Where were you 11 yrs ago today 9-11

_Elemenopee_

Where were you? I was in my office on the Upper West Side, NYC, processing the mornings invoices when my boss called up from the main floor to ask if any of us had heard anything about a plane crash down at World Trade. No, nothing. That can't be. We scrambled for our radios to listen for news...still nothing. We kept our radios on but kept working. He called up again and said another one hit. In sets debilitating panic. We rush out to the sales floor where we have a small tv for promo product videos. No channels are coming through except the Spanish ones. What the hell am I seeing? No! Nooo! There are people in those buildings, those planes.

The days goes on like this. I can't get through on any phone. Where's my mother, my brother, my father, my cousin who works in Tower 1 (isn't it his birthday?) We mind the store and wait. And wait. People are walking home all throughout the tristate area, covered in white dust and dirt. We give drinks and food to anyone who comes by and needs it. They've been walking for hours. Finally, my mother shows up, then my brother. I happen to live across the street from my job. We all just sit there on my futon watching the news and holding eachother, crying. My cousin is safe, he walked out of the subway just as the first plane hit and was still on the street. He walked home to the Bronx. My father was on the train on his way into NY from Jersey. The train had stopped in Bayonne after the first hit and he was standing on the platform as he watched the second fly over him and into the other tower.

Today is a hard day for many...never forget!

Mrbusterb

I was driving across the Woodrow Wilson bridge from Virginia into Maryland

tyrantduck

Going to a job interview at the South Tower.... Thank GOD I was running late that day.

oh my god... i can't even imagine how you felt... it was clearly not your time. i wouldn't have been able to get out of bed for weeks knowing that if I had been just a few minutes earlier..... wow.

dkoroschetz

I was in college and babysitting my 2 year old sister on my day off. I held her and cried all day watching the news.

SoViLicious

I was in my dorm room in Morristown NJ. My Best friend woke me up and told me a plan crashed in the first tower. I remember watching the news and then my heart sinking as we heard the Pentagon was attacked. And when the buildings fell I asked... But wait... Are all the people out? I remember every professor running around campus rounding up students who had family there. Also for the next month, I notice every plane or jet that flew across the sky.

niftyafterfifty

I was at home, homeschooling my son. My daughter was at the community college, and my husband was at work. He called to tell me to turn on the tv; he had heard the news, but didn't want to believe it. He wanted me to confirm what he had heard. We were all together by lunchtime. It was a horrible, unimaginable day!

Shelbert79

I was at work, pregnant w/ my 1st baby. They let us leave work early and I had a flat tire. No one would stop to help me...until a bum (literally) came out of nowhere and changed it for me. I offered him $$ and he said "no thank you, just tell him I said hi (pointing to my belly)" I swear to this day that Jesus changed my tire that day!

1960HikerDude

I was bicycle touring with a group of friends in Utah. We were camped just outside of Zion National Park. We had just packed up our campsite. We stopped into a restaurnt for breakfast. I had just ordered a huge omlet. There was a news cast on the radio in the background. But, I wan't paying much attention to it. All of a sudden my friend Ken said, "Hey, there some kind of terrorist attack going on. Two planes have crashed into the world trade center and a bomb has gone off at the Pentagon." Then we heard about the towers collapsing and the plane crash in Pensyvania. My breakfast arrived. But, I couldn't eat it. I felt sick to my stomach.

We headed out towards the Arizona on our way to North Rim of Grand Canyon. We took a "short cut" over a very steep dirt road. The road was so steep, we had to push our fully-loaded touring bicycles though the loose sand and rocks in 100+ degree head. We finally got back on a paved highway just North of the Arizona border. A few miles later we arrived at Colorado City Arizona.

Colorado City, Arizona was formed by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They're a polygamist sect that broke away when the mainstreem LDS church renounced Polyamy.

We stopped into a truck-stop place that had a convenience store and a deli. We were callling home and making sure everyone was OK. The place was staffed by women wearing prarie dresses and had their hair in long braids. All of the were either visably pregnant, or had infants with them.

We got some sandwiches and tried our best figure out what we should do. We had flown out Boston a couple days before. We knew the planes were grounded. Since we couldn't go home, we dedided to continue our trip. Hopefully, the planes would start flying again by the time we were done.

As we were paying for our sandwiches and were preparing to leave, one of the women asked us if we heard what had happened. We said we did. She replied "It's all because of Clinton's crap". Was implying that President Clinton's infidelity had brought God's wrath upon the country? We got on our bike and continued on our way. About 2 miles down the road, a man in a big black pickup pulled over and asked us if we had heard the news. We told him we had. Then he said the exact same thing" It's because of Clinton". It was all so very bizarre.

That evening I wrote in my trip journal, "Ive had enough of religious extremeism for one day".

pawoodhull

We were on a vacation traveling through NE America, no real plans and no reservations. We had just crossed the boarder at Niagra Falls, back into the US from Canada when the towers came down. Five minutes later they closed the boarders! We didn't even know what was going on until we got a call from one of our kids asking where we were. Upstate New York! Then we started seeing the flashing signs on the highway say "NYC closed" and turned on the radio. We wound up in Boston that night. Didn't realize how lucky we were to get a room and found out the next morning that the planes had originated our of Boston. Since most of the city was then in lock down and the FBI was everywhere, we left after just one day and went to Maine. Even there, some of what we wanted to do wasn't available, so we drove from Maine back to Michigan and went home.

Bridee123

I was working as a unit manager in a hospital across the river from NYC. We were having a big inspection that day, one we had spent a solid year preparing for, so everyone had a sky-high stress level to begin with. Suddenly I had to prepare the unit for the expected influx of injured patients- until the towers collapsed.... Another manager, a friend of mine, lost both her son and son-in-law that day. I knew them both because I had met them when their wives were in the maternity unit, one three months earlier and one three weeks earlier. But most of all I remember feeling relief that the company my dad worked for had moved their office to Jersey City from the World Trade Towers a few years earlier.

nszocinski

I worked for our local blood center and we were in a training class at a local church. We were listening to a doctor from the local burn center talk about the importance of blood products in the treatment of severe burns. Ironically, most of the people who survivied in NYC suffered burns more than they did crush trauma.
My husband is a firefighter and was in a training for fire personnel about anti-terrorism. Ironic, huh? We have spent the last 11 years grieving for his 343 fallen brothers.

At the blood center, we saw thousands of people demanding to give blood....100 times more than we would see in a normal week. I think everyone thought that was a tangible way to express their grief and feel that they could make a difference. Sadly, so few survivors, the blood needed for their care was pretty much already donated, tested, processed and waiting on the shelves in blood centers nearby to New York City and Washington, DC.

Needless to say, an unforgettable day for all of us.

beckajw

I was in Buffalo, NY, driving (actuallly parking) to an MBA class. I was listening to a morning show filled with comedy and wasn't even sure what I was hearing was real at first. I got to the class and some people hadn't heard yet. At first, we just stayed in the room. Then the hallways started filling with students and the school was shut down. There were televisions in the hallway. So sad.

_Elemenopee_

I was at work, pregnant w/ my 1st baby. They let us leave work early and I had a flat tire. No one would stop to help me...until a bum (literally) came out of nowhere and changed it for me. I offered him $$ and he said "no thank you, just tell him I said hi (pointing to my belly)" I swear to this day that Jesus changed my tire that day!

I just cried again! That's beautiful!

beckajw

I was bicycle touring with a group of friends in Utah. We were camped just outside of Zion National Park. We had just packed up our campsite. We stopped into a restaurnt for breakfast. I had just ordered a huge omlet. There was a news cast on the radio in the background. But, I wan't paying much attention to it. All of a sudden my friend Ken said, "Hey, there some kind of terrorist attack going on. Two planes have crashed into the world trade center and a bomb has gone off at the Pentagon." Then we heard about the towers collapsing and the plane crash in Pensyvania. My breakfast arrived. But, I couldn't eat it. I felt sick to my stomach.

We headed out towards the Arizona on our way to North Rim of Grand Canyon. We took a "short cut" over a very steep dirt road. The road was so steep, we had to push our fully-loaded touring bicycles though the loose sand and rocks in 100+ degree head. We finally got back on a paved highway just North of the Arizona border. A few miles later we arrived at Colorado City Arizona.

Colorado City, Arizona was formed by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They're a polygamist sect that broke away when the mainstreem LDS church renounced Polyamy.

We stopped into a truck-stop place that had a convenience store and a deli. We were callling home and making sure everyone was OK. The place was staffed by women wearing prarie dresses and had their hair in long braids. All of the were either visably pregnant, or had infants with them.

We got some sandwiches and tried our best figure out what we should do. We had flown out Boston a couple days before. We knew the planes were grounded. Since we couldn't go home, we dedided to continue our trip. Hopefully, the planes would start flying again by the time we were done.

As we were paying for our sandwiches and were preparing to leave, one of the women asked us if we heard what had happened. We said we did. She replied "It's all because of Clinton's crap". Was implying that President Clinton's infidelity had brought God's wrath upon the country? We got on our bike and continued on our way. About 2 miles down the road, a man in a big black pickup pulled over and asked us if we had heard the news. We told him we had. Then he said the exact same thing" It's because of Clinton". It was all so very bizarre.

That evening I wrote in my trip journal, "Ive had enough of religious extremeism for one day".

Are you sure they were talking about religion and not politics?

tnmyers23

Serving my country in the U.S Navy and proud to be doing this for last 15 1/2 years!!!
:flowerforyou:
Today just makes me reminds why we do what we do. Thank you to all who serve past and present!!

hear, hear. thank you for your service, from the bottom of my heart.

DITTO! From an Army and Marine mom!

Thank you so much for your service.

dylsmom99

under the rubble of tower two. i can still hear the sound of bodies hitting the ground,, still smell the smell.... still hear the sounds,... still hear the eery silence... still feel the uselessness. ....... noone to save..... theres still so many to be saved, ,,,,,, God Bless the USA.

Hoppymom

I was volunteering at my son's jr high. The social studies teacher stepped into the hall when the first one hit and told us. Most of the staff had TVs on after the first hit. I stopped in the doorway of my son's classroom so he could see that I was there. I went back to the original classroom and after the second tower was hit one of the students raised his hand and said, "This is our generation's Pearl Harbor, isn't it?" We had a few parents come and frantically pull their children out of school to head for churches to pray. After about two hours all of the teachers were told to turn off the tvs except for the social studies teachers. The administration felt that there was enough exposure at that point and that life and math class had to go on. They did announce over the intercom that the Pentagon had been hit and when the fourth plane went down. My Brother-in-law, a defense contractor, often worked at the Pentagon but that day was a few miles away in his own office. My son was in the Navy stationed in the Persian Gulf. It was almost a week before we heard from them. They still were not entirely sure what had happened and he called looking for information. Lots of propaganda happening jacking them up to go to war. That night our other three kids came home from school/college and we just sat cuddled up and watched the news.

rockermom5

I had the news on as I was getting my oldest son ready for school (2nd grade). I vaguely heard about a plane hitting the tower, but at the time, they were reporting that it was an accident. I walked my son to the bus stop and talked to one of the moms about it. She didn't believe me. I left the tv on when I left the house, so the news was still on when I came back in. I was standing behind the house, holding my almost 4 month old son when I saw the second plane hit. I just stood there in stunned disbelief. I called my husband and told him what was going in, and told him he would under no circumstances be flying out on a business trip the next day. He told me not to worry, his company was suspending all air travel for at least a month if not longer (he was supposed to leave on the 12th).

I watched the footage all day...I remember pacing back and forth through my house, looking out the windows up at the sky, cradling my son. It was so eerie not seeing any planes or contrails all day, and for days afterwards. I grew up near O'Hare airport...airplanes were constant background noise. I found out my brother in law was in NY at his office...he lost 2 or 3 employees in the towers. He had to walk to get out of NY just like thousands of other people. Our family didn't hear from him for hours. He lives in CT, so it was quite a while before he was able to make it home.

I will never forget....

tnmyers23

I was at home getting ready to drive the 75 miles to work a little later on at the 911 Center/Jail I worked at. I watched all that happened and looked at my husband and told him I was heading outr early as who knew what help they would need at work. Listened to the radio whenever I could on that trip down to work.

jlhiett

I was in my home on Shaw AFB, SC after the birth of my first son. He was 17 days old. I was on maternity leave from the AF and I remember my brother-in-law calling me and telling me to turn on my TV. I couldn't speak after seeing what was happening. My husband called me every hour throughout the day to check on us. We had the Security Police come to our homes and take down our name tags that we had on the front door of our homes and they were posted at the end of each street. It was very scary because you didn't know what was going to happen next. I kept the blinds drawn and doors locked, just praying that my husband would make it home from work safely. I will always be reminded of the sacrifices my family and the military members and their families make to protect this country from people who want to harm us. Although I may not agree with the decisions our government makes at times, we still have the best country in the world and we need to remember that and stand proud. God bless us all.