After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the oft-repeated refrain became “Never Forget.”
asserted
refrain → repeat → attacks
NBC News asked followers on social media to share their memories of that day 25 years later — the things they will never forget about one of the most pivotal mornings in American history.
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they → ask → history
Answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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Answers → edit → length
All times are approximate and listed as Eastern.
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times → list → Eastern
My husband and I had been in the building the evening prior and now this was happening!
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this → happen → building
I watched the towers tumble like dominos on TV, something I didn’t know buildings could do.
uncertain
buildings → watch → TV
Since we lived in Northeastern, N.J., we could smell the smoke and see it.
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we → live → it
Worst of all, we could smell death.
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we → smell → death
I ran into a friend at the corner coffee shop.
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I → run → shop
She had just dropped off her child and was waiting for her husband to celebrate their anniversary.
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husband → drop → anniversary
He was an FDNY firefighter and was just getting off of his multi-day shift when the call came in.
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call → get → shift
Instead of enjoying his anniversary, Dave Fontana stayed with his brothers.
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Fontana → enjoy → brothers
I only got to know him briefly at the Music Together program we brought our children to.
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we → get → children
Everyone I was around, we couldn’t stop hugging each other and trying to help those of us who were taking that day harder than others.
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who → stop → others
I was an Outward Bound instructor, getting ready to go on a 30 day canoeing expedition with “troubled” teens.
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I → get → teens
We were getting life jackets and paddles ready for the students to arrive when a staff member came down to the gear locker and told us that someone had just flown a plane into the WTC.
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someone → get → WTC
Someone actually said, “like a passenger plane?” and we all kind of laughed it off because how the hell could that happen?
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that → say → it
Well, within two minutes we were all watching the news broadcast in horror.
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we → watch → horror
We left on the St. Mary’s River or Suwannee the next morning and didn’t see or hear from anyone for about four days.
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We → leave → days
The first time we ran into a couple of fishermen, they asked if we had heard the news.
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we → run → news
They gave us a copy of that day’s newspaper.
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They → give → newspaper
It was kind of otherworldly to be out on a river in nature for weeks without really knowing what was happening.
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what → know → weeks
I was 11 and had just started middle school.
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I → start → school
I remember one girl brought cupcakes in to celebrate her birthday that morning.
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girl → remember → birthday
During math, the teacher on the other side slammed open the divider and told my teacher to turn on the TV.
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teacher → slam → TV
Years after 9/11 many people claimed they watched the events of that day unfold in classrooms on TVs.
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events → claim → TVs
It actually happened to me and my classmates; 11-year-olds watching buildings on fire, people jumping and the towers eventually falling.
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towers → happen → fire
I remember seeing the janitors on the roof of my school looking towards the city.
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janitors → remember → city
I was watching the Today show and I vividly remember seeing the first tower fall — I worked at 2 World Trade Center in the late 1980s.
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I → watch → 1980s
I had to call family and friends at home and in New York, which was almost impossible.
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which → have → York
I finally walked to the office and we collectively decided to continue with the training as no one could get home.
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one → walk → training
Given that I had worked on the 102nd floor of 2 WTC, I will forever remember people jumping from those windows.
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people → give → windows
I stood at those windows many times while working for Shearson Lehman and I am still pained by how desperate they must have felt.
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they → stand → Lehman
After I had finished being, yes, a victim of the collapse of Tower Two, I realized there was a lot of carnage around me.
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I → finish → me
I figured the best thing I could do was to get to the nearest hospital.
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I → figure → hospital
I can suture up a knee, probably with both hands tied behind my back and blindfolded, so to speak.
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hands → suture → back
So I went to Beekman Hospital.
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I → go → Hospital
I identified myself because I didn’t work there and they gave me a fourth floor conference room.
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they → identify → room
I started to sew people back together again, just trying to stop the bleeding.
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I → start → bleeding
I’m standing over a patient, trying to sew them together, and I remember how difficult it was to even pass a suture through the tissue because my mind wasn’t really focused.
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mind → stand → tissue
…and 31 more, not listed.
The Aporia
