9/11: 5 years onward
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- Teeuwen0
here it is, city of hollow mountains by the light surgeons (2001)
- JKristofer0
Thanks Mal. Me too. =]
- JKristofer0
We did lose one family friend in Tower 2. That was painful. He left a wife and two very young children. =[
- Mal0
Sorry to hear that Jason.
I'm counting my many blessings right now.
- Teeuwen0
christ, that is terrible. hope you were able to comfort the family.
:'(
- PonyBoy0
jason... how far away from the towers were you when you saw them coming down?
... not to be gruesome... but what did it all 'sound' like?
My uncle was over on the Jersy side of the river about 8-10 miles back from the island... to him...it just didn't look 'real', it took moments (he said) to set in what he just watched happen.
- Teeuwen0
i jsut saw an interview with the two surviving cops that also "starred" in the movie by Stone.. one of them said that nothing on tv came even close to reality..
- JKristofer0
Thanks for sharing that film Janne! My mother was great and was a super support to that family. Was there comforting every step of the way.
Thanks for the kind words Mal.
PonyBoy it was awful. I was on a train (one which I never take) and as soon as we were in the middle of the bridge the conductor stopped the train and announced “Those of you who work near the twin towers may want to take a look at the left side”. We all scrambled to see one of the 2 towers on fire. When I got off the train both towers were on fire I think and I began to walk straight to the towers. Don’t ask me why. I have no fucking idea. I think because as far as I knew it was just an awesome sight and my mind was unable to comprehend what it was uploading. Once I got within about 6 blocks people began to rush towards me and one women was crying and screaming “They’re jumping!”. I looped right the fuck around. I did not want that burned in my memory.
The sound was just earth rumble. Not good.
Janne we launched Newstoday a couple of months before 9/11.
- JKristofer0
The first tower that dropped happened right after my decision to turn around and loop back in the other direction. The other shortly after.
- PonyBoy0
thanks for sharing that, JK... I'm glad you and your family were safe that day. :)
- mattyd040
I remember I was landscaping at the time, and we had to do this massive lawn that day because it was the last week my boss had my friends and I before we went to school. On the way to the house, we heard all the radio broadcasts of what was happening, but as a rule of the company, we couldn't enter anybody's house to see it. As we pull up to the house, there was a large gate in front with a long, winding driveway to the front door. A we arrivied, we began to take all the equipment off the truck. As we were doing so, the owner of the house, this fragile looking man, came up to our boss and asked if we could postpone our work for another day as he was looking after his daughter, who was dying of cancer and he wanted her to rest. My boss empathized, but said it had to be done that day because it was our last week. The man said, okay, go ahead and we started our job.
Two hours behind a mower, walking back and forth in this sprawling backyard, you were just left to think. Not having all the info on what was happening was a little unnerving as fighter jets were roaring by overhead. After we finished, we did our routine of putting all the equipment back onto the truck only to be interrupted by this car racing up the driveway. It was like a scene in a movie, I remember it vivdly: I was leaning on the back of a mower, with my sleeves rolled all the way up with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. My friend was sitting at the end of a truck bed casually smoking a cigarette. As she walked by us, it was almost like it was in slow motion. I just remember her staring at me as she walked by, we exchanged glances and she said "I'm sorry you have to be there for this."
The woman walks up to the front door and rings the doorbell. The old man answers and his face lit up at the sight of this woman. The man could tell something was wrong when he saw her demeanor. She then embraced him and the man's expression just dropped. She just kept saying, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry" as the man wept. My boss then walked up two the two, his hat off and gripped tightly with both hands in front of him, nodded and then turned and came towards us. Walking back, he gave us this look that suggested we finish doing what we were doing as soon as possible.
With the truck all loaded up, we started back down the driveway. My friend, concerned, asked my boss, "What just happened?" My boss pursed his lips, furrowed his brow and gently said "His brother was on the second plane." After hearing that, I had this feeling like someone had just punched me in the stomach and I just naturally looked away. My eyes stopped right at the sideview mirror. In it, I could perfectly see the two still embracing. I watched that with the heaviest heart until they were no longer in sight.
I'll never forget that moment and that day. I wish the best for those whose stories strike closer to home (such as yours, Jason) or for anybody who lost somebody that day. Five years on, but still seems like yesterday.
- Teeuwen0
it took a while before the first tower drop.. the sight of the huge antenna going down was the moment i started getting tears in my eyes, not earlier then that..so bizarre..
- Teeuwen0
holy shit, matty. that is unbelievable. taking care of a daughter dying of cancer and then losing your brother in an instant..fuck.
some people get all the misery at once. :(
- PonyBoy0
heavy story there matty... there are so many stories like that too, thanks for sharing.
- Teeuwen0
these stories should be in a book, jsut personal stories of random people over the world..
- dijitaq0
i was working overtime and for some reason i don't quite remember, we turned on the tv to cnn and like 5 minutes later the news broke...
5 years went by so quickly...
- PonyBoy0
5 years went by so quickly...
dijitaq
(Sep 8 06, 17:29)
- Teeuwen0
*nods
- tkmeister0
i used to work 2blocks from there. the night before the 11th, we had a gallery opening and after that, were standing right at the bottom of wtc to figure out if we should go up to the rainbow room to have more drinks. we decided against it. the night went on and we kept drinking in LES till the wee hours of the morning.
i was late to work next day and found out when the train was shut down, people were looking up toward wtc.
drinking saved me in a funny way.
- tkmeister0
actually it was the window of the world, not the rainbow room. i always get confused with those.