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BOATLIFT, An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by Hobofrank, Sep 11, 2014.

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  1. Hobofrank

    Hobofrank Prime Minister of Idiocracy

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  2. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    Thanks for posting this - I've never seen it and it is incredibly touching.

    It is hard to believe it was already 13yrs ago. I was living in Killeen TX (outside of Ft Hood, an Army base) and working for the department of corrections. I was off that day and me and my three roommates shared a house. They were at work and I was home alone. We'd had a long night the night before because we had a MNF party (Giants Broncos game, McCaffrey broke his leg in rather gruesome fashion, I recall). I was awakened by the phone ringing so I got up and turned on the TV...

    I turned on CNN and they had the wide shot of the first tower with the smoldering hole in the side with speculation still rampant of what was happening. The main theory, as we all remember, was that a private plane had hit it.

    Then the second plane hit and I immediately knew.

    I will never forget that day and the surreal feelings that accompanied it. Being that we lived so close to the base we were on high alert because of speculation that Ft Hood could be a target because it is the largest Army base. They base was locked down and even those of us with ID cards (I was a dependent, my ex stepfather was in the service) were denied access. Then the lines at the gas pumps started getting blocks long because of rumors the prices were going to quadruple (or more).

    We stayed glued to the TV for that day and the days after.

    I know we have a lot of Canadians on the board here - a special shout out to any of you who live in Newfoundland. The story of Gander and how the townspeople took in all of the passengers from the diverted flights is a special one.
     
  3. dfalk

    dfalk VIP Whale

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    GREAT Video. I've been watching 911 videos all day and I never once heard about all these boats rescuing people. It's still hard to believe something like this ever happened.

    I was a senior in high school. I was running a little late that day, woke up and my family was already gone. Got ready for school real quick and hopped in my car and drove to school. The bell was about to ring so I raced upstairs when my buddy stopped me in the hall way and said did you hear about the plane that crashed into the WTC building? I said WTF are you talking about and we walked into first period government class. The teacher already had the TV on and I saw what was going on. The whole school day we watched the news in every class, I remember it being very quite, sad, and nobody not really saying a thing.

    EDIT: I found this video today. It's one of the most disturbing videos I've seen that makes you feel the fear people experienced that day.
    [video=youtube;ksYBQZ_jqFY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksYBQZ_jqFY[/video]
     
  4. Hobofrank

    Hobofrank Prime Minister of Idiocracy

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    yeah we were living by the beach about 500 yards from the North LAX runway, my wife (then GF) woke me up around 6-7 am PST saying terrorists had flown 2 planes into buildings, I was almost dead asleep I told her "STFU!, that's something from a Tom Clancy novel, just come back to bed"... she yelled at me and told me to come look at the big screen in the living room... I watched the replay and freaked out a little...the went onto the balcony for a smoke..usually all you could hear was Jets taking off...it was dead silent!... stayed that way for 3 days and we had to show ID every night just to get home from work at the traffic stops
     
  5. Joe Strummer

    Joe Strummer VIP Whale

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    I could see the smoke in the air from my job.
    *
    Found out a month later -
    My HS football teammate worked on the 104 th floor.
    He didn't make it.
    *
    I remember while I was watching TV at my job - alone in a room -
    "The Worst Boss In The World" came in and told me
    "to turn off the TV...this does not concern us, right now."
    WTF ?
    I knew we were at war.
     
  6. Hobofrank

    Hobofrank Prime Minister of Idiocracy

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    yeah all my clients cancelled that day and I just sat at home watching the news, my GF was lucky and went to work so she didn't get the minute by minute updates...when she came home I looked like a Zombie
     
  7. bshowell

    bshowell VIP Whale

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    Thanks for posting that story. I'd never heard about the boat lifts. Wow. Doesn't seem like it's been that long.
     
  8. PayTriple

    PayTriple VIP Whale

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    Hi Frank,
    I had not heard that story before, it is amazing, thanks for sharing.
    I lost one of my best friends that day, he was on the 95th floor of the North Tower, the first one that was struck.
    I cling to the belief that he perished right away, without suffering, since this is right where the plane struck.
    He and I had a chance to visit the World Trade Center observation deck just a couple of years before.
    He is the one in the light green shirt in the pictures.
    After 9/11, I changed my whole philosophy about life, and I resolved to enjoy and celebrate life as much as I could,
    because I realized that it could be taken away at any moment.
    So money is not the end-all and be-all to me, that it is to most people.

    Going to Las Vegas was something that he and I had on our list of things to do (isn't it on every young man's list?)
    but we never had time to actually go because we were so busy trying to launch our careers.
    I made my first trip to Las Vegas the following Spring, in 2002, and I have been going back ever since.
    Don't get me wrong, this is not an attempt to rationalize the way I appear to rashly spend my money,
    but I honestly just don't care about money as much as I did before I lost my friend.
    I still miss him, especially around the 9/11 anniversary, and every trip I make to Vegas,
    I know that he would have enjoyed all the things that I have been doing there.
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2014
  9. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    Sorry for your loss, PT. The thoughts of what those poor souls encountered is enough to shake anyone up but when it is someone whom you have known it makes it even tougher.
     
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