Sept 11 recollection

ninerbuff

Hard to believe it's been 13 years since it's been one of the worst days in American history. I remember it like it was yesterday.
At the time I was living in Northern Virginia and my DW worked at as a government employee about 1 block from the Pentagon. When it got hit, panic set in the area since lots of people in the area had or knew someone that worked there. There was no cell service that was viable to the public, so I had to wait till she got home. Practically everyone in Northern Virginia and DC were sent home from work that morning and traffic was chaos.
I got home about 11am, while my DW didn't get home till after 2pm. During that time all I heard were fighter jets flying back and forth over the area.
One of my most prized videos is the one I took on Jan 2nd of 2001 when I was in the World Trade Center and recorded the interior and the view from the almost top floor of the Empire State building.
Respect and remembrance to the innocent that lost their lives that day.

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kbolton322

I was in High School I live right off Fort Bragg NC. my dad was in SF at one point and we were still living out there.. I remember being at school watching the tv and it showed what was happening.. The base shut down and they were flying the fighter jets and all other planes on base out as fast as they could.. The next thing we heard on the news was Fort Bragg was going to be the next to be hit since it was one of the biggest bases in the area. it was a very scary day for us. For everybody...

JustSomeEm

Wow, yea, the memories of that day. I currently live near and work IN DC (I can actually see the Pentagon from my 'sometimes' office). But 13 years ago, I was just starting day 2 of a new job working with a defense contractor in Hampton Roads Virginia. While I vividly remember the attacks and the news coverage, another of my most vivid memories was of my drive home that afternoon. Traffic was much 'friendlier' than normal. I think everyone was in shock, and even when on the road people were being very kind and conscientious. No one cut me off when ordinarily switching lanes is a free-for-all. Its a silly thing, but to me it highlighted that we were all 'in this together'... whatever 'this' was.

Cardio4Cupcakes

It was my 13th birthday. I was so excited for this birthday because that's the ~teenager birthday~. I had a big party planned out at a local arcade/ bowling alley kind of place. I was in choir class when we learned. For the rest of the day, parents picked kids up and all we did in class was watch tv. I walked home and both my parents were home, and we ended up just getting pizza for dinner and I had my party 2 weeks later or something, I don't really remember. My neighbor came over with her kids because her husband was in the Army and stuck on base, they ended up sleeping over too and all the kids crammed into my parents Queen bed and the adults slept in the living room with the tv.

My teacher in one of the classes made up write down everything about that day, what we were wearing, what we ate for breakfast and lunch, how we felt with the news, etc. I'm glad because I still have it so even though it's still clear, it's good to have proof.

lmr0528

I can't believe it's been 13 years either. I was in 7th grade at the time, sitting in Spanish class when the principal came and knocked on the door. The teacher went out with him, came back in crying and said "there's been a terrorist attack". She didn't say what happened though. I went to a Catholic school at that time, so the middle school students were all taken into the church and we spent most of the day there praying and talking. I remember some kids worrying about loved ones. Getting home later that day, my parents didn't know if the school had told us anything. I told them what we did during the day and we spent the rest of the night together watching all of the news coverage. I'll never forget seeing all of the devastation, people jumping out of the windows, the towers collapsing.

Cardio4Cupcakes

people jumping out of the windows

This is what will always stick with me I think. I can't imagine being in a situation where you just know all hope is lost and that you either wait to die, or do it yourself.

fitfabforties

I live in Canada and I remember it was a beautiful sunny September morning and I was driving to the school where I was teaching....I heard the news on the radio in the car and at first I couldn't believe what they were saying. When I got to school we put the TV on ended up just watching it all day. We are two hours behind New York so it was going on 8am here when information started filtering through. My sister at the time was living in Manhattan and working just 2-3 blocks away from the World Trade Centre. She managed to call mum right away before all the phone lines jammed up so we, thankfully, didn't spend the day worrying about her. I can't even imagine how other families felt who didn't get news for hours. R.I.P. all those souls....:(

chuckyp

I'm a police helicopter pilot. I first learned of the attack on the radio while driving to work. I came in in the middle of it and didn't know what I was hearing. I thought they were talking about some hypothetical situation. When I got to work, they were watching it on TV. All civilian air traffic was suspended. As law enforcement, we got special permission to go ahead and fly. We were the only aircraft in the sky in the entire Phoenix metro area. The radios were silent. It was eerie.

MonaLisaLianne

It was my son's first day of school. The most beautiful, clear, blue sky I've ever seen. That memory is crystal clear.

I was working on an art project and watching TV out of the corner of my eye. When the first plane hit I heard about it and became riveted to the horrific scene that unfolded. I phoned my husband at work and told him to watch the TV. A neighbor phoned me to say that parents were picking up their kids from school. Another neighbor phoned to say that her husband had switched his flight to San Francisco from a Newark departure to a Philadelphia flight. Otherwise he'd have been on one of the planes.

I picked up my son from school and stopped at the grocery store on the way. Every one there was so sombre, so kind, so gentle with one another. It was like being at a funeral for the innocence of our country.

The other thing that stands out vividly in my memory was the silence in the skies for the rest of that day, and the next. I'd never really noticed how much background noise comes from planes flying overhead until it was absent.

bassmanlarry

I was on my way to work, and the news came across the radio that a plane had flown into one of the WTC towers. At that time, speculation was that it was just an accident. Then the second plane hit. I worked in a call center where I normally handled 70+ calls a day, but that day there was silence. It was surreal, like the world had just stopped. I left work early to go home and be with my family. The drive home was eerie, it was a beautiful day, but there were no planes in the sky. Again, it was like the earth had stopped. Everywhere I went, people were in a daze, the unthinkable had happened and our country would never again be the same.

Becoming_A_Butterfly

I worked from home back then and was alone, so I didn't know anything about it until someone called me and told me. I didn't have any TV channels (never watched TV), so I didn't see the footage of the planes flying into the buildings until days later, at a co-worker's house. Everyone else had seen it over and over by then, but I was seeing it for the first time. I won't forget that.

1princesswarrior

I believe that day will be permanently seared in my memory. I was standing next to a co-worker whose SIL worked in the first tower that was hit. Thankfully she survived but my co-worker did not know until the next day. I work on a base and when they shut down it took hours to get off the base and I remember feeling like a target. I remember that afternoon when two F-14s were scrambled and the sonic boom that followed and how every person in my neighborhood came out because we all thought the base was hit. Most people came together that day, the lines at the blood bank, traffic was different, shopping was different, etc., then my ex-husband showed up asking for money and I asked him how he could be so selfish after so many people died and so many people lost loved ones. He didn't get it.

Sithu13

I was working and one of my co-workers said " someone just smacked into one of the towers." We thought it was someone that got turned around or something. Then the rest of the story happened. By the time the second tower fell, most of us were on our knees praying. It was a horrible day and we were all terrified. What was very interesting however was how many of us hugged each other that day and for months afterward. How often we prayed together, talked about things and got so close.

The Lord used that day to help build a lot of relationships and to give America an even stronger skin. Unfortunately, now things have gotten way out of line. People seem to have forgotten and we can't. We can't live in terror, but we need to appreciate what we have here in the United States and do all we can to preserve our wonderful country.

My life was forever changed. I had such a bad night last night that I cried for most of it. Nightmares one after the other. I can't imagine the horror that the people right in NYC went through. I pray constantly that we will eventually heal.

KevinPsalm23v4

I was active duty US Air Force stationed over in Europe at Aviano Air Base (North of Venice ~ 40 miles or 80 Kilometers away). I will never forget that day. It was ~2:30pm our time (~8:30am Eastern) and we (many personnel I worked with) were outside on break. We've been working since 6am because we had about 5 miles of network cable to run - we had to set up comms for a new building.

We finished storing our gear and this young Airman came running outside saying the World Trade Center Tower got hit by a plane. At first we all thought what a horrible tragedy. We came inside to watch the news - soon thereafter we saw the second plane hit - it was then we knew we were under attack. Next came the Pentagon and then the Flight 93 crash - not knowing what else to do some prayed and some cried.

The rest of the day seemed to last for ever - being an ex-cop (US Air Force) I stayed at work for a long time. I got home around 9pm......and then cried, prayed and did what I could to comfort others.

Ninkyou

I was playing Diablo 2 (on dial-up!) and I had the news on in the background.

Yes, it definitely was a terrible day 13 years ago. BUT, 6 years ago on this day, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter. Today we are celebrating with funfetti cupcakes with purple icing.

I like to think of the positive things that happen on this day and not about the terror and fear that was sent like shockwave through everyone. It doesn't lessen what happened in anyway, but it helps, just a little. :flowerforyou:

Beezil

My mother had decided to move to NY right before it happened, for a new job. After it happened, I had to decide whether I wanted to go with her or move in with my boyfriend and his mother. I stayed in Ohio. I remember visiting my mother in NY several months after she had moved, and I was pregnant with my son by then. I went into the city and we visited ground zero. It was terrible and moving and I cried seeing all the memorials left by people mourning their loved ones. I can't and won't ever forget what happened there, all those poor people and the terrible pain they went through, the terrible pain their families are probably still going through. The rubble and mangled debris left behind impressed a stark memory within me of the true devastation that day brought. Watching workers attempt to search through the buildings' remains, searching for those still left beneath it, was surreal.

jessilee119

I was in high school. I remember when the first plane hit I was in Study Hall and the janitor came into the Band Room (where I hung out during Study Hall) and told us what happened. At that time they thought it was an accident. By the time I went to my next class (Art) the second plane hit so we knew it was no longer an accident. My Art teacher told us we weren't going to do anything in class that day but watch the news. I remember at the time still not understanding the impact this had on our nation. Our teacher said that he wanted us to remember 20 years from now what we were doing at that moment. It hasn't been 20 years yet, but I still remember it as if it were yesterday.

I'm thankful, too, that I work at a company that has a moment of silence every year so that we may remember those that lost their lives or lost a piece of themselves on that day.

Tiernan1212

I was living in Washington State at the time. I had mixed up my work schedule, and thought I had to be in for the 5:30am shift, otherwise I would have slept through the whole thing. I came home from work, but I had to go back in a few hours for my actual shift. I turned on the TV about 5 mins after the first plane hit. I spent the next 3 hours glued to the TV until I had to go to work, holding my daughter next to me the entire time (she was almost 1). I just didn't want to let her go. Everyone at work spent most of the day watching the news and checking the internet for updates.

I was living in Bremerton, WA, which is home to one naval base, and there was another naval base about 30 mins away (Bangor). I could see the base from my apartment balcony. Everyone was worried that any military base could be a possible attack point, so they were all mobilized. Within 24 hours, all of the carriers stationed in Bremerton were out patrolling the Puget Sound. It was comforting and terrifying at the same time. I was so used to seeing them all lined up and docked, and not out actually patrolling.

hopeliveshere3

I was 19 yrs old and getting ready for work that morning. I remember I had been watching the maury povich show in my room and stepped into the kitchen to make a bagel all of a sudden i didnt hear any sound coming from the tv, i peeked my head in and saw a picture of the first tower after it had been hit. i thought to myself, what kind of commerical is this? then heard my mother screaming. We lived just 20 mins (by train) outside the city in queens. i remember my whole family running up the block b/c we were able to see the towers from our corner. it was a horrifying experience watching everything unfold.

I remember going down to ground zero not too long after and seeing everything up close was so heartbreaking. Never will these memories leave me. Each year i honor and pray for all the precious lives lost this day.

Snip8241

I was in the hospital lab teaching, we were near the outpatient area and we went back and forth to see what was happening.
When the towers collapsed we were speechless and crying, trying to take care of patients and keeping it together as best we could.

I lived in northern New Jersey...my kids had friends whose parents didn't come home. Our friend lost a brother that was a first responder. We knew many people who's families lost loved ones.

We were told to get ready for mass casualties. They never came. I think that was the thing I remember most .They never came...

The next day I was in Costco...folks were saying hello to each other. When I went into the parking lot there were many carts with things left in the bottom, forgotten. Everyone was preoccupied.

Then all you saw was American flags...everywhere....

epido

I was waiting on my relief to show up for shift change at the fire house. We had the TV on in the background, but no one was really watching it, initially. Someone just happened to hear the newscasters say one of the towers had just been hit. After that, we were all glued to the TV. After the first tower fell, I pulled myself away, saying I needed to get home. I had the radio on in the car and heard them say the second tower had fallen. Once I got home, I was glued to the TV for the rest of the day.

The thing I remember the most about that day was how eerily quiet it was outside, and how empty the sky was with all the planes grounded. Living relatively close to a large airport, and with a smaller one just down the street from our house, we see/hear planes all the time.

MinnieInMaine

The company I worked for at the time was located by a major airport and since we had no idea what the heck was going on, we were all a little scared. I don't remember most of the rest of the day but I do remember that night, sitting with Hubs, glued to the TV bawling my eyes out and having a couple of old friends drop by out of the blue. Random, but since it was part of the day, I'll never forget it. Mostly I remember the outpouring of support and generosity afterwards.

For the last three years, I've been doing a memorial workout on this day. I climb at least 110 flights on the stairmill (# of flights in each WTC building) and keep both the heroes and victims of that day in mind to keep me through to the end. To give credit, this was inspired by a friend of mine who did a similar challenge with her bootcamp clients.

KevinPsalm23v4

people jumping out of the windows

This is what will always stick with me I think. I can't imagine being in a situation where you just know all hope is lost and that you either wait to die, or do it yourself.

And as horrible as that was, the heroes that day were Emergency Personnel who fought their way up the Building to rescue those who needed it - without pause and full of fear they did what most could not.

Jeneba

Please give DW a hug from me, here 3 blocks away from Ground Zero in Tribeca.

JustinAnimal

It was my very first day of college in Los Angeles, CA. I woke up groggy, stumbled into the commons area and noticed everyone was watching television. They were like, "Man, some idiot accidentally flew a plane into the WTC. Can you believe that?" As we watched the tower burn, we also watched live as the second plane crash into the other tower. After about 20-30 seconds, it all kind of hit everyone that the first crash was not an accident.

I also remember my friend Alex had just gone off to school in NY and we were worried about him, but he was okay. I never lost anyone during the event, so I feel very fortunate. Nothing but love, respect and condolences to those who lost, those who died, and those who sacrificed (firemen, armed service people, police, etc.).

As a teacher, I make sure to take a moment to honor the event. Unfortunately, my seniors were only five at the time and it's difficult to have a conversation about their own experience. However, we have great talks about the significance of the event.

abbeyjones1994

I was in first grade. We had been outside at recess when the first tower was struck. When we came back inside, she tried to explain it as best as something like that can be explained to six year olds. It all sounded kind of scary, but hello, New York City was like a bazillion miles away from Indiana. When I got home, I asked both of my parents if they had heard about "that plane crash," because I was pretty sure I was in on some big secret. Of course, I didn't realize the magnitude of what had actually happened for several years.

Something I saw on Twitter today resonated with me (from someone a few years older than me):

"It's a shame we can't remember some of the best days of our childhood as clearly as we remember what we were doing that day."

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LeslieN65

I was at home getting ready for work and watched it on tv...could not believe it was happening or real..drove across Mobile Bay to work as jet fighters flew overhead....and when I got to work, my co-workers and patients all sat together in our tiny breakroom and watched it on tv...complete with tears and prayers....the patients that came in on that day, did not come to see the MD, they came to be with other people so they would not have to be alone. 9-11-01...never forgotten.

MostlyWater

I'm a Survivor. I work in Lower Manhattan and we could see the Towers from our window. I'm still on the job but it's not the same. The terrorists took a lot from us that day.

Annabear3

I was asleep because I was 6 months pregnant and didn't have to go into work until late. My husband called me and I woke up and turned on the news. I was stunned and couldn't believe what I was seeing. I watched the news while getting ready for work and drove in with a heavy heart. My work at the time had put up TV's and we slowly starting shutting down all operations around the country. At work a normally lively bunch of call center agents were in tears and we were frantic for news on our New York colleagues. The day was so somber and when my husband came home we just sat on the couch and watched the news. His hand on my belly as if he wanted to protect our son.

What I remember the most was the next day. I was off that day and our exterminator came to the house for our regular appointment. I answered the door and this man I had never met came in and ended up sitting on the couch with me watching the news. We were both in tears and he kept saying he was so happy we were going to bring a new life into the world. I don't even remember his name, but it was a indication to me that we weren't strangers right now, we were American's and we were hurting.

headofphat

The image of the second plane hitting was completely mind blowing. I just stood at work and looked at the tv's with my mouth wide open and pure hate for the people who did it brewing in me. Even though that one plane still went down in Pennsylvania I still think the people on that plane who knew what was going on and what was about to happen still took it in their hands and did something about it. Hearing the tapes of a firefighter, in full firefighter gear, sprinting up 86 flights of stairs in no time. Outstanding.

When your kids ask you who your hero is you should never tell them, Dan Marino or Derek Jeter or Payton Manning or Sandy Koufax. You should break out news coverage from that day and show them what real heroes look like. Amazing. Gives me chills every time I think about it.


One more thing that stuck with me that was just eerie was the few days after. I live in the Atlanta area and we constantly have planes and news choppers and personal aircraft flying overhead, it's almost constant. I remember stepping out a day or two after 9/11 and just looking at the sky and seeing nothing. No planes, helicopters, nothing! Totally hit me like a ton of bricks.

EDIT: The facking pu$$ies who did this are still living in caves and hiding their faces just like the little bltches they are. I'm sure they love that we removed and are replacing the towers. Congrats a@@holes! All you did was piss us off.