September 11th - where were you?

as you all know, tomorrow is the worst day for some people out there. some lost lives, some lost people they love, and some have scars from the day - the twin towers were blown up!

most of you will remember where you were that day. so where were you?

I was at high school but didn't find out till i got home. I got off the bus, walked in the door and i saw my mum sitting on the sofa watching TV. I actually remember what position she was in, she was sitting on the left hand side of the sofa leaning forward. at that point she told me what had happened so i quickly sat down and asked a few questions and watched the devostating news.

it's a horrible thing to happen, and i'm very sorry for everyone who lost someone that day. those people are SICK, and even more sick to actually carry on trying to kill. (London bombings)

i was actually on the internet. i'd pulled an all-nighter, and i refreshed the "general" section of the board i was on, and saw a thread: "omg, a plane flew into the world trade center". i got up and went in, and turned on cnn...and was glued to the tv for the rest of the day (for the next few days, to be honest), as so many were. i watched the towers fall and thought about all those people inside. i dont really cry that easily in general, but i did cry that day. for a lot of reasons.

what bothers me is that terrorists think thats going to really change anything. all it did was make us more patriotic, more determined to move forward. they didn't achieve a DAMN thing with what they did. it's all so pointless.

I was at work. We got the news right after the first tower was hit, and our controller had a 4" tv set on his desk. We saw the second plane hit.

My brother was a pilot for American Airlines at the time; we didn't hear about whether or not hewas on one of those planes until after 4 that afternoon. It was ok - he was flying a different plane.

What a scary and horrible day. My neighbor's niece, Karen Martin, was the head flight attendent on flight 11. May she, and all of the other victims of that terrible day, rest in peace.

I was at work. We heard about the plane that hit the first tower. They hooked up a large TV in one of the conference rooms and we all watched when the second plane hit until the first tower fell. After that we were all allowed to go home.

My kids, my mother and I all sat in the diningroom watching two seperate TVs the entire afternoon.

I was sleeping ... and then my best friend, Tricia started banging on my bedroom window screaming that we were under attack. I got up and let her in, we turned on the TV and watched with horror for the rest of the day. I will never forget the fear and then abject grief that swept over me as I watched the first tower fall, and then the second ... and to have seen our Pentagon burning, then crumbling down onto the pavilion - it was so incredibly scary and unbelievable!!! Nor will I forget the eerie silence in the air over my home for the next couple of days afterwards, when no planes were allowed over US airspace.

I lost a friend on September 11, 2002 - David worked on Floor 103 in Tower One at Cantor-Fitzgerald and had he not been stopped by a long line at Starbucks that morning when he went in to get a latte, he would have been in the buiilding - and he would have died along with the 658 other of his coworkers. He suffered tremendous survivor guilt and he committed suicide on the one-year anniversary of the attacks.

I was shopping for something to wear to a gig we were going to that night, the band was actually American and spent half the night on the phone trying to get in touch with relatives - so major kudos to them for playing anyway.

Someone had mentioned it to us on the way home from shopping but we thought he was just one of the many crazies that hang around in London, so I guess I didn't know until I got home and everyone was watching on TV

I was home on the internet. And I read on yahoo home page that a plane had hit the tower I just thought oh what a shame that a small plane must of had problems and hit.I had the tv on at the same time so I soon heard what had really happened.

I was watching tv, having my coffee. I was watching when the second plane hit. I had just joined TCS the day before, and went in to the computer after my SO went to work. The first thread was hissy's, and it said "A plane just hit the World Trade Center."

Originally Posted by gayef

I lost a friend on September 11, 2002 - David worked on Floor 103 in Tower One at Cantor-Fitzgerald and had he not been stopped by a long line at Starbucks that morning when he went in to get a latte, he would have been in the buiilding - and he would have died along with the 658 other of his coworkers. He suffered tremendous survivor guilt and he committed suicide on the one-year anniversary of the attacks.

Click to expand...

I'm so sorry to hear that that must have been horrible!

As I do not live in the USA, I never saw the World Trade Centres or Pentagon up close, only on TV and pictures. So luckily for me, no one I know was killed. I guess I don't know/understand what some people are going through. But to those who are, I feel so sorry for you all

That morning I was soooo happy to have my computer back from the shop. I hooked it up all ready to surf the net but I had multiple images on my monitor! I was so upset and kept thinking "...poor me, I will never be able to have a good computer that will work more than a little while without going ka-blooey....." So I turned it off and headed into Mom's room to watch ABC's Good Morning America - just in time to see the second plane hit.

Well, I no longer felt sorry for myself. Instead I was in shock and crying for the victims.

I was at a management meeting at work, and one of the fellows got a call from his wife on his cell phone at morning break and came back in and told us. We thought he was kidding and we said that it was a terrible thing to say! He assured us that he wasn't. Later that morning, our Director came in and told us about the first plane, and that a second plane had hit and the first tower had already collapsed. We were shocked! We all went back to the office to talk to the staff and had the little training TVs running with it on! How absolutely devastating. We have a large Air Force base here in Trenton and shortly thereafter the F18s arrived and we could see them going out on missions and returning. We knew that they had been deployed here as convenient to patrol the skies over New York and Washington for the Americans to help out plus they were convenient to Toronto and Ottawa if something went down here. Very scary! How awful for all of those people!

I was at home,I usually have BBCNew24 on when i am on my own, i like a bit of backround noise and like to keep up to date with what goes on in the world.

Wasn't expecting anything so horrific as what happended that day! Couldnt believe what i was seeing, and those poor people jumping out of the windows.....so awful.

Words to describe those people who commited and are part of that abomination fail me.

I was in 11th grade English. We had school the rest of the day, oddly enough, although some of the kids whose parents worked in NYC went home. I forgot my shoes at a friends house on lunch and had to go barefoot the rest of the day. What I remember most is how people looked at my feet, like, well, that makes about as much sense as anything else today.

My thoughts are with anyone who lost a loved one 5 years ago, in the aftermath, and in the resulting wars.

I had taken the day off and my husband called. I turned on the TV in time to see the first tower collapse. I then had to take the cats into the vet. I remember how vividly blue the sky was that day. The vet was late so I ended up sitting there just quiet with the cat for about 2 hours. I ran into my boss as I was coming out and he said that everyone was sent home. I followed up with the information on the way home listening to the radio and then watching the news.

Last year I flew into Newark airport on 9/11 and seeing the New York skyline from there, just hit some visceral emotion in me. So many innocents lost.

I didn't find out about the attacks until around 11am, because I was in class the whole morning. Running home, I was desperately trying to get a hold of my father who was flying that day. For the majority of the day he couldn't pick up his cell phone because all the lines were jammed. We finally found him later on that night in a bar in New Orleans, because that was where his flight had been diverted. He said it was the best drink he'd ever had in his life. I can also remember the phone in my house ringing off the hook. My room mate and my husband had both served time in the military. Both of their commanding officers had called and told them they couldn't leave town. It was one of the scarcest days of my life.

I came into work a few minutes late that morning and had been listening to a cd in my car. The instant I walked in the door the guy next to me had his ear permaglued to internet radio and I asked him what was going on. It was only about a minute later that the second plane hit.

I was living on long island at the time and I will tell you the one thing I remember most from that day - feeling like a sitting duck. I fully remember them closing all the bridges and tunnels to everyone but emergency workers (and rightfully so... they needed to get people in to the city and LIE traffic even not during rush hour is horrendous)... but the thought crossed my mind that those were the only ways off long island and if they decided to bomb or whatever, there was absolutely no where we could go. I think that scared me more than anything. The feeling of not knowing. It also made me want them to build a bridge to CT already... sheesh theyve only been talking about it for eons

My uncle was only a block(ish) away from the WTC and watched the entire thing happen from a front row seat via the picture window in his office's board room.

And as if 9/11 wasn't tragedy enough, I was saddened by how some reacted to the event. I know we were scared... I know we were sad... I understand that... But no one needed to fire bomb the middle eastern deli across the street from my job because the guy who owned it was middle eastern (from which country, admittedly, I'm not sure.. but does it matter?) He was a nice man who brought his family over and saved for years to open that little store. He became an American Citizen. He was just trying to put his child through school and buy a home.... and on 9/12 he had a sign in the window of his charred building saying "Closed due to arson". None of that day was right... but adding these kinds of wrongs to the great wrong didn't make anyone right.

I was on my way to work and the morning drive-time DJ reported that plane had hit the WTC. I thought "must have been an accident".. Then, he reported that a SECOND plane had hit and I KNEW that had to be deliberate. At that point, details were sketchy and I called my (then) s/o and told him to turn on the shop radio.

When I got into work, there was a TV set up in the break room and the towers were on fire. everyone was in shock. I opened my cash register, did my job and was getting updates, from customers and co-workers. There was a TV, on the sales floor and, when the towers fell, I heard a collective "OMG".

At some point, one of the pharmacists got on the store PA, said a prayer and asked for a moment of silence.

My s/o and I stayed glued to the TV, all evening. He and my dad were on the phone, discussing how they wanted to re-enlist (s/o was 56, Pops was 74). Both of them were just SO angry and wanted to do SOMETHING. I cried, most of that night.

I remember where I was and what I was doing.....and the emotions I felt on that day.


I was still in the military and was at Andrews, doing a cardiac stress test (a persantine actually cause the woman couldn't walk) in the stress lab (and this was before it was deemed that those HAD to be done in nuclear medicine--idiots).

One of the newer Airmen came in, Felix, and said to me "A Plane hit the Twin Towers", and I'm pretty niave so I had no idea what that was....and my mind thought what my mouth said, "Was it an accident and What are the Twin Towers" cause I really had no idea.

So someone told me....I continued doing my job....but things started to get hectic. Especially have the second plane hit. And then....the Pentagon. Througout that morning we kept hearing things like, the Justice department's been bombed, the Capital Buildings been hit....none of which actually happened....and none of us unless we snuck over to nuclear medicine, saw any of the news footage throughout the day....we were listening to all the reports via radio.

That's when we received the order to cancel all the patients for the rest of the day, and be ready to do whatever it was we had to do. Which since we were all Respiratory we set up to be ready for casualities that never came.

My usual shift was 7:30-4:30 but we were all put on standby not to leave until further notice.....so we waited...and I called my folks (cause that's all I had) because I needed to be freed up to take care of my military duty....so I called them to come and get my daughter.

Finally we were all released at 7:00pm. I went and picked up my daughter (cause the daycare stayed open too especially for double military and single parents *like myself*). I looked over at Air Force One's Hangar, thankful that my daughter would be far enough away from what seemed to everyone like a target zone.


It was around 9pm that my folks made it to the base, which was on lockdown and my father had forgotten all his ID. So I had to go to the gate, give my daughter to them (who was 16months old at the time) and watch them drive off.


I spent the night of 9/11 alone. The only thing that kept me company was my sweet cat Cody (I have no pictures, the one website I had a picture of her is no longer in existance) but she was given to me by the neighbors and she died 2 years later (I believe) from a seizure. And my telephone (cause all of us--military folks) were on what's called Telephone Standby.).


Before I went to bed....I watched some of the footage from the day....and it was shocking. I don't know what shocked me the most...

Seeing the second plane coming in and then slamming into the South Tower or seeing the bodies dropping, not bodies...desperate people....who saw no other way out.

And I waited....I waited for the phone to right...I think we all did. We had some CCATT folks (Critical Care Air Transport Team) out at the Pentagon but they never needed them. Most of the survivors from the Pentagon were taken to one of the local hospitals. Not to Andrews (and not that I blame them).

My emotions that day, Fear, Sadness, and Loneliness.

But I still remember every detail, even as I type this out....every detail of what was going on around me and what I was doing.

The next day we cancelled all patients and the next....I think we ended up cancelling patients to the end of the week....and not one of them.

Not a single solitary one of them that we cancelled got mad. None of them were upset. They knew why and they didn't complain or yell how ridiculous it was....they in fact said just reschedule us when you can.

Every single one of them.

And believe me that never happens there.

How odd that I'm writing this as if I still work there. I haven't worked there since June 2005.

Yeah I still have some people I keep in touch with here and there.

But I know I will NEVER forget what happened on 9/11. I will never forget how I felt, I will never forget where I was.
And it's sad, that alot of folks have forgotten what happened that day.

Life has resumed normal. Well normal for what it was like before. People don't care now, whereas people right afterwards would help each other. There was such a show of love and dignity and support of our Country.

Now....it's right back where it was before...Complaints, no more brotherhood, now it's for each their own.

It was around 8:30 I guess.. My sisters just got on the bus to go to school.. I had purposely missed the bus that day because I didn't feel like going to school. (that was the year I dropped out)

And I was online, playing something, Neopets I think. And my older brotehr came running upstairs yelling at my mum to turn the tv on.. that there was something going on.. his face was panic ridden.
So my mum turned the tv on, and on almost every channel was the same thing.
The tower burning... I saw the second one get hit. At this point we are all sitting aroung the tv staring with wide eyes and open mouths.
We followed it all day.

I took my dog, a puppy at the time, outside to pee and a small private plane zoomed over the house.. I've never been more scared of a plane before in my life.

I was in high school, in grade 10 history at the time. They turned on the tv's and we watched it the rest of the day.