newtovillagelife wrote: ↑September 12, 2018, 6:48 pmAllow me to pay my respects and relate the following:
I flew from Ulan Bator, Mongolia to Tokyo on September 5, 2001. On the 6th, I toured the Kitty Hawk which was then berthed at the U.S. Naval Base in Yokosuka, 90 minutes south of Tokyo. I had several meetings at the base and enjoyed an evening on The Haunch.
Then, on the front pages of the English-language newspapers in Japan and South Korea (I believe this was September 7, 2001) there were articles warning Americans to avoid patronizing restaurants, bars, and any venues known to be frequented by Americans. Front page, above the fold, of every English-language newspaper. At the time, my local expat friends said it was unheard of.
The base at Yokosuka went on high alert and sailors and marines were confined to quarters. I don't know if the same thing happened at other U.S bases in Japan, but I took the train back down from where I was staying in Roppongi to see for myself: the base was locked up tight and my remaining meetings cancelled. The Haunch was deserted.
I returned to Tokyo with a bad feeling. I absolutely love Japan, especially Tokyo, but I called Korean Air and changed my return flight to Los Angeles. I was ticketed to fly out of Narita on September 11, 2001, but instead arrived home on September 10th. I woke up jet-lagged the next morning when a ringing phone brought the news of what was happening in New York City and elsewhere.
Shell-shocked, my Chinese-American wife and I could only think to find our American flag; I planted it next to the curb. Within an hour, every house on our cul-de-sac had done the same. Democrats, Republicans, independents, Mexican-American, Chinese-American, whatever.
U.S. Intelligence strongly suspected we were going to get hit, but mistakenly thought it would be in Asia, and not the homeland. They had the timing right, but didn't know the target.
Back in Cali I have a copy of the newspaper article from Japan, but maybe this info can be found via Goggle. It was briefly reported in the aftermath of 9/11, but quickly forgotten.
Anyway, R.I.P. to those who perished on 9/11--especially the First Responders. Condolences to the families who lost loved ones.
Never Forget.
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Re: Never Forget.
The best gadget is the human brain.
Re: Never Forget.
.
9-11 . . . Patriot Day
To all my brothers at NYPD First Precinct and FDNY Dean Street Brooklyn - Engine 219 & Ladder 105 who survived that day, Hang tuff.
Never Forget.
9-11 . . . Patriot Day
To all my brothers at NYPD First Precinct and FDNY Dean Street Brooklyn - Engine 219 & Ladder 105 who survived that day, Hang tuff.
Never Forget.
AMERICA: One of the Greatest Stories Ever Told.
Re: Never Forget.
"The Falling Man" - The Most Powerful Image of 9-11
AMERICA: One of the Greatest Stories Ever Told.
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Re: Never Forget.
I cant believe it was 18 years ago . Time sure does fly as you get older .
I remember i had a layover at JFK in the December after 9 11 , to say security was tight is an understatement .
Unfortunately too little , too late in my opinion .
I remember i had a layover at JFK in the December after 9 11 , to say security was tight is an understatement .
Unfortunately too little , too late in my opinion .
Re: Never Forget.
At that time I was on a business trip to Chicago. I was living in the Los Angeles area. There was no way to get a flight back to Los Angeles. Fortunately I had a friend who lived in Chicago. Since I was lucky enough to have a rental car, he found me a motel room outside the city. The rental car company was repeatedly calling me demanding that I immediately return the car. That wasn't going to happen. I was born and raised in Ohio so I drove to my parents home and stayed until flights became available. Nearly every car and truck on the roads were flying the flag, big flags and small flags. After the dust settled, the overwhelming feeling among everyone I talked to was a thirst for revenge. The country was truly united.
Re: Never Forget.
Thanks Lone Star. I will never forget.
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Re: Never Forget.
Without wishing to diminish the atrocity of 7/11, it was just one event on a single day, when I saw the topic title it reminded me of my own "Never Forget" anniversary, not 19 years ago but 79, coincidentally this very same date almost ,15/9/40 to be exact, the day that the Nazis started mass bombing of British cities in what would be known forever as the Blitz. I was just 5 years old, my father and elder brother were already in the army, serving somewhere in Europe, I was at home with my mother and teenage sister in our 4th floor home in a tenement block in central London , when the air raid sirens went but before we could make our way down and into the shelters the planes were overhead, it seems almost instantly that the bombs were going off, my mum shepherd us all under the big old kitchen table we had , an action that saved all our lives , don't remember much detail what happened then just that I was aware we were buried in what was the rubble of our buildings, we could hear a hissing noise and my mum was worried it might be a broken gas pipe, luckily it turned out to be water escaping .We stayed like that for what turned out to be almost 24hours when a rescue dog started barking and we could hear digging, our family was safe but 15 of our neighbours weren't so lucky, they died instantly.That was my own 15/11 but it wasn't just one day but the start of four more years experiencing night after night, the sound of the sirens then the drone of the bombers before the multi explosions going off around us, never knowing what sight awaited us when we emerged from our holes in the ground the next morning. Never forget, how could you, to this day I am terrified of being in an enclosed space .
Age is a matter of mind.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,
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Re: Never Forget.
"Without wishing to diminish the atrocity of 7/11, it was just one event on a single day,"
You have been listening to Donald Trump again haven't you
You have been listening to Donald Trump again haven't you
Re: Never Forget.
Great story, glalt.glalt wrote: ↑September 12, 2019, 10:09 amAt that time I was on a business trip to Chicago. I was living in the Los Angeles area. There was no way to get a flight back to Los Angeles. Fortunately I had a friend who lived in Chicago. Since I was lucky enough to have a rental car, he found me a motel room outside the city. The rental car company was repeatedly calling me demanding that I immediately return the car. That wasn't going to happen. I was born and raised in Ohio so I drove to my parents home and stayed until flights became available. Nearly every car and truck on the roads were flying the flag, big flags and small flags. After the dust settled, the overwhelming feeling among everyone I talked to was a thirst for revenge. The country was truly united.
AMERICA: One of the Greatest Stories Ever Told.
Re: Never Forget.
Hat tip to you, Old Grumpy. Great story and much respect.Old Grumpy wrote: ↑September 12, 2019, 11:17 am. . .
my own "Never Forget" anniversary, not 19 years ago but 79, coincidentally this very same date almost ,15/9/40 to be exact, the day that the Nazis started mass bombing of British cities in what would be known forever as the Blitz.
. . .
AMERICA: One of the Greatest Stories Ever Told.
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Re: Never Forget.
No just putting it in perspective in the overall scheme of things.stattointhailand wrote: ↑September 12, 2019, 12:33 pm"Without wishing to diminish the atrocity of 7/11, it was just one event on a single day,"
You have been listening to Donald Trump again haven't you
Age is a matter of mind.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,
Re: Never Forget.
I only recently became aware of this.
Two fighter jets were sent up to take down the last remaining commercial airliner that eventually crashed in Pennsylvania. Those two fighter jets were unarmed. They had no weapons. Because it takes an hour to load weapons, there was no time to waste. The fighter jets had to get airborne and engage the airliner before it got to Washington DC. Those two pilots would have had to take down that commercial airliner by flying their fighter jets -- one into the tail and one into the nose. There was a possibility that they would not be able to finish the mission and also eject.
AMERICA: One of the Greatest Stories Ever Told.
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Re: Never Forget.
Can you elaborate on where you got this info and what actually happened. Did they take off for the mission ? I am particularly interested as being an ex member of a RAF fighter squadron, okay long before this incident, but I don't see why things have changed, we were always rearmed , refuelled and ready to go within minutes of landing from a previous mission .I really find it hard to believe that the USAF with it's multi fire power available didn't have the same coverage for one of its major cities. If it had been London there would have been 2 whole squadrons in the air in minutes. Find it very hard to believe that you didn't .Please posters don't let this turn into another them and us topic, my interest is a genuine concern .Lone Star wrote: ↑September 12, 2019, 1:17 pmI only recently became aware of this.
Two fighter jets were sent up to take down the last remaining commercial airliner that eventually crashed in Pennsylvania. Those two fighter jets were unarmed. They had no weapons. Because it takes an hour to load weapons, there was no time to waste. The fighter jets had to get airborne and engage the airliner before it got to Washington DC. Those two pilots would have had to take down that commercial airliner by flying their fighter jets -- one into the tail and one into the nose. There was a possibility that they would not be able to finish the mission and also eject.
Age is a matter of mind.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,
Re: Never Forget.
On 9-11, three commercial airlines had already hit their targets -- the WTC towers and the Pentagon. The fourth airliner traveled too far southwest before turning around to the target that was suspected as being the White House or the Capitol Building.Old Grumpy wrote: ↑September 12, 2019, 2:33 pmCan you elaborate on where you got this info and what actually happened. Did they take off for the mission ? I am particularly interested as being an ex member of a RAF fighter squadron, okay long before this incident, but I don't see why things have changed, we were always rearmed , refuelled and ready to go within minutes of landing from a previous mission .I really find it hard to believe that the USAF with it's multi fire power available didn't have the same coverage for one of its major cities. If it had been London there would have been 2 whole squadrons in the air in minutes. Find it very hard to believe that you didn't .Please posters don't let this turn into another them and us topic, my interest is a genuine concern .
Because all air traffic had responded and had been grounded or in the process of being grounded, the fourth airliner was the only one not responding to air traffic control and headed back toward Washington DC.
Fighter jets were scrambled to intercept it and take it out, but they didn't have time to arm. They needed to get into the air and take down the fourth commercial airliner by ramming it.
Major Heather "Lucky" Penney's story
https://www.militarytimes.com/2016/09/1 ... e-on-9-11/
With news of a fourth airliner possibly headed toward Washington, Penney and her wingman, Colonel Marc "Sass" Sasseville, scramble-started their F-16s and took off to intercept it.
Their mission was simple but sobering: Find the airliner and take it down by any means necessary. Since there had been no time to arm their F-16s, that essentially meant they would be flying a kamikaze mission, ramming their jets into the airliner. "I'm going to go for the cockpit," Sass told her. "I'll take the tail," Lucky replied.
AMERICA: One of the Greatest Stories Ever Told.
Re: Never Forget.
Conspiracy Theorist's have questioned that all is not as it was like. Firemen spoke to camera saying Explosions were heare'd before the Towers fell an hour after the planes hit, and on impact the Aircraft disintegrated due to the high impact speed and heat generated that caused the Aluminium skin turning to liquid that was visible pouring down on the outside of the Building and 60 tons of plane wreckage never found.
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Re: Never Forget.
Thanks for that LS but it is noticeable the comments on the story are all sceptical as am I .All RAF pilots are trained how to deal with an unidentified intruder in unauthorised air space as this would have been classed, without shooting it down, especially over land where people are. Without getting too technical it involves getting your wing under the offending kite and flipping it over sending it on a different projectory , although I am not aware of this actually happening with an aircraft it was a very successful technique used against Hitlers flying bombs over London .Also you must ask why would they want to sacrifice two planes to bring it down, one at the front , one at the back when if you wanted to, one smack to take a wing off would do the trick and bear in mind you would be bringing it down in a populated area .No .I'm afraid this story falls in the realm of fantasy to me .
Age is a matter of mind.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,
Re: Never Forget.
I watched the documentary where the pilots did scramble the f16's but they did not have any weapons on Board there words were we wanted to intercept the incoming plane as it was clearly a guided missile and we had to stop it before it hit its target which was the White House. As you say Grumps it would have been over a populated area so yes there would be more Deaths but as they are aware they would put it down to Collateral damage.
Re: Never Forget.
Some real armchair fighter pilot tacticians among us. Christ A'mighty
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!
Re: Never Forget.
Ramming that air liner wouldn't have been a suicide mission. The airliner definitely wouldn't have taken evasive action and with the fighter jet on autopilot coming up behind, the pilot would have been able to eject before impact. The biggest risk would have been where to cause the crash without crashing into a densely populated area.
Re: Never Forget.
A day for the world, and Americans especially, to reflect on the events of 20 years ago. Despite ones beliefs or political leanings, those whose lives were lost and whose families were devastated should be remembered with respect and reverence. The heroic efforts of first responders and the search, rescue and recovery teams should be remembered as well.