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Post by jetstream23 on Sept 11, 2015 11:56:16 GMT -5
My father is a survivor from that day, worked across the street from Tower 2 in the Bankers Trust/Deutche Bank building on Liberty Street (pictured below with the flag draped over it while the clean-up took place). I had only been living in AZ for about a year but I was back in NJ/NY for work and staying at my parents house in NJ. I was taking NJ Transit into Manhattan around 9:15 or so and the train just stopped before we got into the tunnel to go under the river. We could see what was happening out the window but didn't realize that the city was being shut down to all incoming traffic, bridges closed, etc. A little while later the trains were going in reverse back to their origins. I went back to my parents house and was the only one there, my mother was at work. I finally got a phone call from my father at 10AM and just after he said hello the line went dead. I turned to the TV and saw the first tower coming down. Had no idea if he was still in his building, evacuated or what. The next 3 hours were the most agonizing of my life and I felt I had been on the phone with my Dad as he died. Eventually my mother came home from work and we got another call from my father. He had been evacuated to one of the bank's other locations down on Wall St. and was okay. I've never felt a sense of relief like I did at that moment. Unfortunately, my father couldn't come home immediately. In one of the lesser known stories of 9/11, the banking system was on very shaky ground as billions of dollars in wire transfers, pending transactions, overnight lending orders, etc. were essentially in limbo and a good portion of the entire banking system went offline for hours. My father had to go from the Wall St. location to one of the bank's "hot sites" in Jersey City. He said it was a room he'd never seen before but had empty desks, computers, phones, etc. ready as a backup that were just sitting there waiting. He worked until midnight on 9/11 and eventually came home, walking through the front door, his dark blue pants and his shoes covered in so much dust they looked tan. That's my 9/11 memory. I consider my family very fortunate. God bless everyone who suffered a loss that day, God bless our first responders who continue to be under-appreciated in my opinion, and God bless America.
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Post by Jets Things on Sept 11, 2015 11:57:36 GMT -5
Might pay a visit to the memorial in my town. 23 people lost. 45 from my town.... Did a ceremony yesterday in Manhattan in the shadow of the new buildings..very surreal, you really cant conceive of what occurred there by seeing whats there now. Took me 14 years to go back, because I simply couldnt deal, and I had nothing remotely close to the experience JW had, actually working in the Towers. As good as a job as they did, it still feels more like a tourist attraction, and thats disturbing. Perspective check; Shortly before I dropped my son off for his first year of College this August, we saw a kid his age on the street in town that he had played little league and went to school with. Realizing I hadnt seen him in years... I asked if they were friendly anymore and he told me sadly the kid was pretty much a druggie and headed on a bad path. Forward ahead to this morning, in my yearly attempt to avoid the ceremonies, I go to the gym and hit the bike. Of course every TV is on the ceremony, so I have no choice to watch the slow scroll of names as they are announced. All of a sudden, I see someone with the same name as the kid we saw, from the same town...and I realize...holy sh*t, its this kids father...we never realized. Never made the connection. I'm thinking I was lucky enough to get my guy off to college in good shape, and here was this kid at such a fragile, formative age apparently struggling and heading for trouble with his father gone 14 of his 18 years on this planet. Jeez that was tough. Oof. So many more than 2,996.
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 12:01:41 GMT -5
Post by Bing© in Buffalo Chairman on Sept 11, 2015 12:01:41 GMT -5
Hard to believe that most kids in highschool have little or no memory of that horrible day. I remember watching the 2nd plane hit on tv, and then when they said the Pentagon had been hit everyone was really scared... we wondered how many other targets or other planes there were... It was our generations Pearl Harbor for sure. I only wish that Bin Laden was captured alive, or at least have a picture of his suprised look when he got one between the eyes... I have fond memories of the World Trade Center. My Grandmother took me there for Lunch when i was a young lad. i brought my kids there in the 90's. What a waste when you think about it. The horror, mindless violence and the wars that followed. All because some sick fuck made it happen.... RIP all 9/11 victims...... Peace and Understanding the the families.
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Post by RageATL on Sept 11, 2015 12:24:56 GMT -5
Today was my first day in another major city that in a short time i really have learned to like. Weird because usually i hate anything not nyc. They had such nice memorials here even in my suburb of Naperville. But still i missed going to the memorial in nyc. Though Chicago definitely is my 2 city for sure now Just got back from spending a few days in Chicago...my fourth time there but the others didn't really "count" in the way we really soaked in the town this time around. Kick ass city for sure. If it wasn't for the bitter cold and ridiculous taxes, I'd certainly consider moving there.
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 12:28:43 GMT -5
Post by thebigragu on Sept 11, 2015 12:28:43 GMT -5
Today was my first day in another major city that in a short time i really have learned to like. Weird because usually i hate anything not nyc. They had such nice memorials here even in my suburb of Naperville. But still i missed going to the memorial in nyc. Though Chicago definitely is my 2 city for sure now Just got back from spending a few days in Chicago...my fourth time there but the others didn't really "count" in the way we really soaked in the town this time around. Kick ass city for sure. If it wasn't for the bitter cold and ridiculous taxes, I'd certainly consider moving there. Fucking taxes. The fucking democrats have a foothold here forever. Its obscene the tax but the jobs and the way lower cost of living in the burbs or city make up for it big time
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 12:32:52 GMT -5
Post by jetstream23 on Sept 11, 2015 12:32:52 GMT -5
45 from my town.... Did a ceremony yesterday in Manhattan in the shadow of the new buildings..very surreal, you really cant conceive of what occurred there by seeing whats there now. Took me 14 years to go back, because I simply couldnt deal, and I had nothing remotely close to the experience JW had, actually working in the Towers. As good as a job as they did, it still feels more like a tourist attraction, and thats disturbing. Perspective check; Shortly before I dropped my son off for his first year of College this August, we saw a kid his age on the street in town that he had played little league and went to school with. Realizing I hadnt seen him in years... I asked if they were friendly anymore and he told me sadly the kid was pretty much a druggie and headed on a bad path. Forward ahead to this morning, in my yearly attempt to avoid the ceremonies, I go to the gym and hit the bike. Of course every TV is on the ceremony, so I have no choice to watch the slow scroll of names as they are announced. All of a sudden, I see someone with the same name as the kid we saw, from the same town...and I realize...holy sh*t, its this kids father...we never realized. Never made the connection. I'm thinking I was lucky enough to get my guy off to college in good shape, and here was this kid at such a fragile, formative age apparently struggling and heading for trouble with his father gone 14 of his 18 years on this planet. Jeez that was tough. Oof. So many more than 2,996. The aftershocks lessen as the years go by but there's no doubt that it will take decades before the direct impacts of that day are no longer felt in many families. Whether it's the "unseen" scars that many kids and adults continue to have or the continuing medical difficulties, illnesses, cancers, etc. that affect first responders and others, this will be with us for a long, long time. A perfect example here...
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 12:50:32 GMT -5
Post by DDNYjets on Sept 11, 2015 12:50:32 GMT -5
I feel like the entire country has been spinning its tires since then. Like we never really fully recovered. The recessions and the wars. Now all the debt and having to baby sit the Middle East till the end of time.
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 13:14:58 GMT -5
Post by Ff2 on Sept 11, 2015 13:14:58 GMT -5
I feel like the entire country has been spinning its tires since then. Like we never really fully recovered. The recessions and the wars. Now all the debt and having to baby sit the Middle East till the end of time. Meh, the country is always like that. And compared to the rest of the world....we live in paradise.
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 13:22:36 GMT -5
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Post by jetstream23 on Sept 11, 2015 13:22:36 GMT -5
I feel like the entire country has been spinning its tires since then. Like we never really fully recovered. The recessions and the wars. Now all the debt and having to baby sit the Middle East till the end of time. Meh, the country is always like that. And compared to the rest of the world....we live in paradise. The rest of the world is not a good comparison for what we aspire to be. If you compare Belidick to Hitler it makes Belidick almost look like a decent human. I said almost.
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 13:24:46 GMT -5
Post by Ff2 on Sept 11, 2015 13:24:46 GMT -5
Meh, the country is always like that. And compared to the rest of the world....we live in paradise. The rest of the world is not a good comparison for what we aspire to be. If you compare Cheating Douchebag to Hitler it makes Cheating Douchebag almost look like a decent human. I said almost. Im just sayin. We got it pretty good.
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Post by quantum on Sept 11, 2015 13:54:00 GMT -5
I never really spent any time around the WTC site since my experiences on 9/11, for obvious reasons. Now, I work in Tower 4. Don't really know how to describe my mood today except to say its a general, numb sadness. Also, seeing police snipers on top of nearby buildings is a bit unnerving.
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 14:17:44 GMT -5
Post by DDNYjets on Sept 11, 2015 14:17:44 GMT -5
Meh, the country is always like that. And compared to the rest of the world....we live in paradise. The rest of the world is not a good comparison for what we aspire to be. If you compare Cheating Douchebag to Hitler it makes Cheating Douchebag almost look like a decent human. I said almost. This sounds like what I used to tell homers on JI when they responded to my rants about the Jets with comparisons to the Browns and Lions.
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 15:26:22 GMT -5
Post by BEAC0NJET on Sept 11, 2015 15:26:22 GMT -5
Might pay a visit to the memorial in my town. 23 people lost. 45 from my town.... Did a ceremony yesterday in Manhattan in the shadow of the new buildings..very surreal, you really cant conceive of what occurred there by seeing whats there now. Took me 14 years to go back, because I simply couldnt deal, and I had nothing remotely close to the experience JW had, actually working in the Towers. As good as a job as they did, it still feels more like a tourist attraction, and thats disturbing. Perspective check; Shortly before I dropped my son off for his first year of College this August, we saw a kid his age on the street in town that he had played little league and went to school with. Realizing I hadnt seen him in years... I asked if they were friendly anymore and he told me sadly the kid was pretty much a druggie and headed on a bad path. Forward ahead to this morning, in my yearly attempt to avoid the ceremonies, I go to the gym and hit the bike. Of course every TV is on the ceremony, so I have no choice to watch the slow scroll of names as they are announced. All of a sudden, I see someone with the same name as the kid we saw, from the same town...and I realize...holy sh*t, its this kids father...we never realized. Never made the connection. I'm thinking I was lucky enough to get my guy off to college in good shape, and here was this kid at such a fragile, formative age apparently struggling and heading for trouble with his father gone 14 of his 18 years on this planet. Jeez that was tough. We will be feeling the repercussions of that day for many many years unfortunately.... in the form of kids forced to grow up without parents because of that day.
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9.11
Sept 11, 2015 17:55:41 GMT -5
PK likes this
Post by Jetworks on Sept 11, 2015 17:55:41 GMT -5
Typically I have an OK time on this day, but for some reason this year has been particularly vivid in its ability to bring back old, visceral memories. Started having the feels over smells and sounds (the firefighter's airpack alarms, christ) two days ago. Not sure what caused that to happen this year, but hopefully it's transient. To those that lost people they loved, my continued sympathies.
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Post by vonrotten on Sept 11, 2015 19:59:36 GMT -5
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."
Thomas Paine, The Crisis. December 23, 1776.
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