I was stationed in Washington, working at the Reagan Building cattycorner to the White House. I was late driving in, and while driving on the freeway next to the Pentagon I saw the plane that hit it coming in. Occurred to me that it looked like it was flying kind of low..
Just over the hill from the Pentagon, doing DLI homework. Neighbor pounded on the door, we were watching coverage when the second aircraft hit. Heard the crash of the Pentagon. raced up the hill in my Jeep. Woman walking a dog said "It was American Airlines, I saw it. "
I was sitting right here watching the second one hit the building. Those plots were funded and paid for with Saudi radical money so we ["W"] attacked and hung SADAM. Same kind of thinking when Lincoln attacked Dixie [specifically to totally destroy Atlanta] because we would not pay his tarrifs so he freed the slaves (but only in the Confedracy). Honor and truth are very hard to find...
"Same kind of thinking when Lincoln attacked Dixie [specifically to totally destroy Atlanta] because we would not pay his tarrifs so he freed the slaves (but only in the Confedracy)."
I was in Bahrain, just home from work (gotta love local gov’t hours) watching the Today show with the wife. Our little girls were at the compound pool with their Aunt & Uncle visiting from Ireland. When the second plane hit, I knew our world had just changed.
I was in Tunis, Tunisia writing a drilling program for drilling a gas well. I was surprised at the reaction of the people there. I was stopped on the street by people apologizing for the disaster and expressing condolences. I was talking to some of the people I worked with. One of them said "Bush will shoot a few cruise missiles and it will be over". I told him "No, America will go crazy. Before this ends ten of thousands will be dead".
I was working for a beltway bandit, in Alexandria, but had a seat on the B ring in Army spaces. We were watching the TV in our lobby as the second plane went in. Remember turning to the retired Colonel next to me and saying:
"We're at war with somebody, but I don't know who"
on a different note:
Raise a glass to Rick Rescorla, an American Hero. May we live half as well as he did.
From Cyprus to Rhodesia, to Landing Zone X-Ray and to that fateful day. It's said that he saved may lives by forcing "his" employees to drill for emergencies that paid off that day.
and his actions before and after the WTC 93 basement truck bombing. After that, he urged Morgan Stanley to break their lease and move to Jersey. It was not to be, so he redoubled the drills. Of roughly 2700 MS employees, only 13 died. Ricks team were 4 of the 13. I suspect that most of the other 9 were senior execs, who knew better. (the Port Authority landlord ordered "shelter in place") Rick said F that...He and his team were last seen on the 10th floor, headed back up...
Next year, Trump should give him the Medal of Freedom. Immigrant, makes good, pays full price for freedom. etc.
In ARCENT preparing for a Bright Star deployment. Within hours pulled off the mission and locked in a little room staring at another map. Many, many hours later my wife asked if this would go long. She reports that I told her that our kids would be fighting this war.
I think we will all remember where we were and what we were doing that day. It must be much like 12/7/41 or 11/22/63. The former I was not alive to know of, the latter I was so young that I didn't have the ability to fully process.
But one thing is certainly different: The second by second coverage. The world literally watched in various stages of horror, denial, or glee at what was happening. I can only assume most lives paused in the Western world. Certainly in North America. We had it on in the break room after some people had been called to alert them. My boss came by and said, "My wife called and said a plane hit the World Trade Center." My response was, "Huh. What was it some tourist light aircraft in the wrong place?" Upon hearing it was a passenger jet my response was skeptical. But the TV coverage certainly showed it to be true.
For a while people made a show of looking in to see what was going on and then going back to work. But after seeing the second plane hit, there wasn't much pretense anymore. IIRC, I actually saw the second impact live, not first in one of the 100 replays. By then both the lesbian former Army Blackhawk pilot head of HR and I had come to the same conclusion, "This is war!"
It is amazing how many people knew, or knew of a victim. I lost several classmates that day, though none I knew well, some not at all. A member of a LISTSERV that I am a member of was a USMC CAPT. He was in EMCON for several days but turned up unharmed, having been at the Navy Annex, then on sight rendering what aid could be done, and then SAR. (Ironically, his wife is/was an Afghan. One day, perhaps I'll have a reason to recount his story about southern border drug interdiction by the military.)
One year later I was standing outside the plant of one of the subsidiaries of the companies in Leighton Buzzard, England for the moment of silence. Being subsidiary of a US company they flew the US Flag. The small group of Americans there were joined by a some of the local workers. The Americans (several of which were immigrants...and maybe not actually citizens) formed up as smartly as we could and those of us with military backgrounds executed a hand salute.
Interestingly, we are almost as far from 9/11 now as 9/11 is from 12/7. As late as 1969 12/7 was still remembered in places. Will 9/11 be forgotten in another 5, 10 years, as PH is now?
I was a crew member on USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and remembered that day as we were in C5F AO, and could not have felt further away as we watched it all live over AFN.
I was the captain at a major airline, at the helm of a flight from Atlanta to Minneapolis, when the attack started.
200 miles from MSP, about to join the arrival, Air Traffic Control said, “Executive Order, you are directed to land now, nearest suitable non-military airport.” I tried to talk ATC into letting us press on to MSP, as we would be descending soon. ATC replied, “Negative, I say again, Executive Order, land now, nearest suitable non-military airport. State intentions”…and I thus initiated the inaugural service of my airline into Des Moines, Iowa.
BTW, we had no idea what was going on. ATC wouldn’t say. I thought we were at nuclear war and they were clearing the skies for the launching of Titan II missiles. I was looking for mushroom clouds on the horizon. Did not know what was happening until on the ground in DSM.
Writing opords at Hohenfels for an upcoming maneuver rotation by a USAREUR unit…we were stunned…and knew that the morning would bring changes that we couldn’t imagine. Hohenfels, like other USAREUR installations locked down…practically every available green suiter pulling guard duty on post and in off post housing. Training simply ceased. But then changes were made…first, the Luftwaffe sent a squadron of soldiers to take over guard and vehicle inspections….a few weeks later, Bundesmarine contributed a frigate crew (hey, who wants to go to Bavaria and see snow) from a vessel going into drydock…..for a period, NATO came together as one in support.
There was brotherly sentiment among many of the locals. When in the UK a year later I found myself in a rural Welsh petrol station. The attendant recognizing I was a Yank offered, "We ought to turn the whole place into a glass parking lot."
I'll admit, I was surprised by that, but certainly appreciated the sentiment.
And, as it turns out, wise advice and a missed opportunity...
A whole lot of people have forgotten and a whole lot of them are on the side of the terrorist and say we deserved it.
What I remember most is the jumpers and the horror they experienced, the bravery of that airliner passengers who tried to fight back.
What really burned in my memory was George Bush Jr's speech about Islam being the religion of peace, That is when I knew we were going to lose that war.
It was early morning, I was sitting in Studio 1, my home at 6021 First Avenue Deale MD, got a phone call… my parents were alive at 425 East 86th Street…Smoke filling the sky to the South my father said, everlasting be his memory.
I had to go pick up my son at Montessori International Children’s House in Annapolis. MD … bought large pizza… not sure when we’d be able to shop again!
Had to have food we could eat.
Got another phone call from NYC, Commissioner Bernie Kerrik was walking with Mayor Guliani downtown.
Learned one of our Walters Art Museum Docents was on the plane in PA, hero!
Saw the news in D.C.
The sky was blue at my home on the Chesapeake Bay Not a cloud! We were all very silent. We were silent for three days, just holding on.
In Deale, on the Tennis Courts behind the Library, we held a moment of silence.
On that same Tennis Court, I was given my first Lesson : Suni vs Shia Moslems…
Tennis fellow needed to bring me up to speed; only took twenty (20) minutes!
I was paying attention!
Those of us remember! We were so grateful for those who went into harms way. We said, “Never again!” I meant it!
I was stationed in Washington, working at the Reagan Building cattycorner to the White House. I was late driving in, and while driving on the freeway next to the Pentagon I saw the plane that hit it coming in. Occurred to me that it looked like it was flying kind of low..
Just over the hill from the Pentagon, doing DLI homework. Neighbor pounded on the door, we were watching coverage when the second aircraft hit. Heard the crash of the Pentagon. raced up the hill in my Jeep. Woman walking a dog said "It was American Airlines, I saw it. "
I was sitting right here watching the second one hit the building. Those plots were funded and paid for with Saudi radical money so we ["W"] attacked and hung SADAM. Same kind of thinking when Lincoln attacked Dixie [specifically to totally destroy Atlanta] because we would not pay his tarrifs so he freed the slaves (but only in the Confedracy). Honor and truth are very hard to find...
"Same kind of thinking when Lincoln attacked Dixie [specifically to totally destroy Atlanta] because we would not pay his tarrifs so he freed the slaves (but only in the Confedracy)."
What alternate timeline are you typing from?
From laststandonzombieisland
https://laststandonzombieisland.com/2025/09/11/never-forget/
I was in Bahrain, just home from work (gotta love local gov’t hours) watching the Today show with the wife. Our little girls were at the compound pool with their Aunt & Uncle visiting from Ireland. When the second plane hit, I knew our world had just changed.
I was in Tunis, Tunisia writing a drilling program for drilling a gas well. I was surprised at the reaction of the people there. I was stopped on the street by people apologizing for the disaster and expressing condolences. I was talking to some of the people I worked with. One of them said "Bush will shoot a few cruise missiles and it will be over". I told him "No, America will go crazy. Before this ends ten of thousands will be dead".
I was working for a beltway bandit, in Alexandria, but had a seat on the B ring in Army spaces. We were watching the TV in our lobby as the second plane went in. Remember turning to the retired Colonel next to me and saying:
"We're at war with somebody, but I don't know who"
on a different note:
Raise a glass to Rick Rescorla, an American Hero. May we live half as well as he did.
Absent Friends
Amen to R.R.
From Cyprus to Rhodesia, to Landing Zone X-Ray and to that fateful day. It's said that he saved may lives by forcing "his" employees to drill for emergencies that paid off that day.
and his actions before and after the WTC 93 basement truck bombing. After that, he urged Morgan Stanley to break their lease and move to Jersey. It was not to be, so he redoubled the drills. Of roughly 2700 MS employees, only 13 died. Ricks team were 4 of the 13. I suspect that most of the other 9 were senior execs, who knew better. (the Port Authority landlord ordered "shelter in place") Rick said F that...He and his team were last seen on the 10th floor, headed back up...
Next year, Trump should give him the Medal of Freedom. Immigrant, makes good, pays full price for freedom. etc.
And Cdr Sal should feature him in a FBF
In ARCENT preparing for a Bright Star deployment. Within hours pulled off the mission and locked in a little room staring at another map. Many, many hours later my wife asked if this would go long. She reports that I told her that our kids would be fighting this war.
I think we will all remember where we were and what we were doing that day. It must be much like 12/7/41 or 11/22/63. The former I was not alive to know of, the latter I was so young that I didn't have the ability to fully process.
But one thing is certainly different: The second by second coverage. The world literally watched in various stages of horror, denial, or glee at what was happening. I can only assume most lives paused in the Western world. Certainly in North America. We had it on in the break room after some people had been called to alert them. My boss came by and said, "My wife called and said a plane hit the World Trade Center." My response was, "Huh. What was it some tourist light aircraft in the wrong place?" Upon hearing it was a passenger jet my response was skeptical. But the TV coverage certainly showed it to be true.
For a while people made a show of looking in to see what was going on and then going back to work. But after seeing the second plane hit, there wasn't much pretense anymore. IIRC, I actually saw the second impact live, not first in one of the 100 replays. By then both the lesbian former Army Blackhawk pilot head of HR and I had come to the same conclusion, "This is war!"
It is amazing how many people knew, or knew of a victim. I lost several classmates that day, though none I knew well, some not at all. A member of a LISTSERV that I am a member of was a USMC CAPT. He was in EMCON for several days but turned up unharmed, having been at the Navy Annex, then on sight rendering what aid could be done, and then SAR. (Ironically, his wife is/was an Afghan. One day, perhaps I'll have a reason to recount his story about southern border drug interdiction by the military.)
One year later I was standing outside the plant of one of the subsidiaries of the companies in Leighton Buzzard, England for the moment of silence. Being subsidiary of a US company they flew the US Flag. The small group of Americans there were joined by a some of the local workers. The Americans (several of which were immigrants...and maybe not actually citizens) formed up as smartly as we could and those of us with military backgrounds executed a hand salute.
Interestingly, we are almost as far from 9/11 now as 9/11 is from 12/7. As late as 1969 12/7 was still remembered in places. Will 9/11 be forgotten in another 5, 10 years, as PH is now?
I was a crew member on USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and remembered that day as we were in C5F AO, and could not have felt further away as we watched it all live over AFN.
I was the captain at a major airline, at the helm of a flight from Atlanta to Minneapolis, when the attack started.
200 miles from MSP, about to join the arrival, Air Traffic Control said, “Executive Order, you are directed to land now, nearest suitable non-military airport.” I tried to talk ATC into letting us press on to MSP, as we would be descending soon. ATC replied, “Negative, I say again, Executive Order, land now, nearest suitable non-military airport. State intentions”…and I thus initiated the inaugural service of my airline into Des Moines, Iowa.
BTW, we had no idea what was going on. ATC wouldn’t say. I thought we were at nuclear war and they were clearing the skies for the launching of Titan II missiles. I was looking for mushroom clouds on the horizon. Did not know what was happening until on the ground in DSM.
9/11/2012.....
The contrast of watching Benghazi fall, NYC/PA/Pentagon reruns, and your wife in labor of your first child. So many mixed emotions.
I was at home in Minnesota watching from my kitchen TV.
Like everyone it was the second hit live that completely changed the reporting.
Writing opords at Hohenfels for an upcoming maneuver rotation by a USAREUR unit…we were stunned…and knew that the morning would bring changes that we couldn’t imagine. Hohenfels, like other USAREUR installations locked down…practically every available green suiter pulling guard duty on post and in off post housing. Training simply ceased. But then changes were made…first, the Luftwaffe sent a squadron of soldiers to take over guard and vehicle inspections….a few weeks later, Bundesmarine contributed a frigate crew (hey, who wants to go to Bavaria and see snow) from a vessel going into drydock…..for a period, NATO came together as one in support.
There was brotherly sentiment among many of the locals. When in the UK a year later I found myself in a rural Welsh petrol station. The attendant recognizing I was a Yank offered, "We ought to turn the whole place into a glass parking lot."
I'll admit, I was surprised by that, but certainly appreciated the sentiment.
And, as it turns out, wise advice and a missed opportunity...
A whole lot of people have forgotten and a whole lot of them are on the side of the terrorist and say we deserved it.
What I remember most is the jumpers and the horror they experienced, the bravery of that airliner passengers who tried to fight back.
What really burned in my memory was George Bush Jr's speech about Islam being the religion of peace, That is when I knew we were going to lose that war.
I regretted voting for the jug eared texas RINO.
CDR Salamander,
It was early morning, I was sitting in Studio 1, my home at 6021 First Avenue Deale MD, got a phone call… my parents were alive at 425 East 86th Street…Smoke filling the sky to the South my father said, everlasting be his memory.
I had to go pick up my son at Montessori International Children’s House in Annapolis. MD … bought large pizza… not sure when we’d be able to shop again!
Had to have food we could eat.
Got another phone call from NYC, Commissioner Bernie Kerrik was walking with Mayor Guliani downtown.
Learned one of our Walters Art Museum Docents was on the plane in PA, hero!
Saw the news in D.C.
The sky was blue at my home on the Chesapeake Bay Not a cloud! We were all very silent. We were silent for three days, just holding on.
In Deale, on the Tennis Courts behind the Library, we held a moment of silence.
On that same Tennis Court, I was given my first Lesson : Suni vs Shia Moslems…
Tennis fellow needed to bring me up to speed; only took twenty (20) minutes!
I was paying attention!
Those of us remember! We were so grateful for those who went into harms way. We said, “Never again!” I meant it!
Still do! God Bless America!