20th Anniversary of 9/11

[WillyB]

Tomorrow morning marks the 20th Anniversary of the attack on the United States of America.

I was ironing my shirt and watching TV getting ready for a day of sales calls in Orlando, FL. It was a beautiful sunny morning.

I heard the NBC announcer talking about a plane crash in NYC. I looked up and saw the 2nd plane fly into the World Trade Center.

NEVER FORGET!

NEVER FORGET THOSE WHO WERE LOST!

NEVER FORGET WHO DID THIS!

NEVER FORGET!

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Tomorrow morning marks the 20th Anniversary of the attack on the United States of America.

I was ironing my shirt and watching TV getting ready for a day of sales calls in Orlando, FL. It was a beautiful sunny morning.

I heard the NBC announcer talking about a plane crash in NYC. I looked up and saw the 2nd plane fly into the World Trade Center.

NEVER FORGET!

NEVER FORGET THOSE WHO WERE LOST!

NEVER FORGET WHO DID THIS!

NEVER FORGET!

I watched it live in NY harbor about 3 miles away...Surreal because the twin towers were such a large part of the city landscape.. We knew the world changed when second plane hit.... Unbelievable when towers collapsed..

[brroberts]

We were living in an Eskimo village on the Bering Sea. Everything comes in or out on small bush planes and the gravel runway. So, when all flights got grounded for a week and a half, we went right back to complete self sufficiency. You sure didn’t want to get hurt because there was no way to fly to the hospital.

[MyronL]

I watched it happen - (!) was on Route 3 in NJ.

[WanderBred]

My wife's birthday.

[YakRV]

A name I was shocked to read was one of the fatalities on 9/11 soon after that terrible day was Rick Rescorla. The name rung a bell. Then I realized I remembered him from the book, We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, along with the subsequent Mel Gibson film (the book is an excellent read). For those unfamiliar, Rick Rescorla distinguished himself in the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major U.S. conflict of the Viet Nam War. He was a hero then, but he would do more. He later became Director of Security for Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley, headquartered in the World Trade Center. He warned of the 1993 truck bombing of the WTC, but his calls for increased security were ignored. After the bombing, Rick Rescorla recommended the company move out of the WTC, believing it was still a target. His recommendation was turned down because of the lease agreement. He then implemented a robust emergency evacuation program at Morgan Stanley which included surprise fire drills that he timed with a stopwatch. When the first plane struck Tower 1 on September 11th, Rick Rescorla ignored WTC security messages over the speakers in Tower 2 directing everyone to remain at their desks. He began an immediate evacuation. The second plane struck his tower in the midst of that evacuation. He calmly directed everyone down the flights of stairs and got most of the 2,700 people out. He was out too. To make sure that all of his people made it to safety, he went back in. The building collapsed. This man was born in England, but what an American hero he became. R.I.P., Cyril Richard Rescorla.

[emers382]

No doubt many Canadians are not aware of the memorial to the 27 Canadian citizens who died on 9/11. It is very well done with a plaque with name and details of where in the towers they worked or on which plane. It's on Lake Ontario in St. Catharines.

https://voicescenter.org/living-memo...es-911-walkway

That is not the right photo in that link, I realised there's not the "right" flags. Here's a screen shot of part of the memorial

[Mike Lewis]

Several years after that awful day I read an interesting bit of trivia that was buried deep inside a Washington Post article about the event: Many of us remember the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that wrecked much of San Francisco, and many of us remember seeing the photo of the car teetering over a section of the Bay Bridge that had collapsed. The driver escaped unharmed.

Well, guess where the driver of that car was working on 9/11/01? Yep-- he was working in the WTC. But he survived the attack because he was out on a business call that day.

[Viajante]

Never forget, true. But what did we learn?

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Viajante

Never forget, true. But what did we learn?

We learned that the people in the USA are completely capable of pulling together when it's for the common interest.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by MyronL

I watched it happen - (!) was on Route 3 in NJ.

My sister was on the ferry from Jersey City when the first plane hit. They were hit with light debris and she even has papers that came out of one of the towers. The ferry didn’t want to land in NY so it stayed out in the Hudson. She watched the second plane hit. Still haunts her to this day.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

We learned that the people in the USA are completely capable of pulling together when it's for the common interest.

Doesn't seem to be working now to beat Covid 19.

[HarleyD]

The cost was roughly 3000 lives, This past week we lost 1500 a day each day for 10,500. The people that can correct this seem to not care.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by HarleyD

The cost was roughly 3000 lives, This past week we lost 1500 a day each day for 10,500. The people that can correct this seem to not care.

Please be careful. This is not a COVID debate. If it devolves into one, the thread will be closed. Fair warning.

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Please be careful. This is not a COVID debate. If it devolves into one, the thread will be closed. Fair warning.

Thank you!

I started this post as a way to share our memories from that day!

NEVER FORGET!

[HarleyD]

You are correct, my bad!

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Doesn't seem to be working now to beat Covid 19.

Damn, you a mean one Mr. Grinch

[MyronL]

RIP all.

[sameo416]

Late on reply, behind in reading.

I spent most of my days after 9/11 either sitting in alert facilities or planning deployments to operate from civil airfields with loaded jets. For a guy trained as a cold warrior who was wondering about operational purpose and focus with a fighter squadron, it certainly answered the question definitively.

Plug for Joe Pfeifer's book "Ordinary Heroes" just out. Pfeifer was the first FDNY battalion commander at the WTC. Heard him speak on a crisis leadership course this year, and I couldn't put the book down.

[RangerMan]

Originally Posted by YakRV

A name I was shocked to read was one of the fatalities on 9/11 soon after that terrible day was Rick Rescorla. The name rung a bell. Then I realized I remembered him from the book, We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, along with the subsequent Mel Gibson film (the book is an excellent read). For those unfamiliar, Rick Rescorla distinguished himself in the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major U.S. conflict of the Viet Nam War. He was a hero then, but he would do more. He later became Director of Security for Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley, headquartered in the World Trade Center. He warned of the 1993 truck bombing of the WTC, but his calls for increased security were ignored. After the bombing, Rick Rescorla recommended the company move out of the WTC, believing it was still a target. His recommendation was turned down because of the lease agreement. He then implemented a robust emergency evacuation program at Morgan Stanley which included surprise fire drills that he timed with a stopwatch. When the first plane struck Tower 1 on September 11th, Rick Rescorla ignored WTC security messages over the speakers in Tower 2 directing everyone to remain at their desks. He began an immediate evacuation. The second plane struck his tower in the midst of that evacuation. He calmly directed everyone down the flights of stairs and got most of the 2,700 people out. He was out too. To make sure that all of his people made it to safety, he went back in. The building collapsed. This man was born in England, but what an American hero he became. R.I.P., Cyril Richard Rescorla.

'Hard Core' Lt Rescorla retired a bull Colonel. He was the man pictured on the cover of the book 'We were Soldiers' .

Joey Galloway, who was the reporter who was there and wrote about Ia Drang recently died. He also wrote about the Gulf Wars, covering the 1st Cav'

SgtMaj Basil Plumley also recently died. He was Lt Col Moore's SgtMaj in the 1st of the 7th. 'Custers Own' He Jumped at Anzio, Normandy, Market Garden and Inchon. He could be very 'short' with his men.

His favorite toast when having a 'cool one' , "Here's to us and those like us, Ain't many of us left"

He was often asked for interviews about the action in Ia Drang but never did a single one. He retired to Columbus, GA. Home to Ft Benning. Home of the Infantry.