9/11 Remembered: A Flight Attendant's Story

Thank you

for sharing, Waymon, and Pam for promoting this account.

MSNBC is replaying the NBC coverage from September 11, keyed to exactly the current time. Just returned from town awhile ago and am watching TV alone (save the pets), same as on that day.

But on the drive, I heard this clip on the radio and it gave me the same chills and tears as it did when Billy Joel sang it live:

"It goes on one at a time, it starts when you care to act, it starts when you do it again after they said no, it starts when you say We and know who you mean, and each day you mean one more."

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by: Louise @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 10:21:41 AM CDT

I called Charlie at work

and told him; he at first thought I meant a small plane had hit and took awhile to learn the truth. Years prior, he had been a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; his office was in 7 WTC, which fell later that day.

OMG, Tim Russert's reporting now, about talking with Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Another blast from the past- Ashley Banfield.

What Waymon said about the cell phones not working... another thing to remember was this was prior to Twitter and Facebook- one wonders if a similar attack were to ever occur again, if we would have the same mass confusion or if the communication lines are better now.

Anyone know about this?

"It goes on one at a time, it starts when you care to act, it starts when you do it again after they said no, it starts when you say We and know who you mean, and each day you mean one more."

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by: Louise @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 10:29:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm not sure about the mass communications

Twitter and Facebook could be a blessing and a curse- rumors could fly around and cause more panic, yet people could identify to family and friends they are okay.  Also, since a lot of people use them on their cellphones, I wonder if the same gridlock would occur, or if the new 3G networks could handle it.

All very interesting questions...

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by: waymonhudson @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 12:12:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks for sharing your story -nt

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by: scioto @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 10:37:00 AM CDT

Thank you

Thank you for sharing your story. And Pam, those grainy blue photos are beautiful.

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by: amyruth @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 10:43:06 AM CDT

I hate this time of year

Every year since 9/11, I have dreaded when this day comes around. I was working in Tower 1 when the first plain hit and it scared the crap out of me. Even all these years later, I still have nightmares of that day. I got out of my building just as the second plain crashed into it. I'm lucky I didn't get hit by the burning pieces falling around me. There are few days that have affected me like that day, I will never forget it. Bless the families that didn't make it.
Michelle

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by: michelleny914 @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 11:03:14 AM CDT

I was in Crystal City, just down from the Pentagon

That was the most surrealistic experience of my life.  Watching the first tower get hit, then hearing a huge boom and black smoke coming right at my windows in my office from the jet fuel burning and drifting down the highway (Route 1).  The next thing we know, the Military Police are telling us to evacuate the building and go home.  I thought that was rather odd considering that I had been trained as an army brat to get to shelter when you are being attacked, not go outside where you can be bombed or shot.  However, also being military brat, I knew I should follow the MPs orders and went anyway.  The streets were completely full of people and cars, smoke everywhere, and no cell phone service.  My partner was stuck in DC because the trains were not going through the Pentagon station any longer.  This was around 10 in the morning.  I didn't see or hear from my partner until around 4:30 that afternoon.  It was frightening to say the least.

History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government.-- Thomas Jefferson

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by: Mykelb @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 11:06:39 AM CDT

My nerves will never be the same

I was upstairs watching the Today show, and saw the first plane hit the WTC.  Like many, I was in shock but couldn't fathom how it could be an accident.  I grabbed my laptop and went downstairs to watch coverage on the big tv.

My coworkers at Apple's Virginia office were all chatting on AIM asking what we should do, when the second plane hit.  Our bosses thought it best to stay put, even though our office wasn't too close to Dulles airport.

Glued to the horror unfolding in New York, I watched local news anchors speak of a hit to the State Department building.  As that was being disproved, a huge explosion rocked my house, six miles away from my Alexandria, VA.  A window pane behind me cracked.  At that point, a fear previously unknown overcame me.  Amid the sounds of sirens, I jumped up and started gathering my things and cat.  My neighbors and I were ready to flee Washington.

My neighbor to the right was a Bush attorney and evangelical.  We had found a way to be courteous, but our differences negated a real friendship.  But on that day, she knocked on my door crying.  I answered the door, and she fell into my arms sobbing.  Her close friend Barbara Olson had been killed in the Pentagon crash.  That day forever changed how we related.

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by: gnushell @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 11:36:04 AM CDT

IN MEMORIAM

Known Gay Victims of 9/11

Pilot David Charlebois, First Officer, American Airlines Flight 77.

David Brandhorst-Gamboa and his two fathers, Daniel Brandhorst and Ronald Gamboa, United Airlines Flight 175.

I knew I could never respect [let alone vote for] John McCain after he eulogized Mark Bingham by saying that he might owe his life to him and that was the kind of debt you can never fully repay. Well, he tried....by supporting DADT, DOMA, Prop 8 [in Mark's home state, yet], and opposing adding gays to hate crimes law and even domestic partnerships.

Sheila Hein, the Pentagon.

Eugene Clark, on the right, Twin Tower 2.

Father Mychal Judge, outside the Twin Towers. [need I add that the American Taliban went nuclear when it was revealed he was gay?]

Patricia McAneney, Tower 1.

Wesley Mercer, Twin Towers.

Carol Flyzik, American Airlines Flight 11.

Graham Berkeley, United Airlines Flight 175.

Pamela J. Boyce, Tower 1.

With appreciation to http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/u... where others are included. And, I'm confidant there are many others we'll never hear about.

Dona eis requiem.

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by: Michael Bedwell @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 11:46:27 AM CDT

And, yes...

...I'm sure there were transgender victims, too. Does anyone know of any who have been identified?

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by: Michael Bedwell @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 11:53:08 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Remembering Mark Bingham and 9/11

I posted a personal video remembering Mark Bingham and how his story helped shape my life over the last 5 years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

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by: SFNative @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 12:28:17 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

So Many Sad Memories

I was at work in downtown DC, just about 1 mile north of the Pentagon and about 7 - 8 blocks from the White House. Oddly enough, even as I watched the replays of the second plane hitting over and over again on our one office TV, I never thought I was at risk.

There are so many things seared in my mind from that day and that entire week - my coworker dissolving in hysterics as she realized there had been an attack on the Pentagon, where her kids were at the daycare center; the wholesale chaos of trying to evacuate the city; the constant attempts to contact family and friends on useless cell phones.

I remember sitting in traffic on L ST in front of my office, trying to calculate how far debris might travel if the White House were hit (we did not know United 93 had crashed at that point). I remember the sounds of fighter jets and combat helicopters circling DC for days afterwards, when most of the country marvelled at the empty skies. I remember the National Guard posted at every intersection when we returned to work on Thursday the 13th, and suddenly noticing the huge number of plate glass windows I had to pass by on my trip from the Metro station to the office.

I still live and work here in DC and am still surprised at how well the country did in the days and weeks following the attacks. It is too bad we could not sustain that sense of unity and purpose.  

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by: CPT_Doom @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 12:07:11 PM CDT

I have two cousins who live near Battery Park...

when this all first happened, I didn't know what was still standing, and what was down.  It turned out that they saw it all from their windows.  It has never left them, but thankfully it never turned them into right wing lunatics either.

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by: atticus1 @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 16:46:00 PM CDT

Even in the middle of rural America

Even in the middle of nowhere, out if sight of TVs, cities, and other people, I felt the chilling horror of the Sept. 11 attacks. I was on a trip with several geomorphologists looking at stream migration patterns. Our plan was to locate several geological features with GPS.

We arrived at the site around noon after hours of driving on back roads. Our trip leaders had the GPS units and we all gathered to begin hiking. Our trip leaders were gathered in a huddle for several tens of minutes. They finally broke group and announced that something was terribly wrong, something that had never happened. The GPS satellite network was offline. This had never happened in US history, except for one brief test in the year following the launch of the network.

Disoriented, we did our best to look at a few things, but the whole group was unsettled in a way I'll never forget. We kept looking up to the skies, half expecting to see military jets, for some reason. We did not yet know the true nature of that day. Coming back to inhabited areas an hour or so later, we got our first cell phone call. And the day exploded into the horror we now all collectively share.

For me, I always remember that day as the first moment in my life -- and to date, one of the very few -- when I felt utterly connected an in tune with the millions of Americans around the world.

I bitterly regret the way that unity has been cynically abused since then. We may have lost more in the year following Sept. 11 2001 than we lost on that actual day, as horrible as it was.  

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by: equalitymike @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 17:19:08 PM CDT

9/11

September 11th is my mom's birthday (she just celebrated #75 yesterday!), so in 2001 we did go out, but it was sooooooo surreal to see one lone plane flying east on the evening of that terrible day (Air Force One, of course).

Thanks for your insight and story, Waymon.

I do remember reading about an EMT transitioning in Washington who was called to the Pentagon, and I have to go through my archives to find out their name.

Listen to "TransTalk" every Thursday at 4-5pm ET on http://www.falconradio.org

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by: Marlene @ Sat Sep 12, 2009 at 02:29:46 AM CDT