9/11 - Never Forget... where were you?

[Steve9347]

Me? I was 18 and working at MCI as a telemarketer while going to community college.

 

That morning, I heard that a "plane hit the World Trade Center" from someone I was calling to sell long distance to (and wow, 11 years marks a big difference in technology, eh?), and she told me that she was more interested in the news than discussing her long distance.

 

I removed my headset and went to the large break room (this place was huge, with like 400 employees) and saw the news. People began sort of funneling over to the break room to see the "news" - which at this point we all assumed was a horrible accident. I called my dad, a machinist, who never sees the news during the work day, and informed him. As I was on the phone with him, the second plane hit and everyone in the break room freaked out.

 

Obviously, MCI sent everyone home for the day, so I went to my parents' where I lived at the time, and watched the news unfold. My night classes at community college in Rockford (Rock Valley College) were somehow not canceled, which I still think is sick to this day, but I obviously did not go. I drove out to see my then girlfriend (now wife) in her dorm at NIU and took her to dinner.

 

11 years. Wow. I'll never, ever forget.

[IlliniKrush]

Senior year of high school, got back to my locker after 2nd hour and someone told me a plane hit the WTC. Didn't know what to think. Had 3rd hour off, was in the Senior Lounge, which was filled at this point with some teachers. Was there in time to see the 2nd plane hit. Had planned on doing math homework that hour, which didn't happen. Classes basically went on per usual, but most people weren't focusing too much. Remember watching the news until 2am once I got home.

 

I always think back about how much different that day would be now - instead of a giant game of telephone, some people not knowing for a few hours, etc, students in the middle of class would have known instantly. Kind of like with Columbine - I didn't know anything until after baseball practice at the HS - our coach hinted at something, when we finally got home we found out what it was. Never would have taken that long.

[CrimsonWeltall]

Freshman year of college.

 

I woke up and turned on the tv as I was getting ready for class. The first plane had just hit and, at that point, they thought it was a small plane in an accident. I headed off to class.

 

I got there first and my professor was the only one there. I mentioned what I saw on the news and he told me that it was a big jetliner and NOT an accident. Crazy. The class in question had computers for every student and I spent the entire 90 minutes sitting there, refreshing Fark.com (most news sites were overloaded) for new information about what happened.

[cabiness42]

My story isn't interesting--I was just at work and heard it from an employee who had their radio on.

 

My dad's story is more interesting. He was playing golf. According to the pro at the clubhouse, his group was the last one to leave the clubhouse and head for the first tee before ABC News broke into ESPN with the news. This was before he had a cell phone so nobody could call him to tell him what happened. Also, they got stuck behind a slow group around the 8th hole, so instead of visiting the clubhouse after the 9th hole like most groups do, they skipped right to the 10th tee to get ahead of the slow group. They also went straight from the 18th green to their cars, had a CD playing in the car, so my Dad got home at almost 1pm and turned the TV on before he found out what had happened. He had to be among the last Americans to hear what had happened.

[RockRaines]

On my way to class in college, just happened to turn on the tv beforehand for once.

[JPN366]

I was 20, living in Ogden, Utah and working for Simmons Media in Salt Lake City as a DJ on the modern rock station as well as other tasks. I'd usually leave the TV on in my studio apartment on MSNBC all night. I got a call from my Mom that woke me up. The first building had already fallen down. I was groggy, but I saw on the TV the shot of the remaining tower, just before the plane flew into it. Everybody knows the rest. I was called into work that day and spent the rest of the week watching and listening to CNN being simulcast on our radio stations. My girlfriend at the time was more upset that she wasn't going to get to go to Disney World instead of the 2,000 plus people who had died. I broke up with her immature ass a year later.

[hogan873]

I was in the Coast Guard at the time. I was in the office when I heard someone say a plane hit the World Trade Center. I assumed it was a small plane, an accident. By the time I got to the TV in the conference room, the second plane had hit. Needless to say, we went into a 24-hour watch because of the fear of it happening again in Chicago. Half of our workforce was sent out to do patrols of the rivers and the lakefront. The other half fielded phone calls. People were calling saying barges carrying gasoline down the rivers would be good terrorist targets. People were actually calling and threatening to blow up boats. It was madness for about 48 hours.

[clyons]

For some reason, I had a hard time getting out of bed that day. My wife had already left for work when I heard about the first plane from 'XRT news on the clock radio. I was sure it was a small, private plane and turned on the TV wondering if they would even have pictures. My first (groggy) reaction was that it didn't look too bad and could be fixed. Then I watched the second plane fly into other tower live as it happened. To this day I have dreams about 9/11 more often than is probably "normal," considering I didn't personally know any victims.

[hogan873]

My oldest daughter was 13 days old when it happened. It was a scary thought for a bit, bringing a child into the world when something like that happens. I imagine many people thought it was the beginning of the end.

[Y2HH]

I'll never forget this day for a very specific reason...I remember it quite vividly, actually. In hindsight, it's a pretty funny story.

 

I was working from home that day, back when I worked for Cable & Wireless, and I was doing maintenance on my roller-blades that morning because I had messed up the rail slide on them pretty badly the night before. Of course, I wasn't actually "working" on anything for work.

 

So my phone rings, and a good friend of mine, who relayed 3rd party hyperbolic news to me that he had received from his mother -- without confirming it himself -- is yelling into my phone, "We're under attack! Missiles just hit buildings in New York!"

 

Keep in mind this is what he was told by someone else, he had not confirmed it because he was just woke up to this news...

 

So I grab my TV remove and turn on the news because apparently WWIII had begun...where I see an airplane crashing into a building.

 

I shrugged and was like, "Dude, it's just an airplane that crashed into one of the WTC Towers...relax!"

 

In hindsight, when compared to WWIII, I turned off the TV saying, not a big deal. In comparison...it wasn't.

 

It was a big deal...but you have to put yourself into the context in which the news was reported to me. While a lot of people were panicing...I was like, "Jeeze...relax, it's not like WWIII or anything!"

Edited September 11, 2012 by Y2HH

[kjshoe04]

Was in 10th grade. Didn't really understand the full picture because I was 14 years old.

[lasttriptotulsa]

Senior year of high school. Right at the end of Physics class 1st hour, somebody said a plane hit the World Trade Center. As did everyone else, I assumed an accident. The teachers throughout the school immediately turned on the tvs and we tuned in just in time to see the 2nd plane hit. Obviously at that point it was no accident. School remained in session, but pretty much every class had the tv on the entire time and we watched almost non stop the rest of the day.

 

When I got home from school that day, I remember talking to my father. He was a 20+ year vet of the National Guard and had served in Desert Storm. Shortly before this all went down, he had been granted early retirement. I think he took it pretty hard because in the back of his mind he knew this would lead to a war of some sorts and his platoon that he had just left would be called to duty.

 

I also remember people lining up at the gas pumps because everyone knew gas prices would skyrocket the next day.

[LittleHurt05]

Sophomore year in college. Woke up with a hangover to my roommate coming back from class, telling me to turn on the TV, it was like whoa. I had a physics lecture so I had to leave, got a ride with my friend.

 

I had cut open my knee playing softball that weekend, so I was walking with a limp and couldn't bend my knee at all. The lecture hall at Loomis is full of tiny seats, and there were no open aisle seats in back for me to keep my leg straight. Combining that with my hangover and the thoughts of what was going in New York, I just walked right out of my class and bussed it home. We spent the rest of the day in the main room of the frat house watching all the details unfold in disbelief.

[SnB]

Soph in HS, in spanish class. They made an announcement that there was an "incident" in New York and they would have a special announcement at the end of period. (WTF?)

 

No one knew anything specific until they made the announcement and the teacher turned on the news. The rest of the day, half of the classes went on as normal and half of the classes consisted of watching the news.

 

I remember watching the news for hours after getting home and not being able to sleep. I vividly remember going in the backyard of my parent's house (which is under a flight path to MDW) and not hearing anything. It's definitely something I didn't notice until it was gone.

[That funky motion]

I was in Florida about to be married the next day. We were getting married on a cruise with 125 friends and family. I was watching tv while my wife was in the shower. As I watched it, I couldn't help but think, how was I going to tell her that her wedding would be possibly be cancelled. As she came out of the shower, she asked me what movie I was watching. As I told her what was going on she started to cry, but not because of her wedding that she planned for a year. It really hit me then that I was marrying the right woman.

[BigEdWalsh]

I was working 3rd shift Security at Grand Geneva Resort at the time. I was driving home from work and was about a block from home listening to the Score on the car radio when it was reported that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings. I thought, "Wow. Crazy.", but that was about it. Pulled up at home turned off the radio, went inside and went to bed. When I woke up a few hours later, I turned on the radio to the Score and groggily realized that they weren't discussing sports which seemed pretty weird. When I realized what was going on it was pretty shocking.

The next night at work my boss who was a Milwaukee police officer had us stopping all the cars that came on property and making sure that people had reservations so that just "anyone" wasn't allowed on property. He had extra security officers on duty and we were doing extra vehicle patrols all over property. I thought it was a ridiculous over-reaction. I thought, "This is f***ing Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Nothing is going to happen here!". I was of course nervous that something else might happen somewhere, but Lake Geneva(???)....get a grip!

Edited September 11, 2012 by BigEdWalsh

[Jake]

I was in grade school. The first strike happened, my teacher explained what the twin towers were first. Then she said a plane crashed into one. She said something I didn't understand at the time -- "I hope it isn't a suicide sicko" She was right! I then spent the rest of my month glued to the TV with my mom. I fully believed what some commentator said (bet he'd take it back now): "George Bush is putting himself in line with the likes of Abraham Lincoln"

 

One thing I'm wondering about, though. People on my facebook keep referring to the "cowards" that pulled off 9/11. What exactly makes them cowardly? I think they did something terrible, but s*** they gave up their lives to do it.

[Jake]

I was in grade school. The first strike happened, my teacher explained what the twin towers were first. Then she said a plane crashed into one. She said something I didn't understand at the time -- "I hope it isn't a suicide sicko" She was right! I then spent the rest of my month glued to the TV with my mom. I fully believed what some commentator said (bet he'd take it back now): "George Bush is putting himself in line with the likes of Abraham Lincoln"

 

One thing I'm wondering about, though. People on my facebook keep referring to the "cowards" that pulled off 9/11. What exactly makes them cowardly? I think they did something terrible, but s*** they gave up their lives to do it.

[flippedoutpunk]

I was a Junior in high school sleeping in my Auto Shop class. When it happened the principal spoke over the loudspeaker and told the teachers to all turn the TVs on. I saw one tower burning with a hole in it and then about 5 seconds later another plane hit the second building. The teacher then gave us a speech about how if this is found to be the acts of a foreign country or terrorist organization that we are the generation thats going to be asked to fight back.

 

Then there were rumors on the news that a plane may be headed towards the Sears Tower, which was where my dad was working at the time. I freaked out and I bolted out of school even though the school told the teachers to keep the students in class. I remember walking home as fast as I could and all of a sudden i heard an airplane fly right over me, which made no sense since the news stated that every plane in the U.S. had been grounded. So i started to run home and once i finally got there I opened the door to find my pops in the living room standing up and watching the news. He told me that downtown was evacuated a while ago and that everyone was safe.

 

I dont think ive ever felt such a feeling of relief/extreme anger at the same time before. The feeling that my dads life was in danger, or was at least threatened by whoever did this. That feeling stayed with me forever and was a driving force towards me joining the army. For every Al-Qaeda member on the list we were given that was destroyed on my unit's watch during my time overseas I would always looks back on that day and how i felt knowing that I could've lost my dad forever.

[Steve9347]

I was in Florida about to be married the next day. We were getting married on a cruise with 125 friends and family. I was watching tv while my wife was in the shower. As I watched it, I couldn't help but think, how was I going to tell her that her wedding would be possibly be cancelled. As she came out of the shower, she asked me what movie I was watching. As I told her what was going on she started to cry, but not because of her wedding that she planned for a year. It really hit me then that I was marrying the right woman.

Wow, that's a great story.

[chw42]

I was in grade school. The first strike happened, my teacher explained what the twin towers were first. Then she said a plane crashed into one. She said something I didn't understand at the time -- "I hope it isn't a suicide sicko" She was right! I then spent the rest of my month glued to the TV with my mom. I fully believed what some commentator said (bet he'd take it back now): "George Bush is putting himself in line with the likes of Abraham Lincoln"

 

One thing I'm wondering about, though. People on my facebook keep referring to the "cowards" that pulled off 9/11. What exactly makes them cowardly? I think they did something terrible, but s*** they gave up their lives to do it.

 

I was in 5th grade and on a field trip the entire day at some creek.

 

When we came back, the teacher told us about the incident and I thought somebody crashed planes into the UN because I didn't know the difference between the UN building and the WTC.

 

It's a shame...I should have known since I went to NYC like 2 months before that.

[Steve9347]

"I hope it isn't a suicide sicko"

Bad teacher

 

The teacher then gave us a speech about how if this is found to be the acts of a foreign country or terrorist organization that we are the generation thats going to be asked to fight back.

Awesome teacher

[Y2HH]

Anyone remember this?

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29515785/911.mp3

 

Or this?

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29515785/911-2.mp3

[LittleHurt05]

Interview with a survivor from the 81st floor

[southsider2k5]

I was working on the floor of the Chicago Options exchange at the time. I remember someone coming down to the lunchroom (trading day hadn't started yet) below the trading floor to say that a plane had hit the WTC. We all went upstairs where the TVs were and stood in the pits and watched the TVs. There had to be about a thousand people on the floor when the second plane hit. I have never heard that floor so quiet, especially when full. Quickly the floor and the buildings were evacuated. They shepherded us out on the Financial Plaza. As the rumors about 10 more planes in the air circulated, the rumors about a plane headed for the Sears Tower were also flying around. Anyone who has ever been on Financial Plaza knows that when you look up, you are almost in the shadow of the Sears Tower, which is only about three blocks away. I jumped on the first train out of downtown with a buddy, who later drove me home because I didn't want to wait for my train to be ready to leave. We didn't trade again for that entire week. When we returned, we had traders in our crowd from the AMEX who weren't able to access their trading floors because of the destruction which had caused damage to their building and floors.