BajaNomad

What is your 9/11 story?

durrelllrobert - 9-11-2011 at 12:10 PM

I'm surprised that, on the 10th anniverary of 9/11, nobody has started this thread so I will:

On 9/10/2001 I was on a flight from San Francisco bound for Newark, NJ for an 8:00 AM meeting on 9/11. When we got in the landing pattern the pilot came on and said that there was a big fire at the Newark airport and that we were going to be diverted to JFK in NY. After circling about an hour waitng for a gate we landed there around 11:00 and by the time I rented a car it was near midnight. Since it was so late I decided to stay in NY and drive to NJ the next morning so I checked into the Marriot hotel directly across from the WTC.

On 9/12 I left the hotel at 6:00AM to go to my meeting in NJ but didn't check out and left my suitcase in the room, intending to return that afternoon. My meeting was at Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway, NJ and was a live video teleconferance with other Government agencies in the US.

Just before 9:00 AM the Video was interrupted showing video of the first tower that was hit and the damage. Shortly after that we saw live coverage of the second plane hitting the other tower and were told that the Arsenal (and all other military facilities) was in lock-down until further notice.

We were told that 2 jets had been scrambled from Otis Air Airforce Base on Cape Cod after the second plane left Boston, and was heading north instead of west, but it was too late to intercept that plane. Shortly after 9:30 we were told that a third plane, originating out of Washington Dulles had just hit the Pentagon and that a 4th plane had left the scheduled flight path from Newark to SFO and was heading east again and was currently over PA. We were told that an Air National Guard jet had been scarmbled out of Ohio to intercept it.

We finally were allowed to leave the Arsenal around 6:00 PM and I spent the night at a hotel in Dover waiting to see if I would be able to get back to the Marriot and retrieve my suitcase. No such luck: all bridges/ tunnels into NY were closed and one of the towers had crashed onto the Marriot crushing it (I latter sent letter to Marriot headquarters apologizing for leaving without paying my bill). So I drove my rental car to Pittsburg where I spent 2 nights waiting to get a West bound flight and on 9/16 I got a flight as far as St. Louis where I spent another to nights waiting for a flight to SFO. When I got home on 9/19 I thanked God for my early morning meeting in NJ on 9/12.

[Edited on 9-11-2011 by durrelllrobert]

Cypress - 9-11-2011 at 12:36 PM

At this point? Just turn the TV off.

DENNIS - 9-11-2011 at 12:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cypress
At this point? Just turn the TV off.



Really. I know it happened and I know we should never lose sight of that, but it's the same thing....over and over. Tragedy has turned into celebration.

Dave - 9-11-2011 at 01:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Quote:
Originally posted by Cypress
At this point? Just turn the TV off.



Really. I know it happened and I know we should never lose sight of that, but it's the same thing....over and over. Tragedy has turned into celebration.


Agreed. 10 years is more meaningful than 9 or 11?

And what's with the bagpipes? This ain't Scotland.

BajaBlanca - 9-11-2011 at 02:35 PM

I was home and watching TV in the morning as always when the first crash came...then the second ....

I will never forget those moments of clarity when i realized what had just happened

my brother, sister-in-law and their daughter lived in brooklyn at the time. My sister-in-law had to walk the over the the brooklyn bridge with her daughter to get home since subway was shut down.

within a month, they had moved OUT of the city, never to live there again.

bajalorena - 9-11-2011 at 08:45 PM

Our outdrive had gone out. We had put it into the back of our truck and brought it north to San Jose, Ca to be worked on under warranty. We were then advised that to be covered, it had to be attached to the boat. So we headed back to BuenaVista to pick up the boat.

We crossed the border at 5:45am (8:45am Eastern time) at SY with no problem. At the Maneadero checkpoint, we were asked how things were in the US. Fine, we said.

Another checkpoint near El Rosario, again the same question. Fine, we said.

I was driving, John was sleeping and I found a radio station in English. The report came on about a United flight going into the South Tower. Instant panic. Our daughter is a flight attendant that frequently had New York segments. No phone, and the closest place was Catavina (and not that close). The men at the checkpoint probably wondered about us..........

When we finally reached the La Pinta, they let us use the sat phone to call home. Couldn't reach the one daughter, so called the other. Our daughter was indeed in New York, but was scheduled for a later flight. She had heard the news of the North tower, and had looked out the hotel window, just in time to see the South tower being hit.
She was stuck there for 4 days, and called in sick everytime she was scheduled for New York. After a year, John flew with her to New York to visit Ground Zero. She is no longer flying. She was 22 at the time. She did not watch TV this weekend.

doradodan - 9-11-2011 at 09:05 PM

I was getting ready to go work at a California L.E. agency. Saw the twin towers fall. Went to work 6 months later as an Air Marshal. As proud today of my job as the first flight I covered. Never forget

mooose29 - 9-11-2011 at 09:09 PM

I was the first person to board my Alaska airlines flight to Seattle. Before I got on all we knew was that a small plane had crashed into the WTC. As I settled in I noticed no one else had boarded and that the entire flight crew was up in the c-ckpit talking in a way that made me think something was up. After about 10 minutes the captain comes back to me and says that a ground stop has been ordered for all airplanes and that I need to get off the plane and wait for an hour or so in the terminal until the ground stop has been listed.

I thought no way will this only be a couple of hours. I got off went to the gate agent and gave her my boarding pass and told her I would fly another day. As I left they shut down the airport shortly there after and I learned later that people that stayed were stuck there for a couple of hours while they cleared the airport. As I drove to the office the realiation of what had happened came clear as I listened to the radio.

honda tom - 9-12-2011 at 08:28 AM

I was on a boat 30 miles east of Loreto with my dad. came in to town at about 2pm and called my wife. she asked if I was on my way home. I told her no, why? and she told me to find a TV and call her back. we spent the next 4 hours watching the news on the malecon at some bar in Loreto.

lizard lips - 9-12-2011 at 08:46 AM

I was in a cab that I hired in Monterrey Mexico to drive me to Nuevo Laredo where I had some work to finish up. About 20 km south of N Laredo there is a Mexican Immigration station that all cars must stop at and the officer came to my side of the cab. He told me to get out and come into the station and asked that I watch the television. There was a small black and white tv on the desk and there on the screen was one of the towers burning. I continued to watch for few minutes and then a report came of the other tower that was hit by a plane. My heart sunk. The immigration officer was stunned. He never asked to see my FM2 probably because he saw the look on my face. When I got to the ministerio publico office in N Laredo they also had the tv on and everyone was gathered around. Some of the people were visibly crying.

Because all flights in Mexico were still operating I returned to Tijuana the next morning and there was about 10 747's parked close to the airport. Apparently they were on the way to LA and were diverted to TJ to land and the passengers were bussed to the US. Korean Air, JAL, Singapore Airlines were all there.

Strange couple of days.

9/11

MrBillM - 9-12-2011 at 09:10 AM

Like the vast majority of those in the U.S., there is no story as such.

Hadn't even turned on the TV that a.m. Got a call from a friend. Turned on the news and was watching the First burn for a few minutes when the Second plane hit. Watched for another 15 minutes or so, went out to do yard work, came back in for an update and then went into town to shop. EVERYBODY in EVERY store rattling about nothing else. Came home and watched periodic updates.

I didn't know and have never met anyone who was there or affected so there aren't even any 2nd-hand stories.

The only person I know who was affected was a good friend who, until the 911 attack, had attended the Reno Air Races for about 14 or more years running. Unable to get a straight answer as to whether they would go on due to the groundings, he packed up and went to Reno anyway. Arriving, he found that they were grounded too. No races.

bajajudy - 9-12-2011 at 09:21 AM

We were at Prosan in San Lucas where they sell TV's. There were 7 or 8 people standing in front of them. Jim went over, I followed but when I saw the twin towers on fire decided to keep shopping. We were looking for dishwashers that day so our next stop was an appliance store. When we walked in, the owner, a Mexican guy, was standing in front of a tv crying his eyes out. We watched a little with him and then went home. We had no tv at the time so that night we went to a friends bar to see what was happening.
The next day we went back to San Lucas and bought two tix to Costa Rica, where we stayed in virtual isolation for almost 2 weeks. We were the only people on the flight from DF to San Jose, Costa Rica. The pilots came up to us after we landed and thanked us for flying United. We had no idea what that meant.
So basically we missed most of the event.

As for the coverage yesterday, the one story that I really enjoyed was the one narrated by Tom Hanks about the evacuation of Manhattan from Battery Park by, not only, the ferries but also all the private boats that came to the rescue. I did not realize that over 500,000 people were rescued that day, the biggest sea evacuation ever.

I agree and, from many of the comments I heard yesterday, the families agree that it is time to move on. The ones whose loved ones remains were never found, now have a place to remember them.

lizard lips - 9-12-2011 at 10:11 AM

It wasn't long after 9/11 that I went to Cabo for work and got caught in the hurricane. I think it was Juliette. I was with my buddy at his home and we kept watching the television to see what Bush was going to do.

bajajudy - 9-12-2011 at 10:57 AM

Yes, it was Juliette. We got stuck in DF for 4 days until SJD re-opened.

woody with a view - 9-12-2011 at 06:06 PM

was up early heading to work at Camp Pendleton, building the houses you see on the top of the bluff at the Basilone exit and back farther up the valley. Dave, Shelley, and Chainsaw were on the radio and are known for their antics. by the time the second plane hit i was going onto the base wondering WTF, is this real?

30 minutes later they stopped all oncoming traffic onto the base. i don't remember exactly if it was the same day or a day or two later, but we all used 2 way walkie talkies for comm's back then. somebody said over the air that San Onofre power plant was burning. we all hauled asss to the bluff for a look-see. YEP, there was smoke coming from the stack. :?:

turns out it was a normal, routine steam release! the backlash from that one means they now give 3 day notice of their intent to do routine maintenance!!!!!

Marc - 9-12-2011 at 06:47 PM

I was at the gym very early here in SF. After a while everyone was glued to the TV sets. One gal was screaming "F***ing Palestinians".
A hard part for me was the celebration in the arab (small "a" for a small people) world and so called "american muslims" who wouldn't condemn the act.
That day my buddy calls from Wisconsin and cancels our next weeks trip to Baja.