My annual September 11th Post...

[duke74]

Just as meaningful to me as in the past...and perhaps more so given recent events...

We were in the WTC until the first attack in February 1993. (My office was on the 100th floor, facing the Lady of the Harbor. I remember the walk down in the dark and smoke). We then moved temporarily to our midtown offices on B’way and 50th Street. Thank goodness, my managing partner decided NOT to move back to the WTC – a gutsy decision based on client and political pressures, but a wise one in retrospect and one that considered the employees of the firm. We moved across West Street to the World Financial Center.

On September 11th, I was in London for a series of meetings. Someone came back down to the conference room and said that a plane went into the Trade Center..and had to make the point that she was not kidding, based on our reactions. We spent the next day trying to reach our families, crying and watching CNN. My wife was on the BQE (for those o/s of NY, that’s the Brooklyn Queens Expressway) heading to work and saw the planes hit. My son was in his senior year at Duke.

I headed off to Zurich for another meeting, since I couldn’t get back home anyhow. I ended up being able to get back to the States on Saturday, but with the “lottery” of air availability, flew into Pittsburgh. Luckily my travel service was able to get me a rental car at Pittsburgh, and I started the long ride back to Queens. Stopped in PA for the night, eyes almost closed from fatigue and emotion. On Sunday morning, I crossed the Verazzano Narrows Bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn and saw the smoke rising from what was the WTC complex. Tears again…pulled off the road until I composed myself.

This is NOT about me, but my life has not been the same since – professionally or personally. My wife (an atty by profession) is a volunteer with the cops of the NYPD, and has embedded herself even more into that group of heroes to help any way she can. I went on an intellectual journey, and went back to school at NYU at the age of 53 for a masters in int’l relations. (We suddenly learned that something was out there..and I had so much to learn on the subject.) My son decided that he was “coming home”…he graduated Duke in 2002 and went to law school in NYC. The magnet was there. What got to him was some non-NYer’s moronic comment in a class shortly after the attacks – something to the effect of “why is everyone so upset? They were only buildings!”

My office looked RIGHT out on the site, so I saw the clean-up and the rise of the new structures and development of the memorial on an almost daily basis. It hit me each and every day what was there, but thankfully, also what has now risen from those (literal) ashes. (We have since moved to 30 Rock.) I will watch the ceremonies, with tears in my eyes.

God bless the victims, the first responders, and those who we have lost since that day. God bless those who protect us here and abroad...and never forget that we are not past this risk.

[DukieInKansas]

I didn't personally know anyone in the WTC that fateful day. I don't live in NYC and never have. I keep thinking that, as the years pass, I will be able to think of that day without crying. Hasn't happened yet. I can still remember the feeling I had when the first tower collapsed. I am also still amazed that more people didn't die that day.

I continue to prayer for all the families and friends of those that were lost in the WTC, the Pentagon,and the field in Pennsylvania. I am thankful for the first responders and service people - both that day and those that serve us today. I mourn the loss of innocence from that day and pray that the world finds a way to get along, accepting other's differences and helping those that are exploited.

Thank you, Duke74, for your annual post.

[Reisen]

I've responded to this thread in the past, so don't have a whole lot to add to the general story.

I will say my office looks directly onto the site, and it looks great. A lot of work is still being done in my building, but the whole area is going to be really nice when it's done. The memorial is open, the trees seem to be thriving, and the fountains are well done. Heck, it only took 13 years (and it's still not done yet)!

[bjornolf]

My wife and I worked in Crystal City in Arlington less than 1/2 mike from the Pentagon at the time. When the second plane hit, we left work, as there were all kinds of crazy rumors going around in our federal building, and we had taken Metro to work. We caught the last train that passed the Pentagon that day. In the time it took us to catch a train, the plane hit the Pentagon. As our train left Reagan National Airport above ground, we could see the smoke rising from the Pentagon, where my dad used to work, and we still knew people. We were pretty worried, as there were rumors of planes attacking other locations, like the airport, and even a dirty bomb in DC. So, while we were safe, it was definitely touch and go.

I second the sentiments about the first responders, and those who lost their lives, and their loved ones, that day. Erica and I went to New York on a long planned trip that Columbus Day, and we had to think long and hard about it. It was chilling to see the holes in the skyline. I still get chills when my wife watches a rerun of a show and we see the towers. We've also been to the memorial at the Pentagon. It's very awe-inspiring and humbling.

[duke74]

In the spirit of the day, my favorite commercial of all time. Never fails to make the tears well up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whBJdtEz5VE

[Bostondevil]

When I found out Pete Ortale was killed, I sat down and wrote out my feelings about it. Ten years later I sent what I wrote to Pete's brother. He published the tribute on his blog. If anybody wants to read about Pete, here's the blog. I wrote the second piece, at the bottom of the page.

http://phillymarketcafe.blogspot.com...r-micheal.html

[kmspeaks]

This year was the first time I have been working as a teacher on September 11th and I was struck with a new realization yesterday morning. My high school was about 30 miles from the Pentagon and our principal made the decision to tell the students about the attacks over the PA but to continue the rest of the day as a regular school day. I guess their thinking was many students had parents working in DC and they didn't want to show some of that footage. I remember when I went to college classmates from different parts of the country said they sat in class with the news on all day. As a 14 year old freshman it took me a couple weeks, maybe months even, to understand the enormity of the situation. I never thought about it before now, but I am baffled at how my teachers managed to continue working like normal even though they knew what was going on and were watching footage at lunch. I remember my English teacher was late to class because her husband worked in the Pentagon and she was trying to get in touch with him but once she came to class it was business as usual, she never missed a beat.

[bjornolf]

They had a bomb sniffing dog at Quantico yesterday alert on a car and they shut down the main gate. At the same time, someone was driving around another part if the base yelling threats out of his car. He was quickly arrested. Everything around here went pretty crazy.

http://www.insidenova.com/headlines/...html?mode=jqm