World Trade Center is on fire!

I will never forget that day, every minute. I watched from seconds after the first plane had hit all day and all night. I lost friends and I have friends even now in the military that I worry about everyday. I actually have tears in my eyes looking through this thread.

Sad. Very sad indeed.

Same for me.

That's one morning I'll never forget. Hard to believe it was 8 years ago.

A mere week or so after the 9/11 attacks in NYC, my wife and I found ourselves attending the first Bondcon convention in Queens, NY - just across the Hudson River from Manhatten where smoke from the World Trade Centres was still rising over the city. We'd made the long drive to NY from Niagara on the Thursday. It had originally been scheduled to take place in Connecticut - but the organizers made the quick decision to move it to New York just days after the attacks.

It was a 3-day convention at the posh Crowne Plaza Hotel across the street from LaGuardia Airport, and naturally the main topic of conversation amongst the vendors and attendees was the terrorist attacks.

On the Saturday night of that weekend the hotel hosted a somber memorial and tribute dinner for the firefighters and families directly involved in the WTC carnage - attended by many firefighters.

To say the least, it was a rather surrealistic night. On one side of the hotel we were having a large adult industry convention (models and producers)...while on the other side the memorial was going on with people in black suits and tuxedos with violin musicians playing soft music amongst the guests.

Towards the end of the evening many of the firefighters made their way across the hotel to our convention ballroom and spent time mingling with many of the exhibitors, producers and models, ourselves included. Everyone was in awe and respect for the horrendous experience they'd been through the past few days.

But the most amazing aspect of that evening (for me) was - towards the end of the night several firefighters approached the organizers of the adult convention and graciously thanked them for not canceling the event, moving it to New York and providing them with a much-need but brief distraction to the ongoing horror of the attacks.

That was my up-close and personal recollection of Sept. 11th. One that clearly illustrates that despite the evil and heinous things that people do against their fellow man - life is destined to go on.

Nothing wrong with remembering. I lost family in those towers, I won't forget. But I'm not going to pretend that is bigger than the murder the US is currently, and illegally, committing abroad.

Some. Not enough.

So then you know they shut downtown Cincy down, due to the Federal Building and the threat of an attack on it. I grabbed a model and went downtown to shoot that day, it was a ghost town. We shot in some crazy places where we normally could never shoot. I think Hustler published those pics.

What a statement at the time ..... man were you ever dead on.


.

That's the problem. Everyone says, "NEVER FORGET" but they forget until the anniversary comes up, then they all say, "Never Forget" again.

The country WAS united for a brief time after that, the way it should be. I remember that well. Now, it's a joke, torn more than ever. Apparently, they all forgot. That's why it will happen again.

True, but although it did change things a lot across the country. I have never seen so many flags in my life on peoples houses, cars and businesses.

I remember seeing this commercial a few weeks later that showed a shot of a downtown street, planter boxes in the window sills, etc. then said "one day changed america" and showed the same street with flags and patriotic stuff on every door and house on that street. Pretty true IMO

United? It wasn't united at all. Unless you are talking about hate/suspect/beat everyone that looks Arab...

United was a bad choice of word. "Patriotic" is better.

Right. But I'd bet you $100 those flags are no longer there. A few may fly here or there, but the bulk of them are gone. It's the same everywhere.

r.i.p to everyone that lost their lives.

my condolences to family members.

truely somber day...

I was there -

reading this thread brings it all back