08-09-2009, 01:48 PM
15
Re: 9/11
I feel sorry for you Yola, having your anniversary that day - although we use a different way of saying dates, so maybe it doesn't get too 'in your face'. Similarly with people who had babies born or got married on that date ... you can't quite get away from it.I've got strange memories of the real 9/11. We were totally engaged in one of our biggest events of the year - 150 delegates, no expense spared, every service expected etc. I had already volunteered to 'sleep in' that night (what devotion to duty - sleeping with the clients!), so said ta-ta to my OH at 8 in the morning and said I would see him at 6 the following day.
We were fiddling around with a room layout when the porters, who had a little TV in their room, said there had been a crash, that it was probably a terrorist attack etc. We had to keep working. The BBC, Sky and CNN websites froze very early on, so we only had sketchy details and no moving footage. I was able to pass a note to the client by about 5pm with an outline of what had happened. She announced it and one delegate had to be found transport home, as he had relatives in NY. As for the rest - it was their big party night. They didn't have access to TV, didn't want it. They ate, drank and were merry. I went to bed about midnight and did nothing but zzz till 7am.
Next day, still on site and still not having been at home, there was lots of discussion between the rest of the world, who had seen it, and me, and me, who hadn't. One student working with us for the summer was speaking about people jumping.
We had an event planned for 3 weeks hence for the US Department of State. We had a Pentagon contact who had been over and discussed things with us. It was good to hear from her that she was OK. We didn't know if the event would go ahead ...
I first saw 9/11 at about 7pm the following night. Shocked is not the right word. I think my experience was different because I didn't follow it minute by minute on TV or radio. I was at home when a plane crashed after take off in NY about a month later. I can reacall the looks on peoples faces then. but it was proved to have been a true aviation accident.
I have a couple of abiding thoughts
1. If the US didn't have their crazy two-term limit on the Presidency, Clinton would still have been in the White House. How would that have changed history?
2. Bin Laden and his cohorts could never, in a million years, have anticipated the success (in their terms) from just one lucky strike (in their terms). The world has not been the same since and certainly won't be in any of our lifetimes.
08-09-2009, 04:07 PM
16
Re: 9/11
Originally Posted by dandysmom
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To respond late to an earlier post as to why we haven't rebuilt: it's in the planning stages; ultimately will be five towers. The usual bureaucratic wrangling, paperwork and other snafus have held things up but supposedly it will be in the next decade.
11-09-2009, 11:45 PM
18
Re: 9/11
I watched all this unfold again today and have great admiration for the emergency services in New York, the south tower came down at about 10 am, the north tower didn't collapse until 10:28 but still those brave men continued to enter the building knowing it could collapse at any moment.|
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