9/11 anniversary

[Tom B]

I was working in Stirling 8 years ago today when I heard the news. At the time when potentially 50 - 100,000 were in the two buildings a casualty list of 'just' 3,000 seemed like a miracle, but not so now when I hear the number again on the radio....

[Malky]

Ah yes, 9/11, the 9th of November.....

I remember I had hurt my shoulder and was sitting in the waiting room of an osteopath's waiting for my appointment and it was on the TV there.

Malky

[Pans Lass]

How can we all forget 9/11 ....I was sitting in the reception of the Highlander Gym at the time after a workout and heard the newsflash on the TV there ....something you will never forget .

Where were you ?

[petewick]

Never knew anything about until the next day as I was working the nightshift
on Tesco Campbeltowns re fit. All the day staff came in and told us all about it.
All air transportation was cancelled to US and Canada, I was due to fly to Vancouver
on the 16th.
Every morning when I was walking home from nightshift I was scanning the sky for jet stream
trails as the trans Atlantic flight path crosses south Kintyre.
Went to Glasgow airport on the 16th, flight was delayed for 3 hours, this was due to the back log
of Canadian passengers who had been stranded.

[numberplease]

I was at home, supposedly doing the washing, when my daughter called me into the living room, saying that a plane had just crashed into one of the towers. We thought it was a tragic accident until the second plane hit, then it became like the plot of a film, and we just couldn`t believe what we were seeing. Needless to say, we were glued to the TV for the rest of the afternoon and the washing didn`t get done.
My grandson will never forget his 10th birthday, he`s 18 today.

[the ice maiden]

I was at home unwell during my pregnancy with my youngest. Couldn't believe what I was watching. When the pentagon was struck, it was a long two hours before I reached my sister in DC to find out my brother in law wasn't working there that day. It is something I will never forget-how it made me feel.

[Bobh]

It was my day off and had been to the golf range with my wife in Uddingston and then took her for lunch. On arriving home heard the news on the car radio at 3.00pm.

Within minutes saw the events on TV. Kids came home from school and as they say it was like watching a movie.

[EMDEE]

That is what it was like. The whole thing was so unbelievable that it was actually like watching a movie. I was at home and heard about it on the news on the radio. The initial story was that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre. I put on the TV and by this time the second plane had hit the other tower. The whole thing was unbelievable, and the whole world watched while the USA was humiliated, George Bush has been criticised for his response, but what would any of us have done in his position?

[History]

I saw it on the TV while sitting in the canteen at work.

Later on watching it at home one of the things that I will always remember from that tragic day was a shot of a woman in one of the Arab countries shouting in celebration at the deaths and humiliation of Americans.

[Bobbie En Tejas]

Two posts about the humiliation of America.. Like someone breaking into your house and killing or a loved one dying in a car wreck caused by someone else, there may be anger and sadness or a number of other emotions, maybe a feeling of humility knowing that we aren't as invulnerable as we thought, but not humiliation (technically the same word, but not the same meaning). Maybe the world wants us to feel humiliation.. I'm more upset that the US government has used this "opportunity" as an excuse for every anti-american thing it is doing. We pride ourselves with the word "freedom," as we lock down.

We still don't have all the facts about it, and I'm afraid I think there is more to this than meets the eye.

I was on the border of Scotland and England when it happened, coincidentally having gone to Lockerbie the day before. My friends and I happened to be passing the sign that said Lockerbie Garden, someone asked if we should go and look. I doubt any of us had ever thought much of Lockerbie or visiting the grounds. That night (9/10) we had a long conversation about terrorism as we watched the sky from the window seat at our lodging. Strange...

[dgraves]

[quote="Bobbie En Tejas"]Two posts about the humiliation of America.. Like someone breaking into your house and killing or a loved one dying in a car wreck caused by someone else, there may be anger and sadness or a number of other emotions, maybe a feeling of humility knowing that we aren't as invulnerable as we thought, but not humiliation (technically the same word, but not the same meaning).

...horror, shock, disbelief, sadness over the loss of life..anger..., but you are correct, Bobbie. Humiliation was not an emotion that I felt that day. That was my first thought that I had when I read the above posts. I felt vulnerable and humble, yes, but not humiliated.

I was in Farmington, New Mexico on 9.11. When I arrived at work, we stood around the TV in the owner's office, watching the events unfold in disbelief and horror. Customers came in to stand with us...all else was ignored and forgotten. One powerful emotion that was surging through the store team and customers (some strangers) alike was unity...

[Bobbie En Tejas]

Good seeing you again, Dorian, as always..

[Ags]

It was my darling girls 3rd birthday and we had just enjoyed a delicious lunch with the family in Beachmore when Matt told us about the first plane and then the second. The journey home with the car radio on and the rest of the day at the telly created a feeling I never want to experience again and must have been horrendous for those of you worrying about family members.
I know what you mean about the dates Malky. Kirstens birthday is 11/9 (9/11) and mine is 9/11 (9/11) so I really need to concentrate when filling forms requiring dates of birth.
Did anybody see the "102 minutes that changed America" documentary the other night? Compelling but horrific viewing!

[ionnsaigh]

911 - also happens to be the American Emergency Telephone Code.

[Lossit Lass]

No, humiliation was definitely not among the many emotions I experienced either. I read that post & had to re-read it to see if I missed something. I was working with a friend at her home that morning & we were watching the am news as usual when it cut to this report of a plane flying into a building. Like most at that moment, I thought it was a horrific accident. Well, the rest unfolded before our eyes. I tried calling my husband, family, other friends, on my cell & the land line, but either got a constant busy signal or a recording that "all circuits are busy". As plane after plane crashed I was becoming quite frantic, wondering if this was really IT. I was really feeling the need to get to my son who was in grade school, wanting him with me, but somehow held off. I just wanted my family together, at home. I started imaging 'doomsday' & cursing myself for not having created an emergency supply kit as we'd always planned to....we had no extra water, food, batteries. I even thought about emptying our bank account & filling up the gas tank on the way home. We're in Virginia but on that day we may as well have been in NY, DC or PA. Just very close. And a lot of military & gov't interest lies here as well.
It was all very surreal. We were all in fight or flight mode. For weeks after, I was hyper-aware of unusual activity...in the sky & on the ground. And the constant bombardment of 9/11 images everywhere I think just kept us in that moment. To this day, seeing these images gives me instant chills, brings tears, just jerks me right back to that day, all the fear, the anticipation of the unknown, expectation of worse to come. True PTS, for all of us I imagine, but multiplied by a thousand for too many.
I also recall, for the first several years after especially, automatically putting everything into a "was it before or after 9/11?" frame of reference. It changed everything so profoundly that it was the only way to think now.