9/11/01 - Where were you?

Walking between the stairwells in HS (10th grade IIRC) going from the first floor to the second floor. As I approached my classroom door I heard people talking about it.

I was incredibly ignorant to what had happened and had to be explained the significance of it by my dad. I knew that the attack was obviously bad but I didn't know the significance of the buildings..

Can't remember the rest of the day really.

Had a Doctors appointment. Things were fine when I left the house but by the time I got to the office the first plane had done it's work.. while watching the lobby TV, just as the nurse calls my name the second plane hit.. I told everyone in the room.. "we are now at war, this is an attack" It was a terrible day for America, but being told; "no, you do not have testicular cancer" was a pretty good thing personally.

I was in middle school which started at 9 in the morning but I was there around 7:30

Parents were keeping kids home or pulling them out and I was so confused why, I knew something had happened but I didn't understand what. No-one told us until towards the end of the day.

Sleeping after working late the previous night, my girlfriend called me from work and told me to turn on the television. Was right after the first tower got hit, and saw the second tower get hit. Sad day.

"anlgp wrote:

Walking between the stairwells in HS (10th grade IIRC) going from the first floor to the second floor. As I approached my classroom door I heard people talking about it.

I was incredibly ignorant to what had happened and had to be explained the significance of it by my dad. I knew that the attack was obviously bad but I didn't know the significance of the buildings..

Can't remember the rest of the day really.

:hi5:

Same, except walking between 2nd and 3rd.

We thought the people were joking at first, because at the time the idea of a plane hitting such a big building was pretty crazy. Of corse that was before we knew it was hijacked.

I went into work at Arby's later in the day. It was a slow day at work.

Was getting ready to fly from Omaha Nebraska to Minneapolis Minnesota. First plane hit while waiting to board our flight. When we heard that they canceled the flights and we went back to my Uncs house and saw the replays and were shocked. After watching the first plane hit we saw the second hit live.

We ended up driving back that same day.

Not the greatest of days :(

I remember I was home and I just happened to have the radio on and they reported that a plane had struck the WTC. So I flipped on the TV a minute or two before the 2nd plane hit. I just sat in silence for what seemed like forever and then I started calling all of the people that I care about just to make sure they were okay. Even though they weren't anywhere near NYC I still needed to hear their voices to reassure me that they were alright, that's how chaotic things were that day. When it was reported that people were jumping from the building all I could do was think back to my 6th grade class trip to NYC. We went into the WTC towers and went to one of the observation floors just below the roof which had been closed that day. I remember they had seats all along the windows and we all sat down and put our heads up against the glass to watch the buildings sway back and forth in the wind. I can't even imagine what it was like that day for those people, I know just sitting there with my friends I was scared ****less even though I'm not normally afraid of heights. So as I sat there watching the buildings fall and people running and screaming, I couldn't help but think back to that class trip and what it was like for me and then realize that people were jumping from that very building. I couldn't help but tear up and I'll never be able to forget that day.

Looong story,very bad day.
Good thing my sister's car didn't start that day and my cousin was in N.C. adopting a baby girl.That was the best thing that happened to me on that day.All I can say,sorry.

I was on I-95 heading to class when I heard what had happened on the radio.

Home getting ready for work watching it all unfold. Wife had already gone to work and took my girls to daycare with her. Worst thing I ever saw...

"anlgp wrote:

Walking between the stairwells in HS (10th grade IIRC) going from the first floor to the second floor. As I approached my classroom door I heard people talking about it.

I was incredibly ignorant to what had happened and had to be explained the significance of it by my dad. I knew that the attack was obviously bad but I didn't know the significance of the buildings..

Can't remember the rest of the day really.

i was in 10th as well. at lunch at the table talking when a kid i knew came up and started telling us about it. i was ignorant to everything as well until i got back to my class that i was in for that period and we watched the tv for the rest of the day, then i realize how big of a deal it was.

I was 18 and had just graduated from high school. When it happened I was sleeping. My brother came in my room and woke me and said, "the US is under attack." I called his bluff and laid back down. He then came back and exclaimed that New York, and the Pentagon had been hit by planes. That got my attention. We then watched coverage on TV until we had to go to work at 2pm. We both worked at an automotive factory in Ohio. Everyone at work was badly shaken. We had all seen what happened and had to continue working anyway. The previous shift didn't know what they were going home to. The entire experience was unforgettable.

I was graveside at a funeral when someone said a plane hit the towers. Waited till the graveside service was over and made a bee line for the car and turned on the radio.

I was in South Florida when it happened. At work we had a small radio that we were listening to and we heard about the planes. I was working and Chris was up here. I couldn't get through to him for the longest time. When I finally got through to him I asked "what's going on up there?" He told me what happened and that he could see the smoke from NYC. I was in shock. Meghan's day care center called me to say come get her - we're closing for the day. I hugged her but she couldn't resist watching and I probably shouldn't have let her, but I want to expose my children to the real world. She wanted to know what was going on on the television. She drew a picture of the planes flying into the WTC. I have it to this day.

I was working a collections job in downtown Pittsburgh. My family knew that a plane went down in Pennsylvania and were frantically trying to get a hold of me.

I was in New York when it happened, i was in class and was walking the hall and heard everyone talking about it, i was 12 at the time, i did not understand what was happening until my math teacher sat us down and told us what was happening, he was really upset because he had some family members working in the towers, it was a bizarre day, kids were crying, taken out of school, some even had fathers who where firefighters who lost their lives, infact a good friend of mine lost his father that day, i came home and just watched the news all day...

Woke up to go to work for half a day on my birthday; Gloria worked overnight as a Baker and she called as I was getting ready, said to turn on the tv...that we were under attack.

Sat there, stunned. Called my boss, said he was instructing everyone to stay home.

Called my family; prayed for the people caught in what I was seeing on television.

my mom called me. asked me if i had seen it.I turned on the tv and saw what had happened. I then heard nyu was close to the towers and had been evacuated. I then started calling my friend who attended nyu. He was able to text me back about 3 days later thank god. He had been on the campus when it happened and was evacuated.

I was a senior in high school. I was in my TV and Film class (amazing how I can remember every single detail). Then a girl who's plane was a little late coming in, came in late to class and said she had heard that a plane crashed into the WTC. Everyone was in disbelief. Our teacher than turned on his radio, and I won't forget his face. It was "Holy **** this is for real mixed with Oh my God what is happening, mixed with complete sadness". A face you can't forget. We all were listening to it. We then received a message over the PA confirming the story and telling us all to assemble in the gym. During the assembly, we watched and were told what was happening. We then said a prayer for those killed (we were a Catholic school). We were then sent home and I sat and watched with my entire family the next few days on what was going on.

Crazy times and crazy emotions as my mother was battling cancer and her brother worked at the WTC and we were scrambling to find out information. Amazingly enough, he stayed home that entire week because of sickness.

Even as an immature kid, I had a pretty good idea of the severity of the situation and understood how it would change everything about our culture.

I was working at Universal Studios as a bartender. I was in the lame little stand alone bar area in Jurassic Park. When I first got in, I went to pick up my uniform, and everyone was huddled around the 5 or 6 TVs in the locker area. I briefly looked up to see a fire. I asked what was wrong and some said there's a fire at the World Trade Center. I asked if it was big one, and they said, no. So I went about me business of getting in uniform.

I get to the Burger place in Jurassic Park, which is where the office is, to pick up my till, and everyone is huddled around the office listening to the radio. It was then I found out what had happened. I grabbed a radio from the lost and found box and headed to my station. By the time I got there, the first tower collapsed. Then the second.

I grabbed my till, locked up, went back to the office and told them I was leaving for the day, cause they were going to close the park. Disney & Sea World had already announced it. On my way out, I told every guest I passed what was going on. They closed the park by the time I got to my car.

Side Note: 5 years later, I met my wife for the first time on 9/11/06.

I think the thing i remember the most is the next day I had an early morning history class. My professor was an ex vietnam vet. he has some function with his daughter so he showed up in his dress uniform. Dude was decked out in medals, I think he was a ranger (same as my grandfather). He told us we weren't going to go over the chapters he had scheduled, instead he wanted to talk about what had happened. I remember him telling us we would probably going to war, and that it would be a new war. One this nation had not been in before. I remember that alot for some reason, it was kind of dramatic :lol:

I was sitting in my office at Metro-Dade Center and my neighbor said "a plane just hit the world trade center." I said "are you joking?" He answered, sharply "no, I'm not!" I immediately went into my boss's office which had a tv. By this time, the second tower got hit. There was an analyst on tv who was explaining how this was definitely an act of terrorism, as the second plane would avoid the vicinity if it hadn't been, and a bunch of other reasons.

People started gathering in the office. I remarked to one of my colleagues "this is an act of war!" He agreed.

About an hour later, the building administrator announced that everyone except essential personnel was to go home. Everyone in downtown Miami was walking around with dazed looks.

I went home and called my relatives in New York and Washington to see if everyone was okay. Thank G-d I didn't lose anyone.

Here is an account from a woman who worked in the towers that day. You won't regret reading it to the very end.

http://www.stennisstandards.com/2009/09/inside-look-out-on-59th-floor-of-wt2.html

It was a bright blue, clear sky and it was kinda cool outside. I was a freshman in high school. It was a half-day that day, and we were all sitting in the gym because on half days we didnt do any activities. There wasnt a TV in the gym so I had no idea it was going on until I got to my last class of the day. It must've been around 11am, I believe all three planes had hit, and the news was saying they were tracking another airplane that was believed to be targeted for the White House. I was in disbelieve the whole time. I remember my teacher was all upset about it and was saying that it was a bunch of Middle Easterners that hate us and wanted to bring down America. He said were gonna go to war and we might get drafted because this was going to take years to deal with. As you can imagine being a 15 year old kid who up until that point was pretty apolitical like most kids my age, I was pretty scared. I was thinking about how different mine and everyone else's lives would be changed that day. My whole high school years would be affected by it. As the day went on I was in disbelief, in between thinking that everything would be alright, that we would find who did this and would strike back and it would all be over quickly, or thinking the worst. I went home and sat in front of the television glued to CNN watching as the towers collapsed. It looked like a movie. The drama unfolded as Tower 7 collapsed and the plane they shot down/was brought down in Pennsylvania happened. I went online later on that night, using my crappy AOL dialup and early windows 95-era computer. Having never been to NY, I looked up the WTC, as I knew about the twin towers but didnt know much else about the WTC. I remember there was a website up that you could take a virtual tour in the tower's lobby in 3-D, and I started to think about all the people that worked in there and how their day went on like any other day until then. I began to tear up.

As the information got out, we learned about al qaeda and Bin Laden, and all about terrorism and how they did it, and learning alot of them trained and lived in Florida made me half not surprised and half worried. I watched as the crews dug through debris and searched for survivors. I hoped and prayed that they would find them and everyone wouldve came out ok. I learned of how police and firemen went in to get people out and many didnt survive the collapse. I couldnt stop thinking about that.

The next day everything changed. Everything was completely different. I was dealing with my parents recent divorce and how I had lost the security of having both parents around to now dealing with living in the era of global terrorism and homeland security. The ride on the bus that morning was unusually quiet. Everything felt tense. We all thought it was going to happen again, very soon. It was just a matter of WHEN. Everyone speculated. There was talk of flattening the whole middle east and making it a parking lot. The security and naivety that we all had instilled in us vanished after that day. I saw it unravel by just watching my usually laid back and upbeat teacher change that day into a more serious, uptight guy. What a metaphor for the times, eh? I got really heavy into the Smashing Pumpkins(The Aeroplane Flies High) and System of a Down(Toxicity) right around then. If you listen to Toxicity that album almost personifies that era(too bad that band really sucked after then). I remember changing my music from laid back, earth tones type of rock to more hardcore, aggressive metal like Mudvayne. I used music, like many people do, to cope with the times. They were confusing, scary times, seeing our houses drapped by American flags. Truth be told, the "united" feeling we supposedly had wasnt really all that was as it is romanticized today, and the little bit that was didnt last long. But in retrospect, I wouldnt want to relive that time. It wasnt happiest of times for me or for anyone else, for that matter.

But most imporantly, for me, September 11th is what got me into politics in the first place. It made me want to start paying attention to what is happening in the world.