Never forget our first responders on 911 those who ran in to help others, who were running away from tragedy...

[GBBUDD]

Back the thin Blue, Red and Green lines.

 

[rubyduby]

I could never forget...My Husband was one who eventually succumbed to cancer...We lost many friends that day...

 

[GBBUDD]

Very sorry to hear that @rubyduby , I thank you and him for doing your part.

My loud HONEST and VERY BLUNT ATTITUDE SAVED ME. Living next door in CT A very good friend of mine within hours had called me asking if i would help with construction related services on ground zero. I OF CORSE SAID WHAT DID HE HAVE IN MIND as i knew he was RED CROSS . I have to give credit they had a hot line set up already and he told me to give them a call . They asked who and what my experience was and after a short conversation she said i was exactly what they were looking for. But in closing she asked what i thought it was going to be like at ground zero.

I told her absolute hell on earth. That when we tear down a building today we remove any contaminants like lead, asbestos, glass and pcb's etc . THAT THIS HAD NOT BEEN DONE THAT THE SILCA alone was going to create huge respiratory issues for those boots on the ground. Two 100 Story skyscrapers were piled up and you were asking for us to climb in on and around this. That timberland better open a boot store down the street along with masks and gloves. And then the worst part of all the remains. WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE LIKE WAS ANYONES WORST NIGHT MARE. well the naïve woman saved me as she said i was not who they needed that i didn't have a positive attitude, i told her i had realistic expectations and not sugar coated ideas like her self, and she retracted the invite. I was very upset but the more i thought about it i knew it would save me years of issues. The EPA came out I believe it was day two saying that there was no health concerns on ground zero . Talk about just another bureaucratic office talking out there lower extremities.

My hat off to those who did go. and to those still fighting the conditions of ground zero 21 years latter.

Went on a ride today for 911 and support of our First responders though mainly for the Thin blue line . AND OF CORSE ONE GROUP OF ASSHOLES PROTESTING WITH THERE BLM HORSE SHIT . THEY FOUND THAT WAS NOT A GROUP WHO WAS INTIMIDATED BY STUPIDITY

I'M SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS @rubyduby THANK YOU

 

[YShahar]

I could never forget...My Husband was one who eventually succumbed to cancer...We lost many friends that day...

May your husband's memory be a blessing to you and to all those whose lives he touched.

 

[YShahar]

Not likely to forget. I was still working at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism back then.

The day of the attack, I had been writing an analysis piece on the assassination of the commander of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. I had nearly finished the piece when the first plane struck. Soon everyone on our floor was crowded around the live feed down the hall watching the events unfold. At some point I heard one of my colleagues say from the back of the room, "the world just changed."

Even before the towers fell, we found ourselves inundated by calls from people all over the world asking "who's behind this?" It got to the point where we would simply pick up a ringing phone, say "It was al-Qaida" and put it down and pick up the next one.

That analysis piece I was writing is still somewhere on my computer. Still unfinished.

May the memory of that terrible day help to ensure that it never happens again.

 

[poconojoe]

I was working in all the buildings for nearly 5 years. Ironically we were installing a massive security system due to the '93 garage bombing. Card readers, turnstiles, cameras, mag locks, etc. All over the complex.

I was one of the lucky ones.
They put me on nights that week. It literally saved my life. Previous to nights I was working in tower one on the 110th floor. No way I would have gotten out. I had left work at 3:30 am that morning and was safely at home when they hit.

I knew a lot of people that died and I could tell you some horrible stories that our day crew experienced.
Our union lost 17 people. So sad.

A week later I returned and worked across the street repairing damage at the American Express building. It was like a war zone. Soldiers everywhere. They fenced it all in. check points to get in. I worked nights and the sound of the constant beeping of the machinery backup alarms still haunt me.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army were there to help feed and take care of everyone. They were amazing.

 

[addy1]

I was on the other side of the country, going to get my first patient of the day, we all froze in horror! Our life did change forever that day.

 

[rubyduby]

Very sorry to hear that @rubyduby , I thank you and him for doing your part.

My loud HONEST and VERY BLUNT ATTITUDE SAVED ME. Living next door in CT A very good friend of mine within hours had called me asking if i would help with construction related services on ground zero. I OF CORSE SAID WHAT DID HE HAVE IN MIND as i knew he was RED CROSS . I have to give credit they had a hot line set up already and he told me to give them a call . They asked who and what my experience was and after a short conversation she said i was exactly what they were looking for. But in closing she asked what i thought it was going to be like at ground zero.

I told her absolute hell on earth. That when we tear down a building today we remove any contaminants like lead, asbestos, glass and pcb's etc . THAT THIS HAD NOT BEEN DONE THAT THE SILCA alone was going to create huge respiratory issues for those boots on the ground. Two 100 Story skyscrapers were piled up and you were asking for us to climb in on and around this. That timberland better open a boot store down the street along with masks and gloves. And then the worst part of all the remains. WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE LIKE WAS ANYONES WORST NIGHT MARE. well the naïve woman saved me as she said i was not who they needed that i didn't have a positive attitude, i told her i had realistic expectations and not sugar coated ideas like her self, and she retracted the invite. I was very upset but the more i thought about it i knew it would save me years of issues. The EPA came out I believe it was day two saying that there was no health concerns on ground zero . Talk about just another bureaucratic office talking out there lower extremities.

My hat off to those who did go. and to those still fighting the conditions of ground zero 21 years latter.

Went on a ride today for 911 and support of our First responders though mainly for the Thin blue line . AND OF CORSE ONE GROUP OF ASSHOLES PROTESTING WITH THERE BLM HORSE SHIT . THEY FOUND THAT WAS NOT A GROUP WHO WAS INTIMIDATED BY STUPIDITY

I'M SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS @rubyduby THANK YOU

My Husband and I were on the Montgomery, MD FEMA task force...I was a dog handler but had recently retired...My Husband was still in service and was dispatched to the Pentagon...He worked at ground zero for days...The horrors that he witnessed...Ugh...what a nightmare...Our nightmare unfortunately lived on and on through his cancer journey....Thank you for the kind words...

 

[addy1]

Our nightmare unfortunately lived on and on through his cancer journey....Thank you for the kind words...

So many have lost their lives after 911 so many due to cancer. So sorry your husband was one of them.

 

[j.w]

So very sorry @rubyduby

 

[poconojoe]

When we arrived at ground zero World Trade Center we were immediately sent to our union doctor downtown. We were lung capacity tested and had an x-ray done. Then we were respirator fit tested. If you had a beard they gave you a razor to shave it off or you could leave if you wanted. You can't have a beard and safely use a respirator.
Think Covid and masks. How many people were wearing ill fitted masks or had beards during covid?

We had to wear safety glasses, hard hat and respirator at all times.
I'll be blunt, I'll never forget the smell of destruction and death.

When I think about it, I wonder why I volunteered for that duty.
I guess I felt after working in the towers for nearly 5 years, that it was kind of my own home away from home and I knew a lot of people that didn't make it.

 

[YShahar]

When I think about it, I wonder why I volunteered for that duty.
I guess I felt after working in the towers for nearly 5 years, that it was kind of my own home away from home and I knew a lot of people that didn't make it.

I think volunteering might have been the best way to deal with losing so many of your friends and acquaintances. It's something that I've found living here in Israel as well, that sometimes the only way to get through something is to give yourself something active to do--something that will help counter the sense of helplessness.

 

[GBBUDD]

I remember you saying you had been working at the the trade center prior and after.@poconojoe Thanks for doing your part. I remember feeling bad seeing all the rescue workers wearing the masks but knowing how very difficult it is to actually get a proper fit. Something that has beyond pissed me off the two years of COVID knowing ALL THE cdc RECOMENDED FIXES WERE BEYOND NOTHING BUT PASIFIERS. and still seeing masks today is an insult to those who know. odds of a medical masking being effective is less than 10% and the odds of a n 95 being worn properly is barely over 15%
I saw a photo of a guy installing a chain link fence with a woman on the other side of the fence with the caption if the fence was to keep people out and the guys saying no it was his way of keeping COVID out. Unfortunately it's not far off if you scaled the virus to the ill fitted masks of the last few years even n 95 they need to be so tight to your clean shaven face that when you take it off the bands cut into your face and look like your still wearing one an hour latter

 

[GBBUDD]

My Husband and I were on the Montgomery, MD FEMA task force...I was a dog handler but had recently retired...My Husband was still in service and was dispatched to the Pentagon...He worked at ground zero for days...The horrors that he witnessed...Ugh...what a nightmare...Our nightmare unfortunately lived on and on through his cancer journey....Thank you for the kind words...

Thank you for sharing @rubyduby , everyone should hear of the sacrifices so many made to help others that day in a city where NO ONE says hello to each other or that will offer assistance. I mentioned those night mares to the woman i didn't want to bring them in text here. I guess i still feel guilty i didn't do my part because i spoke of what i knew was coming.

Very sorry for your loss, AND ANYONE ELSE READING THIS WHO HAD SACRAFICES AS WELL

 

[GBBUDD]

Not likely to forget. I was still working at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism back then.

The day of the attack, I had been writing an analysis piece on the assassination of the commander of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. I had nearly finished the piece when the first plane struck. Soon everyone on our floor was crowded around the live feed down the hall watching the events unfold. At some point I heard one of my colleagues say from the back of the room, "the world just changed."

Even before the towers fell, we found ourselves inundated by calls from people all over the world asking "who's behind this?" It got to the point where we would simply pick up a ringing phone, say "It was al-Qaida" and put it down and pick up the next one.

That analysis piece I was writing is still somewhere on my computer. Still unfinished.

May the memory of that terrible day help to ensure that it never happens again.

I was working on a summer home on long island for a ad executive who lived in Manhattan who was walking his 6 year old i believe she was to school. and the typical kid hear a plane pointed it out to her dad who ignored it until he saw the plane hit the first tower. He called the job and wanted 24 hour shifts working to finish up and he was moving in. he never did move it after 3 months of 24/7 day working on that home.
He did get his daughter a pet to help soothe the tension and that was a pair of green turtles. which i later found were illegal to own as i ended up owning them when he told me he was actually going to let them go at the job. Not sure what he ment and i asked . to where he was going to release THEM IN THE OCEAN. sO I SAVED THEM and that actually started one of my fish journeys all those many years ago