5th Year Anniversary Of 9.11

[Erik Sine]

As we come up on the 5th year anniversary it hardly seems like it has been 5 years since the day.

This of course is one of those life events I think everyone knows where they were when it happened. I was always curious what it was like to live at the time Pearl Harbor happened and how people reacted afterward. Well unfortunetly for us we all got to experience something similar.

I had just gotten back late night from a 6-hour road trip I took with my girlfriend who is now my wife. She called me early that morning, as I was hesitant about answering the phone after that long trip that seemed like I had only been asleep for hours since coming home. I remember reaching over still in bed and asleep, she told me that a plane just hit the WTC. I remember thinking to myself, “Dumbass!”. I said thx for sharing and went back to sleep. What seemed like seconds later with the need for sleep she called me again to tell me a second plane hit the other building along with another hitting the Pentagon. Also that there were multiple planes in the air still and nothing was clear if more were going to hit. From that point I sprung up to fast out of bed and turned on the news watching the towers on fire.

To watch the towers fall live was horrifying.

After that, the silence on the streets and everywhere was ominous. Days later it seemed like everywhere I went there was this silent frustration and anger with no outlet for people.

I had this weird anger myself with nowhere to put it, so a couple of days after the tradegedy I decided to make a banner and one of my buddies was like “hell yes let’s go hang this”. We drove up to a gas station near the Interstate-15 and walked sternly toward the freeway bridge. We unraveled it and quickly attaching wire to the grommets and started to climb up and over the chain link fence that was mounted to the bridge, just then with our luck a cop car rolls up on us with lights turned on. I though to myself, oh shit not before I get a chance to hang it. The two police officers jumped out of the squad car and approached us asking what we were doing and what was in our hands. We turned it around and showed them. They had this stumped look on their faces that soon turned into a smile, they nodded at us and said “Be Careful”. They returned to their car and quickly drove off. They understood.

Now was the task of actually hanging this, I’m just glad the craziest friend I had was their helping me. We climbed to the very top as half of our bodies were leaning over with speeding traffic and a 100 foot drop below. It was not getting any easier as it was windy and cars below were starting to honk at us, honking at us either because they thought we were crazy or because they liked what the banner said.

I think it’s pretty safe to say I was probably the first in my city to hang a sign on a bridge, where many followed afteward, many. Messages to remember or messages to thank. I just know I felt more relaxed driving, and passing by signs that had similar messages.

To me the streets just seemed less tense.

Thought I’d share this pic of my banner I hung soon to be 5 years ago

[Marekdlux]

Great story.

I was surfing that morning around 6am and my friend Rod came paddling out saying something about a plane hitting the WTC. I had no idea what building that was and kept surfing. I went home and turned on the T.V. and was shocked to see what was happening. I also saw the buildings fall live. Horrific.

I worked at Costco at the time and the mood there was weird for days, weeks afterwards. People changed the way they acted, at least for a few days. Everyone felt closer.

-Marek

[derf]

I was just starting an intellectual property project for Weyerhaeuser Co. and had just moved to Fresno CA and was still getting familiar with the town. All of us at the corrugated plant that I was at were huddled around a small TV in the conference room like zombies! I was thinking to my self "Great I need to Fly to OR in a few days for some meetings with Costco and I wonder if I'm going now?.

Then I was pissed off at the Jackasses that did this to us. Then proud weeks later when we went to Afghanistan to go Kick their ass.... :war:

I am now pissed at all the blind people that are letting their guard down! We live in a dangerous world and just because we have been safe for so long does not mean were not immune the the worlds danger!

There are people chomping at the bit to Kill us like a Lion watches zebras! and the lion don't give a rats ass about the wild life protection program to save the Zebra any more than our enemy's care about the ACLU and human rights.

Please fly a flag this weekend and Monday! to remember

[Travis]

I was at the shop working when one of the guys came back from a small install just freaking out, "guys you gotta listen to this" he said. Me and another fella walked up to the truck to listen to the news over the radio. Next thing you know there was a couple more guys listening. And then the entire shop was huddled around the truck just stunned and quiet. We were all around that truck for about an hour with barely a word between us. The rest of the day you could have heard a pin drop everyone was so quiet.

And to think that today we have a few around the shop that insist the USA has no business overseas. Bet your ass that day they were on board to kill them all.

[fishing nut]

We watched it on TV live also but being only about 20 miles away was strange. On my way home there was no traffic except for an endless line of fire trucks and ambulances and military convoys heading towards the city along with a whole s**t load of fighter jets circling the area. There is one spot on the highway that when you peak the hill you have a view of the city and everyone had just stopped on the side and was stareing. I have never seen anything like that before. Everything was basically on lock down cause there is a very strong presence of military bases in NJ. Seeing the smoke for a few weeks was unspeakable. I went to the beach that evening to see what I could see and looking out over the Ocean. Picture this, a smoke stack that was spewing an endless amount of smoke in a line going out to sea that follows the horizon about 500 feet up of Olive colored smoke as far as the eye could see. THe jetties and beaches were full of people not talking and just staring. Thanks for a wind that blew everything offshore or the resperatory problems would have been extremely worse than what was experienced. The only way to desribe the way it smelled was when I woke up in the AM everything smelled as if you pissed on a campfire. My neighbor lost 14 friends from his fire department. He was on vacation when it happened. He brought me large ziplock bags of liquid mud from the site. I sealed it up into neon tubes for the families of lost ones. It turned back into concrete when it dried.

It was a horrifying experence to be that close but also so far away. Our other Tech that has just left us was working in the city when it happened saw the whole thing and felt the world move when they fell.

Bless them all

[HansonSigns]

I was getting ready for work and listening to the radio. I thought it was a small plane lost in the fog, then I turned on the tv and saw the carnage. When I got to work, everyone had gathered around the television. I guess the silence was universal... I still get tears thinking about it.

That afternoon I made a bag of popcorn and accidentally opened it under one of the heat detectors, setting off the fire alarm. When the fire engines arrived, I almost cried. The crew leader said not to worry - it was a good distraction for them that day.