MAINE
"Where were you on 9/11?" as remembered by those in Maine that day.
Maine Department of Transportation employee Duane talks about Maine's role in that infamous day.
1. "Twenty years ago on 9/11, I was working for the Maine Department of Transportation. I was heavily involved in the project and didn't even know what was going on until we got the announcement that the office was closing and then I started to hear bits of information of the disaster that was happening in New York City. The city seemed far away but there was a Portland connection as the hijackers boarded planes from Portland to make the attack.
As I got into the car, I turned on the radio and started to hear the reports. I could at least through the words visualize what was happening and what had happened. When I got home and saw the horror on TV, it became very real - overpowering overwhelming. so it was at that point that my wife and I decided to come to Ocean Point here in East Booth Bay, Maine to find some solace and get some peace. To get things back into perspective. This is a very quieting place, a relaxing place that really helps you process your thoughts. Our town is a small town, we used to be in a suburban New York City area and being here in a small town really was consoling. We knew lots of people, we had ecumenical services, and we really kind of came together as a town and community during this tragedy."
- Duane
As I got into the car, I turned on the radio and started to hear the reports. I could at least through the words visualize what was happening and what had happened. When I got home and saw the horror on TV, it became very real - overpowering overwhelming. so it was at that point that my wife and I decided to come to Ocean Point here in East Booth Bay, Maine to find some solace and get some peace. To get things back into perspective. This is a very quieting place, a relaxing place that really helps you process your thoughts. Our town is a small town, we used to be in a suburban New York City area and being here in a small town really was consoling. We knew lots of people, we had ecumenical services, and we really kind of came together as a town and community during this tragedy."
- Duane
Written Stories
2. "I was on a back-country trail, our only contact with the outside world was a forest service radio we turned on once a day for 30 minutes to conserve the battery. Usually when we turned on the radio we only heard silence, but that day we heard a lot of cryptic chatter about no fly zones so we were a little freaked out and had no idea what was going on.
One guy had one of those hand crank FM radios so we tried to crank it up and get some news. The thing didn't work well and we couldn't get reception so we only heard a few words here and there, just enough to know that some disaster had occurred.
We didn't find out what had happened until about a week later when we came out of the woods."
- Anonymous
One guy had one of those hand crank FM radios so we tried to crank it up and get some news. The thing didn't work well and we couldn't get reception so we only heard a few words here and there, just enough to know that some disaster had occurred.
We didn't find out what had happened until about a week later when we came out of the woods."
- Anonymous
3. "I was a college freshman in the dorms here in New England. I woke up and did a little bit of reading or homework before my 9:00 am class. My mom called which was odd for it being a relatively early morning on a weekday and told me to turn on the TV and I did.
'There's been some accident or something at the World Trade Center. They are saying a plane crashed into the building. Don't you know people in New York from school?'
At that point I had to get to Genetics and Molecular Bio class. It only seemed like an accident. About 30 minutes into the class someone popped in and said all classes were canceled because something was happening in New York and we should all go home.
By the time I was back in my dorm everyone had the news on and was watching.
The guy in the room next to me was from near NYC and his dad worked in the World Trade Center. He couldn't reach him. No one could reach anyone in NYC, landlines weren't working.
When the towers collapsed he absolutely lost it.
It was stunning when the first tower collapsed and people kept saying,
"No way the other one collapses."
...until it did.
'There's been some accident or something at the World Trade Center. They are saying a plane crashed into the building. Don't you know people in New York from school?'
At that point I had to get to Genetics and Molecular Bio class. It only seemed like an accident. About 30 minutes into the class someone popped in and said all classes were canceled because something was happening in New York and we should all go home.
By the time I was back in my dorm everyone had the news on and was watching.
The guy in the room next to me was from near NYC and his dad worked in the World Trade Center. He couldn't reach him. No one could reach anyone in NYC, landlines weren't working.
When the towers collapsed he absolutely lost it.
It was stunning when the first tower collapsed and people kept saying,
"No way the other one collapses."
...until it did.
I was also reading near constant updates online over at https://slashdot.org/
There were a ton of threads and tons of speculation, but also a fair amount of accurate boots on the ground news for an internet forum. That was a new thing for me. Live updates of an event like that which weren't coming from the news, but in some cases were from people witnessing it directly. Sometimes Slashdot was beating the cable news and sometimes it was just repeating the news a couple moments later.
It wasn't until the evening that people were starting to get calls and emails from relatives. The guy in the room next door finally got an email from an uncle saying his dad was OK. He had been out with clients and not in the WTC that day."
- C. B. E.
Read Online Live Comments From 9/11 From Fark:
https://www.fark.com/comments/45086/NEWS-FLASH-PLANES-CRASH-INTO-WORLD-TRADE-CENTER-PENTAGON-Our-link-to-CNN-works-thanks-Metafilter-We-have-news-pics-in-comments-section-if-you-have-any-post-it-there
There were a ton of threads and tons of speculation, but also a fair amount of accurate boots on the ground news for an internet forum. That was a new thing for me. Live updates of an event like that which weren't coming from the news, but in some cases were from people witnessing it directly. Sometimes Slashdot was beating the cable news and sometimes it was just repeating the news a couple moments later.
It wasn't until the evening that people were starting to get calls and emails from relatives. The guy in the room next door finally got an email from an uncle saying his dad was OK. He had been out with clients and not in the WTC that day."
- C. B. E.
Read Online Live Comments From 9/11 From Fark:
https://www.fark.com/comments/45086/NEWS-FLASH-PLANES-CRASH-INTO-WORLD-TRADE-CENTER-PENTAGON-Our-link-to-CNN-works-thanks-Metafilter-We-have-news-pics-in-comments-section-if-you-have-any-post-it-there
4. "I was at art school in Portland when a teacher came in to tell our teacher that a plane had hit the Trade Center. We just looked at each other confused and he kept teaching until the teacher came back to tell us about the second plane. Someone came out from the hall and said there were gunmen in Monument Square and people had been shot! I booked it out of there and went to my boyfriend's house, thinking planes were just falling out of the sky and there were bullets flying around. We were glued to the TV the rest of the day, shocked. There never were any shots fired, I don’t know who started that rumor.
The most eerie thing, was seeing the picture of Mohamed Atta and... I swear I saw him before, possibly in my apartment building.
He did fly out of Portland, so it’s possible I guess.
I just remember his icy stare."
- M.M.
The most eerie thing, was seeing the picture of Mohamed Atta and... I swear I saw him before, possibly in my apartment building.
He did fly out of Portland, so it’s possible I guess.
I just remember his icy stare."
- M.M.
5. "I was 6 years old and struggle between wishing I was old enough to grasp what had happened and being thankful that I wasn't.
I came home from school early and remember being excited about that. When I got home, my parents were glued to the television and my mother was crying.
My excitement turned to sadness, I went up to my room, and I just... Existed for the rest of the night."
- Paige Boynton
I came home from school early and remember being excited about that. When I got home, my parents were glued to the television and my mother was crying.
My excitement turned to sadness, I went up to my room, and I just... Existed for the rest of the night."
- Paige Boynton