Where were you on 9-11?

I was on the train commuting to my job in NYC (I was a part-time HI then). I could see a large plume of smoke over Manhattan from the train platform. When the train got closer I could see the smoke pouring from the tower. I called my wife who told me that a plane had hit the WTC. When I got to Manhattan the streets were as vrowded as they usually were, but they were silent except for the constant sound of distant sirens. After I got to work the 2nd tower was hit. We watched it fall on tv. As the facts slowly came in, it became clear what had happened. All transit in and out on NYC was halted. As they released the transit restrictions, many of us stayed in NYC wondering if there was anything we could do to help. Say what you will about New Yorkers, but I was proud of the way they responded that day.

I went to a memorial in horseshoe stadium just after 9-11 there was probably 40,000 people there, they had just opened air traffic up again. Every time a jet would take off from port Columbus you could feel the tension and unease in the crowd. I can only imagine how people in NYC and DC felt when when low flying aircraft approached.

On the second 9-11 attack (Benghazi), I was in Meadowlands NJ. We were planning a trip to Manhattan that afternoon. We debated going into Manhattan on 9-11, decided, let’s go, if we don’t the terrorists win. It was very moving we visited ground zero, the number fire fighters all over the city from all over the country was amazing. You could still see signs of the damage to some of the surrounding buildings. That night they had two huge spot lights inside the footprints of the fallen towers. It was very cool you could see it for miles.
The next day learned that the US embassy had been attacked.

I was at work about 20 miles away and could see the Towers burning from the roof of the apartment building I maintained. I saw the second Tower get hit. I’ll never forget it. My brother had an office there, luckily he was in Chicago that day. Lost a lot of people from my area that day.

I was 20-30 miles west of the PA. crash site. We got on our Harley’s and drove there. Could not even tell a plane crashed there (no visible plane parts that we could see). Just a giant hole and turned up dirt.

-Carl