9/11/01 Where were you?

AirRanger

AirRanger

Well-known member
The 10th anniversary approaching of the 9/11/01 tragedy. National Geographic channel has been well documenting the events from that day up until current time of visions forever etched in my mind. This takes me back to the time landmark of that day and a few that followed.

At that time I traveled frequently for the company that I worked for. On the evening of 9/10/01 I flew into LAX out of Tampa. The morning of 9/11 I was up early because of the time difference. From my hotel room in Redondo Beach, CA I was watching typical morning show programing on network TV. Suddenly there was breaking news with sketchy detail and video of terrible events unfolding. After 15-20 minutes of watching these events my first phone call was to Hertz car rental to let them know that the vehicle that I had recently rented would be returned to a branch in Florida. Surprisingly they not only were OK with that but offered to upgrade me to an SUV at no extra charge when I explained that I may have up to three additional passengers traveling with me (I accepted). My next phone calls were to my wife and family to see if they were OK and find out if they had anymore information than I was getting. Since we were in California on business we did what we had to do that day keeping updated throughout the day. On the 12th we finished up with what we were doing and my self and two others hit the road with the intent to rotate driving straight through to Tampa. Knowing that there were no flights permitted we saw an eerie but cool site of a USA bomber heading west as we were heading east on I-10 in a desert area in the middle of nowhere Texas. We had no idea where it was going and there were long periods that the vehicle radio had little or no reception. We made it as far as Louisiana when we decided to check into a hotel to take quick showers and took about a four hour nap before finishing our trip to Tampa. This is not an experience that I wish to repeat under the circumstances we had faced.


:proud: To ALL that serve/d in the Military to rite this situation... Thank You :old_glory:
 
Working on an addition at a church in downtown Ft Myers. I remember, After the second plane hit, the preacher came running onto the site yelling "Terrorist & Terrorism, and that we all needed to go home to our families", well thats all everyone needed to hear was the words "GO HOME" cause that jobsite cleared out in like 2.5 seconds...
 
At work at the Airport, it was the first time in my Life that the only sound of jet engines was F 15 Eagles patroling the skys of Atlanta and my SWAT team was on stand by ready to go to war because we thought we were going to be next :proud:
 
On a WIDE body American Jet on it's way from hong Kong to San Francisco......woke up at daybreak to see a fighter jet on the wing??? Asked why nothing was working on the flight(in flight map etc)...then noticed we were not flying over San Fran upon Arrival???SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT i'm thinking.....plane does some crazy manuevers only a SKILLED pilot is capable of achieving....fighter jet gone!...then we land in Vancouver as hundreds of people are watching planes coming in.

I get up and tell the flight attendant who informs me he has not spoke with the pilot for the past 4 hrs.....he's got about 10 seconds before I go out the exit door because after being on a 15hr flight,i'm not going on another(because I was thinking our plane was hijacked,but i had no idea about 911)......he proceeds to tell the pilot a passenger is going to open the door if we don't tell him what is going on.Pilot comes on the intercom to explain the situation,I'm still not satisfied he does not have a gun to his head,I tell the (shaking in his pants--in tears flight attendant) tell him to show us he is OK,or I'm out of here(BTW, I am sitting at an exit row)...Pilot come sout,because by then EVERYONE was in a panick.

Walked off the plane 3 hrs later,was detained for 5 more hrs in the airport...not given any luggage..then jumped on a bus ride to Seattle....was stuck there for 3 days until flights resumed. Interesting to say the least
 
I was just back from an overseas job in Algeria. I was in a little rented appartment sleeping in. Lady called me and asked if I had heard about the plane flying into the WTC. I said no but I'm coming to your place to watch it on TV. I didn't even have a TV in the Appt. cause I just got back. I got to her place just in time to see the 2nd plane fly into the other tower.

Before the day was out I made two phone calls and found a SatCom company that was being told to hire everyone available to go to the Mid east. I telephone interviewed the next day and signed on for a senior position. Was in the mid east by December on what would be a HUGE job that I ended up being in charge of and allowed to hand pick my people. (This part of the story alone is worthy of a Book)

From my perspective at the top US levels decisions had already been made as to what was going to happen. Probably the wildest 24-72 hours in our history from my perspective. Real, hard, decisions were made at the top and things were set in motion that are now written in the annals of history.

As a foot note, I have never felt more proud of our nation or of a Commander In Chief as they day I saw President Bush, climb down out of a fighter onto the deck of the aircraft carrier after an arrested landing and address our troops! ! ! ! He may have been a loser in some ways but right then he was exactly what we needed in the White House and on the deck of that carrier ! My opinion only, of course.
 
I was flying to Vandenberg AF base and just had gotten to the hotel when it happened. One of the guys I was with came in and said to turn on the TV. Spent the next couple of hours trying to call my wife back in FL to let her know I was safe. Later when we went to the base the gates were secured with tanks and snipers. What a crazy week we had trying to get back home. God Bless America and all our brothers in arms. On a side note, my son will be playing Amazing Grace on the bagpipes for the Jaguars halftime show on 911.
 
I was on a sailboat installing electronics. A friend who does canvas was working on the boat beside me.She asked if I had heard what was going on. Nope and she said a plane had flew into the tower. I went down turned on the TV on the boat.Called the wife just as the towers collapsed. I said a prayer for everybody that was there.
 
Pulling my D&C bag off the shelf, because I knew it was a matter of time before I went to war. And a few short weeks later I did. In the beginning it was the Wild West, we called air strike after air strike, and hit target after target. The pounding we gave them right off the bat was amazing. The amount of airpower we had stacked waiting on us to call them in was just amazing. From firsthand experience in the early days there was a huge sense of pride that we were bringing the fight to the guys that brought it to us. And 10 years later that sense of pride is still there. I will never forget that day or the men I have lost protecting our country from the people who wish to do us harm. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I was in the West Orange High School gym, during class one of the coaches came to out coach and told him the news, we got down to the locker room in time to see the second plane hit. I remember seeing the people jumping from the building 100's of feet up and the camera following them until they hit neighboring roofs. The impact was blocked by the angle of the shot, I remember thinking, why would they show that on TV, then they stopped following the falling people. Then the first tower collapsed, and the second. I also remember thinking and telling my friends "we'll be getting drafted soon". At that moment if I were of age I would have enslisted, just as my grandfather did after the attack on Pearl Harbor. (he lied about his age though)
 
Had come home at 0600 after an 8 hr night shift patrolling, saw my wife and 1st son off to daycare and work, made some coffee and sat down to read the newspaper. A little later I turned on the TV. NBC was broadcasting a Fire at the World Trade Center. Shorty after that a Plane came into view and struck the second tower. Then the additional reports of other crashes started coming in. I watched this unfold in total amazement, that this was happening here in the USA and not some foreign country.
Back then only a few of us carried long guns on duty, That night everyone that didn't have one, mysteriously got one from somewhere. Everyone was packing some serious firepower for weeks on end. Those of us with SRT training were detatched to Port Everglades and Ft Lauderdale Hollywood Intl Airport to patrol and stayed there for months until staffing levels could be brought up and security levels achieved.
Spent many a cold night guarding the control tower, ILS, and fuel farm at the airport and port.
Never had much time to concentrate on those that lost their lives until much later, probably closer to the 1st anniversary.
Our guys that were detatched to NY and coordinated and performed the search would come back with stories that would send chills up your spine and bring tears to your eyes, They too were never the same after experiencing that.
I recall seeing the first passengers arriving in FtLD from NY after the incident, and how they reacted when they saw us there in BDU's and weapons,in an airport in the USA. The looks on their face was of fear and uncertainty - but they were survivors who were there when the unthinkable happened.
Any forgotton piece of luggage, box, duffel bag that was left unattended became a possible bomb, every vehicle that went thru the checkpoint could have housed a bomb. The non-english speaking world had a reason to complain about brutality and disrespect - if they couldn't explain their actions or could not say what cargo was in their trunk. I remember a spnish guy coming to the checkpoint to park in the garage nearest the terminal in a pickup truck, Seems ok right, No ticket, couldn't communicate he was picking someone up from a flight. Then I while conducting a search of the underneath of his truck looked thru the camper shell window to see (13) BBQ gas grill LP tanks in the back sitting there - This was the ONE - turned out to be legit, but that is the type of stress we endured.
I try to explain to my kids this stuff and how it works on ya, but all they see is superdaddy. My wife never asks, better off not knowing, I guess.
This is why I have an airboat again - To escape to my quiet place and shut down and just sit there admiring GODS beauty, somewhere in the everglades and "JUST LISTEN". No sirens, No yelling, No gunshots, No traffic, No airplanes overhead - "JUST QUIET", the wind blowing by as you sit there
Never for one Minute do I forget 911, or any other serious incident in my career, I try to block it out and keep on moving because there is another individual out there somewhere that will need my assistance.
Ready for the next one - Its surely going to come - When ?- Where ?- the system has been breached. For everyone we catch or kill 10 more step up in their place.

:salute: :old_glory:
 
I was working on one of those portable classrooms dade county uses when the schools are full.
I thought our foreman was screwing with us when he said a plane hit a building It wasn't until after work we saw the news
 
I was a sophmore in college (Hofstra University) in new york, headed for my morning workout with my teammates. I headed to my locker to grab some clean sweats when my equipment manager told me a plane had just crashed into the world trade center. I acknowleged him and went on with my work out. After finishing my lifts i hit the showers went back down stairs to get rid of my dirty laundry and to my suprise the same equipment manager informed me that a second plane had hit a different tower. I told him to quit drinking so early in the morning and that it was a replay from earlier in the morning. To my suprise i went into the locker room and watched a horrible tragedy unfold. I remember walking to the top of our stadium and being able to see the smoke from the buildings, it looked like a sugar cane burn in the glades. Everything was quite in the sky except the F-16's flying laps around Long Island. Being a Native Floridian I tried to call my family to let them know I was ok, but i couldnt get a call out for several hours. The cell phone lines were all jammed. It was a very numbing experience. ...God Bless those lost and their families!
 
Hey guys! I was actually in High school celebrating by b day. Until my teacher came in and said our lives would never be the same. I sat and wondered why until he turned on the tv. It was evident what was unfolding. Unbelievable to be honest. I was furious. I am a patriot at heart and was ready to enlist into the Air Force for that's where most of my family is in. Father was in the Army. Professionally I am a firefighter now and hold this dear to my heart. The 343 Firefighters that shed their blood for the safety of this country. Nothing that can happen in my lifetime will ever succeed their bravery and courage. I thank all hat contributed to the freedom of this country that day and on.
 
sitting in world history class in deer park tx about 1/2 mile from all the chemical plaints. we where sent to the shelter in the school because they said that they were going to try and hit the plaints next. we stayed there tell 6 or 7 that night. didnt go back to school for two days.
 
Me and dad were at the office and thinking "what a horrific accident" on the first one, then the second one hit and it was immediately "muslims, thank you multiculturalism b/c that's the only demographic that does schitt like this". And we were right.
 
Kings Bay Naval base working on a project.:old_glory:
My crew standing by for whatever the US Government neds us to do.Today we still do what every were ever they ask, to protect our men and support the mission.
 
i was in my kitchen had got my guys off to work and was just chillin watchen the news when katie curic say a plain has hit the trade center, then i see the second impact, i remeber thinking here we go
 
I was at work on a military facility , my sweetie called me -I turned on a TV in the conference room and saw #2 hit. We blocked gates with 20 Ton trucks, locked everyone down got a head count and unlocked the vault for some men in uniform.
Watch your top knot fellas them bastards are still out for blood.
BB
 
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