This is terrible! (Thread orginally posted 9/11/2001)

Lucky

Well-Known Member
I was at a first-day-of-school parents' event that morning, or I'd have been at my office in downtown DC, and would have spent most the day walking home like thousands of other people did. Everything shut down and streets were gridlocked.

I found out a day or two afterward that a friend from grad school was killed when the plane crashed into the Pentagon. He worked in the Pentagon, but was on the plane, flying to the west coast on DoD business. I went to a memorial service for him at Arlington National Cemetery a couple weeks later.
 

prberk

Well-Known Member
DL-0911-empty-500x375.jpg

This one is always crazy for me, http://thedisneyblog.com/2011/09/11/disneyland-on-911-two-cast-members-remember/
Must have been such a sad and strange day there.

I remember this and a similar pic from the MK. If I remember correctly, it was on or soon after that day that they took down the MK webcams permanently, I presume so that no one could be tempted to commit an attack there thinking they would be seen on the webcam in all their "glory".

On the positive side, I also remember many world leaders offering their condolences and standing by us in public statements (some surprising). Like Alan Jackson's "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)" song says, we were all affected and stood by each other it seemed, at least for that short period. I even remember @wdwmagic displaying the banner of the forum as an American flag for a time.

Yes it was a very sad and jarring day for all of us. I happened to be home from work that day (getting my sink fixed), and so I was able to tape most of it. It is arresting to watch the raw video from that day, demonstrating the emotion and lack of information we all had. Some of the youth group that I lead at church said last night that they would probably hear about this stuff all day at school today, and it sounded like typical teens rolling their eyes at history. I reminded them that it is important to remember these events, especially considering current events (like Isis). They only vaguely understood; but it did remind me how important it is to tell the story to our children anyway. And to let them know how we felt.
 
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prberk

Well-Known Member
Illustration of airspace closure...



I think this is amazing, and I also think that closing U.S. airspace was the single best decision made that day.

By the way, In know that there are a number of documentaries and other films out there, but "United 93" is absolutely amazing in its authenticity and the way that it captures some of the emotion and actions of that day. It does a great job of showing exactly how and in what vacuum of information that particular decision was made.
 

The Mom

Moderator
Premium Member
It was a morning just like today - the sun was shining, and I had dropped my children off at their respective schools. Nothing of note on the radio during the commute.

I poured my second cup of coffee, and logged in to see what was going on at wdwmagic. Saw the thread title, and my first thought was 'Uh-oh, someone has had, at worst, a personal tragedy (death in family, etc) or more likely, one of life's glitches" Little did I know.

My husband was at work (in the OR, so completely out of reach) and my children were at school. I was alone, and quite honestly, scared. Being here with my wdwmagic "family" was comforting.

Years later, my life is still pretty much the same - on the surface. Children grown, husband still spending the day at work. But underneath there is a fear and feeling of national vulnerability that wasn't there before, and that will never leave.
 

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
I was at work - we were checking our office fantasy football pool to see how we fared after the Monday night game. A co-worker came into the office where we were all congregated - she was white as a sheet and fumbling for words. We tried to get to the CNN website but it took forever to load. We were thinking the plane was a small single engine that flew offcourse - not completely uncommon in Manhattan. Obviously it was not. Immediately my thoughts went to my father who worked in the 7 building - he was OK but the building fell later that day. Basically everyone I know either lost someone, or knows someone that lost someone that day. It's pretty much like that for everyone that lives in this area. And the first responders that survived are still falling ill from being there in the aftermath. Awful, awful day.
 

Disnee4Me

Well-Known Member
I remember someone walking down the hall at work saying that a plane had struck one of the twin towers, so I went over to the short term funding room, where they had a TV and was in shock and disbelief when I saw the second plane hit the second tower. I didn't personally know anyone who was killed in 9/11, although my husband's aunt lost a nephew. Living just 30-35 miles northeast of NYC, every school in town had either an administrator, teacher or student who lost a love one. A couple of people on our staff were from India and one said to me "we are used to this in our country but never expected a terror attack of this nature here". We had just returned on September 1st from WDW and I pointed out the towers to my sons, then 6 and 11. I'll never forget that day and how it effected our nation ... I hope none of us every forget that day.
 

AmberFaith90

Well-Known Member
I just finished reading the posts on this thread. It was surreal reading these true, first reactions of the members. Some who live in NYC.

I was only 10 years old when this attack took place, but believe when I say that it had a profound impact on my life. I was in my 5th grade classroom. The teachers were going in and out, crying and hugging each other. They didn't tell us what had happened. I didn't know until I got home, and my grandmother had the news on. She was crying and said something along the lines of "life as we know it is forever changed".

I don't remember much the following day, but I remember my social studies teacher and the guidance counselor talking to us about the attacks. It astounded me that some kids still didn't know about it. Some knew something had happened, but didn't know what.
 

mightyduck

Well-Known Member
Thirteen years. Where has the time gone?

My students today were 1 or 2 years old on 9/11. I noticed that the first year I had students write about hope and the place for laughter in their lives. Now, mandates require us to teach about 9/11 today because they don't know it (for those wondering, these days I do a lesson on who own memories, who decides how we remember, and we talk about public monuments and memorials--I used the Boston marathon bombings as a starting point, discussed the story of the Vietnam War Memorial, compared/contrasted representational vs abstract designs, and finished with them seeing the parallels between the Vietnam Memorial and the 9/11 memorial site).

My family here is with me in my heart on this day every year.

Thank you to Steve for allowing this piece of history to exist as a living memorial. Thank you to The Mom, Promey, PRBerk, FigmentMom, and everyone else who was here and continue to come back every year (my apologies if I missed anyone!).

And Big Dog, I love you. *salute*
 

mightyduck

Well-Known Member
It's that time again. I don't have the words--living in the NYC market means that my television will be filled with the images again tomorrow. There will be moments of silence, ringing of bells, reciting of names. And once again, my heart will be heavy as I remember all that unfolded here. If you haven't, read through this in order from the beginning. Powerful reminder, and a big thank you to WDWMAGIC for hosting this thread for so long. Please know that my heart is always here with my Magic friends on this day. I'll be teaching all day tomorrow, but I'll be thinking about all of you. RIP, Big Dog. I am more thankful for your comforting words that day than you ever knew. To The Mom: much love.
 

prberk

Well-Known Member
Every year I get a notice that a thread I subscribed to has had a recent post and every year I click on it, surprised when I see what the post is...

Life is a funny, fragile thing. Every year, this thread reminds me of that...

I agree with Mr. Promey's post from last year. Thanks, @wdwmagic , for your forum and the opportunity to see this thread from that day each year. The live feed of the first few pages is always a stark reminder of exactly how much we did not know, and how stunned we all were. Thanks, @markymark and @mightyduck , and to all the others, for your comments that day and your current memories.

I teach youth (teens) at my church, who were just born (or not born yet) when it happened, and I make sure to show them some of the raw footage when I can. It is important that they know.

Here is a song that I think says it well. I was watching the country music awards in November, 2001, when Alan Jackson premiered this song, in a slot that he was scheduled to use for another song (one of his nominated songs at the time); but Vince Gill said as host that Alan had been unable to sleep one night a week or so before, and he sat down to write what was on his mind. This is the result:



It always brings me back.
 
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