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A reminder that 09/11 will always be part of our lives


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I often think how awful it is to go to work on a normal day and not to come home. The book "102 Minutes" is the best account of that day I have read. It's chilling in the descriptions of the people trapped in the towers and those who worked their way down to get out. The lack of cooperation between the police and fire department as well as the design issues is discussed. A very sad day all the way around.

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Won't ever forget this day. Besides the personal stories I'm sure we all have and people we knew.  One of the things I don't think I'll ever forget here in Indy at least....the sky was as blue as I've ever seen. Almost cobalt like. It's weird the stuff you remember on days like that and 20 years later I can still remember my step by step actions from the entire day. 

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21 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

Won't ever forget this day. Besides the personal stories I'm sure we all have and people we knew.  One of the things I don't think I'll ever forget here in Indy at least....the sky was as blue as I've ever seen. Almost cobalt like. It's weird the stuff you remember on days like that and 20 years later I can still remember my step by step actions from the entire day. 

That blue sky and not a plane to be seen.

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Just now, cthomas said:

That blue sky and not a plane to be seen.

Had a good friend at the time working at Indy Airport. I never actually thought about it at the time but he said imagine seeing Air France 747 landing next to a small crop duster.....all planes grounded landing one after another. Said it's a sight he'll never forget. 

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36 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

Had a good friend at the time working at Indy Airport. I never actually thought about it at the time but he said imagine seeing Air France 747 landing next to a small crop duster.....all planes grounded landing one after another. Said it's a sight he'll never forget. 

I was working at Chicago ARTCC at the time...

It was strange walking out on the control room floor that was usually buzzing with activity and seeing a ghost town...

I knew a couple of people from New York ARTCC that did some of the coordination between the center and NORAD. One was a girl I trained in ATC in the 90s. She was so shook up about it, she almost quit. Ended up taking a supervisor job where she didn't have to actually talk to the airplanes any more...

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4 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

I was working at Chicago ARTCC at the time...

It was strange walking out on the control room floor that was usually buzzing with activity and seeing a ghost town...

I knew a couple of people from New York ARTCC that did some of the coordination between the center and NORAD. One was a girl I trained in ATC in the 90s. She was so shook up about it, she almost quit. Ended up taking a supervisor job where she didn't have to actually talk to the airplanes any more...

I can only imagine in your capacity what that day was like. Not just as an American...but also in a moments notice you have to be pro ready to get the planes grounded without even being able to mourn or think about what happened an hour earlier. Unreal stuff.

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1 hour ago, IUFLA said:

I was working at Chicago ARTCC at the time...

It was strange walking out on the control room floor that was usually buzzing with activity and seeing a ghost town...

Two times I have walked through Atlanta Hartsfield and it was like a ghost town.

The very first day they let planes back in the air after 9/11. I think there were maybe 6 paying passengers on board. The rest were flight crew’s trying to get home!

Second time was Memorial Day weekend 2020. With Covid there was only one security line with about 60 people in it.

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1 hour ago, Seeking6 said:

I can only imagine in your capacity what that day was like. Not just as an American...but also in a moments notice you have to be pro ready to get the planes grounded without even being able to mourn or think about what happened an hour earlier. Unreal stuff.

I wasn't actively controlling traffic at that point, but it was a weird experience...they sent all of the support people home after they'd cleared the sky...I asked one of the kids I had trained in the USAF how it was, and he said it was more stressful than he'd ever seen it, simply because he was worried that every airplane he was talking to was a potential highjack...thankfully, none of them got as far as Chicago's airspace extended...

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So a year later, my CAD designer and I made again a trip to Minneapolis. Not having anything better to do before we visited our vendor the next day, we went to “The Mall of America” . At the time 9/11 it was considered one of the top three targets for an anniversary event! Again, ghost town, we did get a good meal at Famous Dave’s though!

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1 hour ago, mrflynn03 said:

I was in algebra class 16 yrs old.  The teacher wheeled in a TV.  

I remember telling my classmates we are about to go to war. I'm still conflicted.  A part of me wishes I signed up to shoot some of them bastards. 

My wife and I and her sister and husband were supposed to go to the Noblesville amphitheater that night to see Jimmy Buffet. I remember my wife and her sister discussing whether or not the show would still be on. I told her no way would anyone want to go to a concert that night. Of course it was cancelled. I think the gravity of what happened took a while to sink in for some people.

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15 hours ago, Seeking6 said:

Won't ever forget this day. Besides the personal stories I'm sure we all have and people we knew.  One of the things I don't think I'll ever forget here in Indy at least....the sky was as blue as I've ever seen. Almost cobalt like. 

The sky is always the first thing I notice when I see the pictures. I think it resonates with me because the sky was every bit as blue here in Indiana. I remember looking out the window during school that day, completely unaware of what was going on, and thinking that I couldn't wait to go outside and play that afternoon (I was 12 at the time). It's almost like the sky was trying to say it was too good to be true. 

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56 minutes ago, mrflynn03 said:

I will never forget people jumping out of the buildings. What a terrible position to be in. 

There's a documentary by French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet, who just happened to be with some NYFD guys at a gas leak when they caught the first plane fly into the tower on film that's so raw it's difficult to watch. As they're in the lobby of one of the towers, they finally realize this massive sound coming every 50 seconds or so are from jumpers hitting the pavement outside of the foyer...

Link

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3 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

There's a documentary by French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet, who just happened to be with some NYFD guys at a gas leak when they caught the first plane fly into the tower on film that's so raw it's difficult to watch. As they're in the lobby of one of the towers, they finally realize this massive sound coming every 50 seconds or so are from jumpers hitting the pavement outside of the foyer...

Lin

4 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

There's a documentary by French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet, who just happened to be with some NYFD guys at a gas leak when they caught the first plane fly into the tower on film that's so raw it's difficult to watch. As they're in the lobby of one of the towers, they finally realize this massive sound coming every 50 seconds or so are from jumpers hitting the pavement outside of the foyer...

Link

 

Just posted the video of the first plane. 

Yeah, I've seen the whole documentary.  Really tough to watch. 

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I had retired from the USAF in March of 2000...I got my gig at Chicago ARTCC in August of 2000...

I remember after 9/11, maybe a month afterward, that I got a letter from the DOD that even though my year of inactive reserve had passed (when you retire you're obligated for 1 year after your retirement date) there was a possibility that I could be called back to active duty when the War on Terror started...

And I would have gladly gone back if they'd have asked...

 

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I was working in Indy on that day. I recall the clear blue sky as well. When I got to work, I turned on my radio to X103 and they were talking in somber tones so I immediately assumed a musician had passed away. Then they talked about a plane hitting the World Trade Center and talking about it possibly being a small plane. Obviously things escalated from there. By the time the Pentagon got hit, I turned to my co-worker (who passed away earlier this year, rest in peace brother) and we just exchanged WTF looks. That was a terrifying moment in time where it felt like a new World War or something just broke out. Beyond surreal.

Around lunchtime our company president called us all into a conference room and we saw the actual video on a TV, did a group prayer then were sent home for the day. I went straight to the liquor store directly across from my apartment complex to buy a 6-pack of Sam Adam's Boston Ale (odd random detail seared into my brain) and spent the remainder of the day sipping on those beers while catching up on all the events on various cable TV networks. 

 

 

 

 

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