The day that changed everything.
9/11 was one of those events where most people know in great detail where they were and what they were doing when the news broke. I was doing charting work in Long Island Sound just outside of New Haven, CT, That morning, we were towing one of our survey boats into the Coast Guard station to trailer it for repairs. The day earlier we had lost the lower unit of the outboard motor. A call came from the ship that an airplane had hit the Twin Towers. Having flown in and out of La Guardia a few times, right over the city, my first thought was an accident.
We continued on and tied up at the pier, and in the time from the first radio call until we arrived at the station our nation went to war. I felt as though I had stepped into the Twilight Zone. The station was in lockdown. Every "Coastie" was wearing a sidearm, there was a machine gun emplacement atop the building, and Jersey barriers were in place across the gate. As we were loading the boat one seaman came running by and yelled they just hit the Pentagon, we're at Defcon...whatever. It was completely surreal.
That evening the dust cloud was quite visible on the horizon. The lack of jet noise overhead(a veritable constant sound anywhere near NYC) was also a reminder that things were different now.
From that moment that we realized how quickly things can change. How fleeting our way of life might be. In the days that followed, I was scheduled to travel to Tampa to meet a ship for a two week project in the Gulf. No air travel meant I had to drive from NY to FL. Coming over the Verazzano Bridge Thursday morning, the reality was further cemented. Warships and Coast Guard cutters patrolled the harbor. Freighters and tankers of every flag sat idly at anchor. I stopped in Norfolk to pick up another shipmate for this trip. Chesapeake bay was full of silent, still merchant ships, while cruisers and destroyers prowled about. We were at war.
The response of the American people, and the world was awe-inspiring. There was a comraderie that just wasn't there before. We realized just how short life might be, just how tenuous our sense of security was. Now, five years later, what has happened? Where has this cohesiveness gone. We say we remember and honor those that perished, but do we really or are we just paying lip service? How did your life changed on 9/11, and are you still living those changes?
We continued on and tied up at the pier, and in the time from the first radio call until we arrived at the station our nation went to war. I felt as though I had stepped into the Twilight Zone. The station was in lockdown. Every "Coastie" was wearing a sidearm, there was a machine gun emplacement atop the building, and Jersey barriers were in place across the gate. As we were loading the boat one seaman came running by and yelled they just hit the Pentagon, we're at Defcon...whatever. It was completely surreal.
That evening the dust cloud was quite visible on the horizon. The lack of jet noise overhead(a veritable constant sound anywhere near NYC) was also a reminder that things were different now.
From that moment that we realized how quickly things can change. How fleeting our way of life might be. In the days that followed, I was scheduled to travel to Tampa to meet a ship for a two week project in the Gulf. No air travel meant I had to drive from NY to FL. Coming over the Verazzano Bridge Thursday morning, the reality was further cemented. Warships and Coast Guard cutters patrolled the harbor. Freighters and tankers of every flag sat idly at anchor. I stopped in Norfolk to pick up another shipmate for this trip. Chesapeake bay was full of silent, still merchant ships, while cruisers and destroyers prowled about. We were at war.
The response of the American people, and the world was awe-inspiring. There was a comraderie that just wasn't there before. We realized just how short life might be, just how tenuous our sense of security was. Now, five years later, what has happened? Where has this cohesiveness gone. We say we remember and honor those that perished, but do we really or are we just paying lip service? How did your life changed on 9/11, and are you still living those changes?
posted by IFly at 9/11/2006 08:04:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home