Where were you on 9/11/2001?

[NLK]

We lived in North Jersey. My DH was running late for work I noticed the cable went out for a second. My husband came downstairs and told me what happened. The week before he was working in one of the buildings right there. We began to call our friends because one of them worked in the north tower and the other in building 7. The one that worked in the north tower got to work late and saw the first plane hit. The one that was in 7 was getting coffee in the mall under the trade centers. They both made it home but seeing many things that still affect them. But what I remember most is Sept. 12. The winds changed and began to blow North over us. The SMELL! Something I will never forget. It was smoke, burn and something else we couldn't put our finger on. My husband and I looked at eachother and knew that it wasn't good for us to breath. We packed our car that afternoon and drove to our families house in GA.

 

[eeyore65]

I was suppossed to be on a plane haeding overseas. But my trip got cancelled. I was in my South FL office with the TV on as we always had MSNBC on. Like everyone - we thought it was a small plane - couldn't believe you could hit the towers. Saw the second plane hit and started sweating. I have lots of colleagues in the towers. I noticed my big burly sales manager in tears and I quick pulled him into an office. His brother worked in the towers. We were trying desperately to count the floors on the TV and reassure him. Sadly, he was one of those calling and texting that they were trying to get out and did not make it. He left behind a wife and two little girls and my employee was never the same. It was a sad, sad day.

I also have vivid memories of my first job in NYC. I worked in WFC and commuted everyday through the towers. I was from a small town and that commute made me feel like I had made it! I try to remember the towers that way.

I was across the street during the first attack. It partially drove me to leave NYC.

 

[Claire L]

Here in the UK it was gone 2pm and I was driving to work for the late turn and was nearly then when heard on the radio a plane had hit the twin towers. Rang DH as thought it was a little plane and he told me it wasn't Then at work we all went to the social club and watched Sky news before the shift started. I do recall going to one minor domestic incident and thought that those people should think how lucky they were considering how awful NY was
Struck a cord with us all that day doing the job we do

Claire

 

[Silent1CB]

Walt Disney World.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

When the first tower was hit I was home dressing for a meeting, it appeared to be a horrific accident.
When the second tower was hit I was at the meeting & made the decision to leave & head home. I watched the smoke in my rear view mirror all the way home & was the last of a group of cars that was allowed on the NJ Turnpike & GSP.
Couldn't call anyone because cells were down & for a brief moment wondered if I was going to die alone in my car.
The air space was closed for many days over my home & there were no planes overhead......when you heard a plane you prayed it was military & not happening again.
Our town had many cars sitting in the train lot for days & every time you passed the lot you were just overwhelmed with the thought of our neighbors that would never return home~

 

[lynann]

I was actually at WDW when the attacks happened, we were on our way to the Studio's that day, we had heard about a plane crash on the way in, but at the time didn't really think to much of it. As we were going around the park that morning we keep hearing more and more about what was going on. We were waiting for the Indiana Jones Stunt Show to start when they made the announcement that they were closing the park for the rest of the day. We made an orderly exit from the park and spend the rest of the day watching the news with the rest of the world.

 

[LoriKay]

We lived just outside of Kansas City at the time. I had not turned on the television or radio that morning but was on my way to work when I noticed circular con trails in the sky which I thought was odd. When I got to work I found out what was happening and determined that the con trails were being made by planes waiting to land at Kansas City International after everything was ordered out of the sky. My husband was scheduled to fly out of KCI later that morning for meetings in Montana but, of course, never went. For days I cried every time I watched the news and eventually had to just stop watching.

 

[WL Fan]

My DH and I were at the counter-top showplace picking out granite for the new house. We thought it was weird that none of the salespeople were paying any attention to us, they were all clustered around a little TV in one of the offices. Finally, we found out what had happened, and just gathered our stuff together and left, changing the station in the car and listening to AM news all the way home.

Later I had to take my son, who was a 6th grader, for his sports physical. On the way home, the gas stations were mobbed with people lining up to get gas, it was freaky and scary. We hurried home, bypassing as much panic as we could.

The countertops still remind me of that day.

 

[AshleyW]

I was in school - 9th grade homeroom. We were all sitting and waiting for class to get over, and I heard my homeroom teacher say "oh God help us all" and he just started crying.. he saw the news online, and turned the TV on so we could all watch. He turned it on right before the first tower fell. I didn't quite comprehend the magnitude of what was happening, but my teacher was the kind of guy that didn't cry. Very big, very manly, hockey player, etc.. and to see him cry like that, I knew how horrible it had to be.

 

[monkey68]

I was in high school, in band class. Someone came into the band room to tell us they heard on the radio that a plane crashed into the WTC (I went to a liberal high school, if it was your break period, you could hang out in the halls). Everyone was shocked. Then, about 30 seconds later, they come back in and say that it was actually 2 planes. Honestly, we all thought it was a joke they were playing on the radio, since we weren't thinking terrorist attack by that point. We thought it was an accident, and then thought how could 2 planes hit the towers? So we were laughing, saying what's next? Godzilla is going to appear?

The next period, rumors were spreading. 4th period, the principal made an announcement that the murmurs we'd been hearing were true, that the WTC had been hit. If you looked out the windows, you could see the black from all the smoke. We saw the dark skies from band class, but it just looked like it got cloudy, you know? They set up a crisis center in our auditorium since a lot of kids had family that worked in the towers, or family who were firefighters. Teachers didn't even bother trying to teach us, they allowed us to use our cell phones to try to get in touch with our family. All throughout the day, they were announcing the names of students to come to the office, and nobody knew why. One of my friends got called out, and she started crying as she was leaving, since her mom works in downtown Manhattan, but it turned out it was her dad picking her up and let her know that her mom was alright.

My sister didn't have any college classes that day, so she picked me up since the trains and buses weren't running. We got home, and there was business cards and money all over the streets from people that worked in the towers. The money laid there until the wind blew it away. The homeless people didn't even pick it up.

My dad got stuck in NJ since all the bridges were closed. He was stranded with a bunch of other people from his office. They were calling around trying to find a hotel room, but they couldn't find any place that had space or were taking reservations. Eventually, one of the office girls called this one place, and they said they had a couple rooms still available, but there were so many people stuck in NJ, they were doing it as first come, first serve. So then she starts telling them there are 6 of them that live in NY but work in NJ and have no place to stay, and they've been helping with the triage in NJ all day, donating as many supplies as they could. They donated a lot of wheelchairs, crutches, gauze, pressure dressings, etc. since they work in medical supplies. So then the guy agreed to hold the rooms for them. The next day, it took my dad about 4 hours to get home over the Verrezano bridge.

Definitely not something I care to think about, or care to remember. That's basically just where I was, I try not to think about too many of the details if I can help it.

 

[ArelysAdriana]

It's weird that I can barely remember what I did a few weekends ago, but I remember 9/11 as though it was yesterday.

I was 14 & homeschooled, so I was at home with my mom & 5-year-old sister & we were all getting ready to go to my orthodontist appointment. I was in my parents' bedroom brushing my teeth in front of the tv, which had the Today Show on, while my mom was doing something in bathroom right next door. They were talking about the first plane hitting on the news & I remember telling my mom "a plane hit the World Trade Center." She got mad at me because she thought I was playing a prank & told me that was a horrible thing to say. Her face just went white when she finally looked at the tv. She called my dad, who said he was watching the news at work. I remember him saying that he thought he had been watching a clip from a movie or something, he had no idea how real it was.

Both my parents grew up in New Jersey & we have a lot of family & friends who were still there during all of this. My mom just went into panic mode, trying to call everyone at once. We got a hold of my Grandparents who live right across the river & who had seen the entire thing from their window. We were talking to them & as we're watching the second plane hit on tv, we were hearing my Grandparents say minutes before "oh my god, there is another low flying plane. Oh my god, it's going straight for the other tower." They said they felt both crashes (& later the collapses) as if it had happened right next door.

My mom was a mess that day, trying to get in contact with everyone she knew, but being unable to because the phones were just overloaded. Thank God everyone in our family & most of our friends were all ok. I was just in zombie mode the whole day. I couldn't comprehend what was going on or why it was happening. Why someone would do something so awful. I remember watching the news & seeing people jumping out of the towers...that was the most chilling thing to see & something that will forever be burned into my memory. And seeing those cops & firefighters risking their lives to save other...words just can't express what it feels like to see that kind of bravery. I just couldn't stop crying watching it all.

I believe it was either later that night or the next day when my mom got that phone call that everyone had been dreading...the one that someone who had been in one of the towers couldn't be reached or never made it home & was missing. Nancy Perez had been a close family friend & my Uncle's ex-girlfriend, who still remained close after they broke up. She was working in one of the towers that day & what happened to her nobody really knows. It wasn't until a few months later that all that was found of hers was a finger with a ring that she always wore to identify her. My family was heartbroken & although I didn't know her well, it was still a shock to have this tragedy hit so close to home.

My heart goes out to anyone & everyone who was affected by 9/11. Nobody will ever forget.

 

[golfgal]

I was in our MA home. DH (design engineer for the Ports) was working for the Port Authority NY/NJ at the WTC on the 62nd floor of the South Tower. My DBro Col/ARMY was working at the Pentagon. It was one of the hardest days my family ever experienced. Thankfully, DH was ok. Thankfully DBro was ok. It is a day we will never ever forget. DH lost 10 outstanding fabulous design engineers that day. DBro lost many fellow officers.

Please remember in your prayers all those that were effected by 9/11.

Thank you.

How did your DH make it out alive?? I am sorry he lost his friends.

 

[GirTheGecko]

I was at school in downtown Pittsburgh. My boyfriend had called me to tell me "The Twin Towers are down." I thought he meant they did a controlled demolition. As I was wondering why they would destroy them since they were relatively new, he then filled me in. I had remembered someone mentioning a plane crash in my class as well since we had internet access. Never put it together until my boyfriend told me.

But they did an early dismissal for our college and there was a voluntary evacuation for downtown Pittsburgh. I just remember hustling out of downtown in a mass of people just wanting to be with my boyfriend and to tell family I'm ok since a lot of the national news people were saying "Pittsburgh" not "Shanksville, near Pittsburgh." After I got home, I sat there staring at my tv, having everything feel unreal.

So many of these posts are truly heart breaking. All I can think of to say feels empty, but my heart goes out to them.

 

[minniecarousel]

It was early here on the West Coast. I was driving to work on my short 12 minute commute, listening to newsradio. When I got to work (at a HS) everyone had TVs and radios on.

We had quite a thread going on here on the DIS.

 

[momrek06]

How did your DH make it out alive?? I am sorry he lost his friends.

DH had offices with the PANY/NJ in Newark as well as the WTC. He was driving over to the WTC for a 9am meeting with other design engineers.

DH was driving through the Holland Tunnel and as they came out and looked up, the other engineers carpooling with DH thought maybe there was a serious problem with the a/c as they noted the building appeared to have some serious issues (totally unaware as they were in the Tunnel the first plane hit the Tower). They got closer to the parking garage under the Towers when one of the other Port Authority engineers with them (who survived the 1993 bombing of the WTC) sort of freaked out abit and asked that DH please turn the car around. DH did just that...drove into the garage and right out. They all started to think there was more to this than faulty a/c units.

This was such an extremely sad day for the Port Authority and all their employees. So many lives lost.

 

[etoiles]

I was teaching at a high school that handled it rather badly. I teach art and was down at the end of the hall by myself. I taught all my classes that day, no students mentioned anything about it. Then, right before the final bell rings for the end of the day the principal comes on the announcements and begins to say, "By now I'm sure you all have heard about what happened today...." and I had no idea what happened. No one had bothered to let everyone know. I asked a student I had at the time and he really had no idea either and thought that bombs went off in New York.

I left soon after and went home to find out what happened and watched the TV all night.

 

[Nancy]

I was home. I had just started training for my new job, was finally off overnights and working days, and sine we also work weekends I was off during the week. I had just dropped kids off at school. I came in the house turned on the TV and was going to put on Lifetime to watch while I ate breakfast..since the TV was on Nick I was just scrolling through the channels and saw the footage of the smoke from the first hit. Once they started to speculate that it was a larger plane I was thinking "how could an air traffic controller make such a mistake" and then "maybe the pilot had an attack of some sort"

I saw the second plane hit and I still was thinking some sort of accident and it being air traffic controls fault..I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it was deliberate...of course in a very short time that did sink in.

I was just watching the news, flipping channels and the phone rang..my DH was yelling "what floor are they on" ...again took a few minutes for me to realize that he was talking about his brother and his wife. They work for NY State department of taxation and finance. I knew my BIL was not in there anymore, but my SIL still worked there...that is when my morning of worry started big time. They had just flown out of Buffalo the night before after spending the weekend here.

Anyhow...my MIL finally reached my SIL...she never went into work, called in sick (thank god for the flight being delayed the night before and her being tired). My BIL was almost to his office and ended up not being able to get home. He ended up walking much much later that day. They lost some co workers and some friends that day.

I remember being on here posting all day and just being glued to the TV. Plus I also had to keep DH informed on what was going on since he couldn't leave work and had no TV there...I remember being on the phone with him when the first tower fell and just saying "it's gone, it's just all gone" and then trying to explain it to him without totally falling apart..then listening to him relaying the informationto his co workers.

My memories are just as fresh today and I still get freaked out when I see a low plane.

 

[DisneyGirl421]

I was in 8th grade.

Me and my friends were walking to Spanish class, when we heard whispers in the hallway that a plane had hit the Twin Towers, and we saw teachers watching the TVs in empty classrooms. We kinda joked, how could a plane hit them? aren't they kinda hard to miss?
My Spanish teacher said nothing about the planes, so we thought nothing of it for the next 45 minutes.
When we walked into our English class, though, everything changed. By then, the second plane had hit, and the first tower had fallen about 5 minutes before. My teacher had the TV on, and we watched the rest of the events unfold on the news. I was really freaking out, as my Dad works in NYC, but at that time, I had no idea where his office was in relation to the Towers.
The Principal had made an announcment telling teachers to not show the news during class, but the majority of my teachers disregarded this, and had the news on the entire time. I think because of this, I can't ever look at photos or video from that day, as it is already burned into my mind.
A few of my classmates got calls from their parents to come home, or to tell them their parents were ok. My town is relatively close to the city (an hour to 90 minutes commute by train), so alot of people work in the city. My parents never called, so I continued to freak out all day.
My sister was a junior in high school, and had not known anything until she went out for lunch, and heard it on the radio. When she got back to school and told people, that was the first they had heard anything about it.

I got home, and found my mom and my dad home. It turns out my Dad had a migraine in the morning and had left for work late. He was on the parkway when he heard on the radio about the first plane, and when he heard the second plane hit, turned around and came home. He would not have been in the area though, as his office was on 31st Street.
I had not realized that my uncle (or, ex-uncle? my aunt had divorced him the year before) worked in the second tower. He was late to work that day, and had arrived on the PATH just as the second plane hit. He wound up catching the last ferry to Jersey City.

I remember that afternoon, we went to Home Depot to get something, and they were giving out free American Flags to anyone who came in. At that time, we did have a flag pole, so we bought one while we were there. That flag hung outside my house for a few years until it got too faded, but one still flies outside my house today.

 

[KSchwagg86]

English class my sophomore year of high school--sad and scary day

 

[PixieDust32]

I was at work (marriott hotel) and we had a tv in the lobby when we saw the breaking news about and 'accident' at the WTC, then people were coming to the front desk telling us about a second plane, it was really scary. I remember being sad all day, it was weird, hardly anybody ate lunch, everybody was sad and in shock.