Sept 11 recollection

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.

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.

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....:(

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.