Below is today's posting by the current president of New York Outrigger, Ed Acker, of a posting made by the then president of NYO, Roger Meyer. NYO paddles along southern Manhattan, and in those days frequently in the shadow of the Twin Towers. Many of the paddlers worked in that district and Meyers was concerned about his paddlers.
All, as a memory to 9/11, I thought I'd share with you the message Roger Meyer, then President of NYO, sent to this grouplist that day. It sounds like the first tower collapsed when he heard the rumble. Ed
Dear All,
I write this in tears, the city of New York is forever changed. Two hijacked planes have crashed into the World Trade Center... Ninety blocks north of all this on this beautiful sunny day I finally tear myself from the television to meet Bo Easterbrooks (of Lanikai) for a workout in Central Park. I am late. He's there, stunned talking on the cell phone. The facts are sinking in. We are both too numb to do anything. We can see white smoke over the buildings. We go home. I can see the antenna on the North Tower and I think the fires are getting under control. Walking home I hear a thunderous rumble. I think F-15s are overhead.
Then I see people crying on the streets. I hear a woman talking about how people were jumping to their deaths. I get home to find out the South Tower of the World Trade Center has totally collapsed killing everyone inside. On the first floor apartment I sit with my neighbors, closer than I have ever been to them, as we watch in horror as the North Tower collapses killing all.
Now the city is quite with a slow procession of people moving north. Every firefighter and ambulance has already been dispatched to the Financial District. The phones are dead. The stores are all closing down. The things that really matter come into focus. I think of Pearl Harbor. From what I know this is worse.
I am waiting for my club to email in. All we can do is pray.
Roger Meyer
President
New York Outrigger
Submitted by YankeeHookele on Fri, 09/11/2009 - 11:28am
Wow, that really conjures up the feelings I had that day. Hawaii's a small world, and I knew three people that were killed that day from high school. I guess this is the time to remember them. I remember numbly trying to get to the job site by Pearl Harbor-no way. Bumper to bumper traffic everywhere w/ fighter planes franticly criss-crossing the sky. It took awhile for everything to sink in. Never forget!
#1 Fri, 09/11/2009 - 2:34pm
I was the first one up in my house that morning and turned on the TV and saw the fires. School was a blur with every class paying attention to the news. My history teacher's daughter and sun in-law worked in the trade center and she was trying to get hold of them all day. Her daughter and sun in-law had decided that they were going to sleep in that day and show up late for work. It saved their lives. Time is always moving forward and on 9/11 it seemed to slow enough for everyone to see horror, tragedy, sadness, and love for others.
#2 Fri, 09/11/2009 - 8:38pm