LEGEND It was horrible, I felt numb. |
9-11-2009 10:11 PM |
I can remember having my breakfast then having my coffee watching TV.
My wife called me from work that a plane hit one of the towers.
I changed the channel to the news and sure enough one of the towers was on fire.
My first reaction was it must have been a small plane that flew into it.
Then like in a movie another plane out of the blue came into the frame of the picture
and flew into the other tower,
It was like I was dreaming.
Then one tower fell and you new the other would come down also.
Sure enough the 2nd tower came down.
It was horrible, I felt numb.
Continued to watch the TV, people calling to see if I was OK by phone and internet
Cause I do most of my work in Manhattan. fortunately not on 9/11/2001.
I remember going outside and everything was quiet.
My next door neighbor was outside and we both were just numb by what we saw.
I had stock that was scheduled to be picked up and had to travel on Hempstead turnpike to get it.
Heading east was no traffic
Heading west towards the city was wall to wall traffic.
Every few minutes Fire Engines, police cars came speeding by heading into NYC.
By the time I arrived at the printers to pick up my materials they were close due to the tragedy
As most places were by now, 11:30 - 12 noon.
Three times I was in the Twin Towers
Once for pleasure and twice for business.
The next year or two when I would go into Manhattan
Every time I would look up at the buildings all I saw was planes flying into them.
I'm still conscious of that horrible day every time I head into NYC. |
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Fire Works 9 YEARS AGO and it has never ended |
9-11-2010 2:27 PM |
911 ... 9 YEARS AGO and it has never ended
in pa............................................................ |
M. Gasior MY REMEMBERANCE |
9-11-2011 00:06 AM |
September 11 2011
MY REMEMBERANCE
In my entire life I had never been to lower Manhattan until I was finally going to interview for my very first Wall Street job. It was the beginning of the 1980's and it was interesting how different the area was than the Midtown/Times Square version of New York City than most tourists consider "the real" New York. It seemed more serious. Quieter. Businesslike. It was the heart and soul of the global financial markets, which was where I knew I could never be bored. I still think it was funny when I remember my first ride on the 4-5-6 subway train to my interview because I freaked when the conductor called out the "Brooklyn Bridge" stop and I could only assume the next stop would have to be someplace in Brooklyn. Since my interview was going to be in the World Trade Center, I jumped off the train in a panic to figure out what I'd done wrong and felt foolish when I checked the MTA map and found the "Wall Street" stop was still two stops away. Ultimately I would end up working in Two World Trade on the 105th floor and living in the first apartment building built in Battery City. It was the halcyon days of Wall Street I and although friends thought the prospect of living in Downtown Manhattan was better left for Monks, I liked the routine of my days. I awoke early, walked across the West Side Highway to the Vista Hotel. Cut through the Vista's lobby to the lobby of Two World Trade. Took the express elevator to the 80th floor and then transferred to the "local" elevator that would deliver me to the 105th floor. The view from my desk of both the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge never got old for me. I felt like a little kid at how I would marvel to see small airplanes and helicopters flying below me. Usually twelve hours later, rather than go straight back to my apartment, I would head to the lobby of One World Trade to catch the direct elevator to my favorite bar of all time at "Windows on the World" to meet all my friends for happy hour. If I said that I'd been to WOW hundreds of times I'd probably be lying since the number may actually contain four figures.
When I stumbled into the training and consulting business I have run for the past 22 years, there was no city more important for me to have on the calendar than New York City. That was the heart from where the blood for the world's financial system still pumped and my choice of location was easy; my old neighborhood. While a lot of training companies frequently use hotels; I learned quickly that someplace constructed for the purpose of teaching was a much better alternative if it were available. With that, I settled on the "College of Insurance", which was barely a block from the World Trade Center and offered a very clean, modern and nice facility. Also close by was the "Millennium Hilton", which was perfect for the Hilton Honors Diamond Member that I had become to keep my points racking up. Not to mention they would usually take VERY nice care of me with regards to lovely suites on extremely high floors looking across at the World Trade complex and across the river to New Jersey. Some years I was there nearly 90 days plus, but that was okay because it somehow felt a little like home to me. That's not a bad feeling for a guy who travels as heavily as I do.
September 10th, 2001 was a fairly typical day for me. I'd flown into Kansas City, MO on Sunday the 9th and had taught a one-day program for a longtime client of mine. The course ended on time and after some client relation time afterward I hauled ass for the taxi waiting to take me to the airport. The weather was literally stunning and the cab pulled up to the curb in front of the U.S. Airways counter more than 90 minutes ahead of my flight. Life was good and I figured I would arrive back in Connecticut at a fairly reasonable hour, which I appreciated since I was back on a plane Wednesday to head to a client in Chicago for a somewhat extended visit. The house I had recently bought was still in the middle of massive renovations and I was only going to have Tuesday to meet with the assorted subcontractors who were working on the job and a full night's rest sounded pretty appealing to me. Plus I had to unpack and repack for the next trip. It was very nice to feel things were going so smoothly.
Needless to say, I immediately got agitated when the gate agent reported that my flight to Philadelphia was canceled and the airline would be able to fly me out the next morning. Well, this was completely unacceptable and I invoked one of the many FAA rules that travelers like myself commit to memory and told her I'd like them to book me on another carrier since this was not weather related (it was gorgeous out) and was in fact equipment problems that they had suffered in Philly. The agent complied and put me on a 7:00 p.m. United flight to O'Hare with a connection to Hartford that would get me to my home airport just after midnight. By no means was this as good as the flights I was originally booked on, but not bad. After over an hour delay in Chicago, my United flight landed me into Connecticut just after 1:00 a.m. on September 11th. I waited for my bags and finally fell asleep at around 2:30 with my alarm now set for a luxurious 8:00 wakeup time. There was a stop I wanted to make at my bank, which opened at 9:00 and then I would head to my house to see what was going on with my subcontractors.
I was woken up by my alarm and felt somewhat confused by my surroundings since, as my previous home had already sold and the new house was not quite ready, there had been an interim move to a corporate apartment. It's not an unusual feeling for me to wake up and not know exactly where I am, but I shook off the cobwebs and got myself ready for a pretty active day. My first stop (as it often was) was 7-11 to get myself the largest "Big Gulp" of Diet Coke possible to get my caffeine levels where they needed to be. It's my habit when I'm at home to listen to primarily New York radio stations and I happened that morning to be listening to 880 WCBS, which is an around-the-clock news station. It wasn't quite 9:00 as I pulled into 7-11 and I heard the newsperson make the first announcement that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center's towers. "Holy ****" was all I could think, and although a shocking announcement, it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility, since I'd seen planes flying lower than my desk on a nearly daily basis. I remember thinking it was weird since it was such a gorgeous day where I was, which was less than 60 miles from Manhattan in straight line. Of course, there may very well have been fog or low clouds over the Hudson River that could have obstructed the pilot's vision. I proceeded inside and got my 44 ounces of liquid caffeine.
As I got back in the car and continued to listen, the updated news was that it hadn't been a small aircraft at all, but appeared to be a very large airliner and that Tower One was burning badly. My mind now was racing all over the place about what might have happened, who might I know who would be in the building and more. Although I was still driving toward the bank to take care of my business, I decided to stop at another convenience store to use their payphone since I'd forgotten mine at the rental apartment in my haze of a morning. I wanted to call the guy who worked for me at my new house and tell him to pull one of the televisions being stored in the garage so it would be on when I got there. I pulled right up to the phone, and after rolling all the windows down and cranking up my radio, I got out to make my phone call. As I was bringing my guy up to date on what was happening in New York (he hadn't heard anything about it yet) I heard WCBS report live as the second plane had hit Tower Two. I told my guy to get the TV out and that I was on my way to the house right then. The banking wasn't important anymore.
My kitchen cabinets were installed, but there were no countertops yet, and my guy had placed the little TV set in the middle of the center island and had it tuned to the events. Two installers from the alarm company and my guy were standing motionless in front of the screen and barely grunted an acknowledgment of my arrival as I walked up and made it four of us watching. We all stood there silently and watched. It seemed like no one even knew what to say actually. All we could do was stand there staring and looking back and forth at each other as if perhaps one of us might have some sort of wisdom to offer. When the third plane hit the Pentagon, the news didn't seem to know at first what had happened or what exactly had been hit. At that point we began to discuss what might be going on since none of us had any compass to go by with regards to terrorism or acts of war on our own soil. Sure, Pearl Harbor had been equally sneaky, but that had been almost 60 years ago and there was at least a massive war going on. I had just left my seat on an airline flight barely eight hours ago, and it was as typical and mundane as most of the three million miles I've flown. My mind could not at all comprehend or compute what was going on here or how this could be happening. All I could do was stand there like a blank faced moron and stare silently.
On a couple of occasions all three of the guys would turn to me and apologize for the fact that they weren't doing the work they were supposed to be doing. I assured them that there was nothing more important that any of us should be doing than watching this history unfold in front of us. Hours went by before talk started about whether the two towers might actually come down and suddenly a massive cloud of dust and smoke indicated that perhaps one of them might have. After more time we stood and saw not only both towers come down, but Seven World Trade as well.
By now it was midday and the four of us decided to try and do a little bit of work and then get the hell out of there. There was a phone line that I'd installed there for not only myself, but for any contractors who might need it, which rang right about lunchtime. It was my father who explained he'd spent the last few hours in a panic because he'd been calling my cell phone and I wasn't answering and he would go straight to voicemail. Throughout those hours it never occurred to me that while I was wondering who I might know in and around those towers, that there might be people wondering where I was. To be honest, most of my immediate family has no idea where in the world I am on any given day, and the most probable place other than home that I might be was right there in the World Trade neighborhood. In fact, I'd been there less than one week before this awful day. The 37 missed calls and worried voicemails when I would retrieve my phone made me so immensely sad because I knew there were thousands of relatives that day who called their loved ones' phones and left messages that would never be heard because the recipient was lost in this tragedy. I have buried my mother and lost many other friends and relatives in the previous four-plus decades, but the heaviness in my chest that day was something new to me.
The new house is located on a mountaintop in central Connecticut and puts me in the flight pattern of the Hartford, Boston and Providence airports. There are also at least eight, small airports nearby as well, which put many little planes in a lower altitude around my house. As I locked up the house to leave that day it was extremely eerie to me how empty and quiet the skies were. Even in the middle of all the emotions I was feeling I could look up and imagine that this was what the world was like back in the 1700's. On a daily basis the planes are something I don't even notice when they fly over, I was struck at how obvious and noticeable it was when they weren't flying over.
I went back to the rental apartment and could not tear myself away from the television because I wanted every scrap of information I could get on what was happening. Everything I saw and heard only made me feel worse. I wanted to scream, cry and kill someone all at the same time. It was an odd combination of anger, sadness, sorrow and apathy. There was a gnawing need in me to reach out to other people and say something. And although I knew I might regret doing so after two solid bottles of wine, I wrote the following and immediately sent it out to the 300,000 people on my newsletter list at that time. It was about 8:00 p.m. on the evening of September 11th:
With a Very Heavy Heart
I cannot contain the immense sadness and emotion, which has overcome me today and I must take a moment to write all of you tonight.
As the radio report came over the airwaves into my truck this morning from WCBS in New York City I pulled to the side of the road in Connecticut in disbelief and began making phone calls.
The sickness in my stomach and aching in my chest have not left me nearly 13 hours into this unspeakable disaster. Perhaps it is difficult to comprehend the sight of a jumbo aircraft slamming into the building in which I used to sit on the 105th floor. My favorite bar in the world was on the 107th floor of the other tower. The hotel where I spend nearly 60 nights per year is barely 100 feet across the street and is destroyed. Many of you have attended my seminars only a block away from Seven World Trade Center which I watched collapse on live television not long after dinner.
My friends and colleagues which occupy the immediate area which has been destroyed haunt every thought I've had today. So much of the Wall Street community is headquartered in, or immediately adjacent to the World Trade Center.
I saved my own tears until after I had tucked my three-year-old daughter safely into bed and thanked God for opportunity to do that. My prayers and thoughts now lie with the people and families whose lives were ended, or will never be the same because of today.
The world changed today and will never be the same. America's innocence was lost and I already mourn it.
God bless all the victims of today and my heart remains in my adopted neighborhood, which will never, ever be the same.
Mike
When I woke up the next morning I had already gotten over 900 responses to that email. Many were brief, some were angry, but many were extraordinarily long and heartfelt. I got many from people who had attended my sessions at the College of Insurance over the decade or so I taught there, and although I would recoil when they'd mention how happy they were that I "forced" them to check out Windows on the World, there was a certain happiness in me to think I caused anyone to have gone there. Ultimately I got over 2,000 responses to my message, and I not only read every single one, I actually printed every one of them and they now occupy two enormous three-ring binders. I never wanted to forget a thing about what people were thinking or feeling on those days because I know emotion fades with time. I also never wanted to forget my own emotions about that day.
Ultimately the ban was lifted and I was able to get to my client in Chicago the next week. Although I had missed the Thursday/Friday component of the seminars, we had worked it out that we would make things up the next week. I was on one of the first flights to fly on that first day, and it was an American Airlines flight out of Hartford non-stop to O'Hare. One of the primary upsides of traveling as much as I do is becoming a member of all the platinum, gold and aluminum levels of frequent flyer and the first class upgrades that often come with it. I was the first one to board my flight and took my bulkhead seat 1G, which put me on the right side of the plane literally a few feet from the cockpit door. In the past I would have likely broken out a magazine and ordered a glass of Merlot from the flight attendant, but all I could do this day was stare HARD into the face of every single person getting on that plane that morning. Some of you may argue this statement, but I don't feel I carry myself on a daily basis as any sort of "bad ass". Sitting there that morning though, I was consciously deciding how I'd do versus anyone else passing me to go take their seat. Even at my advanced age today (and then) I am still a pretty athletic 6'1" and 195 pounds, and if anyone thought they were going to get into that cockpit with a box cutter, they were going to have to go through me to do it. It became obvious that I was not the only one thinking this way, because after the plane door closed, the first class flight attendant went into the back of the plane and brought up the two biggest dudes she could find to have them sit in the unoccupied seats upfront. I even heard her say softly to them that she wanted them there in case we "needed them". The pilot added his own two cents when, as part of his pre-flight message, let us know about the very sharp ax that is in every cockpit for the crew to chop through the fuselage in the event of an accident and how skilled he was in using it. It was indeed a flight unlike any other I can remember taking prior or since.
The week at the client was somewhat normal except for the primary topic of conversation, which was the events of the prior week. The most traumatic moment of the week was a fairly standard fire alarm that required us all to evacuate the building onto the corporate lawn and wait for the fire department to give the all clear. The trauma was due to the fact that this client was in Northbrook, IL and not too far from O'Hare, so the skies were filled with one large airplane after another. I noticed very quickly that this large group of people weren't talking to each other very much and were by and large staring at the skies until we could re-enter the building.
For the remainder of 2001 we moved all of our New York seminars to Newark, New Jersey because getting in and out of any part of Manhattan was going to be a nightmare for a long time. I have total and vivid recall of my first time driving to Newark for that first class and crossing the George Washington Bridge, which I've also done over thousand times. My eyes always divert southward to take in the majestic view of the Manhattan skyline and they automatically did again that morning barely after dawn. All I can remember is not seeing those towers and a plume of smoke rising from that area instead and the visceral reaction that caused me to instantly look away and want to vomit. For the next couple of years, anytime I would drive that same road I could never look that direction again. It was if my mind couldn't comprehend and accept that those buildings aren't there anymore.
I had a dog named Teddy at one time, which was one of those dogs, that when called, would turn away from you figuring that if he couldn't see you anymore, well then perhaps you couldn't see him either. This is the psychology I have embraced with regard to "Ground Zero". I avoid going anywhere near there unless necessary and have visited the area a grand total of once. That visit was filled with nothing but tears and nausea. Perhaps I figure if I don't actually accept that those buildings are gone and see it with my own eyes, then they can live on forever. That's what they were supposed to do.
9/11 was many things to many people, but to me it changed me more than I think any other event prior. It made me finally accept that nothing is absolute anymore. I used to be a hard ass when it came to lots of things, because I would have NO trouble telling you what I thought was impossible. To completely dismiss you or an idea I thought was so far fetched that it didn't warrant serious consideration. As of 9/12, I finally had to accept that LOTS of things I can't imagine happening can happen, whether I think so or not.
I've been through lots of traumatic things in my life, 9/11 will always trump them all in shear impact on my thinking.
My mother passed away and I was the one who identified her in the morgue. They tore down my elementary school. I got divorced. I've wrecked cars. I've broken more bones and gotten more stitches, I can no longer keep track of how many.
But you know what? All that stuff happens to everybody. All of us are going to die. They do tear down crappy old schools. More than 50% of marriages end in divorce. Junkyards and emergency rooms do robust business every day.
Those two towers were supposed to outlive me though. Never once did I walk by them or go into them and think even for a millisecond that someday they might not be there. Because that was impossible. I don't even know how they would have torn them down if they'd wanted to.
Ten years later I am still coming to grips with the loss of life and the loss of our freedoms as Americans. By the time I ultimately fell asleep on September 11, 2001 I finally felt mortal. Open to anything being possible, whether I could imagine it or not. Thankful to have lived as long as I have and happy to be tucking my 13 year-old into bed tonight. I have not forgotten that day, those 2,977 dead who couldn't tuck their children in anymore or how all our lives are changed forever. (I don't count the 19 highjackers among the dead since I hope they are burning in hell somewhere with zero virgins)
Thank you all for reading my story.
AFS Seminars LLC
500 Chamberlain Hill Road
Middletown, CT 06457-5564
http://www.afs-seminars.com
michael@afs-seminars.com
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Philosophical GOD BLESS AMERICAN AND GOD BLESS EVERYONE |
9-11-2011 07:21 AM |
THIS MONTH IN PETER AUSTIN NOTO HISTORY
September 7, 2007 Peter Is Interviewed On
The Mel Robbins Syndicated Radio Talk Show
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On this day of remembrance, 10 years of 9/11 life and will go on to salute the ones
affected by this, today's post will be posted on once again to take away the 9/11 number
but not on the two threads that belong there to always remember.
This post will be posted almost exactly but not on 9:03 am which is the time the second
plane hit into the Twin Towers
This will also be posted on the 9/11 thread
tomorrow more on The Mel Robbins Syndicated Radio Talk Show
GOD BLESS AMERICAN AND GOD BLESS EVERYONE
|
eternal light The Sound Of Silence |
9-11-2011 08:44 AM |
Paul Simon just sang
"The Sound Of Silence"
at Ground Zero |
cOBB never forget 911 |
9-11-2011 10:30 AM |
never forget 911
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YoungManberg 10 years later and its still hurts |
9-11-2011 2:42 PM |
| 10 years later and its still hurts |
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Anastasia September 11, 2001 September 11, 2011 |
9-11-2011 10:14 PM |
With the 10 year anniversary of
September 11, 2001 - September 11, 2011
it has brought life back to ground zero.
But September 11, 2001 will live on forever |
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Philosophical September 11 2012 ........11 Years |
9-11-2012 05:59 AM |
September 11 2001 - September 11 2012
11 Years |
Philosophical September 11 2013 .........12 Years |
9-11-2013 00:22 AM |
September 11 2001 - September 11 2013
12 Years |
|
Philosophical September 11 attacks |
9-11-2013 00:21 AM |
September 11 attacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th, or 9/11) were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
Four passenger airliners were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists so they could be flown into buildings in suicide attacks. Two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Within two hours, both towers collapsed with debris and the resulting fires causing partial or complete collapse of all other buildings in the WTC complex, as well as major damage to ten other large surrounding structures. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense), leading to a partial collapse in its western side. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was targeted at Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers. In total, almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including the 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes. It also was the deadliest incident for firefighters in the history of the United States.
Suspicion quickly fell on al-Qaeda. Although the group's leader, Osama bin Laden, initially denied any involvement, in 2004 he claimed responsibility for the attacks. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives for the attacks. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, which had harbored al-Qaeda. Many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. Having evaded capture for years, bin Laden was located and killed by U.S. forces in May 2011.
The destruction of the Twin Towers and other properties caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan and had a significant effect on global markets. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, and the Pentagon was repaired within a year. Numerous memorials have been constructed, including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, the Pentagon Memorial, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania. After a lengthy delay, the 1,776-foot-tall (541 m) One World Trade Center was completed at the World Trade Center site in New York City in 2013.
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nevermore September 11 2001 |
9-11-2013 07:05 AM |
It was a nice day as I recall watching TV and drinking coffee
my wife called me from work saying a plane hit the twin towers
turned the TV on an sure enough. .. bam... . at first thought a small
plane veered off course an hit the towers .. a few minutes later I was proven wrong
I will try to keep this story going as the passes along
I will try
12 Years |
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nevermore September 11 2001 |
9-11-2013 09:59 AM |
It was a nice day as I recall watching TV and drinking coffee
my wife called me from work saying a plane hit the twin towers
turned the TV on an sure enough. .. bam... . at first thought a small
plane veered off course an hit the towers .. a few minutes later I was proven wrong
I will try to keep this story going as the passes along
I will try
.................
Part 2
I remember being mesmerized by this, seeing those towers fall
eventually I went out side an if was if there was nobody, I lived in the suburbs
not NYC but you could see where the city was an the smoke was
the woman next door (came) came out out an we both looked at each, muttered a few words
about what happened an that was it
I will try to keep this story going as the passes along
I will try
12 Years |
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nevermore September 11 2001 |
9-11-2013 11:27 AM |
It was a nice day as I recall watching TV and drinking coffee
my wife called me from work saying a plane hit the twin towers
turned the TV on an sure enough. .. bam... . at first thought a small
plane veered off course an hit the towers .. a few minutes later I was proven wrong
I will try to keep this story going as the passes along
I will try
.................
Part 2
I remember being mesmerized by this, seeing those towers fall
eventually I went out side an if was if there was nobody, I lived in the suburbs
not NYC but you could see where the city was an the smoke was
the woman next door (came) came out out an we both looked at each, muttered a few words
about what happened an that was it
I will try to keep this story going as the passes along
I will try
12 Years
****************************
Part 3
by 1 o'clock was not sure what to do . . had business to be take care of on the ttpke
figured places are open as I got on the turnpike heading west going into the city was wall to wall
an that is 25 miles away from NYC. . . going east empty . . when I arrived at place I needed
to go to for product they were closed just as almost everything else
I will try to keep this story going as the passes along
I will try
12 Years |
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Philosophical September 11 |
9-11-2014 06:18 AM |
Americans will never forget what happened on the morning of September 11, 2001. And as we remember those lost, those who have served and continue to serve, and how our lives have so incredibly changed since then, here is a look back at the day September 11th through the years…
September 11, 1971: Donny Osmond has the #1 hit on the U.S. pop charts with “Go Away Little Girl” |
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Inpav Never Forget |
9-11-2014 09:43 AM |
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Philosophical September 11 attacks |
9-11-2015 06:18 AM |
September 11 attacks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th,
or 9/11)[nb 1] were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the
Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of
Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks consisted of suicide attacks used
to target symbolic U.S. landmarks.
Four passenger airliners—which all departed from airports on the U.S. East
Coast bound for California—were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists to be
flown into buildings. Two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and
United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers,
respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Within an
hour and 42 minutes, both 110-story towers collapsed, with debris and the
resulting fires causing partial or complete collapse of all other buildings
in the World Trade Center complex, including the 47-story 7 World Trade
Center tower, as well as significant damage to ten other large surrounding
structures. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the
Pentagon (the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense) in
Arlington County, Virginia, leading to a partial collapse in the Pentagon's
western side. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, initially was
steered toward Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field near Shanksville,
Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers. In
total, the attacks claimed the lives of 2,996 people (including the 19
hijackers) and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure
damage.[2][3] It was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law
enforcement officers[4] in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72
killed respectively.
Suspicion for the attack quickly fell on al-Qaeda. The United States
responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading
Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, which had harbored al-Qaeda. Many
countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded the
powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent terrorist
attacks. Although al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, initially denied any
involvement, in 2004, he claimed responsibility for the attacks.[1] Al-Qaeda
and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in
Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. Having evaded capture
for almost a decade, bin Laden was located and killed by members of the U.S.
military in May 2011.
The destruction of the World Trade Center and nearby infrastructure caused
serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan and had a significant
effect on global markets, closing Wall Street until September 17 and the
civilian airspace in the U.S. and Canada until September 13. Many closings,
evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further
attacks. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002,
and the Pentagon was repaired within a year. On November 18, 2006,
construction of One World Trade Center began at the World Trade Center site.
The building was officially opened on November 3, 2014.[5] Numerous
memorials have been constructed, including the National September 11
Memorial & Museum in New York City, the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington
County, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in a field near Shanksville.
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Lanakin September 11, 2001 |
9-11-2015 8:56 PM |
On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Often referred to as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters.
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On September 11, 2001, at 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in higher floors. As the evacuation of the tower and its twin got underway, television cameras broadcasted live images of what initially appeared to be a freak accident. Then, 18 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767–United Airlines Flight 175–appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center and sliced into the south tower near the 60th floor. The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and the streets below. America was under attack.
Did You Know?
September 11, 2001, was the deadliest day in history for New York City firefighters: 343 were killed.
The attackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist organization, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in the Middle East. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Others had slipped into the country in the months before September 11 and acted as the “muscle” in the operation. The 19 terrorists easily smuggled box-cutters and knives through security at three East Coast airports and boarded four flights bound for California, chosen because the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey. Soon after takeoff, the terrorists commandeered the four planes and took the controls, transforming ordinary commuter jets into guided missiles.
As millions watched the events unfolding in New York, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington, D.C., and slammed into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:45 a.m. Jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating inferno that led to the structural collapse of a portion of the giant concrete building. All told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon, along with all 64 people aboard the airliner.
Less than 15 minutes after the terrorists struck the nerve center of the U.S. military, the horror in New York took a catastrophic turn for the worse when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. The structural steel of the skyscraper, built to withstand winds in excess of 200 miles per hour and a large conventional fire, could not withstand the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel. At 10:30 a.m., the other Trade Center tower collapsed. Close to 3,000 people died in the World Trade Center and its vicinity, including a staggering 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers trapped on higher floors. Only six people in the World Trade Center towers at the time of their collapse survived. Almost 10,000 others were treated for injuries, many severe.
Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane–United Flight 93–was hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in taking off, passengers on board learned of events in New York and Washington via cell phone and Airfone calls to the ground. Knowing that the aircraft was not returning to an airport as the hijackers claimed, a group of passengers and flight attendants planned an insurrection. One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett Jr., told his wife over the phone that “I know we’re all going to die. There’s three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you, honey.” Another passenger–Todd Beamer–was heard saying “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll” over an open line. Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words to him were “Everyone’s running to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.”
The passengers fought the four hijackers and are suspected to have attacked the cockpit with a fire extinguisher. The plane then flipped over and sped toward the ground at upwards of 500 miles per hour, crashing in a rural field in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m. All 45 people aboard were killed. Its intended target is not known, but theories include the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland or one of several nuclear power plants along the eastern seaboard.
At 7 p.m., President George W. Bush, who had spent the day being shuttled around the country because of security concerns, returned to the White House. At 9 p.m., he delivered a televised address from the Oval Office, declaring, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” In a reference to the eventual U.S. military response he declared, “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”
Operation Enduring Freedom, the American-led international effort to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network based there, began on October 7. Within two months, U.S. forces had effectively removed the Taliban from operational power, but the war continued, as U.S. and coalition forces attempted to defeat a Taliban insurgency campaign based in neighboring Pakistan. Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks, remained at large until May 2, 2011, when he was finally tracked down and killed by U.S. forces at a hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In June 2011, President Barack Obama announced the beginning of large-scale troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, with a final withdrawal of U.S. forces tentatively scheduled for 2014.
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G Donovan Then and now - 15 years later |
9-11-2016 06:51 AM |
Each August and September, as summer fades into fall, Yahoo News photographer Gordon Donovan finds himself in a familiar spot – snapping images in the area where the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place 15 years ago.
“I do it because I love the city, the history of the city and how we’re not going to be put down,” explained Donovan, who was born and raised on Staten Island and watched the twin towers being built from across the harbor.
But his photos aren’t random shots of the evolving downtown landscape. He returns to document the exact scenes of many memorable images taken by photojournalists that tragic day in 2001.
“It’s fascinating to see how it has changed over the years, because it was just this big pile of rubble the first time I went down there about a week afterward,” said Donovan, then a graphic artist at CBS News, who was at work on the Upper West Side the morning of the attack.
Today there’s a museum honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed, a recently opened transportation hub and other signs of development yet to come.
“Now you can’t even recognize what happened,” Donovan said. “It’s beautiful what they’ve done down there. It’s just revitalized the whole area after such tragedy and put it back to life.”
Donovan’s then-and-now project, he said, is also a testament to the city’s strength and an opportunity to share the changes with New Yorkers who may have moved away over the past 15 years.
He said his project also honors the photojournalists who took the original images on 9/11. “These people risked their lives,” Donovan said. “It’s still home for them.”
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G Donovan 911 ... 15 years |
9-11-2016 06:52 AM |
911 ... 15 years
[IMG]http://www.aurn.com/images/webex/worldtrade_090616_ap.jpg[/IMG] |
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