I was asleep, overslept for work that day, alarm didn't go off. My friend called me, woke me up and said, "turn on the TV WWIII just started" and then hungup.
I went to WTC at lunch break, and just came back. The place is less crowded as I would imagine, and I guess it was full in the morning. Most of the people were paying their tributes in front of those breathe-taking pictures. It's kind of disturbing to see just a few people with signs like "9/11 marked Clinton legacy" or "Bush Adminstration engineered 9/11". To me, it's just wrong thing to do at the wrong time and wrong place. There is an old Chinese saying, "Dead ones are the biggest". Those people should be more respectful.
I wrote this 5 years ago. It's amazing that I still vividly remember everything that happened that day (and my memory sucks). The walk from downtown to my apartment, covered from head to toe in soot, was unreal. I was visibly shaking by the time I reached my place.
I'll never forget the day, I was in Switzerland at the time. We had just gotten out of basketball practice and I was headed back to my room for a shower before dinner and I passed a number of girls crying in the street (on their way to the cafeteria). I was wondering what was up. I found out from a few friends in the cafeteria. I quickly ran back to our dorm to watch the video of it on the news. United We Stand GBUSA.
This is a very sad day. I cried almost the entire drive into the office this morning and sat here with the lights off in my office all morning watching the live ABC news feed of the Rememberance Cermony at the WTC site. The loss that the people, their families and our country suffered is overwhelming. This was one of the top 5 events in my life. It was like time stood still that entire day. I barely slept that entire night as I watched the news like an addict. I never felt afraid, I was very sad and extremely mad though. One of the best things to come out of this all was the Unity of this country, although it was very short lived, it was extremely powerful. I remember waiting in line at the George R Brown convention center to give blood. I remember the signs everywhere saying "God Bless America". I remember the world wide tributes. It was a very very proud time for me to be an American. We can complain about immigration, Iraq, red vs blue, etc but when it comes down to crunch time we always stick together. I never saw color that entire time, I saw people that were in pain and needed help. I think that is what is great about our country. We should just stop to remember that more and have more patience with everyone. God Bless Everyone.
Vescey, How has your health been since then? Having watched the 60 Minutes special last night, and having talked to people who were caked in the dust since I moved up here, it seems there is a real fear that people are developing illnesses from the dust they breathed in. I looked at some great apartments blocks from the WTC when I moved here. Newly built, cheaper than in other parts of the city, etc. But I decided to live further north in the city becuase I don't trust the remedial measures taken to detoxify the area. They still find fragments of human remains atop some of these buildings here...
I was on the trade floor at Reliant's 1000 Louisiana building, watching CNN and talking baseball, when the TV broke to the "small plane hits WTC." Since that idiot had crashed his heli-parachute plane into Lady Liberty a week beforehand, we didnt even think it was that huge of an event. We just commented on what an idiot the pilot must have been and how we hoped no one in the building was hurt. Then one of the traders in our financial pit mentioned that his broker in the WTC said it was a jet.....about one second before we watched the 2nd plane hit the second tower live on CNN. At that point, we knew things were effed up. Watching everyone evacuate downtown Houston was bizarre. Ken Lay started it....he actually thought the Enron building was a target and ordered Enron evactuated...you should have seen EOL trade...they just needed to get flat and get outta there. I remember calling up a trader at Enron to buy some plant gas and when I asked what her offer was, she said "you name it." Standing in my backyard that afternoon with no flights in the air was really strange. I called all my buddies in NYC and oddly I got through to all of them on their cell phones. Lucky, I guess.
I was worried about that for a while (as was my wife), especially since I worked downtown. However, from the few medical work-ups I've received over the years, nothing has shown up. The emotional effects, however, still occasionally surface in the form of dreams. Like you, about 2-3 years ago (I can't remember), my wife and I were thinking of moving downtown to a new high-rise apartment building on Liberty St. But because of the possible air quality issues (and the general "deadness" of the area), we decided against it.
my son started kindergarten last week at a new school in brooklyn. every day, after i drop him off, i eat breakfast at a diner across the street from where i watched the first tower fall. it is a strange feeling but it reinforces how that day has become apart of who i am. that tower seemed like it fell in slow motion from my vantage point. i was standing on the corner with arabs, jews, blacks, whites, asians, i.e. BROOKLYN. people were screaming and crying and hugging each other. it is a visual image seared into my brain, stronger than any other i have.
Vescey, I thought you had moved - you still in NY? I'll start a separate thread about it soon, but maybe we should get together when the Rockets games start. I live in the East Village now.
I remember how odd it was when jets started flying again. It was such a common noise, but after they had been silent for so long, a jet flying over really got my attention.
I've been thinking about this a lot today.. my thoughts are with all the families and friends of those that died. In some ways, it seems like it happened long ago... but in other ways it doesn't seem like 5 years ... since I still remember that day so well and everything.
† ^that's what was left of the WTC. RIP all who died... Comfort to all those who lost... JUSTICE for the cowards who planned it!
Thought i should share the pictures i took from the 9/11 festivities 2 years ago when i was in New York for the first time. http://www.livesportscafe.com/khalil/911/
9/11/01 is probably in the last decade or so when the highest number of civilians died on a single day. Although it's possible some other senseless killing in certain African region may top this, for the sheer size of casualties as a result of man made disaster during "peace time" it's indeed a day to remember. Not to make it political, we should also feel extremely saddened by the fact that many more innocent Iraqis suffered much worse fate because of an ill-conceived war.
Of course not to downplay 9/11, but the Asian sunami is probably in all of recoreded history, much less the last decade, one of the highest numbers of person killed in one day. Of course, that was a natural disaster. EDIT: I was in college in Philadelphia when 9/11 happened. I had just woken up to take a shower for class and turned on the tv shortly after the first plane. Watched for about an hour and then actually had to go to class, but everything was cancelled after that. It was a sad, memorable day.
Other people have talked about the way people came together afterwards. I remember being in a bodega that was run by a Muslim from the middle east. There was a long line there, and this was just a few days after the incident, and the man was visibly nervous, as the line was all pretty much all anglos. But almost everyone in that line, said "God bless you," to the shopkeeper, who was very relieved, and almost in tears by the time the last few people in line got up there. I saw similar scenes repeated throughout Manhattan. One of the oddest things I saw was in Chinatown, that is pretty close to the location. It was only a couple of days after, and already there were t-shirts printed up that were being sold by the Chinatown street vendors. One printed in improper English had a picture of the towers in a starspangled motiff. The words underneath read "9/11/2001 - I survive the attack" It was very bizarre.
I was on the campus bus at UT heading back to my apt. when I heard that the first building got hit. Saw the second one live on TV. What an insane day. I think it was raining in Austin that day as well; very fitting for such a somber day of watching the events unfold.
