Where were you on September 11th?

[Disney Doll]

At work, helping one of my patients eat breakfast. He had his TV on and I saw the thing start with the first plane crash.

 

[VALDAN]

I was at work at midtown Manhattan. We hard the plane flying over our building then saw the smoke coming from that area.
I left the office 15 minutes after the 2nd plane hit, but couldn't get home to Long island because the trains had stopped running.
Everyone either started walking or just sat outside Penn station wondering what the hell happen. The phones weren't working so I couldn't contact anyone. The trains started running 6 hours later. I didn't know the full extect of what happen until I got home and saw it on TV.
It was very scary and surreal that day and the days after.

 

[natty41]

I was sitting in the way back of the cafeteria during 2nd hour study hall and the principal came over the PA and said what had happened. It didn't really click what happened until the teacher turned on the tv. I couldn't believe my eyes at what was happening. The most devastating part was that we clearly saw the 2nd plane hit - all of a sudden this big object comes out of no where and hits the other tower. Surely a day I want to forget, but in reality never will.

 

[ShuisFan584]

I was a senior in high school. I remember I was in the locker room for 3rd period gym when my friend came in and told me what happened. I also remember them making an announcement about it in 3rd and 5th period.

 

[KathiWithAnI]

I was home also, I had one son in 3rd grade, one in 1st grade and was home with my 4 yr old son and 2 yr old daughter. I was actually back asleep when my DH called and asked if I knew anything about a plane hitting the WTC and I said I didn't. He said, well I'll call you back if I find out anything. So I turned over and went back to sleep...... he called back and said, Babe, you have to turn on the TV. It was just after the towers fell, so I never saw any of it live and I think I'm very glad of that. Still the replays are certainly images you will never forget.
Hugs and prayers to everyone.

Kathi

 

[WDWguru]

I was coming off a night shift putting up our newspaper's Web edition the night before. For some reason, I woke up earlier than normal and turned on the tv before even checking my e-mail. I wondered for a moment why the Today show was still on, then slowly began to process what I was seeing. As I watched, the second tower was hit. That's when I frantically started getting dressed to get my butt into work.

I spent the whole day watching the national news and wires, updating our site with our team. We didn't even break for meals, but the newsroom folks were great about helping us out and bringing us food. It was so surreal. I remember going over the wire photos to make galleries and having to sift through some of the horrid photos that very few news outlets decided to run. It was haunting.

DH was in California on a trip and due to fly back that afternoon. He was at an EMS conference and said the whole show just stopped as all these firefighters and emergency service folks watched, stunned. He and a colleague ended up renting a car and driving from San Diego to Salt Lake. Turns out it was good thinking as had they hesitate they'd never have gotten a car.

I was in "news" mode so much that first few days that it took some time to sink in.

 

[Disney Princess 6]

I flipped on NBC moments before the first plane hit. Matt Lauer was interviewing some author about a new book, and he interrupted that to say that a plane had just flown into the WTC. I called my DH at work to tell him. I distinctly remember saying to him "Aren't there people in that building? How could a pilot be so stupid?" I guess I just couldn't wrap my mind around the concept of what had happened.

When the second plane hit, I called DH back and again asked how two pilots could be so amazingly off course. Finally, DH said "Those pilots aren't stupid. They're doing this on purpose. It sounds like our country is being attacked."

Sounds dumb, but I hadn't even thought of that. I couldn't think who would want to attack our nation. But I was immediately fearful for the safety of our country because I felt sure that World War III was beginning that very moment.

I took the time soon after to write each of my kids a detailed letter describing everything that happened that day and my own personal feelings. I included some articles and photos of the events. The kids are only pre-schoolers now, but when they are grown, I'll give them the letters along with the ones I write annually on their birthdays.

 

[deirdrefitch]

I was working at school. My husband called me, and left a message with the secretary to call him. When I got a chance, I called and he told me that an airplane had crashed to the World Trade Center. I told him that it was horrible, but he should only call me in case of an emergency. A couple of minutes later, another teacher came running into my run and told me that a second plane had hit, and that they had been hijacked. She also told me there were other planes, and that they did not know where they were. That we were being attacked. I will never forget the sick feeling I got in the pit of my stomach. My DH started taping right after the first plane so I could watch it when I got home from work. Little did he know that he had taped the most horrendous act of war on the U.S.

 

[Jeanny]

I was at work and had just turned on the radio, I listen to WXKS "Matty in the morning" and he had reported that a plane had just flown into the WTC as my boss came into the office... I told him what had happened... We had all 4 tv's on all day watching the planes flew into the towers.. I still get chills!!!

 

[mmausse]

I had worked at the Pentagon until 4am and was sound asleep when the call came in from my office. I had overslept. But they told me to stay home - they were glad I "was" home instead of at the meeting. The meeting area was hit.

All day long I stayed glued to the TV and cried.

The next day I went with fellow EMT volunteers to look for survivors at the Pentagon. NOTHING could ever prepare you for those sights (& I won't go into detail here, afterall this is a family friendly site) but worse than the sights were the odors. And we all had to be very stoic because the press and media were out with long range cameras, watching our every move and our faces when we came out. What was even sadder were relatives who would thrust pictures of missing loved ones at you, asking you to look out for them.

To do this day, I am still gravely saddened by the losses our country felt and the personal tragedies of the deaths as well as the survivors and their on-going struggles.

As the Anniversary of Patriot Day (9-11) draws near, let us all be thankful for the men and women who gave their lives, for those that protect us and keep us safe, and just try to be more courteous and kinder to each other, if we can, at the very least, for this one day.

Prayers and Pixie Dust to us all. God Bless Us Every One!

 

[tinatark]

I dropped my boys off at school at 8:30ish, talked with another mom for awhile, then went on my way to do my "normal" errands. As I left the school, my ds called me - she had the strangest conversation with the editor of the Florida Times Union, in Jacksonville... they were talking about something and he suddenly blurted out "I've got to get off the phone, a plane just flew into the WTC"... so she called me (in TN) to tell me... the second hadn't hit yet, so I went on my way, went to Wal Mart to do my shopping. As I went through the store, my phone kept ringing, ds, dh, friend, telling me what was going on. By the time I left, I was a walking zombie. I had such a feeling of helplessness. Got a message that my boys' school was sending them home, so I went back and got them. We talked, prayed, and tried to get a feeling of normalcy at our house that afternoon.

I didn't see anything live - I'm very grateful that it had already happened and I had heard so much before I actually saw it on tv.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

I had just finished a test in my college math class and had gone to check my email(and trade anime plots) in the college lab.The lab tech told me what had happened and I ended up spending the day on various news sits(and checking in with online friends).Ended up paging my mom for a lift home since the friend I was riding with got called into work(miltary) and the next day campus was almost a ghost town.I ended up taping coverage since I'll be a journalism major when I go back in either Januray or next fall

 

[LauraR]

I was on the internet. When I finally got off, the phone rang instantly and my Dad (who lives in Ft. Washington, MD) told me that we were under terrorist attack. He said two planes had hit in N.Y.C., and one in D.C. He could see smoke rising from the Pentagon across the Potomac. I turned on the T.V. and was stunned by what I saw. They sent the kids home early and let out federal workers, so my husband came home early, too.

 

[mikeymars]

On the morning of 9/11/01, my routine started normally.

Up, shower, dress, short drive to the Metro North train, and into my office on 26th street in Manhattan. I actually came in a little earlier than normal that day, since I had to attend a United Way "rah rah" meeting at 8:00am (I was the rep for our division that year).

As expected, the meeting started off slowly and crawled along as a well-intentioned leader droned to a sleepy audience on how to encourage employees to donate. About 8:40, we were done, so I and one of my staff took the elevator back up to our area on the 18th floor. I went into my office and started checking voice mails, when one of my employees interrupted me:

"My wife just called me, and said an airplane just hit the twin towers."

Like millions of others, my immediate reaction was "oh brother, some errant fool in a small plane went off-course." I and my staff member walked to the southern end of our floor, which has a clear view downtown.

We immediately knew this was not an errant small plane accident.

Huge amounts of smoke were pouring out of the south tower. Knowing that the local media would already be on top of this, I ran back to my office and switched on the TV (a luxury I have as one of the officers who manages ad tracking for the company). The image that immediately appeared on the local NBC affiliate was from a helicopter with a zoom lens, which showed ugly black smoke pouring out of a huge, gaping hole. The reporters were debating what sort of plane had hit the tower, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to tell it was not a single engine Cessna.

That was when the small but growing sickening feeling started in my stomach. Was this an accident - or intentional?

Confusion was now erupting all over the floor, and as the most senior person in at that hour, I felt the need to get on top of things, and fast. I walked back to the south windows (where most people were gathered), and was about to advise the crowd that we should be prepared to evacuate, when a loud roar passed us to the right. A large, dark commercial aircraft zoomed by (shaking the windows) at a low altitude. The entire crowd was frozen, as we watched the plan continue south, realizing it was heading directly for the smoke downtown.

The sickening feeling then exploded.

Gasps can't describe what I heard as the second plan yawed to the right and struck the south tower. What I heard was a massive groan -- one of fear -- as the concussion of the second impact shook our building.

Finally shocked into action, people immediately ran for their phones, wanting to contact family. Knowing one of my officers had a son who worked in the south tower, I ran down to his office, finding him frantically dialing. Alan couldn't reach his son or his wife back in New Jersey, and was losing it fast.

As were others, since the Manhattan phone system was being overloaded by thousands of people simultaneously trying to place calls. For the next several hours, it was literally impossible to get a line out of the island.

Some people were now crowding into my office, since the TV was the only source of objective information at the time. Within minutes, someone pointed out that many of the fluttering things falling out of the north tower weren't debris - they were live people.

Then, just as I was about to contact them, our corporate security area came over the P.A. system, advising us that the higher floors of our building were being evacuated. That forced me to herd people out of their offices and cubicles, problematic in that it took many people away from their phones (cell phones at this time were getting nothing but busy signals, so they were not a substitute).

The next several hours were honestly a blur. My core memory is of the continual sound of roaring jets over Manhattan (F-16s from the Air National Guard, but we didn't know that at the time, and the last thing one wanted to hear at the time was a roaring jet). I also remember rumors flying ("car bombs are going off all over Manhattan....a jet has crashed at Newark airport....air force one has left the country...").

But my strongest memory? The one I'll never forget?

How bright, clear and sunny it was in New York that day.

Odd? No. The wind was blowing to the southeast, so those north and west of the horror downtown didn't smell smoke, didn't see dust, didn't hear the screams as the buildings fell (although our windows rattled when they did). Pictures broadcast worldwide seemed to show the entire island of Manhattan in chaos, bathed in dust and smoke, but that was misleading, those shots were only of the very bottom end of the island.

No. I'll never forget that catharsis to the south, while frozen in a beautiful fall day less than a mile away.

Never.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I was a junior in high school. I remember that it was picture day, too! When I found out what had happened, I was in study hall. The study hall teacher told us that she had her cell phone on because her son lived really close to the WTC, and she was waiting to hear from him to see if he was OK (he turned out to be fine). Then we put the TV on. In my next class we also had the TV on, and that was when the plane crashed in Pennsylvania. I also remember that later on at night my mom looked outside and our neighbor (who was a pilot) had a huge flag hung up. And then I started to cry. I think it finally hit me then what had actually happened...

 

[Phrebert]

We woke up after arriving home late when we picked up our new puppy. I sleepily turned on the TV and started making breakfast. I looked up and said to my DW "the World Trade Center is on fire." I turned up the volume and heard Dan Rather talking. The 2nd plane hit and we both knew it was serious. I had 2 days off and sat glued to the news reports.,

 

[crazelion]

I remember I was at work at the mall. When the mall annonce that it was closing. Okey ask myself why is the mall closing. On the mall PA system that WTC have hit by airplanes. Then I could not believe that was happening.

Here the reason that I will always remember that I got from work and open the mail there was letter with my name and certified letter that we is getting put out of my aunt's house. I mad state of mind.

I went inside the house and turn the TV. Went into shocked because it finally WTC has been destoryed and broke down and cry for myself and the people and New York.

I have not forgive the members of my family that did that to me. I went on with my life and bought a brand new house which I love.

I remember the saying god don't like ugly'ness.

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

We were in MK that day, outside BTMRR when we heard the parks were closing. It was my 40th birthday. Spent the rest of the day watching the news in our villa at the Disney Institute.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Just leaving a American Heart Association meeting heading to work and heard it on the radio. I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I called my Mom at home.

 

[thelittlemermaid]

A friend of mine and I were going to a salon on that day. When she stopped by to pick me up I had no idea what was going on. Got in the car and she turned on the radio, heard that a airplane hit the first tower. When we arrived at the salon they had the tv on. While I was getting my hair colored, watched the second plane hit the second tower. They also showed people jumping out the windows, and then the towers falling. Sirens were going off every where around town. The owner of the salong tired the phone and it wasn't working. The whole time sitting there I was thinking to myself, why was I here, I needed to get to my in laws house were my kids were. Anything could happen next and here I am sitting in the chair having my hair colored. Needless to say, I almost had a panic attack sitting in the chair thinking about my kids. I have never been back to a salon since. I do my coloring at home and have a friend cut my hair at home also.

I watched that special that they had on tv awhile back about the firefighters inside the World trade towers and everytime I would hear a big crash and they said that was another person that jumped, I just lost it! Knowing that I was sitting and watching and that noise could have been someone I saw jump.