Where were you on the Morning of 9-11?

[hawkbase 21]

Hey Hawk, what class was that?

Accounting in the Mercy Annex On Broadway.

[Oswegowind 17]

Volunteering at Peekskill VAC, until I got recalled to Empress to cover the radios...Unfortunately had the news on after the first plane had crashed and got to see the 2nd one hit the tower before they cut away. Remember my Mom calling me while on my way down the Sprain to work, just said be careful and she would see me later. She was an emergency room nurse at Phelps at the time, and was expecting to see some injuries as the plan was for walking wounded to travel home to their local hospitals...she didn't see anyone that day. Neither did any of the ambulance crews that we assigned to cover all the Metro North stations that were within the Empress EMS district. That's kind of when you knew how bad it really was...then the towers collapsed!

[LTNRFD 266]

I was sitting at the back Alarm Receipt Dispatcher position in the FDNY Manhattan/Citywide dispatchers office. The Supervisor had just sent the two radio (Manhattan and Citywide) operators out to get breakfast. Another dispatcher had asked me if I wanted to take over the radio(and anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoyed working the radio). He had just finished his training as a radio dispatcher, so I less than politely told him to take the radio and pay his dues. I'm cranky in the morning, what can I say. I had taken the call for that gas leak on Church and Lispenard Streets(the one you see in the French brothers video). I had my feet up and I was drinking ice water out of a washed out spaghetti sauce jar(a practice I continue to uphold to this day). Engine 6 came over the air screaming, "Engine 6 to Manhattan, transmit a second alarm, we just had a plane hit the Trade Center!!!" My feet dropped, and I said out loud "Bull droppings, somebody is fornicating with us". Then, the voice alarm, which is an intercom system between us and the firehouses started beeping from the Ten House. Box 8087, the alarm box from 2 WTC started coming in, and then the phone lines lit up. You guys know the rest.

I don't talk about it too much these days, because many of you have heard my side of the story from the tapes that IMHO, were improperly released to the public last year. Most of the time, when I am pressed, I will simply tell people of one of the calls I took prior to the first collapse. We have a script that we follow when taking calls, as per Dispatchers Directive 96-01. Fire Department, Dispatcher number, what's the address of the fire?? Then you ask cross streets, the nature of the problem, where in the building if in a building, and then phone number of the caller and that the FD is responding. I barely got the words "Fire Department" out of my mouth when the lady said, "Never mind" when I asked her what she meant, her reply was, "He just jumped". I replied, "OK", hung up, and went to the next call. Usually, anyone with curiosity is satisfied right there.

I can remember saying later on like Dante in Clerks, "I'm not even supposed to be here today!!!" Not entirely true, as I swapped out with someone. I worked her day tour and she was supposed to work my night tour that night. I was once told that I said to someone, "I kept telling these people help was coming, and it never got to them." I remember wanting to reach through the phone and throttle some moron who wanted me to send firemen to his Battery Park City apartment to check up on his dog, or driving up to Pathmark on 125th and Lex and seeing Verplanck sitting on the corner next to 35 Engine's quarters. Or Manhattan looking like a ghost town the following morning as I headed home to the Bronx.

Time does heal, the scars remain, and they run deep. I am thankful for many things in my life that came out of that day. Being able to say my cousin survived, or that my brother had not been working that day, and for the friends that either survived the collapses or were somewhere else that morning. I am thankful for the friends I made in the months following, thankful that I had the opportunity to know the friends I lost. Thankful that I failed the firefighter physical the year before, because I could have been among the 343. Most of all, I am thankful for having my family, that supported me and loved me before, during, and after.

About three years ago, I was one of eight recipients of the Chief O'Brien award for my efforts that day. It's one of the highest awards given out to civilian members of the FDNY. The only positive to come out of that award was the look of pride on the faces of my mother and brother when I walked on stage to receive it. To me, it wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. It felt pretty hollow, and bittersweet. There weren't too many, if any happy endings to come from that day, and it didn't feel right to be honored for something so tragic. I'd rather be honored for efforts that were more rewarding. I hope that makes sense. I still have the award, it's framed, in a large manilla envelope and it is stashed in my closet. I doubt it will ever see the light of day again. It's not something I am particularly proud of. I take more pride in the work I did a few months later for the fire at St. John the Divine, or countless other incidents in the years since.

PS, I was recently interviewed by the National Geographic Channel for a special on dispatchers from that morning. It should be airing in November. This took a lot for me to do, as I have been pretty reluctant to speak to the media about it. Most recently, telling a producer from AC 360 to pack sand, and to leave me and my family alone. I'm interested in seeing how this special turns out, as I have always been a casual reader of the magazine and I watch a lot of the specials they put on about other subjects.

Finally, as I have asked in the years since, take a moment today to remember those we lost. Not at 846, or 1029, just anytime during the day. Give your spouse a kiss, hold your kids tight. Life is too short for the petty bull droppings of drama and what not. Maybe do a little research on someone who died that day, be it an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, or someone on one of those planes, to one of the MOS who responded and didn't come home. If you knew someone who was lost, honor them and what they sacrificed. Live your life as you would, but never, EVER forget.

Soapbox 10-8, 10-9 in the Quarters of the Cavalier Rock Box.

JBE...Not long after the first plane hit the North Tower, I was listening to Manhattan Dispatch. I was impressed on how all of the dispatchers stayed composed and did their jobs. I heard the 2nd plane into the South Tower, the collaspe of the South Tower and the North Tower. All the time it seamed that the dispatchers were handling a normal day of muti-alarm incidents. I can only imagine the chaos that was behind the scenes.

All of the FDNY dispatchers working that day in all of the centers, should be very proud of how they handled themselves that morning. We all know that you can never train for anything of that magnitude. You can only hope that you can step up a few and handle it, and The dispatchers did.

God Bless and NEVER FORGET

[Guest EFFP411]

I was Junior at Arlington High School in Dutchess County, N.Y.. I was sitting in english class, and we overheard someone out in the hallway crying, and something about a plane and the WTC. I asked my teacher if we could turn on the TV to find out what was going on, and after fighting with her, and a few choice words spoken, she relented and turned on the TV, just in time to see the second tower get hit. She watched along with the rest of us in awe at the destruction, and tried desperately not to let anyone see the tears in her eyes. I went on through my next class, we did nothing but watch as well. Some students were starting to make their way out into the hallways, trying to reach parents and relatives that lived and worked in the city. Everything else after that is a blur, because of the shock of it all setting in. Like so many others, I had friends and relatives that were supposed to be in Manhattan, or at the WTC, and ended up not going to work, or being diverted by chance, and would have surely died had their plans not changed that day, and i can never be thankful enough for that.

Today I am a nervous wreck because my mother is currently in Manhattan, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital having some tests done, even though i pleaded with her not to go down there today. Let us hope to God that nothing happens today, or tomorrow, or any other day for ages to come, and let us never forget the bravery and self sacrafice shown by our brothers and sisters on this day 6 years ago..... GOD BLESS AMERICA, AND LET HELL RAIN DOWN UPON ALL THOSE WHO SEEK TO DESTROY IT. :angry:

[Guest moose__72]

I had just finished my midnight shift with the PD and decided to go to the firehouse to wash my truck. Once done washing, I dried my truck the fire fighter way, driving around the block. While driving I was listening to Dee Snider on the old 104.1 when it went silent. After a pause he said the tower was hit by a plane. I headed back to the station to turn on the TV, and when I did the second plane soon hit. I just sat there with no idea what to do. After a while the phone started ringing. The city put crews on and announced this over the radio. Being a two engine house, we had about twenty people show up. Word came down that we might be shifting down to Fairfield county, as they might shift even further south. I remember setting my laptop up with GPS just in case, and we kept busy by doing truck and equipment inventory and checks. The time seemed to crawl.

At about noon, I got the call that all officers were being recalled. Had to report by 2. I left to get my uniform at my girlfriends house in Stratford and got word that patients might be arriving by train in Stratford to go to Bridgeport hospitals. Being active at the time with Stratford EMS, I put on my PD uniform and reported to the train station. By 1:30, when I left, no patients had arrived.

At the PD, our main concern was campus safety. With multiple religious services and memorials going on we tried to keep everyone calm, but still felt helpless. And UNH is a very big fire science school which made things even harder.

[goon16 155]

I was sleeping after just geting back from Canada after a JUnior Hockey Tourney.. My step Mother woke me up to tell me to put the T.V. on

Never Forget My best friends father

Sammy Oitice 4 Truck FDNY

NEVER FORGET 343

[RC2389 0]

I was in 7th grade at the time, and remember sitting in my 7th period art class when we found out what had happened. The news slowly trickled down from the high schoolers (MS and HS shared one building) that the had been some kind of attack, and that the WTC had collapsed. What stands out most in my memory that day is standing outside, a bunch of frantic 12 yr-olds trying every kind of pay phone and cell phone we could find to call our parents who worked in the city to make sure they were ok.

[RichC 0]

We were just discussing this last night at the firehouse. I stopped at a bank kiosk in WTC#5 around 8:30-35. From there down to the PATH train to Jersey City first stop Exchange Place right on the water. By the time I got up to street level in JerseyCity, people were out on the street looking back at NYC. I went to the trouble of saving the bank record but it's still in an envelope in my desk.

[Guest]

was sitting in the barber chair getting my hair cut when we heard on the radio a plane hit the first tower. thought air traffic control made a mistake or maybe some one scewed up. got in truck with my wife and we headed up to candlewood lake for the last day on the lake for the season. at about the northbound rest area on 684 the report of the second plane striking the other tower came on the radio , as well as a report of something in washington i think. i told my wife sometning really bad was going on and that we were turning around and going home. she got the kids and i went to the firehouse, where we all crowed in the Chiefs office and watched in shock. then we got the call to send an engine to DES and then down to the city. the rest is fuzzy-

[trauma74 111]

I was sleeping, it was my day off. I awoke to the sound of my alpha-numeric pager vibrating. I had it clipped to a plastic mug with loose change in it so it would rattle around and wake me up. I had IPN service on the pager. I grabbed the pager and I looked at 4-5 messages and it said that one of the WTC Towers was hit by jet. At first and before I turned on the TV I thought it was some kind of accident involving a small aircraft. When I turned on the TV and put the news on I saw the 2nd plane hitting the 2nd tower. I knew at that point that it was a terrorist attack. My heart sank. I called my Dad who works at West Point to make sure that our military bases were not being targeted by terrorists. He was ok and they sent all personnel home. My phone rang and it was my job, they did not even have to ask me to come in. I said I will be there as fast as possible. I was glued to FOX news on my XM radio the entire ride to work. Once I got to work I found that our Chief ordered all police officers into work to help the Army secure the entrances to Stewart Airport. I watched the news all day at work. I remember when the towers fell. I could not believe what was happening. I started to think about all my friends who are in the FDNY & NYPD. I had to make phone calls to try to find out if they were ok. Never in my entire life have I felt so horrible. The sadness that came over me was unlike anything I have ever felt.

Below I have posted some personal feelings and a video for everyone to watch. It is a hard video to watch. You will not be able to hold back any of your emotions when you see it. God Bless the families, friends and co-workers of all who were murdered on 9/11/01

This video is very powerful! Be aware that many feelings and emotions will come out when you watch this. It is pretty much impossible to watch this without feeling anger, sadness, revenge among many other feelings. This will make sure that you never forget what happened that day when those TERRORISTS MURDERED mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, cousins, friends and most of all................. our fellow Americans.

Watch this video below and then watch the news. You will see Osama Bin Laden on a video calling for death to America and our people. These videos show you what Bin Laden and his animals did to us and that he is still out there. He is out there planning more attacks on US and other countries around the world. He is sitting back and laughing at us. Our Military and Our Government know that he is still alive. This MURDER needs to hunted down and killed. I do not care what political party you belong to, you all know that the war on terror is far from being over. It is not a matter of if there will be another attack on America, it is a matter of when an attack will take place! Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for not forgetting about that terrible day. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Doug DiBlasi, A Proud American Who Will Never Forget 9/11/01

http://www.gunstuff.com/america-attacked.html

Edited September 11, 2007 by trauma74

[bfdlt141 0]

I was on I84W in Brewster NY. On the way to our Brewster store listing to Dee Snider on the old 104.1. I thought he was joking about what was happening. Then the other plain hit. the other truck on the road called our main store an the 2-way radio and asked if we were under attack. we made it to the Brewster store. I rushed in to watch the T.V. Just in Time to watch the replay of the second plain. and the collapse. I called my capt. to see if Chris Blackwell was working and if our friend Rod that was a pilot for AA was working. Chris was working Res3cue. And Rod was not . Then When to the F.D. and tried to got a crew together and go down to NY. When the Chief told us if FDNY needed us they will call for us.

[RescueKujo 130]

I had been assigned to an Emergency Medical Dispatch class in our Riverside office, and was in my hotel (Pacific Time). I subscribe to an internet paging service for major incidents. At 0550, the pager starting going off and I thought to myself "How is the San Diego traffic screwed up this morning?" when I read aircraft into the WTC. I immediately turned on the TV and sat transfixed, unable to move. I finally realized I had to get to class, so I got ready and left. There is a great all news AM radio station out of LA I listened to as I drove.

Once in class, it was a mess. One of my classmates from the LA center had cousins with FDNY and brothers on the LAFD, who were on the USAR Task Force. Another classmate had a sister who was a flight attendant for a major airline who was flying that day. We were all annoying the hell out of the Riverside Comm Center, as they had the only TV in the building, and on every break we would all cram in there for updates.

Later that night, I watched as both the LAFD and LACoFD USAR Task Forces went by on I215 towards March ARB for the flight to Maguire AFB for staging.

My thoughts go out to the families of those lost on that tragic day.

And Jimmy, my thoughts are with you this time every year also. Thank you for sharing what you did riding in my car 2 years ago. You know that even though I am 3000 miles away, I'm here for ya buddy.

[OnTheWheel 43]

sound asleep, phone rang shortly after second plane hit and was called into work. Sat in awe watching news while I "woke up" and watched the towers fall! Definitly will never forget it. Went down there Thursday, we were in charge of perimeter Security of Pier where command post was.

[gpdexplorer 46]

I was in 8th grade at Sleepy Hollow MS, in english when the planes hit and social studies when they collapsed. A teacher came in and whispered something to my teacher, and her face went blank. A few minutes later, she told us that a plane hit the Twin Towers. I remember thinking that you don't accidently hit a huge building like that. Throughout the day, our principal tried to keep us updated on the PA with what was going on. I remember hearing the Sleepy Hollow fire horns going off. It wasn't until I got home that I got to see a TV and see the images of what was going on. I remember wanting to help out so bad, but there was obviously nothing I could do since I was only 13. It;s been 6 years, and I still remember the day clearly.

RIP

FDNY 343

NYPD 23

PAPD 37

[Guest seanc]

i still remember that day like yesterday, i was sitting in the cafeteria with friends, and someone came up to me and said that the towers where attacked and no one believed it until everyone started to get called into their rooms where we where kept in silence while the teachers called parents and took the kids who had family in the city.

[Guest voeltz 234]

I was in gym class, when thay called everyone back to the classrooms. When i got home watched it on tv. They had called for 1 of our engines to relocate the bronx.

R.I.P MIKE LYONS, FDNY SQUAD 41, HAWTHORNE FD

[Ladder44 73]

I was in 5th grade and we were reading well day dreaming and then we went to the libray came back like 40 mins later and out teacher had this odd look on her face and then she sat us down told us what had happen and then got a phone call and had told us another plane had hit then through out the day people pulled the fire alarms as a joke and to get ut of school so yea thats my story

[zinger57 4]

I remember just how nice the weather was that day...crisp blue sky, perfect temperature. I was attending UCONN in Stamford that day..just beginning my Freshman year. I actually had the same class as my brother...Bio 107. The class actually started right after 9, but I hadn't heard anything until another student came in and said the Towers were hit. At first I thought it was small planes, but I still just wanted to get out of the class and see what was happening. Unfortunately, the teacher would not let us leave, didn't seem to care what was going on, but continued to teach. That was one class day that I would have remembered nothing she said, and it took me until the drive home to find out what was really going on. Then when I got home the magnitude of the attack really hit me.