As I sit here at my desk this morning, I remember that I was doing the same thing at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001 — sitting in my Lehman Brothers office on the 10th floor of the American Express Tower of the World Financial Center checking the screens trying to figure out what happened overnight. Many of you were undoubtedly doing the same thing. And then the world changed.
Nineteen years later memories of that morning still bring tears to my eyes. I guess that will always be the case.
I was there too. It was awful. One of my lasting memories was how people lined up at a temporary blood bank to donate. When I got there the line was out the door down the street and around the corner. Someone from the Red Cross came out and said they could only process so many people an hour and those of us at the end of the line would not get in for hours. No one moved. Later they came back and said they wanted O negative blood (universal donor). Some people moved to the head of the line; the rest of stayed where we were. Still later they came back and told us to go home as they didn’t need that much blood after all. The way people came together and were trying to do anything they could to help is a memory that will stay with me forever. If only we could recapture that feeling today.
It will always be the case, same for me
I was living in Washington at the time. We closed up the office and an employee that lived further away came and stayed at my house that day while we watched CNN and got the van ready to evacuate. Later that evening I drove through the streets seeing military Humvees posted at major intersections passing the still burning Pentagon. I had been working in the opposite side of the Pentagon on a project just a year before. It was a devastating time. As Larry said, I wish we could all come together now like we did then. It was a time when we all suddenly remembered we were Americans.
Hi Chris. Isn’t it amazing how everybody has a story.? Nobody’s memory seems to have diminished at all in the past 19 years. I wonder what has happened to us in the past 19 years and why we have become so divided? Politics? Social media? Perhaps the younger generation is even more self-absorbed than we were? Not sure. But I liked the cohesiveness that occurred after 9/11 rather than the divisiveness that exists today.
Hi Larry. Thanks for sharing. A touching story. Everybody in the country –regardless of where they were — remembers exactly what they were doing. As I mentioned to Chris, I wonder what happened to that togetherness that existed after 9/11. What is different today? While politics is certainly a part of it, the availability of social media may play a role, and perhaps the younger generation is even more self-absorbed than we were. Not sure, but it is troubling.
Steve
I was inside the Pentagon that day. Laurie and I wrote a joint article for the Post & Courier. She knew I was there. Like many others and as Marine’s do anyway I ran to the crash site, to the “sound of gunfire”. I was a stretcher bearer for 5 hours. I saw the remnants of humanity and the best of those who joined to help. I remember pieces of aircraft. I saw the outer wall of the Pentagon collapse. It haunts me to this day, even with all the other Far and Middle East experiences, Desert Storm, Iraq, etc. it’s the one that still gets to me.
Thanks for your note, Dean. The shadow of the first plane come right by my office window and 2 seconds later hit World Trade. That was unforgettable. Ran to that side of the building to see what was happening. Tried to figure out why that pilot hit the WTC when he could have landed in the Hudson River. Then I watched the second one hit. Finally figured it out. Unfortunately, things got worse. There is no way one forgets what they saw that day.
Steve