Is everyone okay?

[chittychattykathy]

Sadly I've been soo busy I've not been in the board much if at all lately. Today, like most everyone, I am in a state of complete shock and that has put me in the mood to not do anything but hang out around the house for the day. I was looking up information about the World Trade Center on the internet and had a strong draw to come back to the board to see how everyone is doing today. I would like to know how our friends in New York are doing. I pray that you're all okay and that your families and friends are okay. I don't know what else to say, other then I now cannot even comprehend what it must have been like to have been alive when Pearl Harbor was bombed or what it must be like to live in a war torn country. I just pray I do not ever find out, I'm feeling enough unease right now. CCK

[wondersofwine]

I'm worried about people I know who work in the Pentagon. My sister e-mailed that our mother is devastated and calls it worse than Pearl Harbor. Mother was an adult at the time of Pearl Harbor (my father was an Army officer at the time but based in the U.S.A.)
My heart and prayers go out to everyone involved from the NYC area to the passengers and crew of the hijacked aircraft, to Pentagon, White House, State Dept. etc. It's a very somber mood right now on Fort Bragg as people gather around the television set in the CQ area. Hard to concentrate on year-end budgeting or any kind of work.

[Innkeeper]

Hi folks. Bev and I just arrived in Bristol, RI from Staten Island. We left at 8:30 this morning, and went over the Gothels Bridge just as the first hit on the WTC occured. The news got the story on about five minutes later as we got onto the NJ Twp north. Bev was looking at the WTC fire when the second one hit it. It was horrible. We prayed constantly as we went west on I-80 to the Garden State Parkway north to I-287 and over the Tappen Zee Bridge. When we go to I-95 in CT we called our friends here, who let our kids know we were safe and out of the city.

Am most concerned about RAD, and hope he logs in soon.

[cpurvis]

We are also praying for the victims, families & friends in NY, DC & elsewhere..as well as for wisdom for our national leadership. Also thought of RAD...hope he's OK, but wouldn't expect to hear from him today.

cp

Checked RAD's business address...390 Greenwich Street, 3 Fl....so, several blocks from the disaster & hopefully out of the way.


[This message has been edited by cpurvis (edited 09-11-2001).]

[RAD]

Thank you all for your concern.

Words cannot express my shock over today's events. My office is about 1/4 mile north of the WTC. A friend's husband actually saw the first plane hit from his window. When we were evacuated shortly after 9:00a, to see the WTC in flames just to the south was just horrible. It was utter chaos--people crying, lines 20-30 deep at pay phones since local cell service was maxed out. I walked from there up to my wife's office in midtown; the first tower crumbled en route, followed shortly by the second one. Along the way, masses of people huddled around radios or storefronts that had a TV in the window.

Now, I'm wincing every time a fighter roars by (there are many); southern manhattan is like a war zone/M.A.S.H. unit rolled into one.

There were so many people in my industry in WTC; many children will leave school today with no parents to go home to.

Don't want to get too long-winded here. I and my wife are fine, thank God; I hope Scoop, Foodie, and their significant others are as well. My heart goes out to our fellow citizens in DC as well.

And my wholehearted support goes out to our national leaders and military.

RAD

[Drew]

A very sad day indeed and I pray that all your loved ones are safe. We are on 12 hour shifts in Baltimore and all of Maryland is in a state of emergency. Baltimore Police sent squads of men to NYC and DC to help with the aftermath and security. I'll be here till 8pm then back at noon on Wed till midnight.

Drew

[cpurvis]

RAD, great to hear that you're OK. Also thought of Foodie & Scoop...Foodie's store is some distance away. Hope they're OK as well. cp

Drew, sounds like a long week ahead for you. Hang in there. Good reminder to pray for the police & emergency crews involved in this.

[This message has been edited by cpurvis (edited 09-11-2001).]

[winoweenie]

Glad to hear from Rad and Scoop. Have I missed a post from Foodie? All must be well....THAT'S AN ORDER!! WW

[chittychattykathy]

No report from Foodie.

[Bucko]

Let us hear from you, ya danged old reprobate!

[Drew]

Anyone hear from Foodie yet?

Drew

[winoweenie]

I've tried without success to vcall Foodie for the last 2 days. Hopefully he's just up to his ankles in grasshoppers. WW

[Bucko]

He may have friends or relatives involved, and he has no time for on-line visits (fingers crossed he is okay). I have two friends who have missing friends at the WTC. Truly a sad situation.

Bucko

[RAD]

Foodie is okay; see post under Rants and Raves.

RAD

[wondersofwine]

I now know some of my colleagues in the Pentagon got out safely. However, Ann Parham, whom I have known since the 70's, was injured (second-degree burns on the face and a broken toe). (Now if it had been my face it might not be such a loss--hee hee.) She was the lead paragraph in a Los Angeles Times reporter's story on the attack on the Pentagon.
Security on Fort Bragg was so tight yesterday that I never made it to work (people spent up to six hours trying to get on post!) Today the traffic is flowing again.
Glad the NYC members of the board are okay.
Hang in there with heads high and flag flying.

[Thomas]

Thanks all. Am here and breathing--barely. I cannot tell you the depth of my feelings right now, and as a writer I plan to put them to paper. Suffice to say, I think often about the relative dismal possibilities for the redemption of humanity...

[Bucko]

Welcome back buddy -- glad to see you are physically okay.....

Bucko

[Innkeeper]

Let's all remember the day today. Keep all the victims in your thoughts and prayers.

[hotwine]

It's hard to do anything else. Remembering that day like it was yesterday, especially after watching the first part of the ABC series "The Path to 9-11" last night and the memorial ceremonies this morning. Powerful.

[wondersofwine]

I rewatched the documentary by two French brothers who were chronicling the probationary period of a fireman rookie with 1st Bn, FDNY. I had seen it before but it was just as sad this time around. The rookie is now with HAZMAT and Chief Pfeffer or Pfeiffer has had several promotions and is involved with Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness. (He lost his brother, also a fireman, in one of the towers, last seen telling people which way to go for the safest exit). My friend who suffered second-degree burns and a broken toe at the Pentagon had plastic surgery (possibly on her ears) but to look at her you would never know that a fireball rolled over her. Another friend in the Pentagon that day couldn't sleep without sleeping pills for weeks afterwards due to nightmares but I think she eventually recovered her equilibrium. Still another one did see a counselor for a time and she literally started shaking when we heard a helicopter (this in Oklahoma City at the memorial to the Oklahoma bombing victims). The helicopters recalled to her the flight from the Pentagon and the helicopters coming in to evacuate the wounded. I feel I have been affected as much by the aftermath as the day itself--the soldiers I met in the library who have since died in Afghanistan or Iraq and the stories of the others who come back mentally or physically maimed from the battlefield (if you can call it a battlefield with the random planting of IEDs). There are many serious brain injuries from the explosions. God help us.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 09-11-2006).]