Where were you when 9/11 happened?

[golden eagle]

I was on my way to work in suburban Atlanta. I was driving down I-85 in the Lilburn area when news of the first plane hit the WTC. I thought it was a small private plane and wondered how could the pilot not miss such a building. But when the second plane hit minutes later, I thought to myself that this is no accident. I don't think anyone would know what the scope of this would later turn out to be.

[corco]

I was at school in Boise.  I was just starting the 8th grade.  It happened right as we were driving to school, and when I got to school one of my teachers informed me that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.

I had no idea what that meant and brushed it off as something weird, but not a big deal- I think I pictured the private plane like you did. I definitely pictured a bunch of people doing work and then a plane just wedged into their office on the side of the building- no fires or anything like that.

Then they turned on the TV, and we watched the second plane fly in.

I thank our teachers greatly for allowing us to spend the entire morning watching the tragedy occur, and afterwards we discussed what was happening as a class.

Shortly after the towers collapsed, my mother came to school just to give me a hug since she was home alone and my Dad was supposed to be returning from Pakistan at the time. He had to hang out at the Embassy for several days before he could finally get home. Had my Dad been home, we would have had the TV on in the morning and known right when it happened. As it was, my Mom didn't know for a few hours just because she never turned on the TV.

That really was an incredible situation- one of the immediate effects I really remember is that by the end of the day, every single TV station was carrying some other news station feed. My Mom wanted my little sister and I to watch something else after dinner that night, since I had been exposed to and discussing it all day and she was only 8, but there was absolutely nothing else on television.

[Duke87]

In school (9th grade). It had all already happened by the time I learned about it. In fact, apparently nobody in the building was aware until one of the teachers got a phone call from her husband who worked at the World Trade Center saying he was alright.

[Bryant5493]

I was in the eleventh grade in my high school health class.


Be well,

Bryant

[yanksfan6129]

I was in third grade--elementary school. Because the elementary school is for the youngest kids, no announcement of it was made over the loudspeaker (I'm told that in the high school and the middle school, such an announcement was made). However, I did realize something was up, because as the morning went on I noticed that gradually some of my friends were being called down to the office, to be picked up by their parents. I still didn't know what exactly happened. To this day, I don't know when I "really" found out what happened and when it was forever put into my memory because although my parents told me we were discussing it at dinner that night, I have no recollection of that conversation (interestingly, my younger brother who was in kindergarten at the time DOES remember the conversation). I do remember however my mother telling me that the parents that pulled their kids out of school were overreacting.

[deathtopumpkins]

I was in elementary school, and they said over the PA system that "something" had happened. I don't remember the exact wording but they didn't say any specifics whatsoever. I didn't even know that there was a plane or a building involved until I got home around 5 PM and my mom had CNN on.

I don't really remember anything from that day though.

[Ian]

I was only in first grade when it happened, however I remember parts of the day. I remember coming home and my parents being upset and relieved that nothing bad happened to me or my brother.

[jgb191]

I had already slept in my apartment through the events and woke up right before 11 AM (central time), when I got a phone call from my father, who had been watching the coverage all morning from his house.  He gave me a heads up to watch the news....he said something about an explosion at the Pentagon, the Twin Towers on fire, and a plane crash in a field.  He was talking faster than my tired ears could understand.  Anyway, I turned it on to MSNBC, and it took a while for me to piece together what happened from watching coverage, once I was caught up to speed and make the connection, my eyes were glued to my TV all day long.

I was supposed to enjoy my two days off from work and was supposed to meet my guys for golf later that afternoon after around the lunch hour and then reconvene at a sports bar later that night.  Being glued to the coverage made me forget all about the golf.  Around 4 PM, I got a call from one of the guys, he reassured me none of the guys felt like going to golf, but asked if I was still up for meeting them for dinner and we all agreed to meet at the sports bar.  It was kind of a quiet, somber moment in light of the events.  After that, we simply called it a night and went home.

The next day (Wednesday), I just stayed in my apartment practically the entire day....had brief chats with some of my neighbors on and off.  And back to work on Thursday afternoon as scheduled.

[kj3400]

I was in 6th grade just coming back from lunch, and going to Social Studies. My teacher had stayed out of the room to talk to the other teachers. I figured they were talking about teacher stuff. Then she turned on the radio in our room and I heard someone say something about some towers being hit. At that time I don't think I even knew NY had the World Trade Center. Anyway they dismissed the entire school at that moment, and I went home to see footage of the towers being hit by those two planes. Then it started to sink in.

[allniter89]

  Houston, TX, at a warehouse near the A-B Brewery on the east side of the city near the I-10/I-610 jct.
I was driving a 18wheeler and waiting in my sleeper berth watching The Today Show on NBC while the customer unloaded 1,977 boxes of shoes by hand. I had the tv on to lull me to sleep because the unloading process would take hours and I intended to get some sleep to be able to drive after unloading.
I was just about to doze off when the Today Show returned from a commercial and I believe it was Katie Couric that said they had breaking news that a plane had hit one of the WTC Towers, at the time they thought it was a Cessna or something small, that got my attention and I rolled over and watched the day unfold. The customer did continue working unloading me, they had a tv set up on the dock area. By the time I was unloaded the 2nd Tower, Pentagon and Flight 93 had all occurred. I remember wondering how long the attacks were going to continue and what the next targets would be. Sept 11 was a extremely surrealistic day, I woke up several times hoping it had all been a nightmare, turning the tv on the realize it did happen!  
Instead of reloading the truck that day, I went to a truckstop and watched the tv coverage into the night.

[BigMattFromTexas]

I was only like 5 but I still remember bits and pieces as I have a good memory.

I remember coming home from a co-op thing and watching the news, I didn't really know what happened but I knew it wasn't good. The following days I remember a thing about NYC firefighters, and I really remember the pictures on the newspapers here, those are some things I don't think I'll ever forget. That day I also remember we had to drop off one of my sisters friends on Goodfellow AFB here, but the traffic was backed up for MILES. We ended up like having her (my sisters friend), I think spend the night at our house.

But I will never forget 9/11. And several changes have been made on Goodfellow since the attacks. i.e. these pole things were put up at the front gate, there are these things that can stand up so armed forces can be behind them to I guess shoot the "terrorist" if there was one. Also for a while after 9/11 there were these people with assault riffles (prolly M-16's or something) that were in this camo behind the main gates. There's been more changes but I'm too lazy to type them..

To this day I always feel a little funny.. It's sad to see the flags at half-mass, I'm just thankful I'm from west-Texas, not New York. But it's very sad that this happened. But I guess the idiots were serving their country (in war I can forgive them), but in doing so they killed thousands, but for that I don't forgive and forget.
BigMatt

[KEK Inc.]

I was in 4th grade.  I only remember my teacher being sad when she broke the news, and I remember seeing it on the news when I got home.

But I guess the idiots were serving their country

Al Qaeda isn't a country...  The "purpose" was delved from a radical religious interpretation of Jihad rather than a specific political nationality.  The issue with fighting the War on Terror is the mere fact that they're spread around the globe and it shouldn't be treated as traditional warfare.  Frankly, The War in Iraq and Afghanistan were bad calls, but let's not turn this into a political discussion.   

[74/171FAN]

I was in 4th grade and our school didn't make an announcement or anything.  However, my dad picked me up early that day because I had a dentist appointment and he told me on the way home to brush my teeth before heading to the dentist.  I did remember that they had police cars at my school that day when school let out to escort the students to the buses(idk if it was just Fort Lee buses or all of them because I wasn't there but it probably all of them)

[BigMattFromTexas]

But I guess the idiots were serving their country

Al Qaeda isn't a country...  The "purpose" was delved from a radical religious interpretation of Jihad rather than a specific political nationality.  The issue with fighting the War on Terror is the mere fact that they're spread around the globe and it shouldn't be treated as traditional warfare.  Frankly, The War in Iraq and Afghanistan were bad calls, but let's not turn this into a political discussion.   

Ack, well, they thought they were doing something good. Which well, wasn't.... And I'm with you on this not being a political discussion.
BigMatt

[mightyace]

I was sleeping when the events actually occurred.

When I got to the office, everyone was in the lobby watching TV.  I found my boss and asked him what had happened and he said that the World Trade Centers were gone.  Naturally, I was in shock.  I stood there until they got back again to what happened.

I tried to work the best I could while keeping tracking of events on the Internet from my desk.  But, the internet in 2001 wasn't up to the task, most news sites were too busy to come up.

Everyone, slowly left the office as the day went on.  I went to a local walking path to walk and think.  It was strange as I was alone and the skies were silent.  This path is under one of the major glidepaths for Nashville airport.

I also drove by a mall before going home and watching the news.  It was strange to see the mall closed as if it were Christmas or something.

[jdb1234]

I was in 8th grade English class that morning, when it was announced.  The school board would not let any coverage of the 9/11 attacks be shown in school.   I remember thinking it was the end of the world as we know it.  I watched TV coverage of the attacks when I got home that afternoon.

[Max B. (FreewayTitan)]

I was 5 years old... and the only memory of this was my dad watching it all on TV. Still to this day I can recall how nervous everybody was that day.

[agentsteel53]

kinda sad that previous generations got cool shit like the moon landing, and we get to remember ... this.

come on, people, accomplish something.  Make your species proud for once!

[corco]

kinda sad that previous generations got cool shit like the moon landing, and we get to remember ... this.

The moon landing was right on the heels of the Kennedy assassination (which admittedly is nowhere near as traumatic as 9/11 was, but at the time it happened it was by all accounts highly traumatizing, and the same sort of once-in-a-generation event that just knocked the wind out of that era) and certainly wasn't during a positive time for the county...that said, yeah! We've essentially cancelled the space program, and the war hasn't helped the economy like it has in the past. Something just ain't right.

But I will never forget 9/11. And several changes have been made on Goodfellow since the attacks. i.e. these pole things were put up at the front gate, there are these things that can stand up so armed forces can be behind them to I guess shoot the "terrorist" if there was one. Also for a while after 9/11 there were these people with assault riffles (prolly M-16's or something) that were in this camo behind the main gates. There's been more changes but I'm too lazy to type them..

Perhaps the most amusing response in the paranoia following 9/11 was the Governor of Idaho closing and putting up pole barracades on the streets immediately adjacent to the Capitol building five days after the attack. Yeah, the capitol of Idaho was really going to be a terrorist target...

They were re-opened about 3 weeks later once everybody realized that was completely ridiculous

[agentsteel53]

Something just ain't right.

as individuals, there are some brilliant ones among us.

as a species, we're pretty much losers.

[corco]

The school board would not let any coverage of the 9/11 attacks be shown in school.

That's something I don't and will never understand. For really small children, yeah, I see the point, but you were in the 8th grade. Any middle school-aged kid would have been intelligent enough to grasp what was going on. You should have been allowed to watch.

Admittedly, this was just a horrible, horrible thing, but regardless of how horrible it was, it was as significant as it was horrible. You should have been given the opportunity to watch what was possibly the most significant event in our history. In my mind, prohibiting you from watching was an unforgivable form of censorship, but one that regrettably occurred at most public schools around the country.

Especially in hindsight, it's something that needed to be engrained into the national fabric. There are (incredibly) a lot of people our age who don't know anything about 9/11. Admittedly, these folks probably aren't the sharpest tools in the shed to begin with, but I can't help but think that if they had the opportunity to watch the events in their school as they unfolded they would have a greater appreciation for exactly what happened.

And frankly, the news media did an awesome job of unbiased reporting. I do wonder if the news could do that today if such a tragedy occurred. I don't want to find out.  

[agentsteel53]

what was possibly the most significant event in our history.

George Washington notes that humans lack perspective.

[BigMattFromTexas]

But I will never forget 9/11. And several changes have been made on Goodfellow since the attacks. i.e. these pole things were put up at the front gate, there are these things that can stand up so armed forces can be behind them to I guess shoot the "terrorist" if there was one. Also for a while after 9/11 there were these people with assault riffles (prolly M-16's or something) that were in this camo behind the main gates. There's been more changes but I'm too lazy to type them..

Perhaps the most amusing response in the paranoia following 9/11 was the Governor of Idaho closing and putting up pole barracades on the streets immediately adjacent to the Capitol building five days after the attack. Yeah, the capitol of Idaho was really going to be a terrorist target...

They were re-opened about 3 weeks later once everybody realized that was completely ridiculous

I meant to say they put them there to make you have to go slow and swerve in stead of having a straight path.
BigMatt

[corco]

George Washington notes that humans lack perspective.

Note the possibly qualifier. Allow me to condense a seven paragraph rebuttal full of minor fallacies wherein I inwardly realize I'm wrong but outwardly refuse to admit it into three sentences.

There are three super-significant events in our history- the Revolution, the Civil War, and 9/11. All completely changed the culture of this country and brought with them radically different interpretations of right, and in turn the interpretation of the Constitution. 9/11 was, for all intents and purposes, the third American Revolution, which makes it tied for most significant event in our history.

[agentsteel53]

I don't think the third American Revolution has happened yet.  

bear in mind that by 2006 or so we were just about back to "business as usual" as a society - back in the housing bubble groove, back to forgetting that there were two wars in the middle east, back to consumerism gone to Hell.  

it took until (take your pick) a subprime derivatives disaster and/or that black guy threatening to take away our Medicare before the peasants really started getting restless.

and now, as a country, we're generally hoping this economic malaise shall pass, so we can go back to being consumer idiots.  Can we default on a loan yet?  Can we default on a loan yet?

business as usual, as far as I can tell.