Where were you?

As tommorrow marks the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, I wanted to share my memories with you.

I remember that morning, not a cloud in the sky and I was on my 2nd day as a 911 Dispatcher for Rochester Hills FD.  My supervisor, training officer, and I were over at the Oakland County complex for computer training.  The supervisor's pager started going off like nuts from the office saying find a tv a plane crashed into the WTC.  We were thinking a small plane, no big deal until she got another page about a 2nd one, and then the Pentagon.  She went looking for a tv and couldnt find one.  We still really had no idea the seriousness of the situation until we went to lunch and saw pictures for the first time.  After lunch we went back to training and this time there were armed OCSD deputies outside checking id's of everyone going in. 

The ride home that night was erie, I saw gas gouged as high as $5 a gallon, and I remember getting home in time to see one of the smaller towers collapse.  I, like many of you, stayed glued to the tv and felt a sense of patriotism and wished thete was something we could do to help. 

Over the next few days it was odd not seeing or hearing planes in the sky with exception of the occassional military jet.  The out pouring of support from residents as they showed up at our fire station bringing us baked goods, cards, and just to say thanks was amaizing. 

Some agencies from Michigan sent groups of workers to Ground Zero to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts, while other agencies organized drives collecting money and supplies to send over there.

One of the fire information paging groups I belong to has this archive of events from that day showing how the information was spread across the country to fire buffs.  As you can see it was very hectic and confusing.

Our lives were changed forever that day.  Nothing will ever be the same again, but I do believe we are better prepared to handle disasters because of it.

Two years ago I was able to stop out at the Flight 93 Memorial construction site.  The experience was very sobering and made you realize how lucky we are.

Now leaving out any conspiracy remarks or other negative feedback what are your memories?