Where were you on 9/11

[VampHeartless]

Running around the barracks with an M16, laying out concertina wire, and generally assuming we were heading into world war II. Life in the army changed a lot that day.

 

[cherjp]

hi
for us in scotland (UK) it was around 10 mins to 2 in the afternoon when a newsflash came on the radio to announce a plane had crashed into the first tower, at the time i was watching a child that i minded ( i am a registered childminder ) his mum was an air traffic controller and she was just leaving to take her son home, at that point obviously no one understood what had happened and we spoke about somebody had made a huge error maybe at air traffic. she left and i went through to watch the tv, it was horrific i will never forget it, i had to leave the house around an hour later to go a pick up the rest of the children we live at the seaside so there isnt much air traffic in the sky, but one plane was flying overhead and i felt very vulnerable , i just wanted to get my kids and husband and all be together . when i got to the school people were crying and in shock we couldnt stop watching the tv for aa long time .

my thoughts are with everyone who lost someone that horrifc day.


cheryl xxx

 

[Lil_Tink]

I was in 4th grade. It was the morning. I was at my house about to leave for school when my mom said "Kim, dont freak out, but the USA is under attack". I didnt really understand until I saw the TV, yet I was still young. Then, I went off to school and our teacher explained it to us. We tried hard to go on with the day, but one of friends uncle worked in that building, so we were silently mourning all day.

 

[Hillbeans]

I dropped DS off at daycare and I was at work. I work in NJ and have a distant view of the NY skyline if I go outside of my door and walk around my building. Anyway, DH called and told me that a prop plane hit the WTC. At first, we thought it was a small single engine plane that had a horrible accident. It wasn't until looking on CNN and seeing the first picture I saw which was of this huge hole in the building - that I realized it wasn't an accident. The 2nd plane hit and our whole office was in the cafeteria watching on the Televisions. Many people were crying because they had family and relatives who worked in the building. Someone here at my office lost his pregnant wife who worked in tower 2- very sad.

One of my best friends just got off the Path Train and said she smelled the worst chemical/fuel smell of her life. She eventually made it back to NJ on a boat to Hoboken. My brother was on the phone with his friend who worked in 7 World Trade Center, and at the time, he told my Brother at the moment of the first hit that he thought a bomb went off in the WTC and he had to go - luckilly he was ok.

That night we went over to a northern NJ beach which had a distant view of lower manhattan - so many people were at the beach that night looking at the smoke in the distance and everyone was just so sad. A day I will never ever forget.

 

[Lil_Tink]

Whats even more weird is my moms friend, by the grace of god, was late to work that day. She called in saying she would be late and just missed those attacks.

 

[sameyeyam]

Live on the West Coast, so it was about 6am for us. I was walking out of my laundry room with a basket full of clothes to fold and watched the second plane hit on the tv as I came through the doorway.

To be honest at first I was slightly annoyed at all of the stations showing nothing but a plane crash/burning NYC building. What I really wanted was local news & weather! But as soon as I seen the 2nd plane crash then I knew it was something serious. I just sat on the chair with my laundry basket and kept saying "oh my god" over & over again.

 

[Beth76]

I woke up and watched LA Law which ended around 9am (central time). I went to turn on Regis and Kelly and saw the news on. It was confusing because there was a split screen of the WTC and of the Pentagon. Then all of a sudden one of the towers collapsed. I'm pretty sure it was the first one. I remember thinking "OMG, a huge skyscraper just can't collapse like that."

 

[Free4Life11]

I remember it was my junior year and I was in computer class. We had just finished watching the movie "War Games" and I was surfing the internet. I saw a blip on Yahoo about a plane crash so I tried to get into the news sites but it was overloaded. Someone must have mentioned to the teacher because she pulled up a site and projected it (her computer was hooked up to a project.) I remember being very worried that we were under attack and what was next. I was going to school in Chicago at time and we had a view of the downtown skyline with the Sear's Tower and all. Later in the day the principal came over the loudspeaker to annouce what happened and that all after school activites were cancelled and that the school had emergency plans and we were all safe. I remember they set up TV's in the lunch room and library. We didn't really do much of anything that day and it was very somber. Very sad time. I came home and my sisters and neighbor were all huddled around the TV watching the coverage. So horrible and I pray it never happens again.

 

[Linda/MA]

My normal routine in the morning was to watch the Today Show and then leave the house around 8:45-8:50 to go to work. I only work about 3 miles away and had to be there by 9:00. I normally had the TV on until just before I left; however, that morning I had turned it off before I went to brush my teeth and get ready to leave. While I was in the car listening to the Matty in the Morning show (local Boston radio guys), one of the DJs said that a plane had hit the WTC and it wasn't a joke. These guys are always kidding around, but I could tell from their voices that they weren't this time. I immediately turned on the news station (WBZ) and couldn't believe what I was hearing. When I got to work, I just sat in the car and heard the second plane hit. I ran into the office and told my 2 co-workers what had happened. We went across the hall to our neighbor because he had cable TV and watched in his conference room most of the day.

I remember how confusing everything was that morning. No one seemed to know what was going on. I was also nervous because my nephew had been commuting to NYC every week, usually going Monday or Tuesday and returning on Friday. His work took him to Lower Manhattan. I called my Mom to see if he was in NYC and she said he had planned to go Wednesday that week. Little did i know, but my niece was in NYC on business, luckily she was still in midtown at the time.

I still remember seeing those towers fall and feeling so, so sad. It was probably one of the worst days of my life -- knowing that our country would never be the same again. I remember when JFK was killed and how terrible that was, but this was different.

My thoughts are with all of you who lost someone that day.

 

[dennis99ss]

Hardy Toll Road. Reports of the first one, and then heard the second. At the time we were on the 47th floor facing the now ex enron bldg, and, after pennsylvania, enron had a mass exodus, and, we decided it would probably be a good idea.

Another defining moment, Challenger......in a budy's RA dorm room, on the basement floor of Chaminade Hall, skipping class, I think, with a little hair of the dog.

 

[goofygirl]

At my current job. It was a beautiful fall day.

A patient actually told us she heard on her car radio that a plane hit the WTC. We put the radio on in the office and heard it all unfold. In another buliding, there's a lobby with a tv, I ran over there to look at it. There was already a crowd around the tv. It's then when I saw the Towers fall. I then went to my desk to my computer. The only news site I could access was MSNBC. The rest were jammed.

By 9:15, I was getting calls from my family asking if I heard what was going on. I forgot my cell phone that day of all days.

We closed up around noon.

The whole radio dial stopped playing music, every tv station was airing NYC and DC. It was surreal.
I remember staring at the tv until my body demanded sleep.

 

[becka]

I had just gotten to work and I was checking the news and the DIS quickly before getting my day started. I saw that a plane had hit the WTC but I really thought it must be just a little plane. It was not until I saw a post here on the CB that another plane hit the other tower that I got that sick feeling. I did not have radio or TV so I was trying the news websites and could not get through because they were so jammed. The CB was my information center and the information was coming fast and furious on the board. Pretty soon after that my Mom and DH called to see if I had heard. It was just surreal but I was so thankful to have the DIS so I could "know" what was happening. It was hard to comprehend and I didn't see any video until I went home that day.

I still remember exactly what I was wearing. I sat down on the coach, I still had my bag with me and turned on the TV. I sat there for what seemed like forever just staring in disbelief at everything I was seeing.

I will never forget that day.

 

[mrFDNY]

Hi all,
I had the day off,That changed real quick since i work for the FDNY.I had just dropped dw off at work and had ds(11months)in the car with me.My cell phone rang and it was one of my best friends from the fire house,he too was off.He asked if i was going in,and said he was on his way.I had no idea,turned on the radio and heard the news.I have a car scanner and put it on,i heard a chief's voice,one of which i new well usally this guy is calm and not bothered by anything.I heard panic and terror in his radio tranmissions,i knew right there i had to get to the fire house.I dropped ds off at my aunts and she asked me,you going to this arent you?Hello,I work for the FDNY this is what i do.She begged me not to go,but i had to go.Driving to the fire house red lights became stop signs and a few i did not even stop at all for.I got to my fire house in brooklyn,nyc and most of the rigs were already enroute to the World trade center.Another chief was in vegas and i knew where he kept the spare keys to his car,we had to get to manhattan and needed a car or rig with lights and sirens to get there quick.He grabbed as much gear as we could carry and packed the car. It was me,my best friend bobby,another guy john and danny.I drove i made the 30-40 minute drive to manhattan in 18 minutes flat.We arrived just after the first collapse,the other tower was still standing.You can imagine how the rest of that day played out.

I was unable to get in contact with any family until 8 pm that night,cell phones and land line phones were out of service.When i finally did get thru to dw,she was hysterical and said that the news said well over half of the new york city fire dept was dead,she thought i was part of that half. as if my voice was not a sure point that i was alive,i had to keep telling her i was very much a live.I asked her to call my parents just to let them know i was ok,she was sure i was dead.Like i said you can imagine how the rest of that day played out.Sadly the chiefs car i drove into manhattan was crushed and that chief still busts my chops about his car being wrecked,in a joking way.Sadly fate would play out very differently for the 4 guys i drove up with. As for me and bobby,we still are close friends and still work at the same fire house to this day,his wife his due for thier 2 child any day now. John was forced out of the job and the fact he got the trade center lung(as we call it)He is on a bunch of lung medications and is on home oxygen,last time i spoke ti him was about 4 months ago and he was not doing so great and can't even say a full sentence without being out of breath.The FDNY retired him and a disability pension.Danny, well danny's father was a FDNY chief in queens and he survived the trade center.One night in june 2002,after danny had been at ground zero for most of that day, he went home put a loaded shot gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger,he was 28.After he did not show up for work they called his dad in queens who was on duty,he went home and found his son's body in the basement of thier home,along with dannys suicide letter. In his letter,danny said how Sept 11 and ground zero made him numb.He saw too much horror and had too many night mares and no matter how much he tried he could not forget,and just could not do it anymore,he will be missed.His father retired from the FDNY and moved away.Sadly dannys death was the first known suicide from the sept 11 attacks,but sadly it was not the last.

SEPT 11,2001
FDNY 343
the day our heroes became our victims
Never forget!

 

[highland3]

I was sitting in a classroom at the Ontario Police College. There was a knock at the door and the prof came back in to tell us what happened. We then turned on the tv and were horrified at what we saw. It was a room full of police and we were horrified, but yet proud of the officers, firefighters and others working to try and save survivors.

 

[carl59]

God Bless you "mrFDNY" as a New Yorker I know many people who's lost a relative or friends on that day. God willing we will never have a day like that again.

 

[olena]

I was DISing and listening to News Radio. They broke in with a report that a small plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I posted a quick thread and went to turn on CNN. More details emerged and it was mass confusion and hysteria. I saw the second plane hit and after that, there was no doubt about what was going on.

I didn't come back to the DIS until much later. I was glued to the TV....horrified and angry.

 

[Poohnatic]

I earned an extra day off that week, as I didn't get my Labor Day holiday the week before. I'd sent my son off to school and went back to bed while my DH and younger son watched TV. It was a beautiful fall day, hardly a cloud in the sky and a slight chill in the air to let us know fall was on it's way.

An hour later, my normally very composed and unemotional boss called me, hysterical. She insisted my DH wake me up and give me the phone. "Turn on the TV". Yeah, it's on. "We're under attack". Okay, change it from Bear in the Big Blue House to NBC.

Then I saw those very familiar buildings with flames coming out of them. We were numb-then 5 minutes later the Pentagon news came through. Both DH and I were frantic. I have relatives that work in and around WTC(and acquaintances at the Pentagon) and it was impossible to get a phone call into NY. A buddy is NYPD and I freaked-but DH just *knew* he wasn't there (how, I don't know-he said 'he's on vacation" and he was right, even though we hadn't talked in a few weeks and he hadn't mentioned it)

After an hour of trying to reach NY unsuccessfully, I called my Mom in Florida. LIers could call out on cell phones. My sister called her right after the first one to let us know my BIL was across at Court Square. He finished a project in WTC a few weeks earlier. My cousin worked at one of the brokerages, but she'd left that firm about a month earlier. The buddy who was NYPD emailed me on the 12th. He'd just walked in the door from vacation and was turning around to head into Manhattan.

Another BIL is a LI fireman. He and several men from his fire house were headed into Manhattan. However, one of the guys forgot his keys (I think it was keys), so they turned around and went back to the fire house. That 20 minute delay was enough.

I'm here getting goosebumps retelling all of this.

I think the hardest part was no aircraft in the sky. I worked 5 minutes from Dulles and the planes were always overhead. I lived 20 miles from Camp David and there were CONSTANT fighter jets over the area.

Suzanne

 

[nja33]

I was a sophmore in high school and had just left our TV lab where I had a class. The halls were buzzing with news of something (it's high school, the halls were always buzzing) and when I reached my English class someone stuck their head in and said a plane had crashed into the WTC and they had just watched it in the TV lab (I must have just left the room when they turned on the TV). Unfortunately none of the teachers would say anything. They had all been informed but weren't allowed to tell us what happened. I don't remember if there was any sort of announcement but I do remember as the day went on more rumors swirled.

Kids were constantly getting called to the office whether to go home or to be informed if their parents were alright or not. Sadly there were many that were not. We spent lunch discussing what and why. We had our own conspiracy theories at the time, many of which were completely wrong (thank God). After school activities were suspended that day as well.

I do vividly remember the bus ride home that afternoon. I live about 33 miles from WTC and the closer we got to the bay the stronger the smell of smoke became. Our bus had to pass a state park so when we first smelled it we thought it was people cooking. As we got further from the park we knew it wasn't. When I got home I stood in my parents' bedroom and watched the smoke.

My sister works at a daycare center and she heard many stories from parents whom were there. My uncle works for PATH and we weren't sure where he was that day but thankfully he was in NJ and not NY. My cousin was an EMT at the time and he immediately went into the city to help out. By the end of the night he ended up walking home. My other cousin is in the AF and was home on leave after being transfered from England to Langley AFB in VA. He still had another week left of leave but ended up leaving on the following Thursday.

I just want to thank everyone for sharing their stories. They are truly touching.

 

[geffric]

I work in Sear Tower in Chicago. On Sept 11, I left home at 4:45 went to work out, and then take the 7:11 train downtown. Walked into my office in Sears Tower and turned on my 'puter, checked email, went for coffee. The guy in the next cube over said a plane went into the WTC. I walked over to his cube to see what was going on , thinking it was a small plane and we could only see small the picture from CNN.com of the smke and flames coming out of the building. At the same time, Over the loud speaker, it was announced that Sears Tower was closed. Go Home.

I left at 8:30 am and caught the 9:00 am train home, still not knowing what really happened. On the train several people had radios so we listened to the news and heard the 2 towers fall. I called my family to tell them that I was on a train home. Went home and baked bread and watched TV. School was on lock down and the office said not to come and get the kids early as they were not being told about what happened. I got the kids from school at the end of the day. They knew something was up since I was home and they didn't go to afterschool care.

 

[sue1013]

That morning lucky for me DH had a meeting and had to drop me a few minutes early at the train station. I was on the earlier train than I usually took. My office was about 3 block down on Broadway I had left the Trade Center 10 minutes before the first plane hit. Had I been on my normal train I would have been in the Path Station at that time. Our building was locked down until about 12. When the planes hit the windows rattled so you thought they were going to break. The power went on and off then stayed off. We went down the stairwell with emergency lights. Everyone in the building went down to the lobby. When the first tower fell the floor shook then a few minutes later it got black as midnight on the street. It looked like a giant ball of smoke rolled down Broadway towards the park. Same thing when the next fell. Our building was locked down until around 12. When we finally left I could not believe the war zone outside our doors. We needed to have wet towels over our nose and mouth to be able to breath. As we made out way over to the Wall St pier and saw all the people walking with dazed looks on their faces as I'm we had I said to my boss we're like refugees. There were so many boats all different sizes trying to get people off the island. We ended up on a small one that held about 20 of us. Didn't get home until 6. I was holding it together pretty well. The next day we had lots of helicopters flying over our house. I went in the fridge for milk heard a helicopter dropped the milk on the floor and just fell to the floor crying. Sometimes it just seems like a dream even 5 years later.