Comments on: Remembering 9/11 http://project7alpha.com/2009/09/remembering/ American Airlines in Burma 1942 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:47:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Chip http://project7alpha.com/2009/09/remembering/comment-page-1/#comment-310 Chip Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:39:17 +0000 http://www.project7alpha.com/?p=830#comment-310 Rick; A memorable day, especially to be at ground zero. I was lucky, I was home answering the phone all day. A few days later when they let the crews fly the airliners home (empty) I was watching a kids soccer game. Everything stopped and everyone looked up when an MD-80 flew overhead. It was surreal; that's when it hit me how quiet it had been. Rick;
A memorable day, especially to be at ground zero.

I was lucky, I was home answering the phone all day. A few days later when they let the crews fly the airliners home (empty) I was watching a kids soccer game. Everything stopped and everyone looked up when an MD-80 flew overhead. It was surreal; that’s when it hit me how quiet it had been.

]]> By: Rick http://project7alpha.com/2009/09/remembering/comment-page-1/#comment-309 Rick Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:32:48 +0000 http://www.project7alpha.com/?p=830#comment-309 Chip, I was in NYC that morning. I had just installed my youngest son at NYU, and he was living in a dorm on lower Broadway. I stayed in NY for an industry event, and was driving southbound on the Westside Highway when it happened. I didn't see it at first, but my wife called me and told me to look at the World Trade Center. I nearly had an accident from being stunned at the sight of it. Suddenly all hell broke loose with emergency services vehicles screaming with their sirens and rushing downtown...and then the Westside Highway was closed and that was that...everything stopped. And then the second impact, which I did see. But suddenly my son's mom was in a panic for what was his location/situation...so I spent the next 4 hours in a search for him. Not easy...no phone service. Smoke and foul smell everywhere. I finally found him in a line with his classmates to give blood. That was of course, a noble, but useless endeavor under the circumstances. Anyway, the next many days were spent in that rental car...3 days to get out of New York, and another 3 days to drop a colleague in St. Louis, and then to my home at the time in San Antonio. All along that journey were fellow displaced air travelers, including several pilots I met along the way home. When I finally got to San Antonio to return my Hertz rental, it was jammed with hundreds of other vehicles of people coming home after being displaced at some airport all over the United States. All in all, a major event I will never forget for the rest of my life. In the meantime, after being so impacted by 9/11, I remain blessed that I have any personal loss from that event other than just being there. Chip,
I was in NYC that morning. I had just installed my youngest son at NYU, and he was living in a dorm on lower Broadway. I stayed in NY for an industry event, and was driving southbound on the Westside Highway when it happened. I didn’t see it at first, but my wife called me and told me to look at the World Trade Center. I nearly had an accident from being stunned at the sight of it. Suddenly all hell broke loose with emergency services vehicles screaming with their sirens and rushing downtown…and then the Westside Highway was closed and that was that…everything stopped. And then the second impact, which I did see. But suddenly my son’s mom was in a panic for what was his location/situation…so I spent the next 4 hours in a search for him. Not easy…no phone service. Smoke and foul smell everywhere. I finally found him in a line with his classmates to give blood. That was of course, a noble, but useless endeavor under the circumstances. Anyway, the next many days were spent in that rental car…3 days to get out of New York, and another 3 days to drop a colleague in St. Louis, and then to my home at the time in San Antonio. All along that journey were fellow displaced air travelers, including several pilots I met along the way home. When I finally got to San Antonio to return my Hertz rental, it was jammed with hundreds of other vehicles of people coming home after being displaced at some airport all over the United States. All in all, a major event I will never forget for the rest of my life. In the meantime, after being so impacted by 9/11, I remain blessed that I have any personal loss from that event other than just being there.

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