9-11...a day that will never be forgotten

First--the facts.

On September 11, I was working as a dispatcher at the Orange County Fire Authority Command Center in Orange. It was about 6am, and I was getting ready for work in my house in Placentia. I usually turn on the TV to keep me company while eating breakfast, but for whatever reason, I wasn't hungry, and I didn't need the TV. I got into the car, pulled out of the driveway, and headed on down the road. The radio was on my favorite station, KFI-640, and Bill Handel was on. I can distinctly remember hearing him speaking with a terrorism expert from UCLA, and I can't remember the guys name, but he's a dude that's always in the news as the resident expert. Very familiar. I was NOT listening...it was sort of just background yapping. And besides, I hadn't had my morning Diet Coke.

So, I get on the 57 freeway from Yorba Linda Blvd, and start heading south. I use this geographic reference because I remember how things started to make sense to me, and I just happened to remember where I was when everything happened. It began to dawn on me as I was listening to Bill that something wasn't right, so I started to pay more attention. By the time I had reached the 91, about 3 minutes later, I knew that there had been an obvious attack on the WTC, and that something may be happening elsewhere in the country. I was fully awake now. I clicked over to KFWB, and they had full coverage. At this time, I had a big shot of adrenaline, because I was thinking "We're having another WTC event like in 1993...but this sounds worse." I got off the freeway at Chapman in Orange and headed east bound towards Old Town Orange. There's a McDonald's about 1/2 mile down the road that I usually stop into, so I pulled in. The troll that usually worked there that morning took my order over the speaker, and as I pulled up to the window, I saw she was crying. She looked at me in horror--and I knew I wasn't a morning person, but she didn't have to look so scared of me.

"We're at war!"

I stared in disbelief at her. "WAR?"

"Don't you know what's happening?" I acknowledged that I did, but I didn't think it was war. Apparently she did.

By the time I had pulled back on to Chapman to continue my eastward journey, Bill and the morning crew were just beside themselves. Ken Gallaher, the "news man" at the time (and btw, the WORST talk show host since God created radio and why he has his own show on KFI is beyond me--they could hire a freaking monkey and get better work out of it...but I digress), was giving updates, and there was comments thrown in by Paul T. Wall, Rich Mirada, and of course Bill. As I approached the Orange City Post Office, it happened. One of the towers collapsed.

Apparently the crew had a TV in their studio, because as the tower began to crumble--and I will never forget this--Bill began to scream "Oh my GOD...oh my GOD..." Talk about an adrenaline rush. At that point, it wasn't panic that set in, but it was a surety that A) I was probably not going to be going home anytime soon, and B) there was something VERY VERY huge happening. I think by then the Pentagon had been hit, and there was talk or rumor that the White House had been hit as well. By the time I got into the Command Center, I got to see what was happening.

And my world changed.

You know--a lot of people, especially at work, know that I'm open to "alternative ideas" about life, especially in the area of paranormal and conspiracy stuff. I'm most CERTAINLY not a person that BELIEVES in everything, but I don't normally poo-poo stuff out-of-hand until I have a chance to read it. I will say for the record, in the 5 years SINCE the attacks, MANY questions have been raised--legitimate, scientific, and thoughtful questions--about what ACTUALLY happened. You can't deny 2 airplanes hit the WTC (although some would argue they weren't really AIRPLANES as you and I know them--meaning, commercial flights filled with people), and you can't deny that the towers fell, and you can't deny the Pentagon was hit and something occurred in Pennsylvania. But outside of that...it's a virtual LABRYINTH of theories, inconsistencies, high strangeness, and yes, even a spiritual/paranormal connection to it (anyone ever seen the "demon" pics of the smoke from the towers????).

I'm just saying, for the record, that I'm being asked to believe some pretty incredible things to make this 9-11 event FIT into the "Muslims hate us and attacked us" construct. I'm being asked to, as an American citizen, even in LIGHT of the "Muslims hate us and attacked us" construct to give up some freedoms, all in the name of American patriotism and security. And I was asked--to the point of AD NAUSEUM--to donate to the survivor families of 9-11, and to make sure the Red Cross was supported in their valiant efforts...even though the greed I saw out of the survivor families was DESPICABLE, and the Red Cross "lost" untold MILLIONS (ohhh?? Did you forget about THAT little scandel???).

I DO know 343 firefighters lost their lives, and almost 100 police officers did as well. THESE were THE heros, no matter WHO attacked us, or WHAT REALLY was behind the attacks, or who profited. THEY gave. And those people, the ones that I broke down in tears about a week later after near 24 hours a day coverage of this horrific day, are the ones that should NEVER be forgotten, and always honored for their courage and loyalty to the profession that they chose.