Where were you???
 

Where were you 8 years ago?

I was 17 and was sleeping on my grandmothers couch when the first plane hit. She woke me up to tell me about the first crash and I chalked it up to an accident. After she woke me for the second plane crash I realized something was going on.

I saw a recruiter a week later and shipped out for the Army Oct 3 2001...

Re: Where were you???
 

I was in High School. The principal came over the speaker system. The only time the principal ever spoke on the speakers was when someone died or we were in trouble.

He announced that something was going on and that all classrooms should turn to the news stations.

I will never forget that day :usa

Re: Where were you???
 

I was on a 3-day class trip to a camping site up north. No one told us anything until we were on our way home, and only that "Something Happened". I never went back on the class trips again.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was unemployed sitting at home, getting my kids ready for school. I got my daughter on the bus, came in the house just as they were showing the smoke coming from the first tower. My son and I, who was in kindergarten at the time was watcing with me when the 2nd tower was hit. I still remember his words, "Oh no, that poor plane."

I pray we never forget how we felt on that day.

Re: Where were you???
 

I remember seeing the news coverage of the first plane, and at the time, I'm thinking it was a small plane piloted by someone who didn't quite know what they were doing. Just as I'm think "what idiot crashes their plane into one of the tallest buildings in the world", I saw the second plane hit.

At that point, I clearly remember going dead cold.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was a week and a half into my present job. My wife and I were staying in an extended stay hotel and she called to tell me a plane had crashed into one of the towers. I alerted all my new co-workers. I went to the hotel at lunch to see for myself. It was hard to fathom.

Re: Where were you???
 

I walked into a Business Law class just before the second plane hit. Seeing the television show the first tower smoldering. I thought it was a movie, so I asked what it was. "It's CNN". Then the second plane hit and no one had any words.

Re: Where were you???
 

It was the 2nd day of 10th grade. I was sitting in my history class when word broke out about the hit and my teacher brought my class to the next door classroom where they had a tv on and we watched the events until the end of the class. I also remember I had an allergy doctor appointment and had to leave school early. It was an eerie feeling day. It was a warm, completely cloudless day with a slight breeze.

Re: Where were you???
 

Was doing field service work and was on admin time at home doing paperwork.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was working in Boston and the whole company went down to the employee lounge to watch the coverage after the first plane hit. We all watched in horror as the second plane hit. I'll never forget the feeling. My head was buzzing, and everything was happening in slow motion.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was at work, listening to the "Bob and Tom" show, when they suddenly turned seriously reporting. Went up to the main office where the receptionist had a small tv and watched the footage of the first plane crash and seeing the second plane hit live.

Another one of those days that you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard, much like the assassinations.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was at work, which is and was an Army Installation. It's one of those times when the world stops and you look at a tv screen in disbelief. No work was done and everything stopped.

Some time during the day the local news arrived trying to ask questions (before 9 11 many military posts were wide open) but I "escorted" them to the DOD police station.

Later that day on my way to another installation (also in NY) I got stopped by a cop for "supposedly" running a red light but I was in uniform near the HQ building and he let me go. I remember looking at him in cofusion, thinking "don't we really have more important things to do right now?"

Many of the people I work with were trying to call people they knew in the city but couldn't get through as much cell phone service was interupted or just non existant. I also remember seeing signs saying the "NYS THruway is Closed"

When we finally were released for the day (11Pm or so) A friend and I went walking to our cars in the parking lot that was also near an airport. It was of course completely silent, eerily so in fact. About half way to our cars we heard a low rumble that kept getting louder and louder and louder. About the time Connie and I started plugging our ears the F-18 took off like a shot and was gone in seconds. We looked at each other a bit spooked and simply went home.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was traveling with my then wife & her parents to visit a family friend. We got up to their house just after the 1st plane hit having no idea what was going on until we walked into the house and started watching it on the news. We never really did much visiting that day. On the way back home we were passed my countless State Police motorcades traveling south from Upstate NY to NYC.

Re: Where were you???
 

Sitting on the couch, before work. Reading the paper, drinking coffee, watching the Today show. What I remember most was that evening, sitting on the front porch with candles watching others with candles doing the same, or walking around the neighborhood. Talking to people.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was at Tech School. I'd only been in the Air Force maybe 6 months. I was stationed at Brooks AFB in San Antonio. We got put on lock down for a week. We could not leave the dorm, not even for class. We basically sat around all day watching CNN. When we had to go to chow, we were escorted in a bus by 2 Humvee's with Mark 19's on them.

It was surreal. Nobody ever thought something like this would hit us at home.

:salute:

Re: Where were you???
 

At the unemployment office in Charlotte, NC. But later that night I was working a shift at Hooters and was robbed at gun point while watching CNN after closing. I will never forget...

Re: Where were you???
 

In school in New Jersey about 35 minutes from the City. School was on lock down. I remember going down to the beach afterward and seeing the smoke and everything. It was pretty awful. The only students that were allowed to leave school were those who had parents working in/around the towers. It was a tough time for our community

I will never forget it

Re: Where were you???
 

I was having a meeting in my office at work. Turned to check something on my web browser, and my yahoo home page had a headline about the first plane hit. We went to the CNN page, and the meeting ended when we realized what was happening. I will always remember one of the guys in my office saying "this will change our lives forever".

Re: Where were you???
 

Working in Washington DC at the time when we heard the first reports of a plane striking the World Trade Center and then a second one. By the time we were able to get to a TV to see what was happening, we could see smoke coming from the Pentagon. We then started hearing rumors about planes striking the White House and the Capitol. Somewhere around 11, we were told to leave the building and go home. The city was in a complete panic, traffic was bumper to bumper with no place to go. Cell phones wouldn't work and people were out in the street with no idea of what to do next.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was sleeping in my college dorm room. My buddy from across the hall woke me up and said you have to see this.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was getting up and starting my day. Something made me turn the TV on, and as I got my kids ready for school, the first plane hit. Then I went to the cigar site where I had friends in NYC and waited for news and personal reports. It was a very sad day.

Re: Where were you???
 

Working for a Sheriff's Office attending a training class when one of the instructors ran in and said " We're under attack!" Our class was canceled and the Sheriff called everyone to work because no one knew what was going to happen next. Dark dark day for our country.


:(


Chris.....

Re: Where were you???
 

I was a junior in high school, I was in the locker area and a bunch of people were talking about something having to do with the World Trade Center then in my next class the teacher brought in a tv and we were watching everything unfold on the news. I remember it like it was yesterday

Re: Where were you???
 

At work in Rockefeller Center (4.3 miles away) it was very scary hearing all the rumors going around the city that day... 8 planes missing...more targets in NY... I didn't really feel safe until I seen an F-14 fly over Rockefeller plaza.

I stayed at work overnight and went to the roof of 30 Rock (70 stories) the next morning to see a cloud of smoke billowing from where the towers used to be.

:usa

Re: Where were you???
 

I am a police officer and was working the night shift then so I did not get up until late morning when almost everything had already happened. I turned on the TV because we had a local situation that had been on national news the day before so I wanted to see if anyone I knew was on television. First thing I saw was the fire at the Pentagon. Later that night at work, we had to deal with the gas stations being overwhelmed and the traffic problems.

My wedding was 11 days later and we did not know if my best man, who was a Naval aviator, was going to be allowed to come. He made it, and was in his dress whites. A lot of police, fire, and EMS at the reception which was held a the fire department made for a lot of emotions.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was sitting in my 10th grade math class....I found out late bc of early morning gym class....I went completly numb and our school actually went on lockdown for two hours...

Re: Where were you???
 

I was getting my shoes on for work and had accidentally sat on the remote that turned on the tv to the smoking first tower. I was like...wth...started changing channels and saw the same picture over and over again. I thought someone must have burnt a bagel or something.....then I saw a plane slam into the other tower.

I grabbed my phone to call my brother. He was flying out of NYC that morning.
I didn't get him for a good 24 hours. Turns out...he changed his flight and took the red-eye to SFO the night before.

He was going to be on on of the four flights.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was in my 9th grade history class. My mom was having open heart surgery, so my day was already stressful beforehand.

We turned the tv on and saw the first tower smoking, and then the second plane hit. It was a very quiet day at school. I'll never forget how I felt that day.

Re: Where were you???
 

I remember waking up getting ready for school and the first tower had been hit. Then I was in my Sophmore Woodshoop Class. We all sat around a radio the enitre class and listen to it unfold. I will always remember that day.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was waxing my truck in the yard with the radio on.
At the time I was working the night shift on a new 35 story high rise in Boston, got a call around noon to take a few days off, the builder did not want to take any chances.

Re: Where were you???
 

I remember this like it was yesterday...sitting in Post Operations at Fort Eustis, Virginia as a young SSG and having to activate the Installation Operations Center emergency roster within minutes.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was driving in Southern New Jersey looking at property with my business partner. We weren't listening to the radio and not really taking any calls. At the time I had Nextel, and a friend of mine called. I told him I would have to call him back. All he said was "Turn it on 1060" (that's the local news channel). A strange conversation so I immediately turned on the radio.

We stopped to make sure a few construction workers had heard about it then returned to our office. Left work early that day. I couldn't think straight.

I will never forget. :usa

Re: Where were you???
 

I was in high school and was sleeping in cause it was a late day. My mom came bursting in my room screaming.

Re: Where were you???
 

At work here in town, about 25 miles from Ground Zero, and on line on the old defunct JRBB cigar site. That's where I heard the news, in posts from all over the country and around the world, telling me what was happening in my own front yard.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was in grad school. My parents called me "early" in the morning to wake me up. I remember being pissed because they woke me up. I went downstairs. My dad called it right away and said it was terrorist attack well before the 2nd plane hit. I turned on and saw the 2nd plane hit. I called a bunch of grad school buddies who like me believed the day began at noon and ended at 5am. I woke them up. We pretty stayed on the phone the whole day watching, no one went in that day. It was surreal. I remember when the first tower fell, my pal asked whats going on, I said the tower is falling, it is coming down. I remember he said "no no no no ways, it is". I remeber that for some reason a lot more then the 2nd plane hitting.

Re: Where were you???
 

Wife called and told me that she was told that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers; nobody really knew what was happening. I turned on the idiot box, and saw the second plane hit. I thought it was a computer animation, it was so unreal. I sat transfixed and sometimes crying for the rest of the day and into the night.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was asleep when the first plane hit. My mother called and woke my wife and I up. I saw the second plane hit and couldn't believe it. I thought it was something out of a movie. But reality finally set in and I honestly didn't know what to think. Just thinking about it today still gives me the shivers. Thoughts and prayers to all of the victims' friends and families.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was in 11th Grade Science Class. The teachers knew, but were instructed not to tell us. We all eventually figured it out, and I was called to the office.

My Dad and Uncle were working in the city and my Mom couldn't get in contact with either of them. She had come to pick me and my sister up and we watched it all unfold at home. We didn't hear from them until early in the evening. They were both ok.

I'll never forget!!!

343

Re: Where were you???
 

I had gotten home from working overnight shift in the network ops center and just gotten in bed good when my mom called to tell me. I stayed glued to the tv and phone for the rest of the day seemed like untill I could get confirmation my two friends who were regional airline pilots were ok. 99% of their flying was done in that area.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was eating breakfast in the kitchen when my sister came up from downstairs saying that a plane had crashed into one of the Trade Towers. Pretty much the entire day at school was spent watching the news. Will never forget that, even remember what I had for breakfast, Honey Bunches of Oats and a glass of chocolate milk.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was getting ready for work when my wife told me that a plane had hit the TC. I thought it was probably a small private plane and didn't go watch the TV right away. About 10 minutes later I sat to have my coffee and watched the morning news. Thought, 'Wow, that's a big hole'. At the time the talking heads were speculating that it was a charter flight, etc... Then as I watched the live feed, the second tower was hit. My first thought was, well blank. Stunned. My second thought was this was our Pearl Harbor and we are at war.

With the Pentagon then hit and the reports of the fourth plane, I knew our lives had changed forever. My son was due to go into the Navy on Oct. 1. Thoughts of his safety were high as we weren't sure who was responsible.

Never Forget!

Re: Where were you???
 

I just want to say thank you to everyone for sharing... I think threads like this help to bring you back to the day this happened. It lets your remember how you felt, and every other important and not so important detail. It's helps you to remember that day and how we pulled together as a country. How even in one of our darkest moments in history we as American's turned it into one of our brightest.

I think President George W. Bush said it best when he said "Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America" on Sept 11, 2001:usa

Re: Where were you???
 

On duty. I had the OOD that day. I had two boat crews getting ready to get underway, and I was in the armory getting weapons. The CO was there, he was getting underway with one of the crews.

The cook at the time was a huge Howard Stern fan, and a wicked joker. He cam busting through the doors of the messdeck and said the WTC had been bombed. I remember asking him where he had heard that. When he said Howard Stern, we all called bullshit, but flipped on the TV anyway, just in time to see the second plane hit.

We all watched in disbelief.

The boats got underway. I kept updating the CO over the Nextel as things went on, and I could kind of tell he was getting a little pissed. When the Pentagon got hit, he had the boats RTB, and we posted emergency billets, with no recall.

2 hours later, the CO got a call. He then closed his door and didn't come out until after 9pm. An MK3 at Station Fire Island was a fire fighter in NYC on one of the high ladder teams, and had died in one of the towers. This kid was like a son to my CO when he was the OiC at that station. I had gone into his office to give him a status report on emergency watches, and he promptly shooed me out of the office. He was a mess.

That night, I had tons of calls of people wanting to volunteer sentry duty at the station. One, a former Marine sniper, said: "I have my .50 and a high power scope. Just give me coffee." I had to turn him down. I kept telling people that if they had to volunteer, to do it with the Red Cross or their local National Guard armory.

The next day when I got off duty, I drank and cried

Re: Where were you???
 

At home on annual leave from my job in the Fort Worth Federal Building. This was the first year since that I didn't take that day off.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was in my office here at the house going over some jobs with my two foremen. The TV just happened to be on when they broke the news. We all just sat here stunned. And then the Pentagon got hit.

I live less than 7 miles away from the Pentagon. In my wife's job - she is frequently at either Crystal City or the Pentagon in the Army section - which is the section that got hit.

I spent the next three hours frantically trying to contact her, cell phones and land lines were jammed/down. I can't tell you the thoughts that went through my mind when I could not reach her. When I finally did reach her - she was safe. But a girl in the office - lost her husband at the Pentagon. Sad note here is that she showed up for work the next day. She was in shock and had to be taken to the hospital.

All told we lost 8 people that my wife and I knew through her work. And there were more that she knew of from meetings/briefings that she attended there.

The next day when I arrived on my companies job site - it was tough to keep my eyes dry - our workforce is primarily Guatemalan - and every one of their vehicles was flying an American flag from it's antenna.


Ron

Re: Where were you???
 

I was out of work at the time. I was at one of the Michigan Works centers when it all went down. One of the employees came into the room and said something about a terrorist attack in New York, so I went and they had a television tuned to the news...I went home. As I was driving home the news came over the radio about a plane crashing somewhere in PA...

Re: Where were you???
 

I was at work at the job I had then. It was a mill job and we didn't have TV. But I remember when someone had heard about it and told me, I found a portable radio (don't even remember where I found it) and listened to it on the radio for the rest of the day. I remember just being in shock for the first couple hours and then I was angry.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was sitting in my history class when we turned on the news to see about current events....

About half the kids in my class started to have panic attacks all at the same time, as their parents worked at the WTC. My father was flying from JFK to LAX that day, and while the reports were still sketchy about where other planes were headed, I was nervous as all hell. I recall spending most of the day in tears.

Re: Where were you???
 

I was teaching a second grade class and turned the TV on when they went to a resource class. I will never forget the initial confusion and then the anger. I will continue to pray that we stand strong to all aggression towards our country both internal and external.

Re: Where were you???
 

I had just started vacation and I got up before my kids and turned on the TV, which was never my routine on a week day.

I couldn't believe what was happening! I got the rest of the family up and we watched in horror. I took the kids to school and came back home and watched in unbelief... Why?

Everything changed that day!!!