Where were you when 9/11/01 went down? What were you doing?

[The Straight Story]

And what did you feel?

I was at work, coding a perl program (script...whatever). I worked for a telco company and sat in a raised floor area in the middle of a call center.

One of our operators, who sat behind me on the main floor, told her co-worker that a plane had just crashed into the WTC. I shrugged it off, figuring it was a small cessna type and the pilot probably had a heart attack or something. I went back to coding.

Then another one. So I checked the internet. CNN, Faux, and DU (did not post here back in the day, just checked in from time to time). Shortly thereafter we had a tv on the floor watching things, and my wife had called me just after the second plane hit.

My wife was worried about her parents who were supposed to be on a flight that day. I told my boss that my family needed me on a day like this and I left.

I went home, hugged my wife, and we made a banner out of a bed sheet we had ('pray for the families') and we hung it from our balcony on the second floor in downtown Circleville, Ohio.

The whole day seemed surreal. Lots of news reports of other things (car bombs), more planes hijacked, then all air traffic shut down (the sky seemed real quiet later that night, except for the military jets).

So what do you recall?

[Blue_In_AK]

1. I was asleep. It was 5:00 a.m. here or 4:30, whatever...

My then-husband's niece called and woke us up to tell us the news. I watched the news all day (I work at home), kind of numb. We live close to the airports and are used to the sound of planes overhead, so the silence was kind of unnerving. We put out a flag, but took it down the next day because we started feeling suspicious about what was "really" going on (meaning no disrespect to the victims, but I felt very early on that ** was going to try to make political hay out of this sad event).

[liberaldemocrat7]

117. I DIED ON Sept 11, 2001. Bush cared more about oil pipelines than people

like me. If George W Bush hadn't threatened to invade Afghanistan in July 2001, the Taliban/Al Qaeda terrorists wouldn't have done a preemptive strike and I would have survived and 2750 other people would have survived as well.

Where Republicans tread, innocent people end up dead.

[NYCGirl]

2. I was standing on the corner of 17th St and 5th Ave when the second tower

fell. I'd been walking to work on 23rd St. There were hundreds of people just standing, looking downtown at the tower — and I'll never forget the sound the crowd made, the gasp, when the tower went down.

[The Straight Story]

3. That had to be intense!

What did you do yourself when it fell?

[NYCGirl]

16. I started to cry...again. When I got to work, the company president had

a TV on in his office, and we all just stood there watching for hours, silently. We left a few hours later, and I walked downtown — everyone was silent, shocked. The folks who lived uptown and in the other boroughs had to find ways to get home, since a lot of the trains were affected. Spent a lot of time on the phone, checking in with everyone, the lines were a bit screwed up, but you kept trying to get through.

[newburgh]

27. Hey, I was a few doors away from 5th Ave on 17th Street...

One of my clients drove me to 6th Avenue saying I had to see this- after the first plane hit. It looked like a small plane hit the towers, nothing much. Felt bad for the poor pilot. Walked back to my job, a storefront and kept on walking back and forth to 5th as the radio news became more confusing. Saw almost everything as it happened. I'll never forget those hundreds of people walking up 5th Avenue in almost utter silence. I stayed late to avoid the mad rush out of the city. By the time I made it to Grand Central it was empty, at rush hour. Never realized how central those towers were to NYC until they were gone. Even though I worked in NYC I hadn't been near the towers in probably 10 years. Happened by them, walked through them and looked up between them, late that August on the way to a Jethro Tull concert on Staten Island(hadn't seen them in 23 years).

[NYCGirl]

33. Yes, the walk up Fifth Avenue, that's exactly what it was like. NT

[EFerrari]

36. Recovering from a concussion after being assaulted and woke up

looking for change for smaokes. I went over to the gas station and the cashier said, "Have you seen the terrorism?" and showed me her teevee screen. I said, "Where is that?" and she said, "New York".

[C_U_L8R]

4. West Side Highway & Chambers

Was just outside the north tower heading
for Starbucks when the first plane slammed
into the building (directly overhead !!!)

The scariest day of my life.

[The Straight Story]

8. Wow

What did you do from there? I cannot imagine having been right there at the time, must have been insane!

[C_U_L8R]

22. Ran !!

With no idea where to run to.
Ended up all the way up in the 50s
trying to find my girlfriend
(remember cell phones were out).

[The Straight Story]

25. You need to write it all down someday

would be a fascinating story.

I think we all went through some sort of emotional hell that day. Just glad we have each other to share it with.

Something weird for me. I am sure I talked to my mom that day (she died 12/31/2004) but I cannot recall it at all. That day was a weird blur in some ways...

[sce56]

5. I was asleep living in Hawaii at the time of the attacks

But I do remember trying to get on base Schofield Barracks was like a full exercise they had concertina up everywhere blocking access to the quads and big cargo trucks blocking major sections like the road that ended teeing at the daycare center. Everything was closed I could not get into the PX or Commissary all were closed.

[Richard Steele]

6. I was sweeping floor at a construction site....

Didn't really get the idea that something truly
BIG had happened until I got home that evening.

[LeighAnn]

7. It was the first time I'd had more than 4 hours of sleep in 9 months

I woke up feeling rested, feeling like a new person. I walked down the hall to find my signif staring at me in shock, saying, "You'll never believe what happened!"

The towers had fallen, the Pentagon was hit, the plane was down in PA.

God was good to bless me with that one good night's sleep.

Plus, I think that having not watched it as it was happening gave me a little bit of objective detatchment, most people I know watched it live, and fell right in line with the * Doctrine. I think it was the shock, and I'm glad I missed it.

~*Peace to everyone this horrible anniversary*~

[file83]

73. Wow - that's a weird coincidence.

My coincidence was that I NEVER polished my shoes before work, but for some strange reason I did - so I turned on the radio and found something out I never would have otherwise until I got to work (which had no TV). So I ended up watching the Towers collapse on TV. Not that it's "lucky", but just strange.

[tuvor]

9. Out of work and copy/pasting everything I could. Want the results?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2102874&mesg_id=2102874

[file83]

75. Hey, that's a great digital scrap book!

[WinkyDink]

148. I took photos of the CNN coverage, of the TV screen.

[Cleita]

10. In bed. My husband got up before me and came in

and woke me. His words were, "We have been invaded. Some other country has attacked us"!

I was still half asleep thinking, are the Chinese invading us? Of course when I got up, the images on TV were being played over and over.

[SeattleGirl]

11. I remember getting up about 8:00 am Pacific time.

My husband left a note on the bathroom mirror: "TURN ON THE TV" because he knows I don't watch TV when I first get up. So, I turned it on, and there is a split screen. On the left, the dust cloud from what had been Tower 1 and Tower 2. On the right, the Pentagon, smoke pouring out of it. I reached for the phone and called my husband.

He told me about the planes hitting the towers. I could not wrap my mind around it, but then asked, "What about the Pentagon?" He said, "The Pentagon? What are you talking about?" I told him there was smoke billowing out of the Pentagon too. I turned up the sound to hear that a plane had crashed into it. I told him, and all he could say was, "What??!!"

We got off the phone, and I just sat there, watching the television. When I saw the footage of the one tower that had been hit, and then the footage of the second plane hitting the second tower, I started to cry. It still, to this day, seems surreal.

[Tatiana]

12. I was at home sick. I'll never forget the day.

My birthday was the day before and I'd gotten some sort of food poisoning or something. I had MSNBC on when they announced there had been an explosion in downtown Manhattan. All the news websites were inaccessible and so I immediately logged on to DU and that is where I watched the nightmare unfold. I glued to the site and cable news trying to find out info as my older sister had planned to attend a meeting in the 2nd WTC tower. It was literally the worst day of my life as I couldn't get through by cell or landline to any of my family in Manhattan.

[Straight Shooter]

13. I was asleep.

When I woke up and logged on, first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee, as always, I couldn't make sense of "Second World Trade tower falls" on the (back then) Northern Lights web site. I thought we'd had a financial collapse, couldn't wrap my mind around it at first.

Everything the next few days was kind of surreal, I was trying to imagine what my town would look like if it had been attacked. I never dreamed the real attack would come later, in the form of the bush administration attempting to divide this country by stirring up hate, hate, hate for one another.

[hyphenate]

14. I was 3000 miles away

in California. It was early, I was getting up and ready for work. I got a call from my friend Marje back here in Massachusetts, and I put the TV on, and watched in horror. I saw it from right after the first plane hit the south tower, and caught the footage of the second plane hitting the north tower.

I got online with some groups I was in and of course mass hysteria was reigning, as we tried to find out if anyone we knew had been in the attacks.

I went to work, and one report followed another, and while we watched, we were completely frustrated because one report would say one thing, and another would say something else. One of my bosses at the time was from New Jersey and his mom worked near the WTC, and we waited all day for reports to come in on his mom.

I can't recall if we left work early that day or not, but I'm sure we must have because we were all distraught about the events taking place. I had a friend who worked at the Pentagon, and thankfully, her office was on the other side of the building. But she knew most of those who died that day.

[Warpy]

15. I was asleep after a 12 hour night shift

I woke up around 11:45 MDT and decided to stay up for a few, check the local news for the weather, check the email that had piled up over the preveious 3 days, eat a light snack, and get ready to crash out again in a couple of hours.

Let's just say I didn't find what I thought I'd find when I flipped the set on at shortly past noon.

I went out 2 hours later after talking to pals in NY who were watching the whole thing from apartments and roofs, I needed food. Nobody was talking. Everybody was shocked, numb, silent. The last time I saw that happen was during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I sincerely hope I never see it again.

So that's what I was doing.

[CarlVK]

17. I was getting ready for work

and my (then) fiancee called me from the lab she worked at and asked if I were watching the TV. I said "no", and she said "well you better turn it on because the Pentagon just got creamed and New York city is under attack". I thought she was joking...until I flipped on the tube.

But you know, the creepiest thing that happened to me wasnt on 9/11, but the night before. About 8 pm I got this mind numbing migraine (I almost never get them and this one was long and ugly), and that night I had a terrible nightmare about a plane crash, and rescue workers mapping out a large field with yellow string in a grid pattern, as they went from square to square and picked up human bones.

[Subdivisions]

18. I sleep with the TV on CNN as a long-held habit...

and I happened to be laid-off from work that day and I was actually sleeping in a little late and I cracked my eyes open before I really heard the TV and saw what looked like a movie that was showing scenes from CNN of one of the Twin Towers burning and my first thought was:

Hmm. I don't remember any movie like that and then the fog of sleep began to lift as I realized that it was really CNN and one of the Twin Towers was really burning. That's when I jumped up out of the bed and went to the sink and splashed the sleep from my eyes and as I toweled off, I went back to the TV.

I knew right away it wasn't no little airplane. It was an airliner.

Then, I was watching as the second plane hit and I nearly fainted because as I was watching the first tower burning, I was thinking about the time I had been a tourist at the WTC and how the plane had hit below the Observation Lobby and it looked as though those people in the floors above may be doomed and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, CRASH.

The rest of the day was spent in a twilight zone-like state somewhere between the USA I had known as a youth and the surreal nightmare it had just become.

[Lost-in-FL]

19. I was getting ready to go to school

My sis called me to turn the TV on. Saw the first plane and thought about an accident. Then saw the 2nd plane and I knew it was a terrorist attack. I remember complain ting (ignorant of current affairs at the time, now I know better why they world is so pissed at us) of why in the hell the arabs where messing with us. Then I panic when I heard of the Pentagon and since I was on the inactive ARMY Reserves I thought to myself... I am getting called back to active duty!! My husband, who was in the reserves received a phone call from his First sergeant letting him know to be on alert just in case. I went to school, people watching the news, some sobbing, some talking in cell phones in pain. The school then decided to send everyone home. That's what I will always remember.

[minkyboodle]

20. The Fedex Man Clued Me In

I was a student and I had been working the night
before on a paper. I had planned to sleep in that
day but I was awakened by a ring of the doorbell.
I had a package from Fedex that was being delivered
way earlier than usual. The delivery man asked me
why I didn't have the TV on. I was puzzled as I
had no idea why I should have the TV on. I'll never
forget his words, " The WTC is down and the Pentagon
is bombed." I spent the rest of the day glued to
CNN in disbelief. I'll never forget the Fedex
guys face, its tied to my memory of that horrific
day.

[lostnfound]

21. I remember my last 10 minutes in a "pre-9-11" mind

Having returned from maternity leave a week or two earlier, on the morning of 9-11 I was having a very warm, satisfying impromptu discussion with 4 other women coworkers, each completely different from me and from each other, about our shared perceptions of the joys/beauty/gift/exhaustion/treasure of taking care of a child. I left feeling as if I was leaving a moment of heaven and heard the news of the first plane hitting within 5 minutes. Immediately all I could think was how many children were left fatherless, or even worse, orphans, by this, and I began crying.

I also remember that within a few days, I was thinking that this would pull America together again, pull us into a search for the truth, whatever it was. I thought people would all really want to get to the bottom of what happened and why.

How incredibly naive and optimistic.

[The Straight Story]

23. Damn sad

that we have had a crappy investigation into this, but will spend millions on clinton having sex.

Insane.

[nonconformist]

24. I was in Michigan. I dropped my son off at 1st grade, and.....

when I got home, my husband had just come home from work (3rd shift). We chatted for a bit, and he was heading to bed when I flipped on the TV, already tuned to NBC. I said, "hey honey, come here, a plane crashed into the World Trade Center". He came into the room and right then, about a minute after I had turned on the TV, the second plane hit live. We were just stunned. I called up my mom at work a bit after that, to see if she knew what was happening. She did. I was on the phone with her when the first tower fell.

My husband and I were glued to the TV for the rest of the day. I don't think he slept a bit. One thing I will always remember is the absolute fear I felt when it came across the news that the Pentagon had also been hit by a hijacked plane. At that point, I thought that one report after another would start coming in for the rest of the day. It was the most surreal experience I've ever had.

[Ignacio Upton]

26. At high school

I was in 9th grade and I remember sitting in class during 3rd period when our principal came on the PA system to announce that the WTC had been attacked. When I first heard about it and about the planes, I thought it was some bizarre accident, unlike '93. Only when I heard about the Pentagon and about a plane crashing into a field in Pennsylvania did I get scared. My mom worked a few blocks south of the WTC site, near Battery Park, and my Dad was flying on a business trip to Chicago that day, so it was one of the few times in my life that I legitimately feared for my parents' lives.

The whole school day was filled with chaos, as teachers and staff tried to keep students from leaving the class-rooms, and as they tried preventing students from viewing footage of the attacks (or at least that's what I thought.) I remember that the phone lines in NYC were dead, so I couldn't reach my Mom.
I also remember hearing people in school speculating about who was involved, and I heard a number of people say that Saddam did it (I guess I can understand how the Saddam-9/11 meme got started.)

Personally I thought it was Bin Laden right away, because I remembered hearing about Al Qaida after the '98 embassy bombings, and I remembered hearing about the Bojinka plot in '95. And I also remember hearing about the Millennium Plot and how sophisticated Al Qaida was (I was somewhat of a news junkie even when I was still in middle school :) )

By the time I had gotten home and saw the footage of the towers collapsing, I started crying because of what happened, and not just because I didn't know what was going on with my parents. I did eventually find out that they were okay, but seeing the footage of the Twin Towers, New York's tallest buildings, just pancake and collapse, made me think "WTF is going on...this can't be real!"
Unfortunately, it was part of the "new normalcy" that Cheney would announce a few days later. And I, like 90% of the public, believed it because of fear.
Incidentally, I remember talking to a kid from my school when I was getting off the bus about what the government was doing about it. He said that Bush wasn't doing anything other than staying in Florida. I responded that we need to support him, which at the time I felt was a just decision, but something I regretted and snapped out of when I heard news reports of Bin Laden getting away at Tora Bora while Rumsfeld was denying that he was even there! About a month later I saw a news story on CNN (I think it was Inside Politics) about how a memo from Rove had leaked out detailing how to politicize terrorism for the 2002 midterm elections. Up until that point I felt that both sides had made a post-9/11 compact whereby partisanship would be put aside, and that terrorism would be fought in the name of the common good. I saw the 2002 Rove memo as a betrayal of that.

[file83]

78. Damn, you knew about the Bojinka plot way back then? I had never

heard of it until like 2003. You were a very informed kid!

[Ignacio Upton]

95. Well..I didn't know the details of it

But, a couple of months before 9/11, my Dad was flipping through the channels, and I remember him watching something about Osama Bin Laden (who I already remembered because of the Embassay Bombings, the Cole attack, and I remembered the Millenium Plot.) I wasn't directly paying attention to the show because I was on my computer in the other room, but I remember hearing something alone the lines of "Bin Laden was linked to a plot that involved blowing up several airliners." \
I only say "Bojinka" because I learned what that plot was called later on, so I'm sort of applying that retroactively.
When I heard about the complexity of 9/11 itself, I concluded that it had to have been Bin Laden, and I based that on the fact that he'd been responsible for the most recent terror attacks against us, and because I thought that he was the only one who could have pulled it off. Also...I didn't find out that "Al Qaida" was the name of his group until after 9/11, so pre-9/11 I just thought of the group as "Osama Bin Laden's people."

[helderheid]

28. I woke up, got my just turned 1 son fed, and then got a call from my mom

She said "Turn on the TV NOW". I sat watching it on CNN, holding my son and sobbing. Just typing this makes me well up.

[The Straight Story]

35. Our daughter was 6 months old

and my wife saw the second plane hit, and just held our daughter tight.

It was a day I don't think any of us will forget, so much happened in such a short time. It still seems surreal to me.

[helderheid]

41. My husband, son, and I had moved to the US from Holland a month earlier

I felt so happy coming home ( I am American ) and it felt like home had been ripped away. I was so lost. So scared. So heartbroken. What will our children become? This has changed our worlds. I can only home that this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1016720641536424083&q=press+for+truth

will give us a chance. They KNEW. Get rid of the evoting machines. RESTORE Democracy. Make the MEDIA and TRADE fair.

[Hawkeye-X]

110. Me too.

See Post #107

:grouphug: :scared:

[The Deacon]

29. I Was At Work

At the American Red Cross office in Hutchinson, KS when my wife called me about the first plane hitting - we got the TV set up just in time to see the second plane hit. A lot of the day is a blur - all my disaster volunteers calling in to let me know where they were, when they would be available, our State office calling to find out who among my people were available. All the TV stations were announcing - "call your local Red Cross office for disaster training." In between answering phones I heard about the Pentagon and that there might be another hijacked flight - nobody said (that I remember) but I knew that meant either the White House or the Capitol. The horror of the buildings collapsing. Somebody finally coming to my office at eight o'clock or so, telling me to go home, there'd be more work tomorrow & I needed sleep.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. Driving to work -- I heard about the first plane on NPR.

Then shortly after I got to work the second plane hit. We found a TV in a conference room and watched, not knowing what to make of it all, and kind of freaking out -- I work at an airline and we didn't know until a meeting later that morning that our dispatchers had accounted for all of our airplanes, some of which were stranded in Canada. The whole day was spent in a weird sort of shock. A few weeks later one of our pilots told me a good friend, a college roommate, I think, was flying one of the planes that crashed into the WTC. There were a lot of stories like that -- it's an industry where people know each other, and there was a lot of grief and stress among the pilots and flight attendants that continued for a long time.

[Mr_Spock]

31. I was late for work and decided to turn on the TV for some reason

I haven't felt the urge to do that (turn on the TV in the morning) before or since. I saw the smoke and the TV folks were speculating about the size of the plane that had hit the tower. I called my dad and he was out walking and I explained to him what was happening. I was in mid-sentence when I saw the second plane appear suddenly and then saw the massive fireball after it hit. I said "holy shit! another plane just hit the other building!!!" My day was pretty shot after that. I decided to go into work to see what was going on after watching the second tower fall and the shock of that. I brought a TV into work and we all watched to see what else was new. We all went home a bit early that day. There was a point within a couple of days after 9/11 when the gravity of what happened hit me and I broke down and wept uncontrollably for quite some time. I still can't go to that place in my head without feeling those emotions. Like so many others who had to deal with this tragedy, I am more than angry at what the infantile Republican reactionaries have done to our great country. I had no idea that they would succumb to the base emotions that OBL was trying to induce in our country. This country is an infantile vile place when Republicans (terminal teenagers) are in charge.

[bumblebee1]

32. In bed, asleep

I had worked a 10 hr second shift job. My husband called from his job and told me a plane hit the WTC. I remember saying to him, "A plane, like a jet plane?" He told me yes. I didn't sleep for the rest of the day. I didn't do much of anything else. I also remember calling him with the new of the Pentagon being hit.

[Dora]

34. I was running late for work.

I was getting dressed and listening to NPR when someone, I think it was Daniel Schorr, broke in to announce that a plane had crashed into the WTC, and there was no further information at the time. It was just a few minutes past 8:00. I felt a little sick at the news, and my first thought was that it was intentional. I don't know why I would have thought this - I had no idea if it was a small plane or an airliner. My gut told me that something bad was afoot, though. I felt very sad.

I got into the office before 8:30, and our receptionist was watching the tragedy unfold online. I think the second plane had hit by that point, and there were many questions about how many had been hijacked, and the media was in mass confusion. I turned my browser to the NY Times.

My boss wouldn't let anyone go home unless she received word that the university was closing. We all stayed, but nobody was really working, and no classes were cancelled. I finally went home and watched TV with my beloved, and wept. "Will this mean a war?" I asked him. His eyes were so heavy. I knew in my heart that this was the beginning of a long and ugly breaking apart in this country.

[rocktivity]

37. I had moved away from downtown Jersey City NJ the weekend before

which is across the Hudson River from the WTC area. and spent the morning of 9/11 waiting for my phone to be connected. I was going to pass the time by watching court TV, but there was a news story about a plane having hit one of the WTC towers. I thought it was one of those commuter planes that buzz around the towers like gnats. The tech showed up just as the second plane hit. My phone was installed, but I couldn't reach anyone. Seeing the column of smoke rising up the towers was astounding--their collapse was more of an anticlimax. I didn't make it to the office, but my co-workers who still lived in downtown Jersey City didn't get home for THREE days.

I found out that my nephew, whose office in the the WTC area, was on a sales call in New Jersey, and my neice was ten blocks away. I reached my mother and sisters that night. The next three days were a bit of a haze, spent mostly playing music and being repelled by the patriotic commericals coming on. I was actually relieved that America's Most Wanted came on as usual--John Walsh was the closest thing to a confidence-inspiring figure I'd come across. I think it finally lifted me out of my lethargy--I got fed up with the patriotic commericals and yelled at one, "Dammit, STOP TELLING ME HOW TO FEEL!"

:(
rocknation

[Individualist]

38. I was at home

Turned the TV on around 9 am to see if there was anything on besides shark attacks and Chandra Levy. Didn't turn the TV off until 3 am on the 12th.

[The Straight Story]

40. I rarely watch tv

just no time really with work. But that day I was glued to the set for many hours, waiting on...well I don't know what.

I just felt as though myself and millions of others had all shared one fucked up day. I felt alone and yet part of something massive we all shared in.

I am not even sure how to express what it was I felt really :(

[helderheid]

44. you just did.

:hug:

[RoyGBiv]

39. My detailed account ...

"I wrote the bulk of this the evening of September 11, 2001. Over the next couple months I edited it and reframed it a bit, turning it into something a little more than simply a journal entry, adding what amounts to an introduction and a few thoughts that came to mind within the next couple months, but I hadn't even looked at it since the first part of 2002 until I sent it to a friend recently for no paricular reason. You'll note I talk to my journal and that the journal sometimes answers back; in my head it's that friend I sent this to, so I thought he might actually like to know what I say when talking to him when he's not around. Anyway, the basic content, the retelling of events and my thoughts and feelings from that day have not been altered, and they are as faithful to what happened as they could have been at the time, which is to say a few errors exist, such as planes scrambling from the local AFB. A lot of planes were in the sky, and everything became surreal.

This is long. I hope you'll read it."

Much more ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2099676

[Dem2theMax]

42. Ten minutes from boarding an American Airlines flight

out of Nashville, trying to go home after my aunts funeral the day before.

What a strange place to be when it happened. An airport. The TVs were on in the bars and we could see what was happening, but we didn't KNOW what was happening. Cousins who were also flying home that day (on another flight) had already made it back out of the airport. Borrowing a strangers cell phone, I was able to reach them and they came back for me. (That took about an hour in itself.) I called the day 'polite confusion' because everyone was so confused but at the same time, everyone was so polite and helpful to each other.

It took five days to get a flight home and I'll NEVER forget all the wonderful people I spoke with on the phone during those five days, trying to get that flight home. The American Airlines people were fantastic. And then the strangers in the airport. I made friends for life that I'll never see again. We all became so close and watched out for each other. It took hours of sitting on the floor, waiting to see if the flights would really happen.

The guy I sat next to on the flight home had come from New York. He rented a car in NY and drove to Nashville, figuring that it would be safer to fly home (San Diego area) from there. He had met up with an elderly woman in NY who had no way to get home to Los Angeles. They were strangers. He offered her a ride to Nashville, and made sure she was safely in her families arms when we had our connecting flight in LA. He even offered to give me a ride home in his limo - from LA to San Diego, if I couldn't get my connecting flight. Amazing. People were so wonderful.

And look at how * has destroyed all of the good will that came out of all of us on 9/11.
"Uniter" my ass.

[file83]

79. That must of been very strange - being that close to getting on a flight

when that happened. Interesting human bonding story!

[uppityperson]

92. I had relatives @ airport, waiting to get on flight too.

He went in bathroom, came out to confusion in airport. She called his cell and said "don't bother waiting, just come back home, you aren't going anywhere today" (he was flying out).

[Dem2theMax]

99. It was amazing. I'll never forget the faces of the people I met

in those days in the airport, but I'll never see them again. The day I sat in the airport, waiting to go home, I talked with two guys for most of time. We sat on the floor, leaning against the windows and shared our 'stories' of the previous five days. I had magazines and everyone waiting in the boarding area borrowed them. We bought food and drink for each other (and no one asked for money.) The man on the plane was unbelievable. Getting an elderly lady home to her family and then wanting to take care of me as well - talk about humanity.

There was the guy who gave me his cell phone to use for free (when I offered money for my calls,) and I had to use it many times over to get through to my family and ride from the airport.

The American Airlines people - just WOW. Here they had gone through the loss of their 'family,' two planes full of people, and they were taking abuse right and left from people frustrated at trying to get flights. For some reason, I thought of that before I called. So EVERY time I called (which was at least three times a day,) the first thing I did was ask them how THEY were doing. I'd hear a sigh of relief that, for at least one phone call, they weren't going to be yelled at for something they didn't do and had no power over. They bumped me up from coach to first class. Told me I was 'wait listed' for coach. When I got to the airport, I heard people trying to use their frequent flier miles to upgrade to first class. Guess what? I wasn't moved. I know, I just know in my heart, that someone put a note next to my name and said 'leave her in first class no matter what,' because I was nice to them. Brings tears to my eyes, just remembering it now.

I wish I had taken names and numbers, so I could call some of those people today. Especially those two guys sitting on the floor with me. It would be nice to hear how they are doing. I'll bet, with everything I've got, that they will be remembering each other, and me, today.

When I got off my flight, the captain was standing outside the cockpit door, watching all of us leave.
I looked at him and said "God bless all of you."
He could barely get out the words "you too."

What an experience. Humanity at its very worst brought out humanity at its very best.

[Cameron27]

43. I was 2 hours away in CT

My day off, and I was alone watching CNBC. The program was interrupted right after the first tower was hit and the speculation was that a small plane had accidentally crashed into it.

I watched as the second plane hit, it was just too surreal to take in. I watched the whole thing unfold all day and into the night. I called my sons in AZ and in Hartford and told them to be careful and keep their eyes open...I didn't know if the attacks were over, or there were more to come.

I was watching TV most of the day, calling and receiving calls from my family and friends and I remember thinking how odd it was that there was no word from the prez.

The whole thing seemed suspended from reality...I was 10 yrs. old when Kennedy was shot, and this had a similar feel to it.

[izzybeans]

45. I was on a campus bus at Rutgers in NJ. My wife

had flown out of Newark for job training in Michigan the day before. I spent the day wondering if the sky was going to fall and watching t.v. at a bar trying to figure out what was going on. I had no T.V. or car at the time and was pretty much stuck. I had moved there from Indiana 10 days prior and did not know how to get around quite yet.

My landlord worked in the towers but was actually working on the downstairs apartment that morning. He lost several friends. I hope he got over the guilt he felt for taking a personal day that day. He was such a nice man.

[greccogirl]

46. I was at work

at a big co near an air force base.

My husband called me and told me about the first one and believe it or not, I said "It's a terrorist attack". He pooh poohed me and said "oh come on" and we hung up, and then called back about something else when the second plane appeared.

At that point in cubicle land I jumped up and said "we're under attack". Everything was wild after that........................................

[Tinksrival]

47. I spent the day at work in a maternity ward.

At the time I was a photographer taking newborns first pictures. I went from room to room with a camera cart on that surreal morning. The televisions in the rooms projected the horrors of the world while the beauty of a newborn life lay unaware in their mothers arms. The parents with stunned looks on their faces not knowing what to do with the joy they had in their hearts. So many had just been wiped of the face of the earth leaving behind those who would never share the joy of life with their loved one again. It's important to treasure the time we have together.
Then I had to say, "Would you like a picture?" It was surreal.

[helderheid]

48. I cannot even fathom - wow. Just WOW.

[nebenaube]

49. I was at work

Also writing code, a co-worker's wife called and said a plane had hit the first tower. I pulled up CNN on the test server next to me and a wave of shock fell over me. We moved to the conference room and fired up the television in time to witness the second tower being hit. I was utterly stunned... I speculated that the buildings wouldn't collapse and then we watched it happened. It was too surreal, too uniform. I thought that was impossible, there was no fucking way that could have happened. I had already come to the conclusion that a coup had occured in 2000. I had watched Bush form his cabinet from day one and I was well aware of his grandfather's history. I remembered an article in the Washington post by Wolfowitz that had advocated PNAC policies from a few years before and I thought damn! this is so fucking convient. I knew at exactly that moment that it was a Reichtag event. They were going to get their war. Then the antrax hit. Then came the Patriot Act.

I'm a product of the cold war. I grew up in Grafenwohr Germany, lived there for twelve years and the only thing to do there was study the history of The Third Reich; I'm an expert but the specific details have faded. I've been to every concentration camp, played on bombed bunkers, toured The Eagle's Nest, had 500lb bombs dug up on the playgrounds in my housing area, collected Nazi artifacts, blah, blah, blah. Pattern analysis is where my life lead me, to five years in the sleep lab, analysing sleep studies then came ten years of software development.

The pattern I was witnessing that day and in the months that followed was all too familiar.

Thank you DU! collectively this site is the only thing that has enabled me to maintain my sanity.

[jakefrep]

50. I was at work...

and I remember hearing about the plane hitting the WTC on the radio. I figured it was a Cessna or something and continued working. Then one of the ladies in our office turned on the TV in the conference room, just in time to see the second plane hit. I went out to visit a client and the stories were all over the radio. Not much work got done that day. I remember the internet was slow with all the traffic. Even ESPN.com was carrying just a news feed from ABC.

That evening we went to a county fair because one of our horses was racing. What the hell else were we going to do besides sit home and watch CNN? It was quite possibly the most somber atmosphere I have ever seen at a fair. Most of the small number of people at the fair were gathered around the cable and satellite TV booths in the merchant's building watching TV. Driving home we noticed all of the gas prices had been jacked up to $5.999/gallon.

[The Straight Story]

51. I remember now too

going to a duke/duchess gas station for some smokes later that day. Long gas lines, the prices were going up, and it seemed bizzare. I was not sure whether to stock up or just get things I needed for the day.

[Coyote_Bandit]

52. I was running late for work

I was about a month into a new job in the financial services sector and had Bloomberg TV on as I finished getting ready to go to work. I heard the report of the first plane having hit the WTC and switched to CNN and saw the second plane hit. I left and went to work. It was a short drive. Didn't want to but knew I had to go to work anyway. Arrived at work a few minutes later to find the WTC attack the topic of conversation and speculation of the day. The boss was pontificating about terrorists. Markets and trading were suspended. I took calls and talked to lots of mostly elderly and very frightened clients. No one at our office seemed to have good information. We had difficulty accessing news sites on the net. There were no tv's in the office so we mostly relied on word of mouth. I felt very uneasy and out of touch. And I was remarkably relieved to realize that I was not working in a high rise downtown in one of our nations largest cities as I had been just a few weeks earlier. I emailed my former coworkers and was relieved to learn they had been evacuated and sent home for the day. I had family members who had been in NYC and DC and returned home just a few days earlier. I was thankful they were home safely and had no problems with their air travel. I had professional colleagues who officed in the WTC and even though I knew they spent most of their time travelling I worried about them. For weeks afterwards I would read the names of the missing and the dead. All were safe. One would later tell her experiences that day. I will never forget the look in her eyes as she detailed the horror of that day.

[uncertainty1999]

53. Sleeping at start (in CA), but caught on before the 2nd tower collapse

I woke up early at my then-boyfriend-now-husband's place. He kept sleeping after I awoke (he's always a sleepy-head!). I was looking forward to the day and felt rested and great as I left his place. When I drove to work, I noticed the traffic was light. I turned on Pacifica Radio and heard Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! talking about the Pentagon being hit (and I thought about 'War of the Worlds' -- who the heck was she interviewing??) and then about 'what WAS the World Trade Center.' I then knew something BIG had happened. When I made it into work, some colleagues were gathered in the lobby watching a TV news report. A friend of mine was among them, and she told me that 1 tower had collapsed. I went to my office and was not there for long when we were told to go home. I called my boyfriend, woke him up, told him what happened, and told him to 'turn on the TV!' when he said, 'you're kidding me.' He asked me if I was OK and of course I was, but was upset I told him, and could I come over??? I drove back to his place. When he answered the door, we held each other and I started crying. We then were joined by a friend of his and the 3 of us were zombies in front of CNN all day long.

[Broken_Hero]

54. I was on my way to work...

I had to drive my brother to church really early, and go to work. When I dropped him off around 5:15am, I turned the radio on, and the radio personality was talking about a Tom Clancy Novel Debt of Honor. Now, I'm a T. Clancy fan, and I know at the end, an incident happens where a jet liner crashes into a political building...so, I just assumed they were talking about the book...but in truth, they were talking about the first plane hitting, and drawing parrellels from the T. Clancy novel.

I get to work, I startrd coffee, biscuits/gravy, and sausage sandwiches, and when the coffee was done I turned the tv on, and the channel it was left on was CNN. I went back to my counter to continue making sausage sammiches, and I heard the anchor say "A plane has hit the WTC." I was like, WTF???? Stopped making breakfast, and I sat there watching tv, and then the second plane hit....

At this time, the Cold Storage guys were all ready milling outside, and I am not supposed to let them in until 6am, but with what was going on, I let them all in, and directed them to the tv....silence for quite some time, but with a few F bombs thrown around....

Everyone, including myself was shell shocked most of the day, a lot of anger, a lot of phone calls, because a good handful of the cold storage workers were from New York, and all of them went home to NYC, the next day....we had about 15 guys/gals who were from NYC...

After work, I noticed gas was up past 8 bucks a gallon, and the streets were rather...bare of traffic. I came home and watched the news 24/7

[shugah]

55. opening up a bank account

honestly, i was clueless. i had taken the morning off work because my husband and i needed to open a new bank account. our morning was completely routine - which did not involve turning on the news at all.

when we got home around 11 a.m. i checked the answering machine. there was a message from my sister-in-law in england saying something like "of course i know you all are okay, but you're so close to the pentagon i just want to check with you..." baffled, my husband and i turned on the tv. OMG!

my husband went to pick up our youngest from daycare. i sat, flabbergasted, watching the tv, and eventually noticed an eerie lack of background noise - we lived, at that time, in the flight path of dulles airport - there were no planes rattling my windows and shaking my house ...

i was extremely tense and anxious tho i didn't realize it until my mother stopped by on her way home from work and my older son got home from school. it was a heavy sigh of relief that escaped me when all my important people were accounted for.

i remember seeing a quick clip of bush sitting at the school in florida with that deer in the headlights look on one of the news stations (never saw it again until MMs documentary farenheit 911) and thinking something akin to "oh christ!"

[raysr]

56. Sitting in a logging truck

listening to the radio waiting get loaded (with logs).

[peacebuzzard]

57. Waking up at home after flying in from NYC the night before.

I hugged my dogs like I never had before.

[Odin2005]

58. I was in my 10th Grade biology class.

The principal came running down the hall telling the teacher to turn the classroom TV to CNN. The second plane had just hit the WTC. I still can't get the images of people jumping to thier deaths out of my head...

[Lautremont]

59. It was early morning, and I got a call from a friend - the same

friend who called me one morning and said "Half of Oklahoma City just blew up!" I guess he's my disaster friend. Anyway, he said the WTC had been hit by planes and one of the towers had fallen. I said, disbelieving, "But... there must be thousands of people dead!"

I spent the rest of the day with the TV on and jumping around the room like a monkey. I just couldn't keep still, couldn't stop moving.

The thing that amazes me to this day is that I can't believe they fucking pulled it off, probably way better than they ever dreamed. Both towers, down? That must have exceeded all their expectations. I still shake my head about it.

[LSK]

60. I was camping way up in the Mountains of Colorado

I was driving out of Leadville, Co when I heard it on the radio. Within an hour of the 1st tower falling they were already talking about Bin Ladin.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

61. I have a home office and was working from home that morning.

I sat down at my computer and was going over the scheduling for the day when I a noticed a breaking news message flashing. I don't even remember what it said, I just remember that whatever it was I thought it was a mistake. I went and turned on the TV and saw that a plane had hit the first building. News was sketchy and I turned back to the computer and hit CNN trying to turn up something better. Then the second plane hit and I knew it was bigger than I first thought.

I'll never forget the feeling of shock when the first building fell. Then desperately hoping the second would prove stronger.

I watched the people jumping from the building, some alone some in pairs. At some point I realized they knew either way they were going to die and in their own way they were taking control of the situation. I cried for them and their families.

At some point I talked to my mom, IM'd my brother and emailed my sister. I also called my office and said we would be closed and for everyone to go home and be with their families.

It seems I must have told alot of people that things would never be the same. At least many people tell me I did. The funny thing is I don't actually remember saying that out loud.

For some strange reason I only recall what I saw on TV or read on the internet, I can't really recall what I heard on TV or the radio that day.

[NanceGreggs]

62. Working at home ...

... TV and radio off. My mother-in-law called, my husband spoke to her for a minute and hung up.

I asked what she'd called about, and my husband said, "She said to put on the TV."

I said, "What channel?"

He said, "ANY channel."

That's when I knew it was something really bad ...

[Peggy Day]

63. I live in California, so when I got up, the first airplane had already

struck the 1st tower. I got on my computer, and yahoo had a news article about a plane hitting the tower. I tried repeatedly to access the site, but it was really slow (too many people trying at the same time I suppose). I turned on the TV, and was very shocked. I was getting ready for work, and when I came back in to watch, I saw the building collapse. I had to go to work, but listened all the way. Worked 12 hours (as usual for a Tuesday), and wondered about all the other planes supposedly still airborne. Whoever grounded all the planes that day was doing a good job, even though it caused much upheaval.
I know a NYFD fireman, and was wondering about him. He made it. CBS did a very good job on their memorial/video. I wrote them and thanked them for keeping the politics out of their story.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

64. This is what I remember about September 11, 2001.

I woke up, flipped on the local Good Morning fluff,had a cup of coffee and jumped in the shower, just like every day. I got out a few minutes later to hear reports of a plane hitting one of the towers, and by the time I was ready to leave, they had video of the tower smoking. I thought it had to be an accident, an anomaly.
I left to catch my bus, and arrived at work over an hour later (Auto Auction). We had to arrive by 8, but we didn't really do any work until 9:30. We spent over an hour in front of the TV, watching the video, watching the second plane hit, hearing about others hijacked. We were just shocked, kind of on auto-pilot. I thought for sure they would cancel the auction... how could they not? We were being attacked!
Right on schedule, they started the auction. I was a driver that day, jumping in a car, driving it past the block, parking it and jumping to another. I felt like a robot. Jump in, adjust seat, start engine, TUNE THE RADIO TO THE NEWS, get in line, idle at the block, drive it back, park it. Repeat.
All around me, dealers on cell phones, yelling bids, checking out the interiors... just like it was a normal day. But it was anything but normal. The most striking thing... we were 2 miles from the (major) airport, but it was so quiet, and the skies were empty. Absolutely surreal. The rest of the day is a complete blur.
That's what I remember about September 11, 2001.

[AZBlue]

65. Being in Arizona, it was over before I awoke.

I'll never forget the phone call from my mom though, telling me about it. She must have had to repeat it about four times, I just couldn't comprehend what she was saying. I turned on the TV just as they replayed the second plane going into the WTC and I fell to my knees. I remember that so clearly because I'd seen people do that in the movies and always thought, "oh, people don't really do that." I was so wrong.

I went to work after calling/e-mailing my friends and family in NYC to see if they were ok but we wound up closing within the hour, so I went home and watched msnbc all day. Driving and stopping for gas was so surreal - no one spoke, no one drove fast, no one cut you off, everyone was just in a daze. Everyone had the same look on their face, one of disbelief and a complete lack of understanding.

I watched TV until about 2 am that morning, when I was just too tired to watch anymore. Yet, laying in bed I still couldn't sleep. I remember listening to the world outside and being amazed at how quiet it was - no one was out or on the roads. It sounded peaceful. And yet it was actually anything but peaceful.

And then I heard a fighter jet fly over (Luke AFB is here). And I knew life would NEVER be the same again. I cried myself to sleep.

[kimpossible]

66. Working in my pajamas

I was working from home (coding) that morning; checking email before getting dressed for the day. My husband called to say he'd heard something was going on and I should turn on the news. I was mesmerized in front of the TV for the rest of the day, flipping channels, hoping none of my New York cousins had been in the area, wondering what would happen next. It was hours before I could even tear myself away long enough to go to the bathroom, afraid that some new cataclysmic event would come on screen the minute I turned away. I never did get dressed that day, it was just too surreal.

[Steve Nash is god 13]

67. In school. I think we

were in 3rd grade and i was mad because we we couldnt go out to recess. :cry: :wtf:

[rainbow4321]

68. Heard it on the car radio as I drove kids to school

when the first plane hit. Had images of it being a Cessna or some other small plane...didn't sink in til I got back into the house and saw live video. Saw the ball of fire when the second plane hit...thought it was "just" fire spreading from the other tower. Got on the computer for more info, had TV on in the background, called relatives.
Went and filled up my gas tank, took most of my $$ out of the bank. The local banks were severely limiting how much cash could be withdrawn but I eventually found a loophole (much to the bank's dismay)---asked for a very large chunk of my bank $$ in the form of travellers checks.

Kind of scary having an institution denying you access to one's own money no matter what reason is given. The teller just kept saying that "because of the incident this morning in New York" the bank would not be access to large amounts/withdrawls of $$.

[Canuckistanian]

69. My wife woke me up

She said, "Something is happening down in the States". She'd been listening to CBC radio and heard of the first WTC crash, then something about more hijackings.

She wanted me to find an American station on our big old satellite dish (we live way out in the boonies, no cable)

We watched CNN just after the second plane hit and heard about the Pentagon crash later.

I missed seeing the first building crashing down and my wife wasn't saying anything, just watching the TV, open mouthed. Then we saw the second one go down and I noticed there were no towers at all. We just hugged each other, knowing that we were watching thousands of people die.

Later on, I was walking around in our backyard in a daze and suddenly realized that everything was quiet. The skies were empty, no planes in sight.

I went to work at about 11:00. Everyone at work started earlier than me and hardly anyone had heard the news yet. It was bizarre. They were working away as if everything was normal.

I left early because I didn't want to miss any coverage on the news.

What a surreal day.

[lonestarnot]

70. I was awake for some reason. I had the news on as always. Then

came the report about the first plane. I was suspicious and then the second plane hit the second tower. I watched in horror from my living room.

[tinrobot]

71. I first learned of it on Fark.com

So, I thought it was some sort of joke.

Then I turned on the TV.

[file83]

72. I made the (rare) decision that morning to polish my shoes before work...

...so I turned on the radio (which was tuned to a news station) just to have something to listen to while I polished by shoes.

Within a few seconds I heard the news guy say something about an airplane hitting the WTC. The image that popped into my head was a small Cessna plane or something.

Then I heard that the Pentagon had been hit too - I sprinted over to my neighbors house (he was getting ready) to watch the TV (we didn't have cable) - the rest is history.

[StraightDope]

74. 9/11? I was a senior year undergrad...

I was awakened by the world's most perpetually drunken roommate, to the cry, delivered in a deep Appalachian accent, of, "Hey man! Wake the fuck up! There's planes runnin' into buldin's and shit!"

As soon as I had cleared the sleep out of my eyes, I knew then that the America in which I had grown up was about to change drastically, and perhaps irrevocably. Who knew that it would be worse than my naive younger self ever could have imagined? On this day, the solemn respect for the needless deaths of so many of my countrymen is tempered by the realization that we Americans have no monopoly on profound suffering, especially in light of the all-too-numerous atrocities committed in our collective name. My only wish is for the endemic international, intra-national, and internecine violence, so marked throughout human society, to come to an end once and for all. It isn't forthcoming for the foreseeable future, but there is always hope...

EDIT: typo.

[The Straight Story]

81. That kicks in some memories to me

Before that I remember watching 'a Beautiful Mind' and all it's commentaries. I am a big fan of that movie as I love math.

Prior to 9/11 I recall watching that show many times and all the commentaries on it, and looking back now I can see a different America then the one I see now.

Damned sad.

[StraightDope]

88. How very sychronistic...

I am from WV, very near where John Nash is from originally, and as to seeing a different America than that glorious nation of old, well, the past six or so years have completely destroyed any notions that I had ever harbored to the contrary. A shame that OUR children will likely never know that zany, unique, continually experimental country in which we came of age, the pre 9-11 U.S. of A.

Yol Bolsun, America! I mourn you even as I celebrate you, may your shadow never grow less!

[mikelgb]

76. I was sleeping through the first attack

then my friend called me and woke me to look at the tv

I was like: "you woke me up for a fire in New York?"

a few minutes later they showed the second plane going into the building and I still did not put two and two together....


I was very politically inactive until 2004... (I did vote for Gore in 2000)

[onenote]

77. I was on the train between DC and NYC

Folks getting on the train after Baltimore said something had happened. I called my wife and she turned on the tv just in time to see video of one of the planes hitting the towers. My colleague and I decided to get off the train in Philadelphia. Then my wife called back and said that a plane had hit the Pentagon. She actually had heard and felt the impact (we don't live that far away). At that point the train we were on terminated service, forcing us to get off in WIlmington. I wasn't sure if I was going to be in Wilmington for a few hours or a few days. It was a surrealy day...beautiful blue skies. It wasn't until we got to WIlmington and found a hotel that I saw any of the footage of the planes hitting or buildings collapsing. There was so much confusion and uncertainty and rumors were running wild.

Ultimately, the trains to DC started up again that same day and we checked out of the hotel and caught a train back to DC, arriving around 6 pm (just around the time the bridges between DC and VA re-opened). The city we returned to was fundamentally changed from the city we had left that morning. It was essentially a ghost town, with snipers on roofs and F-16s flying overhead. We got my friend's car from the garage at the downtown train station and headed back to VA. Our route took us right past the Penatagon. Incredibly the road we needed to travel on wasn't closed and because of the way the wind was blowing, we actually ended up driving through the smoke from the Pentagon. That smoke was still visible for a couple of days after the 11th.

My wife and I spent the rest of the night trying to reach friends and relatives who lived and worked in NYC. Fortunately, everyone we knew was okay (one cousin who worked close near the WTC had been hit by debris when one of the towers collapsed, but was not seriously hurt).

Not a day I will ever forget.

[NoPasaran]

80. I had come into work a bit early

I was supposed to drive up from Austin to Fort Worth for a couple of TV studios we were installing at TCU, and I was gathering up bits and pieces to take with me. My boss came in and asked if I could rig up a TV because somebody had flown into the WTC. I said "you're shitting me" but he insisted it had really happened and I rigged something up in his office. By then the second tower had been hit. As the rest of the employees came in we all sat in the office watching and hardly believing what we were seeing. I remember seeing the first tower go down; missed the second because I was on the phone with some customer bitching about some petty problem he was having. I finally got on the road close to noon and drove in a state of shock.

[Triana]

82. I heard about it on the news before leaving for work..

..didn't think too much of it until I got there -- and everyone in my company was in a conference room down the hall with the TV on. All were sitting/standing around watching - jaws on the floor. No one was saying much. My FIRST thought: "THEY KNEW. THEY HAD TO HAVE KNOWN"

And as it turns out, yes, they DID KNOW. My instincts are rarely wrong. They weren't this time, either. I went online looking for posts and emails from people I knew who lived in NYC. All of them turned out to be OK - just completely devastated. First thought was 'THEY KNEW' (bastards), then next thoughts were about my friends and their safety.

[lynch03]

83. I was a freshman in high school

Here's my run down, no one probably cares so don't feel like you have to read it since it's pretty mundane

I was tieing my shoe getting ready for school watching some morning show, when what looked to be a freak accident showed up on the screen. I went to class and during first period I told everyone that a plane hit the world trade center and no one seemed to care. I think during second period I heard the intercom echoing and my heart just dropped because I had a feeling this untimely annoucement had to do with the towers,my suspicions were right and the principal told us we had been attacked. I went in the lunch room and every t.v. was on showing what had happened, I exited the lunch room and heard some teacher say that they blew up the pentagon, I nearly fainted. I went home and listened to the radio and cnn 24/7 for the next 8 weeks

[uppityperson]

98. I care, I read it, thank you for sharing.

It was pretty wild for us adults, have a hard time imagining what it was like for a highschool freshman. It was on all the tv's at my child's highschool also, it was not a good day at school.

[emlev]

101. I'm scanning through this reading only what young people have written

So please stop assuming no one cares! I can only begin to imagine what it would be like to be growing up in the world we live in right now. Sometimes I look at my kids and start crying about that. Then I pick myself up and resume working to make things better in every way I can.

Thanks for writing.

[AZBlue]

104. Oh, we all definitely care.

Did school let out early?

[lynch03]

108. Didn't let out early

I was in chicago, I'd imagine if we were in New York it would have been a different story. All the classes were dedicated to discussing what had happened, and it seemed some students were still attempting to grasp the severity of the situation. Some weren't sure why this was "such a big deal" Of course that was before they saw the images on t.v. but still. I remember lunch most vividly because the whole lunch room was absolutely quiet, everyone was just glued to the replay of the planes going in the building again and again, it was such an eerie emotional electricity where each and every kid in the room was seemed emotionally connected and fixated on that very moment at the same time, everyone was in simultaneous shock it seemed. It was pretty surreal.

[AZBlue]

112. Yeah, I noticed it that day too.

Everyone seemed to have the same look on their face. And said nothing - I mean, what could be said? We were all just struggling internally to make sense of it.

[JRob]

84. My home phone rang, early west coast. The voice "said is D home..."

my wife. She was, she's a flight attendant for AA we knew a couple of the crew. So we tuned in almost just after and watched in amazement as it all went down. My Mother and sister watched from the lower e side of nyc. This is the second such event in my life. The first was JFK. Interesting how they're both so controversial and were followed by a senseless drawn out military action...

[HornBuckler]

85. I awoke to Howard Stern show - one of his best

They will be repeating it in it's entirety tomorrow - really great broadcast - really horrific day

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

86. First week of my sophomore year - I was in fencing class.

When I got out, the TV in the athletic center was showing the Pentagon on fire. A few people were standing around it, but my friends and I all had to get to our next classes, so we didn't think too much of it, didn't ask any questions - just headed out.

Before the start of my cell biology class, the prof said, "I'll be giving the quiz today, but after that if any of you want to leave and check on loved ones in the NYC area, that's fine by me." (We were in Rochester, so that was a lot of people.) Now I was really confused. I took the quiz and headed out with some frightened classmates so I could figure out what was going on.

Outside the library, someone had put up a big sandwich board sign: WORLD TRADE CENTER AND PENTAGON ATTACKED - PLANES HIJACKED - TVs inside. I went in to the cafe area of the library, where they'd rolled in about 6 TVs and spent the rest of the day there, glued to CNN and completely forgetting about my other classes.

Most of my family back home called me at one point or another, not really understanding the geography of New York State, and freaking out about me. I didn't mind; I think we all needed the reassurance as Life As We Knew It crumbled.

In a way, that day was my political awakening. I was vaguely Democratic before then - I remember half-heartedly arguing with my now-husband that Bush and Gore were NOT the same, that Gore was better. I didn't vote in 2000, though, and I certainly didn't go with my roommate when she rode to DC to protest the inauguration. But on that awful day, I saw Bush running scared, and I knew he'd find some way to use this to get into Iraq. My disgust only grew with time, and I first sought out DU in January 2002.

Part of me can't believe it's only been five years. The other part can hardly remember the way we used to be, filled with hope, respected abroad...

I miss America.

[Hawkeye-X]

114. U of R or RIT?

Go Tigers *evil cackle*

[bliss_eternal]

87. I awoke to Danny Bonaduce announcing

that the World Trade Center HAD been hit by a plane and it was not a movie, as some callers were asking the radio station.

Dh and I looked at each other and ran to the front room to turn on the tv. We actually saw the second plane as it hit. :cry:

At the time, I was temping in a horrible office, with a lot of rw people. I found out that a woman I tried to comfort who was weeping hysterically, was mourning the possible loss of her upcoming European vacation. :eyes:

Dh picked me up early, on our way home most places were closed. I don't recall the streets ever being so still and quiet. We rented tons of movies so we didn't have to watch the coverage anymore...seeing the plane enter the bldg over and over and imagining all the deaths...:scared::cry::puke:

Soon after, I left the temp assignment. Got tired of listening to the greedy people talk about all the money they were going to make, as we were surely going to war.

I spent the days following glued to the tv, crying and getting to candlelight vigils. Blood donation was impossible, the blood banks were mobbed. They called me almost two months later and said I could donate.

I miss how nice everyone was during that time. People would smile and say hi more frequently. I saw people looking at each other, talking and helping people they saw that needed it. I was sad to see that time pass...

I don't miss seeing all the little flags that appeared on cars. :eyes:

[speedoo]

89. I was at a friend's apartment in Elmhurst, Queens. (long)

Elmhurst is maybe 6 or 7 miles east of Ground Zero. We had just gotten her kids to school and had some breakfast. I was reading the paper, she was watching TV when they broke in to show the first Tower burning, and she called me to watch with her. My reaction was the same as others... a random crash by a small plane. But the size of the fire was not consistent with that, and the TV people were just as confused, so I was not really sure.

Then we watched the second plane hit and I knew instantly it was terrorism. I started swearing that it was Bush's fault because he had allowed the Middle East to spin out of control. My friend, who is from the Dominican Republic, without even a high school education, was begging me to explain what was going on. I know now that she was beginning to panic over concern for her kids, in school. All I could do was continue to swear at Bush, and try to tell her it was an isolated terrorist incident, that we and her kids were safe.

Then we started hearing reports of other planes, very confused at first.. one possibly crashing in to the Pentagon, another somewhere in Pennsylvania. Maybe one or both shot down by our own fighter aircraft. And reports that people were jumping out of the Towers, to their death. And her panic was growing. Then, we watched in horror as the Towers fell. After the first one fell, I told her with certainty that the second one would as well. Of course, it did. Then the news people started talking about bin Laden, who everyone seemed certain was to blame, even that soon.

We called the schools and were told to come get her kids, schools were closing. So that kept us busy for an hour or so.

Back in the apartment, we now had four young girls (aged 5 to 12) to try to settle down, try to explain what was happening. They would look at the tapes of the crashes and the Towers falling and look at me and ask, "Why?" They were frightened and confused, but I could not answer them.

I spent some time telephoning family and friends to see if they were OK and to let them know I was OK as well. Later that afternoon, I was lying down, resting, when my ex-wife called me on my cell phone. She was worried about me, because she knew I was somewhere in the City, but had no idea where. After assuring one another we were OK, we spoke for a bit about what had happened. Her father was a retired ARAMCO executive, and therefore very pro-Arab. I had had along running low level feud with him about the Arab-Israeli conflict, that my ex had tried to cool down. I remember saying to her over and over again during that phone call... "Fucking Arabs. Fucking Arabs."

I stayed in the Queens apartment that night, and the next day I drove to my place in Brooklyn. I saw the smoke from Ground Zero as I drove past lower Manhattan on the BQE. Soon I could start smelling the smoke and whatever else that was, from the smoke being blown by the northwest wind over Brooklyn.

About ten days later, I went into downtown Manhattan for an appointment with my lawyer, whose office was just two blocks from Ground Zero. He had just been able to return to his office the day before. I exited the subway and the smell was there, just much more powerful. Even though there were police and barricades everywhere, I was still able to see the smoke still rising and the infamous rubble.. those Tower facades eerily coming out of the smoking debris.

And that was the first day I really began to grieve, after seeing that. I broke down in my lawyer's office.

To this day, I still do not know if I lost any old friends on 9/11. In all likelihood, I did. But my infrequent attempts at perusing lists of victims have not told me yes, or no.

[roguevalley]

90. I had just logged on to my computer in my classroom, getting

ready for teaching sixth grade when I checked the news headlines. Yahoo had an insipid headline and story about bush saying how sorry he was about the attack. I thought it was a joke headline. Then I screened around and saw it was true. I ran from the classroom to the library with a piece of toast in my mouth and sat in front of a tv in disbelief.

[uppityperson]

91. Asleep, found out when turned on radio after dropping kid @ school

had to pull over for a bit, was shaking so bad. Both buildings had recently fallen, still massive confusion. Pentagon? Bombs? Planes? who what why. Drove home in a hurry to find kid had called home already to tell Mr.UP "turn on tv, don't ask, just do it, bye". Spent the rest of the morning/afternoon in front of the tv, mostly listening to Peter Jennings trying to explain why we were all sitting in front of the tv listening to him ramble on about circling the wagons, trying to make sense of what happened. If that sounds confusing, it was, we were.




Then Mr.bush came on and gave a brief talk. Uniter my ass indeed. Time to spend capital he had made that day, patooi. I spit at your feet.

Forgot this part, then went outside to quiet airspace. Amazing how noisy the air is even out in the country, usually.

[BulletproofLandshark]

93. Sleeping

I worked late the night before, and didn't get up until about 11:00 a.m. The first thing I did was call my buddy up to see if he felt like going to the mall. He told me it probably wouldn't be a good idea today. I asked him why, and he told me to just turn on the TV. The first thing I saw was the replay of the second tower going down, and I was in an understandable state of shock. I must've been speechless for about 5 minutes just watching the footage, and finally I told my friend I'd call him back later. My dad does construction around the DC area, and when I heard about the plane that struck the Pentagon, I just freaked the fuck out and tried to call him, but cell phone traffic was insane that day, of course. It turns out he was working in Prince William County that day, and that made me feel a hell of a lot better. I ended up spending the next 15 or 16 hours straight watching the TV coverage. Finally, around 3 a.m. I decided to go out for a drive to clear my head. The first thing I thought about was how surreal it was to look up at the night sky and not see any planes traveling to Dulles or National Airports. For the first time in my life (and just about everyone else's) looking up at the sky and seeing nothing but stars.

[GetTheRightVote]

94. On Interview in Jacksonville, FL - Stood in shock & cried not moving

I watched the events roll out that day, that hour, it was so hard and I can never forget what happened on 9/11. I hate how it has been used as well by this admin to keep us in fear of our own shadows.

:kick:

[ryanus]

96. I was jogging during National Guard AT

Doing my two weeks a year. Came back from a run and heard on the radio that a plane crashed into one of the towers. Walked into the building that I was working in and watched everything all day on tv with a bunch of other soldiers in Military Intelligence. We wondered how long it would take for the Farsi linguists in the room to be called up. Took a couple of hours.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

97. I was a freshman in college at Mason Gross-Rutgers University.

I had overslept that morning, so I hopped on my bike and frantically pedaled over to the scene shop (my workstudy job was set construction). I went over to the technical director and started to apologize when one of the MFA students walked in and said, "A second plane just hit. We set up TVs on the stage." The TD looked at me and said, "shop just closed." Then, he yelled out over the blare of the powertools & stereo, "We're being attacked. They're watching it in the theatre. I'm shutting down the shop for the day."

I went into the theatre and sat down glued to the three small TVs they had set up. There were probably about two dozen theatre students and professors already in there watching. Most of them were crying, but I was just frozen. I didn't know what to feel. I was thinking of my ex-boyfriend's mom who worked in the WTC, and had survived the 1st attack. Later, I found out she didn't survive this one. When the first tower collapsed, I remember saying, "Fuck, we're going to war. He's (Bush) going to send us to fucking war." One of my design professors was sitting behind me and she put her hands on my shoulders. I just stood up and walked out.

I rode my bike back to my dorm, which was a quad of four houses actually with a gazebo in the middle. It was really eerie. It was an absolutely beautiful day and pretty much everyone had their windows open. Everyone also had the news on. So even outside, you couldn't escape it. A few of my friends were sitting in the gazebo, crying and smoking joints. Eventually, we decided that we couldn't hear anymore of the news, so we set out to one of the fields.

We spent the day laying in the grass smoking weed. I was just laying there with my head on my friend's stomach, when a couple of fighter jets flew kind of low overhead...and that's when I cried for the first time that day. It was bizarre seeing no commercial jets, just military aircraft flying around.

I ended up losing two people I knew that day. My ex-boyfriend's mom and the father of a guy I had worked with (and a member of our church). He was a Port Authority cop who didn't make it back out before the collapse.

I also wrote a poem that day about the whole thing. If I find it, I'll post it later.

For the first ten years of my life, I lived in a shitty neighborhood but I had a beautiful view of the NYC skyline from my street. I still find it surreal looking at the skyline without the twin towers there.

[wickerwoman]

122. I was at Rutgers too...

I had the day off but I walked in to sign up for a Latin exam. When I went into the office, no one was there but I could hear the television on in the back office. I was getting pretty annoyed that no one was at the counter, so I walked around and the secretary hustled me out saying they had just cancelled classes because a plane had hit the Pentagon. It didn't really register. I walked out and saw students pouring out of Murray Hall so I knew it must be true. I went to the hospital to try to donate blood but the line was four hours long and they wouldn't let me because I'd been in the U.K. during the mad cow outbreak.

I remember walking back home over the bridge and seeing a woman carrying huge jugs of water and thinking "You selfish bitch" and really wanting to smack her. There were helicopters in the air and I thought maybe they were airlifting victims. And I heard the fighter planes heading for New York (a little after 10am).

I went upstairs to my friend's apartment because she had cable. At some point she put a bag of Cheetoes in front of me but I couldn't take my eyes off the TV long enough to eat something. When my friend kicked me out I figured out how to use the radio on my stereo for the first time and they were playing "Fire and Rain" with soundbytes from the news cut into it. I haven't been able to listen to that song (or eat Cheetoes for that matter) since.

And the whole time I was thinking "Why does Bush have to be President in the middle of all this?"

[CanuckAmok]

100. I had a very odd experience....

I had an early call that day. I had pulled out of my building's parking garage at about 7:00am Pacific Time, which was about 10:00am Eastern Time. In had a hot cup of tea in my travel mug, and I was listening to the local Classic Rock station.

The streets were still pretty much empty, and although I'm generally a very attentive driver, something made me crane my neck down so I could see the top of a tall building on the corner near my building. I had my convertable then, and the top was down. I was trying to look as high as I could, and ran a red light in the process. I nearly hit another car, and as I recovered myself, I noticed that the other driver was also looking skyward. We made eye contact for a minute, and I suddenly had a terrible feeling come over me.

My drive to the NBC studio took about an hour. During that time, there was no mention of anything special on the radio; it was business as usual.

When I got to the studio, one of the assistant directors approached me in the parking lot. I remember exactly what she said:

"New York is under attack. The World Trade Centre is gone."

"Gone? What do you mean it's "gone"?"

"It's gone. It collapsed. There are planes crashing into buildings."

I couldn't comprehend it. PlaneS. BuildingS. I couldn't get my thoughts straight.

Then I thought of my cousin Carol, who worked for the NY Port Authority. At some point, she had an office in the WTC. Later that day, I remembered that Carol had retired in 2000. Still, I thought, those buildings must have 40,000 people in them.

Then I thought of my wife, who was on her way to her day job. I called her extension, but she hadn't arrived yet. I left a message for her to call me.

We hadn't begun filming that day, and, obviously, people were preoccupied with news of the attack. One of the camera assistants tuned the on-set monitors to the local CBC TV station so we could see the news. Nobodyu could work; we all just watched the same footage over and over. At some point, one of the technicians patched the monitors into the clear, cable-fed CNN feed, instead of the fuzzy, rabbit-eared CBC.

The only people who were actually working were the actors, and the hair/makeup/wardrobe people. They were preparing for the day's scenes in their trailers. Most of our actors on the show I was on were American, and I wondered if they knew. When I entered the Hair/Makup trailer, the TV was on, and it was the same fuzzy CBC broadcast, of the towers falling again and again and again. Everyone in the trailer was crying, but nobody could turn away.

My wife called. She had been informed of the disaster as she arrived at her office. I told her to go home; not to our condo in Vancouver, but our home on Vancouver Island. My mom was over there, and I thought that they would be safer on the Island, and they would feel better if they were together. My wife agreed, and managed to catch one of the first ferries to Nanaimo. I wouldn't know this for hours, however, as my cell-phone died.

Then, all of a sudden, I had a terrible thought; one of our young actors, Dawn, was from New York, and had a sister who worked as a trader in the City. I also realised that Dawn had been shooting late the night before, and would still be asleep in her hotel room.

I called Dawn and told her, as gently as I could, what had happened. She was still groggy from sleep, and it took a few minutes' explaining before it sank in.

When I returned to the soundstage, CNN was still on; we hadn't even rehearsed yet, and it was obvious we wouldn't shoot for hours. The crew of over sixty prople were crowded around two 14" monitors, as CNN broadcast news as it arrived.

One of the features they ran was a "live feed" of Arabs cheering in the blazing sun on a small town's main street, what they described as "elated Palestinians dancing in the streets"... The first thing that crossed my mind was that it was night-time in the Middle East, and that the spin had begun.

Most of the cast and crew were silent. One camera operator, who was a complete prick anyway, was going on and on about "sand niggers", and mass-extermination, and nuking Saudi Arabia.

There were rumours.

There were still hijacked planes in the air.

A plane had hit the Pentagon.

A plane had crashed outside the White House.

The Air Force shot down a commercial airliner in Colorado.

An incoming transatlantic flight had run out of fuel while circling JFK airport waiting to land.

There were no planes in the air.

Every plane in North America was being diverted to Canada.

Our Line Producer lived just south of the BC/WA Border, and commuted to work everyday. When I checked my office voice-mail, there was a message from him saying the border had been closed, and he couldn't get in to Canada. He said that the military was deployed at the border point, and that they were turning everybody back.

Uh-oh.

Much of that day was a blur. I remember frantic calls to and from my wife, her stocking up on groceries, gasoline, etc.

I remember ordering a 5000W generator from Home Depot, and getting "the last one" of 20 they had had earlier in the day.

I remember talking to my mom, and arranging a rendezvous site for her, my wife and I, if phone service went out.

I remember feeling oddly relieved that my in-laws had not lived to see this.

I remember going home to our empty apartment in Vancouver, and feeling very alone.

I remember calling one of the local radio stations, and offering our spare room to any stranded traveler who found himself marooned in Vancouver. The radio erson said that every single passenger had been given a room for the night. Every one.

I remember watching CNN and CBC for hours, the same footage over and over.

I remember the almost immediate bombing of Afghanistan. Almost immediate.

You were at war.

We were at war.

We were fucked.


Two things I remember most of all:

I remember some reporter at what would become known as "Ground Zero", describing the scene. In the background, there was the most bizarre, eerie sound, like mechanical songbirds. Nobody commented on the sound, which was ceaseless.

Then somebody finally said it was the sound of the locator alarms firefighters wear on their jackets, that chirp if the wearer stops moving. There were hundreds of unseen, motionless firefighters surrounding the reporter, buried under the rubble.

I remember September 12, returning to work. I sat in my office, and, after several hours of self-imposed media blackout, I turned on my radio. CBC FM had returned to their all-music format, and were playing Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, Opus 11. And I wept. For some people, that mournful piece will always be associated with the movie "Platoon", but for me, it is the theme to 9/11.

[AZBlue]

105. Oh my God, I remember that sound. I just got chills.

"I remember some reporter at what would become known as "Ground Zero", describing the scene. In the background, there was the most bizarre, eerie sound, like mechanical songbirds. Nobody commented on the sound, which was ceaseless.

Then somebody finally said it was the sound of the locator alarms firefighters wear on their jackets, that chirp if the wearer stops moving. There were hundreds of unseen, motionless firefighters surrounding the reporter, buried under the rubble."

Because I never heard that explanation (which, of course, makes perfect sense) and forgot about the sound with all the other stuff going on. At the time I just figured it was the sirens on the emergency vehicles (which of course I now see doesn't make sense - sirens are turned off when they arrive at the scene) or building or vehicle alarms due to the explosion.

That's so chilling. This will stay with me.

[Greyhound]

102. Laying in bed at my GF house, drinking a cup of this terrible coffee

she insisted was good, while I decided what I was going to get done that day. Naked from the shower, she walks into the bedroom and while she's drying her hair, announces that we're in some kind of war. I turned on the TV and, for a brief moment, I thought it was a "War of the Worlds" kind of broadcast. Once I accepted that it was real, I just started calling people. I got through to my best friend in NY, and he hadn't worked down there in a couple of years, but of course, I didn't get through to anybody else in NY until much later.

I spent most of the rest of the day watching it while talking to people all over on the phone. When I think of the waste... :cry:

Edit to add: I was in LA.

[alcibiades_mystery]

103. Lower Manhattan, USA

First hit: Chambers and Broadway
Second hit: Wall Street and Broadway
First Collapse: South Street and Old Slip
Second Collapse: On ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge


My locations on morning of September 11, 2001

[uppityperson]

177. glad you are ok, okish.

[renate]

106. my mom's first memory of her mother is of her crying after Pearl Harbor

My daughter's first memory of me is of me crying after the first tower fell.

My husband was flying a lot at that time and the first news I heard, when my clock radio went off, was of a plane crashing into the WTC. At the time the radio wasn't making it very clear that it was a huge event--they made it sound like a tiny plane and an accident. After a shower and breakfast, I turned on CNN and couldn't believe my eyes.

[Hawkeye-X]

107. I remember the day too vividly.

I was asleep in bed, in Tucson, Arizona.

Wife woke me up and said planes were crashing at WTC. I told her that's nothing, but she insisted I wake up and check it out. Spent the day trying to access the 'Net and trying to call in-laws in New York (They live in Brooklyn. Brother-in-law works near Manhattan, in Long Island City, so we were naturally concerned for him), watching CNN, etc.

To my horror, it was the 9/11 being unfolded as we know it.

We were actually scheduled to fly to New York on 9/13, Wound up flying out on 9/15 or 9/17 (don't remember), and the American Airlines flight (yes, you may tune up the eerie music) from Dallas to New York was about 15% full, in fact, it was SO empty, that we had rows to ourselves.

We saw the smoke from the air and the result of the 9/11.

I have never went back to Ground Zero since it happened. I have come across Union Square in lower New York, saw the candles, missing photos, etc. It tore my heart.

This is one week that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

Fuck you Chimp. Fuck you and your maladministration. I hope you die a horrible, painful death and your grave will be eternally pissed upon for the rest of your afterlife in the sixth circle of Hell, even if they don't deserve it.

2nd edit:

I was just back from New York. I had the opportunity to see the lower east side of Manhattan via speedboat (The Beast), and I can't even recognize it anymore without the twin towers. I did see Statue of Liberty, and said a little prayer for the victims of 9/11.

Hawkeye-X

[LTR]

109. I was driving my girlfriend to work

Stopped by the smoke shop to grab some cigarettes. The guy behind the counter (Middle Eastern, BTW, if that matters) had the TV on. Looked like a news alert. So I asked the clerk what was going on. He said some plane hit the WTC. Damn, I thought.

So, I get back in the car, told her what was happening and turned on the radio to hear more. Another plane hit! I was in so much shock I can't really remember the rest of the events of the next hour, and when they happened. Just that there could have been a second plane that hit - making me realize that this was not some mere accident.

I really had no idea what to think, except that I figured right away that it was bin Laden (you know, the guy Bush couldn't find with both hands and a flashlight - oh, I'm sorry, that's his asshole). I was glued to the TV and the internet the rest of the day, though I did run out on an errand later on (my day off). All the malls and many stores closed by noon that day, and I noticed that every radio station in town except one (the crappy "Mix" station) was wall-to-wall news. Saw a newspaper vendor in the street and I stopped to grab an extra edition of the local paper.

Later that night, there were reports of gas shortages and price hikes. I wouldn't fall for it, except a friend stopped by and suggested I get my ass out there before it hits $5 a gallon. Remembering that I could most certainly use some gas (and perhaps some conversation and comraderie with others) I shlepped off to get some gas. I noticed at least several stations were closed (this was around 8PM), but I did find one fairly close to home. Very long line, but no price gauging. Price was around $1.75 (as usual). Not too long after I filled my tank, the gas station closed for the night.

So, that was my day.

[Silver Gaia]

111. I was awakened by my husband shaking me gently and saying

"Lovie, you need to get up. World War III just started."

We live on the West Coast, so it was early in the morning, especially for a night owl like me, and I was sleeping soundly. I rolled over and groaned, "Huh? What? Don't say stuff like that to me first thing in the morning!"

He said, "I'm not kidding. You need to get up."

I knew from his tone of voice that he was dead serious. The sound of the reporters talking on CNN began to filter into the bedroom. I could tell from the frantic edge to their voices that something very bad had happened. I jumped up, grabbed a cup of coffee, and made it to the living room just in time to see the first tower fall.

My husband and I sat there stunned, unable to speak. Then, CNN began to replay the footage of the planes hitting the towers, so I soon understood why he'd said what he did when he woke me.

I went in to wake my daughter, who was 21 at the time, and just beginning her second year of college. The three of us sat there the entire day watching the television, too shocked to do anything more. It was a dark, dark day.

[Vidar]

113. Taking my mother, now deceased, out to eat.

[breakaleg]

115. On the other side of the world, it was 10pm my time and I didn't have

cable so I could see squiggly lines on my tv on CNN and it was dubbed in another language. I knew something had happened, but had no idea what. Until the next morning when I went to school and listened to people tell me stories of talking on the phone to colleagues inside the towers as the planes hit.

[tenshi816]

116. I was en route to pick my younger son up from school

(in the UK - 5 hours ahead of NYC) when I heard the DJ on BBC Radio 1 announce that a plane had hit the first tower. At first I thought he was joking because the particular DJ working that shift is someone I really dislike and he's got a nasty sense of humour. Then I realized he wasn't making snarky comments and seemed pretty upset himself. The thing was, he didn't give any details because at that time there weren't any other details.

When my son and I got back home, I switched on CNN International just in time to see footage of the second plane. Like other posters have said, it was surreal. The entire rest of the week was like that, completely dreamlike - or I should probably say like a nightmare.

I was glued to CNN for weeks thereafter and actually got upset when other "non-9/11" news started making its way back onto the airwaves. In fact, during my constant channel surfing looking for more news channels to give me 9/11 information, I discovered FOX News for the first time. I remember thinking "who are these people and why does their news programming bear no resemblance to anyone else's?".

[Ino]

118. I was packing.

My fiancee and I were flying to Hawaii that morning to get married. The cab driver told us the news, and that all planes were grounded. We didn't know what to do, so went to the airport. Ticket agents didn't know how long the airports would be closed, so we sat & waited, and watched the news there. Went back home when they finally decided no one would be taking off that day.

We finally got a flight two days later -- the very first plane to leave St. Louis.

Here's the kicker... the search for the perpetrators of 9/11 has lasted longer than the marriage did.

[windbreeze]

119. left coast....sleeping....until

My kid called from Portland and said, Mom, Wake up and turn on the TV...a plane just hit the WTC....when I saw that second plane fly into the other tower I told her...don't ever let anyone tell you that they didn't know, because someone knew...for two weeks prior...I was having nightmares about planes...I had the jitters, couldn't concentrate, sit still, or eat...I knew something was going to happen...but not what, nor where..just that planes were involved and that it was going to be serious...I told everyone I knew...so when it did, there was no surprise for me...other than the surprise of what actually took place....when those buildings fell...I was aghast, and thought,isn't that strange...the only time I have ever seen a building fall like that...is when it is a planned demolition...

Then I saw * sitting there in that schoolroom, the SS agent whispered in his ear.....he had that stupid look on his face, and when he continued to just sit there....I said, MY GOD...WHAT IS HE THINKING...???? WHY ISN'T HE RUNNING OUT OF THERE?? WHY IS HE SO CALM...WHERE IS HIS REACTION...WHY IS THERE NO REACTION???? ....that's when I began to suspect and believe, I still believe, and I will always believe..the only way someone could remain that calm was IF they knew ahead of time what was going to take place...and that's why he was out of dc that horrid day....I had the picture of the eagle with a tear, and the wtc...on my computer...kept it there for as long as I had the computer..I resent the way * has continued to use that day to his advantage...against us...and against what's right...
windbreeze

[Raine]

120. In bed asleep

I'm in CA and it was only about 6:00 am I didn't even find out anything had happened till mid-afternoon when I happened to turn on the TV. I have always had a kind of disconnect from it all because I found out so late after it happened. I don't mean I don't care and that I wasn't devastated, it's just kind of weird cause I only caught it on the "repeats".

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

121. I was in bed, in California...

Sleeping in and being late for work, thanking God for flextime. I remember getting a phone call from a friend, and she was going on about "All air traffic shut down. Plane hit the World Trade Center. Terrorists. Wake up, you bastard." and I'm thinking some dingbat in a Cessna got lost. "Nonsense," I mumbled, half asleep, "some stupid bullshit panic." Terror panics were no unknown thing in NYC, so I went back to sleep for about half an hour. I got up and went outside to smoke a cigarette, figuring that afterwards I'll go turn on the TV and see what all the fuss is about. It was about then that I noticed the eerie quiet (I lived near the flight lanes for SFO.) This must have been around 11:30 EST, or 8:30 in California. I went back in and turned on the TV, figuring I'll find out what this is all about, and oh lordy.

By this time the towers were already down, and the networks were intermixing live footage and replays of the plane hits / collapse. I knew lower manhattan reasonably well, and my first thought was "Jesus, there's so much smoke that you can't even see the towers." Then they replayed the collapse of WTC2.

I was floored. That can't... Impossible... Can't just... gone. Completely gone.

I'd stood on top of those buildings maybe two or three times over the years. I remembered the huge atrium at the WFC, with the big potted plam trees that I was sure were fake... now it seemed to be full of bits of one of the towers. My mind raced - did my aunt still work there? My cousin? No. Good. Anybody else I know... no. Good.

At some point I pulled myself together and started making calls to friends & relatives in NYC. Nobody could get through at that time. The phone lines were still jammed.

Called my mother (not in NYC) and discovered, thankfully, that the family was accounted for. I sat glued to the TV for a few hours until I realized that, despite the insanity, work was not cancelled. So I drove to work. The freeways were a mess. Nobody was paying attention. I saw more near-collisions on that day than I'd ever seen on a California freeway before, even at midnight on Labor day with the pissheads out in force. I also noted, sort of in the back of my head as I was as loopy as everyone else, that there seemed to be an unusual number of cars parked off to the side of the freeway, abandoned. It was a few days before I figured out what was going on, because it almost happened to me - people were accidentally running out of gas. In California. And that's about the time that I figured out just how fucked we really were.

[ExAverni]

123. The morning of 11 Sep 2001

I voted. It was Primary Day.

And I was late for work.

I took the E-Train downtown. Between Canal and the WTC stop it was an unusually long wait. We were usued to a wait as one tain cleared the end of the line . . . but this was LONG.

Finally we pulled up. The doors opened and the air was instantly filled with the smell of smoke.

I walked towards the Church Street exit. Walking south, towards my office, people were looking up. I did also. As I did, the second plane hit.

The older black woman got "hit" on her leg. The shorter and older man on my left got hit on his head . . . I got it in my left arm.

The day went significantly downhill from there . . .

[uppityperson]

178. welcome to DU

glad you are ok, okish too.

[zcflint09]

124. I was in my Freshman Choir class @ Kearsley HS

I heard about it first through the halls, didn't think much of the situation until I finally got to see what was going on at a television. I was honestly terrified--I did not think anything like this could happen to us. Then came the rumors that more was happening--White House up in flames, another plane headed to DC, Capitol building blown up...finally settled down and prayed for the families lost loved ones and thanked whatever ominsienct being up there that more didn't happen.

[NuttyFluffers]

125. asleep

folks woke at the ass crack of dawn per usual, i just crawled into bed mere hours before. they flipped on the tv after hearing the morning news. mom ran in and yelled to me the news, which while i'm asleep really means very little because i sleep like the dead. later they were getting ready and watching tv at the same time, the 2nd plane hit, mom freaked out, dad was stunned and was trying to find reasons, mom ran into room to tell me again. i was asleep and mumbled something, because at that moment i cannot possibly care. when i sleep, i sleep. the world could end in a fiery holocaust (which i think is overdue, btw) and i simply just would not care, let alone bother to get out of bed. i slept through dorm false fire alarms, slept through earthquakes, concerts, etc. etc. etc. so this was really no different for me. oh it was sad, and i felt sympathy, but when i'm asleep it really is the very worst time to bother me. mornings are meant for torpor, and even immediate death is but a mere nuisance in comparison.

eventually woke up around 6pm, sauntered downstairs, noted complete media fixation on the story, realized my muddied dream was really reality, watched for an hour, retired back to my room to play video games and get ready for school the next day. i was already suspicious by the notable coverage and the very pat synchronous failure of security measures. i assumed my nation already had a part in it. i knew we were going to go to war, just by sheer virtue of bush being president, this just confirmed it. i realized by the next day and the hysteria of flying flags everywhere that i needed to hasten my plans to get out of this country before it became fully fascist and escape was impossible. we just had our reichstag(sp?) fire. video games and music was a good distraction after that oversaturation of that day (well, it was only an hour or so for me, 'cause i just walked away after that). actually, and this is rather ironic, sept 11 was the best sleep i had in quite a while at that time. it was a delicious 12+ hour comatose. it really hit the spot after quite a bit of partying that week. gosh, i really miss the nightclubs from back then. the music kicked ass and the vibe was still a touch of afterglow from the clinton years. now most of those happy clubs are gone, the vibe is usually shit, and the cover is too fucking much. being vindicated of my political prognostication isn't always a good thing...

[midnight armadillo]

126. Taking a shower

...having had gone to the gym for an early workout. My wife stuck her head in the bathroom and told me about the 1st plane. I then drove to school (in Boston), got through my one 9:30 am class, spent an hour following updates about the 2nd plane and towers collapsing via the internet. Then I heard Boston's financial district had been evacuated, so I headed home figuring Boston U was too close for comfort. The images that are really vivid are those of those poor people leaping or falling from the buildings, and the pictures of the people running terrified from the billowing smoke after the towers collapsed. I also remember feeling utterly enraged that Bush ran away to Nebraska and was completely AWOL.

I remember like a week later seeing a flight of 4 Cobra helicopters flying over the supermarket parking lot in Newton, MA. What a chilling sight. Not to sound overly political, but another vivid memory was hearing Bill Clinton speak about something on NPR about a month after 9/11. That nearly put me in tears, thinking what a real president might have been doing at that point.

[deutsey]

127. At work, preparing to give my two-week notice

I was going to tell my supervisor I was taking another job after a team meeting that morning.

In the meeting everyone was talking about the first plane strike and weren't sure if was an accident or intentional. We tried to go on with the meeting when someone rushed down the hall saying the Pentagon was on fire and then we heard that the second tower had been hit.

We canceled the meeting and most of us went to an office where people were watching the news coverage on CNN. There were a couple people who had relatives in the Pentagon and in the WTC and they were crying.

We watched the towers fall on TV.

The CEO of the company said if we wanted to go home we should be with our families. Obviously, I didn't tell anyone I was quitting that day, and just wanted to get home to be with my wife and three children.

We lived near an Army base at the time and when I got home I saw the unsettling scene of a tank in the entrance of the base with soldiers in full combat gear and toting machine guns.

It was around lunchtime when I got home, so I got some happy meals for the kids and went home.

[calico1]

128. I was at work. A coworker's mother

who always called her with any big news story called to tell her that a plane had crashed into the WTC. She came out of her office and told us. I went into her office and we pulled up CNN and saw a picture of what we thought was a small aircraft crashed into tower 1. I distinctly remember commenting to her how odd it was that a plane could crash into one of those builidings seeing how tall they were. How could they be flying that low and not see them? As we chatted about the event, the ex girlfriend of another coworker called him and told him about the second crash. That is when it hit us that this was no accident. By then everything was locked up and you couldn't access any site. The mother and ex girlfriend kept calling and keeping us informed. Also an e-mail loop I participated in. I e-mailed some of my e-mail buddies and they kept e-mailing me with details. Somebody finally was able to access the BBC online. The rest of the day was suureal. Nobody worked. It was like a shell shocked, funeral like atmosphere. Of course, like a lot of other people when I got home I remained glued to the TV for the rest of that day and days to follow.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

129. In Manhattan...up on Times Square

teaching a class. We heard the news shortly after the first plane hit...thought it was a Cesna or something...then, when the second plane hit...that was pretty much it for the day. While you couldn't see the buildings where we were...people were outside...looking down 7th...or over on Avenue of the Americas...staring in disbelief at the rising smoke. The internet was mostly unusable and cell phone networks were giving fast busy signals...no TV's where I was...couldn't find out what was going on.

A friend of mine was in the air over Dallas on a run to the west coast. They had to put down at DFW. She took a limo all the way home (back to Charlotte). There were no rental cars but her boss told her to get home no matter the cost.

Shitty day, as I recall.

sP

[WritingIsMyReligion]

130. I was in school, in fifth grade. I was nine.

(Cross-posted from similar thread in Lounge.)

They wouldn't tell us anything, of course. But I went to the public library that morning with my honors class at the time, and I heard some librarian say, underhand, to my teacher: "Did you hear? They think someone bombed the World Trade Center or something." At the time I hardly even cared, as things were blowing up all the time, and I didn't even know what the hell the WTC was. This was obviously before the second plane hit, since the librarians were under the impression that it was a bomb.

That afternoon they said over the intercom that all after school activities were CANCELLED and we were to go right home. All of us were confused, and the teachers had been horrible all day at pretending that nothing was going on, so we were all nervous. When my mom picked me up from my aftercare program that day, she asked me if I knew what had happened. I said that I had heard that a bomb went off somewhere. She said no, that some people had driven planes into the WTC. I asked her what the WTC was, and why on earth anyone would be stupid enough to drive planes into it. She explained that it hadn't been an accident.

At home I was pissed that all that the TV channels that evening would show were these damned towers burning. I was missing my favorite shows. :D Again, I was only nine.

My tenth birthday, and the day that I first got my clarinet, was two days later. I told my mom that I was sad that everyone was sad on my birthday, and that everyone was not happy that I was happy, because I thought I was supposed to be sad or something.

[bklyncowgirl]

131. I was talking to my husband who was standing outside the Trade Center

He called me at work to say that if we had a TV we should turn it on. The World Trade Center was on fire and that people who'd seen the explosion said a plane hit it.

I asked him if it was a small plane--he said no--it was a big jet.

I had years ago participated in a practice evacuation of the Trade Center and knew they could empty the buildings quickly but that the people above the fire were probably doomed unless there was a undamaged staircase.

He called me later to say there was an explosion at the second tower. Another jet.

I didn't get any more calls from him until an hour or so later. By that time the towers had collapsed and I feared the worst.

He was shocked to learn that the Towers and everyone in them were gone.

I spent alot of time watching the smoke rising over the hills in the small New Jersey town where I lived and worked.

[NC_Nurse]

132. I was in the recovery room

taking care of a schizophrenic woman who had oral surgery. I didn't want to scare the shit out of her, so when we hit the day-op suite to get her ready to go home I changed the TV channel to some basketball game. All day there were announcements about volunteers going to NYC on the overhead speakers. Of course, it turned out they didn't need us since so few came into the hospitals. :-(
Most of us were ready to volunteer to go up to NYC or DC if we were needed. We were all dumbfounded.

[NC_Nurse]

133. I was in the recovery room

taking care of a schizophrenic woman who had oral surgery. I didn't want to scare the shit out of her, so when we hit the day-op suite to get her ready to go home I changed the TV channel to some basketball game. All day there were announcements about volunteers going to NYC on the overhead speakers. Of course, it turned out they didn't need us since so few came into the hospitals. :-(
Most of us were ready to volunteer to go up to NYC or DC if we were needed. We were all dumbfounded.

[Ganja Ninja]

134. I was living in the former democracy known as the USA.

At the time I was hoping people would come to their senses, rise up and throw the usurper out of the people's house.

[magellan]

135. I was living in the UK with my husband, we worked at home

The UK is five hours ahead of the east coast so it was sometime around 2pm I guess when the news hit us. I was passing through the living room with some photocopying and just happened to glance at the tv, showing tower 1 with smoke coming from it. I called my husband downstairs and said, "They think a small plane has hit the WTC." We decided it was time for a tea break so we watched in the kitchen. Our small staff was with us when the second plane hit; I pointed it out but they thought it was a replay of the first one. Even the news people didn't seem to realize right away.

When the first tower went down it was a shock -- horrifying and unexpected. The second tower falling was just numbing. I remember thinking how odd but fortunate that both went straight down rather than falling over and taking out many city blocks like you'd anticipate.

What jumped out at me that day was one of Bush**'s statements; I don't know where he was, but he blamed bin Laden and al Qaeda and it bothered me how they knew exactly who to blame so fast. In the UK at the time we were still dealing with the IRA, and even when Scotland Yard received coded messages warning of a bomb (which was the IRA's MO) they were quite hesitant to immediately pin it on the IRA.

It pained me not to be in the US, to feel so far away, but our staff and neighbors were very kind and supportive.

[foreverdem]

136. I was in my office building in midtown Manhattan

My husband had called me at work to tell me a plane had crashed into one of the WTC towers. I thought at first it was some kind of fluke, some kind of freak accident. The Fire Dept will put it out, I was thinking. Then he calls me again to tell me about the other tower and then the Pentagon. I alternated between watching on the TV in the kitchen at work and watching the towers burn from the window of my office. It looked so close, like it was right in front of me, even though it was way downtown.

I thought I would never get home that day. Manhattan was closed down for several hours, no one in or out, even walking across the bridge was not permitted. Phone lines were intermittently working, cell phones not at all. I think every person I had ever met in my whole life called me that day. The whole thing was surreal.

[Maeve]

137. Getting ready to go shopping with Mom in Columbus

Kids were off to school, hubby at work..I was cleaning the living room, waiting for Mom and turned on CNN. Chaos. I called Hubby and told him what was happening. Mom arrived and we watched tv. All the malls closed, but we didn't feel much like shopping any more, anyway. I had to do something, so I did the laundry, put out the flag and logged onto DU. Yahoo news was frozen, but posters here kept the info flowing, thank you all.:pals: :loveya:

I was also trying to reach a friend who worked in Manhattan--turned out she had overslept; by the time she was trying to get into the city, everyone else was trying to get out.

We had spent a week with the kids in D.C. that summer, riding the Metro in, having a great time. And one of our daughters had gone on a New York trip in May--we were glad to have had those trips in "the before time."

Afterwards, I really, REALLY wanted to see Dubya step up and be a mensch, a leader. But he was running around the country like a scared rabbit, going from one hidey-hole to the next. But I wanted to give him another chance. So I listened to his speech...and knew we were just at the beginning of the darkest part. :scared: :cry:

[Coexist]

138. I turned on the t.v. to check the weather - the first plane had

hit recently. I called my husband. He was in a meeting, but for some reason, he decided to answer my call on his cell.

While I was trying to describe the coverage (the 'was it a freak accident, was it on purpose' that they were jabbering about) the second plane hit.

I was freaking out - they broke up the meeting and located a small t.v. so they could all watch the coverage.

[zbdent]

139. At work ... and heard about it from a consultant

who was livid, freaking out, saying "It was bin Laden. It had to be." He had to leave, he was so angry.

I found out what was going on, and tried to get to the internet ... amazingly slow, if not impossible to get anything.

Turned on the radio to the "news station" (soon to be the propaganda station). Was listening, trying to cope with what was going on.

When they announced the first tower going down, I felt the weight of 40K people dying (at the time, that was the possible number of deaths). I put my head in my hands and stared at my desk ...

[Liberal Dose]

140. I was at home, recovering from a hysterectomy. I checked my email and saw

an upside down picture of a skyscraper with a ball of flame shooting out of it. My friend who lives in Tribeca took the picture and was so frantic to send it out to his email list he didn't put it upright. The email said, "OMFG A PLANE JUST HIT THE WTC!!!!!!" I hurried to flip on the tv and there it was. All I could think was, "That sonofabitch (Bush) did this." I went in and woke up my daughter (who would be turning 18 the next day) and told her, "We're under attack. The United States is under attack." She asked, "By who?" and I answered, "PNAC. This is their new Pearl Harbor." My husband was sent home from work, and we spent the rest of the day doing what everyone else did. Maybe one difference - he and I speculated on how the Bush Admin pulled it off. Imagine how surprised we were when all of a sudden, the man whose ratings were in the crapper just the week before, the man who was about to be exposed as stealing the 2000 elections, the man who was an accomplice in this horrible tragedy, became a beloved leader. We were horrified. All I can remember from that point on is my brain screaming, "NO! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! PEOPLE ARE NOT THIS STUPID!!!" Of course I couldn't express my thoughts in the open...
I think I would've put my head in the oven if Jon Stewart didn't start his "America Freaks Out" series. Saved my sanity.

:patriot:

[dogday]

141. I was watching Little House on the Prairie

and they broke in for the announcement... Just as Mary had lost her baby in a fire....

[TornadoTN]

142. I was beginning my day as usual

I was in my last semester of my undergraduate, had been up studying the biggest portion of the night. I didn't have classes until 11:00AM, so I had took the opportunity to sleep in a little later than usual. I hadn't turned on the TV yet so I was oblivious at that time in my ignorance. The phone rang after the second plane crashed into the towers, it was my dad. Classes cancelled, the job I had in a call center at the time had closed because of the events.

I remember feeling so many different emotions that day and the uncertainty of what the future would hold. Little did I know at the time that I had more to fear from my government than any terrorist. I remember driving to campus with some friends to donate blood and seeing the lines of people. Everyone wanted to do something to help, to find some sense of meaning and purpose in the mess.

Now I look back and wonder what happened to America.

[JesterCS]

143. I remember.

I was asleep, my parents ran into my room, shook me awake. " Chris, the US is under attack "

I remember my first though being " This has to be a joke, noone attacks America "

I walked out to the TV and saw the television, tuned to CNN.

I saw the second plane hit live on CNN. It was bone-rattling.

I was glued to the TV all day, and even when I went to the bar that night. They had tu rned off the sports and had it on CNN.

Its hard to believe its been 5 years ago.

[Fox Mulder]

144. I was starting my sophomore year in college.

My mom called me and woke me up and told me that a plane hit a tower on the WTC. I quickly turned on the tv and saw the second plane hit the second tower. I was in complete shock. I asked my mom if this was all a horrible nightmare.

Then I remember waking my roommate up and telling him what was happening. He couldn't believe it. We turned on the news and watched it all day. We didn't even go to our classes (they got cancelled anyways).

I'll never forget that day.

[treestar]

145. Being self employed, I was in my office and weirdly immune

from the news. Or, it makes me realize how immune from the news I can get. I got a lot of letters out that date. I would see them later in files with the date, which, of course, now sticks out in everyone's mind, and felt amazed, as if, is that how much work I get done every day?

Didn't know about it until I got home.

Kept from the emotional goings on of TV, I could already see the potential. They kept labeling it the "attack on America" and talking as though it were the equivalent of military attack.

Being in immigration law, I was already concerned for how my clients might suffer due to the actions of the hijackers. Over the next few years, they did pay a price, a few of them very severe. Those unfortunate enough to be from the same country as Mohammed Atta, especially.

[momster]

146. I was just getting up....

I had planned to start writing a new novel -- something fun, light and sexy -- to try to take my career in a new direction. I called my dh (who was working at a private airfield near D.C. then) to say good morning. He told me to turn on the tv.

Well, my career did take a new direction. I'm in politics now....

[WinkyDink]

147. Teaching h.s. seniors. Principal came to every door and told us to

turn off the TV's.

Irony: Now those students' younger siblings are watching a movie of an event the elder students were not allowed to witness first-hand.

[RB TexLa]

149. Stoping at La Madeleine, North Dallas/Addison

[Mutley]

150. I was at work.

I'd gone in early to catch up on some things, and had not watched teevee at all that morning. I did notice that business was very slow that day, but I had no idea anything was happening until my SO at the time called me at 10:30 and told me.

Apparently I was the first in the store to know, because I went around telling everyone and we all turned on the radio to listen. Then the district manager came in and made us turn the radio off, saying it would scare away the customers. We'd probably had two customers all morning.

I didn't see anything on teevee until I went home from work that day at 3.

[NewJeffCT]

151. At my desk at work...

I remember my mom sending me an email that a plane had hit the World Trade Center - she had Bloomberg TV on where she worked. So, I tried to get onto the internet and every news website was down due to high traffic.

So, I got out my old radio & listened to a staticy version of the Howard Stern show out of NYC... Stern was terrific that day & stayed on until close to noon time, I believe.

Heard from several friends where they worked and they were able to leave early that day. I think my company was one of the few in the Northeast that did not let their employees go home early.

[devilgrrl]

152. Waking up and not putting the radio on - unaware until 3 hours later...

when I went to work.

[Maiden England]

153. In London.

Lived in London, going to Med School. Was on lunch break - had the afternoon off, and I was watching TV. The news broke in after a show I was watching, probably about 5 mins after the first plane hit. Second plane hit live while I was watching it. It was extremely surreal. Couldn't call my husband in the US.
I remember the days after more clearly, the silence as they stopped all flights over London. That was eery. A week later, they had a moment of silence. I was in a tutorial at the time, our Prof, took us up to the top of the hospital, which overlooked the city of London. I just remember watching people stop on the streets, the buses and cars stop and drivers getting out to stand for the silence. It was extremely moving to see such a solid show of solidarity and support from everyone.

God, we squandered all that solidarity, it could have used for so much good.

[cmf]

154. I was packing

I was visiting my parents in Louisiana, and I was packing for my return trip to Seattle that morning. (Needless to say, I didn' make it back to Seattle that day). I mainly felt fear, because my husband was in the Navy at the time and out to sea. I didn't trust Bush not to overreact and nuke a country over the attack. I was wondering when or if I'd see my husband again.

[New Earth]

155. I was at work

Well, it was a new job, I had started less than 2 weeks before 9/11. I was sitting in my office with the girls I work with. The one girl - her boyfriend's mom called and told her that a plane crashed into one of the towers. I didn't really think anything of it, kept on working. Then her bf's mom called again, few minutes later, and said a second one crashed. One of our other co-workers came in and said on the news they were saying it was "terrorists". Not much later, she called again to tell us that the Pentagon was hit. I knew there would be a war from that point on. :(

The rest of that day/night I watched the news with my now ex-bf, or if in the car listened to the radio with my stepdad, driving him to and from work, and we would talk about it. My daughter had just turned 1.
For the rest of that day and weeks after, the mood at work was so SOMBER, well, other than when I would see this really hot guy I liked (and still do, 5 years later) :blush:

The part that makes me the most angry is how "unifying" it felt. I love when people are united for something. Even though there was such sadness (and fear) in the air, people were really united, all feeling the same thing. I really did feel a sense of "patriotism" - even ME, had a flag in my window at home after 9/11, and on my car. It makes me so mad to think, that if the Bush admin. was behind the attacks in any way, that our unity was based on deception and betrayal. They did NOTHING to stop it and they KNEW it was coming. I hope we can all feel that sense of "unity" again, one day soon, but based on something honest, like some kind of revolution :grr:

By the way, the craziest thing was, (well, not that i'm surprised anymore) I wrote something the night before 9/11 - about a tragedy, a country being attacked, people in shock and people dying....

[neebob]

156. I had fallen asleep on the couch the night before,

with VH1 on the tube, and awoke at some point between the second tower hit and the collapse. Mostly I remember my initial reaction of not believing my eyes. I flipped through the channels. I called my mom.

I don't recall much other than watching TV and picking my son up from school that day, instead of letting him take the bus. I know I had a constant knot in my stomach and watched a lot of TV over the next few days.

The next thing I recall specifically is being disgusted when Fuckface did his bullhorn thing and knowing he was going to declare war on somebody.

[ProfessorGAC]

157. At The Airport, Awaiting Boarding On A Flight To Atlanta

We were probably 30 minutes from boarding at a small airport in central IL. I heard there would "probably" be a delay because a plane had hit the WTC.

Figuring it would be on TV, and knowing the lady in the little newstand had one on, i went back out through security to watch the news. About 5 or 10 minutes after i was watching, the 2nd plane hit.

I knew we were not flying anywhere that day. So, i just grabbed my carry-on and computer bag and left the airport.
The Professor

[MANative]

158. In my office in mid-town Manhattan

at the corner of 7th Ave and 32nd St - across the street from Madison Square Garden. I was preparing for a meeting at 9:00 when my secretary came running into my office saying that a plane had hit one of the Trade Towers. Early rumors in the city said that it was a small private plane, so I didn't initially get too worried - thought it was horrible and told her to keep me updated if she heard anything new. The company I was working for occupied 7 floors of that building and had over 800 employees. Believe it or not, I had one of only 5 radios amongst that entire population. I told her she could hang out in my office and listen while I went to my meeting.

When I got to the office of the person I was going to be meeting with, she wasn't in yet, so I left her a note and headed back to my office. By the time I got there, Cindy (sec'y) told me that a second plane had hit. That's when we finally started to understand that this was no accident. We were listening to WCBS880 - an all news station based in Manhattan in the CBS building, and they were relaying what they knew along with the numerous rumors that were flying throughout that morning - the Justice bldg bombed, the Mall on fire, etc.

I tried to call my husband in CT, and was able to get through once. He was frantic - getting no real news as he was in his small drugstore with no radio/TV- just people coming in that fed him little bits of info. Called my parents in MA - and found out that my brother who worked for the DoD was scheduled to leave Dulles that morning for a trip to CA. Turns out that he was supposed to be on Flight 77, and 2 of his subordinates were on the plane. 2 more co-workers were killed in the Pentagon. He had been called in to a meeting at Pax River NAS, so had to change his travel plans. We didn't know that until about 9:00pm that night - unable to reach him or his wife (also DoD) all day. Until then, we were pretty sure he was gone.

I remember very vividly hearing about the 1st Tower falling, and that my reaction was to bury my face in my hands and cry. A few minutes later, it dawned on me that the woman I was supposed to be meeting that morning lived in Battery Park City. We heard from her several hours later. She had been injured by falling debris and was trying to get out of lower Manhattan. Took her a couple of hours to get to NJ - if I recall correctly, she got on some ferry boat, and was treated at a hospital there.

Phones, including cells, went down pretty quickly and the only thing we had internally was email - Internet was VERY sluggish - was able to stay in contact with my parents for awhile that way. Since they shut down all train service - in and out - we were stuck in the city for several hours. Finally heard around 3pm that they were getting Metro North up to get people out to CT. They were just herding people onto any train - stuffed like subway cars. Made every stop all the way up the line. Took over 2 hours to get home - usually a 35 minute trip. Met at every station by State Troopers with heavy weapons. Have no specific memory of how I got home from the train station that day.

[AllegroRondo]

159. Fort Hood, Texas. 1st Cav Division.

I got to work just before 8AM (central). First formation wasnt until 8:30, so our company office was nearly empty. The young kid on CQ mentioned that a plane had hit the world trade center. I thought it was just some idiot in a small plane, so I got to a computer and pulled up CNN. They had a couple pictures up, but nothing to indicate how serious it was yet. People trickled in over the next half hour, everyone with more news and speculation over what was going on.
Over the next few hours, no one could get any work done. We had no TV, our only source of news was the internet, and most of the news sites had such heavy traffic you couldnt get anything. We finally got sporadic streaming video up from BBC, and one of the barracks kids brought down a radio.
For the rest of the day, it was nothing but rumor and speculation. Someone had heard that the pentagon was hit with a truck bomb, someone else said no, its another plane. The Air Force shot down a plane over Pensylvania; no it crashed on its own. The entire division is going to ship out to Iraq in 7 days; no we're going to Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia, or Kuwait. The 82nd Airborne Dision got recalled and leaves in 24 hours; no, they're just on standby; no, they're not going anywhere yet.

By noon, the base was locked down. You couldnt get on base without 2 forms of ID and a vehicle search. You couldnt get to housing or the PX without going throug checkpoints. All units training in the field were called back.
Around 2PM, we had a company formation to get offical word from Division command. No, we were not shipping out for war (yet). Go home and be with your families. Duties resume tomorrow morning as normal, but be prepared for ling lines at the gates.

Very surreal. Very scary.

[buddhamama]

160. i was grocery shopping

oblivious to what was taking place. it was not until i returned home and listened to the frantic messages on the answering machine that i realized i had better turn on NPR.

i spent the day in shock, in tears...

i considered getting my son from school (because i missed him, nothing more) but thought better of it. i did not want him to feel fear, and my taking him outta school might make him think there was something to fear.

i debated and went over in my head what i would say to him. in the end i was as honest and plain as i could be with a six yr old.

it was indeed a surreal day.

[Jed Dilligan]

161. I was living in a really crappy old house

with a bunch of people. We had beds in the halls and stuff. A real crash pad. Next door was a soup kitchen. I was just starting grad school. I was sleeping with my girlfriend (now ex). My roommate came running into the room (there was no door) screaming "Wake up! Some crazy people flew planes into the World Trade Centers!" Both towers were already smokin' away. We had about ten people in there watching the tv, and I remember telling them all that Bush was to blame. No one disagreed.

Really just a sense of, "Great, now this is what the world is going to be doing."

[SmokingJacket]

162. Hoping my husband was not on one of those planes.

He had left early that morning to get one of several connecting flights for a business trip. He called from the airport before getting on a plane, I hung up, took a shower, made the beds, went downstairs with my baby and preschooler, and turned on the radio.

Strangely, I had a gut feeling he was okay, even though he couldn't get through till much later that day. And he was. Of course, I thought of all the other people whose family members *weren't* okay, and how easily it could have been my husband.

We don't have teevee so I sat and listened to the radio when I wasn't calling people to make sure they were okay.

Later that afternoon I went out with the stroller and told my son to look at the sky, that he would never see it so empty again.

At a coffee shop I saw that the NY Times already had pictures of the burning towers on it. Thinking back, it should have seemed strange, but it didn't, because time was moving so slowly that day.

An Asian man came in and picked up a copy of the newspaper, staring at it incredulously, and began speaking and gesturing in his language, obviously just totally freaked out. No one could say anything to him but Yes, yep, the World Trade Center.

[schmuls]

163. I was watching the first plane hit, I had just called in sick to work

with a mild concussion, after having fallen off my bike on a camping trip. Hubby stayed at the campsite, and he was hooked up to a little tv in our tent. It was wierd watching this alone all day, and wondering why he never found a way to call me (pre cell phone). The sky was barren of planes, and there was an uncanny stillness. It was the most beautiful, perfect September day in terms of weather, which made the whole thing even more surreal.

[Love Bug]

164. I had just gotten up and started the coffee...

I was unemployed at the time and was planning to get up and head out to the unemployment center as usual. I sat down with my coffee and switched on the tv and saw the first tower on fire. My first reaction was like so many other's -- "Some small plane must have hit it by accident." then when I saw the other plane hit I knew it was no accident. I immediately called my daughter to let her know what was happening and to be sure in my "mother's mind" she and my grandson were ok.

One of my friends called from work to ask me to let her know what was going on because all they had was a radio. I remember telling her about the collapse of the first tower then the second... I was crying by that time. After I hung up with her I got dressed and went out to vote -- it was primary day and I decided it was the most patriotic thing I could do. I recall the church where the polling place was had opened a "prayer room" for anyone who needed it and had a sign posted stating the pastor was available for counseling. They also had planned a prayer meeting for that evening open to anyone who wanted to attend...

At the time I was part of a social group that was planning a conference in a local hotel and had an appointment to tour the facility at 4:00. At first we were going to reschedule but decided to go ahead with the tour because we were hoping that would take our minds off of what had happened. So, when we got to the hotel (which was near the airport) there were people everywhere. Because of grounding the planes the hotel was full up and they were even putting up cots in the ballrooms. A Korean Airlines flight had been grounded at our airport (they didn't even have a terminal there) so the hotel was full of Koreans. During our tour the sales rep told us they were handling the crisis the best they could. They had even called up several Asian grocers to get food that would be familiar to the Koreans because at that time no one knew how long they would be there. So much for "taking our minds off of things." (BTW, we did decide to use that hotel. We were impressed with the way they were handling things.)

After I got home that day I didn't venture out until Friday because the collective grief energy was so heavy I wanted to stay away from crowds.

[Love Bug]

165. Ok, anyone else think it's weird there's a spacewar.com google ad?

Spooky...

[npincus]

166. I watched it from the Hoboken waterfront park

heard a noise (first plane hitting) saw billows of smoke from my living room window, had the news on, threw on shorts, went downstairs and crossed the street to the park. More, but that's enough.

[Perky]

167. Believe it or not. I was having morning sex

When the clock radio clicked on and the news was breaking. Kind of killed the mood.

[The Straight Story]

176. damn

that would be a mood killer! Did you make it up later on though? ;)

[shadowknows69]

168. I was working in radio at the time

Production Director for four stations. It was a fairly boring couple weeks after for me because all our clents cancelled their commercials which I produced. I saw the 2nd plane hit and the first words out of my mouth were "My god, they finally got organized", I knew this attack on America was coming someday. Our history has been one of meddling in other country's affairs without justice for too long. The chickens were coming home to roost.

[tk2kewl]

169. I was living in Hells Kitchen but was in Denver on business

I watched the second plane hit on my hotel TV while I got ready for work. The next morning a friend and I took a rented car and drove non-stop back to NYC. We made it in 26 hrs.

In the following weeks I tried in vain to sign up for an officer's program with the reserves. Even though I had extensive management experience and experience with technologies used in the intelligence field, they refused to take me into an officer's program because I was 36 yrs old.

Obviously, in retrospect I am very relieved that I didn't get in.

[slackmaster]

170. Sleeping

I woke up, got on my computer, opened up a Web browser.

My home page was and is Yahoo!.

I saw an image of the WTC towers, with smoke and debris coming out of one of them.

Rubbed my eyes, checked the date and time, turned on the TV.

About 20 minutes later the second plane hit.

Shortly after the first tower collapse, my boss called to tell me our company was closed for the day.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

171. It was late night in my country

The United States and my country operate on two different time zones. What was Tuesday morning of September 11 in New York was actually Tuesday night of September 11 in my part of the world. The first plane crashed into the World Trade Center at approximately quarter to eleven in the evening and the tragic, senseless and horrific sequence of events did not conclude until after midnight on September 12

I had just finished a long and exhausting day at university which had dragged on for much longer than I had initially expected and which had totally worn me out. It was close to midnight and I was revising some notes in preparation for my tutorial class the next day -coincidentally on US history -when I decided that I would finally succumb to my tiredness and call it a night. Just before I did so, however, I decided to check my favorite online newspaper and check whether they had placed the following day's broadsheet edition on their website yet. And that was when I read the news that planes had attacked the two World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Various rumors and innuendo was flying around including that car bombs had gone off and unsubstantiated reports of this and that were happening. Needless to say I was stunned beyond belief and lost all interest in sleep

I turned on the television and literally every television station had switched over to live broadcasts from the various American TV networks or (I think) from the BBC. I started trying to access the various news websites around the world but they were all jammed with traffic and many wouldn't open properly. I thought about my friend's son in New York and wondered whether he was OK (he was thankfully).

I spent until about 6AM in the morning watching all the various news broadcasts and checking various websites. I remember a conflicting array of thoughts and emotions going through my mind -shock, utter disbelief, horror, anger, confusion, deep sadness and grief and a hope that lots of survivors would be found. Despite not being American, I've always felt a deep kinship and affinity with the American people and I can honestly say that it impacted me as though I had lost a family member. I kept hoping against hope for those trapped in the buildings and their families -that as many of them would be rescued as possible.

The next day my dad phoned up from a neighboring city to see if I had heard what had happened. I said yes. We had two relatives with us at the time and they were due to depart over the next few days and we wondered whether they would be able to get flights.

I went to my American history tutorial and of course no one was interested in talking about history -we were all discussing the senseless, horrific and tragic events that had unfolded the night before. I remember walking around my university and almost every conversation in earshot was about the tragedy. There was a sense of stunned disbelief and profound sadness but there were also concerns about the impact on US foreign policy and what the impact on the rest of the world would be

I went back to my dormitory and watched the live coverage from my room. Most of the TV networks had live feeds from American TV networks for the rest of the day. I alternated between my TV and the Internet searching for the latest in terms of information and updates. I was still hoping to see more survivors pulled out from the rubble

CNN and various other networks had started compiling pictures and snippets of information about those lost in the tragedy. I remember looking at the profiles and feeling so much grief, pain and sadness. People from all walks of life, races, religions and backgrounds were missing and it just broke my heart. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, Muslims, Christians, Hindus -all deceased because of the acts of a bunch of fanatical zealots

I felt a burning anger against the hijackers and those who perpatrated 9/11. I have lived in Southeast Asia during my two decades of life and I grew up knowing quite a few Muslims and witnessing their culture and religion first hand. All my Muslim friends are the most peace-loving, wonderful, kind, generous and compassionate people you will ever meet and there is so much beauty and wisdom in the Islamic doctrine of faith. I say that as a Christian. I hated, hated, hated those hijackers and zealots for having falsely hidden behind such a beautiful and peace loving religion to justify such a perverted and barbaric set of terrorist attacks

The next few weeks were filled with a sense of immense grief, pain and sadness for me as I watched hope of survivors fade away, saw the impact of the terrorist attacks on a country which I loved so dearly and wondered how humans could even think of inflicting this pain and suffering on their fellow human beings. It is a grief and sadness that I think I will live with for my lifetime

[julialnyc]

172. I was in NYC on 9/11 at work in midtown

I was one of the earliest people to arrive at work. I took a cab that day because I was running late (after going to the midnight show of Apocalypse Now Redux which I had never seen-- so I woke up sort of edgy anyway) and while I was in the cab I heard a loud booming noise over Manhattan which scared me, but I had no idea that it was a low flying plane. I walked into work and people told me that the tower was hit.... but everyone thought that it was a horrible accident. The phones in my office were ringing off the hook with people looking for their loved ones and I had no idea what tell anyone (the subways were messed up..... it was very difficult to get a cab, ect... and this was before the second plane hit, so people were trickling in). I worked in tv at the time and there were televisions all over my office and I watched the second plane hit and my heart sunk and I was scared out of my mind. My boss came out to the room that we were all gathered in and told us she just needed a few minutes to contact the company and decide whether it was safer for us to leave or stay put. The the Pentagon was hit and EVERYBODY panicked. We were right near so many landmark buildings. We boss decided that we would wait another 30 minutes and then leave (and within that time we would find people who lived near us, so we wouldn't''t be walking alone). Then the tower fell. I knew it right away. It took them a while to say that on tv, and I was just saying over and over again in my office "there's nothing there"..... some co-workers actually told me to shut up and got mad at me.

I lived in lower Manhattan so while everyone was running away from the towers I was running towards it. My co-worker and I were just trying to keep ourselves talking to distract us until we got home. I keep saying that I felt like Godzilla's foot was about to come down out of the sky with the chaos in the streets. The were so many hysterical people.... some out of fear, and a few eccentrics holding a bible talking about the end of the world. People were bashing the cell phones out of frustration that they couldn't get through. People were pounding on the taxis which were refusing to take anyone. My friend lived on 14th Street so I left her there and had quite a walk to go. The air was getting more and more dense and the smell was so strong. All the while there were many firetrucks, police cars and military cars zipping past us. When I finally got home there was a military barricade in front of my apartment and I need to show proof that I lived there to get past the block (and after that day were needed to show both ID and a piece of mail to get in). When I got into my apartment I had a bunch of people in there (I was the only one of my friends in the building that had cable tv and the regular tv wasn't working for people) and they were sobbing. They had been on the roof and watched the towers fall with the naked eye from a very close distance.

I had about 15 people in my tiny apartment glued to the tv for about 3 days. On September 12th we all tried to do something to help. We called the Red Cross to see of we could volunteer or give blood. They told us they already had too many volunteers and too much blood. We called to see if we could drop off food for the rescue workers. We were told that there already was too much food. EVERYBODY felt the need to help, and it became frustrating that there was nothing to do. We listened on the tv that they were looking for people to donate paper and pens to the Armory where all the relatives were going to find their loved ones (and register them as missing, give DNA, ect.). That was the most intense, heart breaking things I have ever seen. The wall of photos of missing loved ones with things like "works at Windows of the World" written on them. All the TV crews were there and family members were fighting to get their loved ones photo put on TV. At that point in time everyone thought there would be many more survivors.

[dave29]

173. I also work for a Telco

I just sat down at my desk, and was checking the news on the internet, because the office was already abuzz with the attack. The second tower had just been hit. I remember very distinctly hearing that there were still planes in the air that were not accounted for, and that one of them was heading south from Dallas (I live in Austin, TX).

I immediately called my wife (who was sleeping) - and told her to get me her sister's number, because she worked at a Government building here in Austin, and I wanted to make sure they were evacuating. I got ahold of her and they said they were not letting them leave, which aggravated me, but there was nothing I could do about it.

I then walked into our operations center, which looks a bit like NASA. We had huge screen showing the towers. I walked in just as the first tower fell. There were about 50 of us watching, staring in disbelief.

I remember very vividly feeling thousands of people die, and noticing that tears were suddenly streaming down my face. I had this horrible crushed feeling in my stomach. After a few moments of stunned silence... one of our managers said... we need to get to work (we had to make sure phone service was working as best as possible)... and we all tried to focus on the job at hand.

I walked back to my desk and a co-worker was saying he had just talked to a cousin who had witnessed people jump from the towers while walking away from them.

Everything just became a haze for the next few days.

[dave123williams]

174. I was in NYC.

I was in Manhattan to vote that morning. When I got off of the subway at Rockefeller Center (I was evidently on about the last train that got in to the city that morning), the first tower was already on fire.

I remember thinking 'oh, great', remembering how badly the '93 bombing messed up traffic. I was standing in the plaza at 1251 6th Avenue, between the Time/Life building and Fox News, watching the first tower smoking on the monitors they have all the way around that building's ground floor lobby, and watched the second plane sail in to the second building.

'OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT'...like that for about five or ten minutes. There was a guy who drove one of those black lincoln towncars so common as corporate transport, who had his cardoors open, blasting the local 1010WINS talk radio station. Everybody was so desparate for information...He told me that he'd just come up the westside highway from the wintergarden, and that he'd seen a lot of people jumping.

I didn't believe him.

I actually got through to my brother in LA; 'Are you watching this?' I yelled, 'Are you fucking kidding? Yeah.' He said.

Then, we got overflown by another jet (one of our f15/f16's I found out later). Nobody knew it was one of ours.

Then it started to get surreal. Everybody was calm, but it was like a switch had flipped. People went from loitering around waiting to see what would happen, to purposefully moving for the tunnels and bridges. I think we all simultaneously got the idea that getting the hell off the island would be a pretty good idea.

I got to the intersection of 5th avenue at Central park south (59th street). Everybody was moving east, to the 59th street bridge. I found myself standing smack in the middle of 5th avenue, staring south at the towers on fire. I held my thumb up at arm's length to see if I could 'cover over' the towers...

Then the first one came down.

'WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR'....like that. I never understood what people meant by 'tunnel vision' until that moment. The edges of my peripheral vision went all white, and kept closing in on my non-peripheral vision. I was holding on to my knees, trying to keep from passing out. I kept thinking about a factoid that I'd read on the number of people that worked and moved through those buildings (50,000 per tower, and like 250,000 per day in foot traffic), and was pretty sure I'd just witnessed 30-50,000 people die right in front of my face. People were gasping and saying 'NONONONONONO'. This one woman came out of the entrance of FAO Schwartz toys, and was just FLIPPING OUT, and I mean FLIPPING OUT. I think her husband worked in the WTC. I started yelling that people had to get to the NYBlood center on 23rd and start donating, RIGHT NOW. I started flipping through my mental rolodex to remember who I knew that worked there...Eddie, Tara, my brother Phil had worked in WTC7.

Then I realized; they didn't give a shit who they killed. I felt like somebody had taken a shot at me; I could just as easily have been in the WTC Plaza that morning.

I worked on Wall Street, and used to be at the Cortland street subway in the WTC, every day.

Every day, I'd have a ritual. I'd be done with work, and I'd move through the WTC plaza on Liberty Street until I found my trusty bronze urban sculpture friend:

http://hometown.aol.com/stockbroker2k/images/bronze%20statue%20at%20wtc.bmp

...and I'd sit next to him and have a smoke before getting on the train. The whole thing didn't really come home to me until weeks and weeks later when I saw that picture above. My bronze dude.

I'm...sorry...there's so much more I just want to brain dump right now, but I'm fucking crying, and I gotta go to work.

[KitSileya]

175. I had handed in my Master's thesis the day before.

I had slept for 16 hours, only interrupted by seeing Billy Elliott at 0100 a.m. When I woke up in the morning, I cleaned my dorm room, which needed it badly after the previous weeks of non-stop writing and editing.

At ca 14:45 local time (0845 in NYC) I just turned on the tv to check the election results - the national election had been the day before in Norway, but I had voted absentee because of my deadline. As I switched channels, I came to CNN where they were showing the first tower full of smoke, and as I watched, the second plane hit. I spent the rest of the day, and the days and nights following, in front of the tv and the computer, trying desperately to find out if my friends and family in the US were ok - even if they were in Oregon, some of them might have been travelling. Luckily, they were all allright. I never went out to have that celebratory glass of wine I'd planned, I had to cancel my US trip booked for October, and I soon discovered DU in my quest for more information, even if I didn't join until 2002.

[Hissyspit]

179. I didn't have classes. I woke up that morning. Opened my email & saw that

a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I had just been there a month earlier and was back in N.C. I instantly turned on the TV, just in time to see the second plane hit live. Momentarily confused, it took a bit to realize that this was a second plane. The reporter reacted saying "Oh! A second plane just hit!" Then we all started to realize what was happening. I got on my cell phone and called my girlfriend in England and we both exclaimed that 'we were just there.' "It's just like you said when we there," she said. I had stated to her as we stood in the plaza: "I don't know why every doesn't think they'll try it again. They won't use truck bombs because they didn't work the first time." Those words are burned in my memory.

[formercia]

180. I was being followed by the Secret Service

that should have been following the hijackers.

We were vacationing near the Kennebunkport compound, visiting Mumsy and being a routine pain in the ass to the SS.

[goodhue]

181. voting

Believe it or not, I was at the polls before going to work.

It was primary day here in Minneapolis and I was doing my part to elect R.T. Rybak as mayor. Another voter mentioned something about tragic plane crash in NYC, and I then listened to public radio news as I drove to work. I got to work in time to see towers fall live on TV. Many offices closed for day, but Governor Jesse Ventura issued statement that state offices would not close.

In my car was a packed suitcase, as I had a ticket to Paris for late that afternoon. Needless to say, I did not fly to Paris as planned. But I did fly to Paris that Friday the 14th on Iceland Air. It was the first international flight to depart from MSP after 9/11 and it was full of Europeans who got stuck here. I seemed to be the only US citizen on flight as far as I could tell.

[mcscajun]

182. On my way to work in the Wall Street Area, but still not in NYC.

I was on my way to work in the Wall Street Area in NYC. Running a bit late that morning, still in the car on the NJ side of the Hudson River, hear on the radio that a single plane has hit the WTC. This is the initial report, when folks weren't even aware yet that it was a passenger jet. Then the update...it's a big plane. I'm still heading east. Then the next update...a second plane; I can put two and two together as well as anyone. One plane could be an accident; two means deliberate attack, and at a bend in the highway the WTC comes into view, and I can see the smoke pouring from the towers.

The adrenaline is pumping now, I'm on the cell phone like a shot to let one sibling know I'm okay -- she doesn't even know what I'm talking about (they didn't have a radio on in her office). I ask her to spread the word to the rest of the family, and I let her know I'm heading home. Thousands of cars are still moving (very slowly now) eastbound toward the toll plaza. I make an immediate decision to get the FUCK OUT OF THERE and not try to get any closer to NYC. I make three more quick calls to friends who know where I work to let them know where I am and that I'm okay.

By now, I've switched the radio over to WCBS-AM (all-news radio). I've got friends (coworkers) in NYC south of the towers. I'm trying to call them and getting no answers (no shit, sherlock!). Now the cell phone network craps out; the circuits are overburdened, and I give up calling and just focus on driving home and listening to the news reports, which are surreal and horrible. I imagine my coworkers dealing with what I'm hearing...it's not a pretty mental image.

I'm hearing all kinds of scary stories coming out of the city, and unconfirmed reports about other planes in the air over the Tri-State area. I'm worried about my friends in Manhattan, feeling terribly alone and exposed in my car and just want to get HOME. My driving is erratic and I'm nearly in two accidents -- one of which would definitely have been my fault. I'm panicky and uncertain of my route, so I wind up driving way out of my way before I correct my direction.

I'm on Route 280 heading west when I hear the report of the first tower going down! WTF!!! This is impossible. I'm now driving one-handed, 'cause my other hand is covering my mouth while I'm screaming. (I used to work on the 45th floor of the South Tower not so many years ago, so I'm internalizing the experience at that moment.)

I am totally freaking by now, and I finally reach my hometown, careen on two wheels around the corner to my house, throw myself out of the car before I realize I've left the keys in the car and the engine running, go back, turn the car off, get into the house, turn on the TV JUST in time to SEE, Live, the second tower collapse.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening online reassuring people who knew me, spreading news and photos to far-flung correspondents, phoning the homes of my coworkers to see they were alright, and just riveted to the TV reporting...like most everyone else that day and night.

I will never, ever forget how scared I was on that day. I will never forget that if I'd been running on time, or had had an early meeting, I might have been exiting the PATH station under the towers at just the wrong time. I've read a post here today from another DUer that details the horrors of that particular experience. :scared:

[Lisa]

183. feeding breakfast to my landlady's daughter

It was a late start to my day (I'm on the west coast) so I didn't know what had happened until a co-worker called me very early. "Turn on the TV." "Which channel?" "ANY channel."

The morning was already strange, because I had come up to get the newspaper and found the little girl (7 years old at the time) wandering around the house in her PJs. Her mom was in bed with a fever, and her dad had already left for work ... she claimed that she had just woken up and hadn't had any breakfast yet, so I fixed her some oatmeal. I was upset about what I'd seen on the TV (I turned it off because I didn't want her to see) -- but also nagging at my mind was how odd it was, that the kid was unsupervised. I checked in on my landlady, to see if she was okay but also to tell her about the attacks, and I could tell something was wrong because she just grunted and rolled over in bed.

[Shipwack]

184. I was laying in my rack (bed) on my submarine...

... wondering why we were getting special message traffic all of a sudden. It was near the end (about 2 weeks left)of our patrol, so we should have been getting only routine messages.

I had friends that had it worse, though. The USS Tennessee was on its way up river to return to port when it all went down. They had to go all the way upriver, turn around next to the pier (in view of their perplexed families who were waiting to welcome them home)and head right back out to sea. :(

Didn't see pictures of the towers until about a week after it happened. I've always thought that it made it easier on us, in a way.; We had time to adjust to the concept.

[Ms. Toad]

185. Buying flowers for my spouse on our 20th anniversary.

I heard the initial reports of a small plane hitting one of the WTC towers as I drove int the town in which I work. I stopped at the flower shop to order flowers to be sent to my spouse in celebration of our 20th anniversary (that day) and heard the reports begin to change as I placed the order. Rounded the block to go on to work and shortly after I arrived the first tower collapsed.

[Sterling]

186. I hate the term "went down" it's a "street" term network personalities

were actually asked to start using a few years ago in an effort to appeal to younger and more stupid viewers. Fox and CNN floated memos asking on air people to do this type of thing. Just another way to dumb down the sheeple. I don't need my news people speaking like they are selling crack on the corner.

Plz people, don't dumb yourself down by sounding like a CNN asshole.