It’s here..
I still can not get the pictures out of my mind, even after all the years that have passed.
The second plane. The twin towers, falling one by one. The people standing in windows trying to summon up the courage to jump to their deaths. The horror and pain on the faces of people standing in NYC streets watching it all unfold live in front of them. I can still see it all in my minds eye like it was yesterday.
A friend has his wedding anniversary today. Another friends birthday is today.
This has to be the shittiest day of the year to have something to celebrate. No one ever feels like celebrating anything today.
I wonder if those raw, horrible feelings of helplessness and horror will ever leave me. I know it won’t for those that lost loved ones, friends or co-workers. I feel for the folks that live in NYC or work there. Their nightmares must be unimaginable.
My heart goes out to all of them. I wish for them personal peace of mind.
I just want this day to be over. Every year, I want it to fly by in seconds instead of hours.
But it never does.
Posted on September 10, 2009, in 9/11. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
Its my Right to be Left of the Center 
And to think we're still recovering from Bush's reaction to it.
Rather than going after Saudi Arabia, the home of most of the 9/11 terrorists, he consulted with his BFF the Saudi King, and on his orders went after Saddam Hussein, the King's sworn enemy.
Meanwhile, he begs his other BFF Tony Blair to join in the fight against Iraq.
“What's in it for me, bloke?” Tony asked.
“How would you like your little old British Petroleum to hit the big time in America?” Bush replied.
And now we have BP in America as a major player.
And Todd Palin works for them.
Glad to see you did this. I watched the entire series of events this morning at the time they occurred. My jaw still drops and I get goose bumps. That was stupefying to watch and wonder what the hell next?
i don't think any of us will ever forget that horrible day. however, i hope that we can take back the day and make it a happy one while still respectfully remembering those who died that day and in the wars that followed. the last administration tried to turn this country into a nation of perpetual mourners. that would only make us frozen in time and in fear. i hope obama can move everyone forward.
sitting in my office on 57th Street – around 5 miles north of the Trade Center – watching the television – and then seeing the Today Show shift to the camera atop Rockefeller Center and pointing downtown — seeing smoked plume rise into the sky –
phone rings – our TV transmitter was destroyed – the plane ran into the NOrth Tower where all the TV stations kept their transmitters and the antenna sitting atop the tower. phones start ringing off the hook – viewers lost their signals – what was going on? i began calling all the cable companies to get our signal to them direct feed, fiber beamed up via makeshift satellite trucks – so people could see – it was seemless in many ways but harrowing. meanwhile i am watching a second plane fly into the south tower
all i hear is sirens out the window for firetrucks flying down broadway and 7th avenue.
phones are still ringing off the hook from viewers who cannot see anything – we all knew when the second plane appeared this was no accident.
the day was surreal – and i could see a pall of smoke outside my window at work – the Hearst building across the street began to empty. and thousnads were on street walking towards the river for ferrys home. i had to stay and keep the signals fed to cable and satellite companies — it was a mess
maybe four people came in – i think everyone else turned around and when home. i had an easy walk home – only around 2 miles. some people had to walk back to queens and brooklyn to catch long island railroad trains since all transportation in and out of manhattan was halted.
i remember going out to dinner – as did the entire upper east side – and it was silent all night
next day – i remember one of the salesmen saying to me – arent you glad we have don rumsfeld in defense to deal with this
i remember saying NO RESPONSE. i knew in my gut that the wrong people were in charge during this horror.
i still can smell that day.
My comment pales in comparison to distributorcap's experience. We can only relate from a great distance – he was THERE! I remember going outside in mid afternoon, looking up at the sky, and realizing there wasn't a single airplane in the sky above the U.S. (Except for W who was flying around – hiding!!)
Well said and well done, Dusty. Long time no see!
This is the first time I've sat and watched a video of the time from the first plane until a few minutes after the second. Before, it was always the cut scene to the second plane, and I never saw how many, and as D-cap reminds us, how very loud, all those fire trucks and rescue crew vehicle sirens were. I don't remember the video, but it was shot from right across the way from the first plane's devestation. A man was filming and his wife's horror-filled voice and prolonged cries of anguish lasted for a long time. All those people, not understanding what was happening around them, as hell descended from above.
D-Cap, thanks for the jog of memory. I have the pictures of the throngs of people walking in a daze, wondering how they were going to get home with every mode of transport frozen. The awful days afterward, first giving everyone a sense of fellowship, as we saw all the massive response from all over the world. Then, a few weeks after, the pulling off the bandages, maybe too soon, as the realization, by NY'ers especially, of how incompetently Giuliani had handled things. That picture of him and his aides, dusty and pushing dustmasks to their faces, looks of “holy what the fuck?” on all three faces, and the reports that the Mayor had put the “Crisis Command Post” in bldg #7(I think?) that was now a pile of rubble, even though his own rescue/crisis experts had warned him not to put it in there. But he had to have it close to his office.
When he had the nerve to run for Pres. in '08, I damned near choked on my own tongue. Had he won, I would have moved in with the family in Ireland, and hid out in some church to escape the apocolypse. ( “No Father, I'm not drinking the communion wine; That stuff is rank!”)