Remembrance…

History 5 Minutes

On 9/11, I was working for Schiebel Technology, which is an Austrian company, at the old Vint Hill Farms Army base and had my computer set to receive breaking news alerts. About the same time the breaking news alert popped up on my computer, one of the trainers (ex-Army) came rushing out of his office to say 2 planes had hit the Twin Towers in NYC. We had no TV reception, although we had at least 5 TVs that were used for presentations on the CamCopter at trade shows, but no antenna. I lived only a mile from the base and had a set of rabbit ears so I rushed home to get them.

CamCopter ensemble

We set up the TV just outside the back door, which was the only place we could get any reception. Updates were being given every half-hour so everyone rushed downstairs to watch the updates. Then we heard about the alleged plane that hit the Pentagon (I still believe it was a missile). Whoa!!! That was WAY too close to home and we were on an old Army Base – could we be next???? Heather called me to say, “Mom, thank God you don’t work at the Pentagon any more!!!!” The plane hit on the 1st floor, Corridor 4 and extending into Corridor 5, all the way thru to the B ring near the center of the Pentagon; I worked on the 3rd floor, D ring, 7th corridor. For your info:

Diagram of Pentagon

It takes a lot to make me really cry – serious crying is not something I do often. On Friday of that week, I took the company Tahoe to Warrenton to get our mail. On the way back, Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA” came on the radio – I was overcome with tears, sobbing, and had to pull over on the side of the road because I couldn’t even see.

Ten days later, 8 Egyptian Naval officers arrived for training on the CamCopter system. 9/11 will always be inextricably linked to the Egyptians for me. They were all incredibly respectful and thoughtful – every time they came to my house, they brought me some gift: flowers, small statues, a papyrus, etc., etc.

Postcard from Walau

We considered cancelling the training, especially since 2 of the guys who worked for us (the two Mikes) chose to quit and re-up in the Army to work on their AUV program – but the owner, Hans Schiebel, made the decision not to cancel. They had to bring Peter over from Austria for the training. We also weren’t sure about the reception the Egyptians would get in rural VA. However, all went well and each, to a man, stood with the US against this horrific action – of course, I didn’t know the truth then, nor did they, I expect. I’ve written about my experiences with the Egyptians before but one particular circumstance really sticks in my mind.

Wajdi (who really wanted to be a chef – he was in charge when they prepared the Ramadan meal at my house, which began on November 11, 2001 and lasted for a month) wanted to do some sightseeing over a week-end and was going to rent a car to go to FL. I told him he shouldn’t go to FL – the only thing to see there was beaches and a lot of retired people. I suggested he should go to New York City and he took my advice.

HB and Wajdi on Thanksgiving

While he was there walking around, people kept asking him if he was Spanish, giving his complexion. He repeatedly informed them that, no, he was Egyptian, but he was getting tired of it. So the next time someone asked him, he just agreed. Unbeknownst to him, there was an undercover FBI agent nearby and he promptly stopped him to ask why he had lied.

He was in a quandary as to what to do if the agent didn’t believe him. He told me he thought, “Should I call an attorney? No, I’ll call Judy – she’ll take care of this for me!” Thankfully, since he had the laminated card we had made for all of them identifying them as students here for training at Schiebel, the agent was finally convinced and left him alone.

We bought a 15 passenger van so we could ferry all of them around at one time, if need be. I took those who were interested on a tour of Skyline Drive. We had them over for an old-fashioned American BBQ and spent Christmas Eve with them.

Sightseeing on Skyline Drive
Aymon and my grandson on Christmas Eve – Aymon gained the nickname of “Troublemaker Aymon” after he showed Gage what fun it was to throw a Nerf ball into the ceiling fan! He was also the one who had never had brown sugar before and he asked me to make him an entire batch of my Sweet Potatoes after I served it on Thanksgiving. Of course I did, and he didn’t share even ONE bite with any of the other guys!

The picture below was taken the day they all graduated from the training. The man standing on the far right was the rep from the Egyptian company with whom Schiebel had collaborated in the sale of 4 CamCopter systems to the Egyptian Navy, Mr. Shehata. Peter, from Austria, is standing to my right.

Graduation – they flew out on Christmas Day

At one point, Mr. Shehata approached me about a problem one of the younger guys was having at the hotel where they were staying. Apparently, he made some calls to a 900 line at some point and found himself broke from having to pay for the phone charges. I agreed to work with the hotel to see what could be done so I went to the hotel manager and requested a detailed listing of the calls. As I perused the bill, I noticed that some calls were being placed during the day when I knew for a fact that he was at Vint Hill training.

Back to see the manager, who refused to do anything until I demanded to speak to their Regional Manager. She backed off right quick and ended up refunding the entire amount. After that, I was golden, pure and simple! Many of them called me their American Mom! We had sooooo much fun!

Aziz (left) and Magdi (right) – Magdi, whose Father was an Admiral, was engaged, arranged when they were children, and was supposed to buy his fiance a wedding gown while he was in the US. Yeah, no, that didn’t happen! He didn’t even want to return to Egypt but I convinced him that, if he was going to do that, he had to go back and do it the right way. He did end up and marry her. Aziz and I stayed in touch up until I got banned at FB.

Later in 2001, Life Magazine came out with a memorial book and another book of only pictures was produced by Magnum Photographers. I ordered both of them immediately and have scanned some pics to include here.

“One Nation: America Remembers September 11, 1001” (sorry about the glare)
View from Space
Debris Field

Searching for the missing:

Pennsylvania Site

We would very much enjoy hearing about your experiences and feelings regarding 9/11.

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Published by NebraskaFilly

Army veteran (1976-1979), retired with entirely too much time on my hands

Published

88 thoughts on “Remembrance…”

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  15. techno fog trying to use FOIA to get fib records on epstein…
    FTA

    Wait. Was pedophile Jeffrey Epstein an informant for Mueller’s FBI?

    From the 5/24/18 FBI Vault release: “Epstein has also provided information to the FBI as agreed upon.”

    Is that why he escaped serious charges for molesting over twenty girls? pic.twitter.com/K4suAumD85
    — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 24, 2018

    Techno Fog believes that Epstein had more interactions with the FBI than the one identified in the above tweet. Therefore, he submitted a simple FOIA request to the FBI: Hand over all information from its interviews with Epstein. That’s where the FBI made a surprising admission through omission:

    How did the FBI respond? Not by denying the existence of any records.

    The FBI hid behind a technicality:

    Instead, the FBI is hiding behind FOIA’s law enforcement exemption, stating that the production of the Epstein records would interfere with ongoing law enforcement investigations:

    “The records responsive to your request are law enforcement records; there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records, and release of the information could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”

    The way Techno Fog reads this, with Epstein dead and Maxwell in jail, there are no ongoing “enforcement proceedings” regarding the two people most immediately responsible for illegal activities with underage girls. Techno Fog says that, back in the summer of 2020, there was a grand jury investigation into possible Epstein co-conspirators, but “we rightly assume no charges were brought against whoever was being investigated.”

    So, where does that leave things:

    It’s more likely that the Epstein records might embarrass the FBI. The DOJ and FBI have been known to abuse the FOIA law enforcement exemption to hide investigative materials from public release. We’ve seen them do it. And they’re doing it again.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/09/is_the_fbi_is_hiding_embarrassing_information_about_jeffrey_epstein.html

    Liked by 1 person

  16. UPDATE: I said i would do an update after trying the memory tricks for a month and it’s been a little bit more than that. The trick I found the most helpful with lists is making a “phone number” sounding list. like…from the store I need:
    crackers/cereal/soup (pause) bread/sugar/flour (pause) eggs/milk/yogurt/cheese

    I’ve found I remember what I’m going into another room for if i take a moment to visualize. if i’m going in there to get something…i picture in my mind where it is. if I’m going to ask my hubby something, I say it in my mind…it’s been working mostly. it’s when i rush, I tend to forget.

    names? I picture something silly in my mind. our waitress at the new restaurant last week was LeAnne…and she wasn’t wearing a name tag. (so i’m guessing on the spelling) I pictured her leaning on a giant pencil….lol…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I spend 90% of my day sitting right here at my table so I keep a small tablet with a pen on the bottom right corner of the table…..more than once I’ve walked out of another room to add something to the list, then return to the room I just came from. Otherwise, if I wait, by the time I finish what I’m doing and get back up to the front of the house, I will have forgotten it. My mind will be on to other things.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. i have bunches of tablets…lol…
        each has a purpose…craft ideas, shopping list, menu plans, and so on…
        still i walk into another room looking for something…i used to forget–I wasn’t focusing on the task at hand. now i do or try to…LOL

        Liked by 1 person

  17. A couple of interesting videos – NatGeo did a series of videos – last year, I think – that I watched about 9/11. The most interesting for me was the one from the Gander airfield in Newfoundland as they tried to land all those planes. I found a short version of that but you may have to buy the series to see the whole thing. This is an excerpt shown by Discovery Canada:

    This also includes some of the Gander info:

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Entire Article @ TheBlaze: “On the issue of crime and “law & order,” which party should be trusted: Republicans or Democrats? That was the question C-SPAN posed to viewers recently, receiving more than the network bargained for when a black man who lived in a Democrat-run city for decades made it clear Democrats cannot be trusted to solve crime problems.

    What happened?

    Last month, during an open forum on the “Washington Journal,” a black man who lived New York for decades called into the show to tell “the truth” about Democrat-run cities.

    “I believe the Republicans are better. Why? As a New Yorker that lived in New York from Mayor Koch through Mayor Bloomberg, Democrats and particularly these days, in all honesty as a black man telling the truth, Democratic mayors that is black, whether they male or female; Democratic police commissioners that’s black, male or female… Democratic cities, they’re run into the ground,” the caller said.

    Earlier in the show, another caller from New York said Republicans have the “moral high ground” on the issue of violent crime.

    “In this particular case, the Republican Party has the moral high ground. I say that because recently, you watched, in my opinion, Democratic support for the burning and looting of our cities— calling them ‘peaceful protests,’ destroying monuments and everything,” that caller said.

    What do polls show? Violent crime is one of the most important issues to voters, often ranking just behind the economy in various polls. And, just like the callers who phoned into C-SPAN, more voters appear to trust the Republican Party over the Democratic Party to solve problems of violent crime.”

    Liked by 2 people

  19. we made a sad, but probably wise decision this morning. we are removing the fencing around the grapevines–probably early next spring. The (profanity censored) raccoons ate EVERY LAST GRAPE on the vines…I am just disgusted. it seems those suckers know right when we’re going to pick the fruit–either the apples or the grapes– and do it the night before!
    i give up

    Liked by 1 person

  20. EXCERPT: “Story at-a-glance:

    – Emerging statistics on excess mortality rates paint an alarming picture. Far more people died in 2021, after the rollout of the COVID-19 shots, and in 2022, than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

    – Mainstream media are trying to divert your attention from the elephant in the room — mass injection with experimental gene transfer technology — to anything and everything but that.

    – The Telegraph blames the unexplained excess deaths on lockdown effects. Many didn’t have access to routine medical care during lockdowns and are now dying from chronic diseases that went untreated.

    – The UK Office for National Statistics data released on Aug. 16 show excess deaths in England and Wales were, as of Aug. 5, 14.4% higher than the five-year average, which works out to 1,350 more deaths per week than normal. A majority of these excess deaths were cardiovascular in nature — a primary adverse effect of the COVID-19 jabs.

    – In the U.S., we lost 349,000 younger Americans to something besides COVID-19 and non-natural death between April 3 and Aug. 13, and that’s not counting the tens of thousands of death records that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has inexplicably deleted. As much as 15% to 25% of the death reports that could indicate a COVID-19 jab death are missing. Other data show that during the fall of 2021, Millennials, aged 25 to 44, had an 84% increase in excess deaths.

    Emerging statistics on excess mortality rates paint an alarming picture. Far more people died in 2021, after the rollout of the COVID-19 shots, and in 2022, than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. I will review some of those shocking statistics — which are mirrored around the world — in a moment.

    But while rational people look at these figures and ask themselves what the most apparent and likely cause behind this sudden rise in deaths of working-age adults and younger people might be, mainstream media are trying to divert your attention from the elephant in the room — mass injection with experimental gene transfer technology — to anything and everything but that.”

    https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/increased-mortality-rates-cola/

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Little Man showed up for breakfast; it was really cold last night – 46 when I got up around 6:30. As soon as I opened my front door, he approached and I went to get his bag of food from the patio. By the time I got back, Jake was already crouched by the door growling. LM rubbed and purred and rolled until I poured out the food, then set to eating. Now he’s off somewhere again.

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  26. H/T Rodney – EXCERPT: “A colder-than-usual winter is expected to arrive much sooner, good news for snow lovers, but not so good for the rest of us! According to the outlet’s extended forecast, the United States can expect quite a few winter weather disturbances throughout the season. The Farmers’ Almanac goes into specific dates, including:

    Folks in the Rockies and across the Plains are going to see a whole lot of snow during the first week of January 2023. “We see good potential for heavy snow that may reach as far south as Texas and Oklahoma, followed by a sweep of bitterly cold air,” reads the Almanac(opens in new tab).

    During the week between January 16 and 23, the eastern two-thirds of the country should get ready for pretty awful weather punctuated by both heavy rain and snow, followed by “one of the coldest outbreaks of arctic air we have seen in several years.” Temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees below zero. That’s incredibly frigid.

    HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL IN THE UNITED STATES THIS WINTER 2022/23?

    Overall, the Farmers’Almanac predicts a snow-heavy winter across the nation. Those in highest cold-weather peril will find themselves in the middle of an active storm track that is predicted to run from the western Gulf of Mexico all the way to the northeast, across the Virginias and touching upon New York state and New England, all areas that are used to bracing for the coldest winter across the country.

    States positioned to the south of the predicted storm track shouldn’t expect a mild winter, though. The outlet warns of chilly temperatures, wintry mixes of snow, sleet and ice, and pretty frequent storms. Moving north to the central states, residents can hope for a white Christmas as the area is scheduled to receive plenty of snow. South central states, though, will likely see the harshest weather by early January. The Southwest sets itself apart from the rest of the country as the Farmers’ Almanac predicts a less-than-normal amount of precipitation throughout the winter season.”

    https://www.womanandhome.com/life/farmers-almanac-revealed-its-winter-2022-predictions-and-its-not-looking-good/

    Liked by 1 person

  27. “This important news just in….” (gif sock puppet)

    “Hillary claims in CBS interview that she wears pantsuits because of reporters upskirting her”

    “I’m thinking about moving back to my home state….”

    “The King”


    “Yes, he believes that cats are an even lower life form than Raccoons”

    “Did I say that out loud???”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. how did they manage to sneak threatening a public official on the list of things that will not require bail? don’t they normally protect their asses more than that? LOL

      Like

  28. so we went to the same pizza hut restaurant last evening (i was still hungry for bread sticks) and yet again the dining room was closed on a Saturday!
    we went further along the highway–there’s another pizza hut (in a college town) –they were HOPPING!! but they had 2 cooks and plenty of servers so we didn’t wait long for anything!

    as we were pulling onto the blacktop from our dirt road, i saw the truck that had TRUMP 2024 and FJB flags we saw last week… i told hubby to honk and i waved and he honked back and waved!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. waterfall is non existent yet…the outfall pipes are still above the water so it’s not draining the excess out of the pond yet…but it’s raining again today…so we’ll see.
        there were 2 smaller trees down (but not on our driveway thankfully) and someone had already cut them in pieces on the side of the road.

        Liked by 1 person

  30. Since the temp is dropping, I decided I needed to see if, and when, I need to bring in the Clematis and Vinca plants for the winter. Supposedly, I can leave the Clematis outside….hmmmm….they do need a period of dormancy, I know that, so I will compromise and put them in the garage. The Vincas in the feeder will hang in the south window in the main bathroom, with the other 3 on the counter underneath….unless I can figure out a way to hang them both from the same hook….yeah, that’s the ticket. I’ve got a long enough chain….well, we’ll see which works best.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. “refugees” go home to visit their home countries as soon as they get passports from their “new” countries…proving that those countries ARE NOT DANGEROUS–so they should not have been granted refugee status…
    fta
    As soon as Abir Shalati received her Swedish passport, she went on holiday home to Syria. In December 2018, she described on Facebook how she hated having to “wait for that wine-red booklet called a passport”.

    In July 2019, she wrote that it was then only a few days until she would visit her “home country, for the first time after 7 years”.

    According to the Aliens Act, a person “ceases to be a refugee if he or she, of his or her own free will, again avails himself or herself of the protection of the country of which he or she is a national”. However, this does not apply to immigrants who have already been granted Swedish citizenship and therefore cannot be expelled under current legislation.

    Meanwhile, Abir Shalati has presented herself as a “proud refugee” in social media campaigns. Among them in the group “New Swedes in Sweden”, where she highlights the lucrative career she has been able to pursue in Swedish state media.

    On social media, she has also shared “Islamist propaganda”, according to Samhällsnytt. In Kristianstadsbladet’s Arabic edition Mosaik, she wrote a column last year claiming that it is just a myth that women were oppressed by Islam.

    Abir Shalati declined to comment when approached by Samhällsnytt. Instead, she has deleted photos and posts from her social media accounts, according to the site.

    In a post on Facebook in June this year, the Swedish Migration Agency gave tips to immigrants from the third world who want to travel on holiday to the country they fled from.

    “I want to travel home and visit my family this summer, can I do that if my residence permit has expired and I’m waiting for a decision on extension?” Thus reads the common question that the Swedish Migration Agency has answered in a Facebook post.

    The authority’s response reads:

    “If you plan to leave Sweden, you should ensure that you have a valid passport and a valid residence permit card because you must be able to present these documents when you travel back into Sweden. If you travel when your residence permit card has expired, you may have to wait for your decision outside Sweden.”
    Swedes unhappy about the obvious scam

    At the same time, the Swedish Migration Agency warned immigrants that it was the border police who controlled entries to Sweden. “The Migration Agency cannot decide whether you are allowed to enter the country or not,” the agency noted.

    The post has received a large number of indignant comments from other users on Facebook.

    “If you want to travel home to your home country this summer on vacation, it would probably be safe to return and thus there would be no justification for a residence permit,” one writer pointed out.

    https://freewestmedia.com/2022/09/11/eight-out-of-ten-refugees-have-vacationed-in-their-home-country/

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  36. Good Morning y’all …

    A very poignant morning it is… so grateful Filly for your Open, and a wonderful summary of all the horrific moments of that day … one which we will never forget …

    Sad to not find ‘remembrance’ enough elsewhere …

    Like others I too remember vividly where I was etc, but the last few days have been really difficult and extremely emotional… to the extent that I can’t go ‘back there’ not today… so won’t share.

    (Doncha love when “Mary Sunshine” pays a visit? 😉 )

    Liked by 2 people

  38. man who beheaded a woman in CA in front of her children is from Venezuela –illegally here after his tourist visa expired 10 yrs ago (?)…Landaeta is his name, Castro is hers
    FTA
    Gannon also stated in the taped interview that Landaeta was a “diagnosed schizophrenic on meds and he would use that as an excuse for his behavior. He drank excessively, and you’re not supposed to do that on those medications.”

    Noyes looked at some combative, expletive-laced Snapchat messages between Karina Castro and Landaeta that were exchanged before the murder took place in which Castro threatened to tell people about Landaeta’s conviction for raping a minor. Castro responded with “F*** around and find out.” Castro fired back with “u wana put a target on my back ur homies gunna kno the real u,” and “dude go head try and take my a** out.” Then Castro threatened to tell people about Landaeta’s sexual relationship with another man.

    You can watch Dan Noyes interview the family below. The interview starts with Gannon telling Noyes, “I’m vaccinated and boosted and everything so you’re safe.”

    https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/kevindowneyjr/2022/09/11/update-beheaded-mom-identified-and-guess-what-the-killer-is-an-illegal-immigrant-with-an-expired-visa-n1628474

    Liked by 1 person

  39. James Wood is correct—this is despicable–especially today!!!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. plea for 9/11 architect…taking death penalty OFF the table for them pleading guilty. will they EVER prosecute a single criminal? they go after innocents though

      FTA
      U.S. military prosecutors are reportedly negotiating potential plea deals with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other conspirators imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. The plea deals may allow the five dependents to escape a potential death penalty, according to CBS. Mohammed is widely credited with being the architect of the 9/11 terror attacks. The other four defendants are Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, Walid bin Attash and Ammar al-Baluchi.

      Attorneys for the defendants reportedly say they would be willing to enter a guilty plea in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table, as well as for getting treatment for alleged torture they experienced while in CIA custody.

      https://thelibertydaily.com/its-no-coincidence-the-biden-harris-regime-leaked-plea-deal-with-9-11-mastermind-today-to-see-this-headline-on-september-11-is-appalling/

      Liked by 1 person

  47. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

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