9/11 - 18 Years On

[scottishmum]

I was standing at the school gate waiting to pick up my son, my friend text me and told me.
Got home and hubby was home early watching on tv, csn still remember the tv screen as walked in the door 🇺🇸💔

[Bad Pink Tink]

I was in New York, on holiday with friends. Tuesday September 11 was our last day in New York. We had checked out of our hotel and had headed out for some last sight seeing before our evening flight back to Ireland.

We were on 5th Avenue near St Patricks Cathedral when the planes hit. At first we didnt know what was going on, we had just come out of a deli after getting some food and saw everyone screaming and running down the street. Back then our phones didnt even work in America so we had no idea what was going on or what to do.

It was extremely frightening, knowing something major was happening but not being able to access any information. We saw a hotel and went in and asked what was going on and the hotel receptionist told us what had happened. She told us to go back to our hotel and try to get our room back, as the airports were closed and we would not be going home.

That walk back through the streets of New York on the morning of September 11 is something I will never forget. It was like being in a disaster film, except it was real. All around us people running, screaming, the smoke in the air, the sirens, the cars stopped in the middle of the road.

We got to the hotel and joined the line of people and eventually got our room back. We were lucky, the hotel was only giving rooms to people with reservations, but as we had been staying there for the previous week and had just checked out a few hours ago, the hotel gave us back our room.

We ended up being stranded in New York for 5 days, as the airports stayed closed that long. We had to get money sent from home as we had no extra money to pay for the hotel or food.

We were scared to stay in the hotel and we were scared to be out on the street.

It was truly terrifying to be in the middle of the first major terror attack. Some things are forever in my head, a dark and silent Times Square, fight planes in the skies, National Guard tanks going past the 5th Avenue shops, the mushroom of smoke as we looked down Madison Avenue.

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by Bad Pink Tink

I was in New York, on holiday with friends. Tuesday September 11 was our last day in New York. We had checked out of our hotel and had headed out for some last sight seeing before our evening flight back to Ireland.

We were on 5th Avenue near St Patricks Cathedral when the planes hit. At first we didnt know what was going on, we had just come out of a deli after getting some food and saw everyone screaming and running down the street. Back then our phones didnt even work in America so we had no idea what was going on or what to do.

It was extremely frightening, knowing something major was happening but not being able to access any information. We saw a hotel and went in and asked what was going on and the hotel receptionist told us what had happened. She told us to go back to our hotel and try to get our room back, as the airports were closed and we would not be going home.

That walk back through the streets of New York on the morning of September 11 is something I will never forget. It was like being in a disaster film, except it was real. All around us people running, screaming, the smoke in the air, the sirens, the cars stopped in the middle of the road.

We got to the hotel and joined the line of people and eventually got our room back. We were lucky, the hotel was only giving rooms to people with reservations, but as we had been staying there for the previous week and had just checked out a few hours ago, the hotel gave us back our room.

We ended up being stranded in New York for 5 days, as the airports stayed closed that long. We had to get money sent from home as we had no extra money to pay for the hotel or food.

We were scared to stay in the hotel and we were scared to be out on the street.

It was truly terrifying to be in the middle of the first major terror attack. Some things are forever in my head, a dark and silent Times Square, fight planes in the skies, National Guard tanks going past the 5th Avenue shops, the mushroom of smoke as we looked down Madison Avenue.

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oh my goodness - there are no words to describe how terrified you must have been!

In the April of that year I had been with 6 of my fellow travel agent on a 2 night trip that we won as agents of the year!
I remember going past sitting on the top deck of the sightseeing bus and having to lean back so far I made myself feel sick trying to see the top of the buildings.

On that trip I absolutely fell in love with NYC.

I remember being at work on 9/11 and all of us were horrified - I spent all night and all the next day just glued to the TV.

My thoughts go out to everyone involved.

[Bad Pink Tink]

Originally Posted by katiec68

oh my goodness - there are no words to describe how terrified you must have been!

In the April of that year I had been with 6 of my fellow travel agent on a 2 night trip that we won as agents of the year!
I remember going past sitting on the top deck of the sightseeing bus and having to lean back so far I made myself feel sick trying to see the top of the buildings.

On that trip I absolutely fell in love with NYC.

I remember being at work on 9/11 and all of us were horrified - I spent all night and all the next day just glued to the TV.

My thoughts go out to everyone involved.

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thank you

In 2019 we take for granted that our phones will work and we have access to the internet. Back in 2001 we didnt.

It was around 3pm New York time by the time I managed to phone home. Up until that time we just were in shock and survival mode, our brains not computing what our eyes were seeing.

We made it back to our hotel about 10.30am, we were staying at Hotel Pennsylvania across from Madison Square Gardens and its a fairly large hotel. There was a huge line of people trying to get a room, and it took us 4 hours to actually reach the reception desk and talk to the hotel staff. During that 4 hours the hotel staff were amazing, the hotel managers provided bottle of water for everyone and every time we saw a manager we told our story, that we were Irish tourists who had been staying in the hotel and had checked out that morning. The managers kept saying we would get our room back, but we were so scared wouldnt have anywhere to stay that we didnt want to leave the line to phone home. And honestly at that moment in time, making sure we were safe and had a hotel was more important that phoning home.

The relief when we finally got the room keys and went back to the room we had left that morning. It was only then, that we we realised that we needed to phone home.

That in itself was an ordeal. We had to find a pay phone on the street, then join the line of people at the payphone. Then we had to make an international reverse charge phone call. It actually took multiple tries to eventually make the phone call and speak to our parents, as the phone lines kept going down.

Over the next few days, we were lost souls in a city at war. We got information any way we could, mostly from people on the street or in shops and our hotel.

[bernard301]

Originally Posted by Bad Pink Tink

thank you

In 2019 we take for granted that our phones will work and we have access to the internet. Back in 2001 we didnt.
.

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If anything like this happens again, even now, there won't be mobile phone service

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by Bad Pink Tink

thank you

In 2019 we take for granted that our phones will work and we have access to the internet. Back in 2001 we didnt.

It was around 3pm New York time by the time I managed to phone home. Up until that time we just were in shock and survival mode, our brains not computing what our eyes were seeing.

We made it back to our hotel about 10.30am, we were staying at Hotel Pennsylvania across from Madison Square Gardens and its a fairly large hotel. There was a huge line of people trying to get a room, and it took us 4 hours to actually reach the reception desk and talk to the hotel staff. During that 4 hours the hotel staff were amazing, the hotel managers provided bottle of water for everyone and every time we saw a manager we told our story, that we were Irish tourists who had been staying in the hotel and had checked out that morning. The managers kept saying we would get our room back, but we were so scared wouldnt have anywhere to stay that we didnt want to leave the line to phone home. And honestly at that moment in time, making sure we were safe and had a hotel was more important that phoning home.

The relief when we finally got the room keys and went back to the room we had left that morning. It was only then, that we we realised that we needed to phone home.

That in itself was an ordeal. We had to find a pay phone on the street, then join the line of people at the payphone. Then we had to make an international reverse charge phone call. It actually took multiple tries to eventually make the phone call and speak to our parents, as the phone lines kept going down.

Over the next few days, we were lost souls in a city at war. We got information any way we could, mostly from people on the street or in shops and our hotel.

See more...

If it weren't so serious and devastating you could say there is a story to tell the grandkids!

Total respect to you and I cannot imagine how terrifying it was and how relieved you must have felt to get back into your hotel - despite the never ending fear of something else happening.

[Jagmate]

We were on an exchange tour with the USAF in North Carolina when it happened. We lived off base but DH had gone into work early. I'd woken up as usual and gone to log on to the computer to check the BBC website as I did every day and couldn't understand why they were saying that due to an increase in traffic, it would be difficult to access the site. I turned on CNN instead to see the horrific news. Obviously the airbase went into lockdown and I ended up spending the day at a fellow RAF wife's house where we were glued to the TV. It wasn't long before the sqns started flying Combat Air Patrols which went on for a prolonged time (weeks if not months). The Brit Embassy was frantically trying to contact all of our military personnel who were on tours in the US to check our status. New arrivals often hadn't moved into their houses yet or had phone numbers so it was a difficulty logistical exercise for the staff. I remember feeling very trapped in the US at the time. We'd had no plans to leave the country but to know we couldn't if we wanted to felt very odd. We had friends that worked in the Pentagon at the time that we couldn't get hold of which was also scary (thankfully they were all ok).

[Bad Pink Tink]

Originally Posted by katiec68

If it weren't so serious and devastating you could say there is a story to tell the grandkids!

Total respect to you and I cannot imagine how terrifying it was and how relieved you must have felt to get back into your hotel - despite the never ending fear of something else happening.

See more...

It took me about 5 years to to be able to talk about my experiences. Up until then I could only talk to my friends who were there. Even now, most people I know in real life dont know much details about my experiences, and some dont even know I was there.

I think most people who do know I was there dont feel comfortable asking me, so now I start the conservation.

The main reason we didnt stay in our hotel except to sleep was because we didnt know if there would be more attacks. We were across the street from Madison Square Gardens and Penn Train Station and 2 blocks from The Empire State Building. Every building was a potential target and every building had multiple evacuations and hoax bomb calls in the first few days. One night we were walking back to our hotel and saw people in pyjamas running down the street away from our hotel. There had been a hoax bomb call to our hotel and the evacuation sirens went off and the police just told the hotel guests to run.

After seeing that, each night after that when we went to bed, we put our clothes and shoes, our money and our passports in a pile beside the door, so that if the evacuation sirens went off when we were sleeping, we could quickly grab our things and run.

[almcg]

Today is my husband’s birthday and on that day, he came home from work early. Our daughter was in her high chair and I said to him “ There’s been a horrible accident “. He said that it was no accident, as that would be nearly impossible for a plane to hit the tower unless it was deliberate. Then the second plane hit and it was too awful to comprehend. I honestly thought we were watching the beginning of WW3. Watching those poor souls jump to their deaths. I can’t even begin to imagine having to make the choice about how to die

[pinkstargirl]

It's something that still makes me emotional now. I was 16 and just started college. It was the biggest event of my teen years and something that changed the world.

I visited in 2004 when all that was at the site was hoardings and makeshift walkways to access other streets and buildings.
I visited in 2007 and went to a museum that offered walking tours for a donation, the volunteers taking the tours were people who had been impacted in some way; been there on that day or maybe lost a loved one. I don't know if it's the same museum someone else spoke about a few posts back, the temporary 9/11 museum.
I visited in 2015 and went up the new World Trade Center building and visited the memorial.

To those that never came home: Rest in Peace.