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Man what a site.
After reading a lot of the content, it is definitely one of my
bookmarks. Wow, I can relate to this site.
I lived my early years in WV and graduated in 1965 from Elk Garden High School in Mineral County, the great Eastern Panhandle. My dad was a
coal miner for 42 years, a WWII veteran (purple heart recipient, black
lung recipient, and still living at 86.) My mom, the traditional WV
housewife and homemaker, 78 and not a gray hair in her head. I call her
a domestic engineer. I make the trip to WV to visit them no less than
once a month.
I spent 24 years in the Air Force, retiring in 1997. I had some great
assignments, Mississippi, Germany, California (twice), Washington, DC
(twice), and a not so great assignment to Iceland. During my career in
the Air Force I received my Bachelor's Degree from Golden Gate
University in San Francisco, CA. I am now employed by the Federal
Communications Commission in Washington, DC.
The floor I am on in my building overlooks the great Potomac River,
which I lived beside during my childhood, and we have a great view of
the Pentagon, Reagan Airport, Jefferson Memorial, and other points of
interest in the area. The Pentagon is less than a mile (as the crow
flies) from our building across the river.
We were watching CNN on 9/11, in the conference room which also
overlooks the Pentagon, and after the second plane went into the WTC and
we figured out by now that it was a terrorist attack, I mentioned to one
of my colleagues that there was nothing to stop one from doing that to
the White House or Pentagon. I went back to my desk and another me by and said the Pentagon had been hit. We just missed
seeing it go into the Pentagon. We both ran to the window and black
smoke was pouring out of the Pentagon. What a sickly sight. I will
never forget it. Within a half hour, with reports that another plane
was in the air and headed for DC, our building was evacuated and people were sent home. Traffic was gridlocked. Bridges were closed. Finally
we heard that 395 south was open all the way, so we did a turnaround and
cruised rather quickly to Northern Virginia, by the Pentagon which was
really blazing by now. The smell of the smoke was sickening. People
were lined up along 395 watching the great emergency crews doing their
jobs - helpless and wondering what would happen next.
Now we are back to a state of alert, wondering what will happen this
week, if anything. I will be nowhere near Washington, DC on the 4th of
July.
Keep up the good work with the website. Love it.
AL
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Al McCloud
Telecommunications Accessibility Specialist
Telecommunications Consumers Division |