The following is a compilation of selected messages from BigBlueInteractive.com readers made on or shortly after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This article is dedicated as a tribute to those who survived and as a memorial to those who did not.
Matt G (9/11; 9:01 AM):
Plane hits World Trade Center. Unbelievable its right outside my office… what a tragedy….
weeg in the bronx (9/11; 9:38 AM):
The most insane thing I have ever seen. I am sitting in my office watching both towers burn. Words cannot describe the shock and emotion here in NYC. Say a prayer.
bc0312 (9/11; 9:40 AM):
CBS 2 has video of the second plane altering it’s course and heading right into the tower. My brother’s father-in-law works on the 88th floor of the World Trade Center.
Eric from BBI (9/11; 9:50 AM):
My wife can see the fire at the Pentagon.
Walker Gillette (9/11; 10:22 AM): I can see the WTC burn. This is the most horrible thing I have ever witnessed. I was there for the bombing and I couldn’t believe the horror, this is worse. What the hell is wrong with this world. God bless the souls of everyone who lost their life.
Mike in Raleigh (9/11; 11:40 AM):
My sister is a flight attendant for American Airlines and she’s based out of Newark, NJ. I can’t get through to her house on the phone!!! This is truly gut-wrenching!!!
JimmyD (9/11; 11:54 AM):
I’m sick right now! I’m working in mid-town don’t expect to get of the city anytime soon and all I want to do is go home and hug my two little girls.
Chris in Philly (9/11; 11:55 AM):
My cousin works in the Trade Center.
cb (9/11; 11:58 AM):
Witnessed the 1st Tower collapse. I live in the Bronx and from the playground in my complex we have a clear view of the WTC and the rest of the skyline. Myself and several neighbors were watching in disbelief at the burning buildings when suddenly, Tower 1 collapsed. I can’t explain how surreal the whole thing was. Then a neighbor comes out with some kind of two-way or short wave radio, and we hear someone screaming that they were trapped and couldn’t breath. It was gut wrenching, I had to walk away. All I can say, is that we have pray for the victims, their loved ones and hope the madness comes to end. God bless all.
BobR in Durham (9/11; 12:01 PM):
Please, tell everyone to stay off the phones. It should be no surprise that the telephone systems in NY are overwhelmed by the volume of calls. Although I have 4 very close, longtime friends that work in the WTC, I have not tried to call anyone in NY after my first initial attempt. It only adds to the communications breakdown. So to all, keep calm and stay off the phones unless absolutely necessary.
JB in NJ (9/11; 1:10 PM):
Totally devastating. I was in the subway station beneath the WTC when the first plane hit. I figured it was an explosion of some sort, but this is NY, no big deal. When I arrived at work, I realized that all Hell had broken loose.
SocalGiant (9/11; 1:57 PM):
My cousin was on UA93 that crashed outside of Camp David – just got a panicked call from my mom in NJ – I know this is only the beginning of a long list of BBI friends and relatives and acquaintances that we all have whose fate we don’t yet know about – Let’s Pray for them all!
Egan (9/11; 2:05 PM):
My father works in the Pentagon, although on the North Ring, and he got out ASAP. I used to work in the South Ring. Very scary.
Deej (9/11; 2:48 PM):
I’m ok, just in shock. Im about a mile from the WTC. I saw T2 fall down. This is nuts.
Mike in DC (9/11; 3:01 PM):
A friend in my office her father has an office in the WTC. One of the guys called him and said basically, “We’re dying, we’re not going to make it. Please tell my wife I love her.” Unreal.
Mostafa in LA (9/11; 3:31PM):
Afghanistan and Bin Ladin. (1) Bin Ladin is an Arab living in Afghanistan and not an Afghan. (2) I hear a lot of anger in people, some people have even come to me this morning telling me to watch out for people who are going to be angered because I’m Afghan. All I know is that I was upset that Dave Thomas was burned nearly 4 times last night, and Strahan was held all night. I have no idea what I have to do with the events that took place. So please don’t be stupid. Don’t go out and harass foreign Americans just because they are from, or look like they are from that part of the world. Think about it, they are here because they know this is the best country in the world to live in. I just hope that Americans don’t revert to the days where they decide to stick us all in camps like they did the Japanese. I hope the American people don’t take their anger and frustrations on hard working foreign civilians. The next thing I heard is lets just bomb the fuck out of their countries…what the hell is that? Come on people, the little kids, the old men and women, the college kids had nothing to do with it, what we need to do is find out who did it, and then punish just them. For now lets just wait and see who it was, because last time in Oklahoma the Arabs were also blamed. As far as people celebrating in the streets in Palestine, I don’t know what God they are praising but whatever it is, it’s a sad sign to see how religion can separate human beings.
Matt in SGS (9/11; 4:31 PM):
A good friend of mine works in the State Department and was on his way to a meeting at the Pentagon when his beeper went off about the WTC. Just after that, he saw the plane heading towards the Pentagon. Unreal. And my dad works in the WTC and was on his way up when he heard the first plane and then saw the second one hit. He got out, thankfully, but he told me that he saw the fire and saw people jumping out…absolutely the most horrifying thing he’s ever witnessed..and he was there for the 1993 bombing. I work in Times Square and they got us out for fear it would be hit…took the ferry back to NJ and just saw the smoke and rubble where the WTC used to be. I feel like this is a bad dream.
JimLeeinHowell (9/11; 5:14 PM):
Our bus turned around and went south on NJ Turn Pike when they announced close of tunnels. Between exits 13A and 12, the fire was visible and we all watched it burn. South of EXIT 12 you can only see the WTC when you exit at 11. By the time we got to EXIT 11 and I looked back, the first tower was gone. I thought I was seeing things.
Chris Jacobs (9/11; 5:35 PM):
I was in the World Trade Center at 9:00am this morning. They wouldn’t let us off the PATH train, we we’re all bitching and moaning even though we could all smell something that suggested there was a fire. After getting off the train to catch a ferry from Jersey City to the world financial center, I saw the second plane hit. I was fortunate enough to get in a Taxi with some other folks and I made it home safe. My office is 2 blocks from World Trade, I don’t know yet if any of my coworkers have made it home safe or not. But many of my friends, acquaintances and business associates are surely lost forever. Thank God that I decided to go in late this morning. I cannot imagine the horror all of those poor people had to endure.
BigEdMo (9/11; 5:39 PM):
I’m sitting in my office in Weehawken, and I used to be able to see the World Trade Center from my office window. Now I see nothing but smoke billowing into the sky. I’ve been watching this all day. I spoke to my wife about an hour ago. She and my daughter work together and she told me that my daughter broke into tears this afternoon after watching this devastation on television. My daughter is 21 years old and is frightened by this.
Some Fan (9/11; 5:48 PM):
WORDS WON’T DO JUSTICE. I work next door in the World Financial Center. Friends of mine watched the first WTC tower fall to the ground before their very eyes. This is the most significant event to happen in my lifetime. The ripple affect and repercussions to this event are colossal. It has left me with a hollow feeling deep inside me. I am so sad for the people I knew and for the people I didn’t know in those buildings.
Someone on the inside (9/11; 9:04 PM):
BBI offers the proper reaction. Just a note to mention that I am especially proud of our BBI community today. The empathy, intelligence and caring that has been seen on this site is heart warming.
bc0312 (9/11; 9:14 PM):
I am very moved by the fact that total strangers from around the world linked only by one common interest could care and be so concerned with one another. The fact that people actually take the time out of their busy lives to make sure someone who they have never met is alright just proves to me that there is more good than evil in this world. I feel like I now have an extended family.
Howard K (9/11; 9:57 PM):
I was chairing a weekly 8:45 AM meeting at my company, which is right next to 7 WTC. When you see the pictures of 7 WTC collapsing, it is the white building in the lower right corner with the terraced roof.
We heard the plane go directly over our building, and as the building shook and you heard the whine of the engines, our immediate reaction was “shit, what’s he doing so low”, and then there was the explosion that sounded like and felt like a bomb. We ran to the windows but saw nothing. We were on the north side of the building facing west towards the Hudson River. We then saw people running toward the world financial center and pausing to look back toward the trade center.
We made our way to the south side of our building, and craning our necks, we could see over 7 WTC to the north side of the trade center. You can’t imagine the size of the hole. It was about 250 feet wide and 10 stories tall and there was smoke and papers pouring out.
Someone said that a plane went into the Trade Center and I saw someone falling out of the 80th floor, arms flailing all the way down until he was covered up by 7 WTC.
We went back to the north side to let our conference call know what was going on. The fire marshal in our building kept repeating that there was a problem in the WTC and that we all should stay inside. Then we heard the second plane.
It wasn’t as loud as the first because it approached from the south side, but it was clear what it was even though we didn’t see it. These were no accidents. Incomprehensible. Fire marshals asked everyone to move to the north side of the building away from the WTC.
I saw that there was no traffic on the westside highway so I went downstairs. It was 9:30 AM by now, and building security was still recommending that we stay off the streets. I didn’t listen. I walked across the street to the parking lot, got my car and started northward. That’s the parking lot that you see covered by clouds of debris when WTC 7 went down.
When I got to the tunnels they were closed. I went to west street and had a straight shot up and over the GW bridge. I am an amateur photographer and had all my equipment in the car, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop. Everyone was looking up, but I never looked back.
As I merged onto the bridge the first building came down, and as I got to my NJ office, where I usually work, the second came down.
My wife has a cousin who is a firemen. He was on vacation this week. He lost his whole unit. He’s now at WTC, trying to dig them out.
There are no excuses, no reasons, and nothing anyone can say that justifies these kind of actions. Israel has been dealing with people with this mentality for years. You can’t talk to them so you better go get them before they get you.
My prayers are with all those affected, and there will be thousands.
EagleFanDan (9/11; 10:29 PM):
I spent the entire, chilling day glued to CNN and my computer. I lost track of how many times I cried. All of you only know me through this site, so trust me when I tell you I’m not the emotional-crying type. I had fears about my cousin who lives in the Financial District, but my tears dropped more for the mothers, fathers, daughters and sons that I knew were gone. It was clear to me throughout the first 9 hours of all of this that things had changed. Around 7pm I decided I needed to get out of my house. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I had to get out. I decided today was a pretty good day to start smoking cigarettes again, so I pulled into a CVS. When I walked in, I noticed that the few people that were in there were all silent and looking at the floor. It was weird. The only sound at all was a little black & white tv that had been set up on a counter broadcasting coverage of the terrible events of the day. This was the same coverage I had watched in horror on my big-screen TV all day, but for whatever reason – be it because I was out of the safety of my home, or because it was on a dinky little black & white TV, or whatever, it was POWERFUL. The whole scope of today seemed to hit me right then. The finality of it all. Suddenly I realized that being in a CVS or whatever might never be quite the same again. I’m only 30 years old, so I don’t know what it was like when JFK was killed. From what I understand people that lived through that feel that things have changed in America ever since that fateful day. So, my question is, will everyday life in America ever be quite the same as it was yesterday?
Tony in Hackensack (9/11; 11:08 PM):
I apologize if this thread sounds like a few other posts, but it helps to get this off my chest.
It’s amazing how your life can change in a split second. I was sitting on a NJ Transit commuter bus at 9:00am headed for the Lincoln Tunnel, angry at last night Giants performance, their D, etc. when some one mentioned that there was smoke coming out of the Trade Center. As we were all peering out of left side of the bus watching a smoky Manhattan skyline on a beautiful Tuesday morning, we saw the second plane dive down directly into the building. We saw the fireball. Everyone screamed-we couldn’t believe our eyes, but our bus kept going into New York.
About a half hour later I was standing on the roof of my office building watching the remaining WTC tower burn. I saw an F-16 fly over. I felt sicken, shocked and filled with real anger. I could not look anymore so I went back to my office. By the time I reached my desk, the news on the radio said the second tower had collapsed. Buildings that I have been in since I was a kid, walked through hundreds of times are gone. Innocent people are dead, I don’t know if any of my friends are among them. New York now has a gaping hole on the tip of Manhattan.
I haven’t even thought about the Giants all day.
cb (9/12; 2:56 AM):
My cousin was a survivor and was also on TV. I was sitting down watching channel 7 and all of a sudden my cousin Michelle pops on the screen covered with dust. I instantly called my aunt’s house and she was there. She told me she was in the 1st tower when it was hit. Her job was on the 20th floor. She said at first she thought it was an earthquake because the building shook. She immediately grabbed her pocketbook and jetted. She said as she and several others were heading down the steps, someone tried to stop them and told them to calm down and return to their offices. Some listened, other basically said “to hell with that” and kept going. Once outside, she was standing looking up at the damage when she said she saw a plane approaching. She said it looked awfully low and the next thing you know, it crashed into the 2nd building. The whole thing is surreal. she said she still can’t fully grasp it all, she’s just glad she could hug my little cousin Marcus, her son. Unfortunately, several people won’t be able to ever talk to their family members again. my heart and prayers go out to all. God Bless all.
George from PA (9/12; 3:15 AM): The faces of this disaster are starting to be uncovered. Please pray for their families. Two friends that are firemen, one who just got married a couple of weeks ago are missing, and a son of a parishioner who worked on the 107th floor of tower 1 is also missing.
Although, many firmen/police/EMT people were in tower 2, it seems that almost everyone was evacuated from tower 2 before it came down. I knew of 4 who worked at the mercantile exchange that were evacuated after the first plane hit the other tower. Two of my buddies were in a stairway when their tower was hit. they were all jolted to the ground and although they all felt the heat managed to get down and out. The blast knocked people on the ground back five feet. It was a pure war zone.
Walt in MD (9/12; 7:38 AM):
I work for DOD in Rosslyn and came to work today. I was fortunate enough to be at home with my family yesterday when it all went down. I must have seen the Pentagon 500 times yesterday on TV. As sad as I was, I wasn’t moved to tears until I drove by it this morning. As I drove over the 14th St. Bridge, and towards the Pentagon, I saw the smoke, and my heart sank. The air was different. Not unbreathable, but still filled with the smell of this horrible event. As I passed the symbol of American strength, still standing, but bellowing smoke, a tear rolled down my cheek, and I knew I would never forget my drive in this morning.
Dave in Ft Lauderdale (9/12; 10:48 AM):
My wife’s cousin is a corporate lawyer who works on the 100 floor of the north tower. When this happened, my wife called me and told me. I asked if she had heard anything from Sharon. She said no. To make a long story short, at 7:30 last night we got an instant e-mail message from her letting us know that she had called in because her 16 month old was sick!! She had been trying to get in touch with co-workers, none of whom she had been successful in raising because the cell phones were out, and the land lines were over taxed. She’s alive by coincidence. Makes you feel pretty powerless.
The Turk (9/12; 11:10 AM):
The first call I got as I walked in the door at the office yesterday in DC was from my sister saying she was OK – she had seen the first plane hit the WTC from about 10-12 blocks away as she was walking from her apartment on Houston Street to a photo shoot in the financial district. She had heard the noise of the plane and at first thought it was out of control. Then she said she just sat down on the corner and watched the building burning when the second plane flew directly overhead and rammed the second tower. She turned and left the area and starting calling my mom, my dad, me, my brother and some friends to say she was OK. So I called my wife and told her to turn on the TV while describing what my sister said. My wife then told me about the Pentagon. So I looked out of the office of the guy next door and saw the smoke just beginning to billow up. I decided to leave immediately.
On the drive home, I heard about the collapse of the twin towers and thought of the many colleagues that I had in these three buildings – its amazing that people that I couldn’t have cared less about an hour before suddenly became like my closest friends. I thought of folks who have been on opposite sides of deals that I have done who work at Thacher Profitt and Wood and Brown & Wood. I remember my time working on Wall Street and the many visits I made to my friend on the 105th floor at Cantor Fitzgerald. I thought of many hours spent in those buildings – of nights spent at the Vista before the 9s bombing and at the Marriott Financial district as recently as 2 weeks ago. I remembered the defiant attitude of leaders of some of those firms when they described the 1993 bombing and the survival stories that they told about the walk downstairs in the dark – trying to remain calm. I remembered that the executive committee of one of those firms decided that even though the twin towers would remain a symbol of capitalism that they made an affirmative decision to stay and rebuild and extend their lease in order to not let terrorists win.
This morning we called my son’s kindergarten teacher. Her husband works at the Pentagon. He was OK. In fact he was already back at work. He said as he walked out that he wanted to work to honor those that died and to show the world that America would not be defeated by cowards.
Finally, I know that friends, colleagues or just people that I met once or twice died yesterday. I don’t know who yet. I hope the number is small but I am afraid it will not be. I have no idea what we should do. I hope no one expects me to think about work or the Giants or Barry Bonds or anything other than my family and friends and this event for the next few days. Thanks Eric, for the forum to put these words down.
Doug (9/12; 11:20 AM):
NYC – a city changed forever. Since I moved to this great city three years ago, one thing was always certain: ME FIRST. It was the attitude in all of us. I have to get on the subway first. It’s MY turn to get on the bus. I want MY food, and I want it NOW. I don’t care about anyone around me, because they are not my friends, nor my family.
In one action against the city, 10 million attitudes have changed.
You cannot possibly understand the monumental change in attitude since one day ago. There are 2 hour waits at hospitals to give blood. There are hundreds of volunteers who have been TURNED AWAY, simply because there are too many people who want to rescue the people trapped under the buildings. These are not firemen, or policemen, but LABORERS. Your average Joe Public. And all they want to do is help.
Just this morning while walking to work as usual, I saw two men about to fight. Out of nowhere, a man in a suit, who on another day would have paid no attention and walked by, got between the two men and shouted “This is not what we need right now!”. Two men came to the realization of what was said, and went on their way. I have never been so moved.
It’s time for the city to take a reality check. There was a time not too long ago when a stranger would take the hand of a child, and could be trusted not to kidnap or hurt them, but to walk them across the street. A time when COMMUNITY meant something. I think that time is here again.
It took an awful situation to wake up millions into thinking clearly. I am a proud New Yorker. I am a proud American. I have a city and country of BROTHERS and SISTERS. It’s about time I realized it.
bb in nj (9/12; 3:50 PM):
I as at ground zero yesterday – only one word to describe it – surreal. I was commuting on the PATH train which runs to WTC. As I came off the train at about 8:50 AM, I noticed the room was smoke filled-but otherwise normal. As I began my ascent to the street i heard people yelling “move”. I exited to the street to a mass of people staring at #1 and debris falling. I looked up-saw the gaping hole and started moving away quickly – still with no idea what happened. I moved up church St. heading uptown. About 5 blocks up, I saw # 2 get hit. An unbelievably sickening feeling. Long story short-walked all the way to Grand Central and jumped a Metro North train out before THAT bomb scare. Spent the night at my in-laws in Westchester. Got home to Hoboken and went down to the river for a look. Surreal – I still can’t believe they’re gone. My heart goes out to those still missing.
Matt M. (9/12; 4:27 PM):
I would just like to say thank you for all those that inquired about my safety and/or e-mailed me. I work about 5 blocks away and saw the second plane hit just before arriving at my parking lot. The streets were blocked off, so I left my car in the lot and made it to my office. After some time of telling stay, go upstairs, stay in the lobby, etc. they evacuated after the first tower collapsed. I was barely able to get in touch with my wife to tell her I was coming to midtown to get her. I walked uptown, but wasn’t able to reach her until about an hour later. Needless to say, we were both frantic. I finally made it to her and we made it home safely, unharmed. Thank G-d.
Thanks again to all the well wishers here. My heart really swelled when I saw a few e-mails from BBI‘ers. When my wife asked who I was responding to and I explained she was very happy and all she could say was, “That’s really nice.” I figured I would check in here anyway. Thanks again.
NYG_JIMBO (9/12; 5:24 PM):
All of us who live and/or work in NY, NJ and CT will know people who are victims of the events yesterday at the World Trade Center. With exception of the initial plane hitting the north tower, I was witness to the entire saga – from the safety of my own office. It was so unthinkable that while it was heart wrenching it wasn’t until hours later that I began to feel the impact of what had happened. To add to that, if my wife wasn’t in Washington on business, she would have been there when this occurred.
I already have heard first hand stories, one of which is so tragic that I cannot repeat it without choking from emotion.
Those who know me will attest to the fact that I am rather stoic in the face of personal tragedy. I seldom show emotion during difficult times. Even when my parents died, I was able to focus on other things – probably as a way of dealing with the issue.
Not this time. I am finding it impossible to put the events I witnessed out of my mind for more than a few minutes. I, like many of us, am angry – very angry.
NYblue (9/12; 6:24 PM):
My sister and nephew were down there and it was not until 12 noon that we knew that they were safe. My sister is at a loss to cope, having seen people leap from the buildings and body parts falling around her. She is missing coworkers and friends. My cousin’s grandmother was on one of the planes that when down and I have not heard from a dear friend who when into work there early.
FJ (9/12; 9:58 PM):
A survivor’s account from WTC. Although I am shocked and saddened by the events of the last two days, I am happy to be able to post here on BBI tonight. Yesterday morning, at 8:45 AM, I was in my office on the 91st floor of WTC #1 when the first plane crashed apparently just one or two floors above us. One of my coworkers saw the plane heading toward the building, another turned upon hearing the crash in time to see the tail of the plane entering the tower. Fortunately for all of us, we wasted no time and started our escape from the building immediately. The first few floors of the emergency exit stairways offered us a treacherous escape, with darkness, debris, and water impairing our way, but as we got lower in the building, and passed though a few fire doors, we found a dry, save, well lit stairways to continue our escape. As we continued downward, we merged with other people escaping from their offices. Everyone was polite, helpful and orderly as were gained confidence that our safe escape was imminent. After walking down 91 flights in about one hour’s time, it was an incredible feeling to finally exit the building and reach the street. But to look up at the tower and see the fire and smoke still billowing was horrific. The emergency workers told me to keep going and move away from the building. I obeyed their orders, but kept looking back to try to find my coworkers from whom I had become separated in the stairwells. At that time, I was about a block from the building when my feeling of safety and relief was intercepted by a loud explosion, what turned out to be WTC #2 collapsing. As I turned, I could see black cloud of dust and debris bearing down on me, like a scene from some action film. I hauled ass up the street trying to outrun the cloud, with no hope of success. The cloud caught me, plunged me into total darkness as it blocked out all sunlight, and leaving me gasping for air as I breathed in all sorts of dust. I kept going, feeling my way through the darkness along the walls of the building, looking, or feeling, for a doorway. After safely escaping from the tower, I felt I was going to die right there on the street, blocks away. I was able to keep moving east and finally escaped the dust and smoke, and found fresh air. I was able to get though to my wife via cell phone about 5 minutes before my building (WTC #1) collapsed. To finish the story, I learned later yesterday that everyone from my office was able to make it out alive. Some injuries, but alive.
My thought and prayers at this time are for the many people who I know did not make it out of the building, especially the many fire fighters and rescue workers who were walking up the stairs of the tower as we were walking down. My heartfelt thanks goes to all involved in the rescue as well as the generous people around the city who offered their help. God bless them all.
BigEdMo (9/13; 11:40 AM):
I’m back in my office today. I look out my window where the WTC used to be and it’s gone – and the smoke is still billowing. It’s not as much, and it is mostly white smoke now, but it is still there.
I couldn’t get to work yesterday and had to work from home. I received a phone call and an e-mail from a friend of mine – a young lady who used to work for the same company I do. She now works for the NYSE and was a couple of blocks away from 2WTC when it crumbled to the ground. She wrote about having to crawl under a truck so the rubble wouldn’t fall on her. She wrote about knowing that she was going to die and sharing those thoughts with the man who was under the truck with her. She told me how, after the worst was over, she had to be helped out from under the truck because there was so much debris around her. She had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and spent the night with a friend in Brooklyn (she lives in Jersey City). And she told of how her parents were hysterical crying when she was finally able to contact them from her friends house.
She knows she is one of the lucky ones. It Brings tears to my eyes just to think of this.
Peter Sell (9/14; 10:50 AM):
I have found much solace here at BBI. Words alone cannot express my appreciation for your efforts and the encouragement of other BBI‘ers. Thank you and God bless you. Peter Sell, New York.
TM (9/14; 10:59 AM):
I’ve been meaning to do this for a while but finally the inertia of everyday life has been overcome be recent events. Like most of us who frequent this site the Giants have special meaning for us all. For me, starting with my first attended game (the Herman Edwards fumble game for crying out loud) so many life events and memories are associated with the team. I grew up in the area but education and military service (I was a army surgeon) brought me to reaches all over the world. Over the past several years, this site was my only link to the team…something very special to me. I mostly lurked because I didn’t have much to intelligently offer over the valued and better informed discussions going on. Rarely, I’d offer my surgical perspective when appropriate. I wanted to thank the community for being my link while being deployed overseas. Far from home this site aloud me to keep attached to something with importance to me. I just got out of the army and returned to practice in NYC. What a pleasure to attend preseason games and actually talk directly with people with some intelligence (not based on week old tapes). Then these recent disasters. My wife lost a family member. Like so may others, very hard times. But you all should know, for hours BBI was the only way I could get information. And now in the aftermath, I find great comfort in the site. We have different opinions and styles but we have a common love of this team. While the differences among people have been recently highlighted by these events, it has been great comfort to know that on this site I do have something in common with others. Maybe it’s crazy, superficial, or a poor statement about our society. But if the least common denominator I can find is people with a like mind for a football team, then thank God for that. Don’t ever forget the tremendous service this site is and the deep appreciation that I, and I suspect many, have of it. The meaning goes beyond Xs and Os. Thanks.
Jim in Fairfax (9/14; 3:42 PM):
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides with the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know that my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
Trak (9/14; 10:32 PM):
I have a buddy who is missing. I haven’t posted much (been a long time lurker) but I have to get this off my chest. A friend from college who works on the 92nd floor of the North Tower hasn’t been heard from since the first plane crash into WTC. I am absolutely sick over this and am hoping for the best. My girlfriend is trying her best but I can’t help but feel intense rage and anger over this.
I know a lot of you are talking about knee-jerk reactions and the sort, but my friend was an innocent victim of this bull. I hope and pray that he is alive but this is too much. I want retribution for his misfortune and the deaths/injuries of all Americans and other nations casualties. For people who are preaching constraint in this time of disaster, I can only hope and pray none of you have someone close to you who is missing or has perished. Thanks for letting me vent.
River Mike (9/14; 11:21 PM):
A poem for the victims from my granddaughter. My daughter just e-mailed this poem to me, written by my granddaughter Kristi…She just turned 14:
I did not know you,
We never met
But I will never forget you.
I never shook your hand
or spoke to you
But I will grieve for you.
I never looked in your eyes
Or got to hug you
But you have touched me.
I did not know what made you happy
Or made you smile
But my heart aches for you.
I never got to hold your hand
Or know what made you sad
But I will Cry for you.
I did not know your religion
Or your political affiliation
But a nation will stand strong for you.
I never got to meet you
Or to know you
But I will honor you.
Grieve for you.
and never, ever forget you.
Montreal Man (9/15; 5:54 AM):
This forum has been like therapy for me. Thank God for you guys and gals and Giant fans. Being here to read everyone’s posts and responding when the spirit moved me helped overcome the shock and anger and hatred I’ve been feeling. And it helped assuage the guilt for not being in my beloved country, in my wonderful city, to join with everyone in their pain. We did the best we could and went to Ottowa to give blood, flew the flag and attended the big ceremony at Parliament Hill. Met other Americans and cried and hugged. But it was here that I turned to every fifteen minutes or so to really feel my connections. Thank you all. I’m proud to see your names up here, proud to be part of the GIANT family and this board.
Eric, little did you know when you started BBI how important it would be in so many different ways besides football and sports. A special thanks to you.
LB56 (9/15; 11:27 PM):
I thought I would share my experience with you. I haven’t been online since Monday, because my mind has been elsewhere. On Tuesday morning, I was scheduled to work at our office on 60 Wall Street, rather than my usual building on Park Ave and 47th.
I usually leave my apartment at 8:10 AM to get to work by 8:55 at the Park Ave office. That morning, out of habit, I left at 8:10 and took the PATH train to the WTC and arrived at 8:35, 10 minutes before the first plane hit. I thought to myself that I could’ve slept another 15 minutes. What a mistake that would’ve been. I got up to the street level and walked the 4 blocks to my building and took the elevator to the 29th floor.
When I got to my floor, I signed the log-in book with my back facing the windows that faced west towards the WTC. All of a sudden, one of people on the floor screamed, “My God, look!” I turned around and saw smoke billowing out of the North Tower and papers flying everywhere as if it was a ticker-tape parade.
I got on the phone to call my mother and tell her to turn on the news. She told me that a plane crashed into the tower and immediately I assumed it was a small private jet, because the window was facing the east side of the building which did not have the huge crater in it from the impact. As I was talking on the phone to her, I had begun to see large flames coming out of the windows of the building, and it suddenly dawned on me that those flames were quite large to come from a small plane.
That is when I saw the 767 out of the corner of my eye. It was so close and just above eye level, I felt like I could reach out and touch it. I said, “Where the hell is this guy going?” Then came the crash. It entered the building and I could see it burst into flames inside the building and make its way to the other side and then: the explosion. I screamed into the phone, “My God! It was another plane! Another plane!!” I told my mom to start saying a rosary and we started to evacuate the 29th floor.
We got to the ground floor and we stepped outside to Wall Street. People were running, crying and in shock. I tried to use my cell phone, but it was useless. I stayed on where I was and was trying to decide what to do next. Obviously, I could not take the train home since it was under the WTC. To get to the nearest boat to Jersey City, where I live, I would have to walk towards West Street, which was out of the question. So I stayed put. Then came another loud crash. We all looked up in the air looking for a plane. We did not have a view of the WTC from where we were, so we could only listen. Then we saw the cloud of dust and smoke heading for us and I ran like Carl Lewis. The dust cloud caught up with me in no time. I put my hands over my mouth and ducked into the lobby of a building. On the walls of the lobby were TV screens. CNN showed the South Tower collapsing. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It seemed surreal. The a**hole security guards said that anyone who did not work in the building must leave. We told them to f**k off, and we would kill them if they touched us. What jerkoffs!! After the dust cloud settled a bit, I covered my mouth with a paper napkin and went around the block to Maiden Lane and ducked into the lobby of another building where security guards were asking to come in and not breathe the air outside. They had fresh spring water and iced tea for us. They also gave us some wet towels to wipe the dust off of our faces. I got in line to use a pay phone to get through to someone. After an hour of trying, I got through to my father to tell him I was alright. he told me that my brother, who works in midtown on the west side, got on a ferry boat to Weehawken. I decided to wait a while for the dust to settle, and then I would walk uptown to hop on a boat. By about 12:30 PM, I tied a wet towel around my face and started walking. After about 2 hours of walking, I got to Chelsea Piers and got in line to hop aboard “The Spirit of New York”. Mind you, that the close-up image I saw of the plane hitting the South Tower kept playing itself over and over again in my mind like a film loop. I was in a daze. By the time I got to Weehawken and got off the boat, it was around 4:00. There were no buses to Jersey City yet, so I started walking. When I got to Hoboken, I ran into a kind lady who drove me to my destination. ,p> That plane crash is still replaying in mind, and as I am looking out my apartment window, I see the bright light of the work crew shining where the WTC used to stand. That wonderful view from out my window is gone.
I know that others saw it worse than I did. I know some that were outside on West Street when it happened, and they had body parts landing near their feet. Some had to witness people jumping to their deaths. I am just happy to be alive, and saddened for those who were not as lucky.
September 11 may have happened 4 days ago, but for me, it hasn’t ended yet. God Bless America!!
dave k(ga) (9/16; 11:46 AM):
This is a email my son sent to us the next morning:
My building is a few blocks away from the WTC. I heard the first plane hit and ran to the window to see the north tower in flames. I went outside (thinking it was an accident) and was a block and a half away when the second plane hit the south tower. There was a huge explosion. I didn’t actually see the plane hit because I was just around the corner – could only see half of the north tower burning, and debris flying everywhere (which I later learned was from the south tower), hitting store fronts and crashing into light posts. Some windows shattered from the shock. (I was glad I was not directly in the line of sight, i.e., in the path of the debris). People were running hysterical, some were injured. Some building super dropped a radio (I think it was from the WTC) which I recovered and ultimately gave to someone else with a radio who said he’d get it back in the right hands. In the meantime I heard some pretty hysterical people on the radio trying to deal with an insane situation.
Since I didn’t see the plane or the south tower, I originally thought it was a huge explosion from the north tower, so I continued circling the trade center on foot (being most cautious about the north tower). Then I saw the damage to the other tower. I spoke to people who saw the second plane hit and realized it was definitely a terrorist attack. I was concerned for EMS, fire and police officers who, while roping off the immediate area, were themselves right within a block or two of the WTC (effectively right under it). Then I walked back to my building (the debris from the second explosion, and the realization of what happened, convinced me it was safer inside, and also I had to call home to say I was all right (cell phones were all jammed)). I got to my work on the 45th floor of my building and called Donna. (I also called my parents to let them know I was OK). While I was on the phone with her, I saw the south tower collapse through a reflection in another building – the debris and smoke enveloped the area. Shortly after, I saw the north tower collapse (I could see that tower directly from my window). Donna was watching it on television while I was on the phone with her. The sounds were like a jet right outside my window – the experience was dream-like (more like a nightmare). The smoke was so thick that it turned absolutely (and I mean absolutely) black outside – darker than night. When it cleared a bit, you could see ash like it was from a volcano. The smoke and ash was so thick that they told us to stay put on our floors and not to try to leave the building. A colleague said he was covered in it – and he was by the Brooklyn Bridge.
Ultimately, they evacuated us and told us to walk uptown. The ash was 2 inches deep right outside the building. EMS was there with dust masks. I walked for about 50 blocks because there were no subways etc. I know someone (not closely) in the WTC that has not yet reported in (my wife and her friend are much closer with the fiancee and are going to the couple’s wedding) (I also know a few people who work in the immediate area). My prayers go out to him and everyone who lost their lives. I especially pray for the EMS, fire and police personnel who were right up close – risking their lives in rescue and situation control. I’ll never forget today’s events. It is a very sad day for all Americans.
Matt G (11/16; 2:18 PM):
I hope everyone on the site is ok. I am fine. I work at Salomon Smith Barney and my office is located four blocks north of the WTC. We all heard the initial explosion which sounded like thunder on a clear day. Some of my co-workers and I went to the window of one of the corner offices and saw the enormous black hole in Tower 1. I had a brother-in-law in Tower 2 and called my sister to let her know what had happened, but was unable to get through. I was able to reach a few family members and then I dropped a line on BBI, b/c i didn’t think we would be evacuating our building. A few minutes later I went back to the corner office to see if the fire was spreading to Tower 2. At that point, myself and about ten other co-workers saw the second plane enter Tower 2 from the southern side. Everyone screamed and we immediately began to evacuate our building. When we got outside, it was really terrible. We walked a bit closer and could see people jumping out the buildings, and without being too graphic, they literally exploded on impact. A co-worker offered to give me a ride uptown after he picked up his son at day-care and found his wife. While we were picking up his son, who was a few blocks from the office, we heard people screaming and running and an enormous cloud of smoke coming down the street towards us. We both ducked back into the day-care center and waited a few minutes to come back out. When I made it uptown to my apartment, I heard my brother-in-law had made it out of Tower 2 from the 34th floor. He said they were being told over the loud speaker not to evacuate Tower 2, b/c only Tower 1 had been hit and that security was turning some people back in the stairwells. Sadly, I am sure a lot more people may have made it out. I am sure everyone has lost friends and family, and my thoughts and prayers go out to all of them…
FatMan in Charlotte (9/19; 9:52 AM):
I have been trapped in Europe for 10 days not that there’s anything wrong with being in Paris if the company is picking up the tab). I just know that many of us are from the NY area and have personal connections to the bombing. My brother-in-law was in WTC Building #2 on the 2nd floor but got to safety, and my Uncle works at the Pentagon but was off site for the day.
I struggled with the news and the feeling of helplessness from being overseas, but I’m glad my situation turned out OK and I pray that all of us haven’t lost loved ones due to the tragedy.
On a side note, I was very encouraged at the outpouring of kindness and compassion from the European community. In Germany, I was stopped by strangers who told me that their thoughts were with me, and I had similar experiences in Paris.
One story I must share. I was walking down the Champs de Elysees in Paris and was feeling quite bad because I wasn’t angry about the events that happened in America. To me, it was almost as if it were a movie playing out that had no consequence to me. I was still alive, healthy, and enjoying seeing a city I had never been in before. Thus, I began to feel quite unpatriotic. Within a 5 minute span that feeling changed dramatically.
As I got to the end of the street (where the big Ferris Wheel – Carousal is), there was a memorial to the US with flowers and T-shirts and inscriptions. As I photographed the scene, I heard a faint voice in the background of a man shouting. He came nearer and I realized he was Arabic and was yelling, “I have a dream of America. I have a dream where thousands more capitalist pigs die. Where women and children are held accountable for the actions of everyone. Where people learn the true hatred of the US. This is just the beginning. Many more will die. My name is Ali Bathesura (or something that sounds like that). Remember my name. Remember my face. I will cause many more deaths to your people.”
As he stood 5 feet away, I met his gaze with a look of hatred I have never given in my life. While I wanted to beat the shit out of this idiot and physically prove my superiority, I was amazed at the calmness I kept as I waited for moment of silence and said to the man –
“I will only say this one time so listen to me clearly. If you think that the attacks on America are anything but a cowardly, shameful act then you are not a man. You are not a human being. You are an animal.”
Applause from about 50 bystanders erupted and French police escorted the man from the site. For a person like myself who has been known to fly off the handle, I was proud to have kept a calm demeanor (plus, the flashbacks of the Visa commercial with the guy getting thrown in the French slammer helped), but I also realized that I did have a passion about America and that I care very deeply about the welfare of my Countrymen. For anyone to have died in such a manner as the people on the 11th, I have zero remorse for the consequences that follow. I hope our leaders keep the same calmness of demeanor I was able to muster in the following days.
Eric Kennedy
Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.
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