|
I remember before 9/11 and being able to meet people at the boarding gate when they came off the airplane. I woke up that morning, and I remember that the initial reports out of DC were really garbled: fires, an airplane crash, evacuations. Someone said the Mall had been hit. Every newsperson speculating that the events in NY and DC were connected, but no official source was willing to confirm. I went to school anyway, because events on the east coast seemed very far away. On the way, the radio was playing audio from their NYC affiliate; the broadcaster read a bulletin from the NYC Emergency Services Director canceling all leaves and activating all reserves, which almost certainly the most superfluous order issued that day. We watched the coverage on the classroom TVs, because the teachers knew we wouldn't be getting any work done. I remember everyone going quiet when the first tower collapsed. They started calling our parents to pick us up around that point. I had to calm down some of my classmates. "What if there are more planes out there?" "It's been hours. Everyone is on alert now. The news says they are grounding and diverting flights. Even if there is another plane, they aren't going to fly it into an urban high school. We are safe." I had read up on the Red Army Faction, IRA and the like thanks to a teenage interest in Tom Clancy and Dale Brown. I think I understood better than most my age that terrorism wasn't an existential threat. I've always been fascinated by flying, and I think what I noticed the most afterward was the lack of aircraft in the sky. No contrails, no distant whine of jet engines. I few years later, I was ecstatic when I got my acceptance letter from the Air Force Academy. I noticed later that it had been postmarked the day our bombs started falling on Iraq. Mister Sinewave posted:Wtf are they trying to say, exactly?
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 22:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 14:02 |
|
|
Yellowstone  https://www.eastidahonews.com/2017/09/usgs-says-260-earthquakes-struck-eastern-idaho-since-sept-2-swarm-likely-continue-another-week/
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 23:19
|
|
|
I was walking into my 8th grade history class and we were making fun of the dumbass pilot who crashed into a building. Then we all got moved to the gym and like half the school got signed out by their parents.
|
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 23:30
|
|
|
Dead Reckoning posted:I remember before 9/11 and being able to meet people at the boarding gate when they came off the airplane. On 9/11 I was home from school due to mandatory testing I didn't have to do at my grade, so I watched it all live on TV. It was a really weird experience and watching NYPD/NYFD people screaming F-bombs and such and watching the second plane hit was pretty weird. Later that day, the sky is clear, I'm shooting hoops with a couple of friends, and I get to hear a sonic boom from F-15s overhead, then minutes later watch as no-poo poo Air Force One screams (they were loving moving) overhead with fighter escort. About one week prior, my history/international relations high school teacher had gone on a bit of a weird rant about how no one in America knew who OBL was and how he was a serious threat. That teacher has a picture of himself with roughly every president since Carter, and we joked that he was a CIA consultant or some weird poo poo. Then a couple years later when the ROTC recruiter called to make sure I still wanted in, because we'd invaded Iraq.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 23:30
|
|
|
LostCosmonaut posted:Yellowstone "Earthquake Swarm" is a delightful phrase I had never heard before and now wish I could strike from my memory.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 23:31
|
|
Cat Army 
|
Dead Reckoning posted:I remember before 9/11 and being able to meet people at the boarding gate when they came off the airplane. I was the only one who knew who Osama (Usama) bin Laden was because I used to be big nerd for police and crime stuff, and I had memorized the FBI most wanted list. I'll never forget my French teacher asking me to tell everyone who bin Laden was, and thinking 'I'm 12 years old! Aren't you guys supposed to be the grown ups?'
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 23:32
|
|
|
I was down visiting my mom at work in WTC 4 (the atrium on the water front). She was a corporate nurse at the Merrill Lynch office and they had a big medical suite with maybe 5-7 other nurse and medical offices for other firms in the complex, after the first plane hit, a few port authority management types busted in and started rounding up this group of maybe 20 largely middle aged- late middle aged women to get them to go into the tower lobby to help triage. I kinda just sat at my mom's desk for a bit until the 2nd plane hit. At this point the nurses said "gently caress that" and everybody headed down to the marina for water evacuation. Everybody ended up on a boat and we were evacuated up to the Intrepid dock where we walked up to 84th and Park to grab my siblings from their school (they locked the kids in the Church and said "PRAY"). Most distinct memory I have was standing on the roof around 2-3pm and watching military aircraft fly around. That and seeing a gaggle of SUV and Pickups slowly going up park Ave, and dropping off all the finance types that had gotten out. Dozens of men in suits just covered in dust and a few blood stains here and there. Firehouse on 85th and Lex lost 9 out of like 14 of the men who responded that day. My earlier comment wasn't supposed to have been flippant, I get 'em a big sandwich every year and my parents bring over pizza. E; I was like 12 or something, and a couple of those firefighters were there long enough that they were there when my preschool did the 2x a year visit. It was a big deal in my neighborhood as there were a TON of Cantor Fitz partners living up and down that avenue. E2: also remember a murmur of disgust as the boat we were on headed towards Jersey and the captain tried to disembark everyone there, in the marshes around the Liberty Science Center. Immanentized fucked around with this message at 23:58 on Sep 11, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 23:53
|
|
|
Boatlift documentary is Good. https://youtu.be/18lsxFcDrjo Edit: Froggies are saying that the prison break and armory looting story are a pile of merde http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2017/09/11/irma-attention-aux-rumeurs-sur-la-situation-a-saint-martin_5184022_4355770.html Immanentized fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Sep 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 23:59
|
|
|
I always wanted to enlist growing up and than 9/11 happened so I was going to join the SEALs after HS but than 2 Vietnam era SEALs, one of whom commanded a team told me to never join the military. Than I almost went 18X after college and a professor who was a Raven FAC in Nam sat me down and had a long talk with me that ended up w me not joining. I also read this forum and you guys kept me out so god bless all of you and thank you for your srvice I was a 3 sport letterman in HS and played college baseball so physically I felt like I could probably swing it barring injury and poo poo Now I am a mid twenties deadlifting computer toucher with a hot Latina gf who may or may not still have a condo on Miami Beach after the hurricane. Waroduce fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Sep 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 23:59
|
|
|
i said it in the TFF GDT but i hope someone kneels during the anthem today. not because i think they should, i just love people irrationally freaking out about it.
|
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 00:02
|
|
|
BigDave posted:I was the only one who knew who Osama (Usama) bin Laden was because I used to be big nerd for police and crime stuff, and I had memorized the FBI most wanted list. Bill Clinton knew who he was and tried several times to target and take him out. All while dealing with an utterly contrived impeachment by hypocrites of the highest order. And Al Gore sure as hell knew who he was. I'm convinced that those self-righteous assholes that contrived to lowjack dubya into the White House, they were responsible. He no sooner took office then he took all attention off the camps in Afghanistan and started with a Saddam crusade based on oil and ideology. It was preventable.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 00:26
|
|
|
I was at work in a truck stop mechanic shop on 9/11.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 00:27
|
|
|
I was in grade 10 chemistry. I went home and taped CNN and got as much information as I could, then came back to school and got yelled at by my politics teacher for talking about it I joined the CF less than 2 years later. I was in my first few weeks of basic watching Baghdad burn on CNN.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:02
|
|
|
Mr. Mambold posted:Bill Clinton knew who he was and tried several times to target and take him out. All while dealing with an utterly contrived impeachment by hypocrites of the highest order. And Al Gore sure as hell knew who he was. I'm convinced that those self-righteous assholes that contrived to lowjack dubya into the White House, they were responsible. He no sooner took office then he took all attention off the camps in Afghanistan and started with a Saddam crusade based on oil and ideology. It was preventable. I meant I was the only one in my Minnesota Middle School who knew who Bin Laden was. But, yeah, we could've taken him out years before he hit us. Not sure if that would've stopped the attacks, it was KSM who really laid out and planned the whole thing. BigDave fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Sep 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:07
|
|
|
Waroduce posted:I always wanted to enlist growing up and than 9/11 happened so I was going to join. Waroduce posted:I also read this forum and you guys kept me out so god bless all of you and thank you for your srvice 
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:15
|
|
|
A couple of kids in my 7th grade class had parents working at the Pentagon, one of whom had been temporarily relocated for the renovation work that was taking place in the part that was hit.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:16
|
|
|
I was sleeping and my mother woke me up and said "a plane flew into the world trade center" and I was like "eh" and then she came back in and said a second plane hit the other building and I though ok maybe I should see what's going on. My uncle was piloting a NYC to la flight on AA that morning and it was kind of hectic til we managed to reach him. That's my big 911 story.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:24
|
|
|
I got out of gym class in 7th grade. Heard people talking about the WTC in the hall. Got to geography and the teacher had the tv on. On the bus ride home the drivers observed "radio silence" which in hindsight was incredibly silly. Enlisted in early 2008 because the guard made me wait until they had a slot open.
Casimir Radon fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Sep 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:26
|
|
|
Bunch of young motherfuckers in this thread. I was in my second freshman year of college when poo poo went down. Was anybody here on active duty at that time or were we all that stupid to join after we invaded Iraq?
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:36
|
|
|
bengy81 posted:Bunch of young motherfuckers in this thread. Neither, I was in ROTC. Joined thinking I'd go on deployments hopping around the Pacific or Mediterranean, maybe be involved in a Kosovo-style humanitarian intervention. Ended up sweating balls in the dumbest part of the globe for people to live on. gently caress Bin Laden for that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:42
|
|
|
I passed through all the early steps for getting into USMC OCS with a bunch of guys from my college rugby team and went to grad school instead after agonizing about that decision for a while. Sitting in the lab 9/11 morning next to a Jordanian guy openly weeping watching the towers crumble was a hell of a thing. I was trying to calm him down and he was like 'who else would have done this man'. Called 1-2 of my friends a few days after and asked opinions on if I should go back and try to sign up. Every single one said something along the lines of "we're dumb out here dude, you'd just be wasted, keep doing your thing". Had they not said that to me I'd have signed up.
|
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:43
|
|
|
senior in hs here, saw the 2nd plane hit as i walked in to 2nd period english i walked out at lunch and watched cnn until i worked at the local grocery store. we had 3 customers the entire night- 2 pratt and whitney guys out early because someone called in a bomb threat, and my dad who wanted to get out of the house enlisted about 6 months later
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:45
|
|
|
I was 20 and in college. Found out when I woke up and checked the news after I got back from my shower. Was then that I realized that my entire dorm was deserted and everyone was outside on the quad. It was an almost obscenely beautiful day. I got a little drunk with some friends and we all said a bunch of poo poo that we didn't mean. That night I drove home and talked to my dad about joining the military. He was in the Signal Corps during Vietnam and never liked the Army. Dad told me that he wouldn't stop me, but that if I wanted to join I'd better really think about whether I could trust George Bush as my commander in chief or not. Ultimately, I decided to finish my last couple semesters of college and go in as an officer if I did go in, but by the time I graduated Iraq was spinning up and the gently caress if I wanted any part of that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:48
|
|
|
Sophomore in high school. First plane struck while I was in first period Actor's Workshop. When I got to math class the next period, our teacher, Ms Ernst, put the news on. She knew there was no point in carrying on a lesson. Shortly thereafter, classes were suspended and all students went to the cafeteria to watch the news projected on a giant wall. A few days later two F-16's went supersonic somewhere near Chicago. The sonic boom rattled poo poo off the walls. Enlisted two years after. bloops fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Sep 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 01:57
|
|
|
At night, right?
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:00
|
|
|
I had just finished discussing the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud and how the timing was wrong for a big offensive and was getting ready for a meeting with some investors when I noticed the new york times website wasn't loading anymore. Edit: we were discussing this exact article https://mobile.nytimes.com/2001/09/10/world/taliban-foe-hurt-and-aide-killed-by-bomb.html
|
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:01
|
|
|
Syrian Lannister posted:At night, right? Late evening? 7 or 8? It was definitely after class. I was out with my friends in the neighborhood.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:03
|
|
|
BigDave posted:I meant I was the only one in my Minnesota Middle School who knew who Bin Laden was. I got that. I used middle school you to segue into just how criminally irresponsible those fucks were that a middle schooler was more politically responsible and aware than they were. Sorry.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:11
|
|
|
our principal went on the intercom to tell teachers to turn off the tv at like 9:30 am no one did afaik
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:11
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/VeggieTales/status/907263316363497473
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:13
|
|
|
I was a hs sophomore in first period trig when word started going round and teachers turned on TVs in time to see the second plane hit. Sounds like some of the heroes were the vets amongst family and friends who encouraged people not to enlist. (Thanks Uncle Walt!)
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:15
|
|
|
I'm surprised how muted it's been this year. I wonder if Bannon getting kicked out had an effect on the rhetoric out of the White House.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:21
|
|
|
I was 11 and at home watching Real Genius on HBO when my sister busted in and took the remote. My brother had done a tour durring the first gulf war already. My sister was in tech school at the time for the Air Force. I remember being scared they would be sent out there. They were, and the deployments became A Thing that I just accepted like everybody else in the family. I joined up after highschool, it was never really an option not to. I remember being relieved in a way that I got to go out there myself 10 years later. My brother still gives me and our sister poo poo to this day: "Back when I invaded the middle east poo poo took only a 100 days, the gently caress is you guyses problem. " we still respond "gently caress off, you just plugged routers in all day" then he was all "whatever man, I'm retired and picked up the same job at a higher civilian pay grade" and then I wake up from my weed nap and realize I live in Los Angeles with a dog and a fiance. I never did go back and finish that movie.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:23
|
|
|
I was 24, bartending at night and working at Safeway during the day. Helped load up supplies onto fire engines being shipped from CA to NY. Enlisted 14 years later in the Navy reserves because I'm dumb.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:26
|
|
|
Senior year of high school, the AP US Government teacher turned on the TV when the attack happened, and said nothing. I lived in a part of Florida where nearly everyone was from NY/NJ or knew someone from there so there were a lot of people leaving early. Towers fell during my AP Stats class, same silence from the teacher there. My English teacher was a Marine and had just (within the past couple weeks) had a couple guys from the year or two ahead of mine come back in their dress uniforms to show him they'd made it, he'd probably even kept in touch with them during their training rotations since he was a real dadly kind of guy in a small town where plenty of kids grew up with missing or part-time dads. He was really subdued, gave us a talk about the world changing and staying changed for a long time if it ever returned to normal at all, that we'd spent our lives growing up with no real threats in the world, we'd just been acting as the world's cops and bouncers and we'd have to get used to the government doing strange things on account of security. In hindsight it was definitely the kind of talk someone would give if they'd grasped how hosed up the cold war had gotten, had spent a while under the relief that it was over, and was now lamenting the old fear rising up again. He'd gone from his old self, joking about pizza box marksman badges with these 19-20 year old kids to being a terrifyingly serious and dark man, reminding us that those of us who were being dicked down by recruiters hadn't really enlisted yet like he was afraid of us not coming back. I don't think he was old enough to have been in Vietnam, but easily someone who put time in any point after that, probably not Iraq though. He was an English teacher for us, wasn't about to waste time in class talking about his time in the service beyond saying he'd been a Marine and joking about him being the first off the boat when we were watching some movie that started with a bunch of 18th century US marines trotting into the palace of the sultan or bey or whatever to force talks over the Treaty of Tripoli. That whole day was just strange. Nobody thought McComiskey could lay that kind of talk down. Like we all knew he could keep things together in class but it was one of those weirdly prescient things that I would have forgotten if only for the fact that it was so out of character for the guy. I graduated in 2002 so nobody was expecting the Iraq invasion at the time but Afghanistan was definitely a thing. We invaded Iraq late in the night on my 19th birthday, I'd stayed up watching TV and they were breaking in with the coverage from embedded reporters but by then it wasn't a surprise after all the talking-up of WMDs and atrocities. Patriot act and the library snooping stuff had come to pass, all sorts of stuff at the airport getting implemented, creation of the DHS, etc. English teacher saw it coming. Ok, maybe he just guessed at it, maybe he just wanted to get his worries out and was always a little paranoid but kept it hidden. Whatever it was, he called it. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:31
|
|
|
I was working phone support for DirecTV. They had TVs around everywhere so we could check and see if a transponder was down or whatever, and all of them changed to the news after the first plane hit. I was still receiving calls from redneck assholes complaining about not being able to order porn because they had filled up their accounts and weren't paying. I just spent about 30 minutes telling everyone to turn on CNN and disconnected the calls.Not a lot of tech support was given that day.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:31
|
|
|
Waroduce posted:I always wanted to enlist growing up and than 9/11 happened so I was going to join the SEALs after HS but than 2 Vietnam era SEALs, one of whom commanded a team told me to never join the military. Than I almost went 18X after college and a professor who was a Raven FAC in Nam sat me down and had a long talk with me that ended up w me not joining. I also read this forum and you guys kept me out so god bless all of you and thank you for your srvice The only way to win is not to play.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:36
|
|
|
I think I was getting up to go to a physics class or something. I eventually told Lockheed Martin to go gently caress itself, dropped out and never entered into the military industrial complex or the military. I WIN.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:43
|
|
|
I lived in DC and my dad worked downtown. I'll never forget the scramble of trying to find out if he was OK, then him sitting down at the kitchen table late at night, the most exhausted I ever saw him. After my mom finally went to bed he looked at me and said "we are going to war" and I remember laughing and being a dumb 14 year old saying that's impossible. I'll never forget the look on his face, it was like a sad unsurprised look. He looked old. Then I enrolled in ROTC 5 years later so jokes on me I guess. TheAlphaChaser fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Sep 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 14:02 |
|
|
lol @ all of us who weren't even in highschool yet when it happened that eventually ended up deploying to Afghanistan.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2017 02:46
|
|