Today is the 20th anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks on the United States by four sets of al-Queda hijackers…
These images were burned into our consciousness that day…
American Airlines Flight 11, and United Flight 175 hit the two towers at the WTC.
American Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
And United Flight 93 (destined for Washington, DC) crashed in Shanksville, PA after fighting between the hijackers and the passengers, bringing the term “Let’s Roll.” into the lexicon.
I heard the term “defining moment” thrown around a lot, especially in the last years…
My recollection from that day-
On 9/11, I was in my office at the University when I got a call from one of the University pilots who is a retired Marine helo pilot; he told me to “get to a TV, somebody just hit New York with an airplane!”
I finally found one in a conference room upstairs and turned it on, as it happened it was on CNN…
Others started to wonder in to see why I was ‘violating’ University policy, and the pilot called me back, about that time. I do remember something to the effect of “a terrible accident has occurred” being said on TV about the time the pilot saying this wasn’t an accident, it was an airliner and something bad was going down.
As we talked, the second airplane hit the second tower, and we agreed about the fact that America was under attack, but at that point we had no idea who had done it… Anger was the prevalent feeling, and frustration, since there wasn’t anything we could directly do for those folks…
About a half an hour later, I was called into a meeting with law enforcement about securing/protecting facilities and infrastructure; we were interrupted by the announcement that the Pentagon had been hit, and the tone of the meeting changed from what if, to we need to prepare NOW! I also remember driving back to my office and hearing about Shanksville and UA 93 during that time. We set our emergency response plan into effect, sending folks home and going into a 24 hour response cycle.
I stayed at work, coordinating with various folks, but I noticed a lot of my co-workers were in shock that anyone would attack America, much less why attack us… I wasn’t shocked, I was PISSED…
The few of us that were ex-military tended to not say anything after the first couple of arguments, since we had a significantly different perspective. We knew the military had been placed on elevated alert, and folks were either airborne or sitting in cockpits on strip alert…
In the days that followed, I didn’t get a lot of sleep; watched a lot of coverage. When the list of casualties came out, I found out I’d lost three good friends in the Pentagon, and I wrote to Navy Personnel volunteering for recall to active duty. Sadly, I wasn’t recalled…
Why did I post these pictures? Because they are REALITY… Not sugarcoated, apologized for, sanitized talking points, or spun by whomever. We, the USA were attacked on our home soil by terrorists who are STILL determined to bring America to her knees, since we are the “Great Satan”… 20 years later, the terrorists are still after us, and the Taliban/al Queda are back in charge in Afghanistan…
Today, Biden and the other pols will horn in on the various memorials for the obligatory photo ops (well, apparently Biden will give a ‘video’ presentation). They won’t speak, and will keep those who actually DID THE WORK out of the memorials. Friend of mine who is a nurse and worked the pile for over 2 weeks at the Towers asked, and was told not to bother showing up, she wouldn’t be allowed in.
Where were you, and what was your response, and more importantly, what are your thoughts today???
Capt Larry Getzfred, USN; Capt Jack Punches, USN ret; AW1 Joe Pycior all died in the Navy Ops Center in the Pentagon. Never forget…
And steel from the Towers was used to build the bow of the USS NEW YORK (LPD-21).
She, and the USS ARLINGTON (LPD-24) and USS SOMERSET (LPD-25) were named for the other locations where the planes hit. All three ships are San Antonio Class Amphibs.
I knew Capt Getzfred as he left VP-6 a couple of months after I arrived in ’77. I haven’t forgotten nor have I forgiven.
Old Navy pilot here. I was working for a major air carrier in Atlanta, conducting the ground portion of a one on one Captain’s exam, we took a coffee break and wandered to the lounge where a crowd had gathered around the TV. Still pissed and the current shitshow in DC has increased the chances it will happen again. CNF
I was on my way to a job interview when I heard about the first plane strike. It was described as a terrible accident. A short time later as I was being introduced to the manager, the secretary came into the office and said “turn on the TV”. He and I sat there and watched the video coverage of the second strike. Suddenly everyone in the office was quiet. The job interview forgotten for the moment. As soon as the second plane hit, my first words were “we’re going to war”. The manager softly agreed. We sat there watching the coverage as the towers burned and then, finally collapsed. I don’t really remember hearing about the Pentagon or Pennsylvania much. The vivid pictures of the twin towers pretty much taking up all of my attention. I did get the job, though.
Hey Old NFO;
My wife called and woke me up, I was working the night shift at Ford Motor Company and when she told me that “Somebody had crashed a Jetliner into the WTC, my first comment was “Who was reading Tom Clancy Novels.” I told her I don’t think it was an accident, even with my limited knowledge, the odds of such things happening by accident are astronomical and I turned on the TV watch live as the 2nd plane hit the tower, I knew then it wasn’t an accident and we were being attacked. I had to drive to work and sign in that day , my assy plant was by the airport and normally there were always airplane noise at the airport, it was totally quiet, it was surreal. I believe that we will get attacked again and the donks will try to blame “Domestic extremist” instead of muslim extremist because their ideology will blind them to the truth and it is easier to blame an enemy they understand than an enemy they don’t. And the excuse to strip more of our rights and freedoms to the deep state.
Twenty Years ago I was the Active Duty Manager for a Texas Air National Guard Special Operations Weather Flight.
– I had just gotten back to the office from our Ops Group weekly meeting. I heard on the radio that there had been an explosion at the World Trade Center. I remember the last explosion and wondered if it was another Terrorist bombing. I went down to storage and pulled out a small TV from one of the Team kits. I had it set up and tuned in just in time to see the second plane hit live on TV.
I called the Boss at his job and said “We are at war”
He had been watching as well and we started discussing plans for the next two weeks.
I hung up that call and started the Recall Roster…
I notified my unit members to tell their employers to prepare for their absence, and to pack their bags, triple check their gear, and prepare their families.
I then called AFSOC and notified them that all unit members are accounted for and prepared for 72 hour deployment as required.
My first team went out the door in December 2001, our unit had at least one person deployed in support of OEF and OIF from 2001 until I was medically retired in 2010.
While I was in Kabul in 2003 the backstabbing POS that I voted for in 2000 changed the ROE to handcuff the Heroes who won the war, and installed Islam as the government of Afghanistan,
AND started the purge of our military leadership to install the Pro-Islam brigade that runs it today.
I was NOT surprised when bush voted for Hillary or when he voted for biden.
We as a Nation have forgotten 911…
The proof is that we have actual Terrorist sympathizers elected to congress,
AND
We have a Dictator that actually said for the record that he is losing patience with Law Abiding American Citizens,
And we haven’t Tarred and Feathered him and Strung up those who are controlling him.
We as a Nation HAVE FORGOTTEN 911
Just Imagine a World WITHOUT Islam.
Then and only then can we forget 911
Was cutting the grass on the left side of the front yard when my wife came out to tell me she had seen it on TV. Highly unusual for her to do that. I told her it had to be purposeful because no pilot could accidentally hit a building that large. I stopped, came in, and saw the impact of the following aircraft on the other tower and the Pentagon.
And it was done by people who believe in the Koran and the Hadith, as do all who profess their loyalty and devotion to Islam. Those documents predict and demand the fall of all governments, and the participation of all Muslims in making it happen. I don’t believe all Muslims are of that mind, as we have Muslims who assist our brothers and sisters at arms in fighting terrorists, but that is the dogma of their faith.
Like Vietnam, it is often hard to know who the enemy is — they frequently wear no distinctive uniform. And on that day, the enemy wore our most common uniform, that of civilian dress, that of their targeted victims. I believe it will happen again in some form and the government that is supposed to protect us is not likely to do so.
It is also 20 years since America stood united as on Nation. That is even more sad, IMHO.
All- Thank you.
I had been retired from the Army for one year and 10 days, and was working as a temp at Boeing, since Bill Clinton’s recession was still stifling jobs in the Puget Sound area.
Like I noted on my own blog, this is Mrs. Drang’s birthday; we had gone out to dinner the night before, and she was taking the day off.
Unusually, I was watching the news while getting ready for work, and decided to let her sleep. (She called me later and thanked me for letting her sleep in.)
I was already furious, and the thought that the first crash was an accident never crossed my mind. I couldn’t remember what Bin Laden’s band of barbarians was called, but I was sure it was them.
The next day I called USAREC and volunteered to go back on active duty. I guess they didn’t see a need for Korean linguists.
I was at the end of the particular contract I was on at Boeing, and the last few weeks were pretty busy, as we had several reps overseas, and we had to bring them home. (One idiot was in Morocco and refused to leave, even though the government demanded it. IIRC, they put him on a boat and he joined the pair in Rome until flights began again.)(Then there was the one who was staying in the Hanoi Hilton!)
I was attending university on the west coast and my first class wasn’t until late morning. I was asleep. My Dad called to say they couldn’t fly home that day as planned and he needed me to tend to some loose ends. I don’t envy him having to explain why there were no flights.
What I remember most is how angry I was (and remain).
I was at work, just doing mundane things, when I heard about the first plane crash. Then the second one hit. Then the third, then the fourth.
Everything in the city I lived in… stopped. The upper management of the police department was freaking, the airport was shut down, officers were sent to all the utility plants.
And then we just listened to more and more and more bad news and reruns of the attacks and idiot bubbleheaded newscasters trying to fill air with nothing.
A day that stopped at 8:49am.
A nation that stopped at 8:49am.
Too old, too unhealthy to volunteer. Just had to suck it up and continue my life as best I could.
One of our NY friends was a NYPD officer at the time and spent 2 weeks at ground zero looking for possible survivors. His strongest memory is watching manhole covers flying due to explosive mixtures of gasses in the sewer system. He just lost a lung due to the NON-TOXIC particulate and gaseous mixture hanging around the ruins.
Our lords and masters just can’t stop lying.
That morning I was coming in to work at 08:00. When I got there one of my co-workers told me that an airplane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. He had no more details. At first I speculated it was a light plane and the pilot had become incapacitated causing the crash. Then a TV was brought into the office area. I learned what was going on and saw it as it unfolded. We all were angry in a way.
Later that day or on a day shortly after, I saw the pictures of those from high up in the Towers who decided rather than die in the fires jump to their death. I wept.
I have no forgiveness for those who perpetrated the attacks. May their evil be rewarded by God as I truly believe they are “The Great Satan”.
Today, 9/11/21, I am angry at the powers that currently control our Federal Government. They have over most of the last 20 years laid waste to this country for their personal gain. And now they even glorify those that committed these evil acts.
I remember. I hate all the pols making this a photo op at ground zero. The things Biden and Bush said today are unforgiveable. I see a lot of posts on social media of people telling their ‘where were you.’ I guess that is their way of remembering. But what are they remembering, how they felt? I would hope they would remember those who died(and their loved ones) and those who responded and all those that would answer the call and forget about self for a while. Maybe it’s just me and my perspective is messed up.
All- Thank you and no Randy, your perspective is NOT messed up. All of us morn those who died for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In my library/game room there are a couple of old, metal International Coffee containers. In each is a well padded piece of rock. One is a chunk of hard limestone blasted from the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. The other is a chunk of cheap concrete with some paint on the smooth face, hammered from the Berlin Wall shortly after 9 November 1989.
Never forget that we have enemies, and they want us dead. We are not all alike. We can not all just get along. People who insist that we act otherwise are Wormtongues, and deserve Quisling’s fate.
OldNFO, I wrote this ten years ago.
11 September 2001 was a beautiful Fall day. I was scheduled to fly from BWI to Fayetteville, NC that morning. Shortly before 9 am I called down to the office at Bragg to ensure all clearances had been received. They immediately told me to check CNN, as a plane had struck the North Tower at the World Trade Center in New York. We turned on the office television in time to watch the second plane hit the South Tower at 9:03 am. Our travel that day was canceled.
I called my wife to pick up my daughters from school. It took her three hours to get back home, due to the sudden security measures.
Watching the news coverage from the lobby of the World Trade Center, the reporters and firefighters would occasionally jerk and there would be a thump in the background. That thump was a body hitting the lobby roof, as people in the towers jumped rather than be burned alive. More than 200 people fell or jumped to their deaths that day.
Firefighters, police and first responders raced to the towers to help. They and others, people like Rick Rescorla, worked to get as many people out of the towers as possible. The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 am; the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 am. More than 2,600 people died at the World Trade Center, including 373 firefighters and 72 law enforcement officers. 147 passengers and crew were on the two aircraft, not counting the ten hijackers.
Do you remember?
At 9:37 am, hijackers flew United Airlines Flight 77 into the western side of the Pentagon. 125 people died there that day, as well as 59 passengers and crew members. A future boss of mine helped pull people from the wreckage of the building.
Do you remember?
Passengers and crew members onboard hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 fought to regain control of the aircraft. Cell phones calls from the plane captured the attempt, including Todd Beamer’s exhortation “Let’s roll.” When it looked like the passengers and crew might succeed, the hijackers intentionally crashed into the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All 40 passengers and crew, and the four hijackers, died in the crash.
In the days following the attacks, all flights were grounded. The skies were so quiet.
Do you remember?
Never forget.
McC- Those are treasures for old farts like us!
Czech6- Yes, I remember.
LSP- Never forget, never forgive.
They wouldn’t activate me from inactive reserve. It took a while, maybe longer than it should have but I qualified for a mil contractor gig. I was working today. That’s the best memorial thing I could do this year.
Jolie- I did that for over 20 years myself. Thank you!
My son was 18 months old, I packed a bag and put it by the front door. I don’t know where I thought I was going, but New York, the Pentagon – I thought Philly could be next. My husband worked really close to city hall, it was terrifying.
I had just signed on to my patrol beat of some of the South Bay freeways when one of my multiple radio channels mentioned a plane hitting a building in NYC. Whipped into a restaurant lot and went in to see if they had a tv. I decided that it couldn’t have been an accident, and then saw the 2nd hit from an oblique angle for confirmation of it. Walked out with the thought that the major response would be the spineless idiots in DC further stripping the rights of the citizenry. I was not disappointed in that forecast, unfortunately.
CHP kept us on duty for a few hours extra to look for anything odd that might be found, thinking that there might be bombs set at critical positions. No aircraft, and virtually no vehicle traffic. Only problem I encountered was a big rig with a blown air hose blocking a ramp. Sat behind him while he caged his trailer brakes so he could pull it into the gore point.
My friend who took the pictures I sent you told me all about that day. He saw the first tower go down, then they were evacuated from their building and by the time they got out, the second tower had gone.
Getting out of NYC was difficult. They closed Penn Station, or rather the police closed all the entrances. The trains were ALL still running (though nobody knew it). My friend, and his co-worker when down into the subway to catch a subway to Jamaica Station so they could get a train home(LIRR). When they heard through the tunnel the call for the train to Jamaica from Penn station. So they ran down there (I think some jumping down onto the tracks may have been involved, but that whole area is a rabbit’s warren) and they just caught the train out of Manhattan, which was empty.
He wonders (and I wonder a bit as well) just why they weren’t letting people take the railroad, and instead were forcing them to walk to Brooklyn, or take the subways there or into Queens.
As for me, I was in bed recovering from a back injury when I got a call from someone who told me to go turn on the TV.