9/11/01 Where were you?

Alisontheice

I was at work on the 58th floor of an office tower. My brother e-mailed me telling me a plane had crashed, then another. I remember the assistant I sat beside panicking because her boss had flown to New York that morning and she was trying to get in touch with her. I went into my boss' office to talk about what was going on and kept looking out the windows to see what I could see. Everything eventually closed and we all went home and watched the news. I lived on a flight path, it was weird seeing no planes flying over.

Still_Fluffy

I was doing laundry at the laundry mat. I had just gotten back from picking up my sister from her honeymoon. I saw the second plane hit and remember thinking, "Oh man, we're going to war." I finished and went back to my fraternity house and woke all the brothers up and we watched the coverage for the rest of the day.

It's a sad day in our nation's history. My heart goes out to all those that lost friends and family.

alpdexplorer

I was in school (8th grade), study hall, to be exact when I heard about it.
My teacher turned on the TV and I was in shock when I saw what had happened.

For quite a few years after I collected 9/11 memorabilia.
I have a whole tote full of books, figurines, VHS tapes. Tears me up every time I look at them.

martymum

I was sleeping...it was afternoon and I was working nights in A+E. Hubby woke me up to show me and I though it was a trailer for a film!!

I worked in a military town and in a hospital with a lot of military drs and nurses so we had armed soldiers patrolling all night, very scary as in the UK we don't see many armed people.

Very sad day and my thoughts are with all the family and friends who lost someone that day.

martyx

EmilyJackCO

I was in San Diego, watching the news live when it happened as I was getting ready for work. I did enterprise network support and my clients were SD City Council and the Mayor's office. I dropped everything, half ready for work and ran for the next bus. I appeared to be the only person on the bus who knew what happened. We got bogged down in traffic about 5 blocks out from my office, so I got off and ran, texting my boss on where to meet him. We started at the coffee stand (oh how I miss that little place) and strategized, because communications were already impacted. About 1/2 an hour later, I was pushing through the crowd to get to city officials and helping them find alternate methods of phone and email communications. I was teaching the mayor how to send SMS messages. They were completely cut off from Sacramento and Washington because of the jammed lines, but we managed to get some official news - the rumour mill was horrendous.

About an hour and a half into the situation, they announced evacuations of the downtown high rises and city admin building. Since I was using public transit at the time, I rose with my friend to our bunker site up the freeway a bit and we ran network analysis from there. He was an American Citizen living in Tijuana, so he was stuck in the US until we opened back up the border two days later... so he stayed with me. They did send us home about 12pm once the networks were stabilized - and there was nothing else we could do.

I'll never forget those hours in front of the television, friends coming over, people calling me from all over the place. Most of all, it was one of the last conversations I had with my father, who was a lifelong firefighter and smoke jumper... it nearly killed him to watch his brothers die. The only reason I'm not doing this event today is because of a work conflict. I did it two years ago, but my mom got sick last year so I missed it, and I was registered for it, but.... work had other ideas.

http://911stairclimb.com/911stairclimb/2013.html

SweetLilyR

I was eating breakfast in the student cafe in college with my husband-to-be...I remember that I had gotten french toast and he had gotten scrambled eggs - weird little details of that day still stick in my head. We heard a commotion over in the student lounge where there was a giant widescreen TV. We got over there just in the time to see the second plane hit. I remember thinking "this must be how the rest of the world feels when they're attacked". I also remember seeing one of my psych professors running by in tears - found out later that her brother was one of the people killed in Tower 1.

Even though we were in a tiny college in the middle of nowhere, Vermont, they shut down the campus for the day. Most everyone spent the rest of the day in the theater - they dropped down the big screen and had CNN playing on it for the next 24 hours. I don't remember leaving the student lounge, but at some point I was back in my room packing a go-bag. I also remember gassing up my car and urging my suitemates to do the same. Later that evening at dusk that there was a candlelight vigil for those who died and those still being pulled from the rubble. I remember my mother telling me that every generation had a "I was here when x happened." Her generation had the Kennedy assasination - my generation has 9/11.

martymum

I was sleeping...it was afternoon and I was working nights in A+E. Hubby woke me up to show me and I though it was a trailer for a film!!

I worked in a military town and in a hospital with a lot of military drs and nurses so we had armed soldiers patrolling all night, very scary as in the UK we don't see many armed people.

Very sad day and my thoughts are with all the family and friends who lost someone that day.

martyx

PJ64

I was in the Military, I was on a plane coming back from a deployment in Saudi Arabia. I landed in Norfolk Virginia just as the planes were hitting the towers. My brother was working in the pentagon when it got hit and it wasn't until late that night I got word he was ok.

mojohowitz

On my way to my accounting class. I stopped in to my father's house after I heard the news on the radio. I distinctly remember watching the TV in silence when my dad, an Air Force veteran, said "That's no accident." Moments later later the second tower got hit.

I got to class and the teacher just sent us home. I stayed with my parents for the rest of the day.

I also remember my dad reminding me not to get caught up in the patriotism and nationalism that would follow in the years to come. Zealotry is for the simple minded and that's what caused this in the first place.

ShadeBlossom

At home in Florida, getting ready to leave for work. My sister called me and told me to turn on the TV. I sat there on the couch, with her on the phone, and watched the news try to make sense of what was happening.

My most vivid memory is of watching a company of firefighters march into the towers and then, minutes later, came the first collapse. I couldn't breathe. I just remember thinking, "I just watched hundreds of people die, right in front of me, on national television." My sister and I both were just crying hysterically.

I had nightmares about it for days. It doesn't seem to get any less surreal with each passing year. I can't believe it's been twelve.

flsunshine

installing sprinklers in a middle of a strawberry field. came to the end of the row where some of the guys were just standing there next to one of the trucks listening to the radio. one of them told me what happened.

BlueAngelChar

A Brit here who watched it live after the first plane hit the tower and even as I write this I get a chill down my spine at the horrifying scenes I watched that day. A truly tragic day x

Lisa1971

I was working at a vet tech and my boss told me. We had a small tv in the waiting room and everyone came out and just watched and cried. The phones immediately stopped ringing. So sad.

Momf3boys

I was at work (in Washington, DC), sitting at my desk when the radio said that a plane went into one of the towers...I thought it was a small private plane. I went into one of the conference rooms to watch CNN and that's when I saw the other plane hit the other tower. I went back to my desk and gathered my things because I wanted to go home...(I work in a building that is a target)...I left my building, not really knowing where I was going. I roamed around DC with a good friend until my (then) husband picked us up and took us home...it took 4 hours to get home but as soon as I got to my baby (my oldest son had just turned 1) I felt a huge sigh of relief.

Today, I sit in the same building that I did 12 years ago...still a target...but proud to be an American!

LisaUlrey

I had skipped my classes for the day. I was supposed to go to a concert later that day and didn't want to rush from school to the venue. I was at my parents house visiting and we both saw it unfold on TV. It is a day I will never forget.

djpgrl28

I was living in Livermore CA I was woke up by my family to watch new of the towers..then I had to try to get across town to the day care center I worked at....which was down the road from the Lawerence Livermore Lab that makes nuks, ect... it was a target so on complete lock down and they detoured us around town to avoid it...then I had to deal with the new, parents, confused students and the apartment complex across from the school burned down the night before so...I had students that lost all their personal belongings and place to live on top of world events...its was such a emotional stressful time. I didnt know anyone personally but my god sister was living in NY but oposite side of town from towners and was asleep thru whole thing..but took hrs to get thru to her so it was scary. and I knew a girl who happened to be late to work that day....over slept....and would have been on the subway train that ran under trade center takinng her right near it...so luckly they were both safe. my thoughts have been with the families always

juliemouse83

Was at work - second month into the job I still have. My boss at that time had just retired from the Marine Corps after twenty-some years of service, her last assignment had been at the Pentagon, and she had so many friends still working there. She kept running back and forth to her boss's office, where there was a television and giving us blow by blows as things happened. Her friends came out of it alright.

We didn't have streaming video available then, and couldn't watch the news as it happened, but we all sat, hitting the refresh button on our news web sites, horrified at what was happening.

I went home after work, turned on the tv, and sat, glued, to all the coverage.

Our town has an Air Force base and I remembering feeling a little weirded out because none of the F-15s were flying and it was so quiet.

gelendestrasse

At the Marriot on the mile in downtown Chicago for a trade show. I came to the lobby to grab a bagel and a colleague said "did you see that a plane hit the WTC? I thought it must be some small private prop job. So I walk over to the TV just in time to see the second one hit. I just said "that was controlled flight, that was deliberate." Everybody just couldn't believe what they were seeing. Then the trade show got shut down (well, almost all of Chicago did) so we stayed glued to the TV. When the first tower collapsed we just were in disbelief. The guy who was a fire chief had to get up and walk away because he knew how many firemen would have been involved. With no flights home I stayed late to help close up the trade show and then took a bus home a week later.

padams2359

I was in Midand, TX at a training class. I was stuck there for 3 more days because the airports were closed. I spoke to a friend in NY not long after who was staying on 66th floor in another friends apt on 57th and 6th Ave, and could see the smoke and buildings colapsing. My wife and family were here. My parents ended up having to be bussed from Las Vegas because of airport closures. I first heard about the first plane on the radio in the car on the way to the office. The DJs were very monitoned, but not being from there, thought they just had a very sick sense of humor. I made it in the office just in time to see the second plane hit, then the building collapse. It was very strange. A couple of years before, my wife and I had gone up and stayed in the same apt as my friend for the Daytime Emmys. On our approach to Laguardia, we came in from off the coast, and pasted about halfway up the buildings. It was so strange. The ground was so far down, but you could look straight up the side of the building. It was almost like you could see the people in their offices. To watch them crumble was surreal.

MFPRat

At work. I worked in a very busy doctor's office where the phones rang constantly. It got eerily quiet and we heard from someone in the waiting room about what happened. We went to the waiting room to watch the television. I went back to the office and tried to call my mom (who was ill at home) and couldn't get through on the phones at all.

I remained as calm as I could but had to send someone home that was suddenly having war flash backs (PTSD). I finally got through to my mother and she was speechless, could barely tell me what was going on. I don't think she understood what was happening, none of us did really.

My children were at school and they did not send the kids home early. I rushed home after work and we were all glued to the television.

My son was soon to turn 18 and I was worried about a military draft. I had many sleepless nights after the 9/11 events.

mistikal13

I was in a physics lab in college. Since we were all the way in the basement, we were one of the last to be notified. Once I got out onto campus, there was a crowd of students outside our library just staring in disbelief at the NYC skyline. You could see the smoke and it was so unreal.

Becky350

At Secondary School :yawn:

ohsnapitssummer

I was living in New Jersey at the time. I actually had a doctor's appointment that day and missed school. My doctor's office was in New York and my mom was driving me there. We knew something was going on since you could see this massive gray cloudy fog. They had all the tunnels and bridges leading in /out of the state blocked off. I remember that there was the biggest trafic jam before the Lincoln Tunnel, so nobody could get through.

We asked police officers,so they told us what happened. My mom and I picked up my sister from her school that day and we stayed glued to the tv, watching the footage of the plane crashing into the Towers.

CrisAlex

I was an undergrad and was in a lecture room waiting for my French class to start.

Mustang_Susie

I had just dropped my kids off at school and went back home.
There was a message on my answering machine.
It was my husband calling from the firehouse telling me to turn on the TV.
At first I thought he was going to be on the news because he had been at a big fire overnight.
How I wish that had been the case.
He stayed on the phone with me as we watched the towers burn.
At one point he said, "those structures are built to withstand impacts and fires..."
Not seconds later the first one collapsed...

c_tap77

I was in 8th grade. I had stayed behind in one of my classes and had a hall-pass to make it to my next class. The band teacher at my school was running down the hallway knocking on doors and telling each of the teachers to turn on the classroom TVs.

So many of my classmates were picked up by their parents. And I remember going home and sitting on the couch with my mom and my sister knowing that our lives would never be the same. My dad is in the military, and has been on 4 tours since 9/11/01 and we almost lost him on his most recent tour.

I can't believe it's been 12 years. And so much of it still feels like a terrible dream...

LoosingMyLast15

when the first plane hit i was sitting at my desk at work in boston checking email. coworker walked by and said something going on in new york everyone's in the conference room watching tv. i walked over just in time to watch the second plane hit the tower. stunned, shocked, in complete disbelief of what i just say i stood there in the door way of the conference room just watching.

Sometime around 10:00 the owner told everyone to go home. I left at 11:00 terrified at the idea of having to get on the T (subway) and spend the next 30 minutes underground. I remember standing on the platform at south station thinking how eerily silent it was and just the thought of being underground with everything going on above ground. what if the terrorists attacked the T what would i do where would i hide how would i escape. everyone road in silence. you could hear a pin drop while the T was underground. the minute the T came through the tunnel and out on to the street everyone seemed to exhale at the same time.

RockinTerri

At home, recovering from surgery. I didn't even have the TV on, when my husband called from work to say "turn on the TV". My grandmother called shortly afterwards, and we were on the phone crying and talking about it for like 5 hours.

Ivey05131980

College English Lit. class...

tallieterp

11th grade honors english... teacher ran in and put on the TV and we all honestly thought it was some new media prank... next class was pre-calc, we had an exam so there were no news updates allowed and during the next class the towers fell...

i remember calling my dad at lunch from the payphone in the HS lobby and saying "some birthday you're having today right?" As former military, he was completely devestated at the course of events.

thoughts and prayers to all of those who suffered a loss on this history changing day...