Where were you and what did you you that day?

CGoog · Post by **CGoog** » September 12th, 2006, 6:35 pm

My daughter was 5 mnths and 20 days old, therefore feeding time came pretty early. I remember me and my Sister-n-law watching the news and saw the second plane crash. As I was sitting there rocking and feeding my baby all I could do was think to myself and say "you dirty little son of a bitches", of course that was after my eyes watered up with tears. I know I sat there and thought about how bad this world would be when my daughter gets to be my age. In my heart I know with men like all of you, Hopefully it wont be too bad for her to live in.

SA Yons · Post by **SA Yons** » September 18th, 2006, 3:07 am

I was a Junior at West Point, walking to my Military Law class. Ironic thing was, a week prior in my Structural Engineering class (I majored in Civil Eng) my professor mentioned that the World Trade Center was designed to withstand an airplane crash. So I walked into the class all, "It's ok, it won't collapse, the towers were designed to take that hit!"

Then I shit myself as the first tower started collapsing.

For the next few weeks my incredibly spazzed-out CAD professor insisted that we should cancel the Army-Navy game because it was too easy a target for the terrorists.

The result of the terrorist attacks for the Class of 2002 at West Point? A record number of cadets branched Infantry; in effect telling those terrorists who are opposed to the United States of America and what we stand for to: "BRING IT ON!!"

Ok, now I'm fired up.

-SA

Steadfast · Post by **Steadfast** » April 7th, 2007, 5:19 pm

GSXRanger · Post by **GSXRanger** » April 7th, 2007, 5:24 pm

I was on a JCET down in South America somewhere... doing what I do best. But, I still remember it like it was yesterday.

AntonA2W · Post by **AntonA2W** » April 7th, 2007, 5:48 pm

I was driving to my girlfriends' work, TGI Fridays, live in Jersey, can see the towers in horizon. Saw the smoke and thought some idiot had run his cessna into it. (My father had a friend, Nam SF Vet, who run into high-tension wires, they ID'd him by the tat on his arm) Walked into TGIs, it was on the news already and we were still clueless, pointed at the screen, and laughingly said,"YEA, some idiot couldn't see the big, gray thing ahead of him" and made a few more jokes. Really put mu foot in my mouth that time, Aye Boys? Afterward, I felt like a shitbag, and tried to reenlist. RLTW

Ardent Lady · Post by **Ardent Lady** » April 8th, 2007, 12:49 am

The day was so normal... I was at home, overseeing the homeschooling of our 3 highschool aged kids, making sure it was happening like it was supposed to, when we got a call from a friend who told us to turn on the TV. The screen showed a smoking tower, and helicpoters circling it as the anchor folk talked about trying to land on the building and rescue the people up there. I realized gradually it was the WTC, and then said, "But there are supposed to be two towers..."

I called my husband at work in disbelief. He called me back after the second tower went down, and together we cried for the workers and the firemen who were surely lost. A friend of ours had a nephew up there who didn't even get to make a call out to his family.

We watched the news almost all day - no more text book type of homeschool work was done - not with history in the making. The impact of those planes was felt in our conversations and our feelings for a long time, and today my then sophmore in high school is with the 82nd, serving in the box.

Confusion to our enemies. Godspeed our mission.

"Peace through superior firepower"

Parkie · Post by **Parkie** » April 8th, 2007, 5:37 am

I was in JRTC on a train up for our Brigade heading over to Kosovo in 2 months. I was the S2 for my Arty BN and we were doing the basic planning for the next simulated mission and all that you do at JRTC when one of the Rater NCOs came in the TOC and mentioned what was going on. We were pretty stuck with no way to actually see what was happening. For a couple of hours we would just sit around and wait for another NCO to stop by and fill us in. After a while we were able to hook up one computer to a non-secure line and watch it on a small video from CNN.com or something. The entire TOC was standing around the screen watching replay videos and some live stuff.

Two weeks later we get out of JRTC and the whole world seemed like it changed. On the way out of Polk, we found out the post was now closed and there were MP HMMWVs everywhere pulling security with weapons at the ready. Driving out all of the houses had US flags and everything was surreal.

Life back at Drum wasn't the same either. Neither was my marriage at one of the post chapels, which was 2 wks after getting back from JRTC. Going from an open post to a closed one just seemed so different and really can mess up your routine.

Seabass1-4 · Post by **Seabass1-4** » April 8th, 2007, 7:34 am

I was in Germany with Tenn-RGR when it happened. We thought that we were the logical choice to go since we were half way there, but no dice.

It didn't go real good for the CMTC role players once they told us to shut and continue to zero the MILES gear.

cams · Post by **cams** » April 8th, 2007, 11:44 am

I was sleeping in that morning as it was my day off and had worked a double shift the day before, I remember someone banging on my door, banging on my windows, and my phone ringing off the hook.

I woke up like "WTF is going on. What's all this noise?!" Realizing it was my son's mother outside, I thought something had happened to him and woke up in a second.

She yelled in the window to turn on the news and get outta bed, I let her in, turned on the tv and saw a tower burning and was still like, "You woke me up for a fucking fire in NY?"

She yelled at me, "We're being attacked!" My eyes popped open like the little smiley emoticon

and I was speechless for about ten minutes watching the news.

My phone rang again, this time it was work, ordering in all available personel. I had already begun to get dressed and grab equipment.

I looked at her, told her to "get Hunter and start North towards Maine, to my parents house, get away from the city now. Go. I'll find you if it comes to that." (not knowing what to expect at this point, but learning that the bastards had come from Boston I was expecting war in the streets when I got there)

I remember driving (flying) into work on the highway, it was a ghost town, the entire city looked abandoned, empty streets everywhere, highways were abandoned, it was erie as hell. Fighters flying overhead, an abandoned city, it was just very surreal, like a movie.

I got to the back gate of my job which is a keycard entry point, and was now guarded by 2 SWAT members with MP-5's.

After getting inside and getting a quick briefing, I was at work til 2300 the following day (12th) during which I was struck on my motorcyle responding to the Copley Marriot where terrorists had allegedly holed up and had explosives in the room.

My arm got stuck between the handlebars and a panicking drivers car as he crossed lanes without looking and struck my left side, pushing the skin on my left arm down like roadrash as it caught up against the window of the moving car (glass rash?), then it threw me to the ground and into the curb.

The driver was a panicked father trying to get his 5 yr old son out of the daycare next to the hotel. He was beside himself with worry. I knew how he felt. My son was 4 at the time and my older son already lived far North so he was GTG for the time being.

I just told him to "go, get him and get outta here", picked up my bike and kept working til they sent some of us home that night for rest at about 2300.

We worked 18 hr days 7 days a week for the next month until higher ups felt the threat to the immediate city had subsided for the moment.

Driving home that night 12SEP01, still on an abandoned highway, trying to keep my eyes open from droning out and listening to Jimmy Hendrix's version of the "Star Spangled Banner" on the radio, 2 fighter jets roared over head back towards the city, my eyes welled up with tears from exhaustion, stress and grief and I knew that the world had forever changed.

*Post note: 2 suspects were taken into custody from the hotel. I cannot elaborate further.

Rett · Post by **Rett** » April 8th, 2007, 1:01 pm

Sitting in my 8th grade art class, wondering what all the commotion was about, I could see by the look of the teachers that it wasnt something ordinary. Soon enough, the teacher turned on CNN and I saw the most horrific site I had ever seen. One of the reasons I want to become a Ranger today.

swagger · Post by **swagger** » April 8th, 2007, 3:02 pm

I was in Germany with Tenn-RGR when it happened. We thought that we were the logical choice to go since we were half way there, but no dice.

You guys weren't the only ones, B co 1/75 plus attachments were sitting in a hangar in England. We were thinking the same exact thing. Preping for a mission, when 1SG called company enmass and fills everyone in. Remember not knowing wether my wife was flying to NY that day or the next and freaking myself out. Then they broke out the the green tip and stood us up at the main gates. First footage I saw was on a five inch television in the guard house. My soul hurt as I watched them replay the planes hitting the towers over and over again.