I just heard something that put it into perspective for me.

[BabyPiglet]

And by 'it' I mean 9/11. I'm watching this show and I hear something that makes me cry.

So there's this guy who works in the feds, basically he was blown up and lost his memory. His old boss is trying to make him remember, so he describes 9/11 to him.

'Al Qaeda hijacked 4 airlines. 2 went into the World Trade Center. 1 into the Pentagon. And 1 was headed for the White House but some gutsy passengers took it down in Pennsylvania. There's no more World Trade Centers, the Pentagon was repaired.'

It was so blunt and correct, it really got to me. Now I was only 9 years old when 9/11 happened. I didn't fully understand the extent of what had happened. But that little paragraph just sent a shiver up my spine, and tears down my face. I know that if something like this happened now, I would fully understand and I'm sure it'd hit me pretty hard. I'm not sure what it was about that paragraph, but maybe thinking about this guy who couldn't remember it. So he was hearing it all for the first time.

Now, talking about 9/11 seems to just be some regular old thing, but when you think about it...wow. I know this post probably sounds dumb and uninformed. But if you could've just heard this being said...I think you would've cried too.

So I know we were all pretty young, but I have some questions.

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
Were you personally affected, and how?

Sorry, I know this is all random and there's probably been a million threads on it before but I just felt the urge to talk about it.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
- 4th grade. I was in school and my speech therapy teacher told us all that some planes went down in NYC. None of us kids really understood, and nobody bothered to explain it. They wouldn't let us watch it on the news either, because we were so young. When I got home my mom was watching it on the TV and told me we'd be going into war. I still didn't understand, I was almost completely not affected by what was being said. I didn't understand terrorism, or Al Qaeda, or our troubles in the middle east. None of it.

Were you personally affected, and how?

- Yes and No. My cousin had been shipped off to bootcamp that exact day at 7 AM. Of course they landed him in Dallas where he stayed for the next week and a half while they got the guts to fly him out again. Later on he was deployed to Afganistan. And no, other than that I wasn't personally affected at all. That night my family and I went out to dinner, as usual, chatted about work and school and I was even outside that night playing in the backyard. Yes, I remember details about that day, but not once was I worried.

Does anyone remember how patriotic america got after that? EVERYONE had flags on their houses and cars. It seemed everyone bonded together after that. I say that, but we were also torn apart. I heard people talking that if you saw someone who looked to be middle eastern you should shoot them or tie them up and call the police. I remember...a native american was walking to the grocery store one day and was shot in the head by some people who thought they were real patriots.

 

[ohdisco]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it? I remember I was 13 years old. My mom rushed into my room to tell me that 1) my "wish" had came true and that my grandma had died, and that 2) the twin towers had been attacked and they were no more. I understood it, but my grandma dying kinda overshadowed it a bit. I stayed home and watched the news.
Were you personally affected, and how? 9/11 will always be in my head as the day I said I wished my grandma would die and she did 5 hours later. It'll also be remembered as a day that created havoc in not only the government but the families of everyone affected. Not only did people die in the planes and the buildings, people risked sending their babies off to fight against the people who did this to us, and quite a few died. I feel everyone was personally affected, especially younger people. It was the first time there had been a direct attack on our country of that magnitude in my lifetime, at least that I can remember.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it? I remember I was 13 years old. My mom rushed into my room to tell me that 1) my "wish" had came true and that my grandma had died, and that 2) the twin towers had been attacked and they were no more. I understood it, but my grandma dying kinda overshadowed it a bit. I stayed home and watched the news.
Were you personally affected, and how? 9/11 will always be in my head as the day I said I wished my grandma would die and she did 5 hours later. It'll also be remembered as a day that created havoc in not only the government but the families of everyone affected. Not only did people die in the planes and the buildings, people risked sending their babies off to fight against the people who did this to us, and quite a few died. I feel everyone was personally affected, especially younger people. It was the first time there had been a direct attack on our country of that magnitude in my lifetime, at least that I can remember.

It was the first time there had been a direct attack on our country of that magnitude in my lifetime, at least that I can remember.

Exactly. The attack was so huge and...cruel. It took me years to fully understand the extent of what had happened. Anything can happen at anytime. Just because we live in america, doesn't make us safe.

Anyways, sometimes I wish I could've been in the head of a top defense official. Just so I could see exactly what happened before, during and after the attack. Because I'm pretty sure everyone knows that what we hear on the news is just a little of how much terrorism is exactly happening in our country. Do I sound like a conspiracy theorist? Because...well that's not what I mean. It's complicated to explain.

 

[DramaQueen]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
I was 13, which is pretty much old enough to understand tragedy and the magnitude of something like that . So yes, I understood what happened, I understood the effects it would have on families and on society.

Were you personally affected, and how?
Not really, I mean, it was a horrible tragedy and obviously that resonates in my mind, but being Canadian it didn't affect me as much as it did affect Americans. What it did affect was my perception of Americans.

I remember that day, I was in music class and they made an announcement about what happened and sent us back to our homerooms, and we spent the rest of the morning in our home rooms discussing what happened and our teachers had the unfortunate task of having to explain everything to us and try to put it in perspective.

I remember it was my friends b-day that day and we were going to Wendy's for lunch, and we got there, and it was really quite in wendy's and all the adults were talking about it.
And then we played in the park after we ate, went back to school and finished the rest of our day.
And it was all over the news at night, and I would sit there and watch it and I cried an awful lot, even though I wasn't directly affected.

 

[ohdisco]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
I was 13, which is pretty much old enough to understand tragedy and the magnitude of something like that . So yes, I understood what happened, I understood the effects it would have on families and on society.

Were you personally affected, and how?
Not really, I mean, it was a horrible tragedy and obviously that resonates in my mind, but being Canadian it didn't affect me as much as it did affect Americans. What it did affect was my perception of Americans.

I remember that day, I was in music class and they made an announcement about what happened and sent us back to our homerooms, and we spent the rest of the morning in our home rooms discussing what happened and our teachers had the unfortunate task of having to explain everything to us and try to put it in perspective.

I remember it was my friends b-day that day and we were going to Wendy's for lunch, and we got there, and it was really quite in wendy's and all the adults were talking about it.
And then we played in the park after we ate, went back to school and finished the rest of our day.
And it was all over the news at night, and I would sit there and watch it and I cried an awful lot, even though I wasn't directly affected.

I cried a lot too. Thousands of people died, and for what? The happiness of extremists? These people paid for what our government does, or what a small group of people believe in, and they paid with their lives. It's devastating to think about, so that's why I cried.

 

[Babyjustrun]

I don't remember too much. I'm under the impression I was in third grade, as I remember my teacher's face, telling us our parents would have something grave to tell us as we got home. But now, I'm not sure as Jenny says it was grade 2, and she's at least 2 or 3 years older.
I do remember seeing the footage over and over again, I do remember people sharing stories that their mothers told them, because their mothers helped look after people stranded at the airport. I remember hearing local stories about people being taken in.
I understood the concept of the plane flying in, but I didn't understand how bad it really was for at least a year or two. I do remember my parents telling me that day, that even if we are safe, bad things can happen anywhere, even here, and in our neighbouring country.
But in times like 9/11, it makes me remember how much it can affect everyone inside and outside the country. It makes me remember how many countries in this world are connected, helping out when another country needs it. When disaster strikes, we can count on many people, and many different countries to come and help us in our time of need.

 

[Pirate Me]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it? Second grade, second period in greek class. We were doing a lesson when another teacher came into the room and told the teacher. Everyone heard her and some kids started to worry because their parents worked in Manhattan. We did understand what happened. All we knew though was "a plane crashed into the two tall buildings in Manhattan and it was very dangerous."
Were you personally affected, and how?
I don't know anybody that was in the center but my prayers go out to everybody that does.

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?

I was in my elementary school - a few minutes before school started. That's when the planes when down. I was in third grade at the time. I live in a town very close to the city.

Were you personally affected, and how?

Not personally, but the town I live in was very heavily affected.

We talked about 9/11 in history last September. My teacher said that "everyone in this area, no matter what they were doing on that morning, always makes a comment about how gorgeous it was outside." No clouds, pure blue sky and sunshine.

 

[shellybellypolo]

And by 'it' I mean 9/11. I'm watching this show and I hear something that makes me cry.

So there's this guy who works in the feds, basically he was blown up and lost his memory. His old boss is trying to make him remember, so he describes 9/11 to him.

'Al Qaeda hijacked 4 airlines. 2 went into the World Trade Center. 1 into the Pentagon. And 1 was headed for the White House but some gutsy passengers took it down in Pennsylvania. There's no more World Trade Centers, the Pentagon was repaired.'

It was so blunt and correct, it really got to me. Now I was only 9 years old when 9/11 happened. I didn't fully understand the extent of what had happened. But that little paragraph just sent a shiver up my spine, and tears down my face. I know that if something like this happened now, I would fully understand and I'm sure it'd hit me pretty hard. I'm not sure what it was about that paragraph, but maybe thinking about this guy who couldn't remember it. So he was hearing it all for the first time.

Now, talking about 9/11 seems to just be some regular old thing, but when you think about it...wow. I know this post probably sounds dumb and uninformed. But if you could've just heard this being said...I think you would've cried too.

So I know we were all pretty young, but I have some questions.

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
Were you personally affected, and how?

Sorry, I know this is all random and there's probably been a million threads on it before but I just felt the urge to talk about it.

I was in first grade. I don't remember anything being said in school, but when I got home I remember my mom grabbing me by the shoulders (gently XD) and explaining to me (in a way I could partially comprehend) what happened. I still don't fully understand it today. It's not a mystery, but it's not clear.

 

[STOPxmickeytime]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
Fourth grade, our teacher didn't even mention anything in class. Then the office said I'd be going home with my family friends, and that's when it was fully explained to me.
It was EXTREMELY scary, because my mom and sisters were MIA, that morning they had planned on going to my aunt's in Long Island.
Luckily, they had just been caught in traffic, but they were right outside the city and my mom watched as the Towers went down.

Were you personally affected, and how?
First of all, I like Jaimie live close to the city. So everything was cloudy and dirty.
I think that being close to where it happened made it all much more real.
I also lost my dad's cousin in it, who was a really good man.
My small town lost over fifteen people. It was all really close to home, literally. I know so many people that have been affected.

 

[chisnpeke]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
I was 12, in the 7th grade. It was three days before my thirteenth birthday. Wow. Anyways, I heard rumors of planes hitting buildings in the morning and then in my sixth bell the principal came over the speaker and explained what happened. I really didn't even know what the WTC or the Pentagon were so I don't think I fully understood the extent of what was going on. I thought it was sad but I didn't really get that sad. If something like this happened right now, I would be very traumatized. I think when you get more life experiences it makes things sadder for you. When I think about it now, it still seems so weird to me.

Going to Ground Zero made it really hit home. There was just a big gap where those buildings were. And the memorials there. So sad.

Were you personally affected, and how? Fortunately, no.

 

[chisnpeke]

Exactly. The attack was so huge and...cruel. It took me years to fully understand the extent of what had happened. Anything can happen at anytime. Just because we live in america, doesn't make us safe.

Anyways, sometimes I wish I could've been in the head of a top defense official. Just so I could see exactly what happened before, during and after the attack. Because I'm pretty sure everyone knows that what we hear on the news is just a little of how much terrorism is exactly happening in our country. Do I sound like a conspiracy theorist? Because...well that's not what I mean. It's complicated to explain.

I feel the same way. It's hard for me to fully comprehend it even now.

 

[DisGirlAllie]

I was 6 years old in first grade. I just remember sitting in the cafeteria and our principal coming in and saying that tons of peoples parents would be coming in to get us today. We got out of school early.

And if something like that did happen again today I would be effected badly. I'm 45 mins from DC and if it happened on a Saturday I would most likely actually be in DC.

 

[BabyPiglet]

I don't remember too much. I'm under the impression I was in third grade, as I remember my teacher's face, telling us our parents would have something grave to tell us as we got home. But now, I'm not sure as Jenny says it was grade 2, and she's at least 2 or 3 years older.
I do remember seeing the footage over and over again, I do remember people sharing stories that their mothers told them, because their mothers helped look after people stranded at the airport. I remember hearing local stories about people being taken in.
I understood the concept of the plane flying in, but I didn't understand how bad it really was for at least a year or two. I do remember my parents telling me that day, that even if we are safe, bad things can happen anywhere, even here, and in our neighbouring country.
But in times like 9/11, it makes me remember how much it can affect everyone inside and outside the country. It makes me remember how many countries in this world are connected, helping out when another country needs it. When disaster strikes, we can count on many people, and many different countries to come and help us in our time of need.

I'm sorry, yes I think I was in fourth grade. I know I was 9 years old though, because just month before we had come home from Disney.

Yes, fourth grade because that was the last couple times I was in speech therapy. No idea why I said 2nd grade, guess I can't count properly.

 

[crazytp93]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?

I was in 3rd grade. At first I didn't know the magnitude of it. But since I live about 45 minutes away from NYC there were aides on all of our busses to make sure the kids got into the parents hands b/c a lot of the parents work in the city. And I could see the smoke over my house.

Were you personally affected, and how?

Well a girl in my grades dad died. And I live so close to it..

 

[Axel]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
I was in 5th grade, but the teachers didn't tell us that day, they let our parents do it. And I guess I got it right away. I knew that these people had killed hundreds of thousands of people and it shocked me.


Were you personally affected, and how?
Not directly, but at the time my dad was working in a nuclear power station and I had this paranoia that the next place they would hit would be his work.

The show you're thinking of is NCIS, BTW.

 

[imabrat]

3rd Grade. Announcements were right after it happened,and that's how we found out. Mum came and picked me up,we were ALL being picked up.

I've got several friends who've had family members/loved ones die on that terrible day. In a sense,it did effect me personally.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?
I was in 5th grade, but the teachers didn't tell us that day, they let our parents do it. And I guess I got it right away. I knew that these people had killed hundreds of thousands of people and it shocked me.


Were you personally affected, and how?
Not directly, but at the time my dad was working in a nuclear power station and I had this paranoia that the next place they would hit would be his work.

The show you're thinking of is NCIS, BTW.

*jaw drops* You watch NCIS?

Yeah, I knew where the paragraph came from but I didn't mention it because nobody I know even knows that show exists.

I love NCIS.

 

[AbsoluteAwesome1]

Where were you when it happened, and did you fully understand it?

I was in school, but I didn't hear about it until I turned on the TV after school. I didn't understand it at all, because I was in second grade. All I knew was that that day was my half birthday.. and then the next day there were a couple kids who knew what happened and told everyone else but I didn't fully understand the magnitude until a while later.