Lest we forget

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,618
3,447
113
SW Pa
Bless them all :cross1: 09/11/2001,,,
Where were you when you heard.
We were on a strip, we got the call to come back to the office ASAP by any means necessary , every agency in the government was on alert.
 

greeno

Member

Equipment
B2710 w/LA402 FEL, BL4690 hoe, RB1560, GS1560, Haban 5' sickle bar, 5' JD RC
Jul 14, 2018
187
2
18
Big Lake MN
At the hunting shack. Thought long and hard about hunkering down there, but I was woefully unprepared.


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Fordtech86

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3200
Aug 7, 2018
4,976
5,917
113
Pineville,LA
Was a freshman in high school,got to school and all classes were cancelled,they set up a big screen in the auditorium and we watched all the coverage
 

85Hokie

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
BX-25D ,PTB. Under Armor, '90&'92-B7100HST's, '06 BX1850 FEL
Jul 13, 2013
10,769
2,581
113
Bedford - VA
Remember it like yesterday.....
I was trying to replace drill bits as we were replacing boards on a low boy trailer...
hear ol' JohnBoy and Billy show say a "plane" hit one of the towers .....
it was surreal to go back to the shop and watch the rest.

I got a chance to go up there about 5 years ago - those New Yorker's are remarkable - the two pools are really well done as well as the rest of the tributes.
 

bearbait

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3560, 64" snowblower, 72" back blade
Dec 9, 2011
4,058
834
113
New Glasgow Canada
Driving to my next stop in the postal truck. I can still remember the disbelieve and the chill that went through me.
 

Ramos

New member

Equipment
1870-1, LA203A, RCK54
Feb 25, 2016
463
3
0
Sherman County, Oregon
I was at home and received a call from the wife saying that I needed to turn the television on. What I remember most is disbelief followed by anger.
 

Lil Foot

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
May 19, 2011
7,577
2,636
113
Peoria, AZ
I happened to be passing by the cafeteria at work and noticed an obviously horrified crowd grouped around one of the TVs. I joined them, and spent most of the day there. Everyone who paged me wondering where I was ended up joining me there. Emotions cycled all day long with anger, grief, rage, frustration, helplessness. Talked to the man upstairs more that day than I had in years.
Had I been younger, the services would have had a new recruit. I tried.
I'm a big one for overkill payback.
 

jmf78

Member

Equipment
BX23S W/ Factory Deluxe Cab, 60" MMM, 60" BX-2612 Snow Blade & BX-2816 Blower
Nov 5, 2015
437
4
18
Edinboro, PA, USA
Was at my trade school. Watched some coverage until they sent everyone home. Was the oddest feeling driving home. Clearest blue skies that I could ever remember. I just lept looking up the whole way home. Then watched coverage with some friends in the bar of our local bowling center.

Last year my girl and I made a trip to the memorial in Shanksville, PA. Extremely touching tribute.

This year we drove to NYC to see the memorial there. Spent 45 minutes there then traveled to DC and then to Gettysburg (was kind of on our way home).

They just recently finished the "Tower of Voices" at the Flight 93 memorial so we're figuring on making a return trip to see that and pay our respects once again.
 

CaveCreekRay

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Jul 11, 2014
2,631
100
48
Cave Creek, AZ
Just landed in Houston. Gorgeous day. We noticed there were no other planes around. The terminal only had three planes at gates. (We later found out the ATC shutdown was underway but they elected to let planes close to their destination continue unmolested.)

Right after we landed, the normal friendly Houston Ground controller was all serious and busy doing something else. When he finally cleared us to the gate, he made a blanket radio call:

All aircraft on frequency... We were just advised that two 737's (They had the models wrong) have hit the World Trade Center buildings. This appears to be an intentional act." I told the passengers as we waited for our gate what we had been told. Just starting to realize the gravity of the events of the day, I finished, "This is an extraordinary day. You will remember it for the rest of your life."

After we got to the gate, there was no direction except that the ATC shutdown was in effect and we were grounded until further notice. The Houston passengers exited and a few were going on to Albuquerque with us.

Then, the Flight attendant in the back yelled, "They just hit the Pentagon!" That is when I knew this was an attack and we had all the passengers deplane with everything because they were not going anywhere on this plane for awhile.



We spent four days in a seedy hotel they managed to get for crews stranded in Houston. After two down days, we were told to report on the third day but they sent us home. Found out later that Herb Kelleher, our CEO who was the President of the Airline Association that year told the DOT to pound sand. Pilots were now the "suspects." They wanted pilots at every stop to get off and get frisked and have their luggage inspected in the Jetway in front of passengers. Herb pointed out that we could have crashed into a building on arrival. Plus, each cockpit has a huge razor sharp crash axe on the wall. After another day of no planes in the air, the DOT relented and we started flying the fourth day after the grounding.

I flew the leg to Dallas. I had that crash axe in my lap part of the way. At level off, I tried out a few defensive swings with it and told my partner (a former linebacker from the Air Force Academy), "Ken, the only person I can hit with this thing is you." He took it and agreed. He could hit me but hardly anyone else, even turning it around and using it as a bat. Two years later, both of us had been trained and started flying armed.
 

Attachments

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dandeman

Member

Equipment
BX2230, LA211 FEL, RCK60B Mower, GCK60BX Bagger; Ford 4000, bush hog, blade, etc
Aug 9, 2013
166
2
18
Chapel Hill, NC
www.dan-de-man.net
Was at work, heard someone walking down the hallway talking about what they just heard (and in disbelief)..

Saw the news on the internet.. Went out to my 4x4 in the parking lot with another worker and turned on my ham radio which also had our local airport & regional air traffic control frequencies programmed in...

Heard airline pilots being directed by ATC to get on the ground immediately at the nearest airport.. The concern if you remember was, were there any more aircraft in the air that had been commandeered..The pilots were in disbelief also..

A day or so later it was announced over the site PA system (this was a site with close to 11,000 employees) that anyone having a current top secret clearance to call a specified number.. Mine (from my Navy active duty service) was no longer current.
 

nbking

Active member

Equipment
L2501HST 4X4, Rtv-x900
Jul 8, 2018
221
72
28
Sonora, CA
At the time I was a military contractor on base at Nas lemoore on mid shift (11:00pm-7:00am). Our shift lead came out and told us what was happening, and that we could go check out the TV. Everyone was surprised and pissed. When I got off work went home and woke up the wife and we both watched in disbelief. I also remember leaving and coming to the base for like the next few weeks took forever to get on for work. You just never expected anything like that.
 

Creature Meadow

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
2012 L4600, Disk, Brush Hog, GB60 Garden Bedder, GSS72 Grading Scraper
Sep 19, 2016
1,064
135
63
54
Central North Carolina
Been a firefighter for 31 years, lost a lot of distant family that day.

We raised money in our county to support the fallen fire fighters and in return I got to go just months after 9/11 and ride along for a week at stations or houses as they call them in Brooklyn.

I'll never forget that week and how the guys & gals treated me.

They shared many stories with me, I listened but could not imagine going through what they had.

The coined me with Carolina instead of calling me Jay since I am from NC.

In the week I was there we responded to over 50 calls but one night....Got up around 4 for a call, only my truck responded as it was a EMS call. Eased out of bed onto the truck, responded and when we returned I tried to be quiet so not to wake anyone that was still sleeping. Eased into the bunk room and my pillow and blanket was gone. Crawled into bed and used my coat as a pillow. Got back up at 5 ran another call and when we returned everyone was up cooking breakfast and preparing for shift change. My bed was perfect, made up military style no missing pillow or blanket. Not a wrinkle in it, I smiled and new they had excepted me as one of there own.

Went to kitchen for breakfast and Capt. says how you sleep Carolina and I said perfect, laughter began....

Great time and a memory I will never forget.

God bless all those who are no longer with us and those who continue to serve.

Jay
Coats Grove Fire & Rescue
 

8upbowhunter

Active member

Equipment
L4701 FEL, Cutter, Discs and Land Plane
Dec 15, 2016
397
59
28
S/E Louisiana
I was sleeping (after night shift) and my wife woke me up. We watched the coverage on tv for a while and just when I was getting ready to go back to sleep the 2nd tower was hit. It was at that point I suspected that it was no accident.

We spent a week in NYC this past July and the 1 thing I most wanted to visit was the memorial. I felt all kinds of emotions that day but none more than anger by the time I walked out of there.




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Lil Foot

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
May 19, 2011
7,577
2,636
113
Peoria, AZ
Winslow, AZ has a 9/11 memorial consisting of two girders/beams from the World Trade Center and the flag that was flying at the Pentagon the day it was hit. (although the flag is no longer displayed daily)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MFuQKWWFeU
 

AndyM

Active member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
BX25DTLB
Sep 21, 2016
465
136
43
Vancouver Island Canada
Had just landed at Syncrude (Ft McMurray, Alberta) when the pilot advised we would not be going anywhere. The unbelievable story had just begun. Watching it unfold was clearly sad and unforgettable. The day the world changed.
 

CaveCreekRay

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Jul 11, 2014
2,631
100
48
Cave Creek, AZ
In November of 2001, I flew with a guy who lived in Denver. His neighbor was a fireman who was on the team sent to assist with the rescue. He had just returned home from the WTC site.

By the time they got there, it was clear there were no rescues left so they aided with recovery. At one point, his team was picking up tiny body parts from the roofs of buildings, in a one block radius around the World Trade Center. As the buildings pancaked, bodies, thought to mostly be at windows at the time, were simply splattered into space as the floors compacted and the windows disintegrated.

He said that was one of the oddest things about the site where two 110 story buildings had stood, framed in glass windows: Not one single piece or fragment of glass was found anywhere on the site. It had all been turned into dust.

And for the week or two after the collapse, there was a smell similar to Cordite that permeated the site.

Sad indeed.
 
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jryser

New member
Jun 7, 2017
427
3
0
59
Plainfield
I had just woke up on a day off of school and was also a volunteer at the Cleveland Clinic at the ADRC (alcohol & drug recovery Center).

Saw the towers up in smoke and had just heard about flight 93. I was asked to come in to the clinic to help with a surprising amount of relapsers.

It was odd looking at the sky and seeing no planes later that day.


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