Do you remember what you were doing on 9/11?

[Woody's Workshop]

For myself, it caused a real bad time in my life.
I was sleeping in, my then still alive dad woke me and said turn on the TV, that America was under attack. I watched all day, seen the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower, then watched them both fall. The days to follow, the rescues and attemps, fires of surrounding buildings, GWB ground zero visit and news coverage for months afterward.
My wife was visiting her family in California. See was scheduled to come home the next day, of coarse that did not happen when all planes were ordered grounded.
It took her almost an additional 3 months to get home from a 2 week visit because of all the delayed, canceled and what ever flights that few days caused. And the air lines would not honor the deal on her ticket until all flights were caught up. (Profitizing from disaster?)
I was never so glad to see my wife when she finally got home. I don't think I have ever missed her so much in my life. Even though we had only been married just over a year. My life wasn't the same without her.
Had no ambition to go to work, felt like I had a great big hole in my middle all the time. Nearly lost my job due to absences and lack of performance.
I didn't know any of the fallen victums in the planes, buildings or the rescue personel that fell that day. Or any of the thousands of injured, personally. So my heart goes out to the ones that were lost, and especially for those left alone because of it.
When I heard that Bin Loden finally got caught up with, I was disapointed that he was not taken alive. So much did I want him to be returned to the US and stand trial, and hung, shot, electrified, lethal injected, put in the middle times square and stoned to death (lastest would have been my favorite).
Plans for 911 are simple. Spend the day by my wifes side, show her love and effection, help her with her chores, and just appreciate what we have...together.
Glad for what we have, because we could be a lot worse off. She is very religious and has a table set up in our bedroom for prayer, so I will sit with her and pray with her for soals lost, and the ones left to morn for them.
If anyone "here" was touched in a more personal way, my heart and prayers goes out to you. It's and event that should not be forgotten, just as those that lost life, loved one or served to rescue.

 

[gpoehlein]

Working in the lab.

I was also working in the lab when Challenger exploded and I was working in the lab when Columbia broke up. I spend a lot of time in the lab.

Seriously, I was in the lab that morning, listening to NPR news as I almost always do of a morning, when they announced the first plane hitting the tower. The first thing I thought of was the crash in the thirties of a small commercial plane into the Empire State Building. I figured it was an unfortunate accident until they announced that the second plane hit. I also remember thinking to myself at the time that the people behind it were dog meat. Took WAY too long to realize that goal!

 

[Aksrockets]

9/11 was my 5th birthday. It was great except for one thing... I remember everyone was sitting in the living room watching the News and crying. I didnt know why.
The strange thing was, (you guy's arn't going to believe this but,) I flew a plane the day before. For a birthday present my parents took me out to an airport and I got to be co-pilot for about an hour. Glad I didn't do it the next day.
R.I.P. everyone that died

 

[UPscaler]

I was greeted on my 6th birthday by my sister waking me up for school and telling me two airplanes hit some buildings...the answer to my next question was probably the one shocking thing I'd heard in my life to that point..."was it an accident? "..."NO!" I proceeded to ask my aunt the same question...same answer. I asked if people were going to die and m aunt said "yes....lots"


That still haunts me, and my birthday has since not been looked forward to as much.


We got some nasty looks when we went out for pizza and celebrated



BradenBraden

 

[jadebox]

My wife had a Social Security hearing that morning at the county courthouse. The hearing was held very early in the morning. The judge expressed surprise that my wife didn't have an attorney. He said my wife showed chutzpah to represent herself. We were feeling good about the outcome of the hearing as we left and went home.

As soon as we got home, I turned on the TV to catch the morning news. I saw a picture of the World Trade Center with smoke coming from one of the towers. I told my wife to come watch - that there was a fire at the World Trade Center.

Just as she came to see, the second plane crashed into the other tower and we realized that it was more than just an accident.

-- Roger

 

[PhlAsh]

I was at work - CADing away and listening to a radio station out of Edmonton Alberta (I live in 23464 and worked in 23452 at the time) on the streaming audio. Bill Cowan announced that a plane had hit tower 1 a few minutes earlier. They talked about it as they were getting a feed in the studio - as soon as they did, the 2nd plane hit. Terry Evans had assumed it was a replay of the first hit until Bill pointed out that it wasn't.

I made an announcement and started searching for a video feed - CNN, FOX, MSNBC and the Big 3 had nothing - just a static image at best. I ultimately found a live feed with *Useful* commentary on BBC.co.uk. By this time, most of the office had gathered around my cubicle to watch what was going on. I pulled up Google Maps in a 2nd window when someone asked how far that was from our NYC office.

Ultimately the crowd dwindled to nothing - then the first tower collapsed. I kept the video going about an hour after the 2nd collapsed.

 

[JStarStar]

I was at home writing some stories for work on the computer and also checking in on some sports message boards.

I remember seeing a thread, "apparently a private plane crashed into the World Trade Center." A fair number of people on that board were in the NYC area -- I bet the thread was 100 messages long in 5 minutes.

For a few minutes the operative rumor was it was simply some guy in a Cessna who had run off course.

I snapped on the TV, saw the tower burning, and instantly said, "that wasn't a Cessna."

Then the operative rumor was it was some kind of an accident, some kind of radar or GPS problem which sent the airliner off course and into Tower 1. Then, I saw the plane hit the second tower live on TV and it was pretty clear what was happening.

 

[o1d_dude]

I was sleeping in also. Back in those days we had a small Sony TV that was programmed to turn on at 7:00am every weekday morning to the local news channel.

Although I was trying to stay asleep, my wife noticed what was going on and woke me to see it. I saw the first tower in flames and the plane strike the second tower in real time. When I got to work, the Governor ordered all State offices closed so I turned everyone loose and advised them to be careful. At that time no one knew what had happened to the other planes.

On the way home I stopped at the local fabric shop and bought a length of black ribbon. We normally fly the American flag in front of our house and I decorated it with the black ribbons. Two towers, two ribbons.

Having been born on Long Island, the events of 9-11 made it personal.

I snapped this picture that morning...

 

[Scotty Dog]

I was home, turned on the PC,saw that the first one got hit.Turned on the TV and seen the rest all happen. I also was home during each of shuttle disasters.Weird part is, I was working at the time and for whatever reason I didnt go to work on those days.

 

[sandman]

I was working at the Detroit Institute of Arts that morning and didn't hear about it until about 9:30 when I finished work.

I went to leave and the security guards were watching it on TV.

The guards wouldn't let me leave because the building was on lock-down.

 

[Rocket_Man]

I had World Literature that morning and had taken a shower and turned the TV on. The first plane had already hit and the TV announcers were talking about how a plane had went off-course and clipped the 1 tower.

I found the scene interesting cause the fire was so high off the ground I was curious wether they could put the fire out or exactly what was going to happen,

While I was watching the 1st tower, that is when the second plane hit the second tower, I saw that live and remembered it like it was yesterday!

So after a while of watching I finally left for class and when we got there the teacher said that class was being cancelled. So I came back home, watched the rest which included the building eventual collapse.

Anyone who thinks those buildings were imploded is a true idiot in my book. I didnt read the posts before me but if you think those buildings were imploded by set charges, you son are a true idiot.

 

[Scotty Dog]

I was sleeping in also. Back in those days we had a small Sony TV that was programmed to turn on at 7:00am every weekday morning to the local news channel.

Although I was trying to stay asleep, my wife noticed what was going on and woke me to see it. I saw the first tower in flames and the plane strike the second tower in real time. When I got to work, the Governor ordered all State offices closed so I turned everyone loose and advised them to be careful. At that time no one knew what had happened to the other planes.

On the way home I stopped at the local fabric shop and bought a length of black ribbon. We normally fly the American flag in front of our house and I decorated it with the black ribbons. Two towers, two ribbons.

Having been born on Long Island, the events of 9-11 made it personal.

I snapped this picture that morning...

And where have all those flags gone?????? You couldnt find a flag in a store after that cuz everybody started flying them. Now look around....you dont see so many.Kind of pisses me off.

 

[hornet driver]

I was on Lake Lanier in north GA. guiding a fishing trip.Typically the rules are no cell phones and usually don't turn a radio on all day. It was a spectacular blue skyed day and had a great day fishing with a couple I had taken out before. About midday we all committed on how quiet the lake was and I had noticed no air traffic at all. On the way back in---it was an all day trip--I noticed a fellow in a blue boat waiving his arms--we were trolling back to the ramp--I had run into him before and he was a bit of an odd fellow and I had towed him back to the ramp on several occations. As we stopped he said that we had been attacked in New York and thousands were dead--hav'nt you heard-- he sat down in his boat and drove off. After a few minutes we decided to listen to the radio and were horrified at what we heard. As I was loading the boat another guide pulled up by himself and asked if I had checked my messages--He had cancellations 3 months out--On the way home driving down I-400 South the traffic was backed up on the other side for over 30 miles--people trying to get home--At home I too had cancellations months out and forever changed the direction of my life. For weeks afterward The road over the dam was closed at the lake --there were 2 Cobra gunships stationed on one of the islands near the dam and a Govt scarab run up and down the lake all day-any approach to the dam was forbidden and quickly delt with . On a side note, on the way home that day I stopped at a local pub to gather and watch the news. One of our regulars was there and his little sister was in one of the towers. She did not come home. It shattered all of us. So yes I do remember where I was on 9/11 and promise to never forget how it changed ALL our lives.

 

[Bazookadale]

It was my day off - I was just getting dressed when the phone rang - I let the answering machine get it. going downstairs I turned on the TV and played my message - it was my boss saying "yeah I thought so!" So I called into work and asked the boss what he wanted - he said "are you watching TV?" I looked over saw the fires and said "yes" Boss says "well since you're not here and you're into rockets we though you were involved"

Isn't it great to work for a comedian

 

[[POW]Eagle159]

Working in the lab.

I was also working in the lab when Challenger exploded and I was working in the lab when Columbia broke up. I spend a lot of time in the lab.

Seriously, I was in the lab that morning, listening to NPR news as I almost always do of a morning, when they announced the first plane hitting the tower. The first thing I thought of was the crash in the thirties of a small commercial plane into the Empire State Building. I figured it was an unfortunate accident until they announced that the second plane hit. I also remember thinking to myself at the time that the people behind it were dog meat. Took WAY too long to realize that goal!

Just sayin' but the plane that hit the Empire State Building was a B-25 WWII medium bomber. Due to fog... they were following the roads and couldn't see it.


Now for me,

I was 5 at the time...At my house, playing around.Than my parents turned on the TV to the news, I saw one of the building on fire, but too young to know why. My mom told me to play in my room, she didn't want me too watch.
I did not know what happened fully until a few years ago, I watched all the specials on the rebuilding of them on the History and Discovery channels now too see actually what happened there.
I am very touched at the rescues and the people who are affected by it. I now 14 almost 15, this is one of the things that actually touch me in this way, I almost want to cry just remembering how many peoples' lives changed due to terrorism....most people my age don't get it.



Evan

 

[DJDeadParrot]

I was just sitting down for another day of searching online job listings when a friend of ours in Ohio called and told us what was unfolding.

 

[gpoehlein]

Just sayin' but the plane that hit the Empire State Building was a B-25 WWII medium bomber. Due to fog... they were following the roads and couldn't see it.

Evan

You are correct sir - I was just working from my (admittedly) faulty memory. Now that you jogged my memory further, I'm pretty sure you're right about it being a WWII bomber.

 

[Highpowerrocketyahoo]

I was napping. My wife woke me up and said your work will be closed. You need to come look at this. She was right.

 

[Marc_G]

For me, it was an odd day.

I lived in Columbia, MD (outside of Baltimore, in the basic direction of DC), and was generally working from home that week, but that day I was supposed to drive into Baltimore to attend a trade show; many of my colleagues from around the country had already flown in the night before.

I had set up a TiVo the night before and it was the kind that took hours to download and set up channel info. Back then it was rare that I would look at TV in the morning, but a bit after 9 am I turned on the TV / TiVo to see how the setup had turned out. It had defaulted to CNN and was showing a view of the Pentagon, on fire, destruction evident.

At first I wondered if it was a movie or something. But there was an inset / picture in picture box in the corner showing "Manhattan" and people running around. I wondered, who cares about New York? The Pentagon just got hit by a plane! Moments later I got caught up on what was happening.

Still somewhat in disbelief, I went to the CNN webpage which was in text only super slow mode, "America under attack!" headline. Dear god, it's real...

Stunned, I sat and watched, and saw the first tower fall.

I called one of my colleagues who was at the show, got voice mail, and told him something to the tune of: "John, can't make our meeting. I'm going out to give blood." At the time they were calling for donations, not realizing the need would be much less than anticipated.

I went out to the donation center which was 5 minutes away, and it had a big line and they were telling additional people to go home. Went home, and I think soon after the second tower fell. By now reports of the situation in Pennsylvania were circulating.

My wife came home early from her first day of work at a new job at a school. Roads were closed on I-95. It was surreal.

The day was tragic. The things that lead up to it were tragic. The aftermath was and still is tragic. The fact that we've truly learned so little from it all, as a country and as a human race... that's more tragic.

My thanks go to all who acted heroically that day, and my condolences go out to all who lost people from their lives, or who were forever changed by the events of the day.

Respectfully,

Marc

 

[judo]

I was working for Lucent Technologies in Orlando. IIRC, the first plane hit near the beginning of my first break and the second plane hit just as the break ended. Not much work got done that morning. Management actually did something smart and suspended work until after noon.

I called my wife at home and told her to get out of bed and turn on the TV. I was actually working when my wife called me to tell be the Pentagon was hit.

 

[Wayne's World]

I was welding for an industrial construction firm in Mulberry, Florida. My grinder's wife called him, and after a few frantic minutes, we gathered that a plane had slammed into the North Tower. About five minutes later, she called back to say that another plane had crashed into the South Tower. We had a "no radio" policy, but I got my portable radio from my truck, and didn't have a problem finding a station covering the disaster. The whole shop shut down for a couple of hours, trying to find out what had happened. I walked out of the shop an hour or so later, and noticed contrails in the sky. I saw a big jet, with 4 smaller jets escorting. About that time, the radio said that Air Force One had left Sarasota, headed God knows where.

 

[GuyNoir]

My desk was just off the trading floor at Banc One Capital Markets. Been that way for 16 years, but the sound I heard from the 300+ people on the floor that morning was like no other. For those of us in the trading business, working with Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm at the top of one of the towers was universal. When all their phones went out, we knew it was bad.

Later in the morning, my boss asked me how I was doing and my reply was "Liz, the last time you sent me to New York, it was for a conference, there!" I pointed to the North Tower.

It could have been me.

 

[MarkII]

Yes. Of course.

Also when John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King and the four students at Kent State were all shot. I also remember where I was when the news broke about the fire in Apollo 1, when it was revealed that Apollo 13 had been crippled, when President Reagan was shot, when the Challenger was destroyed and when the Columbia broke up.

Enough said.

On the morning of September 11, 2001 I was meeting with my supervisor. I was a clinician employed by the State of New York. Governor Pataki ordered all of the state offices closed because of concerns that this might be part of a coordinated attack on government offices, like the Oklahoma City bombing. We were all hustled out and sent home around 11:00 a.m. On the way home I stopped at church and prayed.

 

[plastic_gorilla]

I was at work in a scene shop between 10th and 11th on 33rd street in Manhattan with a view over the train switching area between Penn Station and the tunnel. Heard about the first one, watch the second one happen. The boats were lining up down the street to get folks to NJ. Passed out water and help folks who were tired from the walk, then walked to queens my self round 3pm - went to the bar.

rough day, had friends who were much closer but luckily no deaths to my immediate circle.

 

[BEC]

I heard about an airplane going into the first tower before I left for work that morning and like others wondered, from the report, if some poor private pilot had made a terrible mistake. I heard about the second one as I pulled into the parking lot at work and it became apparent that it wasn't a terrible mistake, and it wasn't private pilots but two 767s full of people and fuel.

I just sat in my car in the parking lot - under a tree that is no longer in that lot - in shock.

I don't recall how we found out about the 757 at the Pentagon and the other one in Pennsylvania, but somehow we had radio or TV inside our building.

It was a truly numbing experience not unlike the day JFK was shot (I was in 2nd grade then) or the Challenger explosion and later the loss of Columbia.

I also remember getting really angry (and still do, to this day) that a product I had a small hand in helping create (the 757) and which had been so safe, was perverted in this way. The number of 757s lost in fatal crashes over the life of the program doubled that day.

While I did not lose anyone I knew directly that day, I did loose some colleagues who were on a couple of the flights, and that day also was the de facto end of the airplane program I was working on at the time (a longer range 757) and not too long afterward many people I knew lost their jobs as we reduced production rates drastically in the aftermath.

 

[edwinshap1]

I was getting ready for elementary school. I came home and my nanny was crying. her son was on the plane that hit the south tower. All i really understood was that bad things were happening and someone i knew was caught in the mayhem...

 

[hcmbanjo]

I was at Sea World, getting ready to do the Dolphin pre-show. I'd sing for 3,500 people before the show would start.
I walked past the dolphin trainer's offices and one trainer told me a plane had flown nto the World Trade Center.
At first I figured it was a small plane, there wasn't many other details.
Sitting backstage, I got a blow by blow from the sound operator through an intercom. He was watching the news on a small TV in the sound booth.
The entertainment offices communicated to me to go on with the show as nothing has happened.

Before I walked out in front of the crowd, I knew the first tower was on fire.
I've got to go on stage, smile and act like nothing is going on. It's the old cliche': The show must go on.
So I'm singing, hopefully saying some funny things, trying to set the audience up for the main show to follow,
full knowing that there is over 3,000 people in front of me oblivious to what has happened.
Over the monitor I hear the sound operator; "Oh my God! the tower fell! The tower fell!"
I actually stopped singing midstream, swallowed and shut off the monitor.
I finished the song, started the show and played my part as the announcer.

The strangest show of my life. Emotions were high, I had to go on as nothing had happened.

 

[Superewza]

No... what happened on the Ninth of November?

 

[judo]

No... what happened on the Ninth of November?

US: Month/Day/Year

UK: Day/Month/Year

September 11, 2001

11 Septemer, 2001

Does that help?

 

[gdiscenza]

I was driving to the Best Buy in Springfield, VA to buy a new camera for the first vacation my wife and I were about to take in years. I heard on the all news station that an airplane had hit the World Trade Center.

My initial thought was that some idiot in a Cessna banked left instead of right, and that the only possible damage to those massive buildings would be some broken glass to clean up.

I got into the Best Buy and it wasn't deserted, but every soul in the store was crowding around one of the hundreds of TVs, all of which were showing the same thing, loops of the plane hitting Tower 2 while Tower 1 smoldered.

To this day I cannot comprehend hating any nationality, ethnic group, or faith enough to order the mass murder of over 1000 people, whose only crime against the man who ordered it was that they were in America.

I watched the smoke rising in the north from the Pentagon attack, and I knew that our sense of safety at "home" was forever altered.

G.D.