Remembrance – Where Were You?

When I read that New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio, was not going to have 9/11 ceremonies this year because of CCP Virus fears, I just shook my head in disgust. “What an anti-American man” I muttered to myself.

Many of the readers at American Partisan were alive and remember that day well. Some of the readers here were just a twinkling in their parents eyes. Many went out and joined one of the armed forces days, weeks, and months after the attack – While many ‘joined up’ years after as they came of age to do so.

As we drive around today and see the memorials put up by our local fire departments, let us think back to that day to remember where we were and to say a prayer for all that perished that day, days that followed, and over the years in what ever ‘Stan’ around the world.

My story…

Every two weeks I had a one-hour meeting with each of my direct reports. That day my calendar listed, “0800 hrs, 1:1 Tom”. A 1:1 was a special hour that I spent with each of my direct reports to talk about anything that they wanted to talk about. Work, family, personal monsters, whatever. Tom was one of my two Regional Inventory Managers.

Tom was a retired Marine Major. His specialty in the Marines was logistics. He was the guy who got his Marines from point ‘A’ to ‘B’. The guy that made sure there was food, water, shelter, latrines, et cetera at ‘B’ when his Marines arrived.

We were ending up our 1:1 when his wife text him on what he called his “leash”. He read me the text, “an airplane has just hit the World Trade Center tower – Call me.” As we quickly wrapped up our time visiting, my administrative assistant burst into my office and said, “John, we are under attack!” Now my admin was always the steadiest person I have ever known. NOTHING ruffled her feathers, so I told Tom to call his wife and we parted.

I walked out into my admins office where the television was on and one of the towers was burning. Within seconds, the second airplane hit the other tower. We just stood there with our mouths hanging open jointly wondering, “what the hell did we just see.”

Within minutes, the phones started to go crazy and our small part of this terrible day jumped into action.

Share with the group where you were that clear September day after you share where you were with friends and family. “We will never forget!”

73 & God Bless Brothers and Sisters

Freedom Through Self-Reliance

 

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By Published On: September 11, 2020Categories: History25 Comments on Remembrance – Where Were You?

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25 Comments

  1. mike September 11, 2020 at 09:33

    Bear Hunting the Allagash in Maine. Drove 20 miles to Ft. Kent to see the television footage. We had a few New Yorkers in camp, the owner tried to distract everyone from the news by telling dirty jokes, I was not amused. The North Maine wilderness was already quiet, but all air traffic stopped and it was deafening silence out there. The Canadian border was free back and forth before that day at the Ft. Kent checkpoint. It was like some small town divided by a river (St. John’s). The border was officially closed by a BP agent putting an orange cone in the road. I remember thinking that “That” ought to stop them.

    • johnyMac September 11, 2020 at 09:47

      Thank you Mike for ‘your’ remembrance.

      God Bless Brother

  2. BePrepared September 11, 2020 at 09:43

    I was in ATL preparing to go visit my parents when I saw the first tower burning, I recalled how a B-25 had hit the Empire State Building decades ago and wondered if someone had gotten lost in the fog. I was away from the tv when the second plane hit… as I was gassing up my pickup the Pentagon was hit. It was quite eerie driving down I-285 and seeing all the airliners over my head landing at Hartsfield, I frequently ducked, even in my truck. Long lines started forming to get out of downtown Atlanta for fear of it happening again. A half hour later I had the entire interstate to myself…

    • johnyMac September 11, 2020 at 09:58

      Thank you BePrepared for your remembrance.

      I use to fly through Hartsfield once a week off to the four corners of the USA or coming home. I can only imagine the airplane gridlock landing there as the order came down to get on the hard ASAP.

      As a matter of fact, MrsMac and I found ourselves at Hartsfield Thursday of that week, trying to catch ANY flight to or around Seattle. Portland, Spokane , Vancouver, Canada…It didn’t matter. Thanks to Delta we eventually arrived in Seattle.

      We had charted a 45-foot trawler for ten days starting that Saturday leaving out of Anacortes Washington. Boy that cruise is a whole different story especially getting into Canada and then re-entering the USA during that cruise.

      Thanks again Brother. God Bless

  3. Anonymous September 11, 2020 at 10:00

    5

  4. Gray Man September 11, 2020 at 10:02

    5

  5. Gray Man September 11, 2020 at 10:09

    I was in 10th grade. Sitting in in uniform at my NJROTC class at my high school. Commander Vickers, a former P-3 Orion pilot, called Master Royston, a submariner of 30 years, into the office from his teaching podium. He walked around the corner for a minute and then came back and turned on the TV. We watched the second plane impact.

    At some point shortly before school let out, he turned it off and got our attention. He told us a lot of people in the military and intelligence agencies had been predicting this for years. He told us that we were going to war and that some of us would go. He told us he didn’t know who we would fight or where, told us it was probably going to be the Middle East. Regardless, he told us “This is the kind of event that defines an entire generation. Good luck.”

    • johnyMac September 11, 2020 at 10:14

      Thank you Gray Man for your remembrance. I felt chills going up my back as I read your story. PLEASE< make sure you retell it to your firnds and family. 73 & God Bless

    • Gray Man September 11, 2020 at 13:06

      “Master Chief” is what I meant to say. Not “master”.

  6. Alan Burquist September 11, 2020 at 10:46

    I was working graveyard shift, Security and Firewatch at a Weyerhauser lumber mill..
    Was on the TV when I walked thru the door..

  7. Patriotman September 11, 2020 at 10:51

    I was just a kid sitting in my 6th grade homeroom. My mom worked at the school and when I went to go see her she was just crying. There was a TV on in the library and a few of the kids must have heard them say something like “this is like Pearl Harbor”. Thus, the rumor was that two Japanese fighters crashed into the WTC. People were getting picked up left and right and every time we thought we heard a plane we all got scared.

    Basically my entire life has been shaped by this day.

    • Gray Man September 11, 2020 at 13:24

      A generational cohort (you and I are in the same generation, the “millennial” generation) is not defined by behavior patterns like most people think they are. A generational cohort is defined by the major events which shape that generation’s coming-of-age. 9/11 was the event that shaped our coming-of-age and changed the world, OUR world, right in the middle of our most formative years.

      • Patriotman September 11, 2020 at 22:52

        Agreed. Conflict in the Middle East is all I have really ever known. I remember in 2003 coming home to watch the Shock and Awe in Iraq on CNN and recording it on CNN.

  8. Jackalope in TN September 11, 2020 at 12:58

    I was on my way to a business meeting in Washington, D.C., with folks from across the country who had flown in specifically for the meeting. I was driving along and listening to Howard Stern on the FM radio, and the first aircraft had hit the WTC. I was caught in bumper to bumper traffic in a Chevy Blazer that I had borrowed from my ex-wife. I was on I-395 on the bridge over the Potomac when the Pentagon was hit, I could see the smoke from the impact over my left shoulder. as I headed into the city. I actually went to the meeting which was just a couple of blocks from the White House. The meeting began, as participants received messages that their return flights had been cancelled, or their hotel reservations were cancelled. About 15 minutes later an announcement over the PA system indicated that the building we were in was to be evacuated. It was pandemonium because many of the participants had flown in for the day and were suppose to fly home later the same day. Looking down at the traffic from the office building it was like a disaster movie. I saw fire trucks driving on sidewalks trying to circumvent traffic jams. My associate and I decided to wait a bit, as traffic was totally snarled. There was a deli across the street that remained open, so we got lunch to go and ate up in the conference room, while watching a TV that someone found in the basement. About 1:30 the traffic thinned a bit, so my associate suggested that we go to his apartment, which was located in NW Washington, but within the beltway. We got there without incident, though traffic was heavy. Once we got to his apartment, we checked various webcams throughout the city. The view of the traffic on the beltway going NW was fairly light, so I made the decision to get out of dodge. Once on the beltway I took I-270 to the northwest. At one point a medevac helicopter was crossing over the highway and two fighter jets suddenly appeared; apparently they realized what it was, they circled the helicopter once and then left the area. It took about 10 hours to drive home, but I was very thankful to arrive home safely.

  9. Russsell September 11, 2020 at 13:37

    Okay. You asked for it, but it’s a long story.

    I was a reservist on a long active duty tour as a cop O-3. I was stationed at Eglin AFB, FL. Against my wishes, my commander decided I needed to go to personnel school to gain an additional skill set. I shipped out to Keesler AFB in LA for what I thought would be a long and boring school. I arrived at my first class to find that I was the only American in the class. All other students were Saudi Air Force officers. The course dragged on (and on and on) and I became nominal, short term, friends with some of my Saudi classmates. All through the course they attempted to convert me to Islam. They were even keeping sacrificial lambs in the fenced yard of the rental house DoD was providing them.

    Finally graduation day arrived. 11 SEP 2001. Early in the morning we were preparing for our final exam. An instructor walked in with a stricken look on his face and announced that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. I’m embarrassed now to admit I didn’t even know what or where the WTC was. Also, my father was a retired USAF PJ so I had been exposed to plane crash reports constantly while growing up. They didn’t faze me. All this caused my initial reaction to the report to be “So what? Stuff happens and small planes crash all the time. Our classroom had no television so I also did not know the extent of the damage or the impact the crash/strike was having on the nation. However, I looked around at my fellow (Saudi) students. Some seemed to have knowing looks on their face. A few even had barely hidden smiles. That got my attention. My cop spidey-senses kicked in and I could feel the atmosphere in the room change. I remember thinking “These people know something I don’t. What am I missing?”

    Soon the instructor came back in the classroom and announced the second plane had hit the tower. Finally, my brain tuned in and I thought “terror attack” for the first time. I was still processing the information when I noticed that the Saudis had paired off in groups of two or three and were speaking in hushed tones. Only I was standing alone. Again I wondered, “WTF?”

    At that moment the instructor stepped in the room for the third time and called for me by rank and name. I looked in his direction as he thrust a thumb over his shoulder pointing toward the door. He said “Your unit wants your ass back there right now. Come with me.” He escorted me to the staff area, sat me at a desk, and said “Complete this test as fast as you can so you can still graduate.” As I quickly answered the test questions I noticed the faculty was listening to an AM radio. Broadcasts were coming in every few seconds first reporting the second tower being struck and then reports of car bombs in NY and D.C. I never have figured out what those reports were about. I finished my test, accepted my diploma and went to call my commander. His secretary answered and said “The commander thinks you are already on the road–get moving.”

    I ran back to the classroom to grab my gear. Upon entering I could not help but notice one of the Saudis had taken the podium and was speaking to the other officers. He shut up when I entered. Not one said “Good-bye”, “Congratulations” or wished me luck–despite living and working with them for 2 months.

    I ran to the parking lot and got in my car. I still had not seen televised images of the events unfolding. I quickly hit the interstate and drove at high speeds back towards FL. Soon, I noticed something peculiar for the times, most of the cars I was seeing were driven by soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailor. A couple of the drivers were getting dressed as they drove. The moment immediately struck me and reminded me of the scenes in “From Here to Eternity” where all the troops are trying to get back to their base while Pearl Harbor is being attacked. All those other drivers were headed across the coast to a variety of bases and various types of reserve and national guard units in LA, AL and FL. I too raced ahead.

    Almost to the base I called my wife for the third time. She was crying. I told her to pull herself together and grab my deployment gear. I instructed her to just throw the whole mess in the driveway. She did. Soon, I pulled in, grabbed the gear, kissed my wife goodbye and headed to the base. I never entered the house. As I pulled in thru the gate, one of the security forces troops on duty said “Sir the commander is calling for you over the radio. Do you want me to tell him you are just driving in”. I replied in the affirmative and headed to our HQ building. I reported in to the boss. He said “About time. I want you on the Battle-staff now. Get over there.”

    Just a few months earlier, the base had undergone an ORI or Operational Readiness Inspection–a big deal in the Air Force where all units act out, basically, a war game scenario. I had role-played the exact part I was now assigned to on the Battle-staff. After I signed in with the sentry and entered the command post, I walked up to my per-determined (cop) seat on the third tier of a three-tier room. I immediately noticed several big differences from the ORI. The atmosphere was excited, tense and sad all at the same time, yet there was very little talk. However, the biggest difference was there were three general officers seated in the leadership well of the room. I assumed they were the commanders of the three fighter squadrons at Eglin. All were watching a screen showing the flight identification information of civilian airliners. At the time I walked in, 13 airliners were either unaccounted for or not where they were told to be by air traffic control. Just as I sat down, one of the GO’s said “People if you haven’t figured it out yet, we are at war.” He then discussed some classified matters and ended his talk saying, “I want you to remember this going forward–be calm. Not just here in the Battle-staff, but everywhere you go. Not only do the junior personnel need you to be calm, but so does the public. Give them confidence in you. We’ve got this.” He was right.

    • johnyMac September 11, 2020 at 13:55

      Well done Russsell. Thank you for your remembrance. Please share your story over and over to anybody who will listen. It is America’s history.

      73 & God Bless

  10. Matt September 11, 2020 at 14:16

    I was working a flight from Cleveland to somewhere, can’t remember where anymore. As the passengers were boarding a couple asked if we had heard anything about an airplane hitting a tower. We assured them that we had not and continued the boarding.

    We were number three to takeoff when the tower came over the radio and said “The airspace is closed. No takeoffs are allowed.” I remember thinking “Which airspace are they talking about?”, because the thought that the entirety of the US’s airspace being closed was unfathomable to me.

    I spent most of the day hanging around the crew room in the airport watching the television before going to the hotel. I spent the next week in a fleabag hotel close to the airport in Cleveland.

    When flying was restarted it was a nightmare because all the crews were out of place and scheduling didn’t know where anyone was at. They’d just call around until they found enough people to fill out a crew, everyone would be sent to the airport to meet up and work the flight. At the other end it’d be another nightmare as people went in every which direction.

    About a week or so into the restart of operations, I was flying from Houston into La Guardia, which was scheduled to arrive well after dark. The groundtrack give by ATC had us flying up the Hudson, doing a couple of right ninety degree turns, and landing at La Guardia to the south. I was a First Orificer at the time and as such was sitting in the right seat.

    The sky was pitch black, but as normal the city was well lit. Even more well lit up was ground zero. There were high power spotlights all around as the crews worked on it. I was surprised to plainly see it still smoking more than a week after the towers had come down. I guess that much material takes a while to cool down.

    Then I saw what was probably one of the most memorable sights that I’ll ever see. Just north of ground zero is the Empire State Building. It was, quite appropriately, lit up in Red, White, and Blue. Quite the sight to see. Patriotism was still alive and well then.

    There was a very strong wind that night out of the South and it was quite humid as well. The wind was blowing up against the southern face of the building, splitting & flowing around the sides, and then rejoining on the north side. Because the the flat, non-airfoil shape of the building, when the airflow rejoined on the north side there was a turbulent eddy with low pressure right along that side of the building.

    The result of such an eddy is a drop in pressure, like on the downstream side of a rock in a river. The humidity was high enough and the drop in pressure big enough that it caused the water vapor in the air to condense into a cloud. A long roll, or rope, shaped cloud that hung on the north side of the building and went from bottom to top. And because the building was lit the cloud was illuminated top to bottom in in red, white, and blue.

    It was incredible. I would have loved to have captured an image, but back then few carried cameras with them and only a very expensive professional camera would have been able to have captured the image in the low light. The mental image will stick with me though.

    Matt

  11. Thomas Wilkerson September 11, 2020 at 17:32

    I was at work as a line leader at a manufacturing plant in OKC. I had walked up to the security guard area where office material was kept. The guard had a small tv which was showing the first strike. The guard said a plane flew into it. As I asked what type of plane, we watched the second plane hit. We were still watching as the towers fell.

    Some of the management had set up a tv in the conference room. I remember going in and out all day, trying to perform my duties and keep up to date. At the production line, we had one of those large flip charts to write production information. I took a blank page and colored an American flag. It hung there for months. I still have it at home. The next week, the company gave us all small American flags on sticks; like the ones people put in their yards on July 4. It lived in the defrost vent of my Ford Ranger until I sold the truck in 2014. I still have that flag as well. It stays next to the garage sink to remind me. On my way home that afternoon, $1.50 gas was marked up to $8 and $10 a gallon. Lines were so long, I didn’t even try to fill up.

    The first week of December 2001, I started meeting with the ARNG recruiter. After a lot of discussion, we found an intelligence position which interested me. I was to process through MEPS on 31 January 2002. There was a massive ice storm that night. The recruiter was not at my house to drive me per our arrangement. I called him, and his power was out…alarm didn’t go off. He said he would meet me at MEPS, so I shagged ass getting there. In processing tried to deny me because I was 3 minutes late. It took the recruiter and ARNG full timer a few minutes to get me in. After spending all day waiting to process through each portion, the ARNG rep informed me the Intelligence position was filled, and I would have to select a new MOS. I left MEPS unsure of what would happen. The only slots available were 11B.

    I went home and discussed with my wife of 3 years. The next day I took the 11B slot and took my Oath of Enlistment with my wife in attendance.

    I left for Ft Benning in August as that was the first available basic training. Our Platoon motto at Basic was, “Let’s Roll.” The platoon graduated on 22 November 2002. My wife was able to fly out to watch me graduate.

    I haven’t actually talked or thought about the totality of events in a long time. I still tear up.

    In Remembrance

    Cold Steel

    • johnyMac September 11, 2020 at 17:49

      Thomas Wilkerson, awesome remembrance. Thank you for sharing Brother. Please share it with friends and family. Let us keep 9/11 alive. Never Forget!

      73 & God Bless

  12. downeasthillbilly September 11, 2020 at 19:12

    I was working contract at an engineering company in Cary, NC. A coworker announced that a plane had hit WTC-1. I thought small plane and pilot error.

    Then the phone rang. My wife (from Queens) saw the video in WalMart. She went home and spent 3 days trying to reach her circle of friends. Another coworker from NY went home and started trying to call Ebasco. I never heard from him again.

    My wife finally contacted her friend. He worked for the telephone company in WTC-2. When the plane hit WTC-1, he walked down the stairs.Just as he reached the ground floor lobby, WTC-1 collapsed and blew him off his feet. An unknown fireman caught him on the bounce, set him down and went on up the stairs.

    Mt wife’s friend walked out of the cloud covered in debris. He walmed into a bar and started drinking. He won’t talk about it. We don’t know what happened to the fireman.

  13. Tracey South September 11, 2020 at 20:28

    Thank you for this opportunity, johnyMac. My husband and I had made arrangements with our bosses to be a few minutes late for work because we were buying him a truck, and picking it up that day. We were sitting in the dealership’s parking lot (in a small town in Indiana) waiting for them to open when we heard the news on the radio. “We will never forget!”

  14. James September 11, 2020 at 21:33

    I was putting on me boots heading to work late when saw on the news,me dad ran Hyperion in the Liberty Building between the towers,stayed home and heard he was fine around 2 p.m. walking out of the city,strangely,his building collapsed that night.

    Wonder if we will ever get the true/whole story.

  15. SemperFido September 11, 2020 at 22:14

    I was in San Jose CA working a travel contract as a nurse and watched the twin towers live on a pt’s tv. I called the wife to tell her I might have to reinlist. A side note, I live and work in Florida now and one of the Saudi doctors in my hospital disappeared that day and no one ever heard from him again

  16. Cavguy September 12, 2020 at 09:52

    SFOR 10 Eagle Base, Tuzla, Bosnia, Operations Officer. That’s where I was, that’s where, BiH, my mission focus would remain till late into 2005.
    After 911 the operational tempo was just a wee bit more into the red. Really The tempo meter went from green to red that day.
    I still think it was an inside job.

    Cavguy

    • johnyMac September 12, 2020 at 10:38

      Thank you Cavguy for your remembrance. Bosnia huh. I bet you saw some interesting things there.

      God Bless Brother

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