American reacts to What Did British Soldiers Think On 9/11?
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to What Did British Soldiers Think On 9/11?
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Like all right-minded people I was shocked at the events of 9/11. However, one little voice at the back of my mind whispered " I wonder how the ill-informed who funded Irish terrorists feel about terrorism on their own soil?" I knew someone who was murdered by the IRA.
Living just outside London, I knew people who were lucky to avoid death & serious injury at the hands of the IRA My sister-in-Law escaped injury in the Victoria Station bomb attack, whereas my boyfriend & his brother were injured by flying glass in the Harrods bombing. My reaction to 9/11 was similar to yours. Now the US understands what it's like to be a terrorized nation, & what it has shamelessly funded for over thirty years.
Yeah I was 30 seconds away from a bomb going off in colchester in1989 while going to catch a coach to an away fa cup tie as a kid
@@hod2116 We had thirty years of it, thanks to US money, but we're supposed to be outraged when it happens to them.
GOOGLE 13000 EX SERVICEMAN HOMELESS THE ENGLISH ISLAMIC BLACK & INDIAN STATE OF BRITAIN PREFER TO HOUSE TERRORIST ILLEGALS MIGRANT CRIMINALS FREELOADERS
Didn't the IRA stop not long after that?
Americans were so proud of all the money they raised for the IRA. To me if you part with money to help a bunch if people who kill children, animals and men and women, that makes you a murder.
When i lived in Hong Kong a friend was dating a American, the first time we all met her she had a green jumper on, it was St Patricks day.a load of us were round a table 2 Scottish, 1 Welsh, 2 Irish and 2 English. The stupid cow started banging on about how her family raised money for "the cause" every year" and every single person called her and her family murders. She could not see what we were saying and left, thankfuly it could have kicked off, murder.
I've made a similar comment above. As far as I'm concerned it was Karma. The irony of Boston with it's large Irish immigrant history, being bombed is inescapable also.
There are terrorists and there are freedom fighters - who is who just depends on who you ask.
@@petebeatministeryeah but bombs are bombs and the innocent are still innocent!!
After losing so many comrades in Northern Ireland , I, have to bot voice my opinion on this as I'd get banned of you tube. Greetings from Scotland 🏴 x
@@petebeatminister Who it is depends on the targets. If you target innocent men, women and children, then you're a terrorist, and the IRA mostly targeted innocent civilians.
Well, I can tell you a lot of British Soldiers serving in Northern Ireland certainly thought "Its about time the Americans got a taste of what they have been funding in Northern Ireland for thirty years!" and right after that they felt guilty when the casualty reports started coming in, regardless of the thought, no one that has seen the troubles in Northern Ireland would wish it on anyone else, but unfortunately that's what happened in Afghanistan, we didn't fix it, if anything we made it worse and we left all those people to the fate of those people who now celebrate a victory over us infidels. So my question is "What did we achieve in Afghanistan?" apart from filling body bags on both sides. Veteran of 22 years, British Army.
Why would they say that about innocent American citizens though? It’s not our fault our government is full of warmongers
I was chatting with one of my online gaming guildmates when it happened, and hadn't seen any reports yet when he told me there had been a terrorist attack in New York - my first instinct was to be pretty blase about it having heard way too much from my US guildmates over the years about the IRA and the general US untouchable attitude. Then as the magnitude of the event sank in I felt hella guilty about that initial response.
It was awful watching the War on Terror bloom over the next few years. The amount of death and destruction a wounded America, enabled by us allies, wrought on the world was staggering.
Very few Americans actively supported the IRA. Most Americans never heard of them. Don't overestimate Americans' knowledge of or interest in the rest of the world.
@@danic9304 the USA is untouchable. Our own government planned this
I had been out of the British Army for about 10 years at the time of 9/11 and watched events unfold on the TV at work, but I distinctly recall thinking "welcome to our world".
Given the scale of the casualties I do feel a little guilty about thinking that now, but having seen the level of stuff that kept PIRA going coming in from the US I dont think it was an unfair thought.
More British people were killed on 9/11 than the 7/7 attacks in London, when three underground trains & a bus were blown up. There have been other attacks including the Manchester arena bombing. In that case twenty three were killed including the bomber following a Ariana Grande concert, where most of those killed were children & young people. British soldiers probably weren't that bothered, for many reasons. A similar number of men, women, children & soldiers were murdered in Northern Ireland & mainland Britain by the Provisional IRA. The US government actually allowed these terrorists to raise most of their funds (NORAID) in the US as well as arming them with explosives & weapon's such as the Armour Light rifle & countless other weapon systems. Ironically most of the US money was raised in Boston, but by 9/11, Britain had become accustomed to being attacked by republican terrorists. It was only post 9/11 that the US government stopped NORAID from most of their fund raising activities. So what do you think the British public & our soldiers thought on 9/11?
I spent about 3 years as a soldier in N Ireland during the early 80s and remember watching the twin towers attack live on TV. By that time I was a civilian. I remember back then being equally disgusted by what had happened but also thinking that now the USA knows what it is like to suffer a terrorist attack on their own soil. The world changed that day.
While I will always remember that morning seeing the planes hit the towers on the news. Personally, I remember the London attacks more. But that was because my father was in London for his job on that day (he was nowhere near the bombings, but we only knew that after he called us)
The British soldiers were probably wondering what happened on the 9th of November?
Fantastic comment 👏
Our local 9/11 was the Croydon tram crash of 2016 (9th November 2016)
@@johnloony68I was caught up in that, not the accident but the traffic by the tracks. Saw some raw shit that day.
As a German I always think that, too. The 9th of November is a quite important date in German history. 1848, 1918, 1923, 1938, 1989. All of those years had some historic event happening on the 9th of November, such as the Proclamation of the Republic after WW1 in 1918 or the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
@@bananenmusli2769Kristallnacht...
I often wonder how the Americans who supported terrorist organizations, like the IRA, felt when they saw the devastation and appalling loss of life caused by a different set of terrorists, in their own country ?
Don’t forget that citizens from over 100 countries died in the tragic events of 11th September.
In the conflicts that followed, servicemen and women from 32 different countries were killed or maimed. Many, many of the “survivors” are still living with severe trauma, both physical and mental, from those wars.
Please also remember, the loyal and trusted local civilians, who we so callously left to their fate at the hands of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, when we so ignominiously left the countries, washing our hands of all responsibility.
The IRA killed more people than anyone else in Northern Ireland, America be ashamed.
Looking deeper into the matter it wasn't the US government it was under the table deals by people in the government who where dealt with.
I don't understand your point here. Are you saying that the Taliban shouldn't have been attacked or are you saying we should have attacked and remained indefinately? We spent vast summs of money and the lives of hundreds of soldiers trying to get Afghanistan to a point where they could defend themselves against the Taliban, we did that and then the ANA crumbled in days. That's on the Afghans
@@kirishima2370here's a novel suggestion. Don't fund and create groups like the Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the Soviet Afghan war in the first place.
@@Rachel_M_ we supported The French Resistance in WW2, they didn’t go on to become a bunch of Religious fundamentalists.
I was in the US on holiday when the attacks happened. the first flight out of Atlanta was our one, I was outside the terminal having a smoke and got chatting to and American guy...when he realised I was form the UK - he said to me " now we know how you feel " .
I am glad about that. It chimes with my much less charitable thought Now you know how it feels.
Many British died in the towers too.
ywa
Many people overall 💀
@gamingtonight1526 correct. I hate when people just say or think Americans were the only ones who died, there were employees from all over the world working in the World Trade Center!
I was working as a Brit with many Americans in the Middle East in the 1980s. When there were several bad terrorist bombs going off in London. The attitude of some Americans was that we got what we deserved, for the Brits still being in "Ireland". So after 9/11 I saw it as a wake up call to the US to take terrorism seriously. It wasn't just something that only happened somewhere else anymore.
Yup...Karma's a bitch.
The USA will never appreciate any events in Europe until they have experienced being invaded and your country taken over and ruled by a totally alien culture
.Of course ,we did it ourselves in taking over places like India for centuries , but that means we can recognise it from both sides .
The Americans live in a bit of a bubble compared with the rest of the world .
Should we say `Lucky them` ?
Terrorism is bad, but so is taking someone's country
@@DeviousWizard Ireland became an independent country in 1922. Northern Ireland remained British because the majority of the population were Protestant, and did not want to be part of Catholic Ireland.
@@DeviousWizard The Danish West Indies in the Caribbean, The Gold Coast in Western Africa and in Asia Denmark, its not like you guys didnt do it
As someone who lived and was a member of the security forces in Northern Ireland, I (as well as everbody else) got used to seeing bombings almost on a daily basis. When you see people lying dead from bomb blasts, dismembered bodies, clouds of brick dust and rubble filling the streets and alleyways, burning houses, shops, petrol stations, brutal killings, murder, assassinations, knee-cappings, intimidation left, right and centre.....not one beautiful morning as people are going to work, but day in, day out, night in, night out - for thirty years, then see what happened on 9/11, it made one sit up for a while, but a very short while. What struck me that day, was how the local people were reacting. Like myself, they spoke about the event and carried on with their day-to-day living...working, getting the kids off to school, shopping and all the usual domestic jobs they's been doing every day throughout the thirty years. Terrorism destroyed the lives, lifestyles and homes of so many people.
Even from early in those troubled years, we learned that most of the funding for the terrorists was coming from the US - notably New York and Boston. A few years later a bomb was set off at a war memorial, where a ervice of Remembrance was taking place; the bomb went off killing and maiming most people there - civilians, ex-service personnel and children. At anothe town, another year, a bomb was set off in a town square, and another heavy toll of casualties was taken - and all of this was AFTER 9/11 and AFTER the Peace Agreement! Then we heard about the Boston bombing and the number of casualties there. The reports from the USA were pretty much all the same "Why us?"
What do I think of 9/11 or the Boston bombing? To be perfectly honest I don't think about them very much? I certainly don't condone such events and I wouldn't wish them on anyone. However, I have asked myself why I don't feel particularly sympathetic/ Yes, it's regretful that innocent people, the civilians, the security services, the firefighters, the medical serices are always the victims of terrorism, rarely the government officials - not that they should become targets. In y early and subsequent thoughts, I felt that, for once, the USA had fallen victim to terrorism; after all, they had always felt secure from such things, since they hadn't happened before in their lifetime. 9/11 and Boston has brought them back to earth with some shock.
Now ask me how I feel about The Northern Ireland Troubles. Let me ask you how YOU feel about the NI Troubles. After all, we only had 3,000 civilians murdered, 300+ police, and around 700 soldiers in thirty years!
You ask a damned foolish question!
Agree 100% with every single word.
❤
Well said.
Just to clarify one point you made... 9/11 was not the first terrorist attack on US soil in our lifetime, it was just the largest. There were bombings of the WTC in 1993 and Oklahoma City in 1995.
And, BTW, it wasn't only Americans who lost lives and loved ones.
@@CintheSooner
I'm afraid you miss the point entirely. It does not matter one jot whether it was one person or a whole block of hundreds; it does not matter who the perpetrators are, where they bomb, how often the bomb, or even why they do it. What matters is who it is that funds them. As far as Northern Ireland is concerned, the funding for the terrorists came mainly from New York and Boston, and as I said in my initial posting, while I don't condone such acts, I don't feel sympathy for the Bostonians or New Yorkers. There is an old aying: What goes around comes around, and so in the US that is exactly what has happened. Perhaps the good citizens of the US should be asking who funded the terrorists in Oklahoma, the the WTC and crowds in Boston; It certainly wasn't the good people of NI!
How many relatives and friends have you personally lost from terrorist activities? I suspect none, or you would have said. I have lost many good friends, neighbours and colleagues, soldiers I knew, police officers I knew. and have had to view countless corpses of men, women and children - all of them totally innocent and unsuspecting of becoming targets by terrorists paid by Bostonians and New Yorkers; yet you feel justified in your criticism by saying "it wasn't only Americans!" ALL LIFE is precious." Perhaps you should wake up, look around and outside of your myopic little world and criticise those of your own people who carry out this kind of evil. If you want to clarify your point, take a trip to Northern Ireland and tell them what you just told me - I'm sure they would welcome your long overdue apology!
Ryan, if you are triggered to learn about ‘what happened to all flights approaching the east coast", you might want to read about the airfield of Gander, in Newfoundland, Canada. A hamlet of 12,000 people, "the tiny Canadian town had welcomed 38 aircraft containing 6,122 passengers and 473 crew".
Yes the book the day the world came to town is one of the most beautiful stories I have read it times of tragedy
Yes, and that was 'just' the town of Gander. Gander Control had to land 224 incoming trans-Atlantic flights immediately, with no warning. How a relatively small team managed to get them all down safely, is still astounding to me. I recommend "Gander 9/11: Cleared for Chaos" to anyone interested in that part of the story.
@@margaretjames6494 Thanks! I learned only recently about Gander (article in a magazine??), and that focused on the village. Now a few minutes into the documentary you named, where they point out the reach / width of their traffic control. My God!
102 nations lost people in the 9/11 attacks 🙏
My Dad passed that day, not in the US in the UK. He was only 43 and he had an unknown illness. Watching those images on the TV and having something bigger than just me to focus on got me through that day, but now those images are a constant reminder of my pain that day 😢
My prayers for your dad.
The sad thing is that we, the UK, fight alongside the US as allies and have done for many years, but seeming most Americans would barely know where to find us on a map. Or at least if they managed to find our location they wouldn’t even have a basic understanding of our nation, ie England not being Britain etc. This stuff may seem unimportant to Americans, but I suspect this level of ignorance about the world is about to bite us all very painfully on the arse. If the American electorate don’t understand such basic things about the world how can they be asked to make an informed decision about who to vote for - I suspect that Americas inward looking view of the world could well cause us all a great deal of problems globally in the not too distant future - and no amount of American positivity and razzle-dazzle is going to be able to dig us out of that particular hole.
When America was attacked on the 9th. Me as a British man see it like Britain was attacked herself. UK we got mad respect for America.
Most international aircraft that were not already in US Airspace were obliged to land in Canada (Edit - it has been brought to my attention that many of them were diverted to Mexico, or parts of the Carribbean, too, and several that were in mid-atlantic when US airspace was shut down were diverted to Ireland and the UK, even if that was not their origin) This obviously makes sense, given where the aircraft would have been at the time, but I didn't consider this) or return to their origin, if possible.
9/11mayhave happened on American soil, but it was an international attack, as people from so many, many different countries died in the twin towers, and in the wars that followed. Bin Ladin was frustrated that he couldn't get the US to declare war, officially, and this was how he hoped to do that. I do think America forgets that this was more than an American tragedy.
No, we considerate an International tragedy, Alot of people died that day and yes many were of Foreign lands but IT DID happen on American soil, so yes we do also consider this an American tragedy.
The Americans that lived through this and able to understand never forgot shame anyone would think differently
You dropped the ball and we the UK got dragged into a war that was not ours For years Irish Americans sent money to the IRA and now you were getting a taste of your own medicine not very funny was it I would call it Karma
correct
I had to visit New York two weeks after 9/11, and travelled by train below Ground Zero to reach Battery Park. The station was closed, and its roof was being supported by two-feet wide baulks of timber every two feet or so. The train crept through there at about 5 MPH. When she saw I was British, the hotel receptionist commented that she now knew how Londoners felt during WW2. I didn't say so, but I thought "Try six years of this, then you might have some idea." At lunchtime, the lawyers who were hosting me asked if I wanted to go and "look at" Ground Zero. They seemed surprised when I said that would be ghoulish ... Truly a very different perception.
Aside from the IRA bombings (in England) we then got the islamic fundamentalist lot of bombings - London Bus/Tube and Manchester, generally we carried on, I think Manchester was more shocking as the target appeared to be young girls.
Maybe it's better that you didn't visit Ground Zero, because part of those buildings were made with asbestos, so when they came down the entire area was made toxic.
I had served twice in British Army between 1988 to 93. I was a civilian working night shift on 9/11. I woke up a bit early. I was watching the television half asleep. Seeing a building smoking. I thought it was the film towering inferno. Then I saw a plane hit the next building. I soon noticed the BBC News Live Sign in the top corner. The moment I realised it was a terror attack. I instantly knew we were going to war. I went on holiday on 17th Sept to Menorca with my ex. I bumped into a few ex British military. We all chatted that war was coming. 8 weeks after 9/11 my ex cheated on me. So I decided to rejoin. But in the Territorial Army pt time. But joined the Royal Signals 63 SAS Signals Sqn. Unfortunately I broke my back doing a charity parachute jump on a weekend off from SAS Signals pre Selection course in march 03. Nit realising it was broke. So went on June selection 03. A miracle I made it as far as I did. Then my body let me know I had serious issues. So left. All part of a 30yr ongoing multiple degenerative, physical and mental, chronic and acute health battles. I served during 1st Gulf War in 90/91. I have no medals or served in combat. Still very proud that I served 3 different times, in the British Army:
1st time:
June to Oct 88 (5 months) in Royal Artillery as a 16 yr old Junior Leader. I ruptured my Achilles tendon, so either backsquad, or rejoin at 17.5yrs. So I reinlisted in 89 as Adult (Regulars) entrant.
2nd time:
03/01/90 to 14/03/93 (3yrs) in Royal Corps of Transport. As a Mariner (Army Maritime trade title). As a Deckhand/Nav, on Army Landing Craft and Mexeflote rafts etc.
3rd time:
02 to 04 in A Troop 63 SAS Royal Signals Sqn T.A. Unfortunately I broke my back doing a charity parachute jump on a weekend off from SAS Signals pre Selection in March 03. I went on the June 03 summer selection. Unaware I had broken it. Miracle I made it as far as I did. All part of my multiple decades of - ongoing multiple degenerative, physical and mental, chronic and acute, health battles.
I won't ever let it best me though.
My mottos which are proudly tattooed next to my Army tattoos are:
"Forward Forever - Backwards Never. Progress Not Perfection. Adapt & Overcome. Never Give Up Or In".
"Be comfortable with being uncomfortable".
Marra. Stop jumping in the deep all the time. ❤ doff my hat to you
im from the uk and i remember this happening by the second on the news n ive never cried and been in shock so much that someone could manage to do this level of attack and it will stay with me til i die , i am so sorry for the lives lost and the teror and pain they must have felt
Hello Ryan. On the day of 9/11 I was telecoms engineer and working in a small telephone exchange called Pentyrch. In 1994 I had spent 6 months on secondment working in my companies NY unit on Staten Island (NY)/ I had the radio on, and the headline was that a plane had flown into the World Trade Centre. In 1994 I had been up there visiting with my family, we saw many tour light aircraft flying around the tower. My first thoughts of the event were one of these had collided by accident. Obviously, the truth was this was a serious event. My first flight after 9/11 was to Alaska, no metal cutlery from Oakland to Alaska. On my return trip I was the one in our tour group for a more detailed search. I am overweight, so in the middle of departure gate I was asked to take off my belt, hold up my arms, and then my trousers fell down. Thank heavens I had clean underwear on!
Funnily enough, on 9/11 I was driving to a telecoms meeting. My initial reaction to the radio item was the same as yours. It was only after the meeting a few hours later that I turned my car radio back on and understood the true nature of it.
I don't think the other passengers in the air who had to be diverted felt "inconvenienced." I should think they felt glad to be alive.
I was working in a dixons store at the time (tv, video store) so there were tvs on all walls. I stood watching with the staff and numerous pedestrians who walked in to watch. As soon as the 2nd plane hit i said they're under attack, i was laughed at by a cpl, i then went on to say, what's the odds of a plane hitting that building, then less than an hr later another plane hits the building next door and both were accidents, wake up ffs.
'All those other countries got involved' - it's NATO.
I was on duty that day in nhs theatres uk , we had a lot of military staff , as we were finishing off a patient someone popped a head round the door and said there had been a plane crash at the trade center ,once the patient was off the table we went down to the coffee room and all the Raf techs were in there watching it all live , we saw the towers go down and what sticks with me the most is nobody said a word , not one word everybody was stunned. I have no idea what was going through the heads of the RAF techs , the rest of the shift was very subdued and nobody spoke except in the course of duties. I remember walking home and convoys of cars driven by young muslim men horns honking hanging out of windows and sunroofs waving flags in celebration. A local asian owned shop was giving out free sweets to kids to celebrate , it was a very strange day.
Most people were genuinely shocked and probably wondering if it was just the start of something much, much bigger, as certainly I was. In fact, I was secretly quite glad that 90 or so minutes had passed between the actual event, and me hearing about it, as all seemed to be well where I was - very close to Portsmouth Naval Base...
I worked for IBM (in Sweden) at the time of 9/11, I had been down in the data center all day and came up to an office where TVs had been rolled out that were displaying the attacks over and over and people were gathered in groups talking quietly about it. It was a terrifying and solemn moment.This and when our prime minister Olof Palme was assassinated are the two times I can starkly remember where I was and what I did when I found out.
Maybe it is too early to tell, but the Russian Invasion of Ukraine will also be such an event where everybody knows what they were doing and where they were. At least for me.
I was in the Royal Navy when the event occurred and remember it all very vividly as we all were called to a very high state of readiness. I remember many of us watching the event in shock being upset about the poor buggers who were dying on tv in front of us and also wondering what was going to happen next. I also recall the anger of the murder of those civilians which hit home for the British armed forces who had experienced many terrorist events performed by the IRA. What followed was a level of determination to prosecute those involved.
I dont recall the British Public being particulary informed as to what the Military were prepped to do or respond , in the civil service the security level was upped to Black from memory. Much UK anti-terrorism work was more police on the ground and military intelligence for the intelligence gathering.
He was a member of the Royal Navy and they were called to a very high state or readiness. I guess you didn't read that correctly.@@highpath4776
A friend of mine came over "early" Norwegian time afternoon. I turned on the news, thinking what I saw was a Hollywood production. We turned the TV off for a few hours, just listening to music. But at the later news program, they "knew" what had happened.
I was stunned, stupefied.
It was an eye-opening event for Americans. What you don't understand is that the US interests funded the IRA for a long time. You should look into the activities on Northern Ireland and in England. Every time I have gone to London, the IRA was bombing. Tall office buildings had their windows blown out, places were sandbagged, trains were delayed or canceled due to bombs on the tracks, and so on. You get used to it but I still will not go near an untended bag or package and I'm thousands of miles away.
What has happened in Northern Ireland over so many years is tragic and bloody.
Even in my own country, Canada, we had our own terrorist attacks with the FLQ and I was in Montreal then. When a British diplomat was kidnapped and one of our politicians was kidnapped and murdered, the country was placed under the War Measures Act.
In your country, your bloodshed is homegrown and exacerbated by the insane gun laws and attitudes. Makes it even sadder. The numbers of mass shootings, esp at schools, is tragic and a horror Americans seem to take for granted. Solution: get more guns, open carry, higher power guns, shoot first just "in case". You could fix this. Other countries have.
US got a taste of losing people they loved, you funded the troubles in Northern Ireland so its hurt does it well America hard luck. My friend lost her Soldier Brother at 19, bullet through his head, I remember her banging on my front door screaming and crying my Brother's Dead, my Brother's Dead. 1972.
My feelings were really mixed. I'd grown up during the troubles, and lost count of the amount of times I was evacuated from a location because of a bomb threat from the IRA here in the UK. Then I went to work in New York and was horrified by people on the streets actually collecting money to fund the terrorists that were attacking my home.
But by the time of 9/11 I was back working in the UK, and I had colleagues who were working in the twin towers and lost their lives.
Terrorism is awful, shocking and an outrage whenever it happens. But I really hoped that something like this might stop the USA citizens supporting terrorism against other free democratic countries, like they had against the UK with the IRA.
Growing up during the troubles, both my local town centres and police station, doctors, shops all lost in bombs. Many in NI grew up like this. Bomb alerts and bombs going off.
Now Americans knew what we felt.
Wishing it on no one.
In terms of the planes that had to be grounded before arrival to the USA, you should look into the story of the town of Gander, Canada. A tiny town in Atlantic Canada who had THOUSANDS of people land there, more than doubling their population. The lengths the townspeople went to, to make everyone feel comforted and safe during such a horrendous time, it's worth a watch.
❤️
When I heard from radio (sitting in work) that second plane hit the tower, I immediatelly had in my mind a text of song "Thats the end of the world that we know it"
Here in Australia I was painting a room, a friend rang up and told me to turn on the tv, I asked what channel, and was told any channel. I did and thought "what's this movie" then I switched channels and it was the same coverage on every channel that's when I knew it wasn't a movie, needless to say my room didn't get painted that day.
A little known Brit was a hero that day when he died going back in to save others. A remarkable man and life . He was ex army then went air cav in America (was at the battle made famous by Mel Gibson film)
Richard Cyril Rescorla (May 27, 1939 - September 11, 2001) was a British-American soldier, police officer, educator and private security specialist. He served as a British Army paratrooper during the Cyprus Emergency and a commissioned officer in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He rose to the rank of colonel in the Army before entering the private sector, where he worked in corporate security As the director of security for the financial services firm Morgan Stanley at the World Trade Center,[3] Rescorla anticipated attacks on the towers and implemented evacuation procedures that were credited with saving thousands of lives.[4] He died during the attacks of September 11, 2001, going back to help evacuate more people in the South Tower after he had organized the evacuation of the Morgan Stanley offices.
When 9|11 happened I worked beside a woman whose husband was in the Fire Service in Scotland, and she told those of us who worked beside her that she couldn't bear to watch the film of all the firemen going into the towers to save others. I think a lot of people's reaction at the time was first plane was a terrible accident and they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the second one. It was a horrific event.
I remember that day so clearly. I was off because my parents were supposed to fly to Australia that day (and I was going to be house sitting) and had to have that information sink and then figure out, whether the flight to Australia was still going to take place (it did)… As I had just come back to Germany a few months ago after living in NYC for a year, I was freaking out trying to reach my NYC friends who could not be reached because everyone was trying to reach out to their loved ones in the city. Simply awful day. I was glued to the screen 24/7 for several days…
The thing I remember most about 9/11 (being 14 at the time) was that my older brother had just returned from his first ever trip to the USA the day before on the 10th September, and all of us in my family being incredibly relieved that his return date hadn't been a day or two later, or otherwise he would have been stuck there.
I was fortunate to visit the World Trade Centres before the tragic event 😢 I really do think that John Lennon's Imagine is the future and what we should strive for as a species ❤️
Planes were NOT allowed to land in the US so a small airport in Canada close to the Eastern coast had all the flights land there. The people of the town opened their homes to passengers and staff until they could return to the US.
As a Canadian, we watched this happen live time. EVERYTHING stopped. The entire country hosted aircraft and stranded people. The most known is Gander. First responders from literally the ENTIRE country DROVE immediately to help at the scene.
Hundreds of flights landed in Canada. That's something else you should react to.
3:53 I believe (from memory) some news crew and fire dept helicopters did try and land on the roof to evacuate some people who had made it up there, but the smoke, fire & heat drove them all off and they were unsuccessful.
I was in a book shop in an Irish university when the report came in of the first plane crashing into the twin towers. Initially we thought a small biplane had crashed in, and everyone laughed "how on earth did he not see it?" We referred a tag line from a famous line about a prominent chain of optical retailers, saying the pilot "should have gone to Specsavers!"
Then word of the second plane came in, and we realised it was an attack, and not the work of a pilot with bad eyesight. We were horrified. Americans on campus were crying, and not just Americans. We watched, dumbfounded, as it unfolded, feeling so sorry for America. Ireland held a day of national mourning, where the country shut down, and though not religious myself I went to a local church to pray for the dead. Everyone was stunned, horrified, and disgusted at all that had happened. It remains a horrific day in our memory, having from a mistaken impression that it was a minor accident involving a biplane and a pilot who somehow didn't see the twin towers, to realising the full horrific enormity of it.
Like many around the world. we disagreed with the subsequent war, believing it was attacking the wrong target. That is a separate issue, but 9/11 remains a shocking day for us in Ireland, when we saw our friends in America brutally attacked in a horrific unjustified set of crimes. We may not always agree with America, but it is a disagreement between friends. This was something that was so horrific we felt nothing but sympathy, anger and incredulity at what had happened. As a historian I knew immediately it marked a moment when world history changed, like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, or the beginning of the French revolutions. Political scientists call them paradigm shifts - where how the world sees itself is changed permanently in one moment, and there is no going back to the past world.
I joined the British Army after 9-11. I realised that the world had changed in that act of terror and went on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan after joining. Best decision of my life but definitely life changing.
and yet we all know it was an inside job from day 1. SMH
The dust cloud you were talking about, i remember it well, at the time it reminded me of a Volcano's Pyroclastic flow coming towards you.
Iraq was extremely unpopular in the UK, citizens in the UK were very vocally opposed to Iraq. We were 'content' with Afghanistan as allies to the US but Iraq them became a very, hold up, wth??
My parents were flying from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺 to London UK 🇬🇧 September the 11th.
The passenger Airline Boeing 747 they were on started to fly anti missiles manoeuvres across the Afghanistan region.
4:11 You should look into Gander, Canada on 911. That's where Trans Atlantic flights landed and folks were taken care of as best as possible by locals. A glimmer of humanity on that day
A weird fun fact is that Wycleaf Jean- 911 was on top of US charts on 9/11.
International flights were not allowed into US airspace, those who had enough fuel had to do a 180 and turn back for Europe, those were too far across were redirected to Canada. The now famous Canadian town of Gander became a legend for what they did with all the inbound aircraft and passengers.
The International flights were redirected to Gander, Newfoundland in Canada because American airspace was closed.
I do have the blue context box under your video, just as a first of all. On that day, my ex husband called and asked if I had turned on the telly at all, I hadn´t. Next day and a half I did not turn it off I think. I was so incredibly sad for everyone involved. As for what happened afterwards however, I have to say that that was about equally shocking and disturbing and is probably the reason I should never have (and thankfully didn´t) pursued a career in politics. What we do to each other is beyond words and understanding to me so often.... =(
I was working in a government establishment when this first flashed onto the news. I ignored it and just got on with what I was doing when a South African lad shouted, Fuck have you seen this? I paid it more attention but thought it was a film and said "Special effects are excellent eh!? and went back to what I was doing. He called me a dickhead and said, "It's real and happening live" I watched in silence for a few minutes and said "You did realize the world has just changed forever". I also (and deep shame on me for doing so) said, "I'm glad, those fuckers have been funding terrorism in this country for decades now the chickens have come home to roots" I served in Ulster and saw first hand the effects of US financed terrorism and had little sympathy initially.
By the end of the day I was as angry as I'm guessing most Americans were at the time. My wife is American so I have a vested interest in the welfare of the US you might say. I was just gobsmacked at the scale of the operation itself and dismayed by the human cost in NY.
I had for long been talking about a world war being fought without us realizing it because it was being fought socially and financially and realized that we had just witnessed the opening horror of a that war now gong military. That same war has since extended to other areas of the world including Ukraine and now Israel. Worse coming people and there are those who will be forced to choose a side other than that which they might have supported this time last year. Waking up and smelling the coffee can be a painful process.
It wasn't only Americans who died that day nearly 400 British died that day too plus other nations. This wasn't just a US loss, many other nations too
As the atrocity in New York, Pennsylvania, & Virginia was being wrought, I was flying from Toronto to London. We were diverted twice, first to Amsterdam, and then to Hamburg, but not told why. The first I knew of the destruction was seeing the crowds around the televisions in the arrivals area. My first reaction was, "Why is everyone so glued watching a disaster movie?" Together with the killing of JFK and the Nairobi bombing while I was in the city, 9/11 is one of the four major news items most indelibly carved in my memory.
All international flights were forced to land at a small airport in Newfoundland. They landed 200 jumbo jets at an airport that saw a couple of flights a day.
About your questions about international flights landing, if you haven't already looked into this, I recommend that you take a look at Operation Yellow Ribbon in Gander, Canada
Reading the comments from Brits, I feel it necessary to state that the majority of Americans don't follow international politics and have zero idea about any Americans funding terrorists in Ireland and didn't even know there was bombing in Ireland. It's only when Americans get deployed for war that awareness happens. I'm sure the American ambassador and federal government officials knew but the American public lives in a bubble.
Your absolutely right.. it's like calling every German a nazi.. and us British murderer's..the small individuals didn't make such decisions..good people of this earth will always fight for one another's way of life . If that shit happens again we will be there again.. know you will too
First off . If this happened in the UK it would have been called 11/9. (11th of September.)
Although not just the UK. Many nations use the day, month, year format.
People forget it is the highest number of British dead in a terrorist attack ever to this day.
I was based in the Medical Centre at the Infantry Training Centre in Brecon, Wales on September 11, 2001. I remember a colleague, who had just taken their lunch, rushing in and shouting that New York had been attacked! We didn't know what to think and we all piled into the break room where there was a small TV and we watched as the plane hit the 2nd tower. We stood there in silence and in shock, and then ALL the alarms on the base went off! We'd actually gone to "Bikini Red" (Similar to Def Con 1) which basically meant to expect an imminent attack! We all rushed to our emergency stations, I was checking my medical supplies just in case. I remember the phone ringing and I answered it, and there was an Officer on the other end. He was based in the field (with exercising troops) and he wanted to know where his men were that had gone on sick parade that morning (they were stuck on Camp as going to Bikini Red meant no one on and no one off the base). I remember shouting down the phone that we were at Bikini Red, told him that New York and the Pentagon had been hit, and that he should clear the line as orders were sure to be coming through. We honestly didn't know if the UK was going to be attacked next, or whether this was the start of World War 3. I don't know what that Officer thought, but I did hear that his unit was guarding Cardiff Airport within a few hours of that call.
We saw it happening on a tv at lunchtime UK at work. For the next 2/3 days me and my wife just stared at the tv screen in disbelief. My wife rarely takes interest in the news, but she didn't take her eyes off the screen. Shortly afterwards, I went into hospital for an abcess operation, and I just looked at Muslim nurses and doctors with some kind of distrust. I stayed logical and reasonable, but the feelings crept in. We didn't know how to judge the situation - was this an all-out war between Muslims and non-Muslims? The thoughts came easily. We hadn't seen such an expression of hatred before against a western society. it's sad because the rebound did no good, but it was going to happen.
People saying karma a bitch in the comments like their weren’t British people who died on 9/11 as well ..
In fact, the first time NATO ever invoked Article 5 was in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.
That October, NATO launched its first anti-terror operation, in which multiple NATO countries assisted in patrolling the airspace over the United States.
Article 5 is the cornerstone of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and states that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all of its members.
Despite its importance, NATO has only invoked Article 5 once in its history-in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
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04:54 That's why all international flights from overseas had to land at Gander's International airport in Newfoundland. Also in Halifax Nova Scotia and Vancouver B-C. Within hours, more than 200 planes landed at Canadian airports. Transport Canada says 224 flights carrying 33,000 passengers landed there, while NAV CANADA brings the number of planes to 238. Flights from Asia are being diverted to Vancouver and other western Canadian airport cities , while many of the many transatlantic flights are diverted to the Atlantic provinces.
I believe 17 airports in Canada took in the planes and tried to help those stranded. I remember them in Vancouver and how eerie it was for several days with all planes grounded.
4:52 All traffic was landed at nearby airports, this includes international flights. The international flights not yet in the US were told that no access would be granted that day. Planes near the US diverted to Canada and Mexico, many flights that were over one of the oceans turned around back to Europe or Asia.
I join the army after seeing the towers came down. Totally change my life. Rip to the fallen 🇺🇲🙏🏻🇬🇧
The biggest thing in my memory about 9/11 is the fact i didn't sleep for three days after. Because my home airport was one of the airports, that landed many planes. So i took a few days off school (grade 11 at the time) and volunteered with the Canadian Red Cross, ferrying people from the airport, setting up beds etc. Met some really nice people. Just wish it was under that unfortunate event.
I think it was a wakeup call, there was never war on US territory really (Pearl harbour was a military base far from the mainland) so it must have been a change for them.
I was watching TV in Switzerland when they suddenly stopped the program for this, I was quite young and didn’t realize what that meant but my mom said this would change the world.
That was a truly horrific day.
I'll never forget and I'll never forgive.
Dozens of planes landed in a small town in Newfoundland Canada and thousands of passengers were stranded there for three or four days
Luckily, Osama is Bin bagged at the bottom of the ocean.
@@KissMyFatAxe I don't know if he died happy but 911 was a complete success. He did not like Muslims becoming westernised. The attacks objected was supposed to drive a wedge between Muslims and the west so that Muslims would turn away from the west. There was also the bonus of the attack on Saddam/Iraq who Osama was against.
Even if ur a American not from NY tons of us had family or friends in NYC and too many to count lost people they cared about and even ones who did not know someone personally their hearts broke because as Americans we might seem against eachother ALOT ESPECIALLY Recentlyand i have seen if someplace attacks one of us u attack all of us even tho we have lost alot of that the past few yrs i believe we will still reunite
These comments are wild. I never realized how much Irish people hate us until now.
It's shocking how I watched this as I'm sensitive on this topic (wasn't born in that time but distressed me when I learnt about it)
Regarding international flights on 9/11 you might want to watch a video about "Gander" in Canada. It's a small town in Newfoundland where a lot of the planes had to land since they couldn't enter US airspace resulting in that town becoming host to 10k travelers who just showed up on their doorsteps.. I think they called it "Operation Yellow Ribbon".
I'm from Camada and I remember exactly what I was doing at the time. I was sitting on my couch watching Little House on the Prairie and was annoyed an important episode where Mary loses her baby in a fire was interupted for news. I finally realized what I was seeing although I thought it was a terrible accident and was horrified. I watched the 2nd plane hit live and realized it wasn't an accident and that it was a terrorist attack and started crying for all the dead and what it was all going to mean. When the Pentagon was hit and the towers fell I almost threw up I felt so sick about it. Then the plane that crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania was talked about and we heard all international flights going to USA were being divereted to Canada. I was scared at that point for my fellow Canadians that there might be planes with more terrorists forcing crash landings here as they couldn't fly into the States. I don't think I slept for a few days and I couldn't stop watching the TV and crying for all the victims. I prayed and prayed for the firemen, police and Port Authority people and families of those that died. I wanted the people that planned it all caught and sentenced to life. I didn't want them getting the satisfaction of death and the thought they were going to be rewarded in paradise. I wanted every day they spent in jail to be hell. I honestly think I got a mild type of PTSD because I couldn't stop watching the news and I could tell you exactly what my husband and kids were doing in those hrs too. It is all vivid. So Darn sad.
From what I understand, flights already in US airspace had to land at the nearest airport, but most international flights that were not in US airspace yet landed in nearby countries (Canada in particular, Caribbean countries, etc.). If you haven’t watched anything about the town of Gander in Newfoundland (Canada) and all of the passengers and crew that region in Canada housed, fed, got clothes and medicine and other supplies for, for days until the airspace was open again, you should- very heartwarming story coming out of tragedy. There’s been documentaries and even a musical (Come From Away) about it 💛 💙
International flight either had to divert to airports out side the USA else they were supposed to ditch if they didn’t they would have been shot down. There was a movie that had to divert to and undersized local airport in Canada not capable of taking international flights. I would love to know what the name of this film is.
My most vivid memory of that day is looking up at the sky and seeing all the aircraft contrails making U-shapes as they were ordered to return to the airports.
I knew when the first plane hit that it was no accident. It was horrifying watching it unfold and my heart and thoughts are with all those affected to this day.❤👍🇬🇧
The planes were rerouted to canada to land. There is a vid on UA-cam about Canada's efforts in helping inbounds flight to the USA. It's worth looking into. It's amazing the efforts that werre taken, not only to get the planes down safely, but also helping those that were stuck in a foreign country while also hearing and seeing what happened. It was in Gander Newfoundland
First and only time in history that article 5 of nato was invoked. So 27 countries followed suit on war on terror.....
All these comments about how Americans supported the IRA should be aware of 2 things. First, a small minority of Americans supported the IRA. Second, most Americans think IRA stands for Independent Retirement Account. Americans haven't and still don't pay any attention to what's going in Ireland and the UK unless it involves the royal family. Hate to disappoint you.
So were the Australian soldiers
Was on exercise in Canada. Getting my hair cut . Candian asked me the question my reply was I don't give a shit. They founded the IRA
Well said
What you saw is what your media wanted you to see.
i'm still angered by the shit that happend that day.
International flights were still allowed to land at USA airports for a few hours after the attack. I mean they couldn't simply ban all flights into US airspace and let them run out of fuel and crash into the sea could they?
The general reaction in my office at the time was initially horror and then, well, you reap what you sow.
The word in the Title was International Trade Center ,,,, and on that awful day,,, Sixty Countries lost Citizens in those buildings.
It was a crazy day, i was based in aldersgot at tbe time and was doing an oil change on a lanny wolf, ssm stuck his head out the window and went "boys we have just gone to war"
A boring drama documentary , tower on fire , nothing much happening .Had just got in from work and this was on when I put the tv on. So I took my jacket off, washed my hands , got something out to eat and the boring inane programme was still on. When I sat down I turned the channel over and it was the same programme!! So, of course I had to check a third channel and the same programme!!It had sort of dawned on me that something terrible had happened when I turned the second channel on and the third totally confirmed it.
You need to realise that not only America was affected that day. That day caused the whole world to change and it has never been the same since
I'm British, i watched it live, of course, it was confusing watching it, but i soon knew what it meant, i knew it meant a war was coming, that's depressing. I also wondered how Americans would react to a terrorist attack after they had been funding and supplying Irish terrorists for decades.
I am a day late sorry but from over here scotland uk my thoughts go out 2 everyone that was affected in this tragedy on American life never again horrific thing that hapoened
On the day itself I was as shocked and appalled as any human would be. When I got angry was at Bush then declaring an international war on terror, and rhetoric about how all civilised nations needed to stand together. What he clearly meant was "Now that it affects us, everyone has to help" - despite the US helping fund terror groups around the world, including the IRA attacks on the UK for years.
It was a war against brown-skinned-anti-US terror but I guess admitting that openly wouldn't have helped him drum up support
How old were you in 2001? What impact on your life did this event have, we’re you even old enough to comprehend this attack? Or any attack, world politics at the time etc…
I'm not a soldier, but I remember 9/11 VERY well. I was working in a shop where we sold TV's and we had a whole wall of them playing CNN, by chance. And I remember the shock when the secound plane hit....live on CNN. And I am Norwegian, but it was horrible!