9/11 Remembrance - Where were you?

[Alix]

I think for this generation 9/11 is our Kennedy Assassination. We all remember where we were when we heard the news and what we were doing.

I was getting up to get my kids off to school, one to Kindergarten and one to Grade 2. We didn't normally have the TV on in the morning but Ken had heard something on the radio and turned it on. I couldn't wrap my brain around what I was seeing and kept thinking it must be some weird stunt, joke...SOMETHING other than what I was seeing. I saw the second plane hit and I don't even have the words to describe how I felt.

I'll never forget it, nor will I forget the heroic efforts of those who went in to try and help others.

Edit: Lets keep this on track if possible, I would really like to hear where everyone was and not have this thread get yanked.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Sitting at the breakfast table with my Mother...drinking coffee......

 

[Katie H]

I was working at an area newspaper, so we always had the radio/TV, etc. on. Like you, Alix, I was stunned at what I was seeing and just couldn't believe it was real. I spent the rest of the day totally numb.

 

[pacanis]

ooh, a thread I can get something off my chest
I'll be gentle, don't worry...

First off, I was turning on the TV and watching ESPN, like I did every morning, and it was on. As I was wondering what could have caused the first plane to hit one of the towers, I saw the second plane hit real time. I knew something was up then. I got on the phone and started calling people I knew and telling them to turn on the TV.

And... I can only hope we memorialize the end of this war like we are the start of it.

 

[Alix]

Even though I have been to Ground Zero in NY, it still seems a bit surreal to me. I just cannot believe it happened. And honestly, I couldn't remain long at ground zero, I was quite overwhelmed.

 

[justplainbill]

120 miles east of my former place of employment on the 71st floor of #1 WTC. The '93 bombing was enough for me; luckily, I quit in 1995.

 

[Kayelle]

It was very early out here in California, but my late husband always brought our coffee to our bedroom to watch the Today Show. When we turned on the bedroom TV in our sleepy condition we both thought we were watching some kind of a horror movie. It took a while to understand this was "real time horror" especially when we saw the second plane hit, and knew for sure this was no accident. We held each other and cried. I've been thinking of him a lot today......I'll never forget him, or this terrible day.

 

[chopper]

Driving to work-I didn't have the radio on because I was taking my son to school, and we were talking. He normally rode the school bus, but for some reason he rode with me on that morning. He was almost 15 (bday is the 17th), and remembers our conversation and everything. We didn't know of the attack until later. I didn't turn the radio on after dropping him off even though I had a half hour to get to work. When I got to the parking lot, my husband called to let me know what was happening. I was in disbelief, and sat there in my car for a bit. I was working at an elementary school, so the only place we talked about it was in the teacher lounge at lunch. Someone had a radio on in there and no one was talking-just listening.
As a side note; Less than two months before 9-11, the same son was in Washington DC for the Boy Scout National Jamboree.

 

[licia]

My sister and I were at Mom's having breakfast when another sister called and told us to turn on the tv. Just as we turned it on the second plane hit the other tower. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. Almost immediately we threw our things in the suitcase and started home not knowing what may be going on elsewhere.

 

[forty_caliber]

Working in an office on the 40th floor of a skyscraper in Houston. The building was evacuated and everyone was sent home.

.40

 

[PrincessFiona60]

We were outside the bank, Shrek was walking back to the car when the announcement came on the radio that a plane had hit the first tower. We went back home and were watching as the second plane hit. The day was spent wandering home repeatedly to see what was going on and hanging out in the Mall with other people. We didn't want to be by ourselves.

 

[Dawgluver]

I was at one of my schools,went out into the hallway. One of our history teachers was out in the hallway, exclaiming,"They've hit the World Trade Center!". I found a classroom with a TV, and watched the worst disaster I had ever seen. Will never forget it.

My brother was getting married in PA a week later, so we had to board a plane. Wasn't as bad as it could have been, everyone was still pretty numb, and we sure didn't have a full flight. Relatives from IL drove the distance as they were afraid of flying.

 

[justplainbill]

A little dirt

Having worked at the WTC for some 24 + years, I carefully followed the news reports about the 11 Sep attack. At that time, it was reported that occupants of tower #2 (South Tower) were initially advised to return to their offices.
After the 1993 bombing, much ado was made about the improved security measures implemented at the site. One of my more competent former employees was involved with these enhancements. I can only speculate about the circumstances of her departure from the Port Authority. In 1995, the standard drill was to evacuate to 2 floors above the fire floor.

 

[babetoo]

i had just gotten up. wondering why my grandsons were still home and not on the way to school. they had seen it start on t.v. and clued me in. i spent all of that day and most of the next week watching events on the news. i also remember where i was when kennedy was shot. shocking events, both of them.

 

[justplainbill]

Having worked at the WTC for some 24 + years, I carefully followed the news reports about the 11 Sep attack. At that time, it was reported that occupants of tower #2 (South Tower) were initially advised to return to their offices.
After the 1993 bombing, much ado was made about the improved security measures implemented at the site. One of my more competent former employees was involved with these enhancements. I can only speculate about the circumstances of her departure from the Port Authority. In 1995, the standard drill was to evacuate to 2 floors above the fire floor.

Most of the Carabinieri I've met were a lot sharper than the security staff at the Port Authority.

 

[Kathleen]

I was at work in a large public high school located between the social security building and the FBI building. A teacher in a near classroom walked over to tell me that a plane had just hit the WTC. I was watching when the second plane hit. My ex's mother called me frantic because she could not reach the ex, who worked in DC. Rumors were running rampant. Panicked parents picked up their children without knowing what they were doing next. Several staff members had family and friends working in the Twin Towers. I come from a military family and was very concerned about people who might be at the Pentagon. One of Frank and my friends had been at a medical appointment when the airplane crashed through his office there.

For days, I could not sleep. I remember being in tears because I was so very sure that they would find people alive in the mall section below the twin towers, and they found no one at all. I still get upset when I hear people call those that fell from the towers "Jumpers." To me, a jumper is someone who goes to work without planning to return home. The heat, smoke, and confusion. I'm sure that the will to survive pressed those who fell from the windows. I cannot think of them without tearing up. I still watch with happiness and a bit of a prayer when I see a plane in the sky.

~Kathleen

 

[msmofet]

I was watched it as it happened on the TV - NJ News 12 Morning show. Then I went outside and could see the black smoke. That evening we drove up the hill and parked in the bank parking lot with about 50 other people. We all just stood there looking at the smoke etc. We were all crying.

 

[msmofet]

We have to drive past a small airport to and from school. The girls 13 and 5 were scared to see soldiers with rifles at the ready at the entrance and I was scared to see the barrels of rifles from the snipers laying on the knolls at the ends of the runways.

 

[jabbur]

I was at work in the pediatrician's office getting things ready for the first patients at 9:00am. One of the docs came in and said he just heard on the radio that a plane had flown into the tower. Not having any access to tv, the office manager called her daughter at home and she brought in a portable tv and had it set up in the manager's office where we could pop in and watch between patients. We live in an area with heavy military presence (Norfolk Navy, Langley Air, Ft. Eustis Army). One of my first patients was the child of an Army member at Ft. Eustis. He got a call on his cell while I was prepping the child for a physical. He was told to not come in since the base was in lock down. No one on-No one off. I am amazed that we were able to continue to see patients. Some called and cancelled, others were calling to see if we were still seeing patients. I remember coming home that day and having to explain it to my middle schooler. The school had not told the kids anything.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

My Dad was in the air that day...his plane took off from DIA about 30 minutes before the first tower was hit...he made it to LAX fine, but there were lots of military in LAX. He rented a car to get home once his job was done.