We have a 1/2 size replica in Tulsa, OK. After 9/11 it was on full security alert for quite some time!
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That is freaky, but ties in nicely with…
Sad “they” didn’t take it seriously enough back then, but it takes the fall of the towers to wake them up. As with most things in life, we don’t appreciate stuff until it’s gone. Thanks for sharing Mark!
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I was fabricating a walkway for a water plant. The boss ran in to the shop and said a plane crashed, short time later the gravity of the event was taking root. We ended up plugging in an old TV with no picture and listening to the TV because of lack of coverage on the radio. We all went home early. Once home, I remember going outside and seeing Air Force One flanked by two F-16’s flying directly over our house on it’s way from Offitt AFB to DC. My dad was flying that day and was targeted as a “bogey” at XYZ coordinates, he radioed out "NO BOGEY, NO BOGEY Flight ABC in route to KOSU (Don Scott Field Columbus OH).
Several years later I visited NYC and the Memorial on 9-11 and got to see the photo in the OP up close and personal. We didn’t make it time to hear the ceremony, but a very somber day. Every single place we went there were FF and PD, everyone was recounting that day. About the same time they were putting the tower on top of the new tower
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Holy crap … check my shorts 
Thanks for sharing Dave (cool name BTW) 
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More fireman have died from exposure to the toxins than died on 9/11 now.
I have to say that I was hesitant to share my 9.11 story because it is so personal but I felt that if we’re going to remember that day then every perspective of what happened is worth hearing so here’s my story:
I was at ground zero on 9.11. I was working as an electrical foreman on the modernization of the Federal Post Office at 90 Church Street. 90 Church was just across the street from the World Trade Center. Maybe 50 yards away from Tower’s 5 and 7. We were working on the ground floor and since it was a warm day we had all of the windows open. Around 8:45 AM we heard a loud boom and a rumble. No one knew exactly what it was at first so we ran over to the windows to see if something had happened out in the street. That’s when we saw the gaping hole in the north side of Tower 1. Within minutes there was a radio report that a small plane had just hit the tower. I was standing there looking at the huge hole in the side of the building and knew that it was no small plane. Building security came on the PA system and told everyone to stay in the building because debris from Tower 1 was raining down onto the plaza and people below.
We could see people coming out of the train station looking bewildered as chunks of metal, glass, and paper rained down on them. Immediately after the first plane hit all cellphones in the area stopped working. Then after a few minutes it started, desperate people hanging out of broken windows until they had no choice but to jump or fall. We were close enough, maybe 150 yards to see this as it unfolded. Some with arm flailing, other just straight down as if they were unconscious. As noted in many news reports I can attest to the fact that men’s ties were visible fluttering in the wind.
After a few minutes of watching out of the window I decided to run to our field office in the basement and call my parents on a land line to see what they were saying on the news. In the middle of the conversation the second plane struck the south tower. The lights in our office went off and came back on, the building shook. My dad watched on live TV as the second plane struck. He told me what had just happened. From that moment on we knew this was an attack.
I told him that I was leaving the building. The building security made a second announcement this time they told us to evacuate the building. I grabbed my shoulder bag and headed for the exit. The postal police had blocked the western exit at Greenwich street but my car was in a lot down block so I convinced him to let me out. I ran up Greenwich street. Since it was only about 9:30 in the morning my car was buried in the lot (they expected me to be leaving about 3 PM). The parking attendant managed to get me out and I left there as fast as I could.
Since I was heading north the roads were pretty clear. All southbound roads were jammed with fire and police vehicles. I listened on the car radio to the live news reports and then suddenly the first tower fell. They also said that all of the bridges and tunnels into and out of NYC were closed. I figured that I would just drive north until I could find a Hudson river crossing that was still open even if it meant traveling 50 miles north. For some reason when I got there the ramp to the west bound George Washington bridge was still open and I was able to escape back to New Jersey.
Some of my family were connected to the World Trade Center. My dad worked there as an electrician in the 70’s and then again in the 90’s. I also worked there in the 90’s. My brother, also an electrician worked there in the days immediately following the attack providing temporary lights and power for the search effort. He later developed a 911 related cancer but following treatment he is healthy today.
I waited about 15 years before returning to Ground Zero. As I stood by the memorial pool I could see the window where I looked out as a witness to this dark day in American history. The museum and the memorial are very powerful and very well done and I would encourage anyone who has an interest in history to visit the site if you can. I know that we say never forget 9.11 but sometimes I wish I could. Thanks for listening.
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An incredible story Robert. Thank you for sharing.
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No doubt. It’s hard to imagine, Robert.
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Yep. Especially since the buildings vaporized into dust. It wasn’t a collapse.
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David,
I believe that everyone can remember where they were, doing. Some memories are like it happened yesterday.
I was eating breakfast on the mess decks of the USS Helena SSN 725 in San Diego. We usually have one of the news channels on during the meal. The news story was unclear on the first plane that hit the World Trade Towel. When the second plane hit the towers, I knew we were at war. Now all the training was showing its results. The Helena was the first war ship out of San Diego, heading west for pay back. The thing that makes me sick is that the Sunday paper had all the terrorist’s pictures, stories, who, what and how. However, we haven’t learned our lessons. With a wide-open border, it’s going to happen again. I’m not sure that I can go to another military funeral. Nick was right when he said it was a lose-lose.
Keep the Faith,
John
Indianapolis
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It’s one thing to see it, quite another to live it. Incredible Robert! The mix of emotions you were experiencing that day must have been intense, no to mention the adrenaline rush and aftermath. Something not easily forgotten nor would anyone want to. It’s history and life experiences. Thank you for sharing your story with us 
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I’m with ya there…
Being ex-military I can understand. Made me want to put on the uniform and report but my military shelf life was over and all I could do was pray. Thank you for your service John and sharing your story
Ah, the ol’ shoot now, ask questions later paradox. Add to it the attack on our own citizens that even resembled the enemy and had nothing to do with it, such a shame. It’s bad enough it happened on US soil but many people paid the price and are still paying. Thanks for sharing Nick
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Get a steak at Keen’s next time, you’ll thank me later.
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I thought it was a joke too. I lost my own family in a house fire 13 years before that and watching it on the news was like a big flashback.
It never goes away.