Where were you 9/11/2001?
That question is said to be the defining one for this generation, the way "Where were you when you heard President Kennedy had been assassinated?" was for mine.
So, I was in my apartment in Warsaw with my wife Monika who was then eight-and-a-half months pregnant.
My sister-in-law Kasia called and told her, "Turn on CNN right now!"
We turned on in time to watch the smoke rising from the first tower. I immediately suspected terrorism, but reminded myself not to jump to conclusions. After all, the Empire State building was once hit by an airplane.
Then the second tower was hit and I said, "It's terrorism."
That was the day that we learned again that an airplane with a pilot willing to die is a Cruise missile.
That was the day that we learned with grief and pride that Americans can still spontaneously organize, overrule standing doctrine and do what free men and women do better than anyone - improvise.
That was the day that "Let's roll" became a battle cry to be remembered through all our history to the last.
That was the day my son got his name.
That was the day we began to realize that our long holiday from history was over.
So, I was in my apartment in Warsaw with my wife Monika who was then eight-and-a-half months pregnant.
My sister-in-law Kasia called and told her, "Turn on CNN right now!"
We turned on in time to watch the smoke rising from the first tower. I immediately suspected terrorism, but reminded myself not to jump to conclusions. After all, the Empire State building was once hit by an airplane.
Then the second tower was hit and I said, "It's terrorism."
That was the day that we learned again that an airplane with a pilot willing to die is a Cruise missile.
That was the day that we learned with grief and pride that Americans can still spontaneously organize, overrule standing doctrine and do what free men and women do better than anyone - improvise.
That was the day that "Let's roll" became a battle cry to be remembered through all our history to the last.
That was the day my son got his name.
That was the day we began to realize that our long holiday from history was over.
posted by Steve @ 12:25 PM
4 Comments:
At 4:19 AM,
J. Sullivan said…
I was driving through our little city, listening to the local college rock station and they broke in with the news that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. And I remember thinking that it must be serious if they're interupting music on this station. I was close to my parents house so I stopped there to see if my Mom was watching it. She was, and as I walked through the door, the second plane hit. I remember being speechless until the Pentagon was hit. Then I remember thinking,'This is war.'
The rest of the day was such chaos and emotion. It was the first time I'd seen my Dad cry since his Dad died 20 years before. Crying and furious at the same time.
Seems like yestrday.
At 8:30 AM,
JuhnDonn said…
I was on my way to work; tech support at a small college in Florida, across the bay from Tampa. I heard about the first plane hitting while pulling into the parking lot. I sat in my car and listened, thinking of that picture of the B-17 that had hit the Empire State Building, years ago.
I went inside and let everyone else know the news. I then emailed the campus the news. Once the second plane hit, we knew it was an attack. After the Pentagon was hit, I got really scared. SoCom, which had directed Desert Storm was across the bay. I left work, went to the lady who watched my daughter (she was 11 months old) and brought my daughter home. I just wanted to hold her while watching the news.
I felt a different sort of fear that day. It was a fear of the future. I'd been shot at and mortared in Desert Storm and had been in car wrecks and even an in-flight emergency but this was different. Holding my daughter, with her life before her, I could not begin to tell her or imagine what her world would be like.
Around 1 pm, I called up my Air Force Reserve unit, over at MacDill AFB and gave them my current contact info. I let them know I was ready to go if they needed me. It was one thing to join up at 19, single and half crazy. At 33, with a wife and daughter, scared the hell out of me. I never heard back from them, so I guess they're doing ok. Still feel a bit guilty I hadn't tried any harder to get back in.
At 8:58 AM,
History Snark said…
For me it was an odd moment. I was driving into some little town in SE Michigan. I looked at the clock, and remember thinking "Oh, it's just after nine. I should turn on the Ann Arbor public radio station and catch the BBC world news."
No idea where that thought came from, but I followed it. They were interviewing someone on the phone, and I quickly realized that something huge was going on in NYC.
By the time I reached the convenience store in town, I knew what it was, and had already gotten a call from a co-worker. Especially weird was when the unconfirmed reports started coming in from the Pentagon.
I hope all the animals that supported and cheered this, along with all the "Truthers" out there, burn in Hell while being sodomized by 72 desperate virgins.
At 8:02 PM,
TheWayfarer said…
Perhaps some other questions we should be asking are:
Will we ever overcome Political/Religious Correctness and regain the moral integrity to identify the enemy, as well as the courage to do what is required?
Has there ever been a war in history that was won by pussy-footing around in fear of offending or killing the enemy?
Can we really afford to have the establishment that's profiting off the indicisiveness and spinelessness of the powers that be drag this out 10 or more years to another American defeat?
Just a few thoughts.
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