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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: Dan McEntee on September 11, 2016, 10:07:52 PM

Title: 9/11
Post by: Dan McEntee on September 11, 2016, 10:07:52 PM: Today dawned a perfectly clear day, a perfect day to go flying. I had arranged with Sparky and Mark Hughes and Fred Cronenwhet to meet at Buder park for some practice and test flying. Sparky was to get the first flights on his new Juno XL. Mark is still trimming his new Stiletto 660, Fred had his fun scale Spitfire and Fox.35 speed model, and I took about 5 different models just to fly. We had a great day, lots of success with trimming and such and went home.
Today was the same kind of day I woke up to on September 11, 2001. I had set my alarm a little early ( 8AM) because I had something that I had to do, but don't remember now what that was. As the alarm went off, the radio news mentioned that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers. I remember thinking that in this day and age, they have cameras everywhere, and that there would be something on TV about it. I thought back to seeing pictures and video of the B-25 bomber that flew into the Empire State Building right after WW-2. The aft fuselage was sticking the side of the building about 3/4 of the way to the top. I guess I was expecting to see something similar in my foggy, sleepy state of mind.
I went to the living room and turned on the TV and immediately saw images of the first tower burning and the dense smoke. I was still just in my underwear, but sat down on the edge of the coffee table to watch what was happening. As I was listening to the mindless banter of the commentators, I saw the second jet fly into the second tower and just could not believe my eyes! The commentators were obviously not watching monitors, because they kept jabbering on about something else, and I impulsively yelled at the screen,"Hey, wake up dumb asses!" I could not pull myself away from the screen for fear of missing something else, or not hear exactly what was going on.
As the morning went by, the news of Flight 93 and the Pentagon crashes came over the air and it was now clearly evident that the USA was under attack. I looked at the clock and it was well past 11AM and I had not moved a muscle. I had not even gone to the bathroom, and my bladder was about to burst, but was afraid to leave the TV. I watched as they showed the giant screen that depicted all of the commercial air traffic over the country, and was awestruck as the little airplanes started to disappear off the screen, as flights were ordered to put down ASAP where ever possible. As it started to get near time for me to leave for work, I left a bit early to drive down Lindburgh/US 67 that runs past the west end of Lambert Field. I just had to see what the scene there looked like. I pulled over to the side of the road and saw what looked like a used air liner sales lot. Air liners were parked everywhere on the field, ramps, taxi ways, anywhere there was space. I wish I had thought to take a camera. And there was nothing in the sky. The airport itself seemed deserted, nothing was moving. An unmarked car that was probably some form of law enforcement pulled up behind me and I took that as my cue to move on. It was really hard to explain what I watched that morning to people at work
I watched some programing tonight on the 15th anniversary of the attack. It still seems like yesterday to me. Watching it as it happened had a profound effect on me, I guess. I guess I feel the same way people felt on December 7, 1941. Both are a defining moment on our nations history. World War Two went on for a long, hard 4 years with much hard work and sacrifice by our people. We are 15 years past the 9/11 attacks, and we are still slogging it out in the war on terror. It makes me wonder, is it that much harder of a war to win, or do we as a country just do not have the same resolve today that we had in the 1940s?
As long as I live, I know I will never forget the events of that day, and the efforts and sacrifices made in the face of a terrible attack on our homeland.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Title: Re: 9/11
Post by: RC Storick on September 11, 2016, 10:17:54 PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgleFMs2D0Q
Title: Re: 9/11
Post by: Tom Niebuhr on September 12, 2016, 08:15:19 AM: My father was a member of the NY Police Emergency Unit. Although he had been retired and passed on before 911, I am sure that he new some of those men and I consider them as family.

The members of that unit are Swat Team, Paramedics, and Bomb Squad. They are a special team that do not seek publicity, and usually do not arrest people or give out tickets. They respond to emergency situations that the cop on the beat cannot handle or needs special support.

For the first time in the past 15 years, I finally saw an hour dedicated to the Emergency Squad on Discovery Channel. The presentation called them "E-Men" a term that I never heard and is possibly a little "movie talk". The presentation showed the efforts of those brave men in saving and recovering individuals on that horrible day and the many days after.

The Emergency Squad lost 14 members on 911

I will also add that a member of our stunt community and contributor to the Stunt Hangar Forum was also a responder on 911. Neal Beekman had recently retired from the Fire Dept. in NYC. Neal immediately went to the site and helped for many days afterward.

My thanks and prayers go to all those responders and the families of all who were lost.

..
Title: Re: 9/11
Post by: john e. holliday on September 12, 2016, 11:09:17 AM: I too will never forget that day. I had just got home from the midnight shift at work in the control center. Pulled into the drive way and youngest daughter was at the front door asking me if I had heard the news. Of course I asked what news?. Good thing I didn't have to work that night as I was glued to the TV. The first tower was billowing smoke when the second plane hit. I wondered about where are the rescue helicopters. Then when the first building went down, all I could think of was all those people going to their death. Then the remaining tower going down. Then hearing of the other planes going down.

I am thinking of more to say, but it would be too political and probably racist as I thought those that claimed responsibility should have never drawn another breath when they spoke. I guess the brainless turds didn't realize how many nationalities were in those buildings and planes that were destroyed.
Title: Re: 9/11
Post by: wwwarbird on September 12, 2016, 08:36:39 PM: Quote from: Dan McEntee on September 11, 2016, 10:07:52 PM

Today was the same kind of day I woke up to on September 11, 2001...

I had the exact same thought as I first looked out the window yesterday morning, seemed just like that day.

...the radio news mentioned that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers. I remember thinking that in this day and age, they have cameras everywhere, and that there would be something on TV about it. I thought back to seeing pictures and video of the B-25 bomber that flew into the Empire State Building right after WW-2. The aft fuselage was sticking the side of the building about 3/4 of the way to the top. I guess I was expecting to see something similar in my foggy, sleepy state of mind.

Again, I had that exact same thought and picture in my head.

I went to the living room and turned on the TV and immediately saw images of the first tower burning and the dense smoke. As I was listening to the mindless banter of the commentators, I saw the second jet fly into the second tower and just could not believe my eyes!

Same experience I had, except I had just gotten to work after hearing of the first hit on the radio in my truck. I ran in and turned on the TV in the showroom and after watching for a few minutes I saw the second tower hit live.

It makes me wonder, is it that much harder of a war to win, or do we as a country just do not have the same resolve today that we had in the 1940s?

I feel it's the latter, and getting back to those WWII values is something that is painfully long overdue.

As long as I live, I know I will never forget the events of that day, and the efforts and sacrifices made in the face of a terrible attack on our homeland.

I will never forget either. Since the moment I watched that second hit live I have considered 9/11 my generations Pearl Harbor. I actually consider it worse in the sense that it wasn't an attack directly against our military, it was just innocent people on their way to work.. My regret (and embarrassment) is how little the officials of our country have done about it.