Remember where you were, what you were doing and what you thought on this day seven years ago?

For many, the 9-11 attacks were up close and personal. We watched it on television. In real time.

For some of us it was even closer. I had just started with WFED. We were in a training session on the fourth floor. Our building is in the Cleveland Park section of D.C., close to Washington National Cathedral and on one of the highest points in town. For this part of town we look down to the Pentagon which is just across the Potomac in Virginia.

During our class, I forget what we were learning, a woman from another company in the building came in and asked us what was going on. She said an airplane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings. I immediately thought of the World War 2 accident when an Army bomber hit the Empire State building. But this, it turned out, was no accident.

There was the second crash, the crash into the Pentagon and then the Pennsylvania crash. That fourth hijacked plane was heading for D.C., either the Capitol building or the White House. Passengers fought back, forcing it to crash in an open field.

Quite a day.

From my office building we watched the smoke from the Pentagon.

I found out later that my oldest son was on the other side of the Pentagon, catching a bus, when the hijacked airliner smashed into the Pentagon.

My other son was at Dulles Airport (from whence one of the hijacked airplanes took off) attending a training session. Later still I found out that somebody very near and dear to me now was scheduled to take United Flight 77 out of Dulles on 9-11. But problems came up and she was forced to fly out a day early, on September 10th.

Such is life!

I have a photo of a woman, one of many people in the World Trade Centers, who was forced to jump from her office to escape the flames. She jumped from something like the 50th floor. In the picture she is falling feet first. In a tragic last effort to preserve her dignity, she is holding her dress down even as she hurtles to her death!!!

Tough day indeed.

In addition to the dead of 9-11, many people were wounded, some disabled or disfigured for life. Children were left without parents. The one bright spot is that those children, and the orphans of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, will all get an all-expenses paid college education. For more on that, and to find out how you can help now, click here.

This morning, the Defense Department will officially dedicate the Pentagon Memorial site, honoring those who died in the 9-11 attack. There will be ceremonies, officials and family members. As well as members of the public.

Traffic around the Pentagon, always tough in rush hour, will be impacted. Streets will be closed from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Several people have called news outlets here complaining about the timing of the ceremonies (which are often planned to coincide with the timing of events). The complaints are mostly about the impact it will have on their commute. Why, one man asked, couldn’t they do this on a weekend?

Think about it, buddy!

From the President’s Proclamation

From WhiteHouse.gov:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2008, as Patriot Day. I call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Patriot Day. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe Patriot Day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and remembrance services, to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that day, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time to honor the innocent Americans and people from around the world who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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