How I missed the Minneapolis tragedy

George (Snuffy) Sternweis former second baseman for the New York Yankees was a fast runner and leading Base Stealer in the 1945 era. He was commuting to New York from New Jersey working on Wall Street and rode the Train into the City everyday. One Day the Train was pulling out of the Station and Snuffy being a fast runner chased the Train and caught it to board the Train. That Day the Train went off the open Bridge into the River between New Jersey and New York. Snuffy died. Had He not been a fast runner He would have missed the Train. So Your Son wanted to see Batting Practice saved Your Life. It goes both ways.

I live in Tacoma Wa. I have been a truck driver for many years. I used to cross the bridge every week. to make a delivery on the ST Paul side. Im just so shocked. I actually have always been scared of the big bridges and the weight that they have to hold up to. not just carrying big semis but cars to the avarage car is 2000 to 5000 lbs and semi trucks 30000 to 80000lbs it could happen any where. we have bridges here in Wa that I just hate the Narrows is the one that i hate the most. if it fell OMG. and wind in the west can get really bad. the Bridge at Biggs Jct Or. I had crossed with a full load one day the wind was killer gust to as high as 80mph about 30min after i crossed a empty semi was sitting on the bridge waiting in construction the wind blew the truck off the bridge. the truck and trailer went into the columbia river both drivers died. that could have been me. I thanked the lord I had a very heavy load. but even then as i sat there on that bridge i prayed that i didnt get blown off it. my truck shacked a rocked back and forth with the wind. My prayers and heart go out to all who were on the 35 bridge. I cryed this is so tragic. and knowing that if i hadent given up over the road for local I could have been there. cause it was every wendsday that i deliverd my load. and crossed back over to head back to the truck stop up on 94. I am so sad this has happend. I hope they find out what caused this. My prayers to all. Peanut

Wow...
What a good reminder we all need to stop and count our blessings a little more often.

I just have to say GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!! I have been keeping up w/ it on the net & it is just a sickening tragedy. The thought of all of the chaos, mass destruction, & the loss & injuries of so many people, makes my heart just hurt. Please find a way to overcome this horrible incident & the best to all of you. My heart TRULY goes out. GOD loves you.

my thoughts and prayers go out to the people who were injured when the bridge collapsed and to the people who lost loved ones. it is such a tragedy. the people who crossed just moments before it collapsed,and the oneswho were on it and survived should be thanking their lucky stars.

Your comments: My 27yr old son & his 26 yr old wife missed the tragedy by 4-5 min.
They were on the bridge at 6pm heading to the Twins game. She had picked him up at work & he just wanted to get there as early as he could. He left work 10 min early he said "I ducked out early". They
parked got in the dome he grabbed a beer & sat down. That is when the man next to him began talking about the bridge. They were stunned, he
never did drink the beer handed it to the man next to him & said good-bye to his wife & walked to the scene. He is a volunteer with the Hennepin County Sheriff's dept. He found his group & began helping out. He worked a long day as an EMT then thought he was going to have fun at the game. He came with in minutes of losing his life as well as his new bride (married in Oct). Yet he didn't stop to think about it & went in to help. He was there till 3am & will go back regularly to help. I said to him today, you could have died he said I know but I didn't. I am so thank-full they are alive, but yet my heart aches for those that lost their lives & the families.

I am a visitor to the Twin Cities, and I thought taking in a Twins home game Wednesday night was a good idea. It was a game I will never forget.
News of the I-35W disaster unfolded in the Dome stadium as spectators were eventually able to reach family and friends by cell phone. As more news became available it was apparent the first responders, medical professionals, transportation officials, stadium officials, as well as countless others, have trained and exercised for response to disaster events. Having an emergency plan works.
From an Alaskan whose thoughts are with my fellow Minnesotans.

The bridge collapse in Minneapolis still leaves me wondering about a couple of family members that I have not heard from. My heart goes out to everyone in Minnesota.

But at the same time, it must be corrected that the 35W bridge did not connect Minneapolis and St. Paul.....35W doesn't run through St. Paul at all.

I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where we are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, and all of us here know what it is like to deal with devastation and tragedy. To all the good people in Minneapolis, my thoughts and prayers go out to you. God Bless.

I'm sorry, but this story comes across as a little self serving to me. These people were not directly affected by the tragedy and he writes a story about how they were spared?

My niece was only two cars behind where the last section collapsed and she saw the cars go down. Perhaps she should write a story how she missed the tragedy by not passing the cars ahead of her just minutes before.

We had a story here in Tucson yesterday, how "Tucson was touched by the tragedy". It turns out that some lady here had a brother who lives in MSP, one she has not spoken to in 15 years, and she was worried to death about him. Yeah, right....

It is a scarey thought, to think that you and your family could of been in one of the cars to go down with the bridge. My family was supposed to leave on a trip to Duluth Aug. 1st to visit my sister & her family but had my vacation days changed to mid-month. Leaving at 10 am, a typical time for us to get out of the house for us, would of put me on or near that bridge at 6 pm. And I ALWAYS take the 35 West thru Minneapolis instead of 35 East thru St. Paul. Like the guy and his kid who went to the Twins game a little early, you see how close it could of been....had they left when they normally leave to go to the game. And had my vacation days not been changed and we left at our normal time. I am just still in shock. My heart goes out to all affected by this tragedy.

This is a note for Kevin, who posted at 9:47 am today (the 3rd). To call people "self serving" is a little rude. Whether a person missed the tragedy by 35 minutes or only 3 seconds should not make a difference. Yes, maybe your niece SHOULD post on here and tell her story...it sounds pretty amazing. Or better yet, have her catch one of those reporters from CNN and tell her story. But don't call people "self serving" just because it wasn't as close a call as your niece's. Alot of us are in shock and want to tell our stories, and we all have a different story to tell.

Near the time of a tragedy, people need to talk about how it has affected them. Whether or not it sounds appropriate to one person (like Kevin) is not the point. People are expressing thier fears and concerns in a larger forum...and not everyone needs to agree.
My heart also goes out to ALL affected by this tragedy.

Most of us in the Twin Cities area are in grief. To me, the atmosphere seems similar to that of the immediate post 9/11 climate. Our hearts go out to those families most severly affected, especially those who have loved ones who have died. What comfort can we offer them at this point but our sincere love, grief, thoughts and prayers?

Still we find ways to try to comfort ourselves. There are perhaps many "near-miss" stories, I have one too, of a daughter who in her usual route would have been on that bridge at 6:05, but for some reason drove through the city, on a route she has never taken before. Why? I do not know.

These stories are ways of finding good in a horrible situation. We want no one to suffer, so we are glad for those who avoided suffering, including ourselves and our loved ones. Is this selfish? Perhaps. But consider this: Because of the construction going on to resurface the bridge, this 8 lane freeway was down to two lanes and the traffic was stop and go at about 10 miles per hour. What if all 8 lanes had been open and cars were going 55-60 miles per hour? Can you imagine the pile up that would have ensued? Also, of the 18 construction workers that rode the bridge down as it collapsed, only one is unaccounted for. Of course it is painful and horrifying that anyone was killed or injured, but it could have been worse when it comes to numbers. As long as we do not forget those in the most serious pain, I think it not wrong to look for the grace in even the worst of situations. Why not be glad that more were not affected? This does not stop us from mourning, grieving and holding the hands of those whose lives will never be the same.

Through these tragedies let us learn to love and embrace even those we think of as enemies. Whose knows, perhaps even someone we hate may be the one to pull us or our loved ones out of the path of death or tragedy. Sometimes, we don't get to choose.

blessings.

first of all my prays go out to the familys that have lost there lives, an the ones that have lived an hurts ones...lets not forget the ones putting their lives at risk to get the remaining bodies,emt etc.-I beleive in god my way and the way i was raised. Everyone needs to look how we treat one another it takes a tragedy to bring people together and this world together.. we need to do it every day just maybe the world will change i dont know if that will happen.. that is why u live each day to the full cuz ur live can be taken away from you..lets all stop the fighting,stealing,etc hugged your familys an friends let them know how much you care about them etc. just matbe we will have a better live on this earth las vegas nv GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU ON THIS VERY SAD DAY OF ARE LIVES

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families that lost love ones in this horrific tragedy. I pray that God would give you strengh and peace to go on. This event ought to make everyone aware of how important life is, we never know when our time to go is. Love and appreciate your family and friends.

Georges- I'm glad you weren't on the bridge when it collapsed.

(I don't agree at all with Kevin who says it is self-serving to write about that. It's natural to relate to things that happen in places where we have been and we feel closer to what happens there- I think anyone could relate to what you wrote-- we might not have the same feelings, we might respond differently but it's something we can relate to. )