More “Where were you?” questions

It seems I am frequently among the last to know! Such is life!
In the September 13th issue of the Northeast News, my good friend and fellow newspaper buddy, Bobby Horn, Jr. asked the question “Where were you on 9-11?” As with you it brought back some memories, in this case not many years ago but it also took me back many years about other, “Where were You?” questions.
On September 11, I’m sure I was among the last to know about that tragedy. As I recall the first plane hit the New York tower shortly after 9 a. m.( EST). I did not know about the event until just a couple of minutes before noon EST. I’ve been retired from Union Carbide Corporation (a large chemical company of that day) since 1991. A few weeks before 9/11 some UCC officials had asked about 30 of us, all retired, to meet with a couple of company reps and discuss improving communications between UCC and its retirees. We met in a large conference room in a company building but only a couple of people knew we were there. We had entered the facility about 7:30 a. m. (EST).
When reports of the attack began, since no one knew we were there, we were not told.

Not until we emerged a few minutes before noon to go to the cafeteria for lunch did we find out what had happened. As we walked into the lobby of the building it was filled with people watching on a couple of available TV sets. Like you, we were astounded Our work had ended and only lunch was left. Some of us skipped this free lunch and headed for home.
Once there I watched the events on TV for the rest of that day and into the next.
Bobby made me feel old in his written word of the last issue. He mentioned being too young to answer the question, “Where were you when JFK was shot?” I can well remember, as I was sitting in a Workman’s Compensation hearing at the Statehouse with several attorneys dealing with compensation problems. I stepped out of the hearing chambers for a soft drink and got the news. I returned, told the group and the hearing was immediately stopped.
The question “Where were you when Pearl Harbor was attack?” was the first memorable “Where were you,” of my life. That was a Sunday and my mother, dad, a cousin who was visiting with us, and I had all gone to church that morning, had finished Sunday dinner and I was sitting at a table with my mother and cousin playing three-handed bridge. My mother was a bridge player and at eleven I was learning the facts of bridge.
Those are the three memorable historic occasions of my life that are still quite clear. Others “where were you,” questions concerned President Roosevelt’s death while in office, D-Day, the day World War II ended and the day President Reagan was shot but not killed. They still stick in my mind but have less significance than the top three—particularly Pearl Harbor.
Such are the people, places and things that have touched my life in my West Virginia home!
Don Springer is a writer for the Charleston, West Virginia newspapers, but he and his wife often visit in Crosby & Houston. He can be reached at touchlife@ worldnet.att.net