9/11

For those who don't know, each year I post the following two messages. These are two of the 17 pages of AP Newsalerts and stories that I saved from working the day/night of Sept. 11. It starts with the first AP Newsalert that day.

Think of these as a remembrance to those who had to leave well before his or her time.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0018 _
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NEW YORK - Plane crashes into World Trade Center, according to television reports.

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URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - Smoke poured out of a gaping hole in the upper floors of the World Trade Center on Tuesday and there were broadcast reports a plane had struck it.
MORE

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URGENT
NY: struck it.
There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities in the disaster, which happened shortly before 9 a.m.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
Large holes were visible in two sides of the 110-story building, one of landmark twin towers.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
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NEW YORK - Explosion rocks second World Trade Center tower.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
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NEW YORK - Plane crashes into second World Trade Center tower.

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URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - An aircraft crashed into the upper floors of one of the World Trade Center towers Tuesday morning, and black smoke poured out of two gaping holes, witnesses said. Shortly afterward a second explosion rocked the other tower.
MORE

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URGENT
NY: other tower.
There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities in the twin disasters, which happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
The towers were struck by bombers in February 1993.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
Large holes were visible in sides of the 110-story buildings, landmark twin towers.
The tops of the twin towers were obscured by the smoke.
Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower, one witness said.
The center bombingon Feb. 26, 1993, killing six people and injured more than 1,000 others.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
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NEW YORK - Plane crashes into second World Trade Center tower.

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URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - An aircraft crashed into the upper floors of one of the World Trade Center towers Tuesday morning, and black smoke poured out of two gaping holes, witnesses said. Shortly afterward a second plane hit the other tower.
MORE

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URGENT
NY: other tower.
In Washington, officials said the FBI was investigating reports of a plane hijacking before the crashes.
There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities in the twin disasters, which happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
The towers were struck by bombers in February 1993.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
Large holes were visible in sides of the 110-story buildings, landmark twin towers.
“I was watching TV. and heard a sonic boom ...,” witness Jeanne Yurman told CNN. “The side of the world trade center exploded. Debris is falling like leaflets. I hear ambulances. The northern tower seems to be on fire.”
The tops of the twin towers were obscured by the smoke.
Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower, one witness said.
The center bombing on Feb. 26, 1993, killing six people and injured more than 1,000 others.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.

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URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - Planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center towers minutes apart Tuesday in a horrific scene of explosions and fires that left gaping holes in the 110-story buildings.
MORE

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0018 _
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SARASOTA, Fla. - Bush calls World Trade Center crashes apparent terrorist attack.

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URGENT
Two planes crash into World Trade Center in apparent terrorist attack; no word on deaths
Eds: UPDATES with crash near Pentagon, all planes grounded, one plane reportedly hijacked from Boston. No pickup.
AP Photos NY191-3
By JERRY SCHWARTZ
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Two planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center towers minutes apart Tuesday in what the President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack, blasting fiery, gaping holes in the 110-story buildings. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries.
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the Pentagon, and the West Wing of the White House was evacuated amid threats of terrorism.
The president ordered a full-scale investigation to “hunt down the folks who committed this act.”
One of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center had been hijacked after takeoff from Boston, a U.S. official said, citing a transmission from the plane.
All planes were grounded across the country by the Federal Aviation Administration. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed down.
The twin disaster at the World Trade Center happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of the 110-story twin towers, one of New York City’s most famous landmarks, and debris rained down upon the street, one of the city’s busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower.
People ran down the stairs in panic and fled the building. Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles away.
“Today we’ve had a national tragedy,” Bush said in Sarasota, Fla. “Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.” He said he would be returning immediately to Washington.
Ira Furber, former National Transportation Safety Board spokesman, discounted the likelihood of accident.
“I don’t think this is an accident,” he said on CNN. “You’ve got incredibly good visibility. No pilot is going to be relying on navigational equipment.”
“It’s just not possible in the daytime,” he added. “A second occurrence is just beyond belief.”
Terrorist bombers struck the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
Several subway lines were immediately shut down Tuesday. Trading on Wall Street was suspended.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
“I was watching TV and heard a sonic boom,” Jeanne Yurman told CNN. “The side of the World Trade Center exploded. Debris is falling like leaflets. I hear ambulances. The northern tower seems to be on fire.”
A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agency is pursuing reports that one or both of the planes were hijacked and that the crashes may have been the result of a suicide mission.
“It certainly doesn’t look like an accident,” said a second government official, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.
In Florida, Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly turned somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a half-hour later.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0016 _
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NEW YORK - Explosion hits another building near World Trade Center.

u a BC-TradeCenter-Crash Advisory 09-11 0030 _
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Eds:
Upcoming is a 8th Ld-Writethru to the main bar with witness saying he saw bodies falling from World Trade Center building.
The AP

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FLASH
NEW YORK - One World Trade Center tower collapses.

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BULLETIN
Two planes crash into World Trade Center in apparent terrorist attack; tower collapses to the ground
Eds: UPDATES with tower collaping, witness seeing bodies. No pickup.
AP Photos NY191-3
By JERRY SCHWARTZ
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - In a horrific sequence of destruction, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center and one of the towers collapsed Tuesday morning in what the President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack. A witness said he saw bodies falling from the 110-story towers and people jumping out.
MORE

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URGENT
NY: jumping out.
The president ordered a full-scale investigation to “hunt down the folks who committed this act.”
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed at the Pentagon as well, and officials evacuated the White House and other major government building.
One of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center had been hijacked after takeoff from Boston, a U.S. official said, citing a transmission from the plane.
The planes that slammed into the Trade Center blasted fiery, gaping holes in the upper floors of the twin towers. The southern tower collapsed with a roar about an hour later.
“This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that’s ever taken place in the world,” said Chris Yates, an avaiation expert at Jane’s Transpoet in London. “It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small hndful of terror groups is on that list. ... I would name at the top of the list Osama Bin Laden.”
All planes were grounded across the country by the Federal Aviation Administration. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed down.
MORE

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URGENT
NY: closed down.
The twin disaster at the World Trade Center happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of the twin towers, one of New York City’s most famous landmarks, and debris rained down upon the street, one of the city’s busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower.
John Axisa, who was getting off a PATH train to the World Trade Center, said he saw “bodies falling out” of the building. He said he ran outside, and watched people jump out of the first building, and then there was a second explosion, and he felt heat on the back of neck.
WCBS-TV, citing an FBI agent, said five or six people jumped out of the windows. People screamed every time another person leaped.
David Reck was handing out literature for a candidate for public advocate a few blocks away when he saw a jet come in “very low, and then it made a slight twist and dove into the building.”
People ran down the stairs in panic and fled the building. Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles away.
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the Pentagon, and the West Wing of the White House was evacuated amid threats of terrorism. And another explosion rocked New York about an hour after the crash.
“Today we’ve had a national tragedy,” Bush said in Sarasota, Fla. “Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.” He said he would be returning immediately to Washington.
Terrorist bombers struck the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
“A second occurrence is just beyond belief,” said Ira Furber, former National Transportation Safety Board spokesman.
Several subway lines were immediately shut down Tuesday. Trading on Wall Street was suspended.
“We heard a large boom and then we saw all this debris just falling,” said Harriet Grimm, who was inside a bookstore on the World Trade Center’s first floor when the first explosion rocked the building.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.
In Florida, Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly turned somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a half-hour later.

f a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0015 _
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FLASH
NEW YORK - Second World Trade Center tower collapses.

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URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - In a horrific sequence of destruction, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center and knocked down the twin 110-story towers Tuesday morning. Explosions also rocked the Pentagon and the State Department and spread fear across the nation.
MORE

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BULLETIN
NEW YORK (AP) - Both towers of the World Trade Center collapsed Tuesday morning after terrorists crashed two planes into the lower Manhattan landmark.

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NY: the nation.
The fate of those in the buildings was not immediately known. Authorities had been trying to evacuate people from the towers, but many were thought to be trapped.
President Bush ordered a full-scale investigation to “hunt down the folks who committed this act.”
One of the planes that crashed into the Trade Center was American Airlines Flight 11, hijacked after takeoff from Boston en route to Los Angeles, American Airlines said.
The planes blasted fiery, gaping holes in the upper floors of the twin towers. A witness said he saw bodies falling from the twin towers and people jumping out. About an hour later, the southern tower collapsed with a roar a huge cloud of smoke; the other tower fell about a half-hour after that.
“This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that’s ever taken place in the world,” said Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane’s Transport in London. “It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list. ... I would name at the top of the list Osama Bin Laden.”
MORE

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0022 _
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PITTSBURGH - Large plane crashes in western Pennsylvania, officials at Somerset County Airport confirm.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
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NEW YORK - Fourth explosion at World Trade Center.

b a BC-PlaneCrash 09-11 0065 _

 

(Continued)

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URGENT
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A large plane crashed Tuesday morning just north of the Somerset County Airport, airport officials said.
The plane, believed to be a Boeing 767, crashed about 10 a.m. about 8 miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported. The airport is about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
MORE

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URGENT: of Pittsburgh.
The crash came the same morning that terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. Explosions also rocked the Pentagon and the State Department and spread fear across the nation.
There were no other immediate details on the Pennsylvania crash and it was not clear whether the crash was related to the others.

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Large plane crashes in Pennsylvania; unclear if it is related to day of attacks
Eds: COMBINES, CORRECTS that plane believed to be 747; adds that airport is small, other detail.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A large plane crashed Tuesday morning just north of the Somerset County Airport, airport and county emergency officials said.
The plane, believed to be a 747 jumbo jet, crashed about 10 a.m. about eight miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported.
Officials weren’t saying what airline was involved. It was unclear if the crash was related to the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington.
Sean Cavanaugh, a commissioner in neighboring Fayette County, said his emergency management director, Barney Shipley, advised him that the plane originated in either Cleveland or New York and was bound for Chicago, WPXI reported.
Contrary to earlier reports of the plane being a 767, Cavanaugh said he was told the airplane was a Boeing 747, the largest passenger jet flown domestically.
The Somerset County airport, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, in a small, rural facility that does not handle such aircraft.
Because of the attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all departing flights canceled nationwide, and any planes already in the air were to land a the nearest airport. The plane crashed shortly after the order was issued.
It was not immediately known if the 747 might have been trying to land at the Somerset County airport when the crash occurred.
The crash came the same morning that terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. Explosions also rocked the Pentagon and the State Department and spread fear across the nation.
There were no other immediate details on the Pennsylvania crash.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0020 _
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NEW YORK — Mayor Guiliani says: “I have a sense it’s a horrendous number of lives lost.”

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0019 _
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FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines says it “lost” two aircraft carrying 156 people.

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. — United Airlines confirms flight from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco crashed near Pittsburgh.

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URGENT
United plane crashes in Pennsylvania; unclear if it is related to day of attacks
Eds: UPDATES with airline confirmation.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A United Airlines plane crashed Tuesday morning just north of the Somerset County Airport, the airline said.
The Boeing 757 was enroute from Newark, N.J. to San Francisco.
MORE

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URGENT
PTTSBURGH: San Francisco.
The plane crashed about 10 a.m. about 8 miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported.
“It shook the whole station,” said Bruce Grine, owner of Grine’s Service Center in Shanksville, about two and one-half miles from the crash. “Everybody ran outside, and by that time the fire whistle was blowing.”
MORE

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URGENT
PTTSBURGH: was blowing.”
United identified the plane as Flight 93. The airline did say how many people were aboard the flight.
United said it was also “deeply concerned” about another flight, Flight 175, a Boeing 767, which was bound from Boston to Los Angeles.
On behalf of the airline CEO James Goodwin said: “The thoughts of everyone at United are with the passengers and crew of these flights. Our prayers are also with everyone on the ground who may have been involved.
“United is working with all the relevant authorities, including the FBI, to obtain further information on these flights,” he said.
MORE

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URGENT
PTTSBURGH: he said.
The Somerset County airport, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, in a small, rural facility that does not handle such aircraft.
Because of the attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all departing flights canceled nationwide, and any planes already in the air were to land a the nearest airport. The plane crashed shortly after the order was issued.
The crash came the same morning that terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. A plane also hit the Pentagon in Washington.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0019 _
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CHICAGO — United Airlines confirms second United plane crashing, location not given.

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URGENT
United Airlines says two planes crashed, one near Pittsburgh
Eds: United confirms second crash.
PITTSBURGH (AP)- Two United Airlines jetliners crashed Tuesday morning, one near Pittsburgh, the airline said. The company said another of its planes crashed, but did not say where.
MORE

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URGENT
PITTSBURGH: say where.
United Flight 93, a Boeing 757, left Newark at 8:01 a.m., headed for San Francisco with 38 passengers, two pilots and five flight attendants, the airline said. That flight crashed near Pittsburgh.
The second plane was United 175, a Boeing 767. It left Boston at 7:58 a.m., bound for Los Angeles. That aircraft carried 56 passengers, two pilots and seven flight attendants, the airline said.
The airline would not say where that plane crashed.
MORE

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URGENT
PITTSBURGH: plane crashed.
Flight 93 crashed about 10 a.m. about 8 miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported. It crashed near the Somerset County airport, a small, rural facility about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
“It shook the whole station,” said Bruce Grine, owner of Grine’s Service Center in Shanksville, about 2Â1⁄2 miles from the crash. “Everybody ran outside, and by that time the fire whistle was blowing.”
Because of attacks Tuesday at New York’s World Trade Center, the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all departing flights canceled nationwide, and any planes already in the air were to land a the nearest airport. The plane crashed shortly after the order was issued.
Earlier Tuesday, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. A plane also hit the Pentagon in Washington.
In Chicago, United CEO James Goodwin said the airline is working with authorities including the FBI. United said it was sending a team to Johnstown, Pa., to assist in the investigation and to provide assistance to family members.
“Today’s events are a tragedy and our prayers are with everyone at this time,” Goodwin, said.

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NEW YORK — High-ranking city police official says the number of people killed or injured could be in the thousands.

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BARKSDALE AFB, La. — Bush says military on high-alert status

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‘I just saw the top of Trade Two come down.’
Eds: UPDATES with more quotes, color.
BC-Trade Center Crash
By HELEN O’NEILL
AP Special Correspondent
NEW YORK (AP)- It was the scene of a nightmare: people on fire jumping in terror from the Trade Towers just before the buildings collapsed.
“Everyone was screaming, crying, running — cops, people, firefighters, everyone,” said Mike Smith, a fire marshal from Queens, as he sat by the fountain outside a state courthouse, shortly after the second tower collapsed. “A couple of marshals just picked me up and dragged me down the street. It’s like a war zone.”
Others compared it to Pearl Harbor as thousands of people poured off the Brooklyn Bridge, fleeing Manhattan covered in gray dust and debris. Many wore respiratory masks, given by the police and fire departments.
Ambulances screamed down every major thoroughfare in Manhattan, depositing casualties at hospitals and returning to get more. Clusters of people, their hands clutched to their heads in horror, stood at boomboxes set up outside stores to listen to the news. Others gathered around cars, their doors open and radios turned up high.
Looking down West Broadway through billowing brown and black smoke, Tower Two tilted across the street. Ash, two inches deep, lined the streets.
Police and firefighters gasped for air as they emerged from the sealed-off area.
At least three explosions were heard, perhaps from gas lines. Army Humvees whizzed by on their way downtown.
Workers from Trade Center offices wandered lower Manhattan in a daze, many barely able to believe they were alive.
Kenny Johannemann, a janitor, described seeing a man engulfed in flames at One World Trade Center just after the first explosion. He grabbed the man, put the fire out, and dragged him outside. Then Johannemann heard a second explosion — and saw people jumping from the upper stories of the Twin Towers.
“It was horrendous; I can’t describe it,” Johannemann said as he stood outside the building.
Donald Burns, 34, was being evacuated from a meeting on the 82nd floor of One World Trade Center, when saw four severely burned people on the stairwell. “I tried to help them but they didn’t want anyone to touch them. The fire had melted their skin. Their clothes were tattered,” he said.
After the initial blast, Housing Authority worker Barry Jennings, 46, reported to a command center on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center. He was with Michael Hess, the city’s corporation counsel, when they felt and heard another explosion. First calling for help, they scrambled downstairs to the lobby, or what was left of it. “I looked around, the lobby was gone. It looked like hell,” Jennings said.
Boris Ozersky, 47, computer networks analyst, was on the 70th floor of one of the buildings when he felt something like an explosion rock it. He raced down 70 flights of stairs, and outside, in a mob in front of a nearby hotel. He was trying to calm a panicked women when the building suddenly collapsed.
“I just got blown somewhere, and then it was total darkness. We tried to get away, but I was blown to the ground. And I was trying to help this woman, but I couldn’t find her in the darkness,” Ozersky said.
After the dust cleared, he found the hysterical woman and took her to a restaurant being used by rescue workers as a triage center.
As most people fled the area, others were drawn to it — desperate for information about friends and relatives who worked there.
“I don’t know what to do,” a weeping Alan Rivera said as he stood behind barricades, hoping for word about his niece, who worked in the Trade Center. “I can’t get through to her on the phone. ... No one can tell me anything.”
Businessman Gabriel Ioan wept too.
“I just saw the building I work in come down,” he said, a cloud of smoke and ash from the World Trade Center behind him. “I just saw the top of Trade Two come down.”
Nearby a crowd mobbed a man on a pay-phone, screaming at him to get off the phone so that they could call relatives.
“People were jumping out of windows,” said an unidentified crying woman. “I guess people were trying to save themselves. Oh my God!”
Another eyewitness, AP newsman Dunstan Prial, described a strange sucking sound from the Trade Center buildings after the first building collapsed.
“Windows shattered. People were screaming and diving for cover. People walked around like ghosts, covered in dirt, weeping and wandering dazed.”
“It sounded like a jet or rocket,” said Eddie Gonzalez, a postal worker at a post office on West Broadway. “I looked up and saw a huge explosion. I didn’t see the impact. I just saw the explosion.”
Morning commuters heading into Manhattan were stranded as the Lincoln Tunnel was shut down to incoming traffic. Many left their cars and stood on the ramp leading to the tunnel, staring in disbelief at the thick cloud of smoke pouring from the top of the two buildings.
Throughout lower Manhattan, rescue workers and police officers wore surgical masks to protect them from the dust.
Police, some of them with semiautomatic rifles and dogs, guarded federal and state buildings and prevented anyone from entering.
At the city’s hospitals, hundreds lined up to give blood, after hospital workers yelled on the streets, “Blood donations! Blood donations!”
Roman Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan arrived at St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center to comfort the injured; other priests also were on hand, many wearing blue rubber gloves.
Mark Ackermann, chief corporate officer at St. Vincent’s, said: “I was here during the World Trade Center bombing (in 1993) and this is a hundred times worse.”

 

(Sign of the cross)

 

I can still remember that morning as vividly as any.
I was working on our agate page and a woman comes into the office and says she just heard on the radio coming in that a plane had hit the WTC. I asked "What, a small plane? How did that happen?" She said she didn't know so went into the conference room and turned on the TV. After watching for a couple of minutes and seeing the reports on a jet hitting the building, I said "That's messed up." About that time on the screen live in comes a second jet to hit the other tower. I said "It's not an accident." I turned and shouted back into the newsroom "Get your asses in here. We've been attacked. Some son of a bitch has just flown two planes in the World Trade Center."

God be with everyone who lost their lives that day and God bless those who rushed in while others rushed out.

 

yes

 

I watched a History Channel retrospective a couple days ago that was being run, obviously, in commemoration of the upcoming anniversary of Sept. 11.

Seeing that show, particularly the parts showing when the planes hit the towers, gave me the same exact chills that I can remember experiencing every time -- every single time -- that I saw the news accounts of the events of that day nine years ago.

Reading those AP news accounts, I just felt those same chills again.

It is uncanny -- a little spooky, even -- the way that continues to happen, no matter how many times I see that footage.

 

I think anyone who lived thru that day and the unimaginably real horror of it all feels that way. It's a wound that remains raw and unhealed and it haunts us every 9/11. Which is important, b/c it's important to relate the emotion of that day to people who didn't experience it or were too young to grasp it (not that any of us could truly grasp it, then or now). Hard to fathom but a high school freshman today was five when the Towers fell.

We saw it all that day: The greatest heroes responding to the worst act of evil ever perpetuated upon this country. Never forget.

 

I guess, for me, it's just weird that with each passing year, 9/11 becomes more and more like some sort of movie to me.

I'll never forget how/when I found out and, I know, it'll reveal that I am young and stupid but I was a senior in high school that Tuesday and can vividly recall most of that day.

I remember getting to school early that day, going to Burger King for breakfast (Love a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit) and talked with my buddies about that week's coming NFL games.

Around the time the actual event happened, I was in a boring physics class discussing the concept of momentum when one of the older teachers came in, pulled my teacher to the side and talked a little bit out of ear shot while my buddy and I shot the shit like we always do.

Anyway, teacher comes back and says there's been an accident at the World Trade Center in New York (Which, at this point, I had no idea of what it was). We then discussed, from a physics standpoint, what was happening but,since I'm no science guy, I daydreamed the entire time and didn't think anything of it.

Then I went to an English class and it's all anyone wanted to talk about. They wouldn't let us see the events on TV and we weren't allowed to hear anything on the radio, which struck me as odd.

I went to football practice that day and the coaches kept talking about how sad it was and we even had a moment of silence at the end of practice. At this point I wondered what the big freaking deal was. So three people died because some bomb or something went off? Why is this important?

Then I got home and, with about an hour to go before I had to go to work, I saw it. I cried.

I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. It all seemed so surreal.

I called out of work that night and just stood by the television with my family for the entire night. I must have seen those towers fall 200 times that night alone.

For the next three days, I couldn't stop reading about it. I bought every newspaper I could, read every online article I could. It was my life.

Now, nine years later, it remains a topic I am eerily fascinated by and I'll never forget what it felt like to have my innocence shattered in an instant. I went from clueless idiot oblivious to the world around him to obsessed with the topic and while I will never say I was personally affected by it in any way, it'll be one of those life events that stays with me until the day I die.

 

I was still asleep when my wife called and told me something had happened to the World Trade Center. I flipped on the tube and felt as though I was punched in the stomach. I watched it all morning and never lost the ugly feeling.
I'm not religious, but we went to church the next Sunday and listened to the pastor try to explain all this.
My daughter's school put up red, white and blue ribbons on the fence around the playground. Some co-workers went to a candlelight vigil near the beach. There were other memorials and vigils all over town.
Driving home from work a couple of days later, I was listening to Todd Wright's overnight radio show. He had Lisa Salters on, an ABC/ESPN sideline reporter.
She lives here now. He asked her if people here really cared about what had happened in New York. She said, no, there was hardly any impact at all here. It was 3,000 miles away, you know, out of sight, out of mind.
That was so totally ridiculous, it royally pissed me off. So much so, I figured out how to contact Todd Wright. I sent him an e-mail, telling him his show is not worth listening to if he is going to bring on stupid, fucking guests like Lisa Salters who don't have a clue what they're talking about.
He answered, saying he was sorry I felt that way, but she was entitled to her opinion. Pretty weak response.
A very, very sad time.

 

God bless all those struck by the tragedy, whether they passed away or lost a loved one.

 

She's entitled to her opinion, but if that is her opinion she should have been fired from any news agency on the planet right then and there for being a complete friggin moron.

 

I watched the same History Channel doc that Write watched. The part that really hit me, for some reason, was when Condoleeza Rice told the story about how our military had to move up in Defcons, and how she had to call Putin to warn him of it.

In the past, if either us or the Russians increased in Defcons, the other country would move up as well. Instead, on 9/11, Putin told Rice that the Russians would cancel their military exercises that day, and to go right on ahead with our increased Defcon.

To me, the fact that a country that had been our mortal enemy for 45-plus years understood our needs and trusted us really hit me hard.