9/11/01 Where were you?

Linli_Anne

I was rushing around my apartment, late for work, and trying to find the keys to our truck. It turned out that my husband had mistakenly taken them to his office. I walked the streets of our downtown, to get my keys, and get out to work. I was so frustrated, irritated, I hate to be late, and I felt inconvenienced.

By the time I got into the truck, the first plane had hit. I didn't understand what they radio was reporting about. But I remember suddenly feeling incredible selfish for how I felt just moments earlier. I was in disbelief at what was happening.

I worked in a small office, and we just huddled around the radio, listening to events unfold.

My husband was sent home early, as were most of the people who worked downtown.

We watched news cast after newscast all that evening.

amyk0202

I was in the radiology waiting room at the children's hospital. My 6 week old son needed a barium swallow. I hadn't watched the news that morning--trying to get my toddler daughter on her way & my son ready to go. They had the news on & I really didn't know what I was watching at first. It was awful. I feel so sad for the families of those who were lost that day & all the soldiers lost since & so grateful that there are people willing to put themselves at risk to keep us safe.

CaeliGirl11

I was in class at Florida State and all of a sudden a couple of cell phones went off including my professor's. We all thought it was weird that within a few seconds of each other people were getting phone calls. Then an announcement was made in the building that all classes were cancelled and that everyone should go home or to their dorm rooms. My heart was racing, I didn't know what was going on. My roomates picked me up and we listed on the radio to what was going on and tried to piece it together...a plane? Hit what? A plane hit a buiding in New York? My friend who was driving the car started to freak out and had to pull over, she knew someone who had been working at the WTC on an internship. She had to call immediatley, but of course no calls were going through. I couldn't even get a call in to my mom at that point. Then I started freaking out, my parents and brother live in Tampa; MacDill Airforce Base...I started to get irrational. But wasn't everyone's thoughts becoming irrational when they couldn't get in touch with people? We made it back in time to see the second tower fall on TV, a memory that will forever be imprinted. How can something like that crumble? Something so big, something so strong? My world changed. My views of the world changed and my views of America changed. I'm not sure if everything we do is right but on that day; what happened that day, that was wrong.

walterm852

I was 6 miles away. We could see the smoke, tried calling friends but the network was over loaded. Everyone was so worried about friends and relatives, crazy few days. I think about 2 friends that passed, on Christmas, 4th of July picnics, whenever .... ripped out of life. I have had 12 Christmas with my kids since ....

Here is a cool story many havent seen before, a buddy was stuck in lower Manhattan and got off the island on a small fishing boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDOrzF7B2Kg

Legs_McGee

I was at home getting ready for work - didn't have a clue what was going on. A friend called, freaking out, and asked if I'd talked to my parents ... they both had meetings at the Pentagon on a regular basis. We spent all day at work sitting in the library listening to the radio.

LFDBabs

I work at a fire department. When I passed by the ready-room, the TV was on and everyone was glued to it and the silence was not normal. A shift of 14 guys is NEVER quiet! I went in and sat with them and we watched in horror as the second plane hit. The mood at our fire department, in Western New York State, was somber to say the least. Then, I had to go home and try and explain it to my children, who were very young, and will never know the simple freedoms that I used to take for granted.

contingencyplan

It was the day before my 21st birthday. At the time I was working a third shift job and had just fallen asleep after getting home from work. I made arrangements to take the night off work so that I could enjoy my birthday turning 21 at the stroke of midnight. My dad woke me up after both planes hit just in time to see the first tower fall on TV.

I figured no place would be open that evening (and it turned out I was right) so I ended up going into work and we didn't celebrate my birthday that year.

seilidhe

It was the end of a work "day" for me, and the next shift was coming on. One of the guys got a call from his wife who told him that someone in a small plane had crashed into the World Trade Towers. We made some jokes about not being able to see buildings that big, speculated as to whether the pilot had had a heart attack, and finally, one guy got his radio turned on and we heard the actual news. Shocked silence fell in the room and the laughter ended. I stayed and listened for a little while, but it was time for me to go home. After I got into my car, all I could do was sit there in the parking lot and sob as I listened to the radio. Finally, I drove home, tears streaming down my face. I ran into the house, yelled at the kids to get up and get ready for school, and turned on the tv. I sat there and cried for a few hours until I couldn't cry any longer and exhaustion just took over and I went to bed.

annie4dhokies

a new college freshman...I had an 8:00 English class...didn't know what had happened until I walked into my Intro to Gov't class...pretty surreal that was the class where I found out we had been attacked.

My class was cancelled. Walking through campus on that beautiful Tuesday was a blur. Since most of the dorms didn't have A/C...many windows were opened and all you could hear was the news...

Back at the dorms, I found my friends in tears and in fear. Being in Southwest VA, many of my friends have parents or relatives who work at the Pentagon or close by...

It was a day that I'll never forget and I think about often.

God Bless you all and the USA!

BeautifulScarsWECHANGED

I was living near Syracuse, and was at home getting ready to go to work. We usually watched Good Morning America, but that morning we didn't. My daughter was a year and a half old, we loaded up in our car so my husband could drop me off. We always listened to Howard Stern on the way, and heard Cabbie yelling that the towers were being attacked. We didn't know whether to take it seriously or not, I mean, it was Howard Stern. Once we realized it wasn't a joke, we then realized we were about 400 miles away from this nightmare. I remember going into work crying, wondering what would be attacked next, wondering if I would see my daughter again. I remember every station on TV was replaying this nightmare over and over again for over a week. I remember how eerie it was to not see any planes in the sky for days. I remember every second of that day. I will always remember those who lost their lives, those who sacrificed their lives, the hero's, and the families who will forever have a hole in their hearts.

SeeingLessofKristin

I was working in the news room for a local AM radio station. I remember when the first plane hit and we thought it was just a terrible accident. I was running from station to station updating them and walked back into the news room when the second plane hit. We knew in that instant that we were under attack. We sat there stunned for a moment and then sprang into action diverting all six of our stations to one to start our coverage. It was a crazy day and emotions didn't hit until I was home that night and could fully process what had happened that day.

j75j75

I was a senior in high school, and I was just getting up to get ready for school. My mom was glued to the tv, so I asked was what going on. Couldn't believe what was happening.

Pangea250

I was working in my office about 15 miles directly west of the towers. My husband (at the time) called to tell me a plane crashed into the tower. As he was watching the news & telling me about it, the 2nd plane hit. I stood up & looked around & saw nearly everybody on the phone, standing up, at the same time.

The husband of a fellow supervisor was due for a meeting in one of the towers at 9am. Cell phone circuits were busy & she couldn't get through. She was a wreck for about 2 hours til her phone rang & she heard a word or 2 from him before she lost the call. He had been late for the meeting & wasn't in the tower yet. He walked out of Manhattan that day.

We closed the office at around noon, told everyone to go home & be with their families. I got on the highway and started my drive home, headed directly toward the smoke rising in front of me & trailing southward. I had to pull over to cry. I wasn't the only one.

I had a girlfriend who was 5 months pregnant (like me at the time) and she worked with her boyfriend at the financial center next to the towers. It was his birthday so he took the day off, so she slept in a little & took a later ferry from Hoboken to Manhattan. She was on the ferry as the 1st plane hit. She says everyone got off the boat, not sure what to do, walked around looking up. She called in to her office to ask what they wanted her to do as she saw the 2nd plane stroke, and pandemonium hit. A throng of people started running for the ferries. She was almost trampled. She looked around and saw the biggest, meanest-looking biker-type dude near her. She grabbed him and pointed to her pregnant belly. He enveloped her in his arms and got her safely to the ferry. She was never able to find him in the days & weeks that followed to say thank you.

mank32

waiting for the bus, on my way to work. the guy sharing the stop with me brought it up -- i thought he was bsing me. until i got to work, and they were playing the NPR news coverage over the PA system.

Brutmar

I work for a government agency in fire service and my office is out at our local airport. The airport maintenance supervisor shared an office in my building and came in and told me what was going on. We immediately went over to our training classroom to turn the TV on. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was speechless and tears just filled my eyes. I'll never forget that day.

dbmata

This thread is to remember the lives lost and to share feelings.

Her posts are rude and inappropriate given the nature of the subject being discussed.

If she's not American and doesn't care (although I have plenty of non-American friends who care) then she should be respectful enough and have some tact and not post in the thread.

Maybe so. Maybe she wasn't touched by it but wanted us as a collective to lighten up some. I finally read her follow on posts, and would say she probably just needs to let it go.

She has every right to post in this thread, in my opinion as an American who values free speech, even when I disdain what that speech says.

... did I really just defend someone on the internet. I think that's a two shot penalty. (I've been in the ****el since 5am.)

ETA - Seriously, I can't write George D ! ckel the best frickin' bourbon within my hand's reach? Well, slap my *kitten* and make me breakfast.

auntiebabs

On my way to work (#19 on this map)
... didn't make it closer than 30 block north of WTC,

The spot where ash covered people stopped running.

pseudomuffin

6th grade math class right after lunch. We were getting out our workbooks and our teacher checked her email and found out.

pawnstarNate

Tampa Florida....Logistics Manager for a distribution center. Saw it all unfold on the tv in the break room

Sabine_Stroehm

Mountain Standard time. I was blow drying my hair. My head was upside down, and I turned right side up just as the second plane hit. I freaked. I was working with folks with disabilities at that time, and called my boss and said: we need to get to work to answer questions. There's going to be a lot of confused, scared clients at our door. And there were.
Then I called my sister and said: turn on the tv. Everything in the world just changed.

PixieGoddess

Marching band practice. None of us had any idea until we came inside and went to our 2nd period class. Mine happened to be history. When we walked in, the teacher pointed to the TV and said, "We're watching the news today. This is history." Shortly after class started, we watched the second plane hit. :frown:

1stday13

On my way to work, listening to the radio when they interrupted to say "they thought a small plane" had hit One of the towers. I was 1/2 way through DFW airport (AA's Headquarters) on my way to my office with American Airlines. By the time I got to the office, There was a TV set up in the conference room with people standing watching. They had known by this time It was one of our planes. The personnel on the AA 1st response Teams were already getting ready to Head that direction as soon as they could. ( The teams are sent out When planes go down to help anyway they can). They are assigned to families, both employee and passengers. They stay for as long as they are needed. Sometimes weeks. Nothing was ever the same again with all the lives that were touched in one way or another that day. To this day I always remember and have a good cry on 9/11.

Goalsat47

I had just arrived into work in Midtown Manhattan right after the first plane hit. We chatted about it while having our coffee and all thought it was a commuter plane. We soon realized what was going on and it got pretty awful. We were all on the phone trying to reach family of a co-worker who was very upset. My boss was trying to reach some of his friends who worked in the tower. We were also watching it together on TV.

I left the office with a friend after the second tower fell. We walked out onto the streets and could see the smoke from downtown. The streets were crazy busy which was so strange and eerie. We walked out over the 59th street bridge with fighter jets flying over head. All of the emergency vehicles were speeding towards the city on the other side of the bridge. It really felt to me like I was in a movie. Just not real.

I'm glad that today is a little humid because it feels a little different. That day was just like this one but just not humid. The perfect day until it happened.

God bless all the people who died that day and all of the families that were affected.

Birder150

I live in Windsor, Ontario across from Detroit, Michigan.
I was walking at my favourite city park that borders the Detroit River.
It was a gorgeous, sunny, blue sky morning.

After my walk, I went to Remark Farms for some produce and that's where I found out that the bridge and tunnel to the US had been closed but the cashier wasn't clear as to why.
When I left, I turned on the radio and that's when I learned of the 1st plane hitting the tower and of the horrific events unfolding.

I live close to the flight path of Windsor airport and the American planes also fly over at times and it was so eerily quiet for several days afterward.

jenillawafer

I was in my 7th grade history class.

babyshme

At home getting ready for school. I never made it to school that day. My mom and I had to take my tv out of my room and take it
next door to my moms work. Her boss was military. My dads company went on lock down that day and he wasn't home until the following day. They cancelled school for a week in my area.

Bell_Lucci

New York, getting ready to go to school.

SakuraRose13

I was at home actually I was home schooled at that time , I had no idea what the twin towers even where, till after it occurred I was 17 then and well I had no reason to know anything about them till that point.
I was a tragic day but we have since moved forward we will never forget ..

Nireedk

I was 9 months pregnant with my third child, living in NJ and visiting my parents in VA. I was taking a bath that morning when my sister called out that the TV news said a plane hit one of the Twin Towers in NY. Being from NJ, I jumped out of the shower, quickly did my best to wrap me and my 9 month big belly in a towel and ran out to the family room to catch the news. I stood there in my towel in front of the TV for the next 2 hours. I was riveted by it. In shock. I was 36 and still couldn't process it.

gabbygirl78

I was in Nursing school at Reid State in Evergreen, Alabama. I had 2 small children at home when i found out about it I immediately rushed back home about 30 minutes away and as I walked in the door at my moms house she looked at me and said, "They're gone, The WTC, both towers completely gone! Oh my God what is happening!" I spent the rest of the day and all night glued to the television watching everything unfold, hugging my babies tight and praying.