While families were grieving for lost loved ones at Sept. 11 memorial ceremonies at Ground Zero and in Washington D.C., the Coast Guard was upsetting the rest of the country with a training exercise on the Potomac River.
A report of a suspicious boat on a restricted part of the river just a few hundred yards from the Pentagon raised the alarm at about 10 a.m. and drew national outrage.
FBI agents rushed to the scene and planes were grounded for over 20 minutes at nearby Reagan National Airport during the confusion, according to the Associated Press.
"That’s not right, not today," said Sgt. Major Saul Garcia, a member of the New York Naval Military Youth Cadets, after being told about the incident.
"It's not the day for drills like that. It's not appropriate."
CNN showed video of Coast Guard boats maneuvering on the river near the 14th Street Bridge and reported that shots had been fired.
Coast Guard Vice Admiral John Currier said no shots were fired and there were no suspicious boats.
“This was a routine training exercise,” Currier said. “I don’t think that our operational commander saw any reason not to train today.”
Regardless of the Coast Guard's reasoning, New Yorkers were not pleased with the timing of the drill.
"They could have waited another day to do that, especially in Washington," said Chris Larosa, 33, an electrician who works in Battery Park City who was watching the World Trade Center memorial on a television set at the nearby Blarney Stone pub.
"Maybe they're just naïve, maybe they've forgotten too early, too quickly."
Today's incident was reminiscent of when a low-flying plane in the Financial District scared New Yorkers back in April.
A passenger jet used to transport the president and two F-16 fighter planes flew bye the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan as part of a photo shoot. The incident caused panicked office workers to stream into the streets and evoked memories of Sept. 11 attacks.
"Every time there is a low-flying plane or something like that, I get nervous,” said Dave Milanowycz, 55, who travelled into Manhattan today from Howell, N.J., to mourn his nephew who was killed on Sept. 11.
The director of the White House's military office resigned after the incident. President Barack Obama said it was a mistake and promised it would not happen again.
The Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security, which was created in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
