We Were There For You New York! ... On this day 12 years ago ....

Back in the day, I was a communicator (radio operator) in the Canadiam Navy. I don't know about other country's navies but our number one mandate is to SAVE LIVES.

We were out on a week long exercise, just my ship. It was a boring & mundane kind of trip. We were just off the coast of Virginia.

It was just after 7am, I was tired & looking forward to watch chamge over. I was the watch supervisor & we were just finishing up a very quiet mids (2330-0730) watch (shift) & I was ready for my rack (bed).

I will never forget when that first FLASH message came over the broadcast teletype (messages we receive from shore stations). Flash traffic only means one thing EMERGENCY!! And we weren't in the middle of any exercises or war game so gut reaction was OH FUCK! Cuz it was a NO DUFF situation (real). I read it. ... Plane struck North Tower @ WTC in NYC!! My initial reaction was not good ... "What again?!?!?!?" I was thinking  back to that accident a few years before with that small plane. 

But it was a FLASH and had to be dealt with immediately & POOF I am wide awake & swinging into again!! Sending one of my subordinates off to get the big boss (POTEL & total fucktard), then I grabbed the message myself and went into the OPS room to deliver the message to the Operations Officer to deal with it. This was done within minutes of receiving this message. And I am bouncing by now. Thinking if this WAS just an accident then why was it a FLASH. 

My counterpart (the next watch) had come to the Communication Control Room (CCR) and was ready to take over the watch. Meanwhile the broadcast teletype was churning out more FLASH traffic, most of it repeating what had already been stated & a few insignificant updates. 

The POTEL showed up, very cranky at having been woken up (remember he IS a fucktard - a most hated one at that). Then the Captain came by, grabbed his message file & asked for any updates before darting into the Ops room, next door. We were all kinda "ok, so now what?" ...

Then the broadcast operator yells "FUCK!!! FLASH FLASH FLASH! Another plane just hit the other tower!!!!"

OH FUCK! NYC IS UNDER ATTACK! 

I grabbed the message & ran into the Ops Room, right to the Capt. 

SIR! FLASH MESSAGE - another plane has hit the WTC" ... 

It got deathly quiet in there for about 30 seconds. The Capt took the message and thanked me. I went back into the CCR ... We were all stunned. Even the fucktard had the grace to not sau anything stupid (at that point). 

It wasn't long before the PIPE was made over the ships intercom system. 

"This is the Capt speaking. This morning the WTC has been hit by 2 planes .... It appears that the US is under attack. We must be prepared to aid & assist in anyway possible. More to follow when an action plan has been made. That is all"

Well the whole ship was awake & abuzz by now (350 people). The rumour mill started churning!

We are going to NYC .. We are going to war! etc etc

I was about an hour past my shift change but I was bouncing off the walls. 

Each watch (shift) consists of about 6 people plus there are 6 signalmen (visual communicators) & various supervisors. The CCR can comfortably accommodate maybe 10 people to be able to run efficiently. Nobody wanted to leave. It was hard for Shep (my counterpart) & his people to do their jobs ... But we all wanted to stay & help. 

The FLASHES were coming in at a steady pace. The port of NYC was closed, airspace was restricted ... Nothing unexpected.  

Those people not on watch had a choice they could help or they could go to their racks ... Everybody stayed.

I managed to run to the galley (dining area) to grab a drink & go for a quick smoke. It was packed in there. Somebody had managed to get a really weak sugnal on the TV & you could almost make out the sound & images. Horrifying from what I could tell.

I got back to the CCR (getting stopped frequently by people asking/telling me WE'RE GOING!), just as the OPS Suprrvisor was coming to the CCR. We have a new COMSTATE, we need it up & running as fast as possible! 

So Shep, myself, our supervisor & even the Fucktard took a look & our collective jaws dropped to the floor. There were new voice channels, data channels, ops channels, command channels, emergency channels. And backs ups because more than likely we would be losing our borrowed US Satellite feeds. 

CRAP! I think every piece of our equipped was going to used for this! Shep would start setting up the different transmitters/receivers/dishes/ etc etc.My job was the crypto (top secret codes). I actually had to look alot if it up (lots if technical when it can be used when you had to change it when it had to be destroyed yadda yadda yadda). So many strict rules & guidelines ... Serious business crypto is. We had most if it in our safes in the CCR but I would need to get the Communications Officer to take me back to the vault & sign out the rest if it.

That day was such a blur of activity .... Kaos amidst the horrible kaos was unfolding in New York. 

We worked getting endlessly getting that comm plan up as fast as we could ... One channel at a time .. 

All the while hearing more & more horrific news. The downed plane, the attack on the pentagon, the towers collapsing. Would the hits ever stop coming?

Time stopped, the ship was a flurrie of activity.

The only news was coming out of the CCR via teletype (data). Everybody was anxious for any info at all, the tv signal long lost & no "radio" channels available. 

We started slowly steaming (salling), towards NYC, waiting for the word to come assist. 

"Are we going? Are we going?" Echoed throughout the ship .. Everybody wanting to help with an equal part of eagerness & dread.

It took us most of the day to get the new COMSTATE fully up & operational. The "watch" changed again at 1130 but nobody noticed as nobody had gone anywhere & nobody planned on going anywhere.

Except for the fucktard. Apparently he had "disappeared" sometime in the morning .. Nobody even noticed (or gave a fuck for that matter). I don't remember too much of what hsppened during the day, so focused on the job at hand & keeping eyes on the broadcast teletype for more news. 

The fucktard sauntered in at about 1600hrs (4pm) ... Shep & I were sitting at the Watch supervisor station, going through the commstate, confident that we FINALLY had everything up & working properly. The Capt was satisfied & the Ops room working properly. And there is Fucktard standing there staring at Shep & I, with his jaw hanging open like the idiot he is. Apparently he found it inconceivable that we would miss rack time in order to get the job done *rolls eyes*

And by then, we were informed that we would not be required in NYC ... The US had closed up ranks & did not want any outside help ... Understandable. But we were to stay on stand by & "thank you for your assistance" 

I don't really remember much after that. It was almost time for watch turnover again - 1830 (630pm). Things were almost quiet & almost back on an even keel. I don't remember why ... Probably because I was still do wired & we were still tweaking the new circuits, but I opted to stay up on watch with Shep ... Aiding & abetting, although I made sure the rest of my watch got some rack time.

So we are doing this & that. Cleaning up, getting things back in order. I know I was reading thru all the messages that had come in that day ... Still horrified & in shock.

 Then at 2200hrs (10pm) the Inmarsat satellite phone rang! That thing is more of a paper weight than anything for the amount of use it gets. So I answer it ...

"TELLMEYOU'REPINGINGTHATPLANE!!!"

"Excuse me, Sir?"

"THIS IS LT PANIC BUTTON CALLING FROM

NORAD!!!   TELLMEYOUAREPINGINGTHATPLANE!!!!!"

"Please Sir, calm down & repeat slowly Sir"

*swears at me* but complies ...

"This is Lt Panic Button, there is an identified aircraft in your vicinity, go to the Ops room & make sure they have it in radar!"

"Right away Sir, stand by"

FUCK! Haven't all planes been grounded????

The Ops room DID indeed have it on radar, I informed him & hung up the phone. I never found out anything more about this mysterious plane. 

I went out to the upper decks for some air & a smoke. I watched the sky & never felt smaller in my entire life.

I went back to start my watch @2330. It was a quite mids shift & finally after about 30 hrs of straight work & high stress, I went to my rack at about 0800 the next morning. I had trouble sleeping! 

We floated around in international waters just off the coast til the next Sunday ... Ready & waiting .. Standing by for the call to assist, that never came.

When I finally got home, my ex had recorded at leash 8 hours of news coverage from the day. I sat there for HOURS just watching everything unfold. I was like a deer caught in the headlights. It was made oh so much more real to me than having "lived" thru it once already! :'(

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit ground zero & pay my respects, just 13 months later. It was still so raw, so haunted, so sad. I only meant to be there an hour but 4 & a half hours flew by in a heartbeat, & I finally had to drag myself away with a heavy heart!

I want to thank Joeyred52, for his moving post this morning. You made me think about that day & my little part in it (something I had not done in a very long time) & you inspired me to commit it to writing. (((hugs)))

Ooo, I just realized that is the last trip I ever took! I got posted to Ottawa (to the crypto unit, which is kinda itonic after thay) where I subsequentially retired)!!!

(((hugs))) to lose who lost their lives or lost loved ones, all those injured, the first responders, volunteers & everybody else effected! 

:'(