Steve Wiley’s Memories Of 9/11

To borrow, and slightly modify, a phrase, "September 11th, 2001. A date that will live in infamy!"  Most of us can remember where we were when we got the news. I got it on my car radio. As I was leaving for work, one of my co workers, Hans Nelson, said, "We now join Peter Jennings with ABC News." That meant something big was up. Peter stopped in mid sentence to say a second plane had struck the other tower. That made it clear, NOT an accident! I obviously didn't do my usual radio show that day, listening in the studio to the horror unfolding. The next couple of weeks were like something from a post apocalyptic science fiction movie.

I'd visited the "Big Apple" about 3 months earlier. My brother, Jim and I were celebrating  my birthday. We stayed at a Marriott on West St., in lower Manhattan. I'm told it's gone now. We watched a Yankee game at a bar across the street. The owner was behind the bar. We told him I was visiting from Lafayette, La. He smiled & said, "Ron Guidry's hometown." He introduced us to his wife, a native of Metairie. We were just a few blocks from Ground Zero. I've often wondered about those folks.