Never Forget

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678) 09/11/2020 at 11:48 • Filed to: None

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Picture here is from Jersey City, NJ when I went on a bike ride along the waterfront one day around 2011 . This spot overlooks lower Manhattan and many residents of the area worked over there. Direct train from Jersey City to WTC was about a 15 minute ride so real close. A proper place for a memorial for sure.

I was in 5th grade on Sept 11th, 2001. Just old enough to understand the implications of it all and comprehend why my parents were so scared and mortified. I had recently learned in history class about world war 2, among many other historical events. I immediately understood that this was the Pearl Harbor of my lifetime. I remember thinking back to my history text book and how all future text books of kids after me would have that day in the book.

Living through history is of course something that happens. But I had never realized that before that day. 9/11 is truly what taught me that history is not just some story we read about in school. Before then history was no different from the children’s stories or short novels we had read up to that point. Fact/fiction, it didn’t matter, it’s all just stories I thought. But 9/11 cemented it in my consciousness that history is important and the real deal.

MUSASHI66 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 09/11/2020 at 12:20

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That morning, I woke up and started getting ready - my first day at a new job! I was supposed to do furniture sales, and because I was handy and strong and willing, I jumped in to do deliveries as well.

I turned on my computer and connected to the internet, and MSN was my start page. This was around 7am MST, and there was a picture of a burning building in NYC . I ignored it - MSN was running a series of articles which were sort of “what if” scenarios, and I thought this was just one of them. But, something kept bugging me, so I turned on the TV, which I never did in the morning.

And t here it was, same image on every channel. I was pretty shocked, and I think - memory is vague at this point - I had the TV on when the second plane hit. I watched for as long as I could, then I drove in to work. They sent me on a truck to help with some scheduled deliveries. The people’s faces are what struck me the most - the realization that no one is really safe, that USA was attacked on its own soil..

I do feel bad admitting I didn’t feel that horrible. You see, I moved to states just 2 years prior to that, and I moved here while Serbia was bombed by an USA lead coalition, without UN approval and without a declaration of war. In my mind, memories of bridges and building destroyed, of sitting in front of an air raid shelter, listening to sirens and watching anti-aircraft fire, of people killed by american bombs, were still very fresh. It was a weird, hard to describe feeling - I felt bad for the people dying, but I didn’t feel bad for the act of the attack. It was sort of “well, now you see how it is” feeling. Much has changed since.

3point8isgreat > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 09/11/2020 at 12:38

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I too was in 5th grade when this happened. I dont remember exact times, but I remember waking up and watching TV while eating breakfast like every other day. I’m not sure if we always had the news on then or not. But at least one plane had hit.

I just remember feeling weird knowing that moment would somehow become a very important part of my life and world. Like you said, its realizing that you’re living through history.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 09/11/2020 at 12:39

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I was about to move to college. Chats and social media had just started blooming (still no Facebook in 2001, but a few other primitive blog-ish platforms), and I did actually have contacts in NYC as a result. They were evacuated from the area but safe. I’m still connected to them via social media.

I can’t imagine how haunting it is for p eople who lived in NYC and DC at the time, subjected to a terrorist attack of such a large scale.

Michael > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 09/11/2020 at 13:04

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I was in 7th grade in the library. I was a fan of the news aggregator Fark.com, and saw the newsflash pop up there. A few minutes later the major news network websites all crashed, so I followed along in the comment section until someone turned a TV on - just in time for the second plane to hit.

The adults in the room understood, the kids knew it was bad but not how bad until people started falling/jumping out of buildings. I watched both towers fall live, and then went on to the next class.

Every class just had the TV on, no one bothered to try to normalize the day.

Thomas Donohue > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 09/11/2020 at 14:13

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That’s actually where I was standing that morning, watching the fire in the first tower before we knew what was going on. I worked in the building just behind those trees on the left. Eventually we heard it was a plane, but still unsure as to what/why it had hit the WTC on such a clear day.

I was about 50 yards to the left by the pier when I watched the second plane come across the harbor, removing all doubt of what was happening.

Sad day.

A view from my old office....

19JRC99 > Michael 09/11/2020 at 18:34

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FYI, those Fark threads have actually been archived if you want to re read them. 

Michael > 19JRC99 09/12/2020 at 06:31

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I’ve been back through them once. It was enough. With the benefit of 15 extra years of perspective it really is horrifying