I remember the absolutely crystal blue skies in NY state that day.  It was a beautiful September day.  The kids had just gone back to school, I was home with just my little one, barely over a year old.  I had just stepped out of the shower when the phone rang.

Clark was calling me from the base (Fort Drum 10th Mountain Div.), he asked if I was watching CNN.  I made some off the cuff remark that "duh, I have a 1 year old at home, Sesame Street maybe, CNN?? No!".  He said go turn it on, someone just flew a plane into the WTC.  Then he said "Oh My God, did you see that??" It didn't sink in, I was standing in a towel and told him I'd call him back.  I got dressed, went downstairs and turned the TV to CNN.  The OMG was because he was watching the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower.

I called him back and we talked a bit, he was in military mode so I didn't get to talk to him long.  Then I sat riveted to the television, and watched as a 3rd plane (initially thought to be a helicopter) crashed into the pentagon.  I knew better than to try and call Clark on the base, so I sent him an email that said "Should I be getting scared now?"  He replied with one word  - "Yes"

At 1:00 p.m. he pulled up in front of the house.  All the fear of that day deepened 10 fold because I knew there was only one reason he was home.  He quietly loaded all his mobility gear into the back of his car and kissed me deeply and wiped away my tears, then kissed his son of only a year, and said "I don't know when I'll be home again"  I had a million questions, and knew that he could answer none of them.  I told him to call the first chance he got.

As I watched him drive away I was mixed with a sense of terrible grief and fear because I truly did not know when I would see him again, or IF I would see him again.  But more than that, I held a sense of pride that carried me through that dark day.

The skies were very blue that day, and without a cloud in the NY sky, the rain of a million tears fell upon us...

Cat

Hey Cat!  :-*

I was in the lobby, checking out of my hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire - I lived in California. I called Hertz and they said keep the car and drop it off anywhere in the USA.

It was a long drive home, but I met a lot of interesting folks along the way, and helped several of them make their way home too.

I put my flag out front today, but I'll bet that many didn't bother because they were too busy.

Marc

Edit to add: And now we have become complacent about our freedom in favor of being politically correct. Somehow, it became illegal to make anyone around you feel "offended."  Sometimes the truth hurts. Get over it.

I think we're all remembering vividly where we were and what we were doing that day. I know I am. I think I've relived every minute of it.

I remember when Bush landed at Barksdale (my son worked a few miles from there). I went into panic mode. My assistant had to hold me down to keep me from going to Shreveport to "protect" my child. I didn't know what was going to happen. My DIL said later that the hospital where she was working (and pregnant with my first grandchild) was on lockdown). Phone lines were non-existent so I couldn't even get a call thru..

When Bush left I was so relieved. My child and grandchild were safe.

But it is a day I don't think many of us will forget. As we (at least those of us older ones) won't forget the day JFK was assassinated. That's still as vivid as if it happened last week to me.

I was working as a pilot boat captain in Valdez Alaska when it happened and was taking a pilot to the terminal when the coast guard shut down the port and entrance to Valdez and by land as well as we were told there was another plane headed to Valdez possibly to crash into the end of the Alaska pipeline and oil storage facility where millions of barrels of oil were stored and we were all on high alert untill the threat was gone. It was very scary for the whole day but the aftermath changed security forever there. First they had the port closed down for a week then heightened security ever since...

I was at work in the Control Room (500kv power grid control). We were told to stop all work, do no switching, don't touch anything, get everyone in the field back to their home base. We just sat and watched TV news for the next 6 hours. Then we put all out-of-service equipment back in service.