9/11 Mementos & Memories

[herbc]

I was in New York City. Here is a memory that I'll never forget, and a few 911 mementos. Feel free to share yours.

I Remember….

That morning I was sitting in my new office with a view looking South. Due to a promotion, I'd been relocated here. What a great view! I could even see the upper floors of the WTC in the distance from my window. The old office, at 90 Church, was directly across the street from the Trade Center. There my view was blocked by the towers, only giving me a view of the Center's plaza.
Just three days ago, I met and had dinner there with a colleague. I was feeling good, could hardly wait for my day to end. Thanks to my Yankee CC incentive program, I had tickets to see Yankees vs. Chicago at the Stadium that evening.

Due to the bright sunlight that morning, I had shut my blinds. A co-worker came in and asked me to open them. He heard that the WTC was hit by a plane. I immediately thought terror attack.
We looked and saw a cloud of smoke from one of the towers, we turned on the radio and tried to call our colleagues located at the offices across from the Towers....couldn't get through.

Our staff gathered to watch from my window, and then the second tower got hit. All we could see was smoke as we listened to the radio. We were in shock…some started crying…some began praying. Then the first building collapsed..... we saw a mushroom cloud....we evacuated.
I caught a cab, but after a few blocks he refused to continue. The city was locked down. I walked home….everyone was afraid.
When I reached home, my answering machine was blinking with messages from friends and loved ones, wanting to know if I was safe. I couldn’t help it… I began to cry.

A few of my mementos....
There would be no game. I saved my Yankee Tickets....



The Flag.. Everyone raised the Flag! Together we Stand!
Flags were flown from buildings, automobiles, store fronts, Lapels.... chants of USA! Mmmm…. how soon they forget. I proudly wore my pin, never wore one before. My employer also issued a special lapel Flag with our acronym, and a letter of commendation for the work we were doing during the crisis.


Heroes Comic.... Comic writers and illustrators honor those who perished in service. Proceeds to The 911 Fund


US Postal Heroes Stamps... Proceeds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency


WTC Steel Commemorative Medallion.... 10% Proceeds originally was said to be earmarked for The Fund for The City of NY. After public outrage, the Fund denied any involvement. This controversy halted production and distribution to the issuing foundry. Shipment and recycling of the WTC steel was then rethought and managed differently as a result.

[Huysmans]

Great recollection and items.
As a Canadian, all I'd like to say is long live and god bless America!!!

[GoCubsGo32]

I'll never forget. So many emotions and memories about 9/11. Doesn't matter if it's 1 year or 17 years ago. Still the same.

I had just started high school (15 years old). I was in my Jazz Band class when, our music teacher (who was from NY) frantically turned on the TV in the classroom. Complete silence.

I really didn't know what to make of it at the time. However, when more information started to unfold. We were hearing some details that hijackers took control over airplanes leaving Logan International Airport in Boston. My father who is an airline pilot, was leaving Logan for his flight around the exact same time, these flights had left. There wasn't a lot of information and we didn't know what else was going to happen or how many airplanes were actually hijacked. I rushed into my teacher's office, tried calling my dad. Nothing. Tried calling my family. Nothing. I kept trying to call but nothing. You couldn't make any phones calls that day, the lines were so busy. I broke down and cried. All I could think about was, did my dad's plane get hijacked? I never felt so numb, empty and afraid.

The high school, allowed us to go home. However, it was impossible to get a hold of anyone for pick up...not to mention our high school is very close to Patrick AFB (FL) which was on lock down and caused roads to shutdown. I decided to just literally run home, which was 2.5 miles away.

We heard from my dad later that night, that he was okay.Took him about a week to get a flight home. When my dad finally made it home, he just started crying.

Thinking of everyone today.Heavy heart.Much love.

[Scott Garner]

I had just returned from a business trip to NYC the night before.
Ironically, I stood at the base on the twin towers for my very first time on 9/10/01, less than 24 hours before the attack.

I was scheduled to have a late meeting locally in the Midwest on 9/11 and was downstairs eating breakfast when I got a call from my mother in law. When I answered the residential land line, which I never do, my mother in law said "Oh, Scott, you're in town? I thought that you were in NY?".
When I told her I had just returned home the night before, she told me to immediately turn on the news where they were showing a replay of the planes hitting the twin towers. I was speechless....

Needless to say, I was incredibly fortunate and my heart goes out to everyone that was in NY, or had friends and family that were in NYC on 9/11.

I visited the site of the twin towers in January of 2002. The memorial at the site and the visual is perhaps the most powerful memory of my lifetime and cannot be expressed in words.
For anyone that has not attended the 9/11 museum in NYC, I would highly recommend that you do so. My family & I visited the museum in 2018 & it is extremely well done and exceptional in every way.

Peace and never forget 9/11.

[packs]

I remember I was in AP History class and another teacher came into the room and whispered something to my teacher and left. Then maybe 20 minutes later the same teacher was back again. This time we were told that students were being sent to the gym. They had all these TV's set up and no one really had any idea what was going on. We all found out together.

I was lucky. I grew up right outside of NYC but I didn't have any connection to it. My parents both worked in Jersey. None of my extended family still worked or lived in the city either. Kids around me were fired up and talking about war and things like that. I remember thinking about how I was going to be 18 soon and had heard a lot of stories from my dad about how his older brother worried every day about the draft during Vietnam. Nothing like 9/11 had ever really happened before and I didn't know what it meant for me.

[Dewey]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

For anyone that has not attended the 9/11 museum in NYC, I would highly recommend that you do so. My family & I visited the museum in 2018 & it is extremely well done and exceptional in every way.

Peace and never forget 9/11.

Thanks to all who have shared. I agree with Scott. The museum is...words fail me...so, so, so meaningful, important, and poignant.

[mcgwirecom]

I was at work. I work in a machine shop and we couldn't get AM radio to well. We were getting most of our news by listening to Howard Stern. I specifically remember when they said that one plane crashed in western Pa. I told my friend, "there were heroes on that plane."

When I got home from work I emailed Richard Simon to see if he was OK as he was the only person I know who lived close to the attack.

The next night I went for a walk with my fiance'. I made sure to notice that there were no planes in the sky as you may never see that again.

strangely, exactly one week earlier my parents and some friends went to NYC and went to the top of the Empire State Building.

[jgmp123]

Recently picked these up...Looking forward to framing them with a nice relative piece....