Never Forget
posted by Bubblehead at 8:14 AM
Friday, September 11, 2009
About Me
- Name: Bubblehead
- Location: Meridian, Idaho, United States
I'm Joel Kennedy -- a married, 50-something year old retired submarine officer and esophageal cancer survivor with three kids who has finally made the transition to civilian life. Politically, I'm a Radical Moderate. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me. Don't call me at home.)
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16 Comments:
Where I was:
I was just arriving at my office. I had been listening to the radio describing the first plane crash. I figured that it was some idiot private pilot bent on suicide. As I arrived, the second plane struck. I went inside and went to the cafeteria and saw the replay. There, I and just about everyone else watched the whole thing play out until both towers collapsed.
9/11/2009 10:54 AM
Running a fire drill in AMR1 from the forward hydraulic unit. We were part of the Solar Chicken exercise that was going on and a lot of us scratched our heads when the CO said on the 1MC that planes hit the WTC. Some of us were wondering for a minute that planes hitting the WTC was a little too realistic for Solar Chicken "Orange" forces.
It didn't take long to realize that we weren't participating in the exercises anymore. I had that next watch as we rigged for ultra quiet, loaded four warshots, and went deep.
The funny side of this story was the meltdown one of the RO's had a while later when we found out that radio had just downloaded launch orders. Of course, he assumed the orders where ours. Many of us wished they were.
9/11/2009 11:28 AM
I was at work in Charlottesville. Didn't find out until someone brought in a television...we watched it.
A few days later my shipmate from Tophand tells me he had a list of names but I told him no, we were in the inner ring, but they moved to the outer ring. Not all elements of NMCC moved there, just the comm center but it was enough to realize that I knew 8 of them, and one of them walked my mother down the aisle at my retirement ceremony 18 months before this mass murder occurred.
Never forget, and never forget this was brought to us by a sick, twisted and intolerant religion.
Our fallen comrades will not die in vain. I will do all I can to remember what happened, and remember who murdered them.
9/11/2009 12:38 PM
Anon at 11:28, it wasn't a Solar "Chicken"; it was a Global Guardian exercise which is quite a bit larger in scope.
I was the Atlantic Fleet SSBN Targeting and Scheduling Officer at the time and Norfolk had just been simulated destoyed. I had been at it for 36 hours prior to my simulated demise and headed home. It was 0840 in the morning when I got there. My wife called to inform me from her work of some plane crash in New York. I turned on the TV to see the smoke billowing from the first tower and 10 minutes later (I guess) the second plane slammed into the second tower. Within seconds, the newscaster, completely stunned, started to stammer about a plane crash in DC at the Pentagon. That's when I rushed out of the house, roared back to work only to find the watchfloor at both JFCOM and SUBLANT in, what seemed, utter chaos. Spent the next 30 hours getting all the boomers to sea, informing the alert boats the situation and turning off war plans that were way too old and not appropriate because the rapidly raised DEFCON level had boomers doing certain things. We learned a lot about just how inadequate the plans were that day.
Also spent hours deconflicting fast attack and boomer movements. Holy cow, that was scary; but nothing compared to some of the VTCs I participated in during that day.
Two days later I get a phone call from my dad who was all wound up about how the POTUS was "out of touch" that day. I replied, "Dad, as has been reported in all the news sources, the President first flew to Barksdale AFB and then to Omaha, Nebraska. Now, what do you think is at Barksdale? Only all the Air Force's strategic bombers. And what do you think is located in Omaha? United States Strategic Command. Okay, Dad, you put that highly educated mind to work and tell me what you think the president was really doing during that time? And it wasn't hiding."
He figured it out after about three minutes of silence.
It was a gut wrenching 30 hours that I hope I never have to experience again and I will never, ever forget it. No, I wasn't at sea but that was the most frightened I have ever been in my entire career. Floodings, fires, toxic gas... seen all that and just followed the training. I was never scared. But September 11 was unbelievably scary.
Ironically, when I was Weps on Pennsylvania Gold, tour groups were de rigueur and I loved interacting with them. Ninety percent of the groups were old folks, retirees that were being hosted by the local SUBVETS group. When their tours ended up in MCC and after I explained my role, I was almost always asked if I would "pull the trigger" when the time came. I always said "yes". I never in my wildest imagination ever though that I would come so close OFF the boat.
WCC
9/11/2009 12:46 PM
WCC,
Thanks for the correction. After a few years, those war games all run together.
1128 Anon
9/11/2009 5:01 PM
I was asleep in my little grass shack in paradise when the phone woke me up.
CO told me that a plane had hit the WTC and he thought we were under attack. I turned on the TV and, in my best 3am logic, tryed to assure him that we were not under attack and that it was all a big misunderstanding. When we saw the second plane hit, I knew he was right and that the world had just changed forever.
Broke every traffic law that morning to get down to the boat and get her ready to get underway at sunrise...did not leave the harbor that morning...but that is another story.
As I look back now, nearly a decade later, I can still remember every second of that day.
Agree with Anon 12:46 that the next few days were some of the most tense our country has ever known.
For those that minimize the events of that day, call into question who is really responsible, or question the commitment in national treasure (no not $$$ but the blood of our own) we have made, I refer them to JFK's words "Let every nation know, whether is wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
9/11/2009 5:59 PM
I was at NPTU Charleston, in the IX-516 barge working on my charge book after a mid-shift. One of the other selects runs in talking about a plane hitting the WTC. We all figured Cessna. He comes back a minute later saying CNN was reporting it as an airliner, maybe a 747. We all ran down to the little workout room on the first deck that had two CNN TVs just in time to see the second tower get hit. When we saw the smoke over the Pentagon, we knew it was really bad. The site ramped thru THREATCON A to D in about 20 minutes. Called back in that night with orders to be ready to stay 72 hours, ready for who knew what. Once we got the students back a few days later, they were asking why all the sea returnees were so serious. Simple answer was the best. "Because we want to go kill bad guys, but can't." Pretty continuous stream into the CCC office looking for orders to shooters. A lot of the kids quickly figured out the difference between being students and being sailors.
9/11/2009 8:52 PM
I was on recruiting duty in Salt Lake City, UT on that day. Radio goes off to wake us up and said a plane had hit the WTC. Wife and I scramble for the remote, turn on the TV and see what was going on. I could see the gaping hole and new it was a large plane on a clear sunny day. My first thought was we were under attack, but unsure from who. A few minutes later, the second plane hit the tower, then I knew for sure.
Our office was in the MEPS and they were trying to figure out what to do. I think the most notable thing that happened was the over 100 phone calls from many older veterana nd retired Sailors, all asking how they could come back in. The oldest was 86 y/o and he didn't care what he had to do, he wanted back in to fight the "raghead bastards." He was smart enough to figure out who was behind this day.
To many idiots inthe US try to trivalize the events of that day. Hwo anyone can trivalize the attack against mine and THEIR country is beyond me.!
STSCS(SS/SW) USN RET
9/12/2009 2:26 PM
"Never forget, and never forget this was brought to us by a sick, twisted and intolerant religion"
Why mince words instead of telling us about how you REALLY feel about Scientology?
9/12/2009 6:07 PM
Why mince words instead of telling us about how you REALLY feel about Scientology?
Another similarly minded group of sheeple, but I think Islam far outnumbers the Hubbard movement.
9/13/2009 2:49 PM
Wanna know how 9/11 will be regarded in a hundred years? Watch the Sony PS3 commercial ridiculing WWI.
9/13/2009 7:30 PM
fantastic blog.
9/13/2009 10:39 PM
what a blog ! .
9/13/2009 10:39 PM
Just turned on the TV after waking up, in time to see the 2nd plane hit. I quickly woke up my wife, and we both watch with utter shock at what was happening. I quickly headed to work (I'm an emergency responder) and prepared for the worst. Not much went down, but we were ready.
9/14/2009 10:30 PM
We lost a wonderful friend and submariner in the Pentagon that day. It was his first day on Reserves...LtCdr Ron Vauk. RIP and you'll never be forgotten.
9/27/2009 5:58 AM
Many were devastated during the pentagon. thanks!
12/26/2009 11:38 PM
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