When I was on the pier in Hoboken, a steel worker was brought over by boat (the bridges were still closed outbound) that had messed up his leg some how.
I was getting ready to leave for my annual September birthday hike that year from Sams Gap to Erwin and I was asleep on the couch as we were leaving that afternoon and the phone rung and one of my friends who was also going told me about it and of course I thought it was a joke until I turned on the tv. Then the decision had to be made to go or cancel the trip. We decided no terrorists actions were going to ruin our hiking trip so we left that day and were gone for 4 and a half days. I remember wondering the whole time what was going on and what could possibly happen and of course thinking of those lives that were lost and the loved ones that would endure so much pain and loss. That night laying near Big Bald staring up at the stars not seeing a single aircraft other than an occasional military jet was very weird and un-nerving. We had made plans before leaving that if anything serious ocurred that our friends and family would find us on the trail at certain points along the route but luckily that was not needed.
RAT
A good friend of mine was standing at the base of one of the towers drinking coffee when the first plane hit. He was early for a meeting on the 80something floor and waited downstairs for a few minutes. He couldn't make out what was happening until glass and junk started raining down, around him and on him. That is when he started running. He took refuge in a nearby building, waiting to see what was happening. When the first tower fell, it blew out the windows where he was and he was covered in dust, head to toe. He ran and ran, choking, hardly able to breath. His family, at home in NJ, were besides themselves and he could not call them. Eventually, he made it home, one of the lucky ones.
A friend at work was inconsolable knowing her sister worked in one of the nearby buildings and not getting word for some time that she did make it. Several colleagues at work described the hell that friends of theirs went through losing a loved one. One of my friends went to four funerals of close friends. I witnessed cars in train commuter lots, whose owners never returned. In my town, we lost a firefighter and a plaque was put up in his memory. A local trail, was renamed in another fire-fighter's name and at the trail-head there is a small shrine that people still place flowers around some toy firetrucks.
Two days after 9/11, I went on my first planned section hike. I met another section hiker who ran his own air charter business. He was grounded 15 minutes before take-off on 9/11. His passengers were going on a golf excursion - they had taken the day off from working at the world trade center. I ran into a sobo thru-hiker who said he turned down an offer to work in the world trade center to go hike.
Personally, I spent 9/11 helping with communication and evacuation of the employees in my office. I was one of the last to leave. It didn't really hit me, until I saw my boys waiting for me at the door at home. I will never forget that day and how it touched so many of us living and working in Manhattan and the suburbs.
Same as my parents. I knew my father drove my mother past the Pentagon into DC every morning and called to tell them what was happening. They saw the smoke, but had no idea what was going on until I told them and they saw panicked people running out of buildings in DC.Originally Posted by Ridge Rat
My wife and I had just bought a house and were waiting for the closing later in the week (which was delayed). We were off from work and planning a nice relaxing overnight hike on Mt Adams. Unfortunately, we woke up late and never made it out from in front of the TV for the next 2 days.
Also remember being a teem in boarding school when the shuttle Challenger exploded. We used to watch TV in a buddies room on lunch and the launch was the only thing on. I was at work when Columbia broke up.
I was in the ExxonMobil datacenter here in Dallas. Went upstairs to the command center and watched TV with most everyone else that could get into the room. Phone lines were all doing fast busy, so couldn't call wife. Decided not to watch after the second collapse and went down stairs and outside for a walk. Dallas was about asleep. No air traffic at Love field or DFW international, even the freeways were half empty. Then the phones cleared up. Around 2 or 3, we were told to head home. I drove past DFW airport and there were all the jets lined up and parked.
When JFK was assasinated, I was in first grade. They let us out early. I walked home (not far). Dad was USAF fighter pilot and he'd flown all night. So he was sitting on the couch drinking a cup of coffee having slept only a few hours. My parents asked me why I was home and I said the president got shot in Dallas. They snapped on the TV. Dad went and called in and was told to report ASAP. He grabbed a shower, fresh bullets and headed out to the plane.
We can also talk about the Cuban Missle crisis. We were in Alaska (first line). We saw dad once in 10 days, and then only for 30 minutes. The squadron had "vanished" to the Soviets. They flew 500 Meters off the tundra, to the outpost and fully armed nuclear.... That's when I figured out that not EVERYONE's dad went to work, with a gun, a 20 percent chance of NOT returning...
For a couple of bucks, get a weird haircut and waste your life away Bryan Adams....
Hammock hangs are where you go into the woods to meet men you've only known on the internet so you can sit around a campfire to swap sewing tips and recipes. - sargevining on HF
I was at work, and my boss called and told me to turn on the TV that is in our office. She said a small plane had hit one of the World Trade Center buildings. I turned it on MSNBC before the second plane hit.
I was kayaking on Upper Goose Pond having lunch with the caretaker and an older couple from England they were enjoying thier stay in the Berkshires.
I was sitting in traffic in downtown Chicago when over the radio they began to discuss the attack on the towers in N.Y. I looked up and saw the Sears Tower almost directly in front of me as the Chicago PD were beginning to directing traffic away from downtown Chicago (they closed down some of the major streets near the Sears Tower for the next day or so). What a terriable day.
"I told my Ma's and Pa's I was coming to them mountains and they acted as if they was gutshot. Ma, I sez's, them mountains is the marrow of the world and by God, I was right". Del Gue
I was at my desk at work. When I saw the pictures on my computer I almost went into shock. A week later I was talking to a recruiter trying to reinlist in the Army. I had been out of the service since 1967. He told me I was too "old".
I was getting ready to go to work at the mulchyard. After the second plane hit, I left for work. At work we watched the towers fall. Afterwards I went out to split some firewood. I worked about ten minutes from Columbus Intl Airport. I could not believe how silent the city was after I shut down the log splitter.
Three days later, I was splitting wood again and I saw a single plane flying really high and fast. It was the only plane in the sky. It was the loudest noise I had heard in three days.
I found myself in a similar situation. We had a trip planned to the high country in NC and we decided to go. The sky was noticeably absent of aircraft. After a couple of hours it dawned on us that these conditions hadn't happened in our lifetime and hopefully wouldn't happen again, even if the empty sky was nice. There were NO planes at all.
That's my dog, Echo. He's a fine young dog.
In my home office in Bhm, AL waiting for several out of state employees driving in to travel with me for the week. The only flying thing we saw in the air all week was a hawk.
Hiking
I was hiking at Pound Ridge Reservation in NY, not on the AT.
A week before on Monday I was on Katahdin, where I was the first up to the top that day. I met Griffin who was summiting after completing his thru hike. Later I gave him a ride back to SW Connecticut, where he took a train to the plane the next day, and flew to New Zealend. He said he did the entire hike with only a few hundred dollars, as he took all the cast away food, etc. he could get. I was impressed by his frugality.
There were 5 of us opening a new office on the south side of Columbus(OH.) One guy rolls in late and tells us about what happened. We were 15 minutes from the airport, and after they grounded all flights we noticed how quiet it was.
I was at the National Institutes of Health Hospital in Bethesda, MD on the last visit of a medical treatment study. A crowd was gathered around a TV in the lobby as I went about my business; blood tests, photos, and exams. I was getting fragments of the story.
Finally I had a break shortly and began watching TV. I had one more appointment, and after that we got the evacuation order. Being that there was a plane unaccounted for and we were in a 15 story Government building, the order was probably an hour later than it should have been. Everybody got stuck in traffic right next to the building, and 20/20 hindsight said that I should have left on foot and returned later for the car.
My cell phone rang again and again as I was in the traffic jam. Once free of the traffic, we got our daughter from kindergarten.
I was in Harpers Ferry. I had hiked into there on Sept. 9th. In fact I was hanging out with Laura at Harpers ferry Outfitters. She had gone upstairs to get us a cup of coffee and all once she yelled down and said I should come up and see what was on TV, we both sat there in shock and watched.
We knew right from the bat that we had been attacked. Within a short time the train service to HF shut completely down. I do not remember but I think it was a Monday and service did not resume until Thursday if my memory serves me right. I had a job lined up in DC but was told that there were no bags allowed on the train including backpacks.
So I went for a hike to the first shelter south on Friday, there were about seven other guys there and all but one was there to ponder on what had just taken place, the other was a late north bounder and he learned from us what had happened.
I knew if it came down to it I would stand up for my country and everyone of us in that group were ready to go sign up to fight.
I was teaching. It was second period and I had a class full of 8th graders. A guidance counselor came and told me what happened. I didn't know whether I should turn on the TV in front of the kids or not. I turned it on. I can still remember the faces of the kids as we watched it. I still think it was better to let them see it than to hide it from them.
Please, I don't care if you're a liberal, moderate or conservative, Democrat Independent or Republican, we can never let our children and grandchildren forget this day. Tell them where you were and what you felt. We owe it to them.
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