Gee, was not sure how to title this blog post. But, I wanted to record some of the items I remember from 9/11/2001.
It was almost 9AM and I was in just putting the finishing touches on my tie and was ready to head out the door for a few appointments. Our home rang and it was my Mother-in-Law, she told me to turn on the TV because a plane had just struck the World Trade Center. My first thought was "really", thus I went to channel 7 and one of the towers was billowing with smoke. I was stunned that a plane could crash into the one of the towers, especially since I'm pretty familiar with the flight paths that planes will take into JFK, Newark and LaGuardia airports.
At first, I thought it might have been a small passenger plan. The next moment, another plane (jet liner) appeared on TV and in seconds that plane struck the other tower in a fiery explosion! It was like Holy Crap, WTF just happened.
Living seventeen miles due south (across NY Harbor & Raritan Bay) of Manhattan and having a view of the New York Skyline, I immediately went to my back yard to see what was going on first hand. I guess for a few moments I could not believe what I saw on TV and needed to see it first hand.
After I got back in the side my house, the news was already reporting that two planes had been hijacked, with reports of maybe 2 or 3 more and that the United States was under attack. I called my wife at work, told her what had happened and that was the last call I was able to make that day because our cell and land lines went down. My son, was in High School at the time and it was pretty nerve racking because we were not able to call the school. A few hours, our son was home, because his school had early dismissal.
That entire day was spent in front of the TV and trying to comprehend what had happened and what else may happen. So, I'm having a little bit of a tough time with this now, because I'm recalling the loss of lives that day. It seemed like everyone in our immediate area knew someone that had passed away that day.
Later that day, I can remember seeing and hearing F15's patrolling the skies in an around New York Harbor and Raritan Bay. Looking back, I can remember how quiet the skies were for days after the attack, since all domestic flights were cancelled.
For days, I would walk to the back yard to see if the columns of smoke had expired. I guess I was hoping that the disappearance of the columns of smoke would somehow make everything better?
I remember, I will always remember and I hope that all generations that come after us remember what evil people can do. My heart goes out to all of the families that lost someone that day.
Art
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