9/11 - where were you?

[ccheese]

I was working for Perry Buick, in Norfolk, Va. Shortly after the first plane hit, the service manage called everyone
into the customer's lounge, where the TV was. At first we all thought it was a terrible accident..... airliner hits
building. Then the second plane hit, and we knew something was amiss. Not much work got done that morning.

Charles

 

[Wurger]

I particiapted in the second level of English course. During a break our English teacher got in the classe and turned on the TV set.Then switched to CNN channel.That day nobody wanted to learn anything more.

 

[diddyriddick]

Was in the shower when the first one hit. Was shaving, in my skivies, when my ex called and told me to turn on the TV. Like Evan, I saw the second one hit, and knew. Then I was just numb. Not being an engineer, I had no idea that the building could collapse from a hit so high-Low, yes. So when the first one went down, it was unbelievable. I subsequently found out that my brother and his family were in Paris when it happened-Probably would have gone nuts if I had known.

Ok....enough stream of consciousness for a while.

 

[Bernhart]

was at home getting ready to go to work, they interuppted some show the kids where watching to show the first tower on fire, then showed second plane hitting, when they showed the tower collapsing I remember saying to my wife, there must be thousands of people still in there...

 

[Ferdinand Foch]

I was in 6th grade, and had just heard something about an attack from my Social Studies teacher, just before we got on the bus. I had no idea what was going on. We went home, started watching TV, eventually found the news, and saw the replay of the collapse of the towers. My mom came home, started watching the news. I could see she was very angry. Seeing her like this made me angry at the same time.

 

[syscom3]

I was just waking up and turned on the radio. I remember hearing Bill Handel (the morning talk show guy for KFI640) telling anyone that was just tuning in to go to the TV and watch what was unfolding. So I watched with the volume off and the radio on.

I also remember the Drudge Report headlines ..... huge font taking up most of the webpage. Headlines changing every few minutes as events unfolded.

 

[pbfoot]

Was doing my deliveries to the many hotels that plague a tourist town , I was listening to the radio right from the initial reports of a light GA aircraft hitting the 1st tower . As the events unfolded most of the tourists were unaware of the situation and how events were changing , One person I recall talking to was some folks from NJ who were loading their baggage and I asked where you headed , They replied back home so I said have you watched the news at all all they said no . I told what I knew and suggested that they might have to stay longer as they have just closed the border . They had a look on their face that spoke volumes especially as from our perch you could look across the river into New York State and the bridge to cross it was about 100 metres away . They were shut out from their homeland . As the day unfolded the trucks that were to cross into the US piled up I believe it was ito the 1000's that ended up here , most were given free accomodation by the hotels

 

[Bucksnort101]

I was laid off from work when this happened. Had returned from a hunting trip in Colorado two days priors and was still worn out and had come down with a cold so I had slept in that morning. Sister called around 9:30 or so to tell me to turn on the TV. Watched in disbelief as to what I was seeing. Videos of airplanes crashing into the towers just looked surreal to me and was hard for me to register that this had actually happened. I just stared thinking this isn't real, knowing in the back of my head that it was. Remember my feelings going from extreme sadness to extreme anger and back again as I watched and listened.
A couple days later there was a candlelight vigil on the street corner as I neared my home. I only had a couple blocks to go to get home, but had to pull over at the gas station at the corner and gather my emotions at the sight of that.

 

[Catch22]

I don't honestly remember a lot , but I do remember this.

I was in Grade 6. I woke up at 7, always have, always will, before school and I went downstairs to watch TV like I always did. I was flipping around when I saw the one of the towers on fire. I was interested so I kept watching and saw the second plane hit. I went to school and we had a moment of silence and they tried to explain it to us, but I doubt many of us understood, I certainly didn't at the time.

 

[GrauGeist]

I was on my way to work a little earlier than usual. They were talking about an aircraft hitting the WTC on the car's radio, but didn't have any details. The first thing that came to mind was the vintage photo of the bomber that had struck the Empire State building by accident.

I get to the shop and everyone had the TV going in the conference room and the second aircraft had hit the second tower by the time I got in the room. We all stood there looking at each other in total disbelief. Then news of the Pentagon and then the 4th flight came in.

We deal with Law Enforcement and Fire Fighting agencies and to see this tragedy unfold was overwhelming. The sense of helplessness and anger mixed with many other emotions was shared by all the employess. I remember heading into the main office to find the flag and one of the other guys was already heading outside with it.

 

[Astaldo711]

I was at work. A woman there was watching new on her computer when she said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. No one thought it was a big jetliner. We just assumed it was a small private plane. Then we saw what happened. I remember all the rumors that there were several plane flying around unaccounted for. They had stopped all planes from flying. We work next to a small airport and are used to seeing planes coming and going all the time. It was eerie, the sky so quiet. I'll never forget it.

 

[Maestro]

I was in College... First year of industrial drawing, right in the middle of an exam. The teacher went to the teacher's room for some reasons and came back about 15 minutes later to tell us that a plane had crashed into the WTC.

Like it was an exam day, the exam was planned in the morning with a free afternoon. When I came back home, during what would have been the lunch break, there was not a single car on the road all the way from Québec City to Beaupré (about 30 miles).

I spent a part of the afternoon watching the news.

Two days later there was already some conspiracy theories going on.

 

[36feet10inches]

I was in Brussels involved in a trade fair. A friend showed me a WAP message on his mobile about a plane hitting the WTC, we thought it meant a Cessna or something. Then there was a rush towards one of the stands that had a bank of computers with internet access - they were trying to launch their new website or something, bless them. Then the word got round as to what was actually happening. All the Americans suddenly disappeared, though I did speak to one guy I knew, a New Yorker, and I have honestly never seen anyone as enraged before or since. We all threw in the towel and ended up watching events unfold on a TV screen in a hotel room. Horrible, horrible day. Still remember the photograph of the four year old girl who was on one of the planes.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I've kind of avoided this thread up until now. I still have a lot of hurt and anger over this incident.

I was getting ready for work - just moved into a rental house with my soon to be wife. We were ready to get married on Sept. 22. I got a call from my former room mate and he told me to put the television on. The first plane just crashed into the WTC.

After that my wife went on a frantic calling spree to find the status of her father who was flying for United Airlines at the time. Later that morning my mother in law finally reached me saying that "dad was ok, but our good friend Jayson Dahl was the pilot of flight 93."

The most chilling and prophetic words I ever heard in my life came right after that as my mother in law said -

"Jason was a real scrapper and it wouldn't have surprised me if he fought off the hijackers."​

In the weeks after that I learned about people I knew who perished at the WTC.

1. Lillian Caceres
2. Mikel Esposito - NYFD
3. John McAvoy - NYFD
4. Walter Baran
5. Vito DeLeo
6. Carton Bartles

RIP all -