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8 years on



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 11th 09, 04:01 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Yowie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,225
Default 8 years on

8 years ago, I can still vividly remember Joel waking me up at about 11:15pm
saying 'A bomb hit New York'. Wearily, I stumbled out to the lounge to watch
the coverage, thinking it was some sort of stunt, a joke, a sci-fi movie. We
watched in increasing horror as the second plane hit the other world tower,
and by the time the next plane had hit the pentagon, we were both thinking
'here comes world war 3'.

We stayed up most of the night, watching in horror, disbelief and open grief
whilst the tragedy that struck New York, Washington, America, indeed the
World unfolded. My thoughts went out to all those in the line of fire, all
those who would be affected by this.

My heart skipped a beat when I realised my mother was overseas, on holiday,
unreachable (in the days ahead I paid a small fortune in phone calls trying
to track her down - I found her in France). And then another as I realised a
great friend was actually in the air, flying back from Sydney to NY at the
time (she was diverted to LA and couldn't get home - nor even call her
husband - for 3 more days) .

Everyone stumbled into work the next day, sleepless, shocked. People
desperately tried to contact their loved ones not only in the USA but around
the world. Work allowed the use of the busines phones to do it, they didn't
really have a choice - although most of the lines were down and the ones
that weren't were so overload, it could take *hours* to get through to a US
operator, and even then it didn't mean the call could go through. There was
a constant vigil of at least a handful of people in the conference room,
watchign the only TV we have here, coming out after a while white and
shaken, no longer physically able to watch any more. For the first time, I
saw my colleagues, both men & women, openly weep.

Friends gathered to console and support each other - everyone, and I mean
*everyone* I know, knew someone who knew someone that was directly effected.

The internet connections were flakey at best, but messages of support and
friendship were posted, as well as a 'please check in' for those who had
been disconnected. It took a very long time, even over here, for it to stop
being at the top of people's minds. Even a month later, I saw a low-flying
jet and immediately had flash-backs, had a moment stricken with fear. I
hadn't realised I was so close to the airport.

8 years on, its no longer front page news every day, but the consequences of
that senseless act still reverberate around the world, effecting lives every
day, every minute. To all those who live with the heartache and grief of
that terrible day, as well as the incredible acts of heroism and sacrifice,
you have not been forgotten. Our purrs and prayers go out to you..

lest we forget.

Yowie


  #2  
Old September 11th 09, 04:17 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Kyla =^..^=[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 681
Default 8 years on

"Yowie"
8 years ago, I can still vividly remember Joel waking me up at about
11:15pm saying 'A bomb hit New York'. Wearily, I stumbled out to the lounge
to watch the coverage, thinking it was some sort of stunt, a joke, a sci-fi
movie. We watched in increasing horror as the second plane hit the other
world tower, and by the time the next plane had hit the pentagon, we were
both thinking 'here comes world war 3'.

We stayed up most of the night, watching in horror, disbelief and open
grief whilst the tragedy that struck New York, Washington, America, indeed
the World unfolded. My thoughts went out to all those in the line of fire,
all those who would be affected by this.

My heart skipped a beat when I realised my mother was overseas, on
holiday, unreachable (in the days ahead I paid a small fortune in phone
calls trying to track her down - I found her in France). And then another
as I realised a great friend was actually in the air, flying back from
Sydney to NY at the time (she was diverted to LA and couldn't get home -
nor even call her husband - for 3 more days) .

Everyone stumbled into work the next day, sleepless, shocked. People
desperately tried to contact their loved ones not only in the USA but
around the world. Work allowed the use of the busines phones to do it,
they didn't really have a choice - although most of the lines were down
and the ones that weren't were so overload, it could take *hours* to get
through to a US operator, and even then it didn't mean the call could go
through. There was a constant vigil of at least a handful of people in the
conference room, watchign the only TV we have here, coming out after a
while white and shaken, no longer physically able to watch any more. For
the first time, I saw my colleagues, both men & women, openly weep.

Friends gathered to console and support each other - everyone, and I mean
*everyone* I know, knew someone who knew someone that was directly
effected.

The internet connections were flakey at best, but messages of support and
friendship were posted, as well as a 'please check in' for those who had
been disconnected. It took a very long time, even over here, for it to
stop being at the top of people's minds. Even a month later, I saw a
low-flying jet and immediately had flash-backs, had a moment stricken with
fear. I hadn't realised I was so close to the airport.

8 years on, its no longer front page news every day, but the consequences
of that senseless act still reverberate around the world, effecting lives
every day, every minute. To all those who live with the heartache and
grief of that terrible day, as well as the incredible acts of heroism and
sacrifice, you have not been forgotten. Our purrs and prayers go out to
you..

lest we forget.

Yowie


Unfortunately, back in 2001, I watched the horror on our 60 " giant TV
screen, and I still cannot get those images out of my mind. It was a little
after 8 am here.
There are always some 9/11 programs on TV every year and I can't watch them.
Such horror and madness, and bravery, heroism and love, it boggles the mind.
I have a friend on another group who went mad after seeing the planes hit
the Towers. My youngest daughter had been on the roof of the North Tower
that summer, and she was telling me how you could see 4 different states
from there.
Windows on The World, a famous eatery, was on the top floor of one of the
Towers and I can't even imagine seeing an airplane headed right for you, and
having no place to hide. Bless their hearts. And I can't even begin to
thank those who risked their own lives to help others, and comfort them. It
is so horrid. And bless the hearts of the passengers of Flight 93 who lost
their lives taking control of the terrorists who were headed for The White
House.. The World has gone mad.
Thank you for posting this, Yowie
Kyla





  #3  
Old September 11th 09, 05:37 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Cheryl[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,078
Default 8 years on


"Kyla =^..^=" wrote in message
...

And bless the hearts of the passengers of Flight 93 who lost
their lives taking control of the terrorists who were headed for The White
House.. The World has gone mad.
Thank you for posting this, Yowie


It seems no one remembers flight 93. Even tomorrow, Obama will be at the
Pentagon, and Biden will be in NYC. Who will be in Shanksville?

  #4  
Old September 11th 09, 06:34 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Yowie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,225
Default 8 years on

In ,
Cheryl typed:
"Kyla =^..^=" wrote in message
...

And bless the hearts of the passengers of Flight 93 who lost
their lives taking control of the terrorists who were headed for The
White House.. The World has gone mad.
Thank you for posting this, Yowie


It seems no one remembers flight 93. Even tomorrow, Obama will be at
the Pentagon, and Biden will be in NYC. Who will be in Shanksville?


If it seems I had missed it out, my apologies. I do remember, and send purrs
to their family and friends for the incredibly couragous sacrifice that was
made that day too.

Yowie


  #5  
Old September 11th 09, 07:59 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Joy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 7,086
Default 8 years on

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
In ,
Cheryl typed:
"Kyla =^..^=" wrote in message
...

And bless the hearts of the passengers of Flight 93 who lost
their lives taking control of the terrorists who were headed for The
White House.. The World has gone mad.
Thank you for posting this, Yowie


It seems no one remembers flight 93. Even tomorrow, Obama will be at
the Pentagon, and Biden will be in NYC. Who will be in Shanksville?


If it seems I had missed it out, my apologies. I do remember, and send
purrs to their family and friends for the incredibly couragous sacrifice
that was made that day too.

Yowie


Among other things, I think their courageous actions made commercial flying
safer today. Before that terrible day, commercial flights were hijacked
every so often. I don't think I've heard of a successful hijacking since
then. Those courageous passengers taught us how to behave in the case of an
attempted hijacking. That's why the shoe bomber and a crazed passenger who
tried to break into the cockpit of another flight were stopped - because the
passengers on those flights followed the example of those on Flight 93.

Joy


  #6  
Old September 11th 09, 08:01 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
jmcquown[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,008
Default 8 years on

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
8 years ago, I can still vividly remember Joel waking me up at about
11:15pm saying 'A bomb hit New York'. Wearily, I stumbled out to the lounge
to watch the coverage, thinking it was some sort of stunt, a joke, a sci-fi
movie. We watched in increasing horror as the second plane hit the other
world tower, and by the time the next plane had hit the pentagon, we were
both thinking 'here comes world war 3'.

We stayed up most of the night, watching in horror, disbelief and open
grief whilst the tragedy that struck New York, Washington, America, indeed
the World unfolded. My thoughts went out to all those in the line of fire,
all those who would be affected by this.

My heart skipped a beat when I realised my mother was overseas, on
holiday, unreachable (in the days ahead I paid a small fortune in phone
calls trying to track her down - I found her in France). And then another
as I realised a great friend was actually in the air, flying back from
Sydney to NY at the time (she was diverted to LA and couldn't get home -
nor even call her husband - for 3 more days) .

Everyone stumbled into work the next day, sleepless, shocked. People
desperately tried to contact their loved ones not only in the USA but
around the world. Work allowed the use of the busines phones to do it,
they didn't really have a choice - although most of the lines were down
and the ones that weren't were so overload, it could take *hours* to get
through to a US operator, and even then it didn't mean the call could go
through. There was a constant vigil of at least a handful of people in the
conference room, watchign the only TV we have here, coming out after a
while white and shaken, no longer physically able to watch any more. For
the first time, I saw my colleagues, both men & women, openly weep.

Friends gathered to console and support each other - everyone, and I mean
*everyone* I know, knew someone who knew someone that was directly
effected.

The internet connections were flakey at best, but messages of support and
friendship were posted, as well as a 'please check in' for those who had
been disconnected. It took a very long time, even over here, for it to
stop being at the top of people's minds. Even a month later, I saw a
low-flying jet and immediately had flash-backs, had a moment stricken with
fear. I hadn't realised I was so close to the airport.

8 years on, its no longer front page news every day, but the consequences
of that senseless act still reverberate around the world, effecting lives
every day, every minute. To all those who live with the heartache and
grief of that terrible day, as well as the incredible acts of heroism and
sacrifice, you have not been forgotten. Our purrs and prayers go out to
you..

lest we forget.

Yowie


Thank you very much for posting this. I'm sitting here in tears. I hope
you don't mind if I tack on some personal thoughts and experiences.

The company I worked for lost 295 colleagues on that day, 30 of whom I knew
and had worked with personally. Our company had been purchased by Marsh &
McClennan, whose offices were on the 99th floor of the north tower. Those
30 people had been transferred to NY (our former I.T. Director, Gary Lasko,
was commuting to and from Memphis weekly). They were in the north tower
that morning. The first plane flew directly into Gary's office; no trace of
him was ever found.

As soon as we heard the news the people in I.T. in Memphis swung into
action. All of the video screens in the every conference room were quickly
linked to satellite so we could see what was going on. People around me
were getting text messages on their pagers from colleagues who were trapped
on the 99th floor. "Please call my wife" or "Tell everyone I'm okay." Many
people were "hearing" what was going on inside the building that way.

I remember standing at the back of the conference room, watching the events
unfold, shocked, dismayed. People were weeping. I did telephone tech
support for the company at the time. I heard a manager behind me say,
"Someone should be manning the phones on the help desk." I was so shocked
for a minute I couldn't speak. I said, "You actually think people are going
to be calling about our software right now?!" I couldn't fathom it.
Needless to say, no one moved. No one cared about the phones. Just a
minute later a woman next to me said, "Is that building shaking?" and then
the first of the towers fell. I'll never forget it.

Somewhere in the midst of all the confusion we heard about the plane that
hit the Pentagon. And about flight 93 going down in Pennsylvania. We will
never forget any of the brave souls on that plane who prevented yet another
disaster. Nor any of the thousands who lost their lives so senselessly on
that morning.

An aside: I have a dear friend (Ian) who used to be the head of Human
Resources in our Memphis office. His train was running late that morning.
He and about 12 other people had just gotten on the elevator when the first
plane hit. The elevator didn't go anywhere. They were stuck for over an
hour, not having a clue what was going on outside. Just as suddenly the
elevator doors opened on their own. What these people saw stunned them.
The lobby was littered with debris and filled with firefighters, who quickly
ushered them out of the building.

Ian made his way to a train station many blocks away and headed back to his
home in Connecticut. He was shell-shocked. He was unable to get through to
his daughters to let them know he was okay. As you can imagine, it was an
unbelievably long train ride home.

He never went back to NYC. He moved to Savannah in the next few weeks. We
kept in touch via email and on the phone. We always talked about meeting in
Savannah for a "cuppa". Ironically, just as I moved within 60 miles of him
to help my mother he moved back to his native England. We never did get
together for that "cuppa".

Jill

  #7  
Old September 11th 09, 08:02 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9,349
Default 8 years on

Cheryl wrote:

It seems no one remembers flight 93. Even tomorrow, Obama will be at the
Pentagon, and Biden will be in NYC. Who will be in Shanksville?


Well, in fairness, a couple of movies have been made about it. One of
them has shown on TV several times.

Joyce

--
"Ignorance is bliss - alas, only for the ignoramus."
-- sign on www.sorryeverybody.com/gallery/1/
  #8  
Old September 11th 09, 08:07 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9,349
Default 8 years on

This is one of my favorite quotes:

"If we discovered we only had five minutes left to say all that we
wanted to say, every telephone booth would be occupied by people
calling other people to stammer that they loved them."
-- Christopher Morley

And, except for the fact that it was not phone booths, but cell phones,
he was right.

Joyce
  #9  
Old September 11th 09, 09:30 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
jmcquown[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,008
Default 8 years on

"Joy" wrote in message
...
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
In ,
Cheryl typed:
"Kyla =^..^=" wrote in message
...

And bless the hearts of the passengers of Flight 93 who lost
their lives taking control of the terrorists who were headed for The
White House.. The World has gone mad.
Thank you for posting this, Yowie

It seems no one remembers flight 93. Even tomorrow, Obama will be at
the Pentagon, and Biden will be in NYC. Who will be in Shanksville?


If it seems I had missed it out, my apologies. I do remember, and send
purrs to their family and friends for the incredibly couragous sacrifice
that was made that day too.

Yowie


Among other things, I think their courageous actions made commercial
flying safer today. Before that terrible day, commercial flights were
hijacked every so often. I don't think I've heard of a successful
hijacking since then. Those courageous passengers taught us how to behave
in the case of an attempted hijacking. That's why the shoe bomber and a
crazed passenger who tried to break into the cockpit of another flight
were stopped - because the passengers on those flights followed the
example of those on Flight 93.

Joy


Know what drives me nuts? People who bitch about the extra security
precautions in airports that were a result of 9/11. I don't mind having to
get to the airport an hour early. I don't mind having to take off my watch
and my shoes and my belt and walk through a metal detector. I don't mind
having my carry-on bags scanned or limited to a certain size and number. I
don't mind that I can't carry liquids onto a plane, or liquid/gel containers
like shampoo over a certain size. What I do mind is people had to die for
us to reach this place in airport security.

Jill

  #10  
Old September 11th 09, 10:54 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Baird Stafford
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 199
Default 8 years on

In article ,
"Cheryl" wrote:

It seems no one remembers flight 93. Even tomorrow, Obama will be at the
Pentagon, and Biden will be in NYC. Who will be in Shanksville?


Colin Powell.

Baird

--
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice
there is. -Yogi Berra
 




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