This one nearly passed me by..(even had threads deleted to fit this one in) Where were you, 13 years ago today, when this happened? The day that shook the world please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
At work gathered round a big screen with colleagues in total shock, remember piping up amongst the silence with "this will be war this" nobody said anything
Booking a airplane flight to Singapore , was on the telephone getting some prices from a company I deal with, (the cheapest price is not always the best because of long stop overs ) so I told them I call them back, went into the kitchen to make a brew and look over the options , turned on the tv and saw one of the towers on fire , thought it was a movie so turned over, only when i saw the same pictures on the other channel (other then quickly thinking what the fcuk wrong with this tv) did I realize what was happening, Waited a few days before making that call back to book that flight
Decorating the front room with the missus and the father-in-law. Heard about the first plane when Mike Parry broke the news on Talk Sport. Then watched in disbelief as the towers began falling. An incredibly eerie moment in time.
I worked for an American school, based in London for a while. We'd just taken in a fresh influx and I was in the pub with a few of them, getting them accustomed to British life. It was the Duke of York in Farringdon. Pretty shocking to be honest. A few were from New York and one started freaking out a bit. I spent the next 3 days with anxious parents on the phone, "is my kid safe" etc etc.
At work. No tv and ltd internet (if any). On phone to me dad who was giving me running commentary. Shocking events.
I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was up a ladder doing some outside painting at a former house, when my next door neighbour came out to tell me that it has been on the news that a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers. My first thought was that it must be a small light aircraft that had went out of control, but I got down off the ladder and put the news on TV anyway. The next few hours was like watching a living nightmare unfold right before my eyes, and I knew that things would never be quite the same again..
Primary school, year five, we got sent home early and remember coming home to my mum watching the news.
First day on holiday in Zante. We had arrived late on the night before and walking along the Kalamaki strip looking for a late breakfast we saw lots of people in a bar gathered round a big screen. We thought they were watching a movie but soon realised that we were witnessing a life changing event unfold before us. We got there only a few minutes after the second plane had struck and sat for a few hours in absolute shock. I remember thinking this it it. The Yanks were going to push the big red button now and I'd never see home again. Tony Blair is much criticised now for Iraq ( we could argue separately on that too) but it is my absolute firm belief he was the sole voice of calm and reason to Bush in the ensuing 48 hours that actually prevented an immediate American Armageddon. We may never know for sure what was said but it is a matter of public record that he called Bush immediately the planes struck New York and spoke at some lenght while Bush listened. Even high ranking Whitehouse aides and influential political figures have said this happened. 13 years may have passed but those iconic images will live in my memory for eternity.
Downtown San Francisco, in the lobby of a hotel waiting to meet a big shot software advtg/mktg guy for breakfast. He was a native of New York. It's as if the world was standing still. Everything stopped. The lobby was full, even with people coming in off the streets so they could see it live. People were stunned, everyone just a little confused, in disbelief. The guy I was to meet was also in the lobby (we discussed it all at a later date), but we never connected. Nobody cared about business. Everyone eventually drifted out and then the City emptied. Never seen anything like it. Everyone went home. The Bay Bridge was empty when I got on it later in the day, except for some troops and armored trucks. Rumors were that a bridge was being targeted, and they were armed for the next few weeks. Went to my local that night and it seemed everyone in town was there. People were angry, but mostly, they were very sad. Everyone knew we were facing an enemy without borders, and nothing would ever be the same.
This is fascinating, a running account of events as they happened thru the eyes of Ari Fleischer, Bush's press sec'y. He's been tweeting this all morning. Worth a look. http://dailycaller.com/2014/09/11/b...-fleischer-tweets-captivating-account-of-911/
First week of starting big school. Getting off the bus, hearing it on the radio as I stepped off. The driver had a blond ponytail. Weird that you remember odd things like that.
Like Outlaw said above, it was as if time stood still. We all sat round screens at work watching it in shock at the first strike. When the second plane hit, after the initial shouts of shock it went silent and we all realised that our world had changed. A few genuinely thought the yanks would nuke somebody. We'd all thought the world was safe after the wall came down, that we'd won the cold war and the future would be whatever we wanted it to be. There were even debates in the broadsheet press about it being the end of history. Then the planes hit and we learned about Al Qaeda. And the future became more uncertain.
I was working for American Express at the time, I was having a snout and someone came out and said 'a plane has hit the world trade centre'. I sat there, thought nowt of it, assumed some idiot in a Cesna had ballsed up, and carried on with my smoking. Went inside to bedlam, all calls and screens off, just everyone gawping at it. My brain tells me it was morning but it must have been afternoon given the time difference, if I live to be 1000 years old I will never see anything that comes close to that. Seeing people jump out of windows and aim themselves head down, trying to make sure they die, just an incredible, awful thing that you can never, ever forget. To think that people walk the earth prepared to cause so much damage, take the lives of so many innocent people, cold, calculated and planned for years, remains staggering to this day. Watched a documentary through the eyes of the NYFD, I'm sure a few would have seen it, and those guys were ****ing incredible, every one of them. Never have the 2 sides of humanity been so openly applied to an event.
Al Queda was being hunted for years by the Clinton administration after their various attacks on overseas American embassies and other assets (USS Cole in Aden harbour). In the changeover of administrations they were relegated down the threat ladder then this happened. The Republican government had reduced some departments of the CIA and FBI that had been monitoring overseas communication chatter.
That must have been seriously ****ed up mate. Someone says 'name an American bridge', it's gonna be the Golden Gate, must have been a tough few weeks in the area.
