Remembering 9/11 on this side of the pond.

[Rescue190]

I was a rookie on the FD that year. Joined only 4 months prior to 9/11. Many emotions fill our house on this day. My wife is retired from the Sheriffs office and we both responded to the 35W bridge collapse many years ago. We have our flag lowered and said a few prayers for those that were lost.
John

[Rakkasan187]

I was at Fire Station 25 East El Paso, Texas running on Medic 25 when the news came in.. That night I was called back to Active Duty and reported to Ft Bliss on 9/12/01 and remained on Active Duty until July 2005 when I was able to retire and return to the El Paso Fire Department..

Rest in Peace 343 and all others we lost in NY, Washington and Pennsylvania and to all our Troops still engaged in America's longest war and for all those we are still losing from Ground Zero Cancer...

Lest We Forget..

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" John 15:13

Smitty

[Chopperman]

One of our truck and trailer rigs was used to haul the gear of volunteers
that headed to NYC to help with the search and rescue effort.

Let us never forget.

[Rakkasan187]

Bumping this back to the top on the 21st Anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and the heroic actions of several of the passengers of flight 93 who sacrificed their lives in order that others may live, who died in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

21 Years. During that time, the United States and many of its Allies were engaged in the Global War on Terrorism which spanned two decades.

In those 21 years since the attacks there have been setbacks and victories, losses and gains, and through all those years past, poignant reminders of dedication, sacrifice, and unending Patriotism.

Not a day goes by in my life that by some chance there is a reminder of 9/11. When I causally look at a digital clock to see what time it is, the red numbers sometimes show 9:11 either in the morning or evening, when I look up to the sky sometimes and see a large jet flying through the air, it reminds me of the days following the attacks when all air travel was grounded and the eerie silence of stepping outdoors not hearing heavy machinery or jet engines, but the quiet calmness of the breeze and birds singing, or the sound of a siren from the fire station just blocks from my house where I was on duty the morning of September 11, answering a phone call from my wife who told me to turn on the TV, and that there was an accident in New York City, not knowing until I saw the second plane hit that it was deliberate and not an accident.. and when the alarm goes off at the station for someone hurt or in distress, I know they dialed 9-1-1, to get help...

These reminders will forever be imbedded in my mind just like the birth of my only son, the wedding anniversary of my wife, birthdays of family and friends, and the loss of family members.

I Pray for the families of those who were never found at the World Trade Center site, and hopefully someday those families will have closure,,,,

I Pray for all those who in the years following the attacks were struck down by cancer and other ailments from the debris field and hazardous work at Ground Zero,,,

I Pray for our Military men and women who answered the call to defend our Nation and all those Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coastguardsmen and women who lost their lives fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, losing their lives on September 11, on each anniversary year after the attacks,,,

I Pray for my Brothers and Sisters in the Fire, Police and Medical fields, past and present, who risk their lives daily for strangers and never ask anything in return,,,

Lastly, I Pray that those who were born 21 years ago will learn and understand what happened on the day of their birth in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, and they will embrace that day not only as a reminder of their birth but a reminder of all those lost,,,

Lest We Forget..

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" John 15:13

Smitty

[Rakkasan187]

Another bump to the top on this 23rd Anniversary of the attacks in New York and the Pentagon and all those we lost on that day and since that day.

Rest in Peace 343.

I encourage you all to take some time to look closely at the images posted and reflect on the significance of this day in American and World History and the impact that it has over the past 20 plus years....

I will NEVER FORGET..

Smitty

[Watchdog]

I was on holiday in Cyprus that day and having returned to our apartment for lunch I absentmindedly put on the TV and was confused that every channel seemed to be showing the same "disaster movie" until I realised that it wasn't a movie. I was stunned and still am.

None of us should ever take a less than robust approach to dealing with such monstrous behaviour Currently I get apoplectic when apologists try to plead the case of "innocents" who allow such creatures to hide amongst them. How attitudes have changed since the mid 20th century.

Mark

[Pauls1970]

My wife & I were honeymooning in Sorrento when this disaster happened. Highest respects to the US emergency services, you did your country proud.
Paul

[SHEMP H]

God bless them all, I can't believe how fast twenty three years have passed and how many people have forgotten what happened that awful day


Bill

[relicz]

[QUOTE=Rescue190;2106478]I was a rookie on the FD that year. Joined only 4 months prior to 9/11. Many emotions fill our house on this day. My wife is retired from the Sheriffs office and we both responded to the 35W bridge collapse many years ago. We have our flag lowered and said a few prayers for those that were lost.
John

This photo is of a friend of mine from the old neighborhood. Unfortunately, three and a half years ago Roddy succumbed to the illness he contracted during that tragic day and during his time on the pile looking for survivors, and afterwards recovery of the fallen.

R.I.P. Gerard "Roddy" McGibbon, rest easy my friend - there is so much more I could say about you - you are not forgotten.

[TWS]

23 years ago today I was on a flight from Bucharest, Romania to Frankfurt a.M. Germany. I was leaving my assignment with the Defense Attache Office at our embassy in RO to take a job working for the V Corps Chief of Staff in Heidelberg. I landed in Frankfurt and was met by my sponsor. He told me what had happened while I was in the air. For the first few minutes I thought it was a typical Army "test the new guy" type of prank. We exited to the parking garage and piled in our government van to go around the airport to the U.S. airbase on the other side so that I could sign in officially. We turned on the radio and the attacks were all over the German news. Both of us being fluent German speakers, I then knew 100% that he was not pulling my leg. We approached the airbase to see two military police HMMWV's (vehicles) parked at angles blocking the approach road to the entry gate. What seemed like an entire platoon of military police were deployed around them in full "battle rattle", flak vests, kevlar helmets, M16 rifles locked and loaded. There were even a few soldiers taking covered positions behind the vehicles with their rifles pointed down the road. The NCO who walked up to our window said "Gentlemen, no one is coming in and no one is going out. You have to turn around." Less than two weeks later we deployed to Poland to practice "certain operations" and my actual assigned role was put on hold as I worked in an operations center helping the Corps HQ run exercises in Poland.