Someone mentioned to me last week while I was in L.A. for the E3 show that Bonaire had come up in some context with respect to Dick Cheney's daughter, Mary.

Found the following interview excerpt on-line:

You and Heather love to scuba dive. What happened when you were on the island of Bonaire diving on Sept. 11, 2001?
I remember it was an amazing dive. There were a couple of cuttlefish we followed for a ways. We came back up and were getting ready to go to the second dive site and here comes this minivan tearing down the road. I turn to Heather and say that (it) kind of looks like the (secret service) agents. At which point you hear screeching and the van does a U-turn and comes back to us. One of the agents jumps out of it and says something has happened, we've got to go. And that's all he said. I thought something had happened to my dad. You're just so stunned, you don't ask. It's something you never think is going to happen.

So you didn't know for a while if your dad was okay?
We got in the van. I was in a wet suit. They took us back to the hotel and told us planes had flown into the World Trade Center and there'd been an attack on the Pentagon. We turned on the TV as the second tower fell. It was an hour or two to find out that they (her parents) were okay. I talked to my mom first. I talked to my dad about an hour later.

How did it feel to hear their voices?
Relief. Especially talking to my dad. As soon as I talked to my dad, I knew everything was going to be okay. He's just the most even keeled person in the world. He knows where you have to go and he's going to get there. He knows what has to be done.

How did you get back to the U.S.?
No one knew how to get us out of Bonaire. All the flights were shut down and Heather and I had been diving and usually you are not allowed to fly for 24 hours after you've been diving. We stayed there a couple more days and they eventually sent a customs plane for us back to D.C.

Jake, thanks, very interesting! We were supposed to fly back from Bonaire on 9/11, but AJ switched flights around and we had to rearrange our schedule and come back a day early...9/10...she sure would have been an interesting guest!

Grasshopper!! We could have met way back then! I was on island during 9/11 and couldn't get a plane out till the following Wednesday and I had to fly home with the broken knee that happened the Monday before leaving. It will be a moment in time that is engraved in my mind forever. Being away from my family and country during that time was an horrific experience. Jake opened up is home to myself and roomates and we all comforted each other as Linda was in the states at the time.

Wow... interesting stuff today ! Darlene... I remember all that with your poor knee.... ouch....

Hoppy

Sue & I were also in Bonaire on 9/11. We came back from a dive at Capn Don's to find everyone watching TV at the Deco Stop just as the second plane flew into the tower.

I find these comments fascinating and very interesting. Would others who were either stranded on Bonaire or there as a guest please add comments. What did the Bonaireans think about the attack? Did things pretty much come to halt on Bonaire as it did in many parts of the U.S.? What about ex-pats? What were your feelings and/or experiences that day?

Someone I work with told me the other day she had been watching Larry King Live and the VP's daughter was on as a guest and mentioned her Bonaire trip on 9-11 and how they had to get her and her friend off the island.

We keep adding VIP's who love to dive on Bonaire! But, not "all" of them love to dive...some just stay onboard their vessels and meditate, or whatever it is they do! LOL.

I missed the show but my friend said she did a double-take and said "hey, someone I work with goes there!" and couldn't beleive she was hearing about Bonaire on TV as she knows it is not a well-known place to most of the world (thank goodness...well, at least some of us feel that way.) Carole

The Americans who live here were all in a state of shock on 9/11. We receieved tremendous moral support from the local folks as well as the Europeans who lived here.

Michael, thanks for the post....maybe we should also post this one in some of the "other" threads that have been dragging on a bit of late. It's times like 9-11 that people have the best and worst come out in them...mostly the "best" is what occurs and what we all remember. Thanks for sharing. Carole

I agree with George - fascinating topic for discussion. Something I hadn't thought about before.

Correct me if I'm wrong - but Mary really did not see a "cuttlefish" in bonaire. Probably a squid right?