It has been 9 years today since the terrible attack on our country. It is one of those events where you will always remember where you were the moment you heard. Please share where you were on that fateful day.
I was 18 and I was driving to the store. They interrupted the song on the radio to say a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Of course I thought it was one of those small 4 seater planes. By the time I got back to my mother’s house she had it on the television. We watched in horror and then she turned to me and said she believed a plane would hit the pentagon and sadly she was right.
I was a SAHM at the time with our youngest child. She was 4 months old and the older two were already at school. I watched in horror as I called my husband to tell him that we were under attack. He was on his way home and we watched both towers collapse. I can remember just feeling empty the rest of the day. I still cry to this day when I think of everything that happened that day.
I was 28 years old and 4 mths pregnant with my son. I worked at an OB/GYN’s office and we had a big tv in our kitchen area. My 1st thought was that the plane had problems and veered off course. Then as I was watching, I saw the 2nd plane hit. I was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to think. Then someone started talking about it being a terroist attack and I just couldn’t wrap my mind around someone doing that. I remember exactly what I was wearing that day. The office almost shut down that morning since all the employees were sqeezed in the kitchen. Then we heard that the Pentagon was hit and I started getting really scared. Also my father-n-law worked at the Pentagon occassionally and my husband couldn’t get in touch w/ him. I just wanted to leave work and go home to be w/ my family. My heart goes out to the families whose loved ones perished in the attacks.
I had just graduated college and was at work. Ironically I was getting ready to take a group of college students out of the country for 9 weeks. We managed to get the trip off despite everything. We didn’t have tv and had limited access to internet and phones so when I came back to the US it was a different place.
I was 19 and driving to work in Orlando… I waited tables at a restaurant downtown. I heard on Howard Stern’s radio show and thought it was a joke at first.
I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s remembrances from that awful day. It makes me even more thankful to live in America… to read the variety in people’s lives in this free country, and yet how one event, no matter how terrible, can unite us all.
I was “teaching a class full of innocent children”- well, as innocent as the teenagers could be, I suppose! I was pregnant with my first and had a major contraction when I saw the second plane hit. My husband, a youth minister at the time, was subbing that day. Eventually I went on to bedrest due to pre-e until Dec. and my husband ended up deciding to become an Officer in the USAF because of it. He wanted to do his part. So, everyday, when he puts on his boots and his uniform, I am reminded of that fateful day!
I was actually with my newborn son (only 1 month old) and his father, he is a marine and was on leave, (stationed in Japan) for the birth of our son. We were out finishing up errands for the purchase of a car we were buying before he was to leave to finish up his tour in Japan only a few days later. Much to our surprise when we walked into the insurance agency was when we found out what had happened. We were in shock, my boyfriend was frantic since he knew what this meant for his duty to his country and i was in shock what with all the chaos and having a new baby, my emotions were already messed up and to couple it with this news as well..We immediately went home and sat with our families in disbelief for what seemed to be days. It was a horrible time for our country. The only thing that i was grateful for was since the planes weren’t flying, he was able to stay with us a little while longer. He did go back to Japan and finish his time there, only to be deployed in the war twice and is getting ready to go back again next year. Oddly enough we are not together anymore, he married and had a baby with his new wife..the baby was born on September 11 a couple of years ago. Ironic to say the least. I still feel pain when i think of that time and what everyone else went through. I don’t think that anyone had dry eyes throughout our country during that time. We all felt pain.
I was living and teaching in a town with an Air Force Base, an Army Ranger camp, and a military helicopter ops training field and a Navy base (the Navy base is about an hour away; the rest are within 10 minutes of my school/house). My supervisor came through just after the second plane hit the Towers and told me to tell the students gently. So many of them were military kids, and they knew immediately that it meant that Mommy or Daddy would have to leave for a while. About half my class was checked out of school early that day, due to the fact that a parent was having to ship out right away.
I worked just 2 blocks away from the WTC (just started working there about a month or so), the boss had me on a trial basis so luckily for me I worked in the afternoon. If not for that trial basis I would have been on the train or walking to work when the first plane hit the towers, I think I was pretty lucky.
When the first plane hit the towers I was driving home from dropping my sister off at college, driving home there were cars stopped on the side of the parkway just looking across the way to Manhattan, you could see the smoke. I heard on the radio what had happened and was in complete shock, our phones werent working so I couldnt get in touch with my sister, I wanted to go pick her up, but had no idea where she would be. When I went home I told my father what had happened and we put the news on, we could also see the towers from my street. I will never forget seeing a big blast of smoke at one moment and then not being able to see one of the towers, that was when it crumbled and fell, it was unbelievable.
It is so true and I was telling my mom today, this was a day that you can never forget what you were doing at the moment when the planes hit the towers.
My cousin was actually on the phone with a friend of his when the first tower went down, his friend worked on the 98th floor. Everytime I think about 9/11 and what happened I always cry.
My now husband worked for the NYPD and was there for days on end sleeping in his car, he said it was the most horrific scene he had ever experienced in his life. I met my husband a little over a year after 9/11. I’m sort of glad that I didn’t know him then because I would have been going crazy worrying about him (I’m a worrier). He doesn’t work for the NYPD anymore but he does work for the Port Authority now, which is worse because he would be one of the first ones on the scene if something like this happens again (praying that it doesn’t). He has to work every year on 9/11, and I know that’s hard for him bcz it brings back memories of that day. In God we Trust!! We Will Never Forget!!!
In New york City as I lived there.
I watched from my window ,it looked at the WTC.
I still suffer from depression,and I don’t think it will ever go away….
I was in 9th grade and in 2nd period. Someone came into my Spanish class and told my teacher to turn the TV on. My teacher confidently said that it would be ok and that those buildings were designed to withstand that. Unfortunately, he was wrong times two. In every class after that, we watched TV. When my mom picked me up, she was frantic and said she never thought she’s see something like that.
I too, remember the first time after that I heard a plane. We were outside in PE and we all just stopped and stared at the sky. It doesn’t seem like it’s been 9 years. I have many friends who are in the military. God bless them and all military personnel and families!
The night before my soon to be hubby and I where actually online getting ready to book our honeymoon but I decided to wait since we had not gotten the final conformation letter from the church.
I was at home asleep, when I got a phone call from him. HE said turn on the TV. I turned it on and saw the 1st tower on fire. WE stayed on the phone and watched the 2nd plane hit the other tower is total shock. I still remember the utter dismay we where in.
A few days later we got back his final roll of film from being in NJ and NY in april. Pictures of the Twin Towers where in them. We still shake out heads when we think about it and that they are no longer there.
God Bless America and all of the Brave Men and WOmen who has lost their lives defending our country in the past, the present & the future.
My sister and I were getting ready for school and we always watched the same tv show while getting ready. I remember the show we usually watched wasn’t on and instead we watched the news coverage. When we got to school we went from class to class but just watched the news all day in all of our classes. We just kept asking Why? Why did this happen and are we going to be bombed here?
I was asleep when it happened. My husband called, woke me up, and had me turn the TV on. In my semi conscious stupor, I couldn’t understand why every channel was playing the same movie…and the same scene. It had to be a movie, right? Things like that only happens in movies, right? When I was finally alert enough to realize that it was news, and that it really happened, I spent the next 7+ hrs of my life frantically calling close family who lived near the WTC at the time. In fact, the subway train my mother took to work ran directly under the WTC and it was right around time she was commuting to work, like many others. I couldn’t get a hold of her. I was able to get a hold of an aunt who was rushing out the door to pick her kids up from school and I will never forget the sounds coming through the phone…panic, fear, sirens, more panic. I’ve never felt so scared and helpless in my life. I was 1600 miles away from my family who was essentially trying to process what happened and fleeing from what seemed like a war zone. No one had heard from my mom. I paced around for hours watching the TV, checking my phone to make sure it was working, praying I’d get a call from my mom to let me know she wasn’t buried under the WTC. Thankfully, the call from my mom came later that evening. I think I peed myself a little and cried when I heard her voice. Thankfully, my family survived, but the stories they’ve told me of the day, I won’t soon forget.
My husband and I were on vacation in California. If he had not been on vacation he was scheduled to be in a meeting that morning a block from the towers. We were on the very first flight when we were allowed to fly again. Very nerve racking being the first flight in the air once they were going again. I remember when the flight attendants went through announcing where the exits were and what to do in an emergency EVERYBODY was listening!
I live on the west coast and was still asleep. My husband woke me up and said “We are under attack. Planes are being hijacked and are crashing into buildings, Washington DC and New York even the Pentagon. 50 thousand people are dead. There are still planes in the air so we are not safe.” How surreal, I could not put the pieces together in my mind seeing planes crashing into buildings people running from falling buildings. Because I worked at night I was still sleepy but knew it was not a dream. I could only deal with seeing people falling from the towers by imaging Gods hands are cradling them as they fall.
I know not what the families of the fallen have delt with these past 9 years, but I pray that they can hear our prayers for them. Thank you to those who continue to honor those who lost their lives that day.
I was at work and a client came in & told us. We watched the second tower get hit, then all of us girls in the office left to get our kids from school. We live in New Jersey, close enough that we had smoke from the collapse for days. It was very frightening, my college roommate’s mom worked in the towers (safe), an ex-boyfriend’s mom worked there (safe), and people I went to high school with (some safe, some not). It was horrible waiting to hear who was safe and who was not. I will never forget sitting in front of the tv with tears streaming down my face for hours & hours.
I was pregnant with my son at the time and had a doctor appt that day across town. My husband called to tell me to turn tv on and what had happened and to be careful driving that day. My son was born 3 days later. I remember watching all the news coverage about what had happened on 9/11.
I was 18 and staggering out of bed getting ready for class. As I sat in front of the TV waiting for breakfast to cook, I remember just staring at the news – they replayed the first tower’s hit over and over – then I realized, one of those “replays” was a second hit. It was quite scary, but shortly after that I had to go to class. I was “greeted” by several armed soldiers turning me away from my college…it was next to a major port here in Florida. I went home later only to realize that a family friend was on Flight 11 (hit the 1st tower), he was on his way home (he was a roadie on a concert tour) to be with his wife for the birth of their 2nd child, who was born 2 days later.
The next day – when school reopened – there was the latest passenger list on the cafe wall. It was there I learned my cousin had been on Flight 175 (hit the 2nd tower), that’s the one I had unknowingly watched live.
I heard it on the radio on my way to Sam’s. While I was in Sam’s there was nothing but silence, and it seem that the traffic on the roads where going in slow motion. Everyone was just sad.
I was 15 and a freshman in high school. I had stayed home sick that day and I don’t remember if I got out of bed or if my mom came and got me but I remember coming out to the living room and curling up in the old black leather chair with my blanket and watching the news coverage as the second plane hit and then the announcement of the pentagon and a fourth plane coming down in PA.
I was in class (6th grade I think) when the first plane hit. They didn’t tell us anything at all. My mom came and picked me up for my dentist appointment about an hour after the second plane hit. The office was acting really funny that day. They called me too the office and I had to verbally say that my mom was my mom and that I had a dentist appointment before they let me go. I still didn’t know what was going on until while I was having the floride(sp?) treatment at the dentist one of the hygenist turned the tv up and thats when I heard what was going on.
I woke up that morning and went to Walmart. The store had big televisions that hang and that is when I saw what was happening. Everyone in the store including me, just stood there staring at the t.v. in silence for a very long time. I was in shock for days. I am so thankful for everyday and for the heroes who continue to fight for our freedom.
I was asleep and my best friend woke me up she was on the tarmac at the airport coming out to CA from Mobile for my wedding which was the 22nd. She called to tell me they were grounding her flight. My hubby didn’t hear it happen he was in a tunnel on his way to work. My aunt was getting ready to take of from JFK when hit happened and my aunt was getting ready to go home and on the tarmac in SFO. Needless to say it turned our world upside down a bit. So sad.
I was in New York working as a nanny. We would have had the morning news on but my boss was in the hospital having an operation so we didnt have it on that day. I walked across central park to meet some friends who told me what had happened so I went straight back to work. On the walk back people had the news blaring from the radios of parked cars and I heard them asking for all off duty medical and emergency personel to report for work. The thing that I remember most that day was the helicopters. The sky was full of them. I learnt afterwards that they were watching the sky for more planes. I picked up the older girl from school and we watched it all unfolding on tv.
The days following were surreal in New York. They sealed off the bridges in and out of the city so there was no traffic except for military vehicles and no-one on the street was smiling. It is hard to describe what that feels like to walk through a city of despair where people are openly crying as they walk. And of course the posters everywhere of people who were being looked for. We were asked not to use our cell phones for a few days so they could keep signals open for people who may be trapped in the rubble and potentially trying to call. And the worry that there may be more planes. That we would wake up in the morning to some new horror.
I will never forget those days. They are etched in me forever. My heart broke for the kids too as their innocence was over. There was a little girl in class with one of the children I looked after who was a refugee from Bosnia I believe. As the papers started to talk about war she told all the children from her personal experience what that would mean. They were terrified there would be terrorists coming into their homes and shooting them. Dark dark days
We were talking about this over lunch today – explaining to our kids what had happened and how the world has changed since 9/11. We figured they were old enough now to understand what “terrorism” is. Neither one remembers pre-9/11 so they don’t know what life was like before or remember a time before this country was at war.
9/11 was a teaching day for me; I was on campus giving a lecture on law enforcement when a student walked in late and asked to interrupt the class. I was rather taken aback but said okay, and he told us that a plane had crashed into the WTC. We all thought it was fairly minor and I continued on with the lecture. Class ended soon after and my next class began – I had two back-to-back that term. Most of the students were in both and stayed on, but some new ones came in and told us more about what was happening. We tried to have class, this one was on criminological theory (yeah, I even remember the specific courses I was teaching) but none of us could concentrate and I finally said that we needed to stop class and all go listen to the news. An hour or two later, the administration announced that all classes were canceled for the rest of the day, and I think the next couple of days as well. I was quite frantic as my uncle and aunt live in NY and are often in the city for business, and we could not get hold of them for several days. A number of my students were police officers and some of them were among the groups that drove up from Florida to NYC to help out. Very brave and dedicated people.
I had a 2.5 yr old and 7 month old and we had actually slept n til 0815. I turned on 1 of the morning shows and really didn’t know what I was watching. Small town America and didn’t even know what the twin towers was. I remember seeing the president talking and that when I really realized what was going on. I then kept watching w my kids playing n front of me and they cut 2 the pentagon and now there was heavy smoke there 2. I had a really weird, uneasy feeling but couldn’t figure out y. It took me 45 minutes 2 realize that my baby brother was working @ the pentagon. He had only been there a couple of months. When the reality hit me, I literally screamed out 2 God 4 his safety. I called his wife and she was a screaming, crying mess. I had 2 call my parents and family as 2 what was happening. We heard nothing 4 over 4 hours because the cell lines were jammed. He had 2 wait n line 2 use the payphone a couple miles away 4 hours. It felt Luke days before we found out that he was ok. Come 2 find out, if it had happened 10 minutes earlier, he wouldn’t b here 2day. He and another tech had just left the offices that were hit and were down the hall when the plane hit. He said that they were n a storage computer room and the impact threw them across the room. They instantly thought it was plane since they had been watching it n NY unfold on the tv. He and his friend helped evacuate the building and helped people out. It affected a friend he worked with who had taken the day off. His friend was playing golf and his wife was n the part of the building that was hit. Hurt horribly and lots of recovery time. Their child happened 2 b on the plane that hit the pentagon. It’s a very rare day that I don’t think of the horrible day that God took his hand of mercy off of our country 4 just a moment.
I was in college in Los Angeles and my boyfriend called to say something had hit the first tower. I didn’t understand and went back to sleep. Then a few hours later went and turned on the TV and my roomie and I sat there glued the rest of the day, and the next few days. All our classes were cancelled that day and the next day, so we just huddled and cried and tried to understand what had happened. I just remember feeling how eerie it was to have no airplanes in the sky. and how grateful I was that my brother hadn’t accepted a job in NYC at one of the WTC buildings. He’d stayed in CA instead.
I was home sick due to being pregnant thought omg what would make someone due that! I am actually right now watching something on TV about 9-11 how so many think it was an inside job–wow some of the things they say really make you think..the pieces just dont all add up. Sept 2001 was the worst month for me Sept 17th I found out that I had miscarried. But the crazy thing is Sept 17th 2002 was my due date once I did get pregnant –which was just a month after I miscarried!!
I had taken the day off work to do get the house ready for the birth of our son — my husband called from work to tell me what had happened and to turn on the tv. I did just as the 2nd plane hit – for a minute we thought it was a “replay” of the first one — we could not believe it! My mother came over and we sat there watching tv in disbelief. Thanks to all those that make our freedom possible! God bless America!
I was in the post office of my university wondering why noone was out front ready to help me mail my stuff. I heard blips and pieces of the story there, but the first TV images I saw were when I walked back to my dorm. Wow, no wonder the post office employees took awhile to help me. School was not canceled for the day, but our chapel service was turned into a special prayertime.
My husband and I went with my family to breakfest that morning to celebrate my brother’s 21st Birthday (yep, he turned 21 that very day). Afterwards we went home and decided to catch a nap before we had to go to work in the afternoon. My husband slept through the whole thing and had to watch all the reruns about it but my mom called me and we sat on the phone most of the time in disbelief as we watched it unfold on TV.
I was a building substitute in an elementary school. After parents started finding out what had happened, we had a mass district wide pick-up of students. We were left with classrooms full of 4-8 kids. We also took turns watching each others’ students so we could keep updated on what was happening around the nation as well as in New York. I still remember how much things have changed since that tragic day. I still cry when I see those images. My prayers and thoughts go out to those who have lost someone special to them that day.
My girls were just a few months old & I had gone back to college. I was in a photography class and was inside the darkroom while it happened. They closed the school down within the hour & I remember being almost frantic to get back to my babies and take them home.
I was in a college class in the DC area (northern va) and someone came in and told the professor about the World Trade Center being hit and I was the only one around me who knew what that was. I’m from Long Island and called my then boyfriend now husband who was in a high school class at the time. I was worried for his Dad who worked in manhattan for ConEd (electric company in the city). He didn’t hear from his Dad all day but thankfully he was alright. He didn’t get to come home for days though- trying to get the city back up and running in different areas. He took some horribly moving photos of up close that now hang in his office.
I just had my daughter a few weeks before that happened and was on maternity leave. My husband was home and I slept in for once. He woke me up and told me to watch TV. Talk about post partum depression.
I woke up to the radio DJ’s talking about it. I was 20 with a 1 year old daughter living in a tiny, rural town in Wisconsin. I remember feeling bad for the people, but not truly feeling “affected.” My biggest worry was that my best friend was an air traffic controller in the Air Force. She was stationed at Offutt AFB where the President ended up flying too. I was afraid that there would be an attack there.
Little did I know that in a couple of years I would meet my Husband, a soldier in the US Army. I am now “affected.” My Husband is currently on his 3rd deployment in our 6 year marriage. Although I feel naive now for my reaction to it at the time, I am hoping to take my kids to NYC someday to show them that there is a lot in life to be thankful for.
I was working at Lowe’s and was actually working a reset in the lighting department when it all went down. We would take turns going into the break room to hear what was going on, but we was getting phone call from family and friends who was letting us know what was going on. A part time cashier worked at the Pentagon. Thank God she was alright.
I was 16 in high school and in my english class. Our whole class, and probably the whole school watched in horror on the small tv in the classrooms. We were all in tears, and i think that a lot of the kids left early that day.
I was at home getting the kids up and dressed and breakfast, so I hadn’t turned the TV on yet. Then I got a call from my mom who asked if I had seen the TV, which I thought was an odd question. Then she explained that planes had hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. And now they were grounding all airplanes so no air travel until further notice. Any other time the no fly restriction would not have mattered to me since we really don’t fly much, but this time it was a big deal because my DH was at a conference in Indiana and was scheduled to fly home the next day. Of course, that didn’t happen. It was a tense few days keeping in constant contact to find out when and if he would be able to fly back safely to AZ. Thank goodness he was only delayed by a couple days. I’ve never been so happy to see him in my life!
I was in the the 9th grade taking a childhood education class and was actually working in the daycare center across from the technical high school. When I came back to the classroom everyone was talking about what had happened and one student was very upset because she was from New York and her mother was flying back that day to make more arrangements for moving permanetly to Georgia. Her mom was ok. It was terrifying and the days following were even worse when we saw everyday all the things that had happened and the lives that were lost. I will never forget that day.
I was in a college class. I remember the teacher saying a plane has hit the world trade center, go home. I drove an hour home to watch it with my mom.
I was sleeping when my husband called that morning to tell me to turn on the news, that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. My daughter was two weeks old, and she slept on my chest on the couch as I watched the news. It was horrific. May we never forget…
I was in my car driving to work. I turned on the radio and they were talking about an attack in New York. I was 23 years old and 37 weeks pregnant with my daughter.
I called my husband, but he was out of cell service. I called my parents and scared them pretty bad, they could barely understand me through the crying.
I only stayed at work for 30 minutes, then I went home and stared at the TV for hours.
One of the worst days, ever.
I was a senior in High school in advance Spanish class, which was me and 1 other girl, we had finished our work and we were flipping through the channels and saw the first plane in the building and saw the 2nd plane hit. I ran upstairs to my history teacher and told her what was happening we were all in disbelief. We had a senior trip planned for NY that spring, but we still went.
I was 19 and working night shift at Toyota, so I slept during the day. I slept through the whole thing until someone called to tell me that we didn’t have to go to work that night. I sat in my living room the rest of the day and watched the news.
I was 8 months pregnant, had our daughter exactly one month later. I was waiting to take my mom to pick up her car from the shop and had the today show on, I didn’t stop watching all day and just remember feeling shocked and saddened.
Wow I remeber this day like it was yesterday. I cant beleive it has been 9 years. I was in 1st period eigth grade year. WE were all expecting the school news to come on but instead it was the principal. All he said is this is important for everyone to see then it was switched to the news. They wouldnt let us leave we stayed in that class all day long it was odd. My mother came and got me and my sisters from school. I cant beleive its been so long man am i getting old
I was in college in a large lecture class (350 students). When I walked out of class at 10:50am, people were everywhere just standing staring up at the tv’s in the common area. I heard someone say something about a bomb. I didn’t really know what was going on, and it was too noisy and crowded to hear anything. It was my last class of the day and I had to go to work, so I walked to my car and found out about the planes hitting the world trade center on the radio.
I was also at Disney World, but I was working there. I was in the tunnel beneath the Magic Kingdom changing into my costume, when I heard that the first tower had been struck. Then I passed a break room with a television and saw the second plane hit the other tower. I then went “on stage” and helped evacuate the park…the second time in Disney’s history.
We were living in Arlington, VA and my husband worked at the Pentagon. Our daughter was 2.5 months. We waited until noon, and finally got a call from him that he was ok. It took longer to figure out if family/friends living in NYC were ok.
I was 16 and in the hall at my high school and a friend came running through the crowds of students yelling “We’ve been bombed!” (since at that time everything was still so chaotic and people were trying to figure out what was happening) Needless to say there was no more “school” that day, we watched the news in every class.
9/11 is also my mom’s birthday.
I was at work. I had only been there for two weeks so I couldn’t leave. I am from Somerset County, PA where one of the planes hit! I had gotten married that summer and moved 45 minutes away to a town called Bedford, PA. I even remember exactly what I was wearing. I was at my desk and a guy came in and said about the first tower being hit. Everyone then went to the break room to watch the news. Then I heard about the Pentegon and my husbands cousin had been working there at the time, so needless to say I was getting even more freaked out! When they said that there was then a plane that went down in Somerset I can’t tell you the emotions that went through me. I kept trying to call my parents who worked in the school system there and could not get through because the phone lines were flooded. My husband was able to go home because he works here for the federal government but I had to keep working and it was horrible. When I finally got more information about the crash in Somerest, I was so thankful that it didn’t hit any of the towns. The people on board were truely heros. Horrible day that no one will ever forget.
I was in NY on business. I had checked out of my hotel as it was to be my last day in NY and had gone to the office where I was to be working for the day. My colleague and I were eating breakfast when a gal walked in and said “hey, I just heard on the radio that a plane flew into the World Trade Center.” We both instantly said “poor fellow” thinking it was another case of a small plane veering off course. It had happened years before with a small, private plane. Within minutes we would find out just how wrong we were.
My flight home was canceled, of course. Hotels were not allowed to take reservations. Had it not been for the generosity of my NY colleagues I would have been without overnight accommodations. We had other colleagues in from Switzerland & the 5 of us were put up in a hotel where the company maintained a block of rooms for litigation purposes.
With the airports closed I had to rent a car late the next day (the last jalopy on the premises) and drive home. For 12 hours I heard “God Bless the USA” and all the other patriotic songs. Honestly, I was fed up with it. I was screaming all the way home “How did this happen?” “Why was no one monitoring these (bleep’s) visas?!?!”
I was so angry. But the thing I remember most was the silence in the air. We live near a large airport and an even larger naval base. With all commercial flights grounded it was so weird to hear no noise in the sky. I still remember the moment when I finally heard a plane in the sky again. I was hanging clothes on my clothesline and finally heard the jet noise. It was so surreal.
I was sitting home by myself. Kids were in school.
My now hubby however, was in DC with his mom. She had to be there for work and when he was free he would sometimes travel with her. Her job decided to continue on with their scheduled meetings since they couldnt leave anyway. Nobody was allowed to leave.
I had just had my 3rd child 3 months before, I had called a friend of mine at work to see if she wanted to meet up for lunch. She answered the phone and barely spoke, she said oh my God Heather are you seeing this? I turned on the TV and sat there in total disbelief. We sat on the phone, silent for over 45 minutes.
I was at my first job in the school system. I’m a Speech Pathologist. I was doing paperwork and went to another therapist’s room. She had a little t,v hooked up and was watchng it. She said both towers were gone and I was like, “Huh? Both what?” It was sheer panic after that. People were running to the ATMs and in loooooong lines to get gas. After work I just went straight home. Scary times really. Poor DH had planned a little surprise party for me for that evening and needless to say that didn’t go as planned.
I also taught first grade at the time. The principal came to my classroom and told me in the hallway what was going on. We had a 1/2 day teacher work day that day. We didn’t say anything to the kids. After they left, we watched it all unfold on T.V. and made plans on how we were going to help the children deal with this crisis.
My daughter was just 9 months old. I wasn’t watching the news shows that morning. I was driving (daughter in the back seat) just a mile down the street from our house to pick up some photos I had developed. Turned on the radio to hear that there had been an accident of some kind involving a plane, details were sketchy. Watched the coverage in horror that day. I recall praying for everyone. And days spent trying to find out if a friends younger sister was okay (turned out she was on vacation so not in the towers). And 3 days tracking down a friend and her husband that were both working at the pentagon at the time.
I was at work developing pictures. I worked in the photo lab at Winn Dixie down here in Alabama. I am from New Jersey, so it was close to home right away for me. Once I heard it was definitely terrorism I knew it’s impact would be nationwide. I was pregnant with my oldest daughter who was due in October. I remember wondering what was she going to be born into. Would terrorist attacks become a regular thing? We have such a great country and an even greater God. We have truly been blessed and protected. I am so thankful to all the men and women serving our country and doing what it takes everyday to keep us safe!
I was sitting on our couch feeding my 4 month old little boy his bottle. I was watching Good Morning America and sat in disbelief as I watched the news coverage. Praying for all the people who lost loved ones!
I was in my 8th grade drama class. We turned on the television for some reason and the news channel was the first thing on. My teacher looked at the screen and said, “Oh my God.” From that point on, we all watched what was going on in terror.
I was a freshman in college and first heard in an English class that there was an “accident” at the World Trade Center. About an hour later while walking to physics class I saw on TV what was happening. A lot of friends at school had family, neighbors, and friends in NYC…
I was in seventh grade and heading from my first class to gym class. My history teacher came out and told the hallway what had happened. We talked about it in gym class, but didn’t see anything until we got back to history.
I was home when my daughter called with the news. She said it looked like an accident. I immediately thought terrorism. We spent most of the day waiting to hear if my son-in-law’s brother made it out of the AMEX building. His cell cut off just as he said they weren’t evacuating. They did and he walked uptown and across the bridge to New Jersey before he could notify his wife and family. I’ll never forget.
I was in 7th grade English class. I had walked into school late because I had an orthodontist appointment and as soon as I walked in they told us to turn the tvs on and we watched it happen. It was scary and that was all we had on tv all day. Classes stopped and we talked about it with our teachers.
I worked at a hotel I did housekeeping. the owner did front desk and had us all come into the office to see what was going on as soon as it came on the news then we watched for a while and kept it on in all the rooms we were cleaning the rest of the day. Still heartbreaking. Gone but never forgotten.
I was a Senior in high school. I was in my 1st hour Journalism class that just happened to be in an office right off of the main office of the school. I was standing at the counter in the main office watching the TV with a classmate as we’d do a lot of the mornings. I will never forget being so confused and purely shocked at what I was seeing. I remember just feeling so dumb that entire week. I’d spend every moment I could in front of a TV watching everything unfold. I never knew just how much that day would effect my life. Over 1/3 of my graduating class and the class below me signed up to serve in the armed forces. Too many of my friends have had tours (sometimes multiple tours) in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve known men that have lost their lives, legs, and/or who have been badly injured.
God bless America!
I was actually at Disney World – I was in Blizzard Beach in line to get on the chairlift.
A friend called me right after I sent the kids off to school, and told me to turn on the television. I watched the second plane hit, watched as people jumped from the building, and then watched as we learned the Pentagon was hit as well. I still remember the squeak of the wood floor as I ran through the livingroom into the bedroom to tell my husband what had happened. I don’t personally know anyone who died in the towers, but I can’t help but cry every time I think of their families, and those brave, brave first responders who put themselves in harms way to help save others. God bless America!
Like in the song, I was “teaching a class full of innocent children.” I taught first grade at the time, and our school secretary came in to tell me that she would cover my class and I needed to go for an urgent meeting the the teacher’s lounge. Our principal had it on the lounge TV and debriefed us on what to tell our students and how to handle it.