So Where Were You When You Heard The News on 11 September 2001?

[FromWayDowntown]

Now? IMO the planes flying into the towers should be shown more often reminding the people how it was that day...

To what end? To justify the war in Iraq, which has never been shown to have any relationship to 9/11? To remind the country that our government still hasn't been able to capture or kill Osama bin Laden? To repeatedly cause pain to the families of those who died that day? To numb all of us to the horrors of terrorism?

Those images are etched in my memory and I suspect they are etched in the minds of most people in this world. They don't need to be replayed to ensure that those people remember what happened.

[Jekka]

When the first plane hit I was getting ready for school, my mom had CNN on and I was glued to it until I left for class, then I drove the whole way to school with the radio news on, and we had the TVs on in all of my classes watching it.

I went to an arts high school, and this was my senior year where in the visual art department we had free studio time three hours every day to work on whatever projects we had going. We spent that whole afternoon talking about it, unable to process what had happened. Some really moving artwork came out of us in the weeks that followed; we were all pretty emotional.

[Flea]

I dropped my kids off at school and some parents were talking about it. I got in the car and turned on the radio and was on I-35 when I heard them say the towers were collapsing. I stayed glued to the tv and the internet for most of the day. There was a message board I used to visit and a woman was on there frantically trying to find out info because she thought her Dad was on one of those planes. I can still vividly recall her desperation and people trying to help. It was really sad.

[ATRAIN]

Intern for the state, had only been there and in Austin for a month.

[smeagol]

I was in Midtown Manhattan. Our secretary got a call from a friend downtown that a plane had hot the North Tower. We turned on the TV and they were showing an interview in the Today Show. 20 seconds after we turned the TV on, they started showing the whole in the WTC.

From their on, we watched all the events unravell. I spoke with my wife (she worked on the East side of Midtown, I worked on the West Side). I also spoke with my Mom and a frind that were in Argentina to tell them we were ok.

We were evacuated around 10.30. My wife left work in the afternoon.

We watched TV until the wee hours of the morning.

[Soul_Patch]

I was living in austin. I had woken up for work, but was still laying in bed watching TV, it was shortly after the first plane had hit.

Called my girlfriend at work to tell her, and watched the whole thing unfold as i was getting ready for work.

[spurschick]

I was already at work. We didn't have a TV in the office and I wasn't listening to the radio, so I started to hear about it when other people started arriving. We then ran over to a place around the corner where they had a TV and got there just in time to see the second plane hit.

[samikeyp]

I was in training at Travelocity customer service. We were on our morning break in the breakroom watching tv and the today show was talking about a plane crashing into one of the towers, then the other one hit and I think me, two classmates and Matt Lauer all said at the same time, this is no accident. Sounds cliche as , and it is but that is what happened. We were sent home a couple of hours later because our instructors got pulled onto the phones to handle the crunch of calls. The last thing we were told was that every flight in the US was grounded. By 2001, I had been in the travel biz for 9 years so I was used to hearing about flights being cancelled but not every flight. That was when the enormity of the day hit me. We were right by the airport so to not hear planes go over was eerie.

[johnsmith]

Ft. Collins, Colorado. Getting dressed for class. I flipped on Sportscenter and it said at the bottom that New York was under attack. I flipped to CNN and watched for about an hour until just after the second plane hit.


I had a South African History Professor at the time that still made us take a test that day too.

I got a B.

[JoeChalupa]

I was on my way to work and I heard it on the radio.

[sa_butta]

I was asleep when the first plane hit. I woke up around 8am and saw it all over the news. Then I went to the bookstore to sell a book when the 2nd plane hit. They had a TV on in there and I probably stayed there about an hour watching what was going on with some other students. I also work in the travel industry, the next few days of work were the most difficult of my career.

[samikeyp]

I also work in the travel industry, the next few days of work were the most difficult of my career

Amen.

[u2sarajevo]

I was in Pennsylvania for business. We had started the meeting at 8AM (7AM CST). When the first plane hit there was an obvious increase in office activity outside of the meeting room. It wasn't until the 2nd plane hit that we were made aware that something was going on, as some of the folks in the meeting were from the New York World Financial office so they started getting calls. They came in to tell us to evacuate the building. The building we were in was a one story training facility we had setup to eventually be a data center. None of us had seen any images yet, and we were all in the parking lot listening to news reports when the Pentagon got hit. When I heard that I was the loneliest I had ever felt. Here I was 1500 miles from home and all I wanted to do was get back home. Cell phone service was non existent so I just sat and listened. The plane that went down in PA was over 100 miles away but the little city I was in went into lock down mode (Chadds Ford, PA). The Hotel I was staying at had very few workers remaining (understandably alot had opted to go home). Just about the only thing that remained open was the front desk and the Hotel bar. Luckily I got there early enough to get a seat in front of the televisions. That's where I first saw the haunting images we are all so familiar with now. The only restaurant that I could find in the little city that was opened was a Denny's. And there was a line of what I assume were out of towners waiting to get in to eat. I opted to not bother.

My flight out was supposed to be Wednesday morning, of course that was canceled. The travel agency, however, let me make plans for a flight out on Thursday.... which got canceled. I inquired about just taking my rental car and driving it home but they were going to charge me a 1500 "drop" charge. So Thursday they allowed me to make a flight for Friday. When that was canceled however, I was informed that the rental car company (Avis) had dropped the restriction of a drop charge so I packed my things and headed home. It took me a little over a day to get home...... Luckily for my sanity one of the attendees was a friend of mine out of Nashville so I took him and dropped him off before making the rest of the trip by myself.

[MannyIsGod]

Congrats Tpark on introducing politics into a non political thread.

I don't need any personal reminders, I remember the day quite vividly. I have more to say to your regarding your idiocy in this thread but I better keep it to myself.

[MannyIsGod]

I was at work. I watched the 2nd plane hit on one of our TVs there. I left work soon thereafter and ended up at the bloodbank where there were hordes of people. I remember the TVs setup in lines and I remember news coverage for weeks almost nonstop. I remember Lettermen going back on air. I remember Jon Stewart going back on air. I remember being proud of George Bush speaking to the people at Ground Zero. I remember thinking the moment it happend that it had to be OBL.

Can't believe that was six years ago.

[u2sarajevo]

I was at work. I watched the 2nd plane hit on one of our TVs there. I left work soon thereafter and ended up at the bloodbank where there were hordes of people. I remember the TVs setup in lines and I remember news coverage for weeks almost nonstop. I remember Lettermen going back on air. I remember Jon Stewart going back on air. I remember being proud of George Bush speaking to the people at Ground Zero. I remember thinking the moment it happend that it had to be OBL.

Can't believe that was six years ago.

I remember thinking it was probably a group in the middle east but honestly I had never heard of Al Qaeda. I remember hearing the name Bin Laden, but I didn't put 2 and 2 together. I'm kind of ashamed that I wasn't more aware of the issues surrounding the middle east. It's too easy to become complacent about such matters.

And I'm with you on how quickly that time has flown by.

[samikeyp]

Can't believe that was six years ago.

No .

Time does fly.

[L.I.T]

I was still at university living in the dorms. Had a single room, with a private bath and I remember waking up and running a little late for class (astronomy). Flipped on the television as I ran to the shower right after the first plane hit. All I remember going through my head was, "jeez, what a lousy made for tv movie". Didn't give it a second thought, until I walked out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in one hand in time to see the second one hit.

The rest of the day was a blur; talking to friends, finding out what was going on and generally not going to class.

I do remember one incident distinctly. During the prayer rally at around 9 PM on campus, there were a group of student protesters with signs proclaiming the US and the people in New York got what they deserved. I think that moment is one where I lost a little faith in humanity.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I was in a car headed back to my dorm. I was a big wrestling fan back then, but the cable in the dorms inexplicably didn't carry the channel that showed Monday Night Raw. So I had taken to going to a friend's apartment, crashing on their couch, and hitching a ride back to campus in the morning. We turned on the radio just after the second plane hit. I was only a freshman at the time and quite a serious student. As I didn't hear anything about canceled classes I took a quick shower and got dressed for my Geology class. I turned on the TV shortly before I stepped out the door, just in time to see the second tower come down. Even though I knew that whatever was going on was probably more important than any class I still went. Pretty much every student in there was like me: kind of s shocked, at a loss for why this class wasn't canceled, but inexplicably in attendance anyways. Our professor didn't say a single thing about the events in New York, she just lectured away. There wasn't a single question from the class the entire time. The subject was sedimentary rock formations.

The thing I remember the most vividly in the aftermath was how it seemed every last person was convinced their city would be next. People in LA were convinced that there would be some sort of "sister attack" on the west coast. People in Houston were losing their with the fear that if this was the work of middle eastern terrorists that Houston would be a natural target because of its oil reserves and refineries. I had friends back in San Antonio who were afraid to go outside because San Antonio had so many military bases that the entire city could be a target.

[Holt's Cat]

At work. I recall clicking on a news link regarding a "small plane" hitting the north tower of the WTC.

[Sunshine]

A friend called me at my apartment and asked if I was watching television, I wasn't, so I turned it on and probably didn't move for two hours.

[angel_luv]

I was at Bible school- just come out of our morning prayer meeting.
We met in the cafeteria, which always had the morning news on.

I saw the footage of the first plane going into the building. My class mates were saying what a horrible accident it was.
I had a sick feeling and had just said, " Guys I don't think that was an accident" when we saw the second plane crash into the tower.

We went on with classes for the first half of the day. One of our teachers would come in an update us.
I remember vividly when she came in and told us that the towers had fallen.

It felt like we were all in a horror movie. I never thought something like that would happen in America.

[degenerate_gambler]

in the car on the way to work listening to 760 and heard a one line report of a small plane hitting one of the towers.

[duncan228]

We were outside Seattle, next to Fort Lewis. All my neighbors were military.

I didn't have the TV on, we usually didn't on school mornings. I walked my daughter to school with my neighbor and her kids. She was awful quiet, her husband was active duty, I was chit chatting. As we got to the school she said "You don't know what happened, do you?" I didn't, but it was on in the school office. I watched a little dumbstruck, it was 9:00 am pacific time, the towers were already gone. I called my husband, who was still home, and told him to turn on CNN. Like lots of people, I don't think my TV set was ever off for the next week.

We have family all over the East Coast, including the Tribeca area in NYC. My brother had been scheduled to fly out of Boston that morning, thank God his plans had changed. We were fortunate to not be personally affected but it had an effect anyway. It still does.

The biggest thing I took from it was a new found respect for the military. They surrounded us, we watched as they went into action. It was hard to see their families separated as fathers and mothers were deployed. One family had both parents deployed, Grandma came to take care of their kids. Tough stuff.

9/11 opened my eyes to how vulnerable we are. We live day to day without thinking about it. That day we did.

[Ronaldo McDonald]

Had a late in to work so I was sleeping. It was 9 o clock on the west coast and my mother ran into my RV waking me up saying "Someone has crashed planes into the world trade center"

At the time, i honestly didn't know anything about them.

Watched the news nonstop for about a week after that.

Nothing seemed to mean much.


Now? IMO the planes flying into the towers should be shown more often reminding the people how it was that day...