Where were you?

I was driving to work, heading south on Route 53 near Woodfield Shopping Center, when I heard on car radio about first plane hitting World Trade Center. At that time the plane type was not known. Reaching work I watched TV with others for a couple of hours as events unfolded. Definitely, a day to remember.

..... later that day I wanted to purchase a larger American flag to display outside.  I visited two stores, both were completely sold out, absolutely nothing left. That Friday, after being glued to the TV all week, my wife & I went out to dinner. As we waited for our table, we sat with about 15 other people, total strangers.....

...yet, and I will never forget this,

ALL OF US WERE TOUCHING EACH OTHER AT THE KNEES, as if to silently say, we are all resolute in our convictions to remain united, proud and strong. We are ALL AMERICANS; we ARE ALL NEW YORKERS. 

On the 34th floor of 42nd and 6th with a clear view of the WTC. I lived and worked in Manhattan.

Worst of all were the posters everywhere in downtown Manhattan imploring anyone for any information on their loved ones.

100 days of smoke was no picnic either.

I woke up from having worked night shift and saw that someone had left the TV on and there was a sticky note on the screen.  It was from my daughter simply saying that Shelley and Grandma are okay.  I stared in disbelief for some time; unable to process what I was seeing and what it could have meant; it was of course somewhat surreal and the human tragedy unfolding was sickening.

My mother and sister were on a trip to the USA as my mother, who was 76 at the time, had never been out of Canada in her life.  They were taking in San Francisco then New York, then Montreal and Toronto before returning home.  On Sept. 11 I thought they were still in Frisco but I was mistaken; they were in Manhattan.  I later found out that they had been on the morning tour of the WTC and were on the rooftop at that critical time frame on Sept. 10th; they had taken a number of pictures while up there.  We still have the tour tickets they purchased.  I recall thinking about the chilling irony of a little old Canadian grandmother, who had never harmed a soul in her life and had never left Canada, being fortunate by just 24 hours from such an undeserved death by terrorism.  This magnified my feelings of sorrow for the thousands of victims that day and for the family members they left behind.   I also felt proud of the courage displayed by the hundreds of fire and police first responders who sacrificed so very much that day.  God bless them.  My mother, who passed in 2010, was never the same after that and told us emotionally that she struggled with the knowledge that probably most of the "wonderful" tour personnel present for her tour the previous day had lost their lives.  

We should never forget. Unfortunately history is no longer being taught in our schools and kids have no idea what this is all about. I have a display of American flags in my front yard to commorate this day in history. Our street doubles as a walking, bicycle path with many passing by our house each day. While setting up the display last Friday, I was asked what I was doing as virtually all of the young people had no idea why 9/11 so significant to me. I guess this is an old geezer thing.

Posted by: @bob-jackman

We should never forget. Unfortunately history is no longer being taught in our schools and kids have no idea what this is all about. I have a display of American flags in my front yard to commorate this day in history. Our street doubles as a walking, bicycle path with many passing by our house each day. While setting up the display last Friday, I was asked what I was doing as virtually all of the young people had no idea why 9/11 so significant to me. I guess this is an old geezer thing.

I don't think it is an old geezer thing at all Bob; I am absolutely shocked at how little our young people know about history in general; especially the critically important history of the past century, which affects their lives daily (they have no idea) and will do so in the future.  IMHO it is an absolute disgrace what is going on in the school system; I feel sorry for the youngsters affected....it is not of their doing; but they are going to pay a terrible price for this in their lifetimes I'm afraid!

@bob-jackman ...yes, this date too, will one day be only in history books. For obvious reasons, it takes about 100 years before there's no one left to recount "what it was like." 

"Young people"  have no idea what a pre 9-11 world looked like, just as I have no idea what a pre-JFK assassination world looked like. In a few years, we'll have a generation of young people  who will have no idea what a pre-COVID world looked like.

Bob, it's not an "old geezer thing,"  it's just history. 😐 

Where were you? We were on a two week vacation in Italy. Five days early we left Chicago O'Hare for Rome. After 3 days touring Rome we took a train to Florence. The next day, September 11 we started exploring the city. The weather was perfect, not cloud in the sky. About 4:30 in the afternoon, as we were standing on the steps of San Lorenzo Cathedral, a couple asked if we were from the United States. We said yes. They then asked if we knew what was going on back home. We told them no. They proceeded to tell us that airplanes, hijacked by terrorists, flew into both World Trade Center Towers in New York City and another plane hit the Pentagon in Washington DC. We left the cathedral, returned to our hotel, turned on the TV to CNN Europe and watched in disbelief. That evening, we had a wonderful meal in a small, quaint restaurant. Everyone was talking about the terrorist attack. We felt terrible, but decided there wasn’t anything we could do, so we might as well continue and enjoy our Italian vacation. First thing we though of was son who was working on the 72nd floor of the Sears Tower. Later when we talked on the phone he told about getting down and out of the building fast. Security retuning home about 10 days later was totally different than our flight to Italy.

I was the Commanding Officer of the USCGC BEAR (WMEC 901) and was pulling into Guantanamo Bay Cuba for a logistic stop when word of the attack came.  We eventually were diverted from our planned Caribbean law enforcement patrol (drugs and migrants) to patrol the approaches to Savannah and Charleston.  🇺🇸

@chris For me what is different regarding this generation and mine as it pertains to history education is that I vividly recall being taught a considerable amount of Canadian (in my case) and world history including wars and some of the ways it had impacted current history at that time.  I was educated as to what those soldiers' lives had been sacrificed for and as a result, although just a boy, I deeply appreciated it and what it meant to be devoted to the well being of your country.  Although I was young at the time of the JFK, RFK and King assassinations, racial tensions/riots, the Vietnam war polarization and of course much more, I certainly recall the conversations of adults, the Kronkite objective news broadcasts and such.  Like many others I do agree that these events began a loss of innocence if you will, trust issues with government and the resulting polarization of the citizenry, which continues to worsen yearly.  I was definitely aware of a big picture when it came to history and recall talking to my circle of friends about it frequently when growing up; we took it seriously.  My point is that I definitely do not see this level of history knowledge and appreciation for the sacrifices of past generations from this new generation.  I can tell by their reactions to questions asked of them and of their body language during such conversations that they are for the most part unable to relate to it all; often to the point of complete disinterest.  I put the blame almost entirely on the shortcomings of their education system; it is failing them miserably and because they are just kids they cannot realize how detrimental it is to their lives.

@jack-dodds Well, there's certainly much that could be "unpacked"  here, however, I'll simply say this... The "dumbing down of America"  is not an abstract intangible; as a country, we are less trusting, less informed, less unified and less socially interactive than ever before. My point is that in many ways, you are quite correct...folks (young & old ) don't know what they don't know and worse still, they just don't care.

I served aboard aircraft carrier USS Nimitz CVN 68 from ‘74 thru ‘78. I have spent the last 45 years as a DoD contractor supporting the Navy & have been aboard almost ever ship (excluding submarines). On 9/11 @ 8 A.M., I was aboard Nimitz for the 1st time since departing her in 1978. A few minutes before 9 A.M., I entered one of the radar rooms & immediately noticed the crew members freaking out as the 1st plane hit the north tower…just moments later, the 2nd plane struck the south tower & I watched that LIVE! I was dumbfounded! I hadn’t been aboard my “alma mater” in over 23 years & now the captain was sounding general quarters & I heard him directing all civilians to immediately leave the ship.

I’ll never forget that day! And I’ve never been able to go back aboard her…in 2 years, after 50 years of distinguished service, Nimitz will be decommissioned.

Posted by: @chris

@jack-dodds Well, there's certainly much that could be "unpacked"  here, however, I'll simply say this... The "dumbing down of America"  is not an abstract intangible; as a country, we are less trusting, less informed, less unified and less socially interactive than ever before. My point is that in many ways, you are quite correct...folks (young & old ) don't know what they don't know and worse still, they just don't care.

I agree about the dumbing down aspect for sure Chris; what I can't understand for the life of me is why educators allow this to continue?  Historically dumbing down is orchestrated by those in power to easier manipulate, coerce and brainwash the population at large.  It is usually done by very corrupt governments in third world countries and/or those with a hidden military agenda, or so we have been told. How did the importance of our history get downgraded in the eyes of those charged with forming/maintaining school curriculums?  Where is the government oversight!?  It is the responsibility of an education system to teach young people about this very important subject (and others whose standards seem to be missing in varying degrees) so what the hell happened?  They sure are big on making sure the ridiculously exaggerated gender and personal rights issues are force fed ad nauseum while they gradually seem to be decreasing parental control!  IMHO this is a crisis and heads should roll.

End of rant....lol.

@chris Sorry Chris. I was born in 1940 and yet I am very knowledgeable about the world affairs leading up to the United States being brought into WWII. How did I learn this? Through history in school. I also learned about the details regarding the Civil War, WWi etc. etc. Sorry but the dumbing down of our young people has manifested  itself in a lack of respect in our society today. You may be of an age that what is important to me is unimportant to you by blowing it off as "just history" is unacceptable to me.  Being realistic, of course you are correct and for that reason I am truly sad particularly for those who have given their lives for this country that has provided a life style that has been taken for granted by our young people. Real people died making this country the envy of the world and now we are apologizing for it. Having spent my time in the US Navy opened my eyes to a lot of things and one of those things was we cannot forget. Our country is eroding at a record pace and yet there are those who think it is okay. Enough said.