Remembering September 11, 2001

[Mimi]

Hi all,

Just remembered the date we have today and how I lived that day six years ago.
It was the second day in a new job I was not yet used to. I was organizing the office for a small private school near Heidelberg. So I wondered why so few children came for their lessons that afternoon, why nobody called in to annoy me with questions I couldn't answer yet, I only enjoyed the quiet afternoon, talked to the other teachers etc. When I went home I turned on the radio in my car to hear very strange, science fiction like "stories" and comments by journalists and politicians about hijacked planes crashing into the WTC and the Pentagon, about hundreds of innocent people taken as hostages. I changed the radiostation - same story - next station - more nightmares. Trying to find out what was going on I realized that there was no traffic at all at 6:30 p.m. when I was used to drive stop and go in a traffic jam. This was very strange. When I came home I found Rachel sitting on the floor in front of the TV, staring on it, where the same scene was repeated over and over again: The second plane crashing into the twintowers and the collapsing towers. I joined her, trying to realize what was going on - and we sat there for hours and hours, without eating, without talking, just staring. Once I stepped out on the balcony and found a spooky silence, silent as it usually is on Christmas eve on a "usual" warm Tuesday mid September evening. Later that night you could see that people weren't sleeping but sticking in front of their TVs.

Well, I can't believe that it's already six years ago - but I see how September 11 has changed the whole world.

How do you remember that day?

Mimi

[RedjackRyan]

I was home, waiting for the folks from the gas company to do a safety check. While i waited i amused myself with an online game whittling away the 2 hours with digital mayhem and carnage. At one point the phone rang so i got up from the computer, walked back into the bedroom and answered the corded phone. It was my wifes mother, as we chatted briefly i noticed that the tv showed one of the world trade center towers on fire. The sound was down low so i didn't know what was going on, just that there was a fire.

I hung up with my mother-in-law and called my wife at work..getting her voicemail. I left a message asking her to call her mom and almost as an afterthought said 'oh and the Trade Center is on fire' and hung up to go back to my game. When i got back into the game, my clanmates were sitting in Soshi talking about the fire at the trade center. Few of them had more information than I did so i went back to slaying snowy mattekars, as I did I heard a knock on the door. It was the gas company come to do their check. So I logged off and let them in. I turned the big tv on downstairs as the guys got to work.. The tv came up just in time to show the second aircraft slamming into the other tower. We all stopped what we were doing and sat down in the living room. One of the guys said, 'this is an attack..its got to be' I agreed with him, one plane smashing into the Trade center could be an accident..but not two. And the news people were talking about an impact at the Pentagon as well.
The phone rang and i answered, it was my wife calling to say that she had heard from someone in her office that the pentagon was on fire, I confirmed that and also told her that Tower one had just collapsed. We were cut off unexpectedly as the phone circuits were overloaded.. I tried the cellphone, but apparently our companys phone systems were also overloaded.

I went back to the gas company workers and started passing around beer.. The four of us just watched numbly as the newscasters recounted the events of the last 30 minutes. With every passing moment I could feel anger rising inside of me.. I wasn't afraid, but i was seething mad. My gut told me without a shadow of a doubt that the carnage i was watching was the result of some terrorist plot. I remembered all too well the earlier attempt on the world trade center and figured that this time the sob's had gotten it right. If my finger had been on the red button at that moment, Mecca would have been a smoking crater and most of the middle east would have been glowing in the dark. I'm not proud of that, but I am honest about it.. Thats still how i feel.

We were startled by the sound of two military planes roaring overhead under full Afterburners.. They shot off towards the southeast and I commented that 'someone was about to get their arse whooped' My assumption was that another airliner was suspected of being under terrorist control and these planes were about to splash it proved to be correct as the news folks started talking about another aircraft that was not answering the tower and had strayed from its flightplan. This turned out to be Flight 93.

When we heard about United Flight 93 going down, apparently as a result of the passengers taking on the hijackers, we all cheered. "Right on, Way to Go. That'll show those bastards' we chanted. The Testosterone was so thick in that room you could have cut it with a knife. The gas company guys decided to leave after giving me the ok. And I spent some time debating if I could get back into the city to get my wife, or if it wouldn't make a difference now with the traffic solid I figured I'd never get in to get her and she'd be better off riding the bus home.

That was six years ago.. just typing these words relating my thoughts and feelings on that day have me just as angry as I was when it happened. Angry at them for killing folks I knew, angry for them killing people I didn't know at all.. Angry at politicians who are more concerned with protecting their powerbase than doing what needs to be done. Angry that good Americans are dying overseas while nitwits back home vote on endless non-binding resolutions. Angry that little old ladies get stopped in airports for full body searches while throngs of muslims walk by unsearched and unmolested.
I'll stop there as i'm getting quite wound up, and this wasn't the point of Mimi's post.

[Dee]

I had taken my camera that Tuesday morning to Parliament Hill, to play tourist and find some beauty in the late summer days. The air was clear and fresh and not overly hot, sunny, but not scorchingly so in the mid morning.

I had no idea about what was going on in the US that morning, or that our own gov't and other workers were being progressively evacuated from their office buildings in shifts from the downtown core (although, thinking back, there did seem to be a lot of people on mid morning coffee break on my way to the Hill, but certainly nothing unusual seeming).

On the grounds of the eastern Hill, I mingled with other tourists in the dappling bright sun and cool morning shade (British, American, German, and Canadians, according to various accents I heard spoken), all calmly and thoughtfully photographing a collection of statues erected in tribute to the five famous Canadian women responsible for changing British laws early last century, acknowledging women as persons here in Canada.

Soon, police sirens began to wail in the distant city streets, and vehicles rushed to and fro. One police car screeched to halt to block traffic, while, there we calmly lingered, posing and picturing, completely oblivious that a bomb scare had been effected regarding a suspicious package in a vehicle parked next to the historic building not 100 metres from where we were! I later learned this was all some fool's idea of fun in the midst of national security going on high alert, and a false alarm.

I mentioned to a small family of cigarette smoking tourists, "Must be somebody important arriving. Lots of noise, anyway." They looked at me oddly, and rather numbly murmured, yah, which I thought rather unfriendly at the time. In retrospect, however, they must have already heard about the horrifying news back home.

Onward I strolled around the Hill promenade, passing flocks of tourists enjoying the Ottawa River view below, and distant Gatineau Hills, hints of autumn colour beginning to show on their wide green horizon.

More picture taking, more leisurely enjoyment.

At the Summer Pavilion on the west side of Parliament, part of a film crew was at work on a movie, working out some camera angles. From inside the pavilion, I watched outward at what they were doing for a few minutes, then one of the crew said to me, "Just keep smiling," to which I replied, "The light is good this morning." He agreed. I continued on my journey around The Hill.

Just beyond the film production trucks, a van was parked on the western driveway, its radio broadcasting rather loudly. It wasn't until I got closer that I heard the reporting of the terrorist incidents underway in the United States. A couple of American tourists stopped to listen, then others. I wanted to approach and say something, but could not bring myself to intrude in their shocking upset.

It was beginning to be close to my noon meeting time for coffee with my friend Terry, so I headed over to the World Exchange Plaza where we typically meet. On the Sparks Street pedestrian mall, some were stopping to watch television news reports on a set in an open-fronted restaurant, unbelievable images of massive smoke clouds billowing over New York city. In review, my mind was kind of perplexed by what I was seeing, wondering, How can this be? What does it mean?

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k267/deemark/Photo%20Shoebox%20VI/110901.jpg

Arriving at the Exchange Plaza, people were buzzing with nervous energy. Terry met me at the top of the circular main lobby stairs, coffee in hand, asking if I had heard what was going on? I told him I hadn't heard many details, got a coffee, and out we went for our regular walk.

When I got home later that afternoon and turned on the tv, I could not believe the video footage of airliners plowing into those twin towers. I still cannot quite, and I've seen it over and over again in the past couple of days. It's as if my mind is obsessed with rechecking, trying to make some sense, that this is fact and not some bizarre kind of dream state.

[SongDragon]

In remembrance.

I was in eighth grade. I had managed to do something funny that morning, though funny in a rather frightening way, so my friends and I were all sort of tentatively laughing through the day.

By about ten or eleven it was obvious something was wrong, and so the nervousness throughout the morning became worse. Teachers just weren't the same, but there was something they weren't telling us.

At lunch, around eleven thirty, people were talking about it, but I didn't understand, because I didn't know what had happened. I thought it was some bloody video game or something. Or they were talking about something in history. I didn't know what they were talking about.

After lunch my Tech Ed teacher was the one that finally saw fit to tell us what was going on. I tried to joke with him as usual, but he was completely silent. Then he led us all down the hall to the Telecom room, where we all watched, with the Telecom class, the World Trade Center on the news.

I kept suddenly wanting to speak, to say something, to ask anything, but every time I opened my mouth I suddenly shut up again. There wasn't anything to say.

Later teachers did spend about ten minutes on it, to try and explain to others, or to explain where their minds were. We were in Connecticut. So many people had family in and around New York, but we were all trapped in classes and school, and so had no way of making sure every single person was safe, yet.

When I got home my family tried to tell me what had happened, and I think I cut them off curtly. Angrily. I'm not sure why, still.

That entire weekend I watched the reruns, even though every psychology pannel and even News Broadcasters had special announcements telling you not to watch. To get outside and get your mind away from it.

It was more of a strange day than anything for me. Surreal. Which just happened to be the Word-of-the-Day word for English that day.

I don't remember much of it.

But in remembrance, because I'll never forget it, either.

~SongDragon

[aabram]

I watched the News in horror, prayed and then went to work. I was Special Needs Auxiliary at Balerno High School, just before Catherine started there in First Year. It was during the next few days that the true horrific nature of the story unfurled and we realised what had just hit America.

[Mimi]

Just re-read Janis' 9-11-diary, covering the period from September 10 to 24. For those of you who don't know it yet, here's the link: http://www.janisian.com/news-2001sept11.html

Mimi



"Day 1: Tuesday, September 11
Was awakened by Tina at 7:30, telling me to turn on CNN. At first I thought I was watching previews for a new action film; the graphics were great, sure, but I picked up the phone to read her out for waking me early on a full day off. Then I saw the text below. Are they bombing New York? Who? Why?
My little crew and I gather in my room, wanting the company of friends. We are glued to the TV, imprinting those planes morphing through the World Trade Center. I keep flipping back to the first Kennedy assassination, the shock rolling through our sixth grade class. I worry for the crew, all substantially younger than I am. They've never been through a national crisis before.

I am having a visceral reaction of pure, primitive rage. This is my country. That is my city. We played the WTC not three weeks ago. Philip worries about the sound crew, who would have been packing up this morning. We're all trying to call home, trying to call friends. I send a global email to everyone I know asking if they're all right, and am promptly shut down by AOL for spamming.
I am the oldest, the grownup on duty, so I move into logistics. Is there a show tomorrow? Should there be? What kind of reaction is appropriate in this circumstance? I think it's better for people to come together, but I'm suddenly leery of crowds. I'm trying to puzzle out my reaction, and realize it reminds me of the last earthquake I was in. For months after, I avoided overpasses and electrical lines.
Afternoon: Rumors fly; 50,000 people in the WTC on an average morning. No one got out. Everyone got out. The mysterious "they" are attacking California next; New York was just the beginning. So far no one I know was hit. I'm glad we're nowhere near the naval base here.
Tina can't stop crying, parked in front of the TV. As though it will change if she watches long enough. Tried to get through to Richie and Leslie in Jersey but the phones are down. Stupid, I think, they'll need the lines for emergencies. Instead I yell at AOL for disconnecting me during a crisis, and check my email. Smart Leslie; their phones are shutting on and off, so she's doing everything with flash sessions. They've been watching the buildings collapse from their kitchen window.
Last night they'd called United to try and upgrade their flight this morning; they'd almost changed to the earlier flight, but had decided to sleep in.
Emails are coming into my website from all over the world, people concerned about other people who spend time on the site, people assuring us we'll be okay, people anxious for news. An amazing outpouring.
I notice news reports are no longer saying "African-American" or "Hispanic-American", but merely "American". Yes.
Evening: What to do with my crew, everyone in a state of subdued hysteria? I invite them to dinner, where we talk about terrorism. Everyone in the restaurant wants to nuke Afghanistan. Also Pakistan, the Palestinians, Iran and Iraq. I keep thinking about the bomb drills we used to do in school. A siren would go off and we'd all duck under our desks, arms covering our heads, butts in the air. It was supposed to protect us in the event of a nuclear attack. I used to wonder what I'd be worth with my butt blown off. That was before I learned about fallout.
There's a huge disparity in the reactions of people over 50 and the younger folk. Those of us in our 50's lived through both Kennedy assassinations, and that of Martin Luther King. We were home watching when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot, live on national TV. We remember the riots. We remember the Viet Nam protests, and the Chicago police riot. We've experienced national emergencies before, we know life will continue somehow.
The younger ones have never faced a great crisis. The closest they came was the Oklahoma City bombing. And McVeigh was one of ours."

[aabram]

Thank you, Mimi once again for this. It was before I was led back to Janis's work.

Annabel

[Rickster]

I was sent home by my boss on Sept. 11th. Wondering if my Sister-in law Mary got out of the North tower in time. Mary was on the 82nd floor when the plane hit and 8 months pregnant with her first child. It was a grueling day not knowing where Mary was and if she got out alive. We heard from Mary that day around 3:30 pm. She was in midtown having something to eat. It was very difficult for her to contact anyone as the Major cell phone tower was out of commission when the North tower collapsed. When Mary got down to the lobby of the North tower...a policeman put her in the back seat of his Suv and drove her away to Midtown. Just as they were pulling away...the building began to collapse. Mary was one of the lucky ones. She named her baby (2 weeks later) Sydney Grace. The way she fiqures it...is that it was the grace of God...that led her out of the building safely! Very Sad day indeed. My condolences to all the families that were not so fortunate! God Bless!

[Agnes]

I was in-between classes at university, trying to get something to drink in the cafeteria when my phone rang. An excited friend yelled at me that a plane had flown into the WTC. I didn't immediately realise what she was talking about, but she was laughing that 'the Americans' had had it coming and it had arrived. I was shocked, appalled. At first more with her reaction than what was happening, because I still didn't realise what exactly was going on. I went back to class, where my professor and friend asked whether I was all right. All I could do was shake my head in disbelief. I asked her to make an announcement and ask someone with a radio to step forward, so I could fix it up with the sound set and we could hear the reports. She did, and there was an eerie silence the rest of the time. We heard the sounds of the second plane crashing into the second Tower. No one moved when 'class' ended. Lies and I went to her office and silently watched CNN on her computer. Later we discussed what implications this might have, but most of the time we just sat there, close to each other, looking at the horrifying sight on the screen.

[Oak Kitten]

I was at the Washington Navy Yard that morning doing research on my dissertation. One of the archivists ran into the room carrying a small television which was showing the images of the first plane crash into the WTC. I looked for a minute or two, thinking this was a horrible accident, but I am not going to let CNN’s voyeuristic coverage divert me from the task at hand. Shortly thereafter, someone shouted that a second plane had hit the towers. At that point, everyone knew we were under attack. Then word came that we had to evacuate. I looked at the two archivists, whom I have known for years, and I said, “I don’t think I am going to get this dissertation finished. The next time I see you I will probably be in uniform.”

Everyone in the Navy Yard was told to evacuate, and went to get into their cars to head home, but security had locked down all the gates, so the entire Navy Yard was in gridlock. No one was going anywhere. I had taken the train. But no one was being allowed to leave the Navy Yard at this point, the entire city was in pandemonium. At some point after I left the operational archives, the third plane had hit the Pentagon, which is across the river from the Navy Yard. I heard a loud boom when I was standing outside the building, but it was not the initial impact, it was the collapse of the building’s façade a little later. Everyone was congregating over by the waterfront, and we could see the plume of smoke rising above the Pentagon, although the building itself was obscured by trees.

Rumors were flying. The State Department had been bombed. The Metro system was shut down, which left me contemplating how many miles I would have to walk to get to my dissertation director’s house in Alexandria Virginia, the only place I could think of to go as my car was in New Carrollton, MD in a commuter parking lot. As we watched the smoke column, someone nearby said, “I guess this is what it was like to be at Pearl Harbor.” I remember feeling extremely vulnerable just standing outside like that, but we literally had nowhere to go. The Navy Yard police finally started herding people back into the buildings, but those of us who were not Navy Yard employees were all herded into the auditorium of the Naval Sea Systems Command building. It had a huge movie screen, and CNN was being projected on it. We saw the same images of the planes hitting the towers over and over and over and over. . . A woman came into the auditorium and asked if anyone had any medical conditions that required medication. They were apparently planning on keeping us corralled there overnight. Finally, after about four hours of torture by CNN on a giant projection screen, they turned us loose. It was impossible to make a cell phone call out of Washington DC. I had no way of letting John know I was okay. Fortunately, the Metro was not shut down and I got back to New Carrollton, when I could finally get a connection on the phone and drove to Annapolis. I was supposed to be attending a Naval History Symposium the next day. The Naval Academy was completely locked down, code Delta.

I drove back home to New Jersey. We could see that brown smoke over the site where the twin towers stood for weeks afterward when we drove north on the Jersey Turnpike.

I volunteered for extra duty as a reservist to stand watches at my gaining command in Washington, DC. Eight members of our command had been killed in the Pentagon. I was recalled to active duty for a year in October.

[mixtymotions]

I was on my way to the hospital for an abdominal ultrasound. The radio was announcing the attack as it was happening, but I was preoccupied with thoughts of what results the ultrasound might show and I was unable to wrap my mind around the fact that this was happening NOW. I honestly thought it was a pre-recorded telecast of the previous failed attempt on the WTC. After disrobing and putting on an all too revealing hospital gown I took a seat in the waiting area which had the tv tuned to CNN. The sudden knowledge that this was real and this was now took my breath away. Another woman in the waiting area began to cry and said her sister was a flight attendant and she had no idea if her sister was aboard one of the 2 planes that struck the towers. My own concerns about my health immediately seemed so insignificant compared to the horror suffered by so many.

[Wildflower Fever]

I was a District Sales Manager for Porter-Cable/Delta Power Tools in 2001. On Monday, September 10, I flew to St. Louis, MO to work with a sales rep. in his territory. Monday night was a late one (OK, I had a little too much fun), and the rep. was to pick me up at my hotel the morning of September 11 for breakfast. I don't exactly remember the timeline of all events, but I know I overslept a bit. I would say sometime between 8-9am my cell phone rang, and I thought it was the rep. (a friend of mine) calling to gas me for oversleeping and to let me know he was in the lobby. All he said was, "dude, turn on the TV" and hung up. I turned on CNN much like Redjack to see the first tower on fire, and moments later witnessed the 2nd plane actually crashing. Surreal would be too modest a word for what I was feeling, but fear (probably because I'm a democrat:) ) never crept in. I was all at once bewildered, sad, angry, and shell-shocked. I remember quickly showering, and meeting my friend downstairs, where we continued to watch CNN in the lobby for a few hours.
It was so difficult to go out into the field, but work had to go on, and we tried to listen to the radio as much as possible. We visited a Home Depot in suburban St. Louis, and everyone in hardware was flocked around a DeWalt radio , so we joined in. I remember thinking I just wanted to go home to Minneapolis, because the wind was sort of knocked out of me, I had no constructive spirit for work, and wanted to be by friends and just veg out on media coverage.
Perhaps what many fail to remember from the early hours of that day was all the wild speculation about what could happen next. I remember passersby mentioning there were a dozen more hijacked planes all headed to D.C., and one was en route to Los Angeles, as well as one to Chicago. It disturbs me to say it, but in this melee, I felt a strange calm and freedom like never before. For the first time in my life I had experienced the closest thing to chaos and meltdown I'd ever seen, and although I really didn't think St. Louis was likely to be attacked, you still had no idea how long this barrage could last.
Finally, after a few hours, I think we all knew the terrorists plans were exhausted, and now we could come down off our clouds and really assess what happened. On that same day, I was told by my company's HR dept. that all employees were restricted from flying on company time for 2 weeks, for legal reasons I'm sure. Obviously air traffic was cancelled for a few days, but by Friday my flight home was cleared. So, not wanting to stay for 2 weeks, on Friday morning (the day of my return flight to Mpls.) i rented a car and made the 10 hour drive back to Mpls. up 35W North through one of my least favorite states, Iowa. This was a bizarre drive, because there was so much solitude that I could do nothing but be engrossed in deep thought. I thought how my country somehow looked different to me, and how I could already smell the over-reaction and hatred and uber-patriotism brewing. I'm proud to say I never looked at Muslims differently, because you can't blame any one group for any one action, at least not as a whole. I had more of a "let's kick the Taliban's ass" anger, than say a "let's kill all the muslims" type of anger.
Two local incidents did bother me though. One night I was out walking in my neighborhood, and there was a group of Somali immigrants standing near a parked car. When I passed them, one of them mockingly whistled the "Star Spangled Banner", and there was no mistaking the intended disrespect, but I'm proud that I just kept going (have you seen how skinny these folks are? it would have been too easy!;) ).
The other occurred on Sept. 11 at a Frigidaire Appliances Plant in St. Cloud, MN. One of my ex-girlfriends from my college days there is now a Police Officer, and she responded to a disturbance at the plant. There were over 200 Somalian workers there who erupted with cheer when the attack was announced over the company loudspeakers. Nearly everyone else began to either attack or taunt them (let's face it, justifiably so), and the police needed to intervene. I don't claim to be a over-macho, redneck, kneejerk hater, but I do believe I'd have done some severe damage to someone there that day. That said, I think the most evolved of us have moved on, and should be more concerned with our nations foreign policy and the dirty deeds carried out in our name. May all victims from that day R.I.P. and not be forgotten.

[Darlene]

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q230/Darlene357/theproblem.jpg

Now we know what is going on in the United States!
Peace?, Darlene

[Gandalf]

I am a professional computer geek.

I am also a first responder.

I was working from home that day. I'd already been working for a couple of hours. I was sitting in front of a monitor, surrounded by computers, sipping on my favorite coffee, Starbucks French Roast with a shot of espresso. As is my wont when working from home, I had NPR on. There was an interesting story about a garlic festival, so I was sort of paying attention (mostly I tune in for the music). At 9:00 they reported that what they thought was a small private plane had crashed into one of the twin towers of the WTC. I sat up and took notice.

You see, I also used to take flying lessons, and I had flown that very corridor, below the observation deck of the Empire State Building. I wondered how anyone could have strayed that far off course.

And then there was speculation that it might have been a commercial craft. "No," I thought, "not bloody likely." And then the second plane hit. Suddenly I, and everyone else, knew that this was no accident.

I listened to the events unfold. I wondered, is this a softening-up strike, to sow confusion, or are these just a small autonomous group of terrorists? What's going on? A dear friend called, and I assured her that it was all over, trying to calm her. Then the Pentagon got hit. NOTE: pretty lies can backfire.

I answered a call for volunteers via radio, and set a schedule. I picked my kids up from school, drove them to their mom's, and headed out to the Connecticut Emergency Operations Center in Middletown, and worked for 36 hours straight.

I drove home, and fell into bed. Some time after I as awakened by the sound of a plane overhead. I leaped out onto my 2nd floor porch and looked up. Amber lights, not red and green. Military. Good. Back to sleep.

Until the phone rang. I packed up my kit and headed off to New York City. I spent 2 weeks working at and near Ground Zero.

The pictures and other sensory experiences of that time are still perfectly clear and fresh in my mind if I let them be. I don't let them in, and I don't share them.

People who weren't there say "never forget." Those who were there never will.

When I finally returned home to Connecticut my son said: "I have never been so proud of you, Dad." That made it all worthwhile.

This is a very abbreviated version... and the first time I've written about it at any length at all.

Thank you.

[hoops]

well i have a completely different memory of what happened that day. it actually all started the night before at about 10:30 pm. i was living in Utah at the time but i was home in NY visiting my family for 2 weeks. on the 10th after everyone went to bed, i signed online as i did everynight. My girlfriend was still in utah and this was the cheapest way to talk to her. i was enjoying our conversation thru IM when suddenly i got another IM from a name i hadn't seen in months. it was the name of a man who was an assistant DA in out city, he was also a man who wanted terribly to be with my girlfriend, so much so, that in the past he had tried to rape her and attack her into loving him. i saw the IM and i shuddered knowing that i was so far from her unable to protect her if need be. he started out casually and asked about how i was, refering to me in unrepeatable names. then he started to get weird. he asked me if i knew where he was, i didn't, he told me he was outside of our house in utah with a few of his police buddies and he nknew i wasn't there because he had been watching the house. i told my girlfriend to find a safe place in the house to hide, and as she did, he told me exactly where she was trying to hide. he was inside the house. he on his laptop and now he sat her back at her computer to tell me how she was feeling, she told me how scared she was and i tried to reassure her that everything would be fine. at the same time, i had IM'd a few other friends of mine asking for their help to call 911, since i had dialup and no other phone line. they didn;t believe me. the man told me for hours and hours what exactly he was doing to my girlfriend, how he was torturing her, burning her, cutting her. he would , from time to time, ask me a question such as "would you rather i burn her left nipple or cut it off?" then he would get nasty when i said neither and told me he would do both if i didn;t answer. all night long this went on, beating, raping, but 4 different men over and over again with different tools and household items. finally after hours of trying to convince someone to call 911 ( because he said he would kill her if i signed off) i got one of them to call 911. now i hadn't told my girlfriend i was doing this and of course i hadn't told this evil man, be he found out because one of the men that was with him was the 911 on call for the night in that area. he laughed in his IM telling me it was a nice try but it would cost us both dearly. i begged him to leave her alone. all night long this went on, till 7 am, then he signed off telling me he to get my butt to utah that day or he would kill her. as soon as he signed off, i called her brother to go over to her house and save her. in the meantime i searched for a flight and i tried to fax the entire conversation to the police department in utah, to the courts, to any high powered official i could get the name of...with all of this man's information that i had. i tried for hours still and it would never go thru. it was nearing 11 am and i was still trying to get all of these things done and get a ticket home, the call waiting beeped, it was my aunt telling me what a terrible thing was going on in NY and asking if i knew anyone there. i still had no idea what she was talking about because i had been so caught up in what i was doing. so i just agreed with her and tried to hurry her conversation along. finally i realized i was not going to be able to get a flight out to utah that day, i was still trying to fax the conversation with no luck. i had no idea why. and i wondered why her brother hadn't called me back. so i called him, he was bawling. he was a very tough man so to hear him cry really confused me. "they really hurt her didn't they?" i asked "they killed her" he said "I gotta go, bye" then he hung up. these policemen and an assistant DA murdered my girlfriend and there was no way of me getting to her for the next two weeks when it was way too late even to visit her grave. it didn't hit me till late afternoon that the scene that was going on in NYC actually happened and that was why i couldn;t get any info out or a flight out. i'd been in shock all day, so this hit like dull thud capping off hell one of it's worst forms. i realized i would never share the memory of that day that everyone else had
peace...please
hoops

[Bat]

oh my god, Hoops. talk about rotten timing! I hope they got the guys, and I hope they are all dead. Unfortunately, searing memories live on. Simple death is too good for people like that. Try to keep the good stuff alive in your mind, and do a few primal screams for the rest.

[Dee]

What a horrible ordeal to have gone through, Hoops.

[Mimi]

There are no words for this, Noel, but you and your girlfriend are in my thoughts and prayers.

MIMI

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

Morning all,

Like the rest of you I sat glued to CNN on the morning of the 11th of September 2001. If I had to point out a specific emotion that was overwhelming me I don't think I could. I mean I was afraid of what was taking place having no idea of just what the full scope would be. I was saddened by knowing that so many brave humans Americans and others, innocent airline passengers, tourists at the WTC and business people had just died needlessly in acts of violence which then as now made no sense to me. I felt great anger at those who perpetrated these acts....

That said however I didn't feel the full impact of this disaster until the following day 9/12 when Betty and I were driving to Wharton, New Jersey to have lunch with my brother George. We reached the top of the hill on interstate 80 at the Wharton exit. This was a full 40 miles as the crow flies from the WTC yet there not so awful far off on the horizon was a great stream of smoke where we used to see the towers and a massive cloud of filth and smoke shrouding over Manhatten...Seeing that cancelled out the psychological disconnect that television offers so many of us. What we saw was not on a 26" television screen.... It was there, real and tragically ominious to remind us all just how unsafe we really are.

Amazing the very worst things happen in Gods name...

Prayers to you all and best wishes

R. from Pa

[hoops]

the man is indeed dead and my girlfriend's brother is in jail for it

[Darlene]

Such a horrible thing to through and to think that it was Sept 11th so many horrible things going on at once. I only hope Noel that you can go with the good memories that you had with you friends.

I was sitting at home when the call came in from a friend that a plane had hit one of the WTC buildings. I immediately turned the TV on and saw to my horror that place where the first plane had hit. but then I could not believe my eyes there was a second plane coming straight toward the second building. I saw the crash, the red flames, and people running away from the buildings. I saw people jumping from the buildings to their deaths. Then the crumbling the crashing of the buildings. I know I will never remember those things that I saw that day. It was a say day in the United States that day.
Peace, Darlene

[Bat]

Noel, what ever happened to 'justifiable homicide'?

[Agnes]

Noel, there are no words for this.. I'm so sorry for your loss, your pain. :(

[hoops]

thank you all
peace
noel