Retired US Army Officer A. Phillips posted on her Facebook page today, "On this day 20 years ago, 246 woke up in preparation for morning flights. 2,606 people woke up in preparation for work. 343 firefighters woke up in preparation for their morning shift. 60 police officers woke up in preparation for their morning patrol. 8 paramedics woke up in preparation for their morning shift of saving lives. None of them saw past 10:00 am on Sept 11, 2001. In one single moment life may never be the same.
As you live and enjoy the breaths you take today, before you get up to start your day, say a prayer, kiss the ones you love, and never take one second of your life for granted.
Never forget!!!"
As I sit here writing this article, my brother, my hero - a NYC paramedic - quietly leaves his home and family to serve as a FDNY Lieutenant in the EMT Division. On this day 20 years ago he was a rookie, fresh out of the Fire Department of NYC academy when he quietly left home in the wee hours of the morning to "save lives." Each year on this day his heart is heavy as he remembers it all. In one day he suffered more personal loss than he has in the twenty years since, combined.
The common question is always, "where were you on 09/11/02?" I was running late, one son was home sick and I had just dropped my other son off at school and was turning unto the northbound Bronx River Parkway heading to work when the music on the radio was interrupted with the announcement that it appeared an airplane has crashed into The World Trade Center.
If you lived in the NYC area during that time then you will understand why this announcement pissed me off. Less than three weeks before the singer Aaliyah died in a plane crash and there were radio personalities that found it humorous to make jokes. I immediately thought that this was another cruel joke and yelled a string of expletives as I changed the station to an all news station, only to find that it was true.
Once at work, we could all feel the tension and shared the knowledge that live as we knew it had changed forever. Each of us in the PCNA media and marketing team watched live footage on our computers or department televisions as the Twin Towers collapsed. Initially we were told that we could not leave the premises. As a mother that did not sit well with me at all. The next announcement was, "If you do NOT have to cross a bridge or use a tunnel to get home, go home NOW!" Bridges and tunnels were closed by law enforcement.
Now if you know me, then you know that I am an excellent driver. What was normally a 25 minute drive back to my son's school, I did in record time as he was checked out of school and back in the car with me 10 minutes after me pulling out of the parking lot at work. Five minutes later I had my other son with me and we were home two minutes later. They kept asking me what was wrong. How do you tell your children that you didn't know if their dad and their uncle were alive? You don't! You reassure them and do your utmost to remain calm and shield them from the evil that had just been visited upon your home land.
My eldest figured it out and saw the pain in his eyes and I could hear his heartbeat racing as the fear engulfed him. The realization of the gravity of the situation settled on a child. These monsters didn't just terrorize adults. They were now proof to children that the boogeyman was indeed real. It would be 14 hours before we heard from my brother that he was safe and unharmed. It was a little over 36 hours before we heard from my ex-husband. My boys could breath a sigh of relief.
↑ Where were you on 9/11/01? What won't you forget? ↓
I won't forget having to tell my sons that their friend's dad died in the second tower collapse.
I won't forget the stench of the burning crime scene that could I smell from miles away.
I won't forget being notified about my friends losing loved ones in the towers and at the Pentagon.
I won't forget the playback of several flight passengers as they told their loved ones goodbye.
I won't forget taking a wrong turn in downtown Manhattan and coming face to face with ground zero.
I won't forget documents and personal effects from the businesses in the towers being found as far as Brooklyn, New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan.
I won't forget picking up one of my best friends after she had walked from her job in downtown Brooklyn to her apartment in the Bronx because no buses or trains were running. She had no family here and she was scared.
I won't forget seeing my brother in dress blues as he went to funeral after funeral.
I won't forget looking at my brother's picture when he graduated the academy that January and knowing that of all the people on stage with him that day as he went up there to accept his FDNY certification...he is the only one in that photo that survived that day. Every official and big brass on stage with each of those graduates perished on 9/11. This tremendous loss included FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge.
I won't forget hearing about EMT Yamel Merino and her son. https://www.eveningsun.com/story/news/2021/09/07/9-11-son-whose-photo-broke-hearts-reflects-20-year-anniversary-yonkers-yamel-merino/5404950001/
Often I have prayed that my sons would forget because they were so young. However, evil can't be forgotten, not even by children.
I won't forget how much I hate when friends visit NY and ask me to take them to ground zero.
I won't forget fighting back tears whenever traveling on the PATH train from NJ as it goes through the huge crater where the towers once stood.
I won't forget that the death toll of that day continues to grow as folks who "survived" have succumb to illness and injuries from that day.
I won't forget anything from that day!!!
Life is too short and tomorrow is not promised. That is such a cliché statement, however it is absolute truth. Stay safe. Never forget.
Love & Light,
乇мzz:::ƒιуαнѕтσям™:::qυαи
☼MDB♠
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