Memories from Saudi Arabia
1. "I was in the USAF and was deployed to Saudi Arabia on 9/11. Because of the time zone it happened at the end of the day for us. A co-worker turned to me and said,
'Two planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is on fire.'
I laughed. It seemed absurd!
Over the next few days bin Laden's name started to be reported. It was kind of disturbing to be on Prince Sultan Air Base during that time. The coalition compound where we lived was built by the Saudi bin Laden Company and the name was stamped everywhere."
- Neil Belden
'Two planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is on fire.'
I laughed. It seemed absurd!
Over the next few days bin Laden's name started to be reported. It was kind of disturbing to be on Prince Sultan Air Base during that time. The coalition compound where we lived was built by the Saudi bin Laden Company and the name was stamped everywhere."
- Neil Belden
2. "I was a travel nurse working in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I had worked the night before so I was sleeping when my roommate woke me up to tell me a plane hit the World Trade Center. We both sat on the couch over the next few hours watching CNN World News and cried for all those people who died and those who died trying to rescue them. Our families back in the states could not get in touch with us as phones were overloaded at the time.
We both were concerned about going out in public as Americans. I was nicely surprised that the majority of the local people I encountered were upset and said this is not their Islam and gave me their sympathies. We left Saudi Arabia just one month after 9/11 as we wanted to be back on American soil to grieve with the rest of the country."
- Tammy Patterson
We both were concerned about going out in public as Americans. I was nicely surprised that the majority of the local people I encountered were upset and said this is not their Islam and gave me their sympathies. We left Saudi Arabia just one month after 9/11 as we wanted to be back on American soil to grieve with the rest of the country."
- Tammy Patterson