9/11/01 Where were you?

Railr0aderTony

As we remember Today the victims of the 9/11 attack let's all recall our whereabouts and the feeling you had when you heard the news.

I was working in Wapakoneta Ohio on the Railroad operating a directional boring machine to put in cables for a new installation. I had a headset on and my foreman radioed me to shut it down and get to the truck and turn on the radio. I really did not take him seriously but i finished what i was doing and shut down the machine and took my time getting back to the truck. At that point the world as I knew it changed. The next couple hours are a blurr as we packed up all the equiptment and went back to the motel and we were all glued to the tv watching the footage. I hardly remember checking out or the three hour drive home to North Manchester, Indiana. I got home right about the time the towers collasped and I remember just being shocked. Just wanting my kids with me, just wanting to understand why someone would do this to innocent people.

So MFP what are your stories?

RaggedyPond

study hall. The teacher turned on the news and I thought it was a joke.

Tunia85

At school (high school) I was a freshman, and we really didn't understand what was happening until we got home, and since I live in Chicago we had fighter jets flying over our heads patrolling the skies.

anemoneprose

Heard the news on my way to my teaching job. The radio news was piecey, couldn't make much sense of it; I was late, rushing & distracted. I got in ready to apologize and found it was the last thing that mattered; saw staff & students clustered around TVs pulled into the lounge, so still. What I saw on there was a movie, a dream. Feeling: simple shock, my assumptions about the world busted.

Also remember being in the bath, listening to Bush on the radio talking about defending against 'those who harbour terrorists' and the chill I got from being terrified of that.

MdotSole

I was a Highschool sophomore in shop class. We were all sent home early from school, it was hard to comprehend what was actually happening. Being a 15 year old in Chicago I felt so disconnected from the event in NYC - just seemed like a final scenes of action movie.

djeffreys10

In differential equations at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Walking down the stairs of Campbell hall after class let out, a buddy got a phone call and told us that we just got bombed. Got to a TV in time to see the towers fall.

nblais06

I was sitting in freshman economics class. While my teacher was freaking out as her brother was supposed to on a flight that very morning. Turns out he missed his flight! Crazy!

vtmoon

Waking up for my class, a guy from down the hall came in running saying the towers got attacked. Turned on the TV and watched the second plane crash into the south tower.

itsjustdawn

I was in my junior year at UCF. I was getting ready for class and chatting on IRC (geek) when they were saying to turn on the news. At that point only the first plane had struck. I was still watching when the 2nd plane hit. Then I had to go to class... I was one of about 3 people who knew anything because it was still early in the morning. Campus was closed after 12PM that day... My roommates and I sat glued to the news for the next couple days...

veg_jen

I woke up to NPR saying a plane had hit the World Trade Center. It was my morning alarm to get up for work. It didn't make any sense so I hit the snooze button. Nine minutes later NPR was back, saying something about a jet hitting the tower. I sat up in bed, grabbed the remote and stayed there for the rest of the day, flipping back and forth between news channels. It was just so shocking. I'll never forget it.

x311Tifa

I was in 4th grade. Around lunch time, mom came and picked me up. Not sure why she did it. Maybe out of fear. Either way, I spent the day at home working on the homework I would have been missing as well as overhearing the news and not really understanding the implications of the event.

BeTheFire

2nd night of college, and it was cancelled. Went and had dinner at then-girlfriends house while we watched the news. Ed McCaffery (Broncos) broke his femur the night before in season opener.

herblackwings39

I got my son onto the school bus and walked into my Mom and Dad's house in time to see the second plain hit the tower.

OMGeeeHorses

History Class, teacher turned on the TV. He was very upset as his son lived very close to the towers.

God Rest The Souls That Were Lost On That Day!

opheliaphoenix

I was getting ready for school my senior year of HS, and I walked into the living room and saw my dad sitting on a footstool just a few feet in front of the TV with this eerily vacant look of disbelief on his face. I asked him what was up, and he didn't say anything, and that's when I turned around and saw what was happening on TV. My parents had me stay home from school that day, and we ended up watching the disaster coverage all day. It was so sad.

xoxolindseym

I was in second grade. We were going to learn our multiplication tables. I remember my teacher got choked up and he gathered us around on the floor in a circle and tried to explain what happened. The teacher's helper was in complete tears. Lots of parents came and got their kids to take them home. I know we were all a little young to completely understand what was going on but looking back it gives me chills. Such a horrifying disaster.

Becky_charles29

I live in the UK and I remember it well

I was just finishing a day at school and my mum came to pick me up and said "something terrible has happened"

I got home, turned on the TV - and watched...not believing my eyes

Unfortunately, this happened again a few years later in 2005 with the London bombings - only this time, I experienced it differently in that my dad was in London - using the tube, so I spent a lot of the morning desperately trying to reach him. Thankfully he was OK, but it gave me a whole new perspective on how those involved in 9/11 felt

My thoughts are with the thousands who lost loved ones, and those living with the memories of 12 years ago

knucklesammie

high school junior. i found out between classes in the hallway from my best friend who was near tears because her sister lived in NYC. after that i saw tvs on in most classes.

SwitzEngine

Working in a big bank in Switzerland. Suddenly my colleague in NY told me via chat. Immediately went to a tv to watch all

Nicolee_2014

On afternoon shift at work. We had the tv's on & some of my colleagues thought a movie was being played. Gives me goosebumps every time I think about it.

griff7809

At home, watching on TV...packing my bags.

Canman51

I was on a survey vessel off of Vietnam. The first email which came in said a plane had hit the world trade centre. We all assumed a small Cesna or similar. Further emails and we realised how serious it was. No internet or TV so it was two weeks before we saw it on TV.

dedicationandcommitment

I was in the 3rd grade and since I live in Texas I didn't really feel a certain kind away except sad for those who lost their life!!
RIP to the many souls that died on that horrendous day!!

raaraa17

I was at school, I'm from the UK so it happened in the afternoon over here. I was only 14
I can remember staring at the TV all night, just knowing that the world had just changed forever.
I visited the memorial site in NYC in December and felt so sad

moniquec37

on this horrific day, i was at that time employed at aetna insurance company in allentown, pa. I was on the phone with a gentleman checking on his claim status from new jersey. we were chit chatting away and he was tellng me about the different little towns out here in palike virginville, pa, truth or consequences and so on. all of a sudden he yelled " OH MY GOD " into the phone so, I asked if he was alright and he said "A PLANE JUST HIT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER" then the phone went dead, I didnt know what to think. Then all of a sudden my coworkers were coming over to me and calling me saying i should check on my family because a plane hit the World Trade Center. I could believe my ears and then i panicked, all my family was still in new York. I called as many people as i could but couldn't get thru and that is when i heard the 1st tower had fallen. my heart dropped. I frantically called my brothers, aunts, mother in law, sisters in law, and then my father in law(may he rest in peace) and he answered, i asked him if he was alright and he said yes and asked what was going on. as i told him what i had heard and what was happening, he said he will call me back, he needed to get out of the train station. well for the next 7 hours both my husband and i was calling our families trying to get thru to them with no success and by this point my father in law had no cell reception any longer. Finally much laer on that night, our families started to call us from landlines because tower 1 housed the antennaes for the cell phones which had now been destroyed. we were very relieved that everyone was alright, my father in law included, but i will never forget talking to my mother in law whom works at federal plaza right next to the world trade center. She said she didnt even know what was going on until she saw the sky go dark and she looked up from her window at work and literally saw people jumping out of the windows right next to her................. I WILL NEVER EVER FORGET 09/11/01.FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE.

bernied262

I am in the Uk, i was walking down a corridor at work, when someone rushed me and said that the tower had been attacked. I went into a room with a large screen television and saw the second plane hit. I pretty much stayed glued to the tele for the next 48 hrs, repeatedly saying 'this can't be true'. My thoughts are with those who lost loved ones. My thanks are with those brave men and women who worked tireless afterwards, trying to recover those trapped.

GypsyRoad2

I was at home and had walked down the street to talk to my neighbor and she was watching it on TV. We both just stood there in total shock and disbelief at what we were seeing. I will never forget the images of those two towers collapsing. It was the most horrible thing I have ever witnessed. This is a day to remember those victims and all the brave workers that stepped in to help them that awful day.

janicelo1971

I was at work in Cincinnati Ohio at Magellan behavioral health (insurance company). I remember it very clear as we stood there in total shock to what we saw on TV. So sad.......tears welling up in my eyes now just thinking about it.......I still pray for all those that lost family in this horrible attack and for our military. A truly horrendous day for America & the GOOD people of the world. RIP to the many many people who needlessly lost their precious lives ..... YOU WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN XXX

mruntidy

Bowling practice in my home town, suddenly all the scoreboards blinked off and then came back on with 24 screens of what was happening. I was 19 and tt was and still is very hard to explain exactly how it made me feel.

Cindyinpg

I had just gotten up and was having breakfast with my husband. We turned on the TV and there it was. It was right after the second plane hit. It had just become clear that it wasn't just a tragic accident, but an actual terrorist attack. It was so... unbelievable. The lady news anchor on CNN was crying. I had never seen a news anchor cry before. We watched CNN for three days straight. It didn't matter that we were Canadian, it still felt very close and personal. It was so horrifying to watch the aftermath and even when they played the same video clips over and over everything that happened seemed freshly horrible and far worse every time they showed it. I remember being so angry and thinking, "How dare they?" All those innocent people... the brave fireman.... there are no words.

VeganLexi

I was at the gym in Doncaster, I was 20 years old. I remember it being on all of the TV screens ( my best friend had called me earlier to tell me "a plane had flown in to a building in America" I thought it was a small plane (1-2 seater), when I got to the gym I couldn't believe my eyes. Very sad.