Where were you on 9/11/2001?

[crjack]

DD was starting her first day of kindergarten and we were standing out front waiting for the bus. (Their grade started later than the rest of the school) She had on her new outfit, backpack, etc. and I had just snapped a few photos of her.

DH had just returned from a work trip a day earlier and was due to fly out again through Logan (Boston airport). He needed to run into the office for a meeting before he left.

He called when I was outside to tell me to go in and turn on the news. His family and our friends started to call immediately after because they know he travels so often and wanted to see where he was.

 

[DWGal210]

I was on a flight to Dallas (business trip). We landed just as the North Tower was struck - the first tower hit. God smiled upon me and my family that day. You see, I worked on the 97th floor of the North Tower. My office was directly opposite the strike. No one that was on one of our floors at the time of the attack made it out alive. Had it not been for that trip, I would have been in my office, as I am an early bird.

355 co-workers and friends died that day.

It still seems unreal...

What an especially scary thing for you...thank God you are OK.

 

[live4christp1]

DH & I both had taken the morning off to go on a field trip with DS. It was his first field trip having just started K4. We were at the apple orchard when it all unfolded and didn't find out anything until we had boarded the bus, then it was just pieces. Someone had called one of the mom's (her husband was at the Pentagon at the time). Remember driving back through town and the federal buildings being surrounded by police & fire trucks. We still weren't sure exactly what was happening. Both DH & I went on to work after returning the kids to school to find our coworkers tuned into the news by both TV & radio. Then going home and watching it over and over as it played out on TV.

We will never forget. God bless all those who serve, military, fire, police, THANK YOU! God bless America!

To all those who were there....buildings or planes.....those who lost friends and/or loved ones......words cannot express my thoughts.......

 

[DWGal210]

I was in college. I remember I was getting ready for the day, and had the news on in the background, as I always did. I heard about the 1st plane, and thought it was just a terrible accident. Then the 2nd plane hit and we all knew. We spent the rest of the day crowded into a friend's dorm room, watching TV. I'll never forget how I felt that day.

 

[jfoofj]

I was talking to my mom on the phone while feeding my son who was just under a year and watching a morning talk show. My mom had called to wish me a Happy Birthday (I'm 37 today, and STILL trying to figure out how the heck I became a grown up) and I told her a plane had crashed into the WTC. She said she thought some poor guy had probably had a heart attack while flying his Cessna.... we had NO IDEA it was a commercial jet.... it looked so small on the news.... then we watched while the second plane hit and we knew then that it was an attack and my mom started screaming that she had to call her corporate office because her company had a branch in the WTC (and thankfully they all either made it out or hadn't made it to work yet). It was awful. It turns out that I knew someone who was on one of the planes that took off from Boston and crashed into one of the buildings. I just couldn't believe it. Not a close friend, but a friend of a friend.... I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that she woke up that morning, kissed her family goodbye, and was killed by terrorists. I have struggled for a LONG time to be able to fly (I need to take Ativan to go to Disney) or even take a subway or be in a packed public setting.... I feel like if it could happen to a normal, everyday mom like her, it could happen to me. It just felt like the world changed that day, and we lost our innocence forever.

 

[lovetoscrap]

I was at Perkins restaurant having bfast with my bff and our 18 mo. daughters. As we were leaving our server said that a plane just crashed into the WTC. She said it was really bad. We decided to go to my house since it was closer to see what was going on. I turned on the radio in the car and the first tower fell while we were on our way. I called DH and just said "What the hell is going on?" He said they didn't know but one or two planes had crashed and they weren't sure if it was an accident.

We got home and our toddlers played as we watched the news in horror. The 2nd tower fell and I almost threw up. I remember that I just collapsed on the floor and we cried. My phone started ringing with friends wanting to discuss whether we should pick our older kids up from school. A few did, I didn't. We lived in Southwest Virginia and I felt like they were safe in school there.

I was also terribly worried about DFIL. They live in the DC area and his work sometimes took him to the Pentagon. I was just praying that this wasn't one of those days. (it wasn't)

My daughter's check up was that day and I had to take her to the dr. I didn't want to leave. The Dr.s office wasn't really aware of what was going on, just that there had been a plane crash. I got home and spent the rest of the day glued to the TV.

This morning I turned on the news and they were replaying the news footage from that day and I had to turn it off. I was there watchin the first time. The emotion and pain is still there and it is just too hard to see it again.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I was working in Disneyworld on the CP. I'll NEVER forget that day. It was only the second time in history that Disneyworld closed. I was on my way to work when I saw the towers collapse. I thought I was watching a movie...and then I was like oh *&%^. Unfortunately, I went home about 2 weeks after that. Hubby and I were struggling financially and I had to.

 

[Minnesota!]

Just got back to my desk after grabbing breakfast (a bagel, cream cheese, pop) and my co-worker told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We have a building here (across the street) called the World Trade Center, so I was trying to look out the window, etc.

Then I realized what happened. We all spent the rest of the day trying to look up the news online but the servers were SOO overloaded. Very surreal time.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

What an especially scary thing for you...thank God you are OK.

Thank you. The hardest part to get past was the guilt. I was a manager, and many of those who died were there because I had hired them, or to perform work for me while I was out of town.

I have so many stories about friends from that day.

One person that worked for me was saved by another because of a call to pick up a bagel at one of the street vendors. The 5 minute delay to buy the bagel saved his life. He later witnessed the jumpers, and hasn't been the same since.

Another friend was trapped in an elevator. He didn't know where he was or what was happening, but the lights were out and he was alone in the car. After over an hour, the doors opened and a fireman told him to run out of the building. He had no idea what was going on, but he ran. He did not know that planes had struck the buildings, or that the other tower had already come down. He made it out just minutes before the North Tower collapsed. His story was recounted in one of the TV specials.

Another friend was trapped in the building on the 95th floor while it burned. We used two way pagers, and he was "talking" with a co-worker as he tried to get out, but the stairwells were completely obstructed. After determining that they could not escape, they moved into an office furthest from the fire. The last message that he sent was, "The fire is here." I still remember the day that he told me that his wife was expecting their first child. They had been trying for so long.

 

[luv2sew]

I was on my way, with my MIL and SIL, to Rice's Flea Market in PA. We pulled up to the parking lot and the attendent told us to turn on our radio that something happened in NYC.

We really did not know how bad it was, my sister in laws son was in New York at the time and we were trying to get hold of him on her cell phone to find out if he was alright. Her husband was about to board a plane in Michigan to come home and was told flights were cancelled. He was one of the lucky ones to get a rental car and drive home.

During the day (If I had been driving we would have just high tailed it home but I wasn't) of shopping we were walking around the flea market trying to listen to the portable radios. I heard at one point the first tower fell and told my MIL about it and her response was "It's a big building probably just part of it fell"....If only that were the case.

At one point I went into one of the tents there that sold dance wear to see if I could find something for my dancer daughter.....the guys in the tent looked like they were of middle east decent and they were on their cell phones laughing and joking....Not knowing what really was going on in NYC and not really seeing any kind of real news cast yet, I did not make the connection. I feld very uncomfortable in that tent and walked out......to this day I wish I had notified the FBI about that.

I only bought one item that day and it was a Christmas decoration....It is a yearly reminder of the circumstances of the day. My daughter wrote in a essay paper she had to write for school after that how she saw her mother cry.......I am one that will never forget....I have my red, white and blue on today and prayed for the victims of the day and their families.

 

[mikehn]

It was a weekday and I was buying tires at a Costco in MD, right down the street from Camp David. There were choppers and strike fighters scrambled all over the skies. The tire installers were all busy watching the tv instead of working and customers were irate, including myself. The tire manager lost all control of his employees that day. What a bafoon. What should have taken an hour took a half day.

 

[mickeylove2]

I was at the front gate of the military base heading to work when the MP told me to turn on the news. I was in the Air Force and was stationed at a nuclear missile base, so it was completely chaotic from that moment until I was deployed to the desert in November 01. We had militay personnel coming on base, from other bases, in droves.

That day after I got to work we sat in front of the tv and made preparations for an influx of people. I didn't get home from work until noon the next day. I remember the day before it used to take maybe 5 minutes to get thru the gate and get on base, after that you were lucky to get on base in under an hour.

God bless each and every service member, firefighter, police office, EMT and any other public servant who puts their own healthy and safety after others.

On a lighter note, my DD was only 6 months old at the time and my mom, as crazy as she is, decided to FLY across the country on the 19th to come for a visit! I tried to convince her to wait or to drive but she actually had a good point, terrorists hijacked airplanes on the 11th, they won't do it again so flying is probably the safest mode of transportation that soon after.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I was at home alone. I remember going outside and screaming because it was all just so scary and overwhelming to me. I know it was crazy, but it made me feel better at the time. I went and had lunch and went to the mall where I sat and watched the news on the TV with a bunch of other people. I just couldn't stand being alone that day.

 

[AmyinKY]

I as at home with my son. DD was at school, 5th grade. I had the tv on but did not see the 1st tower come down. I did see the 2nd, then call my hubby at work. I do remember all of the replays, the constant coverage that followed all week. I kept the tv off when the kids were in the room trying to shelter them as much as possible. We decided to go camping that weekend, just to get away from the media. Yes, I do think we Americans needed to see the events, and we do need to be reminded of what happened, I did not want the kids to see it happen over and over again on the tv.

Two years ago we were on the Wonder, it was Castaway Cay day, I believe. There were several doors decorated with flags that morning, several families had made t-shirts for the occasion. I remember being in the elevator and hearing someone with ask, what is so special about today? How soon we have forgotten the passion we had for America at that time.

A

 

[mirage162]

I was driving to work when the first plane hit. It came accross the radio. It was such a strange feeling. I thought it was a joke. When I arrived to work, they had the building locked down. Only employees could enter the building. We watched in horror on the TV as the other plane hit. I will never forget it.

 

[Narnian_Princess]

I was home, cooking breakfast for my dad, when my sister called my mom and was freaking out about bombings. Dad turned the TV on and we watched the footage about the Twin Towers, and I remember just being so stunned and confused (I was newly 13). I remember standing at the railing in our kitchen, looking down at the TV that was in the half-level below, and watching the second plane hit and the towers fall.

That was an intense day.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Thank you. The hardest part to get past was the guilt. I was a manager, and many of those who died were there because I had hired them, or to perform work for me while I was out of town.

I have so many stories about friends from that day.

One person that worked for me was saved by another because of a call to pick up a bagel at one of the street vendors. The 5 minute delay to buy the bagel saved his life. He later witnessed the jumpers, and hasn't been the same since.

Another friend was trapped in an elevator. He didn't know where he was or what was happening, but the lights were out and he was alone in the car. After over an hour, the doors opened and a fireman told him to run out of the building. He had no idea what was going on, but he ran. He did not know that planes had struck the buildings, or that the other tower had already come down. He made it out just minutes before the North Tower collapsed. His story was recounted in one of the TV specials.

Another friend was trapped in the building on the 95th floor while it burned. We used two way pagers, and he was "talking" with a co-worker as he tried to get out, but the stairwells were completely obstructed. After determining that they could not escape, they moved into an office furthest from the fire. The last message that he sent was, "The fire is here." I still remember the day that he told me that his wife was expecting their first child. They had been trying for so long.

I'm so, so sorry for your losses and pain.

I was on a PATH train into the WTC. We arrived after the first plane had hit, but before the second. It was honestly the worst day of my life, yet I have made some truly lifelong friends due to the circumstances that day, so for that I am eternally grateful.

 

[welovedisneyx4]

I was at work and a co-worker and supervisor were talking and my co-worker asked if I had heard about the planes crashing into the Trade Center. I thought that he was joking and was really offended b/c this was a very nice guy who wouldn't normally make jokes like that. The supervisor told me he was serious and I finally believed them. The company I worked for also ran rent-to-own stores and they bought out a couple of big screen tv's into the lunch room.

I called my MIL who was keeping DS (who was 1 year then) and they were watching it on tv and I was glad DS was too little to understand any of it and also glad he was w/ his Granny and Papa. DD was in Kindergarden and my IL's had said they weren't closing her school. I was fine w/ that b/c I knew they would take care of the kids and my IL's could be there in 5 minutes if they needed to pick DD up.

DH had a nasty supervisor who told them to stop talking about it and watching the news, etc., that there was work to be done here. (And no, he did not work for an important, life-saving business, just an insurance company!!)

I remember watching the news for several nights afterwards, just laying in bed w/ DH and letting the kids play in the living room where they didn't have to see any of it.

 

[MusiqChic99]

I was in college. I only had 1 class that day that started at 8am. I remember leaving class and getting straight in my car to come home. I was tired, flipped through the radio and all I heard was fire at the WTC. Nothing about a plane or anything like that. I kept flipping through the stations and it was all news about the fire. I put in a cd and took my 10 minute drive home.

My mom told me as I walked in the house about what had happened. We watched all day long. I remember late in the day it just proved too much for me and I broke down. I cried most of the night after that.

A friend of mine from NYC was suppose to call me that day. He didn't but emailed me 3 days later to tell me he was in NJ and would call as soon as he got back home in NYC. He said he watched the whole thing from the top of his apartment building. He said it was pure chaos. Something you would expect from a movie, not reality.

 

[BabyTigger99]

I was at work, heard it on the news. Information was very sketchy. Eventually, someone was able to find a small black and white TV, and we watched every minute, from right after the second plane hit. Very quiet day at work that day. Phones barely ringing. I left at lunch to go home for an hour, and remember staring at my TV at home in disbelief, the pictures in color showed a totally different story than the ones we saw in black and white on the TV at work. By that afternoon, my husband had received a call from his base (Air National Guard), and we knew our lives as we knew them were going to change. DH left the following week, worked for 15 months down at his base, only coming home on the weekend. He has also deployed now 5 times since then, including being deployed right now.