Memories of 9/11/01

[Janderso]

Eddy,
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Have you had any health related concerns from the dust you must have been exposed to?
I would think breathing that dust would be a tough time for your lungs.

 

[Eddyde]

Sorry if I hijacked your thread with my story, I meant to write a short comment and kept on writing. I appreciate hearing of your experience and it is helpful to hear it from a very close perspective.

I have several near miss stories, but luckily I don't know anyone personally that died either, just one or two steps removed. I think the episode on Nova was where I saw them talk about the cause of the collapse. They also had people from the fire department talking about how the truss design is known to fail in fires, but the designers thought the fire retardant layer on the beams would protect them. I think it was also in that episode that they said the explosion from the impact blew the protectant off the beams and made it easier for the fire to weaken them.

I'm sure one of these days I will make it to the memorial, I want my kids to see it so they understand what happened. We've told them their mom worked there, but I don't think they really understand. My town has a very nice ceremony every 9/11, and just built a new memorial for it, I almost went this year, but my daughter is taking Chinese lessons and has a lesson Sunday morning before church, so the timing didn't work. A lame excuse, but I think I was just looking for an excuse not to go again.

Your are not hijacking at all. I want people to share their experiences related to that day. Hearing others stories and how they process it is helpful for all of us.

The museum at the memorial is a great way to explain the event to those too young to remember or born after.

 

[Eddyde]

Eddy,
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Have you had any health related concerns from the dust you must have been exposed to?
I would think breathing that dust would be a tough time for your lungs.

Yes, Despite wearing an N-95 most of the time I was there, I was diagnosed with Asthma in 03 and I've had 4 sinus surgeries since 05.

 

[Janderso]

Yes, Despite wearing an N-95 most of the time I was there, I was diagnosed with Asthma in 03 and I've had 4 sinus surgeries since 05.

I’m sorry to hear that.
It seems that first responders and anyone exposed to the dust have experienced health related problems.

I was getting ready to head out the door to go to work, I saw the video of one of the towers burning on my way out the door.
I said to my wife, that looks bad. On the way to work I thought about how the firemen would attack the fire and then I thought about what the heat would do to weaken the structure.
When I got to work, a few employees were watching the TV in the waiting room.
By this time, both towers were burning. It wasn’t too much longer when the first tower collapsed.

This event is one of those we’ll always remember what we were doing, where we were etc.
Just like the JFK assassination, the moon landing and the Challenger launch.
For me anyway.

 

[Ischgl99]

Your are not hijacking at all. I want people to share their experiences related to that day. Hearing others stories and how they process it is helpful for all of us.

The museum at the memorial is a great way to explain the event to those too young to remember or born after.

Thank you, I agree it is helpful to hear of others experiences. I heard of all the people that dropped what they were doing and helped anyone they could, and it is nice to meet someone online that did that. I remember the boats of all types making countless trips across the river picking up anyone they could and bringing them to Jersey City so they could get home. I’ve never seen so many people so willing to help any way they could.

Afterwards all the “near miss” stories of people that avoided becoming victims of this by making a simple decision that seemed insignificant at the time began to be told, but it makes me wonder about those that became victims because of a decision made the other way.

I have a couple stories that were too close for comfort. I was on a sailing trip with friends and got home the night before 9/11. I wanted to stop on the way back and pick up my girlfriend (now wife), but I wasn’t driving and didn’t want to inconvenience the person that was driving by going out of the way, even though I knew she would not have hesitated to do it if I asked. If I picked up my girlfriend that night, I would have dropped her off at the train station early and she would have been at her desk at the time of the attack instead of on the train. Her office faced north, so she would have likely seen a large jet flying right at her as it impacted two floors higher. The few people that were in her office got out safely, so she probably would have too, but that decision not to inconvenience my friend saved my wife from a much more traumatic experience. Usually you don’t second guess your good decisions, but I keep wondering, what if I decided differently that night, and will I make the right decision again in the future?

Another near miss, one of the girls on the sailing trip was a coworker from San Francisco of my friend that organized the trip. She was planning on flying back home on 9/11 and had the choice of the morning flight, or a later one. She decided she wanted to sleep in to help with jet lag and booked the later flight. The morning flight was United flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville.

Not the same as the above, but an interesting story. My aunt and uncle were visiting from Chicago and my parents planned to bring them into the city on 9/11, but my dad had a last minute business trip come up, so they went in on the 10th instead. My aunt has a picture of her and my uncle with the Twin Towers in the background with the date Sept 11 2001 etched into the picture. That was back when film cameras had the ability to tag the date in the picture. Apparently my aunt had the clock off by 12 hours, so she has this ominous picture from their visit that makes it look like they were there right before the attacks.

 

[Ischgl99]

Yes, Despite wearing an N-95 most of the time I was there, I was diagnosed with Asthma in 03 and I've had 4 sinus surgeries since 05.

I’m sorry to hear about your medical problems. I’ve heard of many people that suffered long term issues from their time at ground zero. I hope the surgeries are helping.

 

[DiscoDan]

I remember that day vividly. I worked in downtown Baltimore and I was listening to 98 Rock on the way to work. As I was listening the news guy came on and said that a plane had hit the World Trade center. Being a local station I had assumed that the World Trade Center they were talking about was the one right on the water in downtown Baltimore. I thought a small plane had hit the Baltimore World Trade center. Some of you may remember we had an incident many years ago where a small plane landed in the old Memorial Stadium, so a plane hitting Our World Trade Center wasn't out of the question.

It wasn't until I got to my office that I learned that it was actually the New York World Trade Center. It seems weird to think of now, but many of us were concerned about our friends and family because of the area we live in and being in close proximity to Washington, DC and so many other Federal installations. So many of us left early and picked up our children at school and went home. We ended up at my parents house where my wife met me with my very young daughter. Thankfully she was too young to understand what was going on and sat at the counter drawing pictures while we watched the horror happening in New York.

I later learned that 176 of my Aon colleagues lost their life that day.

I remember in the immediate aftermath how erie it was not hearing any planes in the sky, especially since I live near an airport and in the flight path of the airport. And I remember in the days,weeks, and months that followed you couldn't pass a bridge or overpass that didn't have a American flag on it. Patriotism was at an all-time high.

That's my story.

 

[Ischgl99]

I’m sorry to hear about your AON colleagues, some companies were hit really hard that day. Did you work with them in NYC, or remotely from Baltimore? I think that was the company my dad’s cousin worked for.

You are right about the patriotism afterwards, there were flags everywhere for a long time.

 

[7milesup]

Thanks for sharing your story @Eddyde. I am sure that a lot of people appreciated the work that you did that day and night.
My story is not anywhere near as poignant as yours; in fact, the beginning of it is rather embarrassing. I had just returned to MSP the evening of Sept. 10th after completing my seven days out on the "road" flying trips. Since I flew private jets, we operated in a different part of the airport than the airline guys, so our procedures were different. We pulled up to the gate at Signature Flight Support, and right before I pushed the button to have the attendant open the gate, my flying partner said, "tell them your Osama BinLaden." I thought that was strange, but I did, and they opened the gate. Jim busted out laughing, but me, not really knowing who Osama BinLaden was, didn't quite get what was so funny. We had been discussing airport security, though, and we both felt it was very lax. Little did I know. I still find it hard to believe that I actually said that, but I did.
The next morning my wife got a call from her best friend who was curious as to whether I was at home or gone flying and that she should turn the TV on. As we were watching the news, the second plane hit. I had a hard time comprehending what was going on. An hour or so later, the phone rang, and it was my mother-in-law on the other end. All I did was say "Hello," and then it was just sobbing from Kathy. After a few moments, she squeaked out a "thank God you are alive." It was the first time I had ever heard/seen her cry. It seemed like the rest of the day I spent watching the news and answering the phone.
Seven days later, I was in the back of a Northwest DC-10 heading to Detroit. The Captain made the most incredible announcement I had ever heard, basically saying you folks take care of the back if something goes wrong, and they will take care of the front. I don't remember where I went after Detroit but eventually picked up my aircraft and started my trips, of which one was into TEB (Teterboro, NJ). I remember coming in from the West at a rather low altitude (2000ft maybe), and the controller told us once we got to the Statue of Liberty to turn left and head up the Hudson. During that turn, we flew nearly over the top of the remains of the WTC. It was sobering, and I certainly had a lump in my throat. I knew my life, my industry, and our world would never be the same.

 

[DiscoDan]

I’m sorry to hear about your AON colleagues, some companies were hit really hard that day. Did you work with them in NYC, or remotely from Baltimore? I think that was the company my dad’s cousin worked for.

You are right about the patriotism afterwards, there were flags everywhere for a long time.

Thank you. I did not know any of them. On one hand I wish I had known the folks in New York but on the other hand I'm glad I didn't and have to grieve even more for colleagues that I knew well.