911 Remembrance

Miscellaneous
1

Hard to believe it’s 19 years.
My wife and I were moving to Salt Lake City and driving cross country in two cars when the first plane struck.
Unlike everyone else who had a visual experience, we were without cell phones using walkie talkies to talk to each other. The only thing on the radio band was either Christian rock or NPR, nothing in between… We kept flipping to different NPR stations as we came in and out of range.
We spread a map out somewhere in Kansas. There was a small country gas station with about a line of 20 pickup trucks. Everyone was getting gas…
We were like “Okay, the major cities won’t have hotels, or gas so we got to find a place to stay tonight that isn’t too close to a major airport.” Much earlier, we passed St Louis and I remember seeing 20 or 30 jumbo jets up in a big circle - like elephants holding each other’s tails. Otherwise, the only contrails in the air were from occasional military jets scrambling somewhere.
Very surreal.
We finally got into the hotel at 9:00 at night and that’s the first time we “saw” the actual event.

Deepest respect to the people who died and their families who endure to this day

3

I was in bed 9 months pregnant when my husband came running upstairs to tell me the weirdest thing just happened, a plane had struck the World Trade Center. We turned on the tv in our room just in time to see the second plane hit, at that moment we knew it was no accident and we were under attack. I remember just an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and couldn’t believe I was bringing a baby into a world that flew planes into buildings. My son was born the very next day (so glad he waited until the next day).

It was such a weird feeling to be in the hospital with a new baby when I normally would have been over joyed, but it just felt so wrong with all the lives lost. I worried what type of world my beautiful baby boy would grow up in. I can tell you that he has been a light to us and those around him as the happiest kids that I have ever seen. He always has the biggest smile on his face and just rolls with the punches such as a senior year cut short by Covid. I always say he is just what my world needed after such a tragic event.

8 Likes
4

Watching the reports replay still makes me numb to this day.

Spent 8 hours worrying if family members in DC were ok. Had the one gone to work that day, the plane would’ve killed him. It fell onto his office at the Pentagon. He was out with the 24 hour bug.

5 Likes
5

I was in Guatemala on a church mission. We were leaving a district meeting and on my pager, it sent news (we almost never got news as it was blocked) in Spanish that two towers fell. I had no context, and my companion from Honduras had no clue other that J.R. Tolkein. We later saw what happened and of course everyone had questions for me and the other Americans there. Our mission president told us to take a day to learn what happened (watch the news, read the papers) so we could discuss it intelligently, then get back to work preaching the good news of the gospel. I saved a newspaper from there.

This day is always a little weird for me as I’m still learning and processing what happened since I really didn’t have an opportunity to do it long ago.

2 Likes
6

I live about 5 miles south of the Pentagon and at that time I had a job where I would frequently get some work done at home before going into the office late morning.

It was an absolutely spectacular morning, temp in the mid-70’s with no humidity and I had all my windows open enjoying the nice morning when I hear a loud “BOOM”. I thought, wow you don’t get to hear sonic booms that much and went about my work.

It was an hour later when a friend called to see if I was OK and I was confused, of course I was OK, why wouldn’t I be. Then he told me and I was able to finally account for why I heard such a loud boom earlier that morning.

Needless to say, I couldn’t go to the office that day.

Will never forget that sound.

5 Likes
8

(GWB threw a perfect strike. Not a lot of velocity, but for any given dude to just throw it right down the pipe - impressive.)

I was snoozing, wifey woke me up to see the hole in the first tower on TV, which was clearly an airplane, perhaps a commuter, I thought. Then watching the live feed as the 767 came in low and slammed the other tower.

On the way into work listening to the frantic coverage as people were jumping… and then the towers came down.

Unbelievable.

It’s still unbelievable.

4 Likes
9

We lived in Austin at the time. Austin was, normally very busy place. That day things kinda stopped functioning in Austin. In a bit of “screw the bad guys” our cycling club continued to put on the weekly races that were going on that Fall 2 days later. That race evening was our 4th anniversary.

On that day, I remember I had the usual morning show on (KLBJ). I wasn’t paying close attention to them since I had work to do. Then they started sounded odd, way out of their normal bantering and were suddenly very serious. Somewhere it struck me that something odd was happening in the world. My first thoughts was something happened in Austin. As I turned both the radio and a tv to news stations, I was proven wrong. The world suddenly changed on all of us.

I remember watching at least 2 planes hitting the towers. I remember being on the phone with my buddy as they came down. I had to ask him if he saw the same thing. He did. I couldn’t get a hold of my wife, which was odd, because I could make long distance calls. All in all it was a surreal day. Once Mrs. CCU and I could talk with each other, we just wanted to be together.

Neither of us accomplished much at work the rest of that week. All I could keep thinking of were the obvious parallels to Pearl Harbor, and wonder who did it. So strange a time for us.

2 Likes
10

The Sunday after the attacks we sang a patriotic hymn in church. Everyone was crying. I remember seeing people who were usually very stoic be reduced to tears that day. That memory has always stuck with me. Just like it was yesterday. And it was nearly 20 years ago.

2 Likes
11

https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/remembering-fdny-hero-battalion-chief-orio-j-palmer
Beyond his uncommon odd first name, Battalion 7 Deputy Chief Orio Joseph Palmer was well known in the New York City Fire Department for his dedication and his athletic endeavors. Today, a white rose was placed in his name on the 9/11 Memorial, marking what would have been his 60th birthday.

Rising through the ranks during his career, Palmer was considered to be one of the most knowledgeable men in the FDNY. The esteemed firefighter was also known for his athletic prowess. In 1989 he dedicated his first New York City Marathon to his daughter Dana in honor of her first birthday. He would go on to finish several more races and fitness challenges.

His wife Debbie Palmer remembers him as a light-hearted, humorous man who “loved goofing around with his three children and nieces and nephews.” She said he even made up fairy dances for his little girls. Orio, Debbie, Dana, Alyssa and Keith Palmer. Courtesy of Voices of September 11th, The 9/11 Living Memorial Project.

On Sept. 11, after taking an elevator to the 41st floor Palmer climbed 37 flights of stairs with approximately 50 pounds of gear and made it to the South Tower sky lobby on the 78th floor. He is one of the few reported first responders able to make it that far up.

He reported via radio, out of breath and gasping, “Battalion Seven…Ladder 15, we’ve got two isolated pockets of fire. We should be able to knock it down with two lines. 78th floor numerous 10-45 Code Ones (victims).”

According to The 9/11 Commission Report, Palmer and his team freed a group of civilians who were trapped in an elevator one minute before the tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. Following his death, the FDNY named its fitness test after Palmer.

2 Likes
12

That’s beautiful.
Peaceful Warrior

1 Like
13

image
image450×523 49.1 KB

2 Likes
14

I consorted with anti-government folk. When we heard the news later in the day, none of us owned a TV, my housemate asked if we should be attacking buildings also. I told them that I hadn’t received any communiques. Seeing TV images later, I wondered why the buildings fell like controlled demolition.

15

That’s an interesting question but I have to tell you, as a former firefighter that there’s absolutely no question why a building would collapse the way it did.
There’s no “controlled demolition” that can be done without thousands of feet of wires, massive holes punched into the walls and ceilings - all to place dynamite and high explosives in critical load areas. It’s virtually impossible to do it in secret.
Having a fully loaded airplane hit a building at over 400 mph hour with10 or 20,000 gallons of fuel burning will transfer so much heat through those beams (and they’re really only hanging on steel clips to hold the floor structurally intact. So, once everything heats up and warps all you have to do is drop one floor on top of another and that’s it. Game over.
Ask any firefighter and they’ll tell you they would rather be on top of a burning building with a wood roof structure than a steel structure any day. Wood roofs will get “soggy” and warn you before they collapse. Steel roofs hold the load until there’s a critical failure without warning

6 Likes
16

Very interesting! Thank you for posting.

3 Likes
18

If you weld or braze you can see how metal acts when heated. There’s a fine point between a good weld and a pile of scrap metal. It only takes a bit of excessive heat, either over time or really hot in a short period, to get from A to B.

1 Like
19

Also the “fireproofing” stuff they spray on the I-beams isn’t designed for the kind of colossal heat from tens of thousands of gallons of fuel.
That’s designed to try to minimize the heat damage to eye beams from maybe a couple of couches burning.
Anyway, all that stuff got knocked off with the initial impact.
Think about how a fast an electric stove transfers heat on the coils.
Well, I-beams transfer heat just as readily, but they’re not treated to heat and cool thousands of times like a stove-top

2 Likes
20

Nice. Suck on that Charlie Sheen, you tool!

21

"We’re Going to Do Something."

Tom Burnett was a passenger on Flight 93. Here is a transcript of his cell phone calls from the plane to his wife:

6:27 a.m.( pacific time) First cell phone call from Tom to Deena

Deena: Hello
Tom: Deena
Deena: Tom, are you O.K.?
Tom: No, I’m not. I’m on an airplane that has been hijacked.
Deena: Hijacked?
Tom: Yes, They just knifed a guy.
Deena: A passenger?
Tom: Yes.
Deena: Where are you? Are you in the air?
Tom: Yes, yes, just listen. Our airplane has been hijacked. It’s United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. We are in the air. The hijackers have already knifed a guy, one of them has a gun, they are telling us there is a bomb on board, please call the authorities. He hung up.

6:31 Deena calls 911
6:34 The phone rang in on call waiting, Tom’s second cell phone call.

Deena: Hello
Tom: They’re in the cockpit. The guy they knifed is dead.
Deena: He’s dead?
Tom: Yes. I tried to help him, but I couldn’t get a pulse.
Deena: Tom, they are hijacking planes all up and down the east coast. They are taking them and hitting designated targets. They’ve already hit both towers of the World Trade Center.
Tom: They’re talking about crashing this plane. (a pause) Oh my God. It’s a suicide mission…(he then tells people sitting around him)
Deena: Who are you talking to?
Tom: My seatmate. Do you know which airline is involved?
Deena: No, they don’t know if they’re commercial airlines or not. The newsreporters are speculating cargo planes, private planes and commercial. No one knows.
Tom: How many planes are there?
Deena: They’re not sure, at least three. Maybe more.
Tom: O.K….O.K….Do you know who is involved?
Deena: No.
Tom: We’re turning back toward New York. We’re going back to the World Trade Center. No, wait, we’re turning back the other way. We’re going south.
Deena: What do you see?
Tom: Just a minute, I’m looking. I don’t see anything, we’re over a rural area. It’s just fields. I’ve gotta go.

6:45 a.m. Third cell phone call from Tom to Deena

Tom: Deena
Deena: Tom, you’re O.K. (I thought at this point he had just survived the Pentagon plane crash).
Tom: No, I’m not.
Deena: They just hit the Pentagon.
Tom: (tells people sitting around him “They just hit the Pentagon.”)
Tom: O.K….O.K. What else can you tell me?
Deena: They think five airplanes have been hijacked. One is still on the ground. They believe all of them are commercial planes. I haven’t heard them say which airline, but all of them have originated on the east coast.
Tom: Do you know who is involved?
Deena: No
Tom: What is the probability of their having a bomb on board? I don’t think they have one. I think they’re just telling us that for crowd control.
Deena: A plane can survive a bomb if it’s in the right place.
Tom: Did you call the authorities?
Deena: Yes, they didn’t know anything about your plane.
Tom: They’re talking about crashing this plane into the ground. We have to do something. I’m putting a plan together.
Deena: Who’s helping you?
Tom: Different people. Several people. There’s a group of us. Don’t worry. I’ll call you back.

6:54 a.m. Fourth cell phone call to Tom to Deena

Deena: Tom?
Tom: Hi. Anything new?
Deena: No
Tom: Where are the kids?
Deena: They’re fine. They’re sitting at the table having breakfast. They’re asking to talk to you.
Tom: Tell them I’ll talk to them later.
Deena: I called your parents. They know your plane has been hijacked.
Tom: Oh…you shouldn’t have worried them. How are they doing?
Deena: They’re O.K… Mary and Martha are with them.
Tom: Good.

(a long quiet pause)

Tom: We’re waiting until we’re over a rural area. We’re going to take back the airplane.
Deena: No! Sit down, be still, be quiet, and don’t draw attention to yourself! (The exact words taught to me by Delta Airlines Flight Attendant Training).
Tom: Deena! If they’re going to crash this plane into the ground, we’re going to have do something!
Deena: What about the authorities?
Tom: We can’t wait for the authorities. I don’t know what they could do anyway.
It’s up to us. I think we can do it.
Deena: What do you want me to do?
Tom: Pray, Deena, just pray.

(after a long pause)

Deena: I love you.
Tom: Don’t worry, we’re going to do something…

4 Likes
22

I was standing in a valt within a SCIF (Facility that holds classified material) watching the news while recalling everyone in my Air Force unit. After we had 100% accountability, I was sent home to get my affairs in order and pack for deployment. I spent the next 14 years deploying or training to deploy to fight in the war on terror.

Note: 911 changed my life in many ways. I never planned on making the Air Force my career. Every time it was time to re-enlist, I felt like I had a calling and a purpose greater than myself. Bottom line: I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do.

If not for 911, I might be living in Wyoming or Montana working as an attorney.

1 Like
23

If I could have joined, I would have joined. Being asthmatic prevented me, much to my chagrin and disappointment. That said, I wish you, and my other friends who were deployed from the Guard and Reserves had not been away from home as long as you were.

I supported what we did at first, but over time I thought it reckless, and without a clear goal. Just my opinion.

1 Like