Let us never forget all lives lost during this horrific day. May we take a moment of silence and continue our prayers for the families of all loved ones taken from them.
I was at work. We all watched it live on the TV in the conference room. Strangest day of my life, the skies were so quiet with all flights grounded. My drive home takes me under the approaches for Tampa International, no planes coming in. Then National Guard anti-aircraft batteries guarding the channel into the bay. I wanted to volunteer, but my wife was expecting our third child and talked me out of it.
I was living in San Diego at the time. I was at home. I don't know why my husband had me turn on the TV to watch since we never watched/listened to the news. I was amazed! They showed footage of the plane hitting one of the towers, but didn't show the aftermath. I probably turned off the TV then, since I refused to watch the news (just violent and depressing - why watch?). What I didn't know for years is all the outpouring of help with private boats/yachts that came when the coast guard called, to get people off Manhattan. People can be so wonderful! (Even New Yorkers! )
My mother, who was taking care of my grandparents who were a block away from our suburban house called me (on the landline of course); my father was spending the night at UCSB as was often his custom. She said “there is a massive terror attack, they’ve hit the pentagon, the world trade center and they’re crashing all our planes, we need to get groceries now!” I was 15 but very much world-aware; I would say my childhood and adolescence had concluded earlier that summer following an exquisite five week trip through Europe, and due to the illness of my grandparents and other factors I had already had the realization there is no limit to human misery.** While we were driving to the grocery store, Tower II collapsed; the latest news was on the grocery store speakers and they were starting to talk about whether it was AA 77 that had actually hit the Pentagon and also that UA 93 and a Delta flight were unaccounted for (the Delta flight was later confirmed to be OK, and we all know the story of United 93). When we got back to my grandparents house, my uncle, who had a security company, was listening to his police scanner; two somewhat tall (like 16 and 24 story) office buildings in the largest city in our county were evacuating, and there was a police report of Muslims in one mostly Hispanic city waving non-American flags and cheering. There were similiar reports in New York City of that occurring, which I have always found spooky, in light of the fog of war. Then, Tower 1 collapsed on television to my horror and that was the end of the WTC. *See note; I may be remembering the timing of the Tower 1 collapse slightly out of order. That night, I remember looking up at the sky and seeing two F-16s overflying our town with afterburners lit. I could tell they were F16s as I was an aviation buff and these had single engines clearly visible from the afterburners. I would imagine this was a patrol operated by the California Air National Guard; the ANG is dominated by F16s (although I know of two squadrons which have the faster F15, and the Alaska Air National Guard famously has the F-22, being the only squadron outside of the regular airforce to fly the ATF; of course this is a recent development; in 2001 the F-22 was brand new and not really operational and destined for major problems with its oxygen system, and there were lots of old F16 A and Bs still in service). But seeing them was striking, as we lived under a flight lane into LAX where I could regularly spot A340s, 747s, 777s and other aircraft on approach, and also very close to a general aviation airport, but while not very far from the military flight lanes, they were not exceedingly common, and so the complete absence of civil aviation and seeing the F16 patrol was striking. The next night in lieu of our regular meeting, my Methodist Youth Fellowship went to the Presbyterian church where a list was being updated of any people locally known who were unaccounted for. In the end I think 2 or 3 people known to the community in addition to one very high profile local resident, were victims. There was one positive outcome to 9/11, the faintest silver lining on the darkest of clouds, and that was how the country came together. There was a palpable feeling of unity and brotherhood in the face of what seemed like an existential crisis. I visited New York and spent time there in 2002 and 2003, and these were some of the best experiences of my life. But I cannot forget that ugly hole in the ground that was Ground Zero after the cleanup was complete. It was just a big empty hole, with temporary fencing, and a temporary rail station, and unpaved dirt. The dirt was the worst. It was the ugliest looking dirt I have ever seen. I wish so much they had planted a temporary garden or paved it over or something while debating the future of the site. It looked worse to me in its emptiness than the wreckage of the towers, as bad as that was. *I do swear by almighty God that the above is a true and accurate testimony of my experiences on 9/11 to the best of my recollection, and in the aftermath and contains no fabrications or known errors. The exact timeline after I woke up, until Tower 1 collapsed, is as best as I can recall; it is possible its collapse was announced while we were driving back, but I can’t precisely remember on this point. ** This phrase, which I had coined on my own, although it is hardly original, became an oft repeated phrase from the age of 15 on as I lost the ability to be surprised by how bad things could get, misery compounded by misery. May God save us and have mercy on us.
I was at home and a friend called me and told me to turn on the tv. It was before the plane hit the second tower. As I was watching it live I saw on tv the 2nd plane hit the second tower. At that time I lived near the airport. It was very eerie when they grounded all planes because being so close to the airport, we always heard planes taking off and landing.
I was in the kitchen, listening to the radio (we had no tv), when it suddenly came up. It was horrendous. It felt as if the world had suddenly become a very different and bad place. And I remember feeling sick when hearing that Palestinians were dancing in the streets and handing out sweets.
Could someone pull from one of the Books of Common Prayer, or alternately compose, a prayer for us to say in remembrance? I can do this later tonight (right now I am having an arthritic attack), but it might be better if an Anglican minister (of any rank: priest, deacon, reader, lay minister, or bishop if we have any) led us in prayer.