Where were you when 9/11 happened?

[US71]

We lived in Winchester at the time and my wife was design editor/senior staff writer for the daily paper there, so she had a busy day with getting the latest news in the afternoon paper. She got home on time and told me that I wouldn't want to watch the day's events on TV. I had a much longer day since I was doing all layout and production as well as writing, but I got home late that night and got to see some of the coverage.

I have a friend who was working for TV news at the time, heard about #1 plane, saw #2 on TV and posted on-line something to the effect of "we are at war".  She left TV a couple years back, but refuses to watch ANY TV on 9/11

[yanksfan6129]

My dad remembers the JFK assassination...he was a freshman in high school, and remembers that they called all the students to homeroom and dismissed them. He also remembered that many of the girls were crying. My dad was also upset (but not beside himself)...he looks back on the JFK days fondly.

[mightyace]

My dad is one of the few people still alive (he's 80) that remember both Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

IIRC Pearl Harbor is still a bigger deal for him.

[agentsteel53]

My dad is one of the few people still alive (he's 80) that remember both Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

IIRC Pearl Harbor is still a bigger deal for him.

yep, as I said ... George Washington would like to remind us all about perspective.

[golden eagle]

I didn't realize how young some of you are, particularly the ones who said they were in elementary school when 9/11 happened.

[bugo]

I was listening to that "Ladder to Heaven" song.

[florida]

My current chemistry techer would probably kick you out of class if you said that because he is so hilarious during class.   

Okay, I officially state that 'most' are joyless


As for all the "young pups", it still makes me feel old that some members here were in elementary school.

[nyratk1]

My current chemistry techer would probably kick you out of class if you said that because he is so hilarious during class.   

Okay, I officially state that 'most' are joyless

I had a great chem teacher who was a big ol' Irish guy who looked like Santa while my brother had a sarcastic old lady who sometimes wore a shirt with Curious George dead from drinking too much ether.

[hbelkins]

Probably just a brain fart on your part, but you didn't mention the JFK assassination in your "I remember whens". My "I remember where I was" moments are JFK (5th grade, sent home from school early), moon landing (roadtrip to Alaska, in MN at THE moment), 9/11 and John Lennon assassination (spent day moving into new apt, this was 1st thing I saw when I plugged in tv).
I remember RFK and MLK assassinations also but can't place exactly where I was when I heard but I was pretty young.

No brain fart. I was just a few weeks shy of my second birthday when JFK was killed so I have no memory of that.

[allniter89]

Probably just a brain fart on your part, but you didn't mention the JFK assassination in your "I remember whens". My "I remember where I was" moments are JFK (5th grade, sent home from school early), moon landing (roadtrip to Alaska, in MN at THE moment), 9/11 and John Lennon assassination (spent day moving into new apt, this was 1st thing I saw when I plugged in tv).
I remember RFK and MLK assassinations also but can't place exactly where I was when I heard but I was pretty young.

No brain fart. I was just a few weeks shy of my second birthday when JFK was killed so I have no memory of that.

So I guess I AM the resident old fart (ROF)! I didnt realize you were that young, or I was that old..lol!

[Roadgeek Adam]

5th grade classroom. My parents pulled me out early.

[jgb191]

I know, I can't believe we have a staggering number of these youngsters that weren't in the real world back in 2001 ( a few here still aren't in the real world to this day).

[J N Winkler]

Years ago I asked a 70-year-old British friend where she was on 22 November 1963.  I figured I would get an interesting answer given that Kennedy was not her head of state.  She remembered that she heard about it in the evening (Britain is six hours ahead of Texas time, the shots were fired around 12.30 PM, and Kennedy was declared dead at Parklane Hospital at one PM), and that it was a Friday.  She had just come home from work and was getting ready for the weekend.

[hbelkins]

Even though I had not reached my second birthday and have no memory of the JFK assassination, I knew someone who was there and had a key role in the events of the day.

Malcolm Kilduff was assistant press secretary and had accompanied JFK to Dallas because Pierre Salinger had other duties elsewhere. Kilduff made the announcement of Kennedy's death and is holding the Dictaphone microphone used to record the swearing-in of LBJ aboard Air Force One. Most of the photos that were published showed only his hand, but he was clearly visible in the full original, uncropped photo.

Mac married a native of my hometown and they moved back here, to the house where she grew up. He managed a local Radio Shack store inside a Ben Franklin dime store for awhile, he served on a number of community service boards, and he was the editor of the local paper for several years, and I worked with him for part of that time.

He was a recovering alcoholic and was always the bartender at events where alcohol was served, since he said there was no fear of him drinking up all the booze and depriving the other guests of it. Unfortunately he fell off the wagon after his wife's death and ended up in an assisted living facility, then a nursing home.

In the evenings you could often find him at the local IGA, dropping quarter after quarter into the Ms. PacMan machine.

He's buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

He was certainly quite a character.

[allniter89]

Even though I had not reached my second birthday and have no memory of the JFK assassination, I knew someone who was there and had a key role in the events of the day.

Malcolm Kilduff was assistant press secretary and had accompanied JFK to Dallas because Pierre Salinger had other duties elsewhere. Kilduff made the announcement of Kennedy's death and is holding the Dictaphone microphone used to record the swearing-in of LBJ aboard Air Force One. Most of the photos that were published showed only his hand, but he was clearly visible in the full original, uncropped photo.

Mac married a native of my hometown and they moved back here, to the house where she grew up. He managed a local Radio Shack store inside a Ben Franklin dime store for awhile, he served on a number of community service boards, and he was the editor of the local paper for several years, and I worked with him for part of that time.

He was a recovering alcoholic and was always the bartender at events where alcohol was served, since he said there was no fear of him drinking up all the booze and depriving the other guests of it. Unfortunately he fell off the wagon after his wife's death and ended up in an assisted living facility, then a nursing home.

In the evenings you could often find him at the local IGA, dropping quarter after quarter into the Ms. PacMan machine.

He's buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

He was certainly quite a character.

Interesting story, thanks for sharing!
Did the assasination seem to have affected his life later?
Is that why he went back to private life?
Did the town know of his position as A P S or was he just "another Joe"?

[hbelkins]

Everyone knew what Mac's place in history was. He wasn't shy about talking about it.

It was a bit hard for him, as a native New Yorker who spent most of his life in the DC area, to adjust to life in smalltown eastern Kentucky, but he made the best of it.

I don't recall exactly why he left government service, but he always relished the story of how he got started with the federal government: gluing photos on passports.

One of the more interesting stories he told was about working as a newscaster in Las Vegas and seeing a rattlesnake slither into the studio while he was live on the air.

I'm sure the events of that day had an effect on his life. He did not seek to be thrust into that spotlight. But I think the death of his infant son, while he was abroad, probably affected him more than anything.