Where were you?

[dmc2007]

I might have been young (a few days past 10 years old), but man do I remember how bad that day was. I remember the feeling of absolute hopelessness, the not knowing if anything would ever be the same. I remember classmates crying wondering if they would ever see their parents again. Some of them didn't.

 

[TransportJockey]

I was in 8th grade. Home sick just had the TV on for background noise when I saw it

 

[Shishkabob]

7th grade art class... drawing a tiger. Didn't really think much of it because when they said a plane hit, I was thinking a tiny Cessna. That is, until we got to leave school early.

Went home, turned on the tv, and the very first image I saw was someone jumping out of one of the towers.

 

[akflightmedic]

Guess I will weigh in as one of the old fogies...

I was at Station 10, everyone was outside still doing rig checks, I came inside to grab some paperwork and we always had the news on in the station. I saw the reports of the first impact and watched the second...I was too mesmerized to say anything. When the seriousness of it dawned on me, I stuck my head out the bay door and told everyone to come inside now...they sensed the urgency and piled in.

We then started dialing, notified HQ, other stations...not many had heard yet. We then went into full station lock down (county wide) and the DMAT team was put on standby ready to deploy.

Remainder of the day was somber and filled with news watching. Ironically, 911 calls were few that day, which in retrospect seems odd. Were people delaying or not calling 911 due to being engrossed in live news coverage?

 

[EMTinNEPA]

I was in 8th grade. I was in Spanish class when the first plane hit. I then went to Sex Ed (not trying to be funny, I really was in Sex Ed) and was in there when the second plane hit. At the very end of Sex Ed, a teacher I didn't know came in and whispered to our teacher and then our teacher announced to the class that there had been a bombing in New York City (we knew virtually no details at the time). Went to my next class (ironically, Contemporary World Events) and the rest of the day was spent watching the news.

 

[lightsandsirens5]

Lived in San Diego at the time and I was 12 years old. We were eating breakfast when my grandma called right after the first plane hit and told my dad what was going on. Dad then told us there had been a terrible accident in New York, briefly telling us youngsters what was going on. (The little anyone knew at that point.) Seemed like a few minutes later Grammie called back and I remember my dad started crying as she talked. When he hung up and told us about the second plane and how it was an attack, I remember asking if he was going to have to leave for war. (He was a Navy SEAL.) I don't remember his reply. But I do remember watching the news the rest of the day. I also remember when we found out the pentagon had been hit. Coming from a military family, I knew several men that worked there. One was killed, but several others were miraculously out of their offices. All worked on the side that was hit. One had left to get a cup of coffee. Another one's office was being renovated and he was in a temporary trailer office in a parking lot.


I remember a few days later seeing a pic in the paper of several Middle Eastern looking kids holding a picture of the second tower being hit and apparently cheering. I just started crying and got really angry. I'll never forget that picture.

 

[JeffDHMC]

On the way home after dropping kids off at day care so I could sleep after my deep night shift. Caught the 1st hit on the radio, saw 2nd hit live.

 

[fortsmithman]

I was 34 at the time and at home in bed listening to my radio. When I heard it I went to the living room and turned on the TV. I then called my boss at work for him to turn on the TV in the office. I also called my cousin and told him to turn on his TV as well.

 

[HotelCo]

I was in the car, on the way back to school from the doctors. I was listening to the radio, and somehow heard it while flipping. I didn't think anything of it (partly because I had no idea what the World Trade Centers were). My mom and I went home and watched the news and it finally hit me. Went back to school, and the rest of the day was filled with ignorance. None of my classmates knew what happened until I told them. The teachers did their best to just play it off, but you could sense there was something wrong in the air.

 

[flhtci01]

I was an Operations supervisor at a nuclear power plant. Some of the operators listening to a radio heard a small plane crashed into one of the towers. When the second one crashed into the second tower, I informed the head of Security that something was happening.

 

[SuperstarInTheMaking]

I was in 11th grade headed into my 2nd class of the day and my teacher had it on the TV. I saw the second plane hit and we were all sent home around noon.

May we never forget the incredible loss of life that day and the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

[nomofica]

Grade 6, about to leave for school. Stayed home that whole morning watching it with my big sis.

Even though being as young as I was, and quite a few of us were, I remember that day very clearly. I still have the images of the second plane hitting the tower burned into my mind.

I remember. I will always remember.

 

[DV_EMT]

7th grade.... I was rousted about by my dad (about 6 am I recall) who forced me to come into the living room and "watch history in the making"

 

[fiddlesticks]

i was in grade 12 english class. and one of my friends came in and told me then we watched it on the tvs in the classrooms for the rest of the day.

 

[MSDeltaFlt]

On my day off from respiratory when a my ex called and we talked for hours watching the whole thing. All I can say is... wow.

 

[JonTullos]

I was doing nights on a top 40 radio station back then. I was sleeping in (as usual) and my clock radio finally went off. The station's morning show was talking about how something had happened in NYC and they were still trying to find out exactly what. Couple of minutes later they said they had seen a video of a plane hitting one of the towers. I ran to my TV and shortly after I got to see the second plane hit. I stayed glued to my TV until I finally decided to go to the station in case they needed help. It was an unreal feeling and one I hope I never, ever, have again.

 

[emt_angel25]

when the first plane hit i was getting ready to pull into the college parking lot. when the second hit i was on my way to class.......we all sat in shock when they fell

 

[mycrofft]

Getting ready for work (Pacific DST)

Heard report of collision on NPR, turned on the tv while getting dressed. Second impact was while I was pulling on my first pant leg, I knew it wasn't an accident and wondered what other targets might be lined up.
My third thought was "Who"...and I discarded Muslims due to the indiscriminate targetting and high liklihood of killing women and children.

We watched the towers fall while we were at work, the facility was locked down. I was still in the USAF retired reserve and started mentally assembling my GO bag.

 

[VFFforpeople]

7th grade, brushing my teeth when my sister screamed come see this!! It looks cool!! (young I know). At first I thought it was for a new movie or something so we sat and watched and comment on how real it looked...then about 45sec-1min went by...and it clicked, this isnt a movie. The school I was going to (private) wouldnt let us watch or listen to the radio. All I could think about was wishing I was 18 and enlisting...and for the first time...feel exposed and weakend, like I lost my walls.

 

[Tincanfireman]

I was working at the newly completed multi-national Combined Air Operations Center at Prince Sultan Air Base near Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia. I was an E-7 (MSgt) in the US Air Force. It was just after 3 pm and we had planes in the air conducting operations supporting Operation Southern Watch over Iraq. As usual, we had CNN displayed on one of the huge information walls. I was at my desk in another part of the CAOC when we got word of the first hit. I went out onto the operations floor just in time to see the tail of the second plane disappearing into the tower. After the initial reaction, you could of heard a pin drop on the floor. As word spread, the room became more crowded as additional behind the scenes folks showed up to watch the TV coverage. Finally, the boss got on the PA and reminded us that we still had planes in the air over "Indian Territory", (Iraq) and that if we couldn't be quiet, he'd clear the area. We already knew that our lives as Air Force members had changed, and we also knew we were going to be on the point of the spear for quite awhile. I made a quick (unauthorized) call to my wife to let her know I was OK, but that she might not hear from me as frequently for a couple weeks. Ironically, I had return plane tickets in hand for my planned flight home on September 12th. Needless to say, I missed that flight (and many more) before I finally made it home in late November. Here's a picture of the ops floor (most of the screens are blank due to the fact that the whole place is classified; they had to sanitize the screens for this picture)