Pentagon memorial

[Allereli]

Opens to the public tomorrow at 7 pm. I think I might go on my way home from work.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/interactives/pentagonmemorial/index.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[Revalos]

A friend of mine is going to the ceremony in the morning and he gave me a ticket for a private viewing at 5PM. I want to take pictures too, so if I do go, I'll post them here.

[Gan]

Thanks Revalos. That would be much appreciated.

[Trouble]

I work close by at Pentagon City. Because of the dedication ceremonies tomorrow all of the bus stops, slug lines, and commuter routes are getting messed up for the morning commute. It pisses me off that people I work with only seem to notice the disruption, not the reason for the disruption. Suck it up for one day people! :nono:

[Asile]

I work close by at Pentagon City. Because of the dedication ceremonies tomorrow all of the bus stops, slug lines, and commuter routes are getting messed up for the morning commute. It pisses me off that people I work with only seem to notice the disruption, not the reason for the disruption. Suck it up for one day people! :nono:

Sounds like a nice, legit reason to be late to work on Thursday.

And yes, must see pictures! I didn't even think about it being September 11 already, or the Pentagon memorial; until we thought about how much the gas would cost, my husband and I were considering running up to Fairfax to pick up a computer he found at a really awesome deal (the store wouldn't ship). So... now I'm not sure when we'll get up that way, and I'd love to see it.

[Allereli]

My apt complex shuttle bus driver was bitching all the way to the metro this morning about the traffic. I told him to consider the reason and STFU.

[Revalos]

Let me know if anyone wants full res versions, I'll just post four smaller ones here, I took about ten good shots. The memorial will be open twenty four hours a day from now on.

http://fileserver7.jpghosting.com/images/One_a6efe78a489cb0ab98fd14cdd2fb6ef2.jpg

http://fileserver7.jpghosting.com/images/Two_913c1716a676b701db4b5d4625f785fe.jpg

http://fileserver7.jpghosting.com/images/Three_2f3634012539cde8045178e954911de3.jpg

http://fileserver7.jpghosting.com/images/Four_6d04f557401b07c25834658e25cb5359.jpg

I'll probably go back there at some point with folks from my office to pay our respects to the seven folks we worked with that died there.

[Trouble]

Were those roses part of the ceremony or did reguar people leave them? Just looking at the picture made me all emo. :hug2:

[Daniel]

I was qualifying on my rifle during basic training for the first time on Sept 11 2001. Where were you?

[Allereli]

I was qualifying on my rifle during basic training for the first time on Sept 11 2001. Where were you?

I was at work and our offices back then were at Connecticut & M (where the Brooks Brothers is). Radio Free Europe (I think it was) had an office in the building and got a bomb threat. Nothing happened, we just all left. I rode from Pentagon City to my apt complex every day after and saw the hole in the Pentagon.

I'll post some of the pics I took at the memorial.

[Revalos]

Were those roses part of the ceremony or did reguar people leave them? Just looking at the picture made me all emo. :hug2:

Regular folks left all sorts of things. It was quite a moving gesture.


I was qualifying on my rifle during basic training for the first time on Sept 11 2001. Where were you?

Going to teach one of my first Geography classes at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. For whatever reason I did not turn on the news that morning as I usually did. When I got to work I went to check my e-mail and I noticed every news website was down, except Fark. We had the radio on in the lab and listened as they announced that the South Tower was collapsing. I'd like to think that day was when I knew one day I'd apply my skills to the DoD mission.

[Daniel]

Where do you work in DoD now?

[Revalos]

Pentagon civilian basically. Although I just fucked up a contract oversight meeting so royally, I won't be surprised if I don't end up going to Iraq even sooner, as a non-volunteer.

[Allereli]

Pentagon civilian basically. Although I just fucked up a contract oversight meeting so royally, I won't be surprised if I don't end up going to Iraq even sooner, as a non-volunteer.

Sorry to briefly bring politics into this, but I don't think the DoD really has contract oversight.

[Revalos]

Heh, touché. I have zero contract oversight training, yet I am the sole government representative responsible for a successful multi-million dollar contract. But it all just came back to bite me in the ass today. Success doesn't mean jack if you can't create a proper statement of work.

[Daniel]

Lol @ Allereli Do you just do contract oversight? I work a lot with DoD and the J-staff.

[Revalos]

I'm just a glorified analyst really, I used to work much closer with the J2 staff, but now I'm basically just running a computer programming contract into the ground.

Have I threadjacked this enough or do we blame Daniel?

[Daniel]

Whatever. I can take the heat.

[diethx]

I was qualifying on my rifle during basic training for the first time on Sept 11 2001. Where were you?

Asleep in my new apartment that I had just moved into a few days before. I didn't even have TV yet so I didn't know about it until someone called, and I couldn't check the news to see WTF was going on. Had to go out into my car and turn on the radio.

[Trouble]

I was qualifying on my rifle during basic training for the first time on Sept 11 2001. Where were you?

I was in Kingston, Jamaica doing a hardware upgrade and refresher training trip for our embassy there. It was my first trip as Deployment Manager (trip lead) and I had no idea how to handle the situation. We just tried to stay out of the way for the next day or so while the embassy staff gathered info and relayed messages and status inquiries to relatives in the US.

It was very moving because every night for the first week afterwards the locals would hold a candlelight vigil (complete with prayers and songs) on the front steps of the embassy.

Edit: I was in the shower when the first plane hit, then I came out with CNN on and saw the second one hit on live TV. Like most everyone else, I had hope that maybe the first hit was some crazy accident, but once the second one hit I knew there was something going on.

[Allereli]

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d26/vankrasn/Img_1216r.jpg

Stone a ways from the memorial, closer to the metro.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d26/vankrasn/Img_1226r.jpg

for the people who died in the plane, you stand in the direction that the plane came from when looking at their name, for those who died in the Pentagon, you face the building when reading their name.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d26/vankrasn/Img_1230r.jpg

a lot of people left flowers and pictures, I felt bad I didn't bring anything for the empty benches.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d26/vankrasn/Img_1232r.jpg

[Allereli]

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d26/vankrasn/Img_1235r.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d26/vankrasn/Img_1236r.jpg

If family members died together, the names of the family are included in the water.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d26/vankrasn/Img_1239r.jpg

The ceremony and music were really done well

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d26/vankrasn/Img_1240r.jpg

These are all resized, I'll email the originals to anyone who wants them

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

I was in Herndon, on the phone with my boss who was at home in Leesburg. She said a plane had just hit the tower, and while we were talking she said another plane had hit the second tower. At that point I put her on speaker because a bunch of folks had started to gather around my desk to find out what was going on... and then we heard about the Pentagon, and they shut down our building.

I've never seen a more quiet, shocked, line of traffic leaving town and getting on the toll road to Leesburg in my whole time in Virginia, and nothing in my adult life moved me as much as that day and the days that followed.

I still have all my newspapers and magazines from it.

[Parkbandit]

I was at work, drinking a cup of coffee when it happened. I just happened to be in the lobby talking to a guest at the time and the Today Show was on. We took shifts later that day to go give blood.

I have a picture of me and the Mrs that was taken at the tourist trap on top of the World Trade Center on 9/11/2000 at 8 something in the morning. We didn't notice it until a couple years later. Needless to say, it gave us both goosebumps.

[wood1559]

I was driving south on 405 in Los Angeles, flipping thru the stations when I heard something had happened in New York. As I passed LAX, not a plane in the sky. That freaked me out.

[Celephais]

Those were some really nice pictures, thank you for posting, both of you.

[Celephais]

Where were you?
... I was playing Counterstrike.

[Augie]

Thank you for posting the pictures.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was living in South FL and Steve called me because he was at work and said that there was an accident and a plane hit the World Trade Center. I got up and turned on the news and watched the second plane hit live. I was on the internet chatting on the official play.net message board in the Topic of the Day folder and freaking out because my cousin Michael worked in one of the towers.


I remember how sketchy the details were of that day. I was posting things on the message board as the news had it going on. There were all the reports of car bombs going off, the pentagon being hit, other planes being hijacked. All of us were in a state of shock.


My parents and I were not on talking terms...we had a falling out. I remember picking up the phone and my dad answering the phone. I was in hysterics and I said "Daddy! We're at war! They're attacking us and I don't know if Michael's ok!" I probably scared the crap out of him, but then again, it was a scary time.


We finally got a hold of my uncle in New York late that night and he told us that my cousin was ok. Apparently my cousin had been walking down the block from the train station and the first plane had already hit. He was looking up and watched the second plane hit and everyone start to panic. He saw the people jumping out of the towers and was walking in the city trying to make it to one of the bridges when the towers came down. My other cousin Conway was trying desperately to find him to pick him up but it was a madhouse. I called him the next day and he was still drunk from the night before. His wife said that all he did was drink from the time he got home.

I still get teary when I watch the memorial ceremonies. And now that I'm a parent...this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIAY0KENZUc&feature=related totally made me cry hard today.

[Khariz]

I was qualifying on my rifle during basic training for the first time on Sept 11 2001. Where were you?

I was in an undergrad physical science course. The professor had the TV on like he always did...he told us to go home. I left, went home, and put on the TV in time to see the second tower get struck. I watched TV for days straight after that.

I worked at a TV station too, so it wasn't hard to accomplish.

[Asile]

Somehow my memory of the EVENING of 9-11 always stands out a bit more.

I was just over a month into my full-time position with the Richmond Chapter of the Red Cross, and something like a week earlier I'd explained to my mom that my job duties could change at any moment in response to a huge disaster (probably as we were looking at some sort of tropical storm heading toward the US). Maybe I would've kept my mouth shut if I'd known that I'd be working in a call center for 2 hours until it could get staffed with volunteers. I ended up staying at work 'til about 6 or 7 or so, trying to do something resembling normal work while my mom was helping in the call center...and for some reason it SURPRISED me to realize that, just like normal, the sun was in the west like it should be. And I realized that it would rise the next day in the east, and life would go on.

This is probably the biggest reason why I cannot stand Alan Jackson's song "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning": time never really stopped for me; it just did weird things like speed up and slow down at the same time.

Thanks for the pictures, guys. Next time I'm around DC, I'll have to make sure to leave some time to see the memorial. Those were very touching, and seeing the flowers and photos got me a little teary-eyed, too.

Love your response to your shuttle driver, Allereli. Just love it.

[diethx]

I still get teary when I watch the memorial ceremonies. And now that I'm a parent...this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIAY0KENZUc&feature=related totally made me cry hard today.

Heh, I was crying just reading about the ceremonies this morning. I'd think that anyone who doesn't get teary or at least a little choked up is the weird one.

And yeah, that video made me tear up, first time I ever saw it. I mean the little girl and stuff is sad, but watching the towers come down is what really got to me. And of course they showed it over and over again from a million different shots, heh.

[Asile]

watching the towers come down is what really got to me. And of course they showed it over and over again from a million different shots, heh.

I actually quit watching the news for a while because of this. I never really understood the need to see it every 10 minutes.

Do we Americans really have such shitty capabilities to remember things?

[diethx]

I actually quit watching the news for a while because of this. I never really understood the need to see it every 10 minutes.

Do we Americans really have such shitty capabilities to remember things?

In case it didn't make you sick to your stomach the first 20 times, here's 100 more!

[Allereli]

Album (http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=brj7gmx.31zbdjot&x=0&y=-crql3e&localeid=en_US)

I posted an album with more pics

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

Album (http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=brj7gmx.31zbdjot&x=0&y=-crql3e&localeid=en_US)

I posted an album with more pics

Thank you for posting this.

[Allereli]

Thank you for posting this.

my pleasure. I'm really glad I went

[Khariz]

Do we Americans really have such shitty capabilities to remember things?

Yes, as a whole, we most certainly do.

[Gan]

Thanks, both of you, for posting the pics and the album.


I was qualifying on my rifle during basic training for the first time on Sept 11 2001. Where were you?

Making rounds on patient areas on the 10th floor psych ward of the hospital I was working at. TV in the dayroom was on with all staff and a few patients watching after the first plane hit. The second plane hit as we were standing there.

I was in the admin offices of the hospital when the first tower fell, watching the news with the rest of the admin operational staff.

That day really sucked.

[AnticorRifling]

I was qualifying on my rifle during basic training for the first time on Sept 11 2001. Where were you?


Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. I was walking from the S-6 to the XO's office to hand him some paper work. Call came out and I proceeded to the MCAS NOC to receive our marching orders. I then worked 36 on 8 off for the next 2 weeks moving equipment and troops out of the APOE.

Fuck I miss my Corps.

[CrystalTears]

I was working in the legal department of Pfizer. One of the lawyers walked out of his office and said, "A plane just hit one of the twin towers" then walked back in again. We all just looked at each other saying what did he say?, then rushed online to get some news information but the internet was crawling to practically a halt. Then we all moved to the conference room with the TV and stayed there the rest of the day watching the news and horrified with the falling of the towers.

We had an office in those towers and people were frantically trying to find out if any of our people were lost. I think they all either weren't there yet or managed to get out in time.

[Warriorbird]

I was volunteering at a home for the developmentally disabled. It was really pretty tough to explain what we could to the clients.

[Stanley Burrell]

I was in The City. What I was doing wasn't important. I lived next to ladder 52 and three guys who I used to play racquetball with as a kid died in the first tower (one whose funeral I missed, but Giuliani attended )

I saw tanks rolling down Sedgewick. I still don't know where they came from. They weren't the armored SWATS. I honestly would like to know where the unmarked fucking tanks rolling down Sedgewick Ave. came from. According to my HS friends, this could've been a UFO sighting, what with the weirdness. There is no (known) deployment for urban warfare tanks that've been disclosed. I still don't know where the hell those things popped out of, or what kind of prototype they were (I would've snapped shots but there were police everywhere chanting "no pictures.") But the idea of stocking large mechanical infantry in that particular area and having it vanish as quickly as it arrived is wholly bizarre. I still don't understand that.

Still remember several sonic booms when West Point came to save the day hours later (and thinking more buildings were being attacked [living in one of the highest apartment buildings in the North Bx.]) Still have the following day's NYT. Still hear sirens more easily now. Still remember my folks telling me no one was arriving at the NYU triage and what that meant. Still remember having panic attacks afterward. Still remember being in an AOL chatroom and being the one person who quipped, "Great, now this happened [i]and Bush is our president." Still remember my computer immediately freezing up and not working ever again after that. Still remember needing to buy a new computer anyway.

Still. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykP-ti8RzYA) (nsfw)