Where Were You on 9/11/01?

Substack

I have a piece about 9/11 coming out at JNS perhaps later today. But, until then, there's this:

I have been both mocked and praised as the "Jewish Cassandra" many times. I have come to understand that a prophet's job assignment is merely to warn, not to predict. Therefore, I dare not state what I know in my bones to be true, namely, that we are well past the midnight hour and may not be able to sidestep the perennial fate of the Jews. What's more: Western civilization may or may not be able to survive the barbarian Islamic penetration.

But I could be wrong, so wrong.

Everyone remembers where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated--and when Malcolm X, the Mississippi Freedom fighters, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy were murdered.

On that day, 25 years ago, I was home, and I immediately thought: Now, we are all Israelis. At the time, I was working on my book The New Antisemitism, which I published in 2003. I said so, right then and there.

Therefore, I reached out to others whom I asked to tell me where they were on 9/11/01 and what, if anything, they made of it at the time. Here is a sampling, a small square to be joined to our gathered, collective memories. Here are nineteen such memories.

Washington D.C.

I was with a small group from a military meeting at Joint Base Andrews (at that time still called Andrews AFB), the big, main base in the National Capital Region, at a conference. Andrews is where POTUS loads on and off Air Force One. We were on a morning break when the first plane hit the Towers. Nothing after that was normal; our Air Force chairman tried to go on with the next item on the schedule, but his people kept running in and whispering things to him. When the plane hit the Pentagon, the base went into lockdown and the conference was adjourned. The conference was over, but we couldn't get off the base. It's hard to convey the atmosphere for our little band. A lot of people (family, our chain of command ) knew we were there, but after the Pentagon strike everything changed, and it was hours before any of our outside connections knew our status or where we were. (After we were permitted, it took an hour.) People walking the roads, cars struggling to move, police everywhere. Chaos.

We knew nothing except what we heard on the radio during the seemingly endless drive. At least there was hardly anyone on the roads. The National Guard and State Police outnumbered civilian travelers a good 5 or 6 to 1. We saw a couple of pairs of fighter jets overhead in Northern Virginia, but other than that, nothing in the skies at all. Most of us, hearing where the Pentagon was hit, knew with a sick feeling in our guts that we were likely to have lost colleagues in that attack.

NYC

I was on (I believe) the 8:36am metro-north train heading to work when one of my close friends (an Iranian!) got a call from her sister when the first plane struck. She shared that a plane hit one of the towers, and she thought it was a small private plane, and I just looked at her and said it’s terrorism - I knew instinctively that a plane doesn’t accidentally crash into the World Trade Center no matter the size, and having followed terrorist attacks during the Clinton administration, this wasn’t difficult to understand. As we got close to the station, the second plane hit, and her sister called her back, and she realized I was right. We quickly walked to our offices - when we reached 6th Ave, we stopped and looked downtown and saw the smoke billowing up - I just remember the shock and panic and nausea; I ran to my office where conference rooms had been turned into viewing areas with TVs brought in. My life - and my heart and soul and intellect - changed forever. I had been politically curious and was moving right from my socially left-leaning ideologies well before 9/11, but on that day, it was clear I would never be the same.

Alas, 9/11, the Boston Marathon Bombing, Charlie Hebdo, London’s 7/7, Israel’s 10/7, and on and on have simply translated into the West capitulating to the haters who seek our demise. Gad Saad’s Suicidal Empathy may explain a little. But history is really self-explanatory if only we civilized people - the inheritors of Judeo-Christian values - paid attention. And actually never forgot. Unfortunately, we continue to do so and pay a continuing price.

NYC

I was planning to go down to the DMV to register our car when my spouse called from work to say that she and her colleagues were in their conference room watching news reports of a plane flying into one of the Twin Towers. I replied--having heard no news and visualizing one of those little inexpertly piloted private planes—"Oh good! That means there won't be too many people at the DMV.” Without listening to the news, I walked out and then met, with his pickup parked in Campos Plaza, a very stunned and distraught workman from NJ who kept repeating, "The city has been closed! I can't get out! I can't get home! I don't know what to do!" And from him, I heard that the plane was a huge airliner, and it had been flown directly into the Twin Towers. I was so astounded that I kept walking westward in a daze.

When I got to 6th Ave in the Village, I found hundreds of people, with horror-stricken faces and disheveled clothes, streaming up the avenue. Both of us were so rattled and confounded that we couldn’t stay in the apartment and went for a walk. We wound up on 10th Street and Broadway at Grace Church. The doors were open; we walked in and found other stunned New Yorkers sitting in the pews. Little or nothing to do with religion. But a sanctuary (as much as it could be) from the horror. After a while, a minister came out. He didn’t preach, said nothing of a religious nature. Just asked us if we would like to sing something and suggested "American the Beautiful." We all stood up and sang together. Sat down again for a while. Then walked home through what had become a ghost-town.

Massachusetts

On the morning of 9/11, I was driving to my office. When I arrived there, I joined my colleagues watching the attacks and aftermath. Also, my nephew was in the second tower, and he was one of the few who got out (15 minutes before the second tower collapsed). I also had a cousin who worked in the first tower, who ran out when the first tower was hit; he ran all the way home and didn’t know what actually happened until he got into his apartment and turned on the TV.

Michigan

I was Deputy City Manager. The police chief came in and told me to put on the TV. I watched the second plane hit. My stepdaughter worked in the World Financial Center next to the towers. We were in a panic. No cell service. It was hours before we heard from her…she was finally able to call us a few hours later…. Meantime, I had to figure out what to do at the City. Everyone was panicking and wanted to go home. I decided to release everyone but police and fire, just in case. It was a good decision …they needed to be with their families, and police and fire understand their responsibilities to act above and beyond. I created an honor for those who had to stay…we all stayed for 24 hours until we were sure the attacks were over. It was harrowing.

Illinois

I arrived and was getting into my morning routine with the team when my boss said, “Someone just flew a plan into a building in NY.” Again, I thought he was making some kind of sick joke. But then we looked at his screen. I remember going ash white. Then the rest of my team started doing research on their own. We were outright horrified and confused with what we saw. At that time, the news media was still showing people jumping from the towers to their inevitable death. We watched the news and tried to assess how best to talk to our kids (then about 10 years old) about what was happening – what we knew and what we didn’t. These conversations lasted for months in trying to find a balance of fear and calm to move forward. I understood that many lives were gone forever. And, although this was a well-planned attack, they struck early when fewer people were in their offices. Finally, there are people filled with hate and anger and are willing to kill other innocent people.

NYC

I was at Einstein taking a class on clinical research. We ran to the roof of the building and watched the towers drop because there was a view of the city. My husband was at Lenox Hill, and he stayed overnight for 2 nights because they emptied out the entire hospital waiting for the wounded to arrive, but there were almost none. We could only communicate with each other by email; it was terrifying.

Maryland/Washington D.C.

At my usual time, I boarded the train for DC and walked the three blocks from my stop to headquarters. When I walked in, the three security women at the front desk were uncharacteristically huddled around a 9-inch TV propped up on their desk. "There's been a terrible accident in New York City! A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center!" The women turned the TV around so I could see the image. When I got to my office, I turned on the radio and heard that a second plane had crashed into the second tower. Moments later, that a third plane had crashed into the Pentagon. I stood in the doorway of my office, listening to the report, then noticed that all of my colleagues on the floor were doing the same and looking out the windows. I wondered if that would be hit next. A few minutes later, we heard that a fourth plane had gone down, and we knew we were under attack.

I saw my friend sitting on the steps and crying. She told me that her husband (whose name I forget) was in NYC doing research for a book he was writing on baseball. I told her that, if that's what he was doing, he was far from the World Trade Center. She said, "You don't understand. He's a reporter before anything. He'll be running TOWARDS the World Trade Center." When I got to the subway station, the place was jammed with people trying to get out of the city. Trains stuffed with people kept going by, not stopping because they were full to capacity. It was a good half hour before an empty train stopped for us. I found myself standing next to a middle-aged black man, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase. He turned to me and said, "Do you think things will be back to normal by tomorrow?" I said, "Man, nothing is ever going to be back to normal again."

NYC

I was in my Photography studio in the New York Dock Co buildings in Red hook, Brooklyn. I was in the darkroom that morning, and when I emerged around 9:30 AM or 10 AM, the second building was already hit. I had no idea. My car was covered in ash already. I immediately ran into a woman artist from Israel and began to walk around Brooklyn up to Brooklyn Heights, to see what we can do. We donated blood and made affectionate eye contact with everybody on the streets who needed it. Crazy. I try not to remember.

Florida

We had dinner before that in the same restaurant where there had been a commotion when someone left without paying the bill. We later learned it was one of the hijackers of one of the airplanes. Within a short time, a few minutes after 9:00 am, we both stood in disbelief as we watched the airplanes hit the World Trade Buildings. First one and then a second. A third hit the Pentagon. Then a fourth was on its way to the Capitol but was brought down in a field somewhere in Pennsylvania. We spent the rest of the day there, consoling each other, checking on whereabouts of family, listening to the news, and trying to understand what took place and would happen next. It was comforting to all be together.

NYC

I was on the subway on my way to work. The MTA announced that the train would go no further than Canal Street. Once they dumped us off the train, I ended up walking over the Manhattan Bridge back into Brooklyn and then taking three buses to get home since all subway service was halted. I got home and put on the TV and left it on the entire day. When my daughter got home that day, she went outside to play and came back carrying burnt checks and other papers from the WTC that the wind had carried to Brooklyn.

Massachusetts

I spent the morning teaching. The secretary of the department knocked on the door. She told me that there was a catastrophe in Manhattan, and I should decide whether or not to tell the students about it and whether or not to cancel the class. I returned to the students and told them exactly what she had said. I also told them that they could all call home if they wanted to and that we could cancel class. To my surprise they did NOT want to cancel class, saying that talking about group dynamics - even before we knew anything substantive about what had happened - might be helpful to them. I'm not sure if I went home after the class ended or stayed for other appointments on campus. But I do remember that I was proud of the students.

New Jersey

That morning I was in my study in my home drafting a legal brief. My wife called and told me something bad was happening at the World Trade Center. A plane crashed into one of the towers. I turned the television on. I became distracted and couldn’t work. A second plane struck and I got in my car and drove to mount Mitchell in my old home town of Atlantic Highlands. Mount Mitchell is the highest point on the east coast from Maine to Florida. When I arrived at the top of the hill there were about 200 people standing and looking out at New York. When you are on Mount Mitchell you a see the ocean to the east. You can see Long Island to the north and Manhattan to the northwest. Manhattan is 42 miles by land from there, but only 20 miles by air and sea. On a clear day you can see the Manhattan sky line clearly. 9/11 was the brightest and clearest day I ever saw. We could see everything. Shortly after I arrived, the second tower fell. The entire island was under a black cloud. The 200 or so spectators were in dead silence as if at a funeral.

Today there are monuments in the park at the top of the mount in honor of those who died. One monument lists the names of the 255 people from our home county who died at the towers that day.

Vermont/NYC/Michigan

It was my first day teaching in Vermont. I called my friends in NYC. When I finally reached one, she could not stop crying — she was out that morning on Hudson and saw people running up town for their lives. When at last I was able to drive into the village (recall it was off limits to non-residents), their windows were covered in ash and the smell — oh that smell — lasted for months. When I went home for Thanksgiving, it was still there. Thanksgiving that year was, as I remember, remarkably warm. Not one Michigan colleague called to see how everyone was doing though they too knew my connections to the city. It was an important lesson that prepared me for 10/7.

Connecticut/NYC

I was driving on the Whitestone Bridge thinking that this was the most beautiful day – the beginning of fall with a crystal-blue sky and the sun shining brightly. I was on my way to Supreme Court to argue a motion that I had prepared for and I was preparing my oral argument in the car when the phone rang. It was my husband. He asked me where I was. I remember telling him how beautiful the day was, how the sun was shining. Then he told me to look to my right and see if I could locate the World Trade Center. He said it was on fire.

I looked over and saw a blast of black smoke coming from the building. I immediately felt panicked. I asked him what was happening, and he told me that the news was saying it was an accident – that a pilot had flown a plane into the building. He told me to stay glued to the radio and listen for updates about what was happening. I arrived at court and there was panic throughout the building. I ran to tell the Judge that I live in Connecticut and wanted to get back to my children. He told me to leave. People were gathering and talking, and there was an overwhelming sense that something terrible was happening. I got back into my car and headed toward the Whitestone Bridge. But the bridge was closed. The Throgs Neck Bridge was closed. Every access point to Connecticut was shut down. People were out in the streets trying to direct traffic because there was absolute chaos and pandemonium everywhere. I turned the car around and went to my mother’s home in Queens, where she lived. Her television was on, and I sat with her in complete horror.

When I was finally able to get back into the car and make my way up to Connecticut, I felt my heart wrench and sink as I listened to the news on the radio. Thousands of lives had been taken. Our country had been struck in a way that it had never been before. And I felt more American than I had ever felt before. The days that followed were filled with pain and anguish. We knew people who had perished in the buildings – innocent lives taken by terrorists. Everything we had believed about our safety and security had changed.

And I knew that we would never feel safe again.

UK

On 9/11 I was at home in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and my in-laws were visiting us. A builder who was repairing a brick wall in the garden and listening to the radio ran into the house shouting that a plane had flown into one of the Twin Towers. I had spent years reading about Islam and knew right away that it was an attack. Then the second plane hit. I don't know if I ever mentioned, we were at Port Arthur in Tasmania on the day of the massacre there in 1996, when 35 were killed, and I think that somehow opens up a channel in your senses that told me right away this was an attack not an accident.

Russia

I had just arrived in Moscow, as a prof., to teach at the leading universities about what Russia and the West would need to do in order for Russia to join the West in a way that would endure. 9/11 made that a thousand times more urgent. The need was met only with a narrow temporary co-alignment on Afghanistan, nothing that could endure or extend to other areas, such as working out a coalignment on the post-Soviet states. Both sides gradually reverted to habit, supporting "our" politicians, parties, regimes, and insurgents against "theirs". The rest is, alas, history.

Brazil

I was visiting my ex's family in Brazil, scheduled to fly back to New York on September 12th. After several aborted attempts, we finally got a flight on 9/16. I remember very clearly seeing nothing but black smoke flying back into JFK. Truly dystopian.

UK

I was at work. We did not all have internet at the time. A colleague who did came in and said, a plane has crashed into one of the World Trade Buildings. What a terrible accident we thought. Then my friend, who was also our boss, who had enough internet access to get BBC news, said, there's been another one. This is no accident. And we spent the next hour gathered round his PC watching the news and thinking shit... The management decided we all better leave to go home as they were going to suspend some of the London Underground running through east London towards Essex (my route home) as Canary Wharf was feared to be a possible next target, as there are a lot of tall buildings, and a rather rich financial centre.

You must have known a lot of people affected? Even from the London bombs which killed a fraction of New York (52 v 3000+) I know 4 people affected in one way or another. I believe there has been as many deaths since from respiratory damage and cancer from the dust and filth - is that right?