9/11...10 Years

[05crownsport]

In just over a month, we will mark the tenth year since our nation was so brutally attacked. I was wondering if everyone here remembered where they were and what you were doing as the news got to you? I will share first.

I was a merchandiser at the local Miller Beer distributor and was in the sign shop making signs. My manager walks in and tells us to turn on the TV. The first plane had hit, and all we could think is what a horrible accident...until the second plane hit. Just like the people who were bringing us this news, we were in disbelief. As the progression of the morning dictated, we were all huddled around this little 13" TV watching...all silent...tears in our eyes. So, just like generations before us who remember Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King... Elvis? We must remember to let those who perished have a voice. Put aside what makes us different and remember that we were attacked because of our ability to do so...

So, where were you when the world changed?

[ImpalaSlayer]

sitting in my 8th grade social studies class.

[Motorhead350]

High school. In between classes at 9:10 in the morning I hear a teacher say to another teacher what happened. 15 minutes later it's announced on our P.A.

We can all thank the existence of religion for 9/11.

[MrBluGruv]

I was in 6th grade, in my second class of the morning, when one of the other teachers came in to tell us to turn on the TV, something important was happening. At the time it didn't really make a lot of sense though, when you are 10 or 11 things don't click as well...

[Shaijack]

At East Jefferson Hospital, wife was having minor surgery. I was in the recovery room waiting for her. Mom In Law was with me.

[gdsqdcr]

At work. We turned on the news when someone came into the office and said we needed to watch. My company lost 4 employees day in Tower 1.

As a result of that, I decided I wanted to be a first responder. Someone who could be called to help those in need. 10 years later, my current employer let's me proudly serve with CATF-3.

Anthony

[CWright]

I was riding along in North West Georgia along back road headed to Flintstone Georgia. I got a call from one of the offices I work in and they told me what happened. I'll never forget that moment or that day! My blood still starts to BOIL when I think about what happened!

[risky]

I was sleeping it was my day off and my friend from college called me and told me to turn on the tv And that a plane had hit the first tower. I was watching the tv and I though i was dreaming. It didn't click until I saw the second plane hit.

[loud2004marquis]

Beginning of my senior year in high school, in photography class.

[guspech750]

I was at work drilling some 75' holes for an expansion of a hospital in Elgin. When we got news of what was going on, we hurried on over and sat in our support truck listening to the radio feeling very helpless:(

Sent from my iPhone
Go White Sox!!!

[robertmee]

I was at home when my then wife called and said a plane had just crashed. I thought it was a prop plane similar to a previous event many years ago. I turned on the news about the time the 2nd plane hit.

[Motorhead350]

With all due respect, very much incorrect. 9/11 was not born of religious idealogy. It was politcally and economically motivated. Read up on the guys that committed this act of terrorism and you'll find most were drunks, rejects and not very religious in nature at all. No, these were violent extremists who manipulated religous doctrine for their own purposes. I'm not about to say that religion hasn't caused it's fair share of bloodshed throughout history. But in this case.....no.



You can't be serious. Do you know who planned the attack? :shake:

[robertmee]

Zippity Doo Dah, Zippity Day :D

[yjmud]

I was working at the Car-X in Schaumburg wishing I could go home
It was very eerie with no planes besides fighter jets in the sky

[DEFYANT]

I respectfully request that that this thread be filtered for any content that is off topic and deleted! Never thought I'd say that, but a thread like this needs to not be derailed into a pissing contest over who or how or why 9/11 happened.


I was still a subscriber to AOL at the time. I had just sat down at my computer with my morning coffee and saw the headline that a plane had hit the tower. The news was reporting as if it was an accident. My mental image was of a small cessna / puddle jumper plane flown by an inexperienced pilot coming to close and hitting the WTC. I went about my online business....

Some of you know my ex, Lisa. At the time we were still married. Our 2 kids were only a year and a half and 3 months. She was working (from home) down stairs. I went down to see her and the kids and share the news of the WTC. Being from NY, she'd be interested.

I clicked on the TV, flipped over to the news, sat down and watched. I was supprised to see it was a commercial plane that hit. But I had suspected this was no accident. I remembering still holding hope that it was. Lisa and I were watching the news as the second plane hit. I went numb. I looked over at my two little ones, oblivious to the horrific events unfolding in real time, sad because I knew the world had just changed for them and would never be the same.

Of course we know the rest of the events of the day. Being a police officer, the commanders were taking names for vol. to go to NY (or where ever). We were not needed, thankfully. By the time I hit the road (4-12 shift), all four planes had crashed and the FAA had grounded all flights. I'll never forget driving my patrol car, observing the blank emotionless stares of the other drivers. All were driving slow and very deliberatly... Phone circuits to NY were all out.

My first call of the day was some guy who called to complain that his kids bike was missing. Suddenly, I was the guy with the blank stare, looking at this guy. Really dude? Life as we know it just changed and you're worried about a figgin bike?

I took the report and moved on.

I will mention I knew a NYFD firefighter who died that day. I dedicate this small rememberance to firefighter Andre Fletcher.

[MrBluGruv]

I respectfully request that that this thread be filtered for any content that is off topic and deleted! Never thought I'd say that, but a thread like this needs to not be derailed into a pissing contest over who or how or why 9/11 happened.

Hear, hear.

[gdsqdcr]

Hear, hear.


I second it. This is a post about where you were ... Not why.

[robertmee]

Done and Done :)

[MM2004]

Working 2nd shift in the Quality Dept. at that time, Caitlin just under 2 years old, and my cell phone rings around 10:15AM EST.

A friend of mine at Division Office in Toledo Ohio on the other end says..." Turn on TV and watch, I gotta go!". And hung up.

I tunred on the television and could not believe what I was seeing. Is this a dream? Is it real?

Holding my daughter tightly and feeding her breakfast, I watched intently of what was unfolding in the "Big Apple".

Scared. Overwhelmed. Disbelief.

Tempted to take the day off, I forced myself to go to my office in spite of what happened, and what I thought was going to happen.

As Charlie said,.. people in a daze, driving slow with fear in their eyes.

I was one with them.

And I prayed.

Mike.

[Ms. Denmark]

I was within walking distance.

[MOTOWN]

I was at cartunes in Roseville getting some speakers for my pick up, i remember watching the news release at the shop in total shock!

That day is a permenant part of my life, i remember praying friends who worked there were ok, some made it, some did not.

[jerrym3]

I was in my cubicle on the Jersey side of the Hudson River (right on the waterfront).

I heard about the first crash on internet radio. Ran outside expecting to see a little bit of smoke; couldn't believe my eyes.

Went back in. Heard about the second plane and the first building collapse.

Ran to a conference room window with about 40 other people.

From our angle, we could not see the tower that had fallen, only the one that was still standing.

Then, we saw that one go down. Some women cried. After the tower had fallen, the combination of smoke and the remaining buildings protruding from the smoke looked like tombstones from a foggy graveyard scene.

That day, our complex became home to hundreds, maybe thousands, of people taking whatever means they could to get out of Manhatten, but all roads to the waterfront were closed, so they became stranded.

My office phone rang. It was a friend of mine that had somehow managed to get back to Jersey from NY, asking if I could drive him home. My boss said "take off".

The ride home was like somthing from a 1950's sci/fi-horror movie. The access road to the Lincoln Tunnel, which is always filled with cars 24/7, was absolutely empty. Police had blocked off all incoming traffic a few miles away.

I was literally the only car on a major highway heading away from the waterfront.

I will never forget it. Lost two people that I had worked with at another company.

I learned that one guy (that I knew) and a woman were heading into the towers. She stayed behind to get coffee. He went to work.

She lived, he didn't.

Sorry for the long post.

[Serge]

I can't believe it's been 10 years already. I can still remember that whole day like it happened last week.

I was in my last year of high school and I had a spare when the attacks took place. I was catching up on some school work in an empty computer lab so I didn't hear about it until I went out of the room and overheard people talking. They were saying something about planes and Trade Center. I wasn't sure what was happening so I was walking down the hallway and took a glance into one of the classrooms and there I saw it. They had a TV showing smoke pouring from one of the towers.

I could go oh about the rest of the day but it's too painful to remember. Even though I was in Canada which is pretty far away it still felt close to home. Especially since I was in NY just a month prior and took pics of the towers.

[SpartaPerformance]

It was my day off too so I was home sleeping when Islamic terrorists attacked us.

[quick vic]

I was at work and some of the guys in the shop said evrerbody get over here and watch the news, A very sad day for all. I lost a uncle in NYPD he will always be in my thoughts and prayers.

[HammerDown]

Was our last day of vacation; "Fordfrk" and I were having breakfast in Wildwood, NJ, and heard some talk of a plane crash into the tower in NYC. Went back to motel to finish packing and turned on TV and saw the second plane crash. Spent a somber car ride back to Maryland listening all the while to the news radio reports..............

[justbob]

I was at work just starting to repair a brick wall that the home owner took out parking his car one day. I heard about the first one when a co-worker pulled up and told me. We listened just long enough that I was too concerned to concentrate on the job.

I drove home to be with the wife and kid, freshly mixed mortar just sitting in a bucket and all, and watched the second one hit on live tv.

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk

[Flynlow]

I was at work running our evaporator and distillation column when one of our maintenance guys walked upo and told me a plane hit WTC. At first I shrugged it off thinking, ok, a prop plane hit the tower.... A few minutes later same maintenance guy comes up and says another plane hit the WTC. At this point I started to wonder what was going on. I had to leave about 15 minutes after that latest news for a consult on an upcoming surgery. I had no radio in my car so had no clue what was going on. When I got to the hospital I heard some small talk about the planes hitting the towers. When I got took into the room I had to wait about 15 minutes for the surgeon, of course, and during that time I had the door cracked open and started to hear what was going on. I heard the nurses talking about how to Jets had hit the towers and that the Pentagon was hit also. At this point I thought, Ok, U.S. is under a full all out assualt, how did they hit the Pentagon? The surgeon came in to talk to me about the surgery and I looked at him and said, Yeah, I am not worried about my surgery right now, I think we are done for today, and left. I went home, turned on TV and called my boss, told him I would be in in awhile after I watch TV some, he was understanding, as work almost came to a standstill. I finally went back to work after about 2 hours of watching TV. It is truly funny how you do remember EVERY detail of the day, including weather. I always heard about people remembering the day JFK was murdered so vividly YEARS later and wondered, How? Now I know and will never forget !!

[Blackened300a]

I left the Bronx to get fuel in Astoria when I heard on the radio about a plane that hit the WTC. I went back to the Bronx and watched the 2nd plane hit from the lot I was in, at that point they shut the job down and I watched both towers fall while sitting in traffic on the Triboro bridge.
The rest of the day there were F-16s flying overhead and within a week after the event, that burning smell was reaching my apartment in Queens and lasted for the entire month.

Then to help the rescue effort out, we sent 4 drivers with flat-bed trailers to help move debris off the site for free just to do our part. The drivers worked 12hr shifts night and day for about 4 days until the NYPD stopped our trucks on Canal street and wrote the drivers tickets for "cut tires" Even after explaining that there is a 1000 tons of steel we are navigating through on site didn't prevent the cops from writing the fines. We pulled our drivers out and beat the tickets in court.
There is a traveling memorial made with some debris from the WTC that was on display in Grand central station that had our trucks featured. Ill try to find those pictures.

[Papillon]

I had just started my first “city job” and was there for not even a month when it happened. We heard about the 1st plane from one of my nurses… We watched out the window as all the ambulances and fire trucks came speeding down our street. We listened to the radio and heard everything unfold as we tried reaching my friend’s mom who worked across the street from the towers. The phone lines were a mess – couldn’t get in touch with her for a couple of hours until she finally called and said she was walking to our office on the upper east side from downtown. About an hour later, she walked in covered in dust and in a complete daze… We sat her in the exam room and took her vitals, etc. She told us about how she watched the 2nd plane hit, people jump to their death and the towers go down. Said it was utter chaos. Needless to say she was exhausted both mentally and physically. We didn’t get much work accomplished that day and none of my 13 scheduled patients showed up for their appointment.

My sister on the other hand was teaching her 11th grade history class that day. Her class room was directly facing downtown The principal came into the classroom and told her what was happening and instructed her to close the shades so the students wouldn’t see what was going on. Her response: “I’m a history teacher. This is history class. What’s happening will change history forever. I’m not closing the shades.” She sat with her kids and watched history unfold.

My eyes are welling up with tears as I write this. I can’t believe it’s almost 10 years already.

[Fosters]

I was getting ready to leave the house, had to get some stuff for my dad (his bday is 9/11), and head to class afterwards (college). When I turned on the TV while I was getting dressed, I pretty much did neither of the planned things... called up the parents (both at work) to let them know what was going on. It was my old man's saddest birthday by far, no one was in any mood to celebrate anything, none of us had anything to drink (and he's the type of guy who has a glass of red wine per day, every day, no more - except on birthdays and holidays, no less), no happy birthday sung, nothing.

The world did change that day.

[fastblackmerc]

Was working from home, watching what was happening on TV.

Was in Arlington, Va. the Friday before, staying at the Sheraton National Hotel. Could see the Pentagon from my room...........

[jimlam56]

I was in Milwaukee for a big conference. We were having a pre-conference sales meeting in a room next to the bar, so the TV was on.
As others have said, we at first thought it was an accident.
As events unfolded we realized that we were going to be stranded for days with all airports shut down.
We rented a car and all of us piled in to drive from Milwaukee to our home office in Allentown PA.
I will never forget the eerie feeling we all had on that drive, all of us processing the idea that our world had changed forever.
After the airports were opened again, that flight home to FL was also unforgettable.

[Bluerauder]

I posted \/\/\/\/\/\/\/ on the 5th anniversary. The events of that day are as clear as yesterday .... I'll never ..... ever forget.


11 September 2006

This coming Monday is the 5th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) complex, the Pentagon, and on UA Flight #93 over Shanksville, PA. A total of 2,973 persons were killed that day. Another 24 remain missing.

:flag: I will be flying my flag proudly on Monday “In Remembrance” of the victims and their families. Hope that you will join me in doing the same. Never forget. I won’t. :flag:

On the morning of 11 September 2001, I was checking out of the hotel at the US Military Academy at West Point, NY following a conference. As I was passing through the main gate in a rental car toward Highland Falls and Newark International Airport, I heard the first announcement of a small plane striking one of the towers at the World Trade Center. Initially, this struck me as very odd. I thought to myself that a small plane would have to work hard to hit such an obvious building. Maybe the pilot had a medical emergency and lost control of the aircraft.

About 15 minutes later, the radio announcer revealed that the second tower had been hit by another plane. The sky was clear and it was a beautiful day, no way this was accidental. I knew immediately that this was a deliberate attack and that terrorists were responsible. I continued on my way south along the Palisades Parkway and then the Garden State Parkway. Several emergency responders with blue lights flashing and rolling pretty fast passed me along the way. As I got closer to the Tappan Zee Bridge, I saw signs that said “New York City was Closed”. No traffic other than emergency vehicles were permitted.

I continued on my way toward Newark airport. Just as I crossed into New Jersey on the Garden State Parkway, the radio announcer said that a 3rd plane had hit the Pentagon (my old office at 3C529 was obliterated in that instant). We were at war with someone. I needed to stop and collect my thoughts – what to do now? A rest stop with gas station was only about a mile ahead. I pulled in and stopped and just sat a few minutes. Get a coke and calm down some – what the heck is happening??? Is the airport even open now?? What about the rental car?? Try to call – fat chance – everything is busy. While debating with myself whether I should continue on to the airport, a northbound car pulled into the reststop. A guy staggered out of his car and sat down on the curb. I rushed over to see if I could assist. He just said that one of the World Trade Center towers just collapsed. I jumped back in my rental car and turned on the radio. I was stunned and in disbelief. The past hour had been surreal.

In that single minute, my decision was clear. I am driving back to Virginia. Screw the rental car, I need to get home. I turned around and headed back the way I came. Back to I-87, then I-287 to I-78 to I-83 and south. All day I listened to reports on the radio. Plane crashing in Pennsylvania. Just words, no pictures, no TV, no CNN news reports. Lots of speculation and the images forming in my head were difficult to accept. The road rolled on. Tried to call home several times – no luck at all. Easton, Harrisburg, and York, PA Baltimore, MD then Washington, DC and out to Dulles Airport. Had to drop off the rental and pick up my car.

As I approached the National Rental car gate, I noticed that it was closed. In fact, traffic at Dulles was nearly non-existent. Very unusual – a virtual ghost town. I stop at the gate and a guy came over and opened it. I told him that I was there to turn in the car. No charge for the car. No shuttles back to the parking lot. One of the National guys offered to drop me off in his personal car as he was departing. Got in my T-Bird and clicked on the radio. More talk and speculation. Four planes total. US airspace shut down completely.

The guy at the parking lot toll booth waved me through. No charge today. Home was still about 45 minutes away. More radio reports. Both WTC towers gone. Pentagon still burning. Many people dead and dying. Still can’t call home.

I pulled into my driveway at exactly 5 PM that night. My trip had been a full 8 hours from start to finish. My wife ran out to the car and just threw her arms around me. For a minute or maybe more we just stood there. Finally, she said “I know you too well …. I knew that you’d be driving back today”. If I said that I didn’t break down and cry briefly at that moment, I’d be lying. The rush of the past 8 hours completely enveloped me in that moment. In the car for so long I had not been able to share my building grief at all of the events of the day. Finally being at home with everyone safe and together, I lost control. There I said it.

I went into the house and clicked on the TV to see the video and images that most everyone else had be seeing all day. Several birthday presents sat on the dining room table. There would be no party tonight. It took more than a week to even bring myself to open any of them. It just didn't seem appropriate.

Over time, I would find out that 22 of the victims at the Pentagon were from Prince William County, VA were among the nearly 3,000 who died that day. One was an usher at our church. One of our VFD paramedics was in New York City on vacation. He died in the WTC collapse after he rushed from his nearby hotel to offer his help. Several other friends and acquaintences had close calls and near misses or just happened to be somewhere else when their offices were destroyed. I am still overwhelmed by the events of that day. Putting them down on paper like this kinda helps. Thanks for listening.

[jerrym3]

Many years ago, late 70's, I had a business trip to Saudi Arabia. While getting off the plane, I accidently bumped into a soldier with a rifle.

I thought to myself, glad I live in the USA.

A few days after 9/11, I had to fly to Washington, DC, for a project meeting. Walked off the plane, and there was a soldier...with a gun.

I walked the city after dinner. It felt deserted. Groups of soldiers were gathered around the White House perimeter.

I was staying at the hotel where Reagan was shot. I stood outside at night and looked up at the front of the hotel.

If there were ten room lights on in this multi-story hotel, it was a lot.

Since Newark to DC is such a short flight, at that time, we were not allowed out of our seats during the flight.

I'm glad to say that, as a country, we've come back a long way.

[FX1]

Dose anyone remember where they were when building 3 collapsed? I do. i was home looking it up on the computer 6-7 years later.i think more people should look into the facts of what happen that day and talk about it in a civil way. Not a "Pissingcontest"
On 911 i was on my way to a job listening to howard stern broadcasting about it on the radio.Upon ariving to the customers house we told her to put on the tv. Shocked at what we were watching. The lady was a stuartist and her husband was enroute to nyc.

[dmjarosz]

Freshman in college, CAD class. I was in the 2nd last row in the room, 3rd seat from the window. I'll never forget seeing the picture on the home page of CNN.com

[PonyUP]

I was living in San Diego at the the time and I had just woken up and turned on the news while I got ready for work. This was immediately when coverage of the first plane began. I remember them reporting that a private pilot of a small jet had lost control.
I then saw the second plane hit live, and I realized at that moment that life had forever changed. I went into work late that morning and everyone spent the day in a daze.

I still watch the documentaries every year on the anniversary that air on various channels and feel the same emotion of that day

[PurdueRifleman]

I was a sophomore in high school and was just sitting down to begin taking my GQE. I went home that night and shot up a picture of bin Laden with my .22 and a 20ga shotgun.

[TAKEDOWN]

Waking up from a late night of studying when I turned the TV on observing the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center then a second, which for some reason I thought was a recap, but to our greatest fear there were more to follow. Boy did they do a combo number on us! I frantically called my brother, who at the time was a Bus Driver for the City and telling him of the news (and to basically get the hell outta the area). He was loading a ton of passengers/employees in front of the John Hancock building, who already heard the news and decided to evacuate due to the building possibly being a target too. Sixteen days later my son was born, and I thought to myself what a world he's gotta live in... I'll NEVER forget, but it seems that most people do!

[Taemian]

when I turned the TV on observing the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center then a second, which for some reason I thought was a recap, but to our greatest fear there were more to follow.

I did the same thing. I thought the second plane hitting was actually just a replay of the first, and when I realized it wasn't, I went numb.

I had started with the day off and was on my way to help a friend do some tile laying at a community pool. I got there, having driven in complete and very rare silence, and nobody was at the pool. I called him and he said "You better get to a tv and look." I thought nukes had flown by the way he said it. About 90 minutes later, my pager (yes that ancient device) went off. I arrived to the emergency muster call at YVR (Vancouver Intl Airport) and spent the next 32 hours securing the complex with our Federal PD (RCMP), Customs, as well as members of the Armed Forces. I had an on-scene commander who had done merc work in his youth, and he kept rolling out what he would do next if he was working with the bad guys. He scared the crap out of the rest of us.

Canadians opened our airports and homes to many Americans that day.
At about 11:30 AM, the Canadian military implemented Emergency Security Control of Air Traffic (ESCAT), usually implemented in times of war.

NAV CANADA recovered 239 aircraft destined for the U.S. and Canada, and all landed safely in Canada without incident. Of these, 38 went to Gander, 1 to Deer Lake, 21 to St. John's, 8 to Stephenville, 7 to Goose Bay, 47 to Halifax, 10 to Moncton, 10 to Mirabel, 7 to Dorval, 14 to Toronto, 4 to Hamilton, 15 to Winnipeg, 6 to Edmonton, 13 to Calgary, 1 to Yellowknife, 3 to Whitehorse and 34 to Vancouver. Gander received 6,600 diverted passengers; Vancouver received about 8,500. The last aircraft to land was from the Pacific. By about 6:00 PM EDT, all planes had landed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxaxrlusQC8&feature=related

We had 17 planes on one runway alone, nose to tail and nobody was allowed to disembark. Our fearless and fearsome leader suggested that the bad guys would know the airspace would get closed, and would then try to land at full speed onto whatever crowded runway they were heading for. He had many other such ideas that kept us awake with adrenaline for nearly the whole event.

I remember calling the two people I felt closest to on my drive to the airport. I just wanted to leave a message in case something happened.

I'm proud of my country's actions that day, and of our continuing presence in Afghanistan.

"The True North, Strong and Free", indeed.

[99SVT]

I was heading back to work after our morning PT run when someone told me of the news, I was in the middle of asking if it was a Cessna or something like that when someone else came out saying a second plane hit the other tower. Once we got back to work we all ended up waiting around for orders to come down and make sure we had all our kit ready to go to war. I wasn't able to see any of the TV reports, but did listen to the radios we had in the shop from time to time. Later that evening I ended up tasked to base defence and spend the next 3 months controlling access onto the base while we mobilized a group to go to Afganistan.

[ShadyLurker]

I was awakened with a phone call from one of my shipmates that i used to work with. We were supposed to be flying to NY that evening to go to work. ( I work on the tug boats in NY harbor) I turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane hit. that day and the following weeks are forever imbedded in my mind. My boat was going into the shipyard around September 15th and i ended up one one of the older tugs pushing sanitation scows full of the Trade center debris from the Brooklyn Piers to the Fresh Kills land fill on Staten Island. A lot of those scows stunk of death. It was horrible. I'd have pictures at home. No digital cameras then.

Picture not taken by me....
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n44/nprkrs/7921_703818325529_25810506_411 97240_6139748_n.jpg

[jerrym3]

Another thing that sticks with me is that it was a beautiful day, clear/sunny, and my route to work went south right along the Hudson River with the Towers in plain view.

I remember thinking to myself how pretty the river/skyline looked.

I also remember a few days or a week after the attack, many of us were enjoying a lunchtime walk along the waterfront when a few US Air Force jets came in low heading north up the Hudson river, and then went into a steep climb.

Panicked the heck out of us.

I also remembered thinking about my business flight from Boston to Newark on the Saturday before 9/11 (Tuesday).

Had I delayed my return a few days, and if the attackers were had settled on a smaller plane, who knows.

[Vortex]

I was running the security program for a US Govt installation in a city with 5 million+ muslims in south Asia. Yeah, I remember it.