i remember where i was on 9-11-2001
 

first happy birthday to my long time partner Tony Everard. he just hit 81!

i was home at 8:30 a.m. EST watching Good Morning America when the first plane hit the World Trade Center building. then 10 minutes later another plane got the other building. i knew we were under attack.

i had an appointment in Cambridge at my friend Tony the Carwash's place at 9:15 to pick money up from him. on my way home i was headed towards Memorial Drive and saw about 15 unmarked cars in front of the condo's called The Esplanad. i found out later in the day that the Bin Laden family lived there and the secret service took them out of the place to make sure they were safe.

I was in work myself to death mode. Between remodeling my house and working in the machine shop on the back of my property I hadn't had a TV or radio on in a month, pulling 20 hour days. I listed to CDs mostly. I ate delivered pizzas for most meals. My mom called my shop phone and told me what happened. I just went in and watched the TV coverage the rest of the day in complete shock.

I was being prepped for surgery. After the second tower fell they wheeled me down to the O.R.

When I got to work that morning, one of the guys said HEy!@ today is 911....better be careful. We all laughed.

Then I went into a meeting , and right after it started, the same guy sticks his head into the conference room and says plane just flew into one of the WTC Towers. We chuckled and waved him off.

When the meeting was over, I went upstairs to the office area and no one was around. They were all in the Board Room watching the TV.

It was unbelievable what was going on. So many unconfirmed reports of other attacks that did not rally happen....scarry morning.

A day to never forget. So many people have their morning coffee then went out and became bonafide heroes, never missing a heartbeat. Their bravery their only weapon in the first battle of the war on terror.

Watching on TV as a third party, with no ties to the WTC, I can only imagine the horror for those who had loved ones there and watched them die on TV.

I was teaching school and we went outside as the special needs physical education teacher was coming (It was a picture perfect day).He asked us "What do you think of what happened in New York"(this was about an hour after the first plane hit the towers) and I said "What happened in New York"?. We went back inside and put on the television on and in a little while, the first tower went tumbling down.

My mother called and woke me with the news...ran downstairs and turned on the TV...actually started crying when the Pentagon was hit...at the time, one really couldn't believe what one was seeing.

Even ran out to get money out of the ATM just in case...saw all the first responders from Long Island heading to the city on the Long Island Expressway...it was pretty surreal.

Something weird I saw on the side of the LIE which probably had nothing to do with 9/11...saw these silver metallic balls, some of them the size of almost a volleyball, some smaller, over on the side of the road...never saw something like that before or again...don't know what they could have been...maybe they fell off the back of a truck...who knows...

I was in a training class learning how to do child support account audits down here working for the State of Florida Dept. of Revenue. We got off early as we watched the happenings on tv. All I could think about were the people I knew working for the NY State Dept. of Taxation and Finance on the 86th floor, many of whom perished.

http://www.legacy.com/sept11/story.aspx?personid=126838

I was working 3rd shift at the time, went to bed at 7am, woke up around 11:30 with plans to play the races on my computer. I logged into Philly Phone-Bet on my computer and saw this message:

Due to the horrific events taking place across the country today, racing has been cancelled

Then I turned on the TV. We all know the rest.

I had just moved into a duplex we were remodeling. Got off work, 3rd shift, and turned the TV on for a little break before working on the duplex. Stood in the middle of the living room for a 1/2 hour holding on to the rabbit ear's to get better reception. Went to my brothers house after that and watched TV for most of the day.

Walked home
 

I was at work Just became so emotional listening to the radio , next thing I was wandering down the highway just wanted to get home... boss picked me up and drove me home
He had his brother drop off my jeep , once home I cried as I watched the tv

Was stunned watching it. Only other time I was so effected was when I watched the Challenger Shuttle Explode.

The one that crash in PA flew past my house and was dumping fuel out flying lower then allowed... looked like maybe 600 700 ft. before I got back into the house from the barn they were down.

Returning a rental to Blockbuster Video and the replays were being shown on the 'preview' TV monitors that hung from the ceiling.

Didn't think it was real until the clerk pointed it out and said it was real.

I was 2 blocks away when the first plane hit. So surreal to this day, Then i spent the next few weeks at the site and surrounding area. I pray for the losses that day but i have found a way to put the most of the carnage behind me. and that's all i will say.

I was in Alexandria close to the Pentagon. After the plane in NY hit, we went to find a TV. At some point soon after that one of the other planes hit the Pentagon. There was a clear sound associated with the crash and you could feel some vibration on the ground. Almost immediately helicopters were up in the air circling the area where the strike occurred, like they were looking for more planes.

They shut off cell phone service (at that point they had to assume it was a terror attack and they wanted to cut the communications of the terrorists). Of course the people at my work knew where I was, but had no idea if I was affected by the crash. Same with my family. But they weren't sure I was ok and couldn't get a hold of me.

Here was the thing I remember vividly. The weather was perfect. I mean like a couple of days a year weather in D.C. 75 degrees, no humidity, a very pleasant breeze and a brilliant blue sky. It was like no one in D.C. was sure what happened and what to do.

By the afternoon the phones were back on, and I made the phone calls I needed to make. I said I'd be back when the airports reopened.

The airports were almost immediately closed, so no getting back to Denver. Oddly enough the trains were running, so I made plans to go see my mom in upstate NY. I took the train to NY City and saw the incredible destruction of the twin towers. Totally gruesome.

The terrorists acted on a Tuesday, and it wasn't until the next Monday that I was able to take a plane back to Denver. I flew out of Newark, ironically leaving from the gate next to the one used by the terrorists. That gate (A-18 I believe) still had the crime scene tape all around it.

It was a dizzying week for me.

I was sleeping in. Beth got up a few minutes before and turned on the TV downstairs.

Suddenly, she comes into the bedroom and wakes me. Must have been about 8:00 am (pacific). She says, "Something's going on. I think we're under attack."

Turns on the TV and we stayed glued to it for hours.

It was shocking. It was in that and the coming days that I realized the terrorists had succeeded: they'd brought terrorism to our doorstep.