Where were you 9/11/01

[arsenette]

Now that it's over I wanted to ask simply because I am legitimately curious. 911 is hard for me every year. Luckily this year I was sick with headaches to miss a lot of it so the sting wasn't as great this year.

I'll start. 9/11/01 I was at home in South Jersey. Typical day for me.. I was sick with headaches and didn't get to bed until hubby went to work which at that time was about 7:30am. Around the time I was finally falling asleep.. Hubby called me. It was exactly 9:00 am. He didn't say "hi" or "sorry to bother you".. he just said. "Turn on the TV.. now..". "What channel?".. silence.. "doesn't matter.. just turn it on. I have to go". He hung up. I was a little pissed to be woken up but I know my husband.. it wouldn't be for some stupid thing. I turned it on and went to one of the networks thinking "must be news related". I don't remember which one I turned on. As I changed to a network channel I saw the 2nd plane hit. I didn't even know wtf I was watching. Then another phone call came in. My cousin in Puerto Rico. "hey.. you know people in NYC right?".. I almost lost my marbles.. I know people in those building.. wtf is going.. I hang up with her and immediately start calling friends in NYC.

I got one of them on the phone. She's hysterical "my husband is in lower manhattan! He's servicing the elevator in WTC7".. I almost had a coronary. She couldn't get in touch with him because the phones in NYC just lost their marbles. It was strange. Similar to when hurricanes hit the islands.. outward phone calls can call in but people in town couldn't contact each other. I called my friend's husband and he picks up. "Oh thank God.. She must be going nuts.. no I changed it I'm in Brooklyn.. Seeing the whole show from the top of this building.. tell her I won't be home until late tonight they shut down the bridges and tunnels (They live on the Jersey side).

Made like 10 more calls all I couldn't get through.. either voicemail or the "line are busy please try your call later". I call the ice rinks and see if anyone got affected.. sure enough.. "mrs. so and so I think was flying today.. she must be pissed they shut down the airspace".. (found out later she was in the first airplane into WTC1 - found out 3 days later).

Finally got back with my cousin who kept watching but didn't understand. They streamed I think NBC or something on their channels without a translator so everything she saw was in English. Initial reports had something like 7 planes being hijacked so it was going crazy that morning. I got back on the phone with her just in time to share the first building collapsing. I literally got sick. Each building holds over 50,000 people .. even now I'm utterly surprised how many got out.

The rest of the morning was a blur. Phone calls coming in and out since I was pretty much an operator. No one could get in contact with each other so they would call me and share numbers and I'd call them. All in all we lost 5. 1 in the air and 4 on the ground. 1 girl was going for a job interview. The rest of the week was chaos. I went back to North Jersey since getting into NYC was damn near impossible with security. Spent a lot of time coming into ice rinks and hearing kids screaming as they got news they lost a parent. Parents rightfully thought it would be a good idea to keep the kids busy since they were all freaked out so they went to the rinks to stay with their friends. It just gutted me when I hear a shriek. You just knew what happened. I knew 5 but the number indirectly was around 30 (But I didn't know them personally).

Years pass and I can finally see the videos but my hands still shake and my stomach still churns. It doesn't hurt anywhere near as much but it's still very raw. I was 29 years old.

[Badalight]

Of course the impact for me and a lot of others is going to be considerably less (I'm also curious about what the foreigners have to say) but here is what I remember.

I was in 3rd grade, so I was just a kid. I recall or principle would not under ANY circumstance let us turn on the T.V. Looking back was that the right decision, or the wrong decision? I don't know. Seems like every other school had theirs turned on but ours, highschools, middle schools, and elementary schools.

I remember all they told us was "Recess will be canceled today because a plane has crashed in new york" Now to a 3rd grade kid that sounds ridiculous. I live in Missouri, why would I care about a plane crash in New York and why was it stopping me from having recess.

And me and my friends and everyone joked about it all day "Oh no, plane crashed in new york, no recess, boo hoo".

Of course then I got home and my mom was watching T.V. I saw exactly what the big fuss was about, and even as a third grader I knew how horrible this incident was and that I was "living history".

I didn't loose any loved ones in the buildings or even any people I know, but I am very sorry for the people that did.

[The Chief]

I still remember this like it was yesterday. I was only in 1st grade. The first plane hit 30 minutes after I started school. 1st-4th grades weren't told anything, but the 5th-8th grades were watching it live. They kept everything going like normal and nothing was wrong. When my sister and I got home(we took the bus), my sister went into the house first and turned on the TV right away. I saw the footage of the 2 WTCs, the Pentagon, and the plane wreckage in PA on the TV and I said, "What's going on?" and all my sister said was, "We were attacked." Although, it's funny, every single channel was this and, looking back, all I thought was, "Man, this is canceling all of my shows." When my parents explained to be what happened when they got home, I was stunned. I couldn't believe that people would actually do something like this.

I was lucky, I didn't know anyone in the buildings or in the planes. Now, every year at 9/11, I can't help but think about all the people and all the families who lost loved ones.

It may be cliche, but this is something I "will never forget."

[Deleted]

I may have been only 5 at the time, but I still remember via the news. It was the most devastating thing to me. Me, and my friends still talk about it.

[Deleted]

I was in 3rd grade, I went to school. The teacher started crying that the Twin Towers were hit by planes. Our school had recess, it was a normal day. Infact, I forgot about the news by the end of school. Our school didn't really do anything information wise. I think they wanted our parents to tell us.

So all I remember was the day was normal, even my mom was clueless. But than we turned on the TV, and every channel had it.

Even than, I still didn't mind it.

Every year afterwards, I realize how serious and vicious this attack was. Yesterday I watched a documentary, just showing people with their camera's recording what happened on 9/11. This, once again, made me realize how serious of an attack this was.

[Deleted]

I hear they're making another building to commemorate the twin towers.

[Badalight]

I also remember crying in my bed hoping america wouldn't be attacked again. I thought "I'm pretty safe here... who would attack Missouri? The only big city we have around here is Kansas City... I'm safe"

Then I thought "What if they drop a bomb big enough to destroy all of America? "

For adults who were older and mature, and kids who were younger and didn't quite understand the gravity of the situation, it was equally as scary for everyone.

[Oti]

Seventh grade science class. An announcement was made telling us we were all safe, even though we had no idea what was going on. The teacher eventually turned on the news for us but we all pretty much ignored it and continued with our school days as normal.

Once I got home, everything was still normal. We even went out to eat that night. I asked my parents if everything was ok and if we should be going out to eat (I think I was afraid the economy was going to collapse, or something. I don't remember.) but they said it was fine. And it was.

9/11 didn't affect me much and still doesn't to this day. I was too young to understand/care at the time and too desensitized to tragedies by the time I learned the truth. I think the only reason I remember where I was on 9/11 is because so many people have asked the question that now it's burned into my memory.

[TCM]

I was in bed, and woke up and less than a minute later I see the plane fly in the tower. It had to be the first one, because at 9:00 am I had to be at school. We had a LONG silence in my school, I don't know who wasn't told aside from the preschoolers. School went on as normal but in the back of everyone's mind was the attacks. Rest of the day was pretty normal, aside from practically every network showing the aftermath of what happened. We have a family member in New York but he wasn't near the site I believe, so he was safe. I'm not as affected as others, but I do feel for those who were more connected to it than me.

[japantv1210]

I was in fifth grade homeroom, and I remember our principle said through the intercom, "School will be dismissed early today. There's been a terrible accident." And of course being the stupid kid I was, I thought "It must've been a pretty bad car accident on the highway for them to cancel school." I also remember my mom being one of the last people to pick me, my brother, and my sister up from school due to the ridiculous amount of traffic. At the time, she seemed pretty normal, but now looking back on it, she actually did seem to be very worried and distraught. Then, I got home, and my mom explained everything to me and my siblings when we turned on the tv. And I was shocked. Luckily, I didn't lose anyone in the event, but I feel for those who did.

[Anshin]

8th grade, 13 years old.

I lived with my grandmother, aunt and cousins at the time. My cousins and I were headed down to the car with my aunt to go to school, and my grandmother opened the apartment door and told my aunt to come back upstairs for a minute. My cousins and I waited in the car for about 20 minutes. After my aunt came back downstairs, she was all teary eyed since she was supposed to be in NYC in a few days for work. I got to class about 5 minutes before school started, and everyone was talking about it around campus, students and teachers alike. The teachers thought that we should be able to watch what was going on and turned on the news, but eventually the principle put out an announcement that the TVs should be off for the day.


It ended up being the topic of discussion for a good while, and now it is what it is, history.


It'll be an interesting tale to tell the next few generations about.

[mikessssssss]

I was twelve when it happened and i recall being in my school clothes, having just got back from school, and can vividly remember the old TV we had that was stacked on some blue box in the Kitchen. That was when i found out about it.

Being twelve, foreign and having no idea what the World Trade Centre was, it didn't affect me at all. It is burnt in my memory, however, which goes to show the magnitude of the event, even if i cannot relate to it.

I think to empathize and truly understand, this and other events, you have to have experienced some sort of pain from it.

[madmanike]

Back in 2001, I was 29 years old, I lived in Denton TX, and I was working overnights at Wal-Mart. After getting home, I think I went to bed about 15 minutes before things went down. I just remember I was sleeping and my dad called asking if my family and I were ok. That we were under attack. I assured him we were fine and we hung up. Of course, as tired as I was, I thought I had dreamt it all. I woke up about 30 minutes later, kind of in a fog, thinking I needed to turn on the TV for some reason. When I did, all the US networks were in mass chaos mode, showing every single angle they could manage of planes crashing into buildings. It was surreal, I thought I might still be dreaming, but I knew I was awake. I finally switched over to BBC America and found a news station that wasn't in total disarray. From there I was able to find out what was going on. They had footage from some french director who was doing a documentary in downtown New York that morning. You could see the planes coming in and hitting the buildings, people jumping off the top of the roofs to keep from being burned alive, buildings collapsing. It was the epitome of helplessness. Watching people die halfway across the country, and there was nothing I could do about it but shed tears for their demise. I didn't know any of them or those who were affected by this, but I couldn't help but feel just as affected by it. All I could do was send my prayers, so I did so. 9/11 is the kind of day you never forget. Pray we never have to repeat it.

[jfeathe]

I was in fourth grade and my mom and I were doing Bible study. My aunt called and informed us, and we watched it unfold on tv. Since I was only 9, I didn't even begin to understand the full implications of the tragedy.

As selfish as this sounds, I'm glad I was so oblivious to everything. It would almost be too much if such a disaster hit now with me being 18.

I am very thankful I didn't lose a loved one. My heart still goes out for those who lost someone. Arsenette, I can't begin to imagine what you went through.

[RobbyMac]

6th grade Brooklyn New York looking out the classroom window at the towers burning =(

[SuperTiger]

Well for me the experience didn't affect me much until I got older...

It was a normal day, I was in 2nd grade and I had been in school for about 30 minutes. My teacher was teaching us basic addition and subtraction and then all of a sudden the intercom came on and told her to turn on the television. All of a sudden a plane crashes into this tower, and all the kids are like "What?" and my teacher's jaw hit the floor. We saw this building burning and we were all so confused, then my teacher began to explain to us that these people were attacking our country. Shortly thereafter the other tower was smashed into and the Pentagon as well. My teacher was freaking out and she was screaming that the White House is next and that these people are trying to ruin our country. After both the towers had come down, my teacher grabbed the american flag in our portable and instructed us to go outside where we had a long prayer. We gathered around the American Flag and all held it while saying the prayer. School was called off early, and I came home at around 1 o clock which was when my mom explained to me that terrorists attacked us. I asked her why and she responded by saying they hate us. I then asked why they hate us, and she told me she wasn't really sure, she only knew that they are taught to hate us.

The magnitude of that day wasn't felt until I got older. Apprantly, my aunt (which is my mom's sister) was in Boston that day and was supposed to be on the flight to LA via United Airlines Flight 175. (That was the plane that crashed into the South Tower) However the company she worked for told her to board a flight to Chicago instead, so basically if they didn't tell her that she would have crashed into the South Tower that day.

All and All I am very thankful that I was not affected by that day; however i can not fathom how I would have handled it if I was older or if I knew someone who was involved with 9/11.

R.I.P 9/11 victims

[yamfriend]

At the time I was 8 years old and in 3rd grade. Despite living relatively close to NYC (Allentown suburbs), I had no knowledge about anything significant happening that day until I got home (I left for school at about 8:30 IIRC, which was about 15 minutes before the first plane hit; as for why I didn't learn about it at school, I can only assume that they didn't allow information of anything regarding it to be given to the students since it was a very frightening experience for anyone (especially young children, though I think my school did let the middle school and high school kids know then and there), plus some of the kids at my school might've had people they knew who worked in NYC). When I got home that afternoon, the first thing that my mom asked me when I walked in the door was, "Did you hear what happened?", to which she told me the general facts known at the time. Granted my age I didn't initially realize how significant the horrible events of that day were, but as the days, weeks, and months went on I understood everything more and more clearly and the impact of what occurred set in on me. Although I didn't directly know anyone who died that day, I felt extremely sorry for people I knew who knew victims, as well as the millions of others affected in any way by it across both the rest of the country and the world. God bless all of those innocent people---those who died, those who were injured physically, mentally, and/or emotionally, those who lost a person they cared deeply about.

[arsenette]

Thanks for all the stories! I think it took me about.. 2 years to stop crying whenever I thought of that day. I did a fundraiser the following month (Oct. 2001) for the FireFighters families who lost their husbands and sons and that was tough. Everyone was also afraid to travel anywhere in Jersey for a while. Some didn't care and came all the way from Connecticut skate at our fundraiser. Quite cathartic to be doing something while everything in NYC was shut down. Even the kids who didn't lose anyone felt the need to do "something" since everything literally just stopped for a while. Events canceled and we couldn't enter NYC unless we had official business and/or resident.

Still odd to go to NYC and not use the Twin Towers as a landmark. I usually orient myself to those towers since there's just so many friggin' buildings in NYC. So it's still weird to turn around and not know where I am because those 2 buildings aren't there. I always knew people in those buildings and used to find reasons to go down there. Never went UP the buildings though.. strange.. I haven't been to Ground Zero in over 10 years and am not sure I would go back again. Not because I'm scared.. it's just.. doesn't feel the same anymore.. hard to explain.

[SRW]

Was at home just chillin talking to my mate and one my friends from USA said turn on the news basically saw everything unfold on live tv including the second plane and the two towers fall.
Was pretty surreal seeing the tower alight, but the bit that was the shock to me anyway was when the second plane came and flew right into the centre of the 2nd one, I literally shouted that was DELIBERATE Jeez gotta be terrorists and the whole context of a already bad situation changed immensly to something far worse beyond comprehension - the fact this was clearly planned and deliberate.

[VenusHeadTrap]

Uhm.. home?