Wtc 9/11
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Thread: Wtc 9/11

  1. #1

    Wtc 9/11

    Living only 12 - 15 miles from NYC we could see the WTC from where we lived,we actually saw the second plane hit.We also saw it collapse later,not on TV but live.

    My husband (Don known here as Desperado) and his brother (Al, Talon) went to help and were gone for over a week. 6 months later my husband got sick because of this but pulled through. We moved to Hawaii in August 2002 and got married, Talon and my sisters also moved with us. December 30,2002 my husband was very tired and went to take a nap and passed away. I was 3 months pregnant at the time. Thanks to Talon I got through it as we consoled each other and he became the father figure in my daughters life.

    We started to raise money for other 1st responders that had health issues by doing charity concerts and raised over $1,750,000 for them in 13 years. Talon passed away in March 2015 and I only did 1 more show after that. The Government finally passed a bill to help them.

    This will be the first year I am not in NYC for the Memorial for obvious reasons.

    9/11 2001 is a day I will never forget.

    Hiede

  2. #2
    Senior Administrator Rami's Avatar
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    Hiede,

    I think about Talon and a lot of others this time of year. I always had a lot of admiration for him, not just for his selflessness, but also for the fact that I have an appreciation for how much effort he was having to put in just to breathe, because my dad died of COPD from complications involving Valley Fever. I felt sick when I knew he was on his way out, because that's a terrible way to end one's life.

    On this day, I will hold all first responders, alive or passed on, in sickness or health, as well as the United States, in the forefront of my consciousness, and honor their memory in the most fitting way I can. Thank you for this important reminder.
    "Rami"

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  3. #3
    SOH Staff Devildog73's Avatar
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    Hiede,

    Those of us who had a SOH friendship with Al truly appreciate you and your keeping his memory alive here on SOH.

    Thank you.

    Though not as personal and poignant as your touching memories, my wife and I were celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary on 9/11/2001.

    I was still active duty military at the time and had just transferred away from Washington, DC in August. I took leave that day to celebrate with my wife.
    We heard the news on the car radio of the first tower. When we arrived at the restaurant we were to have breakfast at everyone was watching the news on TV in the restaurant.

    We watched as the second plane hit "live" on TV. I told Jodi we had to leave and get back on base because we were going to war.

    I knew just by seeing it happen that it was no accident.

    We did not celebrate our anniversary that year, nor our 25th in 2002 and following until 2013. Our first celebration of our anniversary after 2001 was in 2013 after Jodi had beat ovarian cancer with the help of fantastic German doctors in Stuttgart, Germany. Jodi was in the hospital in Stuttgart, Germany on our wedding anniversary 2011 with stage 4 Ovarian cancer.

    2013 marked 2 years of remission after surgery and chemotherapy for us as well as our wedding anniversary. (Rami came to visit us in 2012 while Jodi was still bald and still undergoing chemo).

    We too shall never forget.

    My heart breaks for our first responders in NYC 9-11-2001 and the lack of aftercare they were treated with by our government until the Congress finally passed the law which you spoke of.

    Jodi and I have supported "Tunnels to Towers Foundation" since its inception to provide some relief to our hero first responders.

    Mere words will never express our deepest love and anguish for you and other families in your situation.

    Please know you all have my deepest respect, admiration, love, and thanks.

    Lee
    Devildog73

    Semper Fi
    "Earned RESPECT seldom needs to demand respect"

  4. #4
    Hiede
    Thanks for sharing your story. Some of the SOH members knew it, but I didn't. I just knew about Talon's contributions here and some of his story shared here by others. None of us will ever forget that day and where we were. I am sure for those who were alive on December 7, 1941 won't forget either.
    The country got so united in those times and now we are so fractured I am not sure we will ever be there again. I hope the schools will include this in our history and not remove it like so many other things have been removed or minimized.
    Even an old man like me wanted to go help somehow,but my wife reminded me that I couldn't physically do that, so we financially supported organizations who were.
    I desperately love this nation.

  5. #5
    How quickly we forget. All the troubles NYC and other cities are experiencing presently and the whole defunding thing is quite depressing.
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  6. #6
    Rami,

    Al did not have COPD he had a compromised immune system.Most times he had no problems breathing and still played sports into his 60's and went swimming for hours every couple days.He also trained me in martial arts 3 times a week.

    The only time he had breathing problems is when there was flare up that can be best described as pneumonia but much worse.

    I also got his journals in April this year from the Lawyers which tells the story of what he and my husband went through as 1st responders.After reading it I now understand why it wasn't talked about.It actually made me sick with what they had to do.

    Some of the journals have to do with SOH and the people here and his life before I was part of it.There were some surprises that I never knew about.

    Hiede

  7. #7
    Thank you for your posting Hiede , My admiration and respect for both men , I carry with me ,

  8. #8
    I remember that day pretty well.
    I had gotten into the office a bit late and the first airliner had already hit one of the WTC towers.
    I worked at Exxon-Mobil at the time and there was always a display with current network news.
    We all thought this was an accident and were wondering how in modern times this could have happened.
    There were discussions about the bomber that had the Empire State Building during WW2.

    This was a pretty good disruption to our day and we were still watching the news when the second airliner hit.
    At that point it was pretty clear that it was no accident but it was not clear who had done this or what the targets were.
    Telephones did not work. All lines were busy. My one child, Daughter, at the time was with her babysitter and of course there was no way to coordinate with my Wife or even know her status.

    We at Exxon-Mobil could not be sure that we were not a potential target and the entire building let out an hour or two later.
    By that time, the Pentagon had been hit and there were fighters in the air and everything else was grounded.
    I didn't see the point in leaving immediately. The HQ building is fairly tall and I could see that local traffic was not moving because every other organization in our area had the same idea. Although employees could get out of the parking garages, they could not even get off campus because of the traffic. It was a matter of waiting in a car or waiting in the building.
    Several hours later, traffic cleared up enough to get cars off campus and that is when I left. I can't remember who picked up my Daughter.

    My Sister worked at the time in a building at Columbus Circle in NYC and saw both airliners hit the WTC from a window in her office.

    For the rest of the day, it was not really clear why this had happened though there was constant speculation from the talking heads on the news.

    - Ivan.

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