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Please include your name, location, the federal agency you work for and your AFGE local number. So many of our members have shared their experiences and we want to hear from YOU!
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I was serving my country overseas, as a U.S. Army soldier. I didn’t find out what had taken place until I walked over to visit one of my friends in his barracks room. His door was slightly cracked; but out of respect I knocked and he invited me in. What I saw and heard next, would change my life forever. As I looked at his t.v. screen, I saw balls of fire and smoke coming from the World Trade Center. I asked him if he was ok, as his eyes were completely gazed over. All he could say was Stew, my wife is in that building; she’s on the hundred and fifth floor. What can you say to someone, who is trained and equipped to fight wars, when a war has been launched on innocent people such as his wife. Needless to say, later on that day we went from ThreatCon Bravo to ThreatCon Delta and began to prep for battle.
On 911 I remember starting the day driving to work to David Grant Med Center in Fairfeild CA. I was an active duty Capt at the time.I presently work at the VA in SanAntonio Tx. I heard the news as I was driving on the radio that an aircraft had hit one of the twin towers. As I approached the hospital I noted secuity police searching the trash cans around the building. I thought this was strange but at the time I did not know a 2nd aircraft was about to hit the other twin tower. As I went in to my area, interventional radiology, I had heard that a 2nd plane had hit the other tower. Everyone was glued to the TVs. Everyone was in shock. All scheduled cases were cancelled. The base went on lock down except for emergent situations. Later I called my wife at home. She has a sister and a brother in law in New York. THe brother in law, who is a money investor/ worked in one of the twin towers. Fortunately he was across the street when the planes hit the buildings. We found out he was alright. but later I spoke to him and he stated he had witnessed people jumping from the windows. He ran from the buildings that day when the first one colapsed. Since that time he has had nightmares, signs of PTSD; He now works in Maine.
THis traumatic event showed had vulnerable the US was and may still be. I pray for everyone who had a loveone pass because of this event, the God will continue to give them strenght to
I was a temp paralegal in Irving, TX, when 9/11 happened. I had been laid off the Thursday before and was watching Good Morning America when they broke in with the first plane. For three weeks I watched as the towers fell over, and over, and over again.
During this time, I rode the bus out to the airport for a job interview and there was a young man who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent on the bus. I was sitting at the front of the bus; he was sitting in the middle with his suitcase; and everyone else was sitting in the back of the bus. He sat there, hunched over, staring at the floor with his suitcase between his feet and his hands clasped in front of him. I understood the other passengers apprehension, but at the same time, I felt sorry for the poor man.
There was a mosque not far from where I lived which had its windows shot out and graffiti sprayed on the walls. I am very glad to be working now for the EEOC and helping to correct some of the discrimination that exists today. I still have problems, though, when I see a plane close to a building.
I work at the Seattle VARO with the VBA and I am a member of AFGE 3192 I think. I was at work when we heard the building fire alarm start blaring ” Attention, attention this is not a drill, please evacuate the building immediately “. All employees scrambled out our building offices at once and ran for the local transit buses ; I escorted two deaf employees out of the building. It was quieter than I ever knew it could be on the Metro northbound ; I saw mothers hugging their babies and strangers comforting strangers. It was not until I got home and watched CNN’s chilling video that I realized that the images I saw were real and not some Hollywood special effects. I lost my last maternal grandma two days before and could not reach my Mom for almost a week after the attacks. Later that day, the only thing I saw in the air overhead were some F-15s from McChord AFB armed to the teeth with orders to shoot any planes down ; if they refused to land immediately.
I still glance upward whenever I hear a low-flying plane, wondering why is that plane so low ?
I have worked full-time for the Feds for nearly 27 years at this point. I currently work for the U.S. Department of Justice @ the Bureau of Prison’s Federal Prison for Women in Danbury, Connecticut. Member of AFGE Local 1661 District 2. Growing up as a young boy in N.Y.C, the Twin Towers was always a symbol of the city I lived in. When the Towers were gone, I felt as though a part of my own being was missing. Major Leauge Baseball in New York seemed to help myself and many others deal with this very sad part of our country’s history. As a die-hard Yankees fan since 1976, I was furtunate to attend game #3 of the 2001 World Series at Yankee Stadium between the Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The game was opened in New York by President George W. Bush, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch, a strike to Yankees backup catcher Todd Greene. Bush became the first sitting President to throw out a World Series first pitch since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. He also threw it from the mound where the pitcher would stand (unlike most ceremonial first pitches which are from in front of the mound) and threw it for a strike. Chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A” rang throughout Yankee Stadium. I have never seemed the crown so loud and united as it was during the USA….USA chants. It was just awesome. Yankees starter Roger Clemens allowed only three hits and struck out nine in seven innings of work. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera pitched two innings for the save. Scott Brosius broke a sixth inning tie with an RBI single to left.
When ever I think of N.Y.C. during this tough time, I will always remember the Yankees famous Public Address announcer saying “Ladies and Gentlemen….the President of the United States.” The crowd was so loud …..USA …USA…..USA……Truly a patriotic moment..God Bless the U.S.A.
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