• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

September 11, 2001

Jump to latest Follow Reply
plum diamonds buckeye planet
Sort by date Sort by votes
I don't think I've ever posted my story. I was in college at Bloomsburg (in PA), so I've never really felt the need. PA isn't NY and certainly isn't NYC.

I had late classes that day. I woke up after both towers had been hit. I turned on the TV probably a little after 9. I'm sure it was on ESPN. I still watched SportsCenter back then. I'd bet I watched it as I fell asleep the night before. They had the same feed every body else did, but I felt compelled to turn it to one of the bigger networks. I watched the towers fall still in my bed.

I remember going to class and hearing idiots wondering if Bloomsburg was next. As if somebody would target the Pentagon, the WTC, and tiny Bloom. Eventually all classes were cancelled for the day...then for the week. I remember wondering if colleges nowhere near NYC were cancelled.

My girlfriend's roommate was from Long Island. Surprisingly, she wasn't as insufferable as you'd expect a New Yorker to be. Once classes were cancelled, we stupidly thought it'd be a good idea to go with her back home. I'm glad we did.

The first stop the next day was her old high school. Before then, you could see the towers from her school. Obviously after, you couldn't. Everybody there was still in shock. Coming from nowheresville PA, this was surreal for me.

Either the next day or the day after we had the bright idea to take the train into NYC. I'll never forget the view as we came up from underground to see the city. It was still a mess. Such a bizarre scene to see from a subway car.

I don't remember where we went once we were in the city except for one place...30 Rock. Once we got back to her house, we heard that was the site of the first anthrax scare. That's when I decided it'd be a good idea to call my parents and let them know I was a few miles away but OK.

Being around the Long Islanders as an outsider was weird. Normally, I'd be annoyed at their insistence that they were true New Yorkers despite just being just Long Islanders. But in that moment, these people who normally could see the towers from their bathrooms had earned my solace. I was an outsider who was welcomed into this NY world without question. Something I don't think would've happened in that city without the tragedy taking place.

I can't believe it's only been 15 years. I read something today that the 2006 Texas-OSU game was (obviously) 10 years ago, and it just makes me feel old. I was at the 2005 game, so that was 11 years ago. That seems like forever ago now. But September 11th oddly doesn't feel like it was longer ago. It feels like we were just there on September 10th when things were normal.

I wish it were possible to explain to my son how things used to be. I don't think that will ever be possible. That's such a sobering thought. Fuck terrorists, man. Fuck evil. This world isn't fair like it was. Fuck.
 
Upvote 0
Okay, this is going to sound stupid because it is stupid.

I can't remember what TV we had when we watched 9/11.

I can tell you year by year every single one since my early childhood, to there, and thereafter.

It is just. . . weird. I really don't think it means anything. But it is weird.
 
Upvote 0
BuckeyeNation27 said:
I don't think I've ever posted my story. I was in college at Bloomsburg (in PA), so I've never really felt the need. PA isn't NY and certainly isn't NYC.

I had late classes that day. I woke up after both towers had been hit. I turned on the TV probably a little after 9. I'm sure it was on ESPN. I still watched SportsCenter back then. I'd bet I watched it as I fell asleep the night before. They had the same [Zeke] every body else did, but I felt compelled to turn it to one of the bigger networks. I watched the towers fall still in my bed.

I remember going to class and hearing idiots wondering if Bloomsburg was next. As if somebody would target the Pentagon, the WTC, and tiny Bloom. Eventually all classes were cancelled for the day...then for the week. I remember wondering if colleges nowhere near NYC were cancelled.

My girlfriend's roommate was from Long Island. Surprisingly, she wasn't as insufferable as you'd expect a New Yorker to be. Once classes were cancelled, we stupidly thought it'd be a good idea to go with her back home. I'm glad we did.

The first stop the next day was her old high school. Before then, you could see the towers from her school. Obviously after, you couldn't. Everybody there was still in shock. Coming from nowheresville PA, this was surreal for me.

Either the next day or the day after we had the bright idea to take the train into NYC. I'll never forget the view as we came up from underground to see the city. It was still a mess. Such a bizarre scene to see from a subway car.

I don't remember where we went once we were in the city except for one place...30 Rock. Once we got back to her house, we heard that was the site of the first anthrax scare. That's when I decided it'd be a good idea to call my parents and let them know I was a few miles away but OK.

Being around the Long Islanders as an outsider was weird. Normally, I'd be annoyed at their insistence that they were true New Yorkers despite just being just Long Islanders. But in that moment, these people who normally could see the towers from their bathrooms had earned my solace. I was an outsider who was welcomed into this NY world without question. Something I don't think would've happened in that city without the tragedy taking place.

I can't believe it's only been 15 years. I read something today that the 2006 Texas-OSU game was (obviously) 10 years ago, and it just makes me feel old. I was at the 2005 game, so that was 11 years ago. That seems like forever ago now. But September 11th oddly doesn't feel like it was longer ago. It feels like we were just there on September 10th when things were normal.

I wish it were possible to explain to my son how things used to be. I don't think that will ever be possible. That's such a sobering thought. Fuck terrorists, man. Fuck evil. This world isn't fair like it was. Fuck.
Click to expand...

Nobody's story is more or less worthy due to proximity. Well, except those that lost someone.
 
Upvote 0
BuckeyeNation27 said:
I wish it were possible to explain to my son how things used to be. I don't think that will ever be possible. That's such a sobering thought. Fuck terrorists, man. Fuck evil. This world isn't fair like it was. Fuck.
Click to expand...
Look at it this way: we are still more likely to be killed by a white nationalist terrorist, or a tornado, or a shark in a tornado (I made that one up), or a falling freaking coconut (I didn't make this one up) than an Islamic terrorist. It isn't that bad. We just happen to have hate mongers controlling conservative airwaves.

I remember being told how to duck under a desk when a nuclear bomb went off, which makes. . . no sense. Our kids have it good. There were no "good old days of America that need made "great again." Unless one opposes those damn darkies voting, or women being beaten with no recourse, much higher violent crime, etc. This mantra is inane. Only really dim white folks believe that crap.

Explain the wars of Guatemala, Colombia, Grenada, Chile, Panama, and Iraq and Afghanistan to your son. Let him know none of them were for anything like what the government said (save Afghanistan).

Edit: just pointing out, they used to be worse.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
kinch said:
Look at it this way: we are still more likely to be killed by a white nationalist terrorist, or a tornado, or a shark in a tornado (I made that one up), or a falling freaking coconut (I didn't make this one up) than an Islamic terrorist. It isn't that bad. We just happen to have hate mongers controlling conservative airwaves.

I remember being told how to duck under a desk when a nuclear bomb went off, which makes. . . no sense. Our kids have it good. There were no "good old days of America that need made "great again." Unless one opposes those damn darkies voting, or women being beaten with no recourse, much higher violent crime, etc. This mantra is inane. Only really dim white folks believe that crap.

Explain the wars of Guatemala, Colombia, Grenada, Chile, Panama, and Iraq and Afghanistan to your son. Let him know none of them were for anything like what the government said (save Afghanistan).

Edit: just pointing out, they used to be worse.
Click to expand...
The enemy is not abroad any longer.

The threat is us (and I don't mean sleepers).
 
Upvote 0
I still vividly remember about 15 minutes of the day, but the rest is a blur. I was a freshman in college, went to an 8am English class like every other day. Didn't know anything was wrong till I got to my 9am Spanish. I was the second one there and the other student and the professor had the TV in the room on, which was weird. They were transfixed. I sat down and watched as a few more students drifted in. There was about 10-12 people sitting there watching when the second plane hit. The professor dismissed us. I went back to my dorm room and called home, my uncle worked in the Trade Center at the time. I don't remember much of the rest of the day, just watching what was happening and waiting to hear anything.

He hadn't made it into the office yet. He was in a deli a block or two away, and still there when the towers came down. I don't think we heard from him or knew he was okay for a day or two. They moved out of the city about a year and a half later.
 
Upvote 0
The powerful 9/11 Budweiser commercial that only aired once



On the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, one of the most powerful tributes to the victims remains an emotional ad featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales — and it has aired only once.

In the ad, which aired during Super Bowl XXXVI on Feb. 3, 2002, the horses honor the memory of the fallen with an unforgettable, breathtaking bow.

And many people have never forgotten it.

Anheuser-Busch’s creative team came up with the concept and had to get approval from members of Congress, the advertising community and from New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani to make the commercial.

“We filmed in New York City,” said Bob Lachky, former executive vice president of Anheuser-Busch Global Creative. “We had a helicopter going over the Brooklyn Bridge. Mayor Giuliani let us into the city — the only film company of any sort right after 9-11. To actually come into air space with our helicopter to film the Clydesdale … the hitch coming into Battery Park and it was amazing, just amazing.”

It was amazing, especially considering that New York was a city still hurting. Yet, a St. Louis-based company, touched by the pain of the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil, took a risk to help one of our favorite cities and our nation heal.

The company’s logo is absent throughout the entire video until the very end.

Though the original ad has only aired one time, Budweiser aired an updated version of the commercial on Sept. 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

Entire article: https://wgntv.com/news/the-powerful...nl2yFO-TVaZHuMahtZNB0Gf3o4P2jDw1AUSf4XSJPaq5A
 
Upvote 0
A week before 9-11 family from Columbus was out here... I was chauffeuring around Manhattan... they had just gotten off the ferry from the Statue and were exhausted... I fought with them to do the twin towers... and the observation deck... they pissed and groaned... tired, exhausted and hungry... but they did it.. we were right there at the bottom of the island... my infamous "told ya so" to them

On 9-11 I was in the midst of remotely helping folks in NYC from home in NJ... but numerous BPers were there... within a few blocks... when it was happening...
 
Upvote 0
I'm surprised no one has said anything, yet, about it today.

Some buddies and I get together every Monday night, and September 10 was no different. The Broncos were playing someone on MNF - I forget who. But right before halftime, one of the two teams tried a field goal and missed. It was a long field goal and time remained on the clock. So the other team got the ball and also tried a field goal. I'd never before or since seen that: back-to-back field goal attempts by both teams.

Howard Stern was still on broadcast radio. I was listening to him the next morning. I was surveying gas stations in NE Ohio, so I was traveling to the first one of the day when they said a plane hit the first tower. They were joking about it saying some guy probably lost control of his plane and hit the tower. They didn't dwell on it much. But I wanted to hear more so I turned it to an AM station in Cleveland to try to get some more news on it. Whatever that station was, or whatever that show was - they were already interviewing someone at the scene. Maybe it was a national show or something. He was explaining what he witnessed, then started yelling about how it blew up, again. The radio show host then said, "Um, no - the other tower was just hit."

I got to the first site I was surveying, and while I was doing that, the gas station attendant came out and said that the Pentagon was just hit.

On my way to the next site, I had to pull over and relax. I was pretty worked up. I don't think I made it to the second site - I just went home.

I was the young guy at the company then. Now all the old guys have retired, and I'm the old guy. I talk to the young guys now about it and find out they were playing kick ball in 2nd grade when they found out. Or, the newest young guy - "I wasn't even born, yet."

I have a niece who was born in 2001. She said she knew of at least 2 people in school with birthdays on 9/11/01.
 
Upvote 0
The early morning of 9/11 I get a call from a dear friend in Akron Ohio
telling me a plane hit the tower... after not believing her.. I turn on the TV
My first thought.. no way.. how in the hell can some dumb ass Piper Cub pilot
not see the towers

Within minutes my day exploded..
frantic calls from a number of buddies from Akron.. Merrill Lynch financial advisors near Wall St
on their way to the tower top floors for a training seminar at Merrill HDQ.. and trapped on the island
another call from a cousin who couldn't locate her son who was scheduled to be near Wall St

Vividly remember my shock when my TV went completely black
Took me a while to digest that our communications all came from equipment that sat atop the towers
but my first reaction was Armageddon tier.. like WTF is happening...

Major irony.. I went out the front door... was a pristine blue very sunny pleasant day...
and from my porch I could see the plumes of smoke..
 
Upvote 0
Thump said:
This may be a horrible analogy but the feeling I felt that day is what I imagined rape victims feeling, "Total violation."

It was indescribable.
Click to expand...
Agreed.
I didn't know anyone in NYC or Washington at that time. I had no ties at that time to anyone who might have been directly "in the line of fire". There was no "I hope so-and-so is okay."
But how could they do this to "us"?

I had no real tie to any of the buildings, but when the first tower collapsed, I remember thinking, "Well, at least the other one is still standing." Of course, that was only a thing for another hour or so.

How dare they do this to "us"?

Not to defend these actions, (In fact, I would condemn them now) but I can understand how people soon became hostile to middle easterners for a while.
 
Upvote 0
Zurp said:
Agreed.
I didn't know anyone in NYC or Washington at that time. I had no ties at that time to anyone who might have been directly "in the line of fire". There was no "I hope so-and-so is okay."
But how could they do this to "us"?

I had no real tie to any of the buildings, but when the first tower collapsed, I remember thinking, "Well, at least the other one is still standing." Of course, that was only a thing for another hour or so.

How dare they do this to "us"?

Not to defend these actions, (In fact, I would condemn them now) but I can understand how people soon became hostile to middle easterners for a while.
Click to expand...
One of my wife and I's best friends from high school (OSU Grad) lived / lives in NYC. Home in Brooklyn Heights and his office in Manhattan. From his office he was he saw the planes hit the towers. The story of that day from him was so sobering. Having to walk home in a daze with your fellow citizens. Never forget ....
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top