OldTroubador's blog post - 11 Sepptember 2001

It was a Tuesday. I had taken the day off from work to go fishing on the Gulf Coast beach that day. It was a beautiful day in Southeast Texas. The Gulf was flat and calm, the tide coming in. The sun shone bright against the clear sky. The contrails of the passenger jets were the only thing to mar the perfect sky.
I waded for a while, then set up my big poles with cut bait and just sat back with my coffee and watched. I hadn't caught anything, but so what. It was a peaceful day, absent of the pressures of work......and life.
A gentleman was walking the beach and asked if I had heard the news. I said that I had not. He said that NYC and Washington DC were being blown to bits. Hi, lovely weather, New York City and Washington were just eradicated. And he kept on walking.
I dug my phone out of my van and called Dad. He was nearly in tears as he told me what was going on. I quickly asked about my sister, for she was due to fly to Ireland sometime soon. No, she doesn't leave until next week. Thank God for that.
I stayed for a while, but fishing had lost its luster for me. I packed up my gear and decided to go back to the chemical plant I worked at. The portion of the coast I was on is criss-crossed with pipelines bringing in crude oil and natural gas from the off-shore wells. Chemical plants are shoulder to shoulder, many of them connected by other pipelines as the product from one is piped to another to make additional petrochemicals. As I drove from the area to my plant, numerous black sedans and SUV's with blacked out windows sped past, blocking plant entrances and pipeline crossings. I was allowed to enter the plant I worked at and sat with my co-workers, listening to the radio reports in stunned silence.
We all left that evening, went to our homes, hugged our families, and watched in horror as the events of the day unfolded. We watched as emergency personnel rushed to the disaster to assist with the rescue, only to be counted among the casualties. We sat opened mouthed as we watched people fall from the towers as they fell. We learned of the heroism of the passengers and flight attendants on Flight 93 who tried to regain control of their aircraft, only to have it plunge to the ground in Stoneycreek Township, PA, outside Shanksville. And we watched the Pentagon burn.
Today is a day to mourn the losses we suffered that day, but also to honor the men and women of the emergency responders who thought not of their own safety, but instead risked, and sometimes sacrificed, their lives so that others might live. It is a day to remember those who lost loved ones in the attacks. It is a day to remember that we are Americans first and hyphens, not at all.
Many thanks to all that have written today about their thoughts, feelings, and memories of this most horrific day.