#NeverForget911 - Morty's TV Remembers

[Fuskie]

It was 20 years ago today, during the last weeks of the second season of Big Brother that America was attacked in tragic event known universally as 9/11. The terrorist attack changed the nation and the world, and to a significantly lessor extent, it impacted the fledgling Big Brother family.

 

What follows is a remembrance of that day. 

 

For anyone who was alive that day, you probably remember exactly what you were doing. If not too painful, Morty's TV invites you to share your memories of that day in replies to this post. Together we can do our part to never forget the passengers and flight crew, civilians and first responders, whose lives were taken from a stunned nation that day. We owe it to their families and friends, and especially to their children, now 2 decades older, to never forget.

 

For me, I was watching CNN in the morning, getting ready to go to a computer trade show in downtown Atlanta. I had left the house before towers fell, and since I was on mass transit, I was unable to receive news updates until I arrived at my destination. By then, both towers had collapsed as well as a section of The Pentagon. The venue was practically empty, with vendors packing to go nowhere - their flights were all canceled. Not knowing what to do, I hung around for about an hour before heading home myself and watching the aftermath on TV. 

To all who are remembering this day 20 years ago, the thoughts and support of the entire Morty's TV Community are with you. If the topic remains too tender and sensitive, I would urge you to not read this thread any further.

 

#NeverForget911

Morty's TV Remembers September 11th, 2001:

[Fuskie]

 

7:59am, 9/11/2001 - American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 81 passengers plus 11 crew, departs Logan International Airport in Boston, bound for Los Angeles Airport in California. No one realizes 5 hijackers are on board.

8:15am, 9/11/2001 - United Airlines Flight 175, carrying 56 passengers and 9 crew, departs Logan International Airport, bound for Los Angeles Airport in California. No one realizes 5 hijackers are on board.

8:19am, 9/11/2001 - Flight 11 is hijacked over central Massachusetts, The pilots are ordered to turn south.

8:20am, 9/11/2001 - American Airlines Flight 77, carrying 58 passengers and 6 crew, departs Washington Dulles International Airport, bound for Los Angeles International Airport in California. No one realizes 5 hijackers are on board.

8:42am, 9/11/2001 - United Airlines Flight 93, carrying 37 passengers and 7 crew, departs from Newark International Airport. bound for San Francisco International Airport in California. No one realizes 4 hijackers are on board.

Flight 175 is hijacked above northwest New Jersey, about 60 miles northwest of NYC. The flight changes direction to the northeast.

8:46am, 9/11/2001 - Flight 11 flies into the north face of the North Tower (WTC 1) of the World Trade Center, ripping into the building between floors 93 and 99. The 1st Battalion of the FDNY are the first to respond.

8:48am, 9/11/2001 - No airborne evacuation is possible due to smoke. Trapped above the flaming wreck of Flight 11, over 100 desperate victims jump dozens of floors to their deaths. A firefighter on the ground is hit by a falling body and dies.

8:50am, 9/11/2001 - Flight 77 is hijacked above southern Ohio and is redirected southeast. President Bush is first informed that a small plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Advisors assume it is a tragic accident.

8:55am, 9/11/2001 - The South Tower is deemed secure after the crash into the North Tower. Occupants in WTC South are instructed by Public Address to remain in their offices rather than flee into the debris of the North Tower's collapse. 

8:56am, 9/11/2001 - President Bush is at the Emma E Booker Elementary School for an event promoting literacy when White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card informs him that a small twin-engine jet plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.

9:02am, 9/11/2001 - An evacuation of both North and South Towers is ordered by the FDNY. The message sent over Public Address adds "if conditions warranted". 

9:03am, 9/11/2001 - Flight 175 flies into the south face of the South Tower (WTC 2), ripping into the building between floors 77 and 85. Parts of the plane fall to the ground from the east and north sides, landing six blocks away.

9:05am, 9/11/2001 - President Bush starts reading the book The Pet Goat to students when Chief of Staff Andy Card enters and whispers that a 2nd plane has hit the other tower: America is under attack. The President chooses to continue reading.

9:06am, 9/11/2001 - The FAA orders a halt to all takeoffs and landings in the New York Center airspace at the request of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

9:11am, 9/11/2001 - The last PATH train leaves the World Trade Center, leaving the transit station empty prior to the collapse of the South and North towers. Ten minutes later, all bridges and tunnels into Manhattan are closed.

9:25am, 9/11/2001 - A video teleconference is started out of the White House Situation Room, including the CIA & FBI, as well as the Departments of State, Justice, Defense and the FAA, which orders a national ground stop of takeoffs/landings.

9:28am, 9/11/2001 - Flight 93 is hijacked above northern Ohio and turns southeast. Unaware, President Bush makes a public statement in the classroom, acknowledging the World Trade Center attacks and leading a national moment of silence.

9:36am, 9/11/2001 - Vice President Cheney is evacuated to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center beneath the White House.

9:37am, 9/11/2001 - Flight 77 crashes into the western side of The Pentagon and a violent fire erupts. The explosion and smoke can be seen from the U.S. Capitol and the White House.

9:42am, 9/11/2001 - U.S. Airspace is shut down, with all aircraft in flight ordered to land at the nearest airport. All aircraft except Flight 93 respond accordingly. The White House and U.S. Capitol are evacuated and closed.

9:57am, 9/11/2001 - Passengers aboard Flight 93 revolt against the hijackers and attempt to take back the plane. Passengers apparently learned of the attack on the World Trade Center towers via cell phones and decided to take the plane back.

9:57am, 9/11/2001 - President Bush aboard Air Force One takes off from Sarasota, FL. At the time, no destination had been decided.

9:59am, 9/11/2001 - As New Yorkers and media cameras watch in horror, The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses in just 10 seconds, 56 minutes after impact from Flight 175. More than 800 civilians and first responders are inside.

Continuity-Of-Government procedures, intended to protect high level government officials during a national emergency, are implemented for the first time in American history.

10:01am, 9/11/2001 - The FAA has observed Flight 92 "waving its wings" as the hijackers tried to stop the passengers' counterattack. 

10:03am, 9/11/2001 - Flight 93 is crashed by hijackers fighting with the pilots in Somerset County, PA, 80m southeast of Pittsburgh. The 9/11 Commission believes the hijackers real target was the White House or U.S. Capitol buildings.

10:15am, 9/11/2001 - A damaged section of the Pentagon's west-facing outer ring collapses.

10:20am, 9/11/2001 - Aboard Air Force One, President Bush informs Vice President Cheney he has authorized the shooting down of aircraft suspected of having been hijacked.

10:28am, 9/11/2001 - The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 1 hour and 42 minutes after the impact of Flight 11. A Marriott Hotel between the two towers is also destroyed. More than 1,600 civilians and first responders are killed.

10:50am, 9/11/2001 - Five stories of the Pentagon collapse due to intense fire. Three minutes later, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield orders the U.S. Military to DEFCON 3 for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in Israel in 1973.

12:16pm, 9/11/2001 - All airspace across the 48 contiguous United States are clear of commercial and private traffic. 

12:30pm, 9/11/2001 - Fourteen survivors, including 13 firefighters who were in a North Tower stairwell, miraculously climb out of the rubble. 

12:41pm, 9/11/2001 - Arizona Senator Orrin Hatch (R) is the first to publicly identify Al Quaeda and Osama Bin Laden as responsible for the attack on America.

2:50pm, 9/11/2001 - Air Force One lands at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska. President Bush convenes a National Security Council teleconference.

3:00pm, 9/11/2001 - A Port Authority employee is rescued from the rubble of the North Tower, reviving continued hope that survivors could be found.

9/11/2001 - Big Brother Season 2 House: In the 2nd season of Big Brother, production breaks the rules to reveal the attacks on America to the remaining HG who are given a TV monitor to view news stories so that the scope of the event is understood.

 

HG Monica is told her family in NYC is safe, though a cousin was injured and taken to the hospital. Evicted HG Krista was in route to the Latin Grammys in Los Angeles but was rerouted to Baton Rouge. Will has a bunch of friends in New York and wants to send a message home. Big Brother provides lunch from a local sandwich shop. Nicole complains the onions are too thick. The HG are given DVDs to distract themselves.

4:36pm, 9/11/2001 - President Bush departs Offutt Air Force Base aboard Air Force One.

5:20pm, 9/11/2001 - Number 7 World Trade Center, a 47 story building, collapses after structural damage resulting from the earlier collapse of the twin towers. 

6:00pm, 9/11/2001 - The last international flight destined for the United States is diverted to and lands safely at Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia, Canada.

6:54pm, 9/11/2001 - President Bush returns to the White House in Washington DC. Ambulances that have lined up near what is being called Ground Zero to transport survivors to area hospitals remain empty. 

7:24pm, 9/11/2001 - Members of Congress gather on the steps of the United States Capitol gather and sing God Bless America in an act of defiance against the attacks.

8:00pm, 9/11/2001 - A Port Authority police officer is found alive. It would take 3 more hours to rescue him, 13 hours after the South Tower collapsed. The 18th and final survivor of the attacks will be extricated the afternoon of 9/12. 

9/12/2001 - In the Big Brother Season 2 House, Will says they don't have enough information to know what to do. Monica is informed that her cousin, Tamitha Bailey, is actually missing. She was eventually declared among the dead from the attack. Tamitha Bailey worked in the South Tower of World Trade Center. Her office began evacuating after the North Tower was hit, but she forgot her purse and went back to retrieve it. That was the last time anyone heard from her.

9/13/2001 - Will, Monica and Nicole are asked to make a statement about the terrorist attacks and they say they have been told some of the details but not all. They send prayers and love to all the families of victims. 

9/15/2001 - Monica is evicted from the Big Brother house in an episode that is not broadcast until September 18th. On September 20th, Will is voted the winner of Big Brother Season 2 by the evicted HG.

[Goldylucks]

I was at home with my girls, a 10 month old baby and my 4 year old toddler. We always had breakfast together while watching the news. I saw the Breaking News logo come on screen and they reported that a plane had hit the world trade center. It was on fire and the news helicopters were circling around it showing the huge gaping hole from every side. 

 

I called my mom and told her to turn on the news. We watched together, contemplating what could cause an accident such as this. We discussed that maybe the pilot had a medical issue. Maybe a mechanical issue. We remembered the previous bombing at the WTC prior to this, but neither of us felt like this was another attack. 

 

Just then, we saw the 2nd plane coming in, flying low, and slam into the other tower. I stopped mid-sentance. "Mom, did you see that?" Followed by the realization "That can't be an accident. This is deliberate." We realized that we had just watched a bunch of people die.....and sadly knew there would be more very very soon.

 

We watched in horror as people fled the capital buildings....as the reports came in that a 3rd plane flew into the Pentagon......as people started jumping from both towers that were still on fire.....as one tower fell.....as the second tower fell......as the last plane went down in a field in PA. 

 

It is all anyone could talk about all day. It is all anyone could think about all day. I hugged my girls tighter that night. And swore that even though they would be too young to remember......they will always know what happened this day. 

 

 

[Zzzing904]

I was in college. I was in my early morning weight lifting class when it happened. They dismissed class and I ran to my job on campus. They almost wouldn't let me in,  it was the only place in campus with TV.  They then closed campus. I remember standing there thinking how am I going to get home.  I didn't drive and the busses had stopped.  I remember my fellow student friend Mike grappling with a police officer trying to get in to the bowling alley (that's where I worked) and he yells, "See that girl that works here,  her dad called me, my instructions are to bring her home. I promised her dad who is a Navy man I will get her home safe "  The officer told him to carry on.  Mike was 6 months from reporting to the Air Force (which he then moved up to only 1.5 months), as a student he was in ROTC. It took us 2 hours to go 8 miles in his beat up truck as the world fell apart.  He had served our county for the last 20 years.  He can't reach out due to his job. You can read between those lines.   The way I see it his first official duty was me that very fateful today.  On this day in particular I think of Mike and all he has done for our country. I  also think back to 21 year old me,  sitting in a beat up truck, looking at a future Air Force pilot, thinking I hope he comes home from this unlike all those people that day who didn't make it home.