Where were you 18 years ago today?

[jawilli4]

I was at Washington Hospital Center, where the Pentagon burn patients were eventually taken when they lifted the no fly restriction for their helicopter.

My dad was in the cardiac ICU due to a heart infection. He had been on a heart pump for over two weeks but was getting better. The day before, they tried to extubate him unsuccessfully. The doctor had told us that they were going to try one more time and that if it didn't work, then it probably wouldn't ever.

My mom and I were staying at the hospital's hotel on campus. We were getting ready to go over to the ICU and were watching the Today Show when the second plane hit. When we walked into my dad's room, he was awake and without a respirator. We should have been overjoyed but instead we were just in shock.

When the plane hit the pentagon, I remember the hospital asking all visitors to leave. The hospital is a renowned burn center so they prepared to get tons of burn patients. They went through the cardiac ICU and moved as many patients as possible to other floors. (My dad stayed because he was still critical.) My mom and I stayed, too, and nobody bothered any families who still had loved ones on the floor. I never looked outside, but another family member said he saw fighter jets circling DC. I think at one point we must have gone to the cafeteria. When we walked near the front door, there was a huge line of people waiting to give blood.

I just looked it up and 10 burn patients arrived. "Only" one died, which is a miracle as most had major burns over their bodies. I can only imagine how excruciating it must have been for them and the pain that they continue to carry.

There is a great Washington Post article that talks about the Muslim engineer that redesigned the crash site to be a chapel. But what struck me more was toward the end of the article:


"Ezzat received a doctorate in structural engineering and then worked in private practice before joining the Army Corps of Engineers. Her first role in the Corps was working on the renovation of the Pentagon, a years-long project that was underway when the 2001 attack took place.

Ezzat says her earlier work reinforcing the exterior of the building, a costly project she had fought to get approved, saved lives when the terrorists attacked. The floors above the crash site collapsed more than 20 minutes after the initial impact, enough time for everyone there — Ezzat says it was 1,500 people — to walk out alive."

184 people dying in the Pentagon was horrific, senseless, and tragic, not to mention those elsewhere that were mass murdered on September 11. But I am certainly grateful for Dr. Ezzat's work and the multitudes of burn patients that never arrived at the hospital that day.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/relig...?noredirect=on

[wendibird22]

I was (and still do) working on a college campus and had spent 8am-9am in a meeting with senior leadership. I was walking to my office which was in another building and a hallway tv had the news on and my supervisor and I caught notice that something major was going on. We went back to our conference room which had a tv and watched as news unfolded. I worked in a student services function at the time and we immediately went into response mode to identify students with families in NYC (a lot of our student body), setting up gathering spots for students to be with one another, outreaching to students who commuted, etc. It was a surreal experience of wanting to just sit and watch and digest and be still with colleagues but knowing that my obligation was to our students. Four of our alumni lost their lives that day and several faculty and staff lost family members. Miraculously none of students at that time had lost a family member that day.

Three months later my professional organization was scheduled to hold its annual conference in DC. Members couldn't make flight reservations for a few months because we were to fly into Reagan International and it was closed for quite a while due to its proximity to major govt buildings. Eventually we were able to book flights and the conference did go on and I remember walking to the Pentagon and seeing the giant american flag covering the hole in the building.

In high school my theater group traveled to NYC yearly to see productions and I was fortunate to have visited 4 times. Visits always included tours of the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. I have dozens upon dozens of pictures I took from inside those towers and of the NYC skyline where they were so prominent.

I have visited the memorial site and it's truly breathtaking and eery and impactful. You know you are on hallowed ground and you cannot view the personal artifacts and hear the stories and audio and not be deeply changed.

[Globetrotter]

I feel teary just reading these posts..
My mom woke me up – I’m in California – and told me to watch the news as something bad happened.
I had the TV on the whole day. I was supposed to meet some friends with our toddlers, and that would have been comforting, but my BFF worked on Wall Street and she was stuck in the city and I just couldn’t leave until I knew she was ok. It took her all day to get out of the city.

I also felt scared to go outside for some time, worried about planes flying overhead. I remember for months after I would feel really nervous going near the golden gate bridge because I thought it was a target.
We didn’t have fancy cell phones and 24 hour communication, so it wasn’t easy to connect with loved ones to see if they were ok.

[Mommy_Mea]

I feel teary just reading these posts..

Me too, really brings me back to the feelings in the days and months after the attacks.

I was at work, and saw the breaking news banner on Boston.com about a plane hitting the WTC, and like everyone else thought it was just a small plane. Starting chatting on AIM with friends about it, and stayed on most of the day as things unfurled. I had a lot of friends working and living in NYC, so it was invaluable to be able to check in and get news. Everyone in the office walked around in a daze and gathered around a TV in the conference room, many crying. I spent the evening with my roommates watching the TV and just trying to hold each other together.

The quiet skies in the days after was so eerie. I still startle when I see a plane low.

[jacksmomtobe]

I was living just outside of Boston. I had recently been laid off and had also gotten engaged. I was planning on going into Boston to get my ring sized and was watching the Today show painting my toe nails passing time until stores opened. Similar to hillview I was watching right afte the first plane had hit and they were showing the towers thinking it was an accident when the second plane hit on live tv. My roommate was planning going in late to work so she ended up not going in and I remember us having difficulty getting on the internet. Dh (my then fiancé) regularly took Tuesday morning flights on American out of Boston to CA but happened to not be going that day. This Wednesday I was driving by a hotels that the terrorists stayed at before the attacks . Though I drive by there often I hadn't thoughts about that fact for a long time.