September 11 - Where were you?

[P.K.]

I was in a history lesson at school. Someone came in and said some towers had been attacked (I had never heard of them before this), needless to say not much more work was done in that lesson by anyone even though the teacher refused to believe them.

As with KWT when the attacks happened in London it was a case of "Here we go again" especially as I've used some of the attacked stations since.

[Josephine96]

I was home.. I had just awakened.. Ironically, I fell asleep the night before watching MSNBC. So when I got up.. 1 of the towers was on fire..

So I was flipping through the channels.. already nervous.. My sisters kept telling me.. "Turn that movie off if it's scaring you".. I kept having to tell them.. "It's not a movie.."..

Just as I had got up to leave the room.. I turn my head.. and.. "Oh my God!! a plane just hit the {expletive} building" was what I said...

My sisters didn't believe me.. until they heard about the Pentagon. Then they started freaking out. Ironically my mama was in NYC. She's fine. She didn't see the planes apparently.

The entire day.. I kept watching it.. and actually shed a tear when I told my sister "the towers are gone"! when she asked me why she couldn't see the WTC anymore.

Even 5 yrs later.. It's still fresh as I'm sure it'll remain. What a sad day :cry

[cajungal]

I was on a family vacation in Destin, Florida at the time. With my parents and my aunt. Sept 11th was the day were heading back home to Louisiana. That morning we stopped at the WINGS store in the Crystal Beach section of Destin, so I could buy myself a T-shirt before heading home. I heard the news on the store radio. I was in total shock. The whole 6-hour drive back home was almost in silence. There were no words to say. The car radio was kept on the whole time with the sad news. There were no planes of course, which made it very scary. We stopped of at a rest area at the Alabama State line so we could all use the restroom. At the rest area, as I was coming out of the bathroom, they had 2 men standing in the lobby. They were of mid-eastern decent with turbins on their head. We made eye contact and they started laughing at me. I was so scared that I ran full speed to the car.

[WmE]

At this time, I was 12 years old and I built a tree house with some friends. It was during the summer holidays. I don't know why, I guess we needed some tools, but we went inside and the TV was on and we saw the second plane flying into the tower, live.

[Miss Mary]

I was still a stay at home mom. My youngest, a 6th Grader attending the school that backs up to our street, had just walked out the door. I came back inside and began doing the breakfast dishes, sorting laundry when suddenly, my next door neighbor called to tell me of the tragic news. She had been watching networks am news channels. She was aware one tower had been struck and was on fire. Out of nowhere another plane appeared and she was shocked to learn, as we all were, it was aiming for the second tower. That's when she began calling friends and family. I thanked her, turned on the TV and was stunned by the news. I began calling my husband and my mom. Both didn't know what was going on. Thankfully my husband's office has a TV so they could keep up with what was going on. I remember that tragic day so crystal clear - the wx was perfect, it was a Tuesday, but meanwhile, our day to day way of life in this country, changed forever. I would have to say it changed precisely @ 9:02, when the second plane struck. Because in that very instant we all knew, deep in our gut, these were terrorist's attacks. Not accidents, as initially was hoped (first tower). I was glued to the TV and couldn't wait for my girls to get home from school. After school activities were cancelled, malls closed, businesses just closed. You honestly wondered what was next. I don't remember sleeping soundly for weeks.

9/11 made me a morning news viewer too. Before that fateful day I never watched TV in the morning, unless we were looking for a snowday. That was the only time. Now if we're away for a day or two, on trips or out of town for the day, I always tune into CNN or I'm sure to catch the 11 p.m. news before I turn in.

In our city, Cincinnati, Breaking News alerts came from 9/11 events (I think). I just do not recall major breaking news before that, and for a while, so many stories were classified as breaking news when clearly they weren't. But the media didn't ever want to be caught off guard anymore.

I guess as a viewer, I don't want to be caught off guard. I will always want to know if something just happened. That's an awful way to live but that's what 9/11 did to me anyways.

At the time, many S2K members were posting on TWC message boards. We were permitted to have a 9/11 topic for a while, which really helped everyone come to grips, if we could, with what had just happened. I clearly remember sadly clueing Steve/Azskyman into what was going on back East. He had just logged on from out West and asked how I was. I said so sad. He had no idea what was going on. That's another thing 9/11 did - it prompted you to alert as many friends and family as you could. And then to donate blood, donate money generously to the Red Cross, organize school bake or flag sales to raise monety, etc.

I had my flag flying proudly for days after that too.

Such a sad, sad day/week/month/year. It truly feels like yesterday in so many ways.

Mary

[brunota2003]

Ugh...were to start? I was in the 6th grade, and had just entered English class with Mr. Penny as the teacher...he was not one to hold things back from us, so right at the beginning of class all the teachers were handed a letter stating what happend...well he galnced over it and then wrote two dates on the board:
December 7, 1941
September 11, 2001
then asked, "Who can tell me what happend on December 7?" I raised my hand and he called on me...I said "The day of infamy. The day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor" He then stated "Yes, and today is another day of infamy" of course we were like, huh? Then he read the first paragraph of the letter he had received, it stated exactly what happend, and when it happend...then he read the second and it said "Do not read this to your students" Mr. Penny exclaimed "oh yea, thats smart, put that into the SECOND paragraph!" It turns out that the teachers were only suppose to tell us that we were not allowed to go out into the hallways during class and that we were sorta locked down...however we got the entire story then...I did not see any footage or know of the towers collapse until I got home and flipped on CNN, I still remember all the replys they showed for the rest of the day...first of the planes hitting, then the towers collapse...then the Pentagon and the plane in Penn..."Let's Roll"

[Cyclenall]

I was at school at the time and didn't hear one thing about it the whole day at school. I went home where I found on TV these planes flying in these buildings. I said "what is this?" and then I found it was real life. I couldn't believe that was real at first! Every TV station from Quebec to Local had non-stop 9/11 coverage for I don't know but a very long time.

[mf_dolphin]

I was on a flight from 7:00AM Tampa to Wilkes-Barre, PA. We landed at the Cincinatti and found out what was happening. My partner and I managed to share a ride in one of the few rental cars available and got home at 3AM the following day. I still have my unused return ticket and boarding passes.

[JTD]

Today has just been so very sad. I'm having a suprisingly difficult time. Did anyone see the rendition of Josh Groban's song at Ground Zero today? That was so sad and you can still see the pain as fresh as ever on the faces of the family members.

Very very rough.

As for me, I had been on guard all summer (I'm a news freak). I remember back in June (I had just graduated high school) and I was off. I was watching CNN and they had an alert that a major terrorist operation was being planned in the middle east. It was big news for a day or so and that was it but it still kind of worried me all summer.

That summer was dominated by the Chandra Levy case in the media. Day in and day out, nothing but Chandra.

Then I started college that fall and had to start getting up a lot earlier, 6-8 a.m. That Tuesday morning, I woke up at about 5:30 a.m. and turned on CNN just to see if anything was going on. All seemed to be normal and I fell back asleep until my TV alarm woke me up at 5:59 a.m. pacific time. My TV alarm is set to CNN and they were reporting on the crash of the 1st plane. I remember still being groggy and watching it half asleep. Then I saw the 2nd plane hit live. I raced out of my bedroom and told my mom and dad who also were up. We all said terrorism right away and I knew instantly that it most likely had come from Osama Bin Laden because I had watched his activities for years through the Cole bombing, the failed millenium terror plot, the African Embassy bombings. I remember watching a CNN show in 1997 where they went and interviewed him and he said "you'll be hearing of my plans in the media soon - god willing". So, he had always been someone I was concerned about.

I remember watching Peter Jennings after the Pentagon was hit and he said something like we can say now that America is under attack. I was just numb. Then I had to go to school. I didn't do much work that day. I just stayed in the college TV room and watched it as much as I could.

I remember actually becoming scared that evening of what was to come. It took months to feel normal again.

I don't agree with the statement that time heals all wounds. You can certainly tell it hasn't for the family members and it still feels fresh for me so many years later as well.

[Brent]

I was in the 8th grade in 3rd period. We had been told nothing at school. My dad came and picked me up around 10am and we went home and I was glued to the news for weeks after that(watched nothing else). I didn't follow world events before 9/11, but since then a day hasn't gone by that I haven't at least checked the news. Over time I got over it but every anniversary is sad, but what's even sadder today was not watching the actual replay of the coverage(which was very interesting but not that emotional), but watching a voiceover or a narrative of what happened. I've found documentaries on the subject to be much sadder.

[JenBayles]

I began a new job with a Dutch/ French firm on Sep. 10, 2001. The next day, my usual morning commute with local talk radio was interrupted just as I pulled into the parking lot shortly before 8:00. At that time, it sounded as if the plane hitting the tower was an accident. I had no telephone, no cell phone, no internet access, nothing. I worked in oblivion until a woman finally took pity on me and told me what happened - over 2 hours later.

This company was populated by some really odd birds - at least to this Texan. Every other business in the city was letting people go home or had everyone crowded into conference rooms to watch the news. Not where I worked. Not one TV was turned on, not one announcement, no radios were allowed, and it was work as usual. Damndest thing I ever saw. Finally a nasty-gram got sent out around 3:00 by HR stating that if we absolutely HAD to leave, then we would be docked or the time would have to be made up. End of story.

Next morning, I passed by a conference room where the Dutch Prez was conducting a meeting. I heard him say, "The United States deserved it because of their policy on Israel." I still curse myself for not resigning right there and then.

As to my reaction by the time I saw the video of the towers in flames and finally collapsing, it's safe to use the word "enraged." I've never felt anything like it before or since. It's impossible to maintain that state of heightened emotion for long, but it still lives in me. I refuse to let myself melt down into the sadness of it all, so I stay angry on behalf of all who died, were injured, or simply had to watch helplessly as our country was attacked in an act of war on one seemingly ordinary, workday morning.

[Bobbie Lee]

I was at work listening to the radio, and the 9 a.m. news blurb mentioned something about a plane hitting one of the towers. I assumed it was a little Cessna or something of that size, and felt sorry for the pilot. Shortly after that, my son called and asked if I'd heard the news. Then a couple of co-workers came by and asked the same thing. When I learned what had happened, I flipped that radio to an all-talk station, and heard the pentagon had been hit. I went to the business next to my workspace, where they were watching the TV, and I saw the second tower collapse.

I couldn't have been more flabbergasted if I'd been told we'd been invaded by Mars! Whatever was going on, I just wanted to be home with my husband, and I left work for the day.

I think I'll always remember the utter silence of having NO air traffic for a few days. It was almost like the silence when you're in the eye of a hurricane.

[Ptarmigan]

I woke up at 9:00 AM, while I was in college. A friend then told me two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center and one of them had collapsed. I was in shock and total disbelief. Then I asked the person working front desk if something bad had happened and he said, "Yes" in a somber tone. I ate breakfast and went to class. We had class that day, but it was not really class. It was just discussion about the attacks. After class, all I did was watch news coverage and checked the Internet for the next 4 days. I was saddened and scared.

[beachbum_al]

I was still mourning the death of my son at the time. Dave had only been gone less than a year when 9/11 happen. I still had to go on with my life and had just gotten up. I went into my parents kitchen to fix a cup of coffee before getting my oldest daughter dress for ballet that morning. We were living with my parents at the time until our house sold in N. Alabama since my husband had already started a new job here.

I got my daughter up and turned on the t.v. The minute I turned it on I saw the smoke coming from the first WTC that had been hit. I couldn't even blink an eye before a plane came out of no where and hit the tower. I couldn't believe it. I kept saying to myself there is no way that a pilot could had made that type of mistake. And then it came to my attention...We were being attacked on our own soil. The unthinkable had happen and it was happening in my lifetime. I was shocked, sicken, sad. All of those people and what I kept thinking was that those people in that building were someone's child. I knew the feeling of pain and the last thing I wanted was someone to have to go through the pain of losing a child. (You would had to understand my state of mind at the time)

I finally manage to get my daughter ready for ballet. I think my town was in shock. It was like people were moving in slow motion. I know I was. When I arrived in ballet one of the mom's was trying to get a hold of her brother that lived in NY. He worked on the top floor of the WTC. She was in tears and I remember just sitting there and all of us in shock trying to comfort her. We knew there was nothing we could do but be there for her. It was another week before we find out what happen to her brother...Her brother was not in the WTC that day. He was going in to work late that day and he was not there. One miracle in the making.

It is a day that I will never forget. It is a day that our nation was attacked and we proved to those who wanted to destroy us that they had only made us stronger as americans because when you hurt one of us we come back fighting!

[wxmann_91]

5th grade. I believe it was a Tuesday. Had school and was awoken by my dad I think who was talking about how an airplane flew into the Twin Towers. I turned on the TV, he was also saying a plane flew into the Pentagon. Then right on TV they had the footage of when the second plane flew into the second Tower (or was it live, I don't know, can't remember).

At school the intercom said that there was a terrorist attack and that they would keep us safe. It really didn't hit home until I returned home that day, just how serious it was.

[Sean in New Orleans]

I was laying in bed, already awake, but, not up. One of those moments when you are laying there, getting ready to get up and staring at the ceiling. My phone rang and it was my Mother telling me of the plane crash..it was weird, because she, herself, plainly said it was terrorists and the second plane had not yet hit. As I stormed out of bed and turned on the TV, the second plane hit within two minutes and I then called out sick for work and stayed glued to the TV all day. About 30 minutes after the second tower collapsed, I decided to take my dog outside for a walk..it was too much for me at that moment. As I was walking my dog on St. Charles Ave. and elderly woman walked up to me and was distraught..she looked at me and said.."Do you know what has happened?" I said yes, that I was just taking my dog out for a spell to get away from the TV. She grabbed me and gave me the tightest hug and started crying. I'll never forget that...I had never seen her before.

[JQ Public]

I finished my 8am class and went to have breakfast with an old high school friend. We were in front of the TV the whole time, but no one ever changed the channel to the news. And I mean this was a HUGE tv in the campus cafeteria. I went to my dorm and my friend instant messaged me and told me to turn on CNN. I saw that the south tower had fallen and now the pentagon was attacked. Then the North Tower fell. That was the only direct attack I saw Live as it happened. As the North Tower fell I was sickened. I couldn't believe the world just went on. I still had more classes to go and I couldn't skip them. It was awful. I was glued to the television for weeks. First 9/11 then the anthrax attacks. Very Scary.

[alicia-w]

We were sitting in the top floor of a building on our base when we saw the Breaking News on CNN. Our initial reaction was that some idiot had flown a small plane into a skyscraper. As the next hours came, the Pentagon was hit. My best friend and her husband worked there and I was scared to death. I'm their children's godmother and had no way of getting in touch with them since the phone lines were so messed up. It took three days before those kids knew that their parents were alive. I thought that was really sad. They've suffered a bit since, no PTS counseling or anything. I remember feeling pretty vulnerable sitting on the 6th floor of one of the high value targets on our base...

[pojo]

I was sleeping. My college roommate had a 8am class and came back early from class... she told me to turn on the TV (it was already).... I could believe my eyes. I had to work that night at the local Green Bay CBS affiliate and the only thing on the assignment board was "ATTACK ON AMERICA". (in big bold letters). My professor told us to go home and call our families to say we loved them.

[therock1811]

I was in tenth grade and I was headed to my second block Spanish class as the WTC was hit. I got to the room and about 5 minutes later my aide came in and she said to turn on a TV or radio, that we'd had a terrorist attack. Of course we had a TV but it had a snowy picture, so we listened to radio broadcasts. Later that day, I was supposed to go to a tutoring session but I talked to my math teacher and she said she was not going to be there, so I went home and watched the news for the rest of the day.