Where were you on 9/11? Recount your tale and reaction.

My Squash ^ | 9/21/01 | Burkeman1

[vetswife]

I was home. My daughter called me to see if I had TV on as I've been playing my "oldies" on the stereo. She had the day off work because it was her birthday. The 18th was her wedding anniversary, and her husband's birthday is tomorrow, 9/22. Every year they should be celebrating will be a reminder of the devastation done to our country and our world, but at least I still have them. My heart just aches for all who lost their loved ones and pray especially for our president and all those in the military and their families. God have mercy on us.

[debg]

I was in the classroom (teacher of a public high school, east coast) when someone came in and said to turn on the TV..a plane had crashed into the WTC. The media was at that time wondering if it was an accident or an attack. I remember seeing the second plane come on to the TV screen, and saying..."What the...oh no..." We saw it plow into the other building in real time.

Student reactions varied from "Oh My God!" to "that's a movie" to total disregard/oblivion to what was happening. Those students who were tuned into the reality of the moment, agreed that it was not an accident, but an attack on the United States.

The bell rang and another group of students came into the class. This group older than the last. They had already either viewed all or part of the attack or had heard about it in the halls. As a group, the majority clamored to watch the TV while a few chose to ignore the news. Silence..and then the questions started rapid fire:

who did that?
why did they attack us?
will i have to go to war?
can i go to my locker?
wasn't elian bigger than this?
what are they doing now?
can i go to the bathroom?
how do we know this is real?
will i have to go to war?

by the next day, the questions were more sophisticated, but that's beyond the scope of this strand.

[ContraryMary]

I was at work, sitting at my desk, when my husband called to tell me that a plane had crashed into one of the WTC towers. I walked over to tell a couple friends, and we wondered why the pilot was flying so low -- maybe he was drunk or high.

Then I went back to my desk. A short while later I got up to go to the restroom, and someone else told me a second plane had crashed into the other tower. I wondered out loud what was going on, and people began talking about how two planes could not be a fluke; it could only be terrorists.

[carenot]

I was watching C-Span, waiting for the House to come in. My VCR was ready 'cause I like to tape the One Minutes.

Then they said somthing about a live statement from the President. I recorded it. Went to FNC and recorded stuff for two days.

While I was watching and recording, I was reading at FR.

[twstearman]

I had just gotten done with PT. It was a nice, sunny and breezy day here in Southern Mississippi. I got myself a cup of coffee, grabbed the Senior Chief, and went outside to smoke (paying for our wonderful social programs btw) and discuss the business of the day. Someone came out and told us a plane had hit a tower in New York. We ran inside and became glued to Fox, until I got that funny little ringing noise that demands my prompt attention - incoming traffic from our servicing message center in another state. Next thing you know, the base was at Delta, I'm stuck in a command center, and things looked grim. Maybe 36 hours later, I was relieved, and finally allowed to go home. A very long and stressful day. In the end, you could see it in the faces of these Seabees I'm always surrounded with - anger, determined, and resolved to see it to the very end.

[Newton]

I was feeding my daughter her bottle and we had finished watching Seseame Street (she loves Elmo) and had just turned on TVLand (I love the Dick Van Dyke show) when my friend called and said that a plane had just hit the WTC. As I was changing the channel I was thinking it must have been a cessna or something of that sort, that lost control....I went to CNN and then the footage of the 2nd plane was shown and I knew what I saw was not an accident, but I couldn't really believe what I was seeing.....my daughter is 8 1/2 months old, I'm wondering how I will explain all this to her.....

[PMCarey]

I was at mass with my family. Our priest announced at the beginning of mass that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We said some prayers. I figured it had been a single plane - like the time a plane had hit the Empire State Buildking in the 40's. When I got home and turned on the television, I saw NYC engulfed in smoke, the Pentagon in flames, and confusion everywhere.

[Grassontop]

On 9-11-01 I had waken at 9 A.M. instead of my usual 8:30 A.M. and my wife had waken as well. I was in the process of making coffee and my wife turned on Fox News which I always watch when I awake. Anyway, my wife started screaming at me and I told her to hold her horses because I just put the coffee grounds into the filter. My wife kept saying something like we had a plane hit the towers, but I was still trying to wake up. She then said, "Oh my God, we are being attacked!" I was still in the kitchen, but I finally ran into the living room and there on Fox News they were showing the second plane hitting the towers! I went numb in my brain, and then the next thing I knew, I needed coffee, got it for my wife and me and my wife screamed againg that the Pentagon had been hit, and my whole body and spirit went numb! My God, My God, My God, is all I kept uddering until the realization hit me that we were really being attacked by terrorists. My wife wanted me to stay home from work, but I work at a school and I thought the school would need me for security purposes because I am a custodian. What a day to remember! What a cost to America! And may God have mercy on all who lost loved ones and those who sacrificed their lives to save others. Gods blessings on the United States of America! Down with Bin Laden and those evil bastards who did this and may their souls rot in "HELL"!

[rboatman]

I was taking a last sip of coffee before leaving for work. I had WLS on the radio when the Don and Roma show was interrupted with the first bulletin. I told my wife to turn on the TV and put it on FOXNEWS. I went in the living room and started watching. I couldn't believe a small twin engine plane could cause as much damage as we saw. I decided to call a friend and let him know what was happening. Misdialed on the first try. Watched the second plane come in from the right of the screen, pass out of sight behind the tower that was burning, and saw parts of the plane shoot out to the left of the building along with a fireball that I figured to extend 4 to 6 city blocks. I hung up and redialed getting thru this time and told him that terrorists had just crashed two planes into the WTC. He was thinking Cessna type planes But, I told him these were 737s or bigger and that I figured from where they hit on the buildings to figure on as many as 10,000 casualities. I hung up right away. My wife said she was concerned that the buildings would fall over side ways and wipe out many others. I suggested that if one or the other buildings came down, it would collpse straight down, but tried to assure her that that wasn't likely to happen. My wife and I watched for 20 minutes or so (it seemed like a lifetime) and I left for work.

I took the portable radio and we heard about the pentagon crash and the first and second collapse at the office. By then I was logged in to FR and was passing out the word on the fourth hijacking. The rest of the day, everyone at work was in a state of shock as things were happening rumors were getting reported.

I "mentor" a young Chinese engineer at work. He came to me about mid morning wanting to know "What does all this mean?"

I told him it means that we are at war and that every thing will be changing. Everyone around us stopped and stared at me a second or two like they were suddenly realizing what it meant...and nobody disagreed.

He and I have had several talks the last several days. One of the things I have told him is that the terrorists and their supporters had attacked America and made a serious mistake. I told him that, when roused, Americans don't fight to defeat an enemy we fight to destroy an enemy. I told him about the civil war, about Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On the following Sunday, his parents flew back (preplanned) to mainland China. Monday morning, He said they called him from Biejing because there were fears there that the US was going to attack China.

[Fury]

We were in a briefing, in a room which had no access to TV or radio. I left the room and was going to get some materials when someone told me of the first plane hitting. We ended the meeting, and watched it on these large 10' projector screens where I work. There must have been 50-75 people watching when the second plane went in and even more when both towers failed. People were crying. I called several people to inform them and check on their status.

[LostInNY]

I was in my car, a couple of minutes from work (on Long Island), when the first plane hit. I thought it was a private plane with a stupid pilot. I learned of the second hit when I was on the phone with one of my remote employees. After that, I was trapped in an all-day meeting, getting my information only on breaks - it was excruciating wondering what was happening, and not being able to find out (after a few hours, I started leaving the room periodically to return to my desk and check the Web). The worst part was not being able to talk to anyone about it for most of the day, as I was expected to sit through the meeting and actually absorb what was being discussed!

[JimNtexas]

I am a computer programmer in Austin, Texas. I'm also a retired U.S. Air Force navigator. I have a pretty standard routine on workday mornings. On the morning of 9/11/2001, I started my short commute to work. About 7:50am I drove through McDonalds and got a coke, as I often do. I was listening to an audio version of the book "Masters of Deception". My mind was only half on the book as I was planning a busy day at work. I was scheduled to fly to Korea on Friday to develop software on site for a major customer. The more code I could write before I left, the less time I'd have to stay in Korea.

At 8am I switched to Austins news station, KLBJ-AM. The announcer was talking excitedly. "A plane has hit the world trade center!"

I am a private pilot. Only a few days before I had flown into Houston. I noticed very tall antennas very close to Hobby Airport, their tops in the clouds. I formed a mental picture of the WTC towers projecting into low clouds. I thought "I hope it wasn't a Cessna or Piper". When the announcer discribed a large fire I thought that most likely a commuter airliner had somehow gone off course. When you are flying in solid clouds its not hard to go off course. I thought about the American Airlines B757 that hit a mountain in Cali a few years ago.

Minutes latter the radio said "another airplane has struck the other tower!". My mind groped for an explanation. One airplane I could handle. One airplane was a tragic accident, but not outside the realm of experience. I couldn't account for two. About 8:10 I got to the office. We have one TV in a conference room near the entrance. I looked over the shoulders of the crowd and saw a picture of the twin towers burning against a perfectly clear blue sky. That's when I realized for certain that we had been attacked.

My employer is very hard nosed about working during working hours, so most people were at least sitting at their desks, but a lot of radios were on.

I went to my cube and was trying to work, but I put on headphones and continued to listen to Klbj. I recall writing this single line of code:

BOOL bVswrLimit = TRUE;

Then the third plane hit the pentagon. I have friends there. At that point I just started web surfing for information. I exchanged email with a number of friends, sharing rumors. I began to get physically ill. I was monitoring FAA web sites and was shocked yet again when they ordered all aircraft to land. I recall getting frustrated that President Bush did not go straight back to D.C. About 11am I told my supervisor that I was useless, and I was going home. We briefly discussed my trip to Korea, I told them I'd still go (the trip was canceled the next day). I almost started crying during this conversation.

I went home and just sat in front my TV and computer, trying and failing to soak it all in. I finally fell asleep around 2am.

[agrace]

I was upstairs with my 4 year old daughter and 6 month old son trying to talk myself into heading downstairs for the day when the phone rang at 9 am - as I went downstairs to get the cordless I could hear my husband on the phone saying "Are you there? Are you there? I can't believe you aren't picking up" - and *click* as I got to the phone. I was pretty irritated and called him back saying "you JERK, why did you hang up so fast" and he said TURN ON THE TV NOW.

I turned it on to find out that both towers had been hit, talked to my husband for a few minutes, got on FR asap to see what you all were saying, heard Judy Woodruff (I think it was her) on CNN say that the Pentagon was just hit as well, tried to call my mother but all circuits were busy, finally got through to her and we were on the phone both watching when the newscaster (this one on local NBC out of NYC - we live 30 mi west of the city) said "Is this a live picture...oh my God, the second tower has just collapsed!"

I tried frantically for hours to get through to my husband on the phone but with him working just outside Manhattan, phone lines were down and what remained were jammed - I wanted him to start home early because it was chaos locally - major roads in and around the city were totally backed up, his route takes him past Newark Apt so I knew he would have a horrible time getting here. Throughout the day I must have gotten a half dozen phone calls from people who wanted to know if my husband still worked in the city - until recently he worked in the Woolworth Bldg and took the Path into the WTC.

The day was a haze of unreality. Hugged my kids a lot. My husband finally left work at 430, got home almost 3 hours later and watched stunned in front of the tv as he had not seen any footage of what had happened - they only had internet and radio in his office.

The next morning we could smell the smoke this far west - a damp, post-fire smolder that hung in the air. Last Saturday we took a drive up the turnpike to look at the skyline - huge cloud of smoke and the towers are simply not there. Very hard to believe. I think it is finally sinking in though because I broke down crying during the Mets intro tonight - 7000 people didn't come home last week. I can't imagine what the rescue workers must be dealing with emotionally as they go through the rubble. They are very much in my prayers.

[Jhensy]

I posted this earlier...

At home in Westchester County, I was sitting at the breakfast table when the live pictures flashed on the Today Show. After watching with my wife for a few minutes, I knew I had to go to work immediately (I work for a NYC newspaper and I normally don't go in 'til 1:00pm). Unshowered and unshaven, I was running out the door to catch the next train to Manhattan, when my wife yelled out "Another plane just crashed into it!" What...? I watched in disbelief for a minute and ran to the train.

The people on the train were buzzing, talking on cellphones, relaying updates to everyone. Where the train passes over the Harlem River into Manhattan, everybody crowded to the left side windows to see the lower Manhattan skyline come into view, and everyone gasped at the sight.

Everybody was saying "terrorism" at this point, and while we were going through the long tunnel stretch into Grand Central, the engineer came over the P.A. and said, "I'm sorry to say, but the Pentagon has been attacked as well". So scary and sobering.

Us passengers agreed that we probably shouldn't hang around Grand Central Terminal too long. When the train pulled in, everyone ran to the streets (It turned out that I made it in on the last train allowed into NYC). In Midtown, it was sort of subdued panic, some people running, gathered around car radios, standing in groups- very many buildings were evacuated, there were a lot of people on the streets.

At 43rd and Madison you got a clear view of the Towers and the surreal scene so high up. It was so scary. I only watched for a minute, and on the next block, I saw everyone gathered at TV monitors in a big record store, horrified, and someone told me that one of the towers just collapsed. I still can't fathom it. At my office, security was extremely tight, and only essential people were allowed in. Once inside, work started immediately, and I barely watched on the monitors when the second tower fell. What horror was to come next? Numb with shock. Somebody said another plane crashed near Pittsburgh...

Much of our staff couldn't make it into Manhattan that day, we put out an afternoon extra, and we've been working non-stop since.

My poor wife and child were so worried that day, and they stayed at her mother's the next 2 nights. She really, truly wants to move from here now.

Personally, my family, friends and I were blessed in that we escaped the terrible heartbreak of so many families right now- no one close to us perished. We know many who survived, including a buddy who was in Tower 2. But my little hometown lost at least three, and every community in the NY area has tragic, tragic tales.

[SmartBlonde]

I manage my business from home. My husband is disabled; he had a really rough night and didn't go to sleep until about 4:00 a.m. He got up about 9:00 to take some medicine and turned on the radio to hear the weather. He shouted for me to turn on the TV, so I turned on Fox & Friends.

I then logged on to Free Republic, continuing to watch Fox. Jon Scott was nearly speechless. We saw the replay of the plane hitting Tower 1. My husband said 'they should evacuate Tower 2 - all the buildings in that area may be unstable. About that time the second plane hit Tower 2.

I was worried about GWB, and my elderly parents were driving home from a trip to Northern OH. Multi-tasking, I was praying with one part of my mind and phoning my clients with another. Most had been alerted by relatives who were at home.

In our very large apartment complex, people came home and STAYED home. No joggers, lots of pizza deliveries that night. Watched TV until maybe 3:00 a.m. Knew that things would never again be the same in our country.

[TheWriter]

My experience was already posted here..

[ladyinred]

On the West coast, so I was sound asleep when the phone rang. My brother called and told my husband that a plane had hit the WTC, and it might be terrorists. We jumped up and turned on the news and saw the second plane hit the tower, and while I was trying to absorb the horror of that, another one hit the pentagon, and that they were evacuating the White House.
My reaction was one of disbelief and absolute fear! Although we have been told for a long time something like this might happen, you just don't really think it will, and suddenly, in one hour, your world changes forever. I am still very uneasy about this.
I do have the same kind of feeling I had the day Kennedy was killed, just numb shock that something like this could happen in the United States.