I really hope Rockytop gets on today. I believe it was he who has the story about being deployed and pioneering a communication method on 9/11.
Junior in high school, social studies class with a war veteran as my teacher. Another teacher entered the room, whispered in his ear and they both left. He returned a minute or two later with a tv. He flipped it on and told us all to be quite. We watched the 2nd plane hit live. He stood up, turned the tv off and said "class, we're going to war." Never forget that.
I was in 2nd grade IIRC, me and my siblings didn't go to school that day for some reason or the other, so we were outside playing in the yard. Some time after the 2nd plane hit, my dad called home and told mom to bring us inside and he rushed home. I don't really remember much from that day about the attacks(most of my memory is seeing stuff much later) other than my mom sat on the couch and watched the news and cried the entire day. I remember me and my brothers thinking it couldnt be that bad because we got to skip school, dad came home early and we got to sit inside and play Pokemon the whole day. We were just too young to grasp the gravity of it at the time.
I was at work 4 blocks from the White House. I was preparing for a conference call with a firm in NY and went to ask my boss a question. I still remember her face as she had just got off the phone with someone in one of the towers. The only tv on the floor was a 13" with rabbit ears, which is where about 40 coworkers watched the plane hit the second tower. Our call was cancelled and we all stood there in silence watching the little tv. People sitting on the floor, standing on desks, etc. Just after 10 the phones started blowing up with the pentagon news. Went to the top of the building where we could see the billowing smoke. The CEO basically said you can stay or go, depending on wherever one felt most safe. Rumors were flying around that the State dept/White House/Capitol bldg had been bombed or under threat. Nowhere felt safe, so a coworker buddy and I walked to the White House. Pretty crazy scene. I tried to go home, but the metro was shut down for most of the day and cell phones were useless at that point. I rode with my friend to his house in Arlington and could see the pentagon on the way. Made it home around 10 after the metro opened up, literally seeing no one else on the train. I lived on the hill at the time, bookended by Ted Stevens and Trent Lott as neighbors. Greeted by secret service agents as I walked up to the house, they asked for my ID to confirm that i was (name). Had never met them before, but they knew my name. Normally only having a driver, Lott received a 24/7 detail for around 3 mos after 9/11. The next day was surreal. Humvees on every corner, soldiers everywhere. Not normal sights around the hill or downtown DC. Then getting to work and hearing of the clients, friends/family, etc of coworkers that were victims. Almost every acquaintance I had in NYC knew someone that was killed.
Phoenix, AZ on a project...wife called me and told me to turn on the TV. Called travel agent and she told me do NOT return your rental car. We decided the next night to drive home to Atlanta.... There were 4 of us and we split into two teams and drove pretty much non-stop.
i was working in Crew Scheduling at Fedex on the midnight shift of 9/10, and my shift was over at 6am the morning of 9/11. As an oddity, i was working the 727 desk and around 5am or so, I launched a crew to Bradley/BDL ... 6am came around, i went home and somebody called me to turn on the tv because of a crash in Manhattan. For a minute, i was pretty nervous because the BDL route takes them right by JFK.. The next night at work was very weird. Everything was grounded, and nothing for us to do at work except try to find where everybody had diverted. It was a complete goat rope... and it was VERY odd not to hear a plane in the sky over Memphis between 10pm and 3am. I went into 4 days off, came back, and as happenstance would have it, the BDL crew had just come back to MEM, and called to check in. I asked the captain about it, and he said they were close enough to see the smoke and heard it all over the radio. Never will forget it.
I’ve searched for this off-and-on for two days, Card, and can’t find anything. I’d like to find it for you, but also see it for myself, as I appreciate the personal context of large historical events, such as this. Is this all that you remember, and how sure are you that these are the facts (e.g. Fox News, window washer, etc.)? What was the resolution, if any - did she find him?
What a fantastic article. So much there to think about now, much less for them, standing in the middle of it, and in real time. JFK used to go back and forth in heated exchanges with his Secret Servicemen, as I’m sure most Presidents do (the goals of the POTUS are fundamentally different and irreconcilable to those of of the USSS, and vice versa). The USSS ignoring POTUS’ orders to return to DC were amazing. This USSS agent’s response to one of a dozen or so times that POTUS’ entourage - and Bush, personally - urged a return to DC, is truly amazing. “Mark [Tillman] (USSS) said, “I don’t care what he says, I’m in charge of the plane.” For an agent to say this in response to a direct order from POTUS himself, at all, but particularly while they’re trapped on the same plane and just right down the aisle from each other is, well, extraordinary. I wonder what word have happened had Bush ordered the Air Force Captain who piloted the plane to land at Langley? Fortunately, it didn’t come to that.
I dont know. Thats the problem. There's one story about a window washer who died but I'm 95% for sure its not him. I may just email fox news and hope some caring person gets it and will help.
The article's author has written an entire oral history of 9/11 that came out Tuesday. Was released Tuesday. My copy is supposed to arrive tomorrow.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t watch Fox News but I remember the woman looking for the window washer with a photo. So perhaps another news source (as well)? Also I seem to recall someone who had a picture of a loved one that worked at Windows on the World - and I wonder if after 18 years I’m combining memories.
I saw a story about a window washer. He was working on tower 2. He did the windows by hand for the restaurant up top. Windows of the World?
This is what I was referring to above. I remember window washer but also Windows on the World. Not sure if two different people or the same one. Also wondering if the word Windows is causing memory tricks.
