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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Where Were You on September 11, 2001


On September 11, 2001, I was driving to my office on Long Island. I'd heard on the radio that a plane had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, with speculation that the pilot had suffered a heart attack. When the female DJ screamed as the second plane hit the South Tower, I knew that life in America had changed forever. I got to my office and watched the towers burn across the bay, and heard fighter jets going by overhead. Later, co-workers and I went to a pub and watched the scene over and over on television. There was a man at the bar sobbing and muttering to himself. Turns out he was a fireman who had retired the week before. His entire fire company was dead. Ten years have passed and I lost no one I loved on September 11. Still, memories of that day burn hard in mind.

Where were you and what were you doing on 9-11? Please comment below. I'd really like to hear.

4 comments:

doggy daddy said...

I was working on the roof of an isolated cabin near Sherburne, away from the hustle and bustle, on an absolutely beautiful day. ...too beautiful and peaceful to corrupt with the blare of my truck radio. I went to Webb and Son's at 10:30 or so for supplies, and counter-man Clarence broke the news to me. Went directly home and sat in front of a tv set for the rest of the day.

Kathleen Yasas said...

Thanks Doggy Daddy. I guess others are to shy to comment. Anybody else?

Anonymous said...

A friend called. "Are you watching the news?" she asked my husband. "A plane's hit the World Trade Center!" As he turned on the television, he saw the 2nd plane strike. That horrible instant of an innocence lost forever.

He immediately roused me from sleep, telling me that we were under attack. I stared at the flames in the towers for a moment and rushed to call you, my friend in New York. How in the world did that call get through the chaos?

While we watched the reports together, bewildered, you could hear my husband's shouts that the Pentagon was hit. We heard an unbelievable rumor that a 4th plane had been hijacked and was heading who-knows-where. Where was the President? WHAT WAS GOING ON?

We hung up and I stood in front of the TV, shocked and unmoving, until my husband and I clung to each other and wept when the towers went down.

The next Sunday, I was clearing out the newspapers for recycling collection and I found the weekly TV schedule. It was still open to the programs for Monday night, 9/10. I had never turned the page.

Kathleen Yasas said...

Wow, and thanks. Your comment has left me with chills, and yes, I remember too.


About Me

Newspaper columnist; blogger; author of Delta Dead; author of 101 Tip$ From My Depression-Era Parents; author of Australian Fly; editor: ...And I Breathed (author, Jason Garner, former CEO of Global Music at Live Nation), "A History of the Lawrence S. Donaldson Residence"; "The Port Washington Yacht Club: A Centennial Perspective"; "The Northeastern Society of Periodontists: The First Fifty Years"; editor: NESP Bulletin; editor: PWYC Mainsail; past editorial director: The International Journal of Fertility & Women's Medicine; past editor of: Long Island Power & Sail, Respiratory Review; Medical Travelers' Advisory; School Nurse News; Clear Images; Periodontal Clinical Investigations; Community Nurse Forum