9-11-01-Where Were You this Day Six Years Ago?

[Norman Clature]

I was enroute to Orlando for a conference that was cancelled and had to find a car back to Stuart as all air travel was grounded - very surreal and sad day.

[Patti Puzo]

I was working at one of the local high schools. We did not have access to a tv. The phones started ringing. Parents started showing up in a panic wanting to bring their sons and daughters home. Parents called from outside wanting their children sent outside immediately. We were, like the rest of the country, in total shock at the first assault, and then came word of the 2nd, and so on....
Our son was in basic training in Chicago at the time. They had an immediate lockdown, but were not told any specifics, other than the chance that things would be greatly expedited. We received a quick phone call from him saying this, and that he did not know when he would be able to contact us again.
I can not imagine the pain that the relatives of victims went through, and are still dealing with.

[SamFamAustin]

I had just watch the two towers go down and then had a doctor's appointment. "Why's your blood pressure so high, Sam?" He had no idea.

[DaGoose]

I was just sitting around having some tea and my Mom called telling me to turn on the TV. What can you say when you witness something like that? Incredulity mixed with rage and sadness?

A few minutes ago, I listened to some horrific and very moving audio of cell phone calls from 9/11 victims on Michelle Malkin's website. No matter what your political views, I believe it's important to remember that day and what the victims and their families went through.

Tina

[Rock Steady]

I was out that morning, in Cleveland, and then in my home office. Linda was out...at the dentist.

I rang her up and believe it or not she had her cell phone, it was even charged. Akron was crazy, the roads were backed up and people were freaking. I believe I saw the plane that crashed in PA. We're a short flight from Pittsburgh and when I was on our back patio I saw a Boeing flying very low and from a direction ...east - southeast that we just don't see here. It was weird...the plane did a big turn and was gone.

I spoke with Linda and advised her that if it all went to Hell I'd meet her outside of town and we'd head South. It did not come to that, but we did have a contngency plan. Bless those who were touched by tragedy.

c :(

[beachbum]

I had just took my daughter to school... I live 15 miles from Dulles airport.... my husband is a captian with United Airlines... he had just come home from flying the red eye from LA.. I heard the news on the radio on my way back from school drop off. I walked in my house to see my husband in front of the TV white as a ghost. We watched the news as everyone else that day. My husband flew one of the first flights out of Dulles when they started flying again. I think it was about four days later. The hardest day of my life watching him put that uniform back on and walk out the door for a five day trip. Ill never forget it. 9/11 changed alot of peoples lives, more that some can ever know. Thank god for every day you have w/ your loved ones and that they walk back in that door every day or night or five days later. Remember never forget.

Betsy

[sail pending]

As a REALTOR, I was heading to meet two home inspectors at a waterfont home that I had just helped a couple get under contract. I heard the news on Howard Stern I pulled into the house and ran inside to turn on the TV and find a reliable news source. The three of us sat there in horror for a couple hours and watched the seen unfold.

This AM I had a 9 O'clock appointment with two home inspectors at a waterfront home. It was the same two guys who happen to be independant of each other and the one guy I had not seen since 9-11-01.
I was thinking about these gentleman the last few days as I always do when I think about where I was on 9-11.

[JJ]

I am from Orlando but was attending a conference in San Diego. Due to the time change, I called my husband when I woke up that morning and he was already at work. At the same time I called him, I turned on the TV and he started telling me something was happening when I saw the footage of the second plane hitting the towers. There was a breakfast that morning for the conference and many people started arriving having not yet heard the news. The hotel put a big screen TV in our conference area so we could watch the news. We made the decision to keep on going with the conference (in defiance to the terrorists) but most of the Californians left. It was the last day of the conference and the hotel was kind enough to cut their rates in half for those of us stranded. Of course all the flights were delayed, but my secretary reserved a mini-van for me in case I wanted to drive back. I told her it was ridiculous to think I would actually drive across the country. On the Thurs. after the attacks, I was sitting at the hotel with 4 other Floridians and mentioned the rental van and we all decided, with 5 drivers, we could do it. so at 1:00 pm on Thurs. we took off on our cross country adventure in the van. We drove 30 hours non-stop to Bilouxi, MS (The Beau Rivage Gambling Resort Casino and Hotel) then got up the next morning and did our total trip in 50 hours. I was happy to be home with family and would not have made it back so quickly if I continued to wait on planes. The conference recurs at the same time each year so I will never forget. This year it is in Tampa (where I am sitting right now) and we were just having this same discussion topic over lunch a few minutes ago.

[patw]

I had dropped my car off for maintenence and the dealer provided me with a ride back to my apartment. The driver told me that a plane had crashed into one of the towers in NY. He said they thought it was a small plane that is used for tours. As we neared my apartment, the news came on that a second plane had crashed into the towers. I knew then that this was more than two accidents. I ran inside and turned on the tv and then watched all that horror, live. I was working at NAS Jacksonville at the time and called to say I would be coming to work after lunch. My boss said to stay home, the base was being cleared of all non-essential personnel. The scarey part is, it took workers from the base three hours to get off that base!
I stayed glued to that tv for days. I was mourning with the world.

[AbacoPeach]

I was at work. The senior partner came in shaking his head and said something horrible has happened. In fact, I think he used the word pandemic. We were all going, what in the heck is he talking about?! Thank goodness we had a TV in the conference room. We stayed glued to the TV on and off all day long! I was a bit nervous because the news said Atlanta was a target. Not a good day at all!!!

I truly respect and appreciate all the people who lost their lives and the ones who sacrificed to help the ones that needed it!

[Henz]

I was still living at my parents house, sitting in the recliner..Had just gotten up and was having some coffee watching a deer hunting video when my Mom calls from work to inform me.. Needless to say, I never left the recliner the entire day...

[Nebraska Buckeye]

I, like many others, was at work in SC in a Doctor's office. My mom called me with the news. We turned on the TV just before the second plane crashed into the tower. We closed the office early that day to allow everyone to be with family. My mom, younger brother, and I watched the coverage for days.

I took it very personally and have never quite shaken the feeling of that day. My heart goes out to those who lost family and friends. But I also always think of the hereos who worked so hard that day and for months after to help those in need. I am grateful to know there are good people in this world willing to set aside themselves to help others.

[Henz]

Its unfortunate that at times it takes a tradgedy to bring us all together, but man, did we come together..Its amazing how all of the racism, greed and egos get set aside when something like that happends..It knocks us down and makes you realize who we are and what we stand for as american.

[Willy Landham]

6 years ago we were getting ready to celebrate my youngest boy’s third birthday. He and his 5 year old brother were really into Thomas the Tank Engine so I promised I would take them on a train ride for his birthday. The Texas State Railroad has a steam engine that runs between the state parks in Palestine and Rusk. It’s a lot of fun and very relaxing going clickity-clack down the tracks in the open air car through the East Texas piney woods. Then the events of September 11 occurred. It was a surreal day. The one thing that really sticks in my mind was that evening my oldest boy was trying hard to understand what had happened that day. He wanted to know why people would do such a thing. I remember struggling with how to explain to him that there are bad people in the world.

A week and a half later we were on the little train and the boys were really excited. Right before the train departs the station there is a little drama where guys dressed up as Wild West bandits stage a robbery at the train station. Of course the good guys in white hats show up in the nick of time and save the day with pistols blazing. The sheriff and his deputies come on board the train and have fun with the kids for a few minutes before the train toots its whistle and takes off. The sheriff stopped to talk to my boys…

“Hey partners, I need a couple more good deputies. If y’all know where any more bad guys are be sure to let me know so we can get ‘em”.

My oldest boy says very seriously, “I know where there were some bad guys”.

“You do? Where?” asks there sheriff excitedly.

“There were bad guys on those planes” responds my little boy. And his words hit us like a ton of bricks.

We were all desperately looking to escape from reality for a while but the illusion had just been shattered. The sheriff took off his big cowboy hat and sat down next to us. He was as shaken as my wife and I were by my boy’s words and he had dropped out of his “sheriff” character.

“You know”, he started, “we had talked about not doing this for a while. But the president said that we should continue on with our lives as we normally would. We figured that was the best thing to do as well.”

At that point he stood up tall again, put on his hat, and patted my boy on the head. “Thank you partner” he said, “We’re gonna go get those bad guys too. Don’t you worry none.” And he was off.

I hope that some day soon those words will be true and we’ll get all the bad guys. I pray for a world where our children can be safe and happy.

Go get ‘em Sheriff!

[AbacoPeach]

Willy, it's a good thing that I didn't have on any mascara this evening! That was very heartfelt and nice. Thank you!

[Beer Baron]

Funny thing about "what if's". I sometimes wonder, what if I had gotten out of work at the magazine that morning. And what if I'd gotten on that train with Dave. What if my editor hadn't called the night before and pushed my deadline up by three days, effectively putting the kaibosh on my trip? What if I hadn't been trying to rush through writing an article so I could make the noon train to Philly and arrive in NYC with just enough light left to see the city from the top of the WTC? I often wonder if we would have made it out alive. I often feel a terrible guilt simply for being here, ten miles west of Philly, when I might have been at ground zero.

Dave and I had planned a full day-long tour of NYC. I'd never been, and he'd grown up in Rockaway Beach, so it made sense to have him as a tour guide. We were going to start at the top of the towers because "you can see everything we're gonna do from right there". He planned it for a weekday, so the tourist traffic would be light and we'd be able to get some good photos of NYC. At the time, I thought I was the next Ansel Adams. We were supposed to arrive around 8:30AM and make our way to the observation deck early so we could watch all the peons arrive at their jobs.

When I called him to let him know my deadline had been moved up from Thursday to Tuesday morning, Dave was his usual casual self, "Dude, that's awesome. Now we can catch the sunset from up there. This is gonna be even better!" So he went anyway. He told me to shoot him a text msg from the train station and we'd start the tour whenever I got into town.

I spent the earlier portion of the morning of 9/11/01 cursing my editor who had called me in at the last minute to finish an article I should have had three more days to write. I cursed him even more because it was a cigar article, and now I had to sample the product at 7:20AM - hardly time for a cigar.

The later portion was spent staring in disbelief at a tiny TV screen in the back office of a local rag called D&E Magazine. After trying to get my cigar corner article written for the next edition for about 4 hours and not putting down a single word after hearing the news, I gave up and followed the rest of the staff down to a bar called Barnaby's where we just sat mostly in silence staring at CNN. Drinks were on the house. She was so completely stunned, I don't think that girl behind the bar could have counted out change if you'd begged her to.

By the time I finally remembered Dave, I was pretty well sauced. It dawned on me that this guy who had planned a complete tour of the city for us was probably dead. I can't recall crying in public before then, but I can remember my total loss of composure sitting at the bar as if it happened yesterday. If he was up there, he wasn't coming home. I watched those towers come down. There was no way anyone was walking away from that. And it was completely my fault he was there. I called his phone all day, desperately hoping that some simple twist of fate had kept him safe, but the cellphone networks were completely jammed as everyone else who knew someone in the city tried to call at the same time.

The text message that finally came through around 9:30 that night was a bit of a shock. I'd gotten a ride home so I wouldn't further commemorate the day with a DUI. First of all, it woke me up since I had one of those obnoxiously loud notifications for text messages. Secondly, it said "Dude, change of plans. I know you take 4ever to write anything. Heading to my sister's in Rockaway Beach. Already seen WTC NEway." Dave was still alive. Well, holy sh!t. You could have knocked me over with a feather if I hadn't already been lying down. Dave, with his routinely amazing good luck, had once again come out on top.

When I spoke to him later that week, he mentioned that he must have sent it sometime around when the attacks happened. The cell towers got so jammed that his message didn't get through until almost 12 hours later. He knew I was pretty bummed about not getting to see the sights, so he decided we could just do it another time. Not quite, dude. Stop number one is gone.

They say that tragedy brings people closer together. I think avoiding one has a similar effect. We drifted apart almost immediately. I think Dave and I were both pretty freaked out by the whole thing. We never planned another trip anywhere. I think somewhere in our minds we were afraid to plan one. Again, those "what if's". I lost his number later that year in a celphone that got stolen and haven't heard from him since.

Today's a day when I mourn those who were felled by a cowardly cheap shot heard round the world. Today's a day when I drink to my editor's inability to read his calendar. Today's a day when I thank the powers that be for looking out for me.

Sorry for the long post. That's the first time I've written about that, and it just kinda took on a life of it's own there.

[culp]

[quote=Willy Landham;15293][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]6 years ago we were getting ready to celebrate my youngest boy

[Abacouple]

I was flying the second leg of a charter and started hearing some radio exchanges that were other than routine. A controller told an airline crew to turn on CNN if they could. Another said "exercise vigilance up there today." Then I heard a guy call for a clearance from a small airport to another small airport and was told there was a ground stop. I was already in a descent to land when this started and I continued and landed in Savannah, GA. I asked the ground controller about the ground stop and he replied that it was "nation wide" and don't plan on getting back out "for a few hours." He said a 737(sic) had hit the WTC. We watched TV in the pilots lounge as the story continued. I remember turning to a pilot next to me and saying, "This is the worst thing that has happened in my lifetime. Worse than Pearl Harbor."

I called my best friend who is an air traffic controller in Atlanta and asked him what he was seeing. He said, "It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Except for the military, we don't have a plane on the scope. They told us to open all 4 runways for landing, disregard separation, just get them on the ground."

My friends at the FBO had saved me a car and made me a hotel reservation. I spent one night and drove home the next day just in time to hear that air taxis could get back in the air. I drove back to Savannah and flew the plane home. Still wierd with few airplanes and everyone using air taxi call signs.

[culp]

I was on my way to work, but had to stop for gas at the local station right up the street. I heard something vague on my car radio in the short time I drove, so asked the gas station attendant what was going on. He was from Afghanistan, and had shared his wedding photos with me previously...when they had to secretly go into Pakistan to get married. He was Muslim, and was very sad, and it hadn't sunk in yet what exactly had happened. We were both confused.
And then when I got to work, the first person I saw was a fellow employee/friend from New York-tough, tough chick...sobbing uncontrollably. Nothing seemed to make any sense.
Still doesn't.

[SamFamAustin]

Several months after 9/11 I was up in NYC on a contract job with Port of New York & New Jersey to take a look at their ferry operations. You know the ferryboats really worked hard then and they brought in even more because the PATH subway went down. I think I found about 30 different ferryboats, writing down the vessel and engine details about each one. That didn't include the excursion boats like the Circle Line other stuff, which I recorded as well.

One day I said I'd ride some ferries when they were underway, like Staten Island and all that. The first was actually a ferryboat that did a long cruise from the Javits Center down around southern Manhattan and up the East River. I walked about ten blocks and onboard - told them who I was and they waved my ticket price and invited me into the wheelhouse.

You couldn't help seeing the big missing spot where two huge towers once stood, but all went well, including a nice chap who would call out the sights. On the way back the boat stopped dead in the water right in front of the WTC landing. The Captain, crew, and everybody came out and bowed their heads and prayed. Everybody cried.

It was too much. I remember driving the ferryboat back to its slip under the Captain's watchful eye and buying some Heineken in the undergound jungle of Penn Station but not much more. I left the next day, which turned cold down to 15 degrees, and flew out of Newark back to Texas at 0630. Mercifully, the plane turned west and south right away.

[tmccaffery]

My wife was at work in her office in the building next to the one with "USA Today" on it in Rosslyn. I was driving to College Park, Maryland when I first heard a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. As it became clear it wasn't a joke, I called her to get out of the building. Shortly afterward a co-worker watched the plane fly into the Pentagon and she was on her way home. I spent much of the rest of the morning watching smoke billowing from the Pentagon as I fought traffic to and from College Park. We later found that the plane's nose reached nearly to my old office in the Pentagon.

My son's school is so close to the Pentagon that when we finally got everyone rounded up that afternoon, all he could say -- he had just started kindergarten -- was that they heard a loud boom and then the building shook. Once I finally got home my daughter from a previous marriage actually called to see if I was still alive. I can now very accurately tell when the last time I talked with my daughter was. That afternoon we were visited by someone who had done some work on our house. He had recently taken a job as a supervisor for one of the construction companies working on remodeling the Pentagon, but had a meeting out of the building that morning. Several of his workers didn't make it home that day.

[Charlotte Couple]

I'm in the commercial insurance industry, and was in Nashville attending Willis' Commercial Property meeting, with Willis insurance brokers from all over the country who handle large commercial property accounts. As we were about to begin the second day of our meeting, someone came in and said a plane had hit the WTC. The guy sitting beside me immediately started asking questions, like "which tower?" and "what floor?" Two of our biggest competitors were on the upper floors, one in the north tower and the other in the south tower, and one of them was having their own Property Practice meeting in the south tower that day.

When we heard about the second plane, the meeting was abandoned, and that guy immediately went to a bank of phones and computers in our home office next door. It turned out that he had been the guy who had placed the property coverage for the WTC only three weeks before that, and all the coverage details were not yet fully ironed out. I think he spent the next 6 months or more on settling those issues with all the insurance companies involved.

The rest of us watched the towers collapse, and then headed to the airport, to wait for rental cars so we could drive home. As people there were given rental cars, they walked through the terminal filled with people, asking if anyone needed a ride to Cleveland, LA, or wherever they were going. That was pretty neat to see.

Three weeks later I was in NYC, flying directly over the still-smoking site as we landed at LaGuardia. Our NYC office was about 10 blocks from the WTC, but the towers had been visible from there, and one employee was talking to her husband on his cellphone as he made his way down the stairway of one tower. Tragically, she was still talking to him when she watched the building collapse, and she knew he had been killed.

I hope none of us ever forget how we felt that day. I know I won't.

[RTime]

Sitting here reading everyones perspective of that tragic day has me with a sick stomach and tears in my eyes.
Exactly one month prior to 9/11 my Brother got married out on the east end of Long Island and my husband and I drove up for the wedding. Coming across the Verazzano Bridge, I was pointing out the twin towers to my husband (who is a Floridian) and missed my exit for Long Island. We wound up on the Bronx Expressway (or something like that) and we crawled all the way to Long Island.
My new sister-in-law was a school psychologist (at the time, now she is Asst. Principal) at a middle school out on the Island. Alot of NYC firefighters and cops live out there and commute to the City. She had quite a few kids that lost their Dad's and spend alot of time counseling the familes after that.
Just a couple of years ago we went up for Christmas and went into the City and saw what is left. It still seems so surreal that it happened.
Prayers sent to the friends and families that lost their loved ones.

[Spagna]

I was working as a Project Manager from my home office in Charlotte for IBM. I was preparing for a status meeting I held every morning when my wife called from Wachovia where they have TV on all the time for the financial channels. She said to turn on the TV. I turned it on about 30 seconds before the 2nd plane hit. When I saw him true up the wings to hit the tower I knew it was an attack. I couldn't believe someone could be executing a suicide mission with a civilian airliner. I went into my office and opened the conference line for the meeting. As people came on I told them that the meeting was canceled but that we would hold the line open if anyone wanted to talk about what they all knew by then. There was every emotion and it was good to hear the team supporting each other. The team was scattered all over the USA and we got a lot of info from various places. Our Client was in downtown Manhattan only a few blocks away and they reported that they were all ok and gave us some on the scene reports. We kept the line open for several hours and when everyone seemed ok we ended the call.

[chestnc]

I was at home that day,my day off and had just dropped my son off at school when I heard then saw the first plane hit the tower on tv. It was so close to home I was really frightened and saddened.. all those people. I have lived in NYC for a number of years and still work there..upper Manhattan. We had dinner once in the Windows on the World restaurant, which was on the 107th floor.My heart goes out to all the families. One of my neighbor's who lives 2 blocks up from our house lost her husband that day. He worked in one of the towers.

[Spookie]

I was working in my office when the report about the first plane hit one of the towers, I left for a meeting when during the meeting it was reported a second plane hit the other tower. I live in southern NJ and know many people who worked in one or the other towers, I excused myself, returned to my office to try to reach out to those people I know and knew. My parents live in western PA, very near to where the other plane went down.

I am an Fireman and EMT, later in the day on 911 we were dispatched to Manhattan for confined space search and rescue, at that point it was "rescue."

Every available Emergency Medical, Fire and Confined space unit was dispached to the scene. Due to the unpresidented volume of responders and the speed of events unfolding we where staged in the Meadow Lands until Incident Command could be better established. It was chaos for everyone, East coast to West coast and around the globe. Due to the lack of Incident Command our units, along with most, were released back to their home stations for stand-by detail.

On Sept. 13, myself along with two others were dispatched to the Chelsea section of Manhattan to stage and wait for orders. We were a BLS (Basic Life Support) unit staged on one side of the road with ALS (Advanced Life Support) (Paramedics) on the other side of the street. All BLS units were dispatched with an accompanying ALS unit.

Throughout the night we continued to stage closer and closer until our final staging at ground zero.

There are thoughts and visions that I don't think will ever leave me. Like the actual radius, the sights, the smells, having to write your ss number on your arm for identification, calling my parents. The laser transits shining on unstable buildings with alarms that will sound, if you hear them just run, don't look back, just run. Climbing into or onto parts of the towers, the dazed, shell-shocked looks, the nods of understanding what others on the scene are thinking with out the speaking word.

Sorry to be such a bummer...it is very rarely spoken about and there is so much more to tell.

I am proud of the way we responded and would do it again in a second.

Don't mean to ramble.

[Patti Puzo]

Thank you for opening your heart, and sharing your experience. I wish I could reach over and give you a big hug.

[Spagna]

Spookie, thanks for being there. You and your teams are examples of the things that are best about people. I think it was the wrong decision by the news media to not show the actual horrific scene that later showed up on the internet and in books. Hiding from reality does not make it go away. It also robs the rest of the public of true understanding which would lead to true empathy for the families and friends of those who died in any one of several horrible ways. Don't be afraid to let it out here, you're among friends who understand and will always listen and be supportive. Again thanks for being there.

[Willy Landham]

Lots of nice thoughts and feelings here.

Definitely worth revisiting.

[Patti Puzo]

Willy, your timing is impeccable. We will never forget....

[mlmp]

I think it was 8 years ago. I was helping to keep a boat from sinking in our harbor.

[Jerry S]

Was started 2 years ago.;)


I think it was 8 years ago. I was helping to keep a boat from sinking in our harbor.

[mlmp]

well, that would expalin it. thanks!

[islandfever]

I was at work and passed by a TV just after the first plane hit. I was thinking that it must have been an accident; then, the second plane hit. I knew we were at war at that time. Thank you to our leadership from President Bush and all the brave men and women who have kept us safe ever since.

[SamFamAustin]

One of the most touching things I've done was to go back to the city and take a ferry ride around lower Manhattan. NYC is a very beautiful city from the waters, almost seeming old and small. But two very tall buildings are missing, and it always brings a lump to my throat. I could always see exactly where they should have been standing.

[Patty&Rudi]

On Saturday, February 27, 1993 I sat in a weekend class at the foot of the World Trade Center, staring in awe at the building who stood its ground despite the bombing. It felt so strong, so eternal...

On 9/11 I was asleep. My mother called me from her home in NJ. Since I was a private pilot and my first husband a pilot she called to ask, in a state of shock, if this is real, if this could be possible. I had to turn on the television to see what she was talking about.

And we stayed on the phone together for hours, we watched together as the second tower was hit. I don't remember much about the day (maybe I was in a bit of a shock state as well) other than my incredulity, my mom's shock (she didn't live out the year, and would not turn off CNN, ever) and wanting to pick up my daughters from school. I just wanted them to be with me, all of us together in one house that felt safe...

And yes, politics aside, this was a phenomenal tragedy and one that was felt world-wide. Thank you to Spookie and all those who went to the scene to do what could be done. Deepest sympathies to those who lost loved ones. And huge sympathy to my birth country, which suffered a loss unlike any it has ever known.

[Agurs Wish]

We were on the boat at Gangplank Marina in DC and supposed to fly out of Reagan International back to KS that morning. Our friend Jody who was taking us to the airport knocked on the boat and said, "Do you guys have your TV on?" We said, "No, Jody, we're closing up the boat cuz your fixing to take us to the airport." She said, "Turn on your TV, your not going anywhere today." Turned on the TV in time to see the second plane hit the trade center then heard the plane go into the Pentagon. Horrible! My youngest son just left for Iraq again last week, we are still suffering the fallout from that day. Don't forget!

[Patti Puzo]

We were on the boat at Gangplank Marina in DC and supposed to fly out of Reagan International back to KS that morning. Our friend Jody who was taking us to the airport knocked on the boat and said, "Do you guys have your TV on?" We said, "No, Jody, we're closing up the boat cuz your fixing to take us to the airport." She said, "Turn on your TV, your not going anywhere today." Turned on the TV in time to see the second plane hit the trade center then heard the plane go into the Pentagon. Horrible! My youngest son just left for Iraq again last week, we are still suffering the fallout from that day. Don't forget!


Oh Mary, We'll keep him in our prayers. What's his name?
We met a young mother with 2 kids up at the Scotch-Irish Fest in Estes this weekend. I had to check her ID (we work the Guinness Tent), and she showed me a military ID. I said "Thank you for what you do", and she corrected me and said, "Oh no, it's not me, my husband just left for Afghanistan last week". So young, but she didn't tear up. I started to.
Thankfully, our son is finished with his commitment, but just signed up for the Reserves. Forgive me for getting political Doc, but a friend just sent me this poem, and I think it says it all:
IT IS THE SOLDIER
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves under the flag and
Whose coffin is draped by the flag
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Charles M. Province

[Agurs Wish]

His name is Matthew. The Washington Post ran a different story every day about the victims. One was the MSNBC reporter that called her husband who was a staffer at the capitol as the plane was going down, but the worst ones were the school kids who were flying out to CA for a competition and the young family whose mother was a teacher and had just been granted a sabbatical in Australia. I didn't think I'd ever stop crying.

[BahamaAngie]

I think one thing that day made us all feel was wanting to be with our familes. We wanted to go home and feel safe. I too, was at work and several hours, we closed up and went home. My mother who was in her eighties did NOT want to leave the house anymore. It was very sad. She was so afraid. Patty, my mom also passed away 5 months after it.

[Patty&Rudi]

I think one thing that day made us all feel was wanting to be with our familes. We wanted to go home and feel safe. I too, was at work and several hours, we closed up and went home. My mother who was in her eighties did NOT want to leave the house anymore. It was very sad. She was so afraid. Patty, my mom also passed away 5 months after it.

I am so sorry Angie. I think the shock was too much, and the aftermath of it all. It is hard to lose a mom...

[DaGoose]

I never have the TV on during the day so my Mom called to tell me to turn it on. After the initial shock wore off I called one of my best friends whose sister worked at the twin towers and she was hysterical but her sister was OK. Later that day I needed to go to the dry cleaners and some A hole was tailgating me. As we pulled into the parking lot, he cut me off and snaked me for a parking space. I followed him into the cleaners and just let loose, all the pent up emotion came out and I went ballistic! You should have seen the face on the clerk:eek:!

I couldn't believe that someone could be so selfish after what had happened that day!

Agurs Wish, thanks for Matthew's (and yours!) sacrifice.

Patti, great poem, thanks for posting it and thanks for your son's service.

Tina