Remembering 9/11

[Mike Gosnell]

25 years later, I still remember that morning.

I was a third-grader at Windber Area Elementary in Windber, PA, just over 20 miles from Shanksville, where Flight 93 would go down.

Our class watched everything unfold on TV, and throughout the morning, we were gradually dismissed from school as our parents came to pick us up. At that age, I couldn't fully comprehend what was happening, but I knew something had changed forever.

Today, I remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost, the first responders who ran toward danger, and especially the 40 passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 who lost their lives so close to my home.

25 years later, we remember. Never forget.

[Sundancekid]

Feel bad for people involved but the unnecessary carnage that resulted is equally, if not more so, appalling. The destruction of Iraq should have never had to happen.

Edited 1 hour ago by Sundancekid

[GoHorns1]

Was walking into a client office in downtown Houston when the 2nd plane hit.

[Oldest Horn]

I was in a dentist’s chair in midtown Manhattan. When I was checking out the dentist popped out and said some plane hit one of the towers, everyone kind of shrugged and thought it was some private plane gone awry. By the time I got back to our office the second plane hit and the tone got way worse. A couple of our traders were on the phone with guys in the towers who ended up not making it. Everything stopped cold. We watched the news for a few hours absolutely silent outside of some sobbing. Around noon we went a few blocks to the Red Cross to donate blood. The line was already around the block and they were sending people away. They started running trains to the burbs where every train was local and they just filled them up and sent them. We were with many people covered in dust from the collapse. 
 

As a town we were fortunate, less than two dozen died. And no one from our church or elementary school. But our church offered our cathedral to any nearby church who had capacity issues. 
 

I remember the entire region being in a walking coma for weeks. It wasn’t until Christmas season that things began to feel back to normal. 

[Hank South]

Talked to my daughter about it this morning. She was my age when it happened (5th grade). Hard to believe it's been 25 years. Never Forget 🇺🇸

[hookem1014]

I still can’t get myself to listen to the voicemails left by the victims to their family members without getting teary eyed. 

[General Grant]

My last semester at Texas. Couldn’t process hearing on radio those towers fell.  Remember all the bad info coming out. A car bomb at the state department per abc radio. 

Watching that night on tv and a police car driving down there and it looking like it was snowing from the ash. 

All those lives lost. All the heroes.  My one I always remember. Todd Beamer.  Jeremy Glick. “Let’s roll”
 

[NTX_Horn]

I was 18 going on 19.  I was asleep, and the next thing I knew, my older sister wakes me up screaming and saying  “we’re going to war”!  We went to the living room and I saw what happened on TV and my heart sank.  It was terrifying.  In 2017, I went to NYC, and I saw the memorial and it was one of the most chilling experiences of my life.  Never forget 🙏 

[Dread-headed Texan]

I remember being promoted to SGT/E-5 on September 1. Man I was so proud, I felt as if I was one step closer to my goal of becoming a Drill Sergeant. Weird, but growing up I always wanted to be a teacher, a mentor, a coach, and now my dreams were becoming a reality. So after PT, as it's said if you're on time you're late, so I headed to the motor pool. Feeling the responsibility of the weight of the rank on my shoulders, as a 21 y/o I felt the need I had to prove I was worthy. So I get to the motor pool to make sure all things are ready, plans and roles for the day are in order, and I'm ready to lead. I sat in the motor pool for almost an hour by myself. Now I'm mad, I did all of this preparation and my whole squad hasn't shown up. This is before today where everyone has a computer in their hands, so I had no idea what was going on. My girlfriend at the time called our office and told me I needed to get to Squadron. The irony of me thinking everyone was wrong, but I was the one incorrect. We were briefed and shortly after locked everything down, drew weapons, and started guarding assigned areas. I can't speak for the other branches, but in the Army nothing makes sense, you're briefed on severity based on position and duty somehow it all kind of works out. I remember thinking to myself, we were attacked from above; what is this M-4 and 5.56 gonna do? Depending on what kind of soldier you are, you either leave basic training with a hero/God complex or you just want to ride your time and fulfill your contract. After the lockdown was lifted, because I was from Port Arthur and I was stationed at Ft Polk, LA, I made the hour and half drive home and told my mom that if anyone from my division gets deployed that I would volunteer if they asked(and I did). 9/11, changed everything, I grew up that day. I never became that Drill Sergeant, I never got to train future soldiers, I now had a more important mission. I have to prepare our nation's greatest asset for the unknown and bring them home. I don't go out much nowadays, I remember how unified and connected we were back then. I don't know if the division is real or if it's an online thing but it hurts all the same to see. I miss those days and would give anything to have a unified country again❤️🇺🇸

[genevalonghorn]

Like others, I grew up in a community affected by 9/11, with untold folks who commuted in and out of the WTC every day, worked in the towers, etc.  Family members have their stories about what they saw, what they heard, what the experienced - the mail sent from the towers that they received after 9/11 from people who perished in the meantime.  I am proud to have grown up in a community near where Todd Beamer raised his family and, by chance, am now raising a family in the town where he grew up halfway across the country.

Every 9/11 has remained a somber occasion since, but in the years that have passed, there has been remarkable clarity about two things - our shared humanity and, stripped of politics, the historical greatness of this country and its people. 

Every firefighter who worked in the NY fire department deserves our thanks, not only for rushing into the towers to experience certain death, but for the men, women, and dogs who worked what became known as the "pile" at Ground Zero after, searching for every human remain and scrap, and treating it all with dignity and care.

But, as the years have passed, we have learned more about the non-uniformed folks on the upper floors who gave their lives in service of their fellow man.  The security guy for Morgan Stanley who, contrary to tower security, told all of his people to evacuate down the stairs and refused to leave until all under his care had left.  He lost his life.  And for our football fans, spend the time to watch Tom Rinaldi's vignette on Welles Crowther, the trader who dreamed of becoming a firefighter (linked below).  Crowther went up and down the upper floors multiple times to direct folks to safety.  His family would learn how Crowther perished by reading a NY Times story months later about a man with a red bandana, which he carried around wherever he went.

May we continue to remember all of these people for who they were - heroes.   

 

[4thandFive]

I pray for this country. We are all from God and made in His image (Genesis 1:26-27) and we need to treat each other like it.
 

On that day we all came together and prayed or hugged or cried or some combination. We should do that more often and remember how blessed we are to live in this country. Every gift is from God (James 1:17).

[Alex Butler]

46 minutes ago, Dread-headed Texan said:

I remember being promoted to SGT/E-5 on September 1. Man I was so proud, I felt as if I was one step closer to my goal of becoming a Drill Sergeant. Weird, but growing up I always wanted to be a teacher, a mentor, a coach, and now my dreams were becoming a reality. So after PT, as it's said if you're on time you're late, so I headed to the motor pool. Feeling the responsibility of the weight of the rank on my shoulders, as a 21 y/o I felt the need I had to prove I was worthy. So I get to the motor pool to make sure all things are ready, plans and roles for the day are in order, and I'm ready to lead. I sat in the motor pool for almost an hour by myself. Now I'm mad, I did all of this preparation and my whole squad hasn't shown up. This is before today where everyone has a computer in their hands, so I had no idea what was going on. My girlfriend at the time called our office and told me I needed to get to Squadron. The irony of me thinking everyone was wrong, but I was the one incorrect. We were briefed and shortly after locked everything down, drew weapons, and started guarding assigned areas. I can't speak for the other branches, but in the Army nothing makes sense, you're briefed on severity based on position and duty somehow it all kind of works out. I remember thinking to myself, we were attacked from above; what is this M-4 and 5.56 gonna do? Depending on what kind of soldier you are, you either leave basic training with a hero/God complex or you just want to ride your time and fulfill your contract. After the lockdown was lifted, because I was from Port Arthur and I was stationed at Ft Polk, LA, I made the hour and half drive home and told my mom that if anyone from my division gets deployed that I would volunteer if they asked(and I did). 9/11, changed everything, I grew up that day. I never became that Drill Sergeant, I never got to train future soldiers, I now had a more important mission. I have to prepare our nation's greatest asset for the unknown and bring them home. I don't go out much nowadays, I remember how unified and connected we were back then. I don't know if the division is real or if it's an online thing but it hurts all the same to see. I miss those days and would give anything to have a unified country again❤️🇺🇸

Thank you for sharing and your service! Truly a hero alongside so many others who have valiantly served our country. I agree that it is unfortunate that we’re so polarized in this country now in so many ways.