the 767’s impacting the towers. It was surreal, I called the guys over and we watched. I sat down trying to put together what happened while the confused reporter was rattling off bits of information.

I desperately wanted to make contact with my other brother who lives on the lower east side of Manhattan. I called on my cell phone but could not get a connection. After several attempts with no success, I began to wildly throw the remaining supplies off the truck. I needed to get to a landline to see if I could get through to my brother. I left the job and raced home as quickly as possible, it seemed like my spinning tire would never hook up and give me some traction.

When I got home, I turned on the TV, only to see that there was only one tower standing. On the second attempt to call my brother I got through. He had told me that he was safe and so was his family. He told me his wife, who was on the balcony of their 22nd floor apartment, saw the second plane hit. The next call I made was to my Mother letting her know that my brother was safe and that he would call her. After that, I called my best friend Nigel who was living in Staten Island at the time. We talked a bit in disbelief with what was happening. He was on the roof of his apartment and I was glued to the TV. In mid sentence he said “Oh my God…they’re both gone…” moments later I saw the other tower collapse.

I lived in NYC from 1990 - 1991. That is where I met Nigel. We would sell bootleg videotapes in the towers, then after a good day of sales we would get a few beers and hang out by the water at World Wide Plaza.

Every year on September 11th (and as I type this post) I find myself in tears. Tears for the children that were lost that day, tears for the passengers on the planes, tears for the people that leapt to their death, tears for men and women in the towers whose life was taken from them, tears for the police and fire fighters who so selflessly went into harms way to help people that they have never met, tears for the loved ones of the victims, tears for the good men and woman who continue to suffer. Tears, tears, tears.

No, I don’t believe that I will ever forget.

[VAXman(Admin)]

I was in NYC one week to the day of the 9/11 attacks for a Flower Kings concert at the Bottom Line in the shadows of the WTC. It was The Rainmaker tour and where I first heard "The Last Minute on Earth". The song always makes me think of the WTC.

I too had been in WTC on many occasions. I was doing a security audit for Chase Manhattan Bank for awhile and would take the Path Train to the WTC stop and also for Cantor Fitzgerald -- a securities company -- in the WTC itself. People that had never been to the WTC have a problem grasping the size if what fell there that day.

I was in Anaheim, CA for a computer user group meeting 9/11. I remember it vividly. I awoke early still being on east coast time and a ventured downstairs in the Marriott to the Starbucks for a cup of coffee. People were standing about with vacant expressions staring at the TV sets in the Starbucks tuned to the news. A fellow member of the user group saw me and said "Hey, you live in the NY area, don't you? A plane just flew into the World Trade Center." I had assumed a small plan as I thought no commercial pilot could commit such an egregious piloting error. I got closer to the TV set and heard the announcement that a Jet hit the WTC. Again, I assumed it was, perhaps, a small corporate Jet. Then, as I was watching, the second jet was approaching and hit the tower. This was no small corporate jet. Within seconds, my cell phone rang. It was my wife asking me if I had the TV set turned on. I told here were I was and that I had seen the footage on the news.

An engineer who was to be presenting at that meeting later that week was a victim on one of the jets that hit the WTC. The organizers of the user group cancelled all sessions for the remainder of the week. Disney Land was closed as well for fear of the safety of people there. I contacted my brother-in-law who was working as a travel agent at the time. He was able to procure a car for me to drive home as the NY area airports were closed for an additional week beyond the opening of other airports. A friend who works for one of my clients in Rockville MD and I drove home from Anaheim -- 3 very long gruelling days of driving (a total of 3016 miles). We were all very happy to be home with our families.

I went to Liberty Park the following day to see the aftermath. It was extremely overcast day. Here is a picture of me there. There are still military helicopters in the air. The WTC stood in the area near my left sholder. I chose the "Misplaced Childhood" shirt -- our innocence forever lost to this event.

My father-in-law lives in Wood Ridge, NJ. I still can't drive there without thinking how odd the NYC skyline looks without the WTC. I'm then reminded of all of the innocent life lost there and the lives that have been affected by it. t's all very depressing.

[GORT]

I feel the same sentiment . Let's live for peace. Imagine.
Kenny Severns

[mailotron]

Hello ,
Very sad, very emotive testimony, hard to express my own feelings in a foreign language but:
believe me or not even at thousands miles from NYC and after 5 years , everyone knows what he was doing the 11th september of 2001..

My deepest thoughts for You

[rick_wakeman]

not forgotten

I remember the day it happened vividly!!! I was in NYC the November before and stood at the top of the viewing platform and felt on top of the world. So on 9/11/01 when I went into work and got the call that I HAD to set up the TV/Video sytem for the whole company to watch because 'Something' was happening I was horrified to witness the first scenes as the system kicked in.

My job at the time entailed sorting out o'seas travel for staff members so my department had to try and track down the whereabouts of all our colleagues who were 'in the air' at the time. Thankfully it wasn't long before we established that they were all safe.

Watching the scenes unfold on the TV however had a profound effect on all of us. I was watching as the second plane hit and that instant feeling of both terror and hatred still remains. That feeling quickly changed into one of abject sadness knowing that many people had lost their lives in that instant and also one of total impotence knowing that as an individual I could do nothing. THANK "WHOEVER" FOR THE AMAZING MEN AND WOMEN WHO PUT THEIR OWN LIVES AT RISK to try and get as many people out of those towers as they could.

Here in the UK there were photos of one Firefighter (who's name I don't know) going UP while everyone else was (naturally) going DOWN. He was just one of many members of the NYFD who put their lives on the line. It was amazing to read later that week that he had actually survived.

I can't believe that it is 5 years since that dreadful day. I still feel it like it was today.

My heart and thoughts are with everyone touched by this tragedy either by losing loved ones or traumatised by the events in one way or another.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way.....but I also feel some remorse for the perperators of this horrendous crime against mankind. How AWEFUL must their lives be or how weak must they have been to be manipulated by the COWARDLY B*******S who couldn't get in the front line themselves.

At the end of the day though............we must never forget and we have to learn from these events. I hope we do.

[rick_wakeman]

this wouldn't have happened with another govt.

[Rick and Roll]

My brother in law was on his way to the Pentagon where he works...thanks goodness for DC traffic.

Every day, something horrible happens. Stuff that doesn't make the front page.

This is not because of any govt etc. It's just the way we are, unfortunately.

For me, it just makes me more wary... but not more sheltered. I just lead my life and hope for the best.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by rick_wakeman

this wouldn't have happened with another govt.

Please explain.

[Rick and Roll]

Originally Posted by VAXman

Please explain.

PLEASE DON'T!

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by Rick and Roll

PLEASE DON'T!

No, I really want to know this.

As I see it, the only form or type government that would have prevented this would be a theocracy of camel shagging, woman degrading, desert rat Mohammedans.

Terrorism has affected the US, UK, Spain, island nations of the mid and far east and even RW's France. So, I want to know how this would have been stopped.

[Rick and Roll]

Originally Posted by VAXman

No, I really want to know this.

As I see it, the only form or type government that would have prevented this would be a theocracy of camel shagging, woman degrading, desert rat Mohammedans.

Terrorism has affected the US, UK, Spain, island nations of the mid and far east and even RW's France. So, I want to know how this would have been stopped.

I know you do, but all you'll end up doing is responding to an inflammatory statement. It's not really going to end up being a discussion. I say this for the same reasons you told me in the altruism thread.

Why let yourself get roped into it? Go ahead, have at it if you want. I responded to QJ's nice thread, and I'm done.

By the way, we have people that fit the first category you mention. they're called Mormons.

[lotus]

Originally Posted by rick_wakeman

this wouldn't have happened with another govt.

I love political discussions, in black, white or in the forums..but I really think that the Moon is not the place for this.

[lotus]

I was working in my Home Office, when my wife came to tell me that a plane crashed into one of the Towers. This was just a couple of min after the first plane hit. I switched on TV and for hours watching, I could not believe what I saw. It was surrealistic. Like taken from a bad catastrophy movie. I felt at once that this would change the face of the world, painting it much more in black and white (good and bad). It has become very dificult to be a "world citizen", as I would like to be.

On the users map you can see, that we have some participation fom Saudi Arabia, Marroque etc. Let's hope, that our commun viral infection, the progressive rock, will spread around in these countries, that these friends join us here to faff about the music and we get closer to each other not only musicwise..

[mossy]

I think a good political discussion would be illuminating and enjoyable, but it's hard to keep discussions about things that have no right answer, civil. As we've found in the past. But I always keep on hoping that discussions about politics and religion can simply be a respectful exchange of ideas. Moonies are interesting people.

Thank you for this thread, Q. (how are you??)

I was in the kitchen making coffee. The quality of the sunlight and the way it shone on the counters is something I will always remember because it was very beautiful that morning with the desert late summer morning sun. I had the telly on for some reason...never have the telly on in the morning. I saw the first plane and then the second and I thought they had been accidents, but it didn't add up. Then I called my mother in Canada to tell her we were alright. I know that seems silly as we live on the other side of the country from NYC, but this kind of tragedy makes the world much smaller.

[progdirjim(Admin)]

I grew up in New York City, and remember well when the WTC was built. Tallest buildings in the world at the time. My father worked 22 years in the Port Authority police force (the jurisdiction at the towers); he and I (he more than I) have been in them countless times. Like Vax, seeing the skyline from NJ (where I also lived for 5 years) without them is still surreal.

I'm usually not at a loss for words, but all I seemed able to manage that day was something along the lines of "there's no f-ing way". I did not want it to be real.

The "people" who committed the act are assholes. Let's not generalize and lump ALL of any <religion/race/ethnicity/any other trait> in with them.

peace.

[QuantumJo]

Never Forget

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

I, of course, can never forget. Hence my other posting about the celebration of the living on this day. As it was my birthday that morning and I worked evenings, I slept late. I worked at the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, GA. I had not turned on the TV or radio as I dressed to come in to work for a mid-day matinee. I was listening to cd's in the car so no radio again.

As I arrived at work I was greeted by many sad, sad faces. But it wasn't until I ran into my Wife, who worked at the theatre as well, that she told me something had happened. Being a public service org. we had to cancel our shows. I was not given time to react - I had to work. After working the cancellation of the matinee, greeting the few patrons that appeared at the Arts Center, I had to prepare to do the same for the evening, contacting all my volunteers of the cancellation as well. It was not until about 8:30pm that evening that I was given a free moment to go home and finally fully see what I had been catching glimpses of on the internet all day. Needless to say. All Birthday plans had been cancelled that day, except for a quiet dinner at home. I was desperately trying not to let them steal "my" day. But that became forever impossible.

All day I had been hearing stories of Actors and directors and staff members of our theatre that were stuck in NYC unable to return to us because of the tragedy. I also learned of many family members of staff and friends that were involved with the tragedy. There was a high degree of fear and sorrow amongst my work companions.

When I finally got home it was then that I learned how closely my own family and friends were involved. My family resides in the Wasington D.C. area. My Uncle was at Fort Myer at a medical clinic, not 2 miles from the Pentagon. They heard and felt the crash and were herded to safety and released from that area later. He could see and smell the smoke from the building.

My sister had to drive right by the Pentagon on a bus on her way to work and was, gratefully, past it prior to the incident, but by only 20 minutes. She later had to drive right back by in a traffic jam to get out of the city as they closed the city. The Pentagon is a mere 500 yds. off I-95/495 or whatever # that is going into town.

My best friend, then working in the finanace office of the Navy (and currently the CFO for the Marines) was in the Pentagon and had just left the area of the building hit to go to a meeting on the other side of the building. Back then, he had recently been assigned a new office which he had not moved in yet. That area was being renovated. That office was in the area hit by the attacking plane.

Over the years, I have come to know many people and many stories in all the areas affected that day and since. And despite the tremendous loss of lives during that time and since, they have all had a very uplifting outlook and approach to life. I admire them all so, and I strife to have the same love of and love for life as well.

I will never forget.

[mailotron]

Originally Posted by QuantumJo

Never Forget

Peter Hammill 's song lyrics

Primo * on the Parapet from His CD The Noise 1993 Rockport records

* Primo Levi, born 1919 ,italian jew,chemical engineer,resistant, survivor of Auschwitz 's hell,
after being retired of industry world, he spent his time writing until his controversial death on April 11, 1987, in the apartment where he was born and took up residence.
Falling to his death from the railing of his third-floor stairwell, the question of whether he committed suicide or was victim of an unwanted accident is still open to debate



To crawl on hollowed ground without a map
to walk on hollow legs, leaving no footprints
to drift like a ghost through the quarters of lost desire
breathing underwater,
still running through the fire.

Four horsemen drive the coach of Holocaust home;
and with what sense of history do we view our bright new world.
with the video nasty blasting through the set
of our next door neighbour ?
Do we learn to forget ? Do we learn just to forget?

And raw barbarity sleeps, spore in soil ?
and no-one's an innocent, no-one's entirely immune...
Oh, still we wait for a saviour, there are no saints as yet.
Just that gilt badge of survival,
we learn to forget,

The blindest eye is turn on the beast we clothe,
drab in the uniform of silent acquiescence.
I'll raise the toast to Primo, climbing up upon the parapet
with one final word of caution :
we must learn not to forget.

There's pain in rememberance,
but we must learn not to forget.

Here's a toast to Primo
let's learn not to forget

Here's a toast to Primo
forgive but don't forget

Here's a toast to Primo
let's learn not to forget

One last word of caution
from the very rim of the parapet
One last word of rememberance...
we must learn not to forget .

[cribguy]

Working for a government contractor, I can't forget. We found a TV and sat around and watched all day. I went home and watched with my son and explained what had happened. He was 6. Fall baseball was just beginning so there was a practice that evening. Some wanted it canceled, but we had it anyway. We were not going to be stopped. And, still today, feel the same way. I still work for the same company and am even more proud of what I do and what I've done for my country, both at work and in my military service. I feel I've spent the last 17 (almost 18) years protecting this country. I hope I get to do it a lot longer. And I hope you all are there to benefit...Even those who do not even appreciate it.