Where were you on 9/11/2001?

[Paisley]

I was driving to work when I heard about it on the radio. When I got to work, I called my mother and she told me that the towers were collapsing. I didn't believe it until I saw a picture of it at the Wall Street Journal online.

 

[carebear]

I was sleeping and got a call a little before 6 am from my platoon sergeant. No drill was scheduled for a while so I was confused why he was calling so early. He said someone has flown planes into the WTC and Pentagon.

I said "great exercise scenario, is that for the drill"? He told me no, it's for real. At this point I was sleepy and still confused so he told me to go turn on CNN. I turned it on in time to see CNN replay the impacts. A few minutes later the first tower went down.

I called into work and spent the rest of the day watching CNN with my roommate, waiting to be called up. I remember feeling such sorrow for the families, the fact that they were in some cases talking to their loved ones as they died. That some folks were put into the position of choosing to jump rather than face the flames. I was so angry that anyone would attack innocent people for no reason.

I wanted blood.

 

[Harp]

9/11

Attending Oklahoma City University School of Law; classes canceled.

 

[Aaron Hats]

I was managing a call center and had about 25 new employees in training. They knew nothing about what was going on in the world until I went in and explained (the best I could) things to them. I then dismissed them all for the day so they could go be with loved ones.

That day is the reason I live where I do and do what I do for a living.

God bless America.

Aaron

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I was at work when my wife called about the "accident". Only myself and my office manager were in so far, and as we stood there watching the report we saw the second plane hit.

 

[Rosie]

I was at work, in the same classroom I'm in now. My classroom faces where the towers were. I was teaching reading and one of the custodians came by and told me to look out the window, the weird thing is, they are right there and I hadn't noticed at all, this was right after the first plane struck and we all thought it was an accident. We looked, oohed and ahhed then went back to our lesson then a kid in my class yells, "Look, it exploded!" he was talking about the second tower and I realized it wasn't an accident. I tried to close the shades but couldn't, it was really scary because I had no idea what was going on. All of the classrooms facing the river took our students into the hallway because we didn't want them to see what was going on but, I kept looking out the window because truthfully, I was half expected the entire skyline to go up, I was terrified. We brought the children back in and parents started coming in with conflicting reports, we were told the White House was blown up, "they" were dropping bombs and gases, all kinds of crazy things. Then I looked out the window, and there was only one tower standing, it was so weird, like a movie, but not. I remember hearing people in the building screaming when the second tower went and my students and I were crying, I just kept thinking, I hope people got out. We still had no idea what was reallyl going on, we didn't know whether we were being invaded or attacked across the city, I kept thinking I wanted to go home and die, I didn't want to die at school I spent most of the rest of the day in school as I wasn't allowed to leave until the majority of my students were picked up. Eventually we got a radio to work and heard what was really going on. It was a very scary day.

 

[Cobden]

I remember hearing about it after coming back from rugby training (where all the other boys played Rugby whilst I made daisy chains), and when I returned someone told me that the twin towers had collapsed; when I asked which one and being told "Both" I thought it was a wind up. Then I went down into the TV room and discovered that it was true. First thing I did then was to 'phone my mother, who was in the states at the time with my father, and making sure they were okay. Never heard my mother sound so shook up.

 

[Paisley]

There were so many wild reports that day, I was glad I had my Wall Street Journal subscription. It wasn't the speediest news source, but I don't recall them reporting wildly inaccurate stories. Their office was diagonal from the WTC. Some of the employees saw keyboards and papers falling outside, many stories above the ground. One of the reporters later wrote about taking refuge under, and then inside, a van.

My employer didn't send us home. They had kind of a strange, business-as-usual attitude. [huh]

You know, everybody should have an emergency kit handy: a bottle of water, sensible shoes, some cash, a candy bar, a first aid kit. I should take my own advice and make one. You wouldn't think of Denver as a target, but we have a mint and a major blood bank. The hotel where the president stays when he's in town is one block from my office.

 

[Elaina]

We have one, but not because of 9-11. Due to an illness, if I get sick and can't take care of my son, it's a kit so he can, sadly, take care of me. Medical history, medication, some toys, some money for sodas for the hospital and some snacks, and an extra pair of glasses so I can see later.

It's a good idea. I've had to use mine once, but I *knock on wood* never had to go so far as the hospital.

Elaina

 

[Pilgrim]

I'm in the Mountime Zone and usually hit work about 8:30. I was getting dressed in my bedroom when I heard an alert on NPR and turned on the TV to watch. Needless to say, I watched for a couple of hours before going to work.

And yes, I did go to work. I'm in distance education with a university, and we have students all over the world. The world doesn't stop for something like this.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I was still living in Santiago, Chile. At that time of the year, Santiago and New York are in the "same" time zone. I arrived at 9:30 a.m. to teach my class, and one of my students said,


"You look very cheerful, Marc, considering ..."

I didn't understand what he meant. He went on,

"Didn't you hear? A plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York."


I assumed that it was an accidental plane crash, and went on teaching.

The class's 10-minute break time arrived, and I went to our school's lobby to watch the news on TV. That's when I saw that a plane had hit the other tower. Our lobby was full to bursting with Chilean students, and Chilean and American teachers. All of us were in shock.

When I returned to class, the student who had first told me about the crash looked up at me with shining eyes and a toothy grin. He said, "I guess America isn't so powerful today." I wanted to hit him. I still do.

For weeks afterward, I received cards and letters from my Chilean students past and present, expressing their sympathy and grief. Many asked if they could do anything to help the victims' families: donations, etc. Some reminisced about their own visits, as tourists or businesspeople, to the Twin Towers.



As an expat, I longed to be back in my country in its time of crisis. Now, I am. But it's not the country I left in 1998.


.

 

[clevispin]

Driving to work (outside of Wash DC) and listening to Howard Stern as he became aware of it. At my desk when the radio reported the Pentagon hit and downstairs in the barbershop watching the towers collapse on the TV.

Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, San Francisco - These bastards know no national boundaries but only hate for the great satan. I still say - Bring It On.

m

 

[ProperRogue]

9/11 memories

That day will forever be etched in my memory. I was in a meeting client’s executive conference room on the top floor of the building in Crystal City. For those of you who don’t know, Crystal City is a part of Arlington, VA just south of the Pentagon and the conference room I was in had a very good view of the Potomac and the Pentagon. My cell phone began buzzing incessantly a bit after 9:00. Fearing something had happened to my wife; I excused my self and took the call. My wife quickly informed me that two airliners had crashed into the towers in NY and some were suspecting terrorism. I returned to the conference room and informed the others in the meeting as their cell phones began to go off too. We turned on the television and watched the film of the second plane hitting the second tower.

The two military members in our meeting quickly excused themselves to return to their offices in the Pentagon. As we continued to watch we were startled by the loud sound of a large jet nearby. I remember thinking to myself that it is just a plane landing at Washington Regan Airport nearby. The reality set in when another person in the room standing near one of the windows yells out something like “That plane is going to crash!” Looking up, I didn’t see Flight 77 as it slammed into the Pentagon but I did see the resulting fireball and heard the explosion when the plane hit. I will never forget.

 

[Blackgrass]

I was working for a jet aircraft manufacturing company which is stationed at our local airport. Heard the news and we all turned on the TV in our conference room and watched it unfold. It was a little nerve racking as ALL flights were being grounded and we had all sorts of aircraft coming into the airport. At that time no one knew if there were additional terrorist and everyone was extremely stressed that something unexpected could happen with all the aircraft landing.

After 9-11 we lost a 50 plane contract and I got laid off that job about two months later.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Just to add to my earlier comments: I live on a major flight path to Logan airport. For days after the attacks, the sky was so quiet, that I had trouble sleeping. When flights started taking off again it was quite nerve racking to hear low flying planes over head. From my condo now, I can see the planes in the distance landing and taking off from Logan. When I first move here, it really freaked me out to see such low flying planes flying what looked to be directly into the city. I still watch the planes, and everytime I see them close to the tall buildings of the city, I find myself crossing my fingers.
Also, whenever there is some sort of threat, whether we know about it or not, the flight path out of and into the airport changes. Instead of flying directly over the city, they fly out over the ocean or towards the smaller towns and then make sharp turns to head into the right direction. This often means that a lot of those planes are making there sharp, low flying turns, right over my apartment. It can be very disconcerting, and often sends a chill up my spine.
I'm glad this thread was started and has not turned into any sort of a debate. Just a nice thread where we can remember a day that shall never be forgotten. This day is stirring up more emotion in me that I ever thought it would. It is so important to talk about this day, however it is all too easy to remember the awful, emotional day that it was. I can't remember what I watched on TV two days ago, or what I had for breakfast. I can remember every detail of 911, like it was yesterday.
G-d Bless America! I know many of our thoughts are with those who suffered in the attacks as well as all the military who are still risking there lives to defend America and the freedoms we are all enjoying today.

 

[deanglen]

Was driving to pastor's conference when I heard about it on the radio. By the end of the day I was frustrated that I was too old to enter the chaplaincy and be a part the Crusade that I was sure would be launched. I still am.

dean

 

[carebear]

Daisy,

Anchorage is an "air crossroads". I remember how eerie it was to not have planes flying overhead and to see no contrails in the sky in the days following.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I live about an hour up the coast from Brunswick Naval Air Station -- and about forty minutes down the coast from the fuel depots that supply it. BNAS went on full alert after the attacks, and for as long as civilian flights were grounded, the only planes I heard were the Navy patrol planes going up and down the coastline. It got to be, as Carebear says, very very eerie.

But the really disturbing incident happened right after the grounding order was finally lifted. The Owls Head Transportation Museum, about fifteen minutes from here, hosted an airshow that weekend -- with an assortment of vintage military planes flying in for the occasion. I was walking across the parking lot at the supermarket -- and suddenly heard a *deafening* roar overhead. I looked up to see an enormous WW2-era bomber flying very low as it made its approach to the airport, and my heart almost jumped out of my throat before I realized what was happening.

 

[Samsa]

I was away at Michigan State, and was lying in bed trying to ignore the sound of my roommate's TV. (He always had it on.) I kept hearing snatches of what the reporters were saying, "plane...World Trade Center..." and finally realized that something was very wrong. I got up out of bed and stood there watching the TV coverage in more or less numb surprise. I also remember trying to get more news online, but finding the major sites not accessable because everyone else had the same idea.

That's all I specifically remember about that day. I know I went to classes later that day, but don't remember which ones, nor what I did when I got home.

 

[BonnieJean]

I was home getting ready for my day and heard about the first plane crashing on the radio. I went in and turned on the TV and hollered for my then 17 year old son to come in and watch. We both stood there with our mouths open as we watched the second plane hit the tower. My husband called me from work several times for updates as they did not have a TV there. He decided that he couldn't concentrate on work and came home early. We watched the TV the rest of the day and I was so consumed with it all that I think our TV was on non-stop for a week. My hubby is a volunteer firefighter and when we learned of the loss of so many of his "brothers", he was devastated. He wished he could go to NY right away and help out. The following spring (2002) at the annual Firefighters Convention in Indianapolis, there was a large display of some of the original firefighting equipment from NY and also a large memorial with the names of all the firefighters that died that day with their photos. I could barely read it through my tears. I saw a lot of big burly firemen brought to tears too that day at the convention. And the silence as everyone paid tribute to their fallen comrades, was eerie. Living in practically the middle of the country we see a lot of jets fly over each day, but it was almost spooky when the sky became silent. Today as I watched clips from 5 years ago, those same gut-wrenching, teary-eyed emotions that I experienced then came flooding back. I don't know if I'll ever be able to remember this without tears and a lump in my throat.

God Bless America