September 11 2001

[02ducky]

Do you remember what were doing when this tragic event happend?

I was at home, wife called and said turn on the television something big is happening in New York. I turn on the television and about 5 minutes later I saw the second airplaine hit.

God bless those that lost somebody, God bless the military, God bless the USA

Suck it Osama rot in hell!

[Scanker19]

Me and my Wife (girlfriend at the time) were on our way to "zero hour" at our high school. We heard about the first plane on the radio and I remember thinking "what kind of idiot can't see a giant building". At the time I though it was a Cessna or something. When I got to my ROTC class for zero hour they had the news on and we saw the second plane. Rest of the day was a blur as most classes weren't even in class. It was just watching TV all day.

[zteknik]

That is one day I never will forget--EVER
I was there for rescue operations,and guard duty

At the time it happened I was on my way to work at the Ford dealer
I diddnt have a radio in the car at tha time ,but I knew something bad happened

I got to work and heard a plane hit the towers-I just thought that it was just an accident,that happens with small planes occasionaly there
But then I saw what realy happened-By the time I got out an oh shit,I recieved a phone call from my Reserve commander telling me I just been activated and get my ass down there asap!!!

It was like something out of a movie-surreal- All these people in a mad dash to get out and me trying to get there
I was there for 2 weeks,and I have to say it left a mark on my soul greater then any combat I have been in
Combat we got paid to do a job and you expect to see casullties on your side

God Bless all the ones who helped out that day
And Pray for all of those who were lost

Keep the change- I just want my country back!!!

[Mtn.man]

Didn't know about it for 11 days. Was bowhunting top of the divide.
Came home at the end of the season and found out.
We had always joked that the world could come to an end and we wouldn't know it.

[Hitman 6]

It was my senior year of high school and I was sleeping in because I had purposefully avoided taking classes in the morning so I could do just that ( never really been a morning person).

All the sudden my hung over alcoholic mother blasts through my bedroom door like ICE on a meat plant raid and screeched "Do you know what's going on right now!?"

Me obviously still in a slumber: "Uhhh, no."

Mom: "Well there's shit blowing up in New York, you better get up"

So I got up and flipped on the tube I had in my room, and right as it came into focus, the plane rammed the second tower. I froze for about 20 minutes soaking in all that was happening, and the rest of the day is a blur. If you remember some of the media claims were pretty outrageous on some of the happenings, so I started doing some pretty bogus shit that included loading up a shotgun and almost taking it to school (had recently watched Red Dawn), because 12ga buckshot could repel a dive bombing jetliner, right? I eventually thought of Columbine a couple years before and decided that was probly a bad plan. I went to school unarmed and we watched the news all day in every class. That's about it for my wacky 9/11 story

[patrick0685]

I was in class as a Junior in High School...it was a long day all we did all day was watch TV

[ray1970]

I was on my way to work when the news came over the radio. Like everyone else, it first sounded like a tragic accident. Then the second plane hit. I was working at one of the local auto dealers that day but nearly everyone there spent most of their day in the parts department or the customer waiting area watching the televisions. No one got much work done that day. If your car or truck was in for repairs that day and didn't get looked at, I apologize.

[ruthabagah]

That morning I was running late and had to drop my new car for an oil change at a ford dealership on arapahoe road. When i got to their service area the place was empty with cars, door open, their engine still running.... As I tried to find to help this guy out of an office, look at me, then run to the customer waiting area.... When I went round the wall I saw maybe fifty people looking in silence right above my head, where 2 large tv screen were showing the burning first tower.... I left with my car and went to work. My employees where sitting at their desk wondering why they couldn't get on the Internet and why the phone were dead: I was working for a new York based bank and all of our it/telco was managed from the WTS area. It was sad, my stupid vp could not believe what I told I saw, and would not let my team leave for the day!

[Ridge]

I was a sophomore in high school at the time. I didn't have a first period at my school, so I was sitting at home, on the computer, in a chat room for a specific flight sim game. A few people on there were talking about a plane crash, when the local news on the TV broke early to Good Morning America. The first images of the building were very tight focus. I couldn't tell from the scale, figured it was a small plane. Then they switched over to a helicopter over midtown and I could see how massive the impact site was. Was thinking "What is happening here?" When another plane came in from the right and passed behind the towers, but never came out the other. Just the massive fireball emerged.

My dad was in the next room getting ready for work. We simultaneously yelled out HOLY SHIT together. Spoke with others in the chat room for another half hour or so. A lot of them were from the NYC area.

Went to school, got inside and heard on the radio in the counselor's office that the Pentagon had been hit. That is when the reality set in for me, and I knew we were being attacked. Went to a couple classes, hopped on the bus and went to the other school for JROTC. The driver told us one of the towers collapsed. Got to JROTC, watched the second tower collapse. Went back to my school on the bus, and about 15 minutes into the next period I just got up and left. Had my dad pick me up, the family spent the rest of the day watching everything unfold.

That afternoon, went outside. It was surreal. Not a single cloud or contrail to be seen. Later that night, heard a small plane fly overhead. Found out the next day it was a Red Cross flight loaded up with blood that was heading out to NYC to help the wounded. But there wasn't any.

I was heavily into a forum for the same game as the chat room I had been in that day. The thing I remember most is that probably a third of the members there never posted again after 9/10.

[wctriumph]

I was east bound on I-80 headed for Sioux Falls SD when the DJ on the radio said a plane had crashed into the WTC. Since planes had hit tall buildings before I was praying that this was just an accident but it did occur to me that it was intentional. A few minutes later they reported that the second tower had been hit by a commercial airliner I just went cold at the realization that we were under attack.

I called my wife and told her what had happened. She turned on the TV and just went to tears, she couldn't even talk. I wanted to come home but continued on to take care of business. When I stopped for gas in North Platt NE for gas, everyone was just stunned, a lot of anger apparent in people. When I got to Sioux Falls everyone was talking WWIII and young men and women were talking about enlisting if needed.

My employer called and asked that I continue on my planned trip but I was free to go home if I felt I needed to. I tried to push on but I went home the next day to be with my family.

I will NEVER FORGET. God be with us all on this day.

[tmleadr03]

I was in Bancroft Hall at the USNA when the attack happened. I walked into an senior's room and sat down with about 20 people and watched the towers come down. Very clear memory from a time of fuzzy memories (I was suffering from a major concussion at the time).

By the end of the day every single prior had volunteered (and been denied) to go back to active duty.

[Big Wall]

I had just left home, headed for work. On the radio they were saying that there were reports of a plane crashing into the WTC. A few minutes later the second plane hit. Once I got to work about all we did all day was watch the news. I'll never forget watching the towers fall.

[Ranger]

Like most of you, I was getting ready for work just watching the news and I saw the news flash that a plane had hit, I remember thinking "terrible accident", then I saw the other hit and went into the office afterwards. We fired up the big TV and everyone just watched in amazement as everything unfolded. At about noon I closed the office down since all of my clients and employees were caught up in the moment. Later, when I found it was a terror attack I made some inquiries about re-upping, but it had been too long since I got out and it didn't make sense at the time.

What really pisses me off now, though, is that 10 years later and they still don't have a building up. The Empire State building went up in 18 months, but these buildings are still creeping at 10 years. Could there be a more important building to erect? Nope, we have to bicker and argue and fight over B.S. so we tie this up in red tape for a decade. Very sad - both what happened and our lack of erecting a symbol that we won't be defeated.

[Monky]

I was at work... (former job).. actually on the phone w/ our Facility at DIA wondering what was going on w/ my computer and flight tracking. One of the managers picked up the phone and said 'Don't expect planes to move for the next week, turn on the news, I gotta go'..

I turned on the news (yeah I had a tv in my control room) and I was confused.. I watched the 2nd plane hit shortly after I turned on the TV, still baffled about the first plane, thought some 'idiot' rookie pilot ran a little cesna into the tower.. It was surreal.

I don't remember driving home from work in rush hour.. I was watching the news the rest of the morning.. when the towers fell I turned off the TV.. I couldn't watch.. Was thinking about standing on top of those towers as a kid looking out over the city.. how many people were there...

Few glasses of the strong stuff and I went to bed.. I woke up that afternoon and everything was calm and still.. no sounds outside, no noise.. I thought I was dreaming it all till I turned the TV back on..

[frozenmud]

I was on a training/exercise deployment to Hawaii (it took a few minutes to figure out that it wasn't a exercise input). We were setup up on the Hickam AFB flight line. I remember watching F-15s escorting Airliners into the commercial side of the airport and pealing off to grab another one to escort. After several days of not know if we were pushing out to a real world deployment site or heading home, we headed back home. We were able to get a ride home on a C-5 while the flight ban was will in effect and the only planes up were military.

[blackford76]

I was at home, watching TV. I was working nights at the time, and had gotten off early the night before so I could pick up my wife and daughter at DIA later that morning.
As I was watching it all unfold on CNN I kept looking at the notes my wife left for me with the details of their trip, return DIA via United 93. My brain couldn't, or wouldn't process the info my eyes and ears were relaying.
As you might imagine, the cell circuits were really busy all day, it was hours before I got a call from my wife saying she has missed the flight, and that it might take a while for them to get home.
Everyone who knew that my family was supposed to be flying home that day called me to find out what was going on, and if my family was ok.

I ended up driving out the next day, to my sister-in-laws house where they were staying, in New Jersey. 1905 miles, in just under 21 hours.

[GhostRider]

I was at work, putting in water monitoring wells at a gas station, the lady in the station kept up informed of what was going on all day, everyone on my crew was ex-military so it was a quiet day, everyone was thinking of where it was going to go from there.

[Ridge]

I kept looking at the notes my wife left for me with the details of their trip, return DIA via United 93. My brain couldn't, or wouldn't process the info my eyes and ears were relaying.
As you might imagine, the cell circuits were really busy all day, it was hours before I got a call from my wife saying she has missed the flight, and that it might take a while for them to get home.

WOW! I'm not a religious person, but there was a deity watching your back that day...

[Big Wall]

The one thought that kept running thru my head that day was "Someone is so gonna get their asses kicked."

[Guylee]

I was just in elementary school but I remember it well. For some reason during lunch I had to go back to the classroom, and when I got there a couple teachers had it on the TV. I probably sat there for a good ten minutes before they realized I was there and made me go back outside. I can't remember if I was at school or at home, but I remember seeing the second tower fall, and how everything was frozen except for that TV screen.

At the time I couldn't even begin to fathom why someone would do this...I didn't understand that the terrorists had a higher cause, I thought they were just crazy bastards that wanted to take some folks with them. That very well be why I never got to be very religious-I still don't understand how anyone could do something so terrible in the name of any deity.

[BPTactical]

The wife and I had just gotten back from Vegas @ 0600. I was planning on taking the day off seeing how we had taken the red eye and we were lounging in bed and watched as 9 News cut over to live feeds from New York. Just a couple minutes after the switch the second plane hit, we watched it unfold on live TV. About 5 minutes later I got a call from my boss wondering if we made it home OK and if so I had to go to the shed that I plowed snow out of @ 118th and Wadsworth. They gave the employees the option of going home but as I was a supervisor I was mandated to be on "Stand By". We were to take plows and such and close the highways if needed.
Now the old shed there was right across from Jeffco Airport and we spent the day watching the news for the most part. About 20 minutes after they declared all flights grounded we heard a small plane and went out to see what was going on. The small plane had barely cleared the runway and out of nowhere there was a F-18 right on top of this Cessena or what ever it was, standing on its tail and escorting the puddle jumper back to the airport. As soon as the puddle jumper was down the F-18 hit the afterburner and was gone.
Kinda eerie how he just came out of nowhere and essentially sat right on top of the light aircraft.
When I went home probably the strangest thing was the silence. I am right on the western flight path for DIA and used to hearing and seeing commercial A/C landing and taking off.
Not a single one for 4 days.
The silence was deafening.

Eerie stillness.

[DSB OUTDOORS]

I was sitting in my office listening to the radio when I heard about the first plane. Anyone walking into the office talking I told them to shut up and listen to this!! I turned up the radio hoping that someone was playing a sick joke. Then the second plane hit, and it was dead silent as we were all glued to the radio. I will never forget or forgive what happened that day!! God Bless Everyone in the USA! And pray that something like this won't happen again!! [Salute][Marine]

[mopar]

The wife and I had just gotten back from Vegas @ 0600. I was planning on taking the day off seeing how we had taken the red eye and we were lounging in bed and watched as 9 News cut over to live feeds from New York. Just a couple minutes after the switch the second plane hit, we watched it unfold on live TV. About 5 minutes later I got a call from my boss wondering if we made it home OK and if so I had to go to the shed that I plowed snow out of @ 118th and Wadsworth. They gave the employees the option of going home but as I was a supervisor I was mandated to be on "Stand By". We were to take plows and such and close the highways if needed.
Now the old shed there was right across from Jeffco Airport and we spent the day watching the news for the most part. About 20 minutes after they declared all flights grounded we heard a small plane and went out to see what was going on. The small plane had barely cleared the runway and out of nowhere there was a F-18 right on top of this Cessena or what ever it was, standing on its tail and escorting the puddle jumper back to the airport. As soon as the puddle jumper was down the F-18 hit the afterburner and was gone.
Kinda eerie how he just came out of nowhere and essentially sat right on top of the light aircraft.
When I went home probably the strangest thing was the silence. I am right on the western flight path for DIA and used to hearing and seeing commercial A/C landing and taking off.
Not a single one for 4 days.
The silence was deafening.

Eerie stillness.

I bet the guy in the puddle jumper had to change his BVDs after he landed.

[trout_champ]

I was in my freshman year at Arizona State and I was working out at the rec center. I was watching SportsCenter and they cut to the news after the first plane crashed. Pretty soon plane number two and then I went back to my dorm and called my parents.

Randy

[BPTactical]

I bet the guy in the puddle jumper had to change his BVDs after he landed.
We wondered that as well not to mention the quizzing I am sure he got from the FFA.
If he didnt make a mess because of the F-18 I am sure he messed hisself then!

On a side note- one of the guys that worked for me at the time drove a limo on the side-he ended up taking some fat cat to Kansas City to the tune of $2K.

[Elhuero]

my clock radio was set to KILO and when it clicked on the DJs were talking, no music. Their tone and manner of speaking let me know instantly that something was going on.

They spoke about what was happening, but there were no specifics. After a minute or two I actually yelled "So what the hell is going on!"

Almost as if they heard me the DJ said "So, to recap what's happening..."

I went out in the living room and turned on the TV to see replays of the second plane. Like Ridge, I said "HOLY SHIT!"

That was the only thing I said, repeated several times, until I got to work.

It was a strange day. After work I drove to my parent's house. On the way I passed people standing on the side of the street, holding flags and waving at cars going by. The feeling in the air was like, well the air felt normal, but the feeling in my soul made the air feel thicker.

I sat on the porch at my folk's house and looked up at the sky that for the first time since before I was born (and probably the last time in my life) was empty of airplanes.

Watched the events unfold on the TV, and I am not ashamed to admit that I cried.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!

[sniper7]

yep, junior year of high school in physics class. announcement over the speaker, we watched plane 2 hit live, both buildings fall live.

I received a scholarship from the United 93 captain's family/foundation.

Day holds a special place in my heart because of the scholarship, because I fly for the airlines and because America was hurt severely that day.

Thanks to all those that gave it all on that day try to save others, prayers to those lost and their families and a special thanks to those who are and have fought those who intend to do us harm.

[ghettodub]

It was my day off, and I'm sure after a night of drinking and debauchery, I was hung over and tired. My plan for the day was to go return a movie to blockbuster, and then go to the shooting range. I turned on the television and then went to the shower, and not paying attention to the news that was on.

Showered, and walked through my room one last time to get my shoes and run out the door. Heard something briefly about a terrorist attack or something, but I didn't pay much attention to it since I wanted to get out of the house.
Drove up to blockbuster, which was a couple miles up the street (I lived off of Sante Fe and Mineral-ish). Got out of my car, without turning it off, and turned my movie in. Got back in my car, and then boom: it wouldn't start. Pushed my car in to a parking spot, and popped the hood. Couldn't get anything to work, so I started to try and call friends to pick me up. No luck.

Super pissed off, I walked the two miles home. Sat down on the couch, called AAA to have them tow my car. Then, I finally turned on the TV and saw what was happening. Sat there glued on the TV for quite a while after that.

All the comments about being in high school still. hah, makes me feel old, and I'm only in my 30s

[Inconel710]

Yeah, that was a surreal day for sure. I was on an SSBN at the time and we were pulling in that morning after a deterrent patrol. It was my second patrol and I was standing watch as the contact coordinator, hugging one of the periscopes. We heard the tug skippers talking about a terrorist attack, but stayed focused on getting up the channel to Kings Bay.

As we got to the pier (I could see the families waiting for us), the word came down from the squadron CO to turn around and head back out. We still didn't know what was really going on, but we made the fastest transit back down the channel ever. I'll never forget heading back out to the dive point, watching the ships in Mayport, FL sortie. I counted five Arleigh Burke DDGs, a Ticonderoga CG, and a couple Perry FFs headed out with us.

We got the DEFCON 3 message and that's when the rumors started running. We were ready to nuke someone that day. The Navy sucks at keeping you informed - we had get the Radiomen pipe AM radio into the ships announcing system to get news to the crew since there was so little coming across in message traffic. Listened to Bush give his address that night and didn't get much sleep. For the second time in my Navy career, I regreted my decision to stay in the Navy and not join the Marines.

[Ronin13]

I remember waking up to the radio and they talked about how breaking news had just come in, a plane had hit the WTC in NY. My first thought was a single engine cessna lost in the fog on it's way to Laguardia or JFK. Went upstairs and turned on the news and saw it was definitely not a small plane. Yelled for my younger brother to get up and see this. He entered the kitchen just in time to see the second plane hit live with me. Needless to say we didn't need any hints or anything, the writing was on the wall. On my way to high school (I was a junior), I heard news that the Pentagon had been hit, and there were rumors flying around that the National Mall and DC Mall of America had been hit as well, but the reporters were still confirming. All day we watched the news in every class. I was the first to utter the words "Osama bin Laden" as I was up on my "who the baddies are" list. When we watched the towers collapse live I cried knowing that many of my extra-extended family had just been murdered as my Dad, mom, and both grandfathers had been firefighters, and being raised in a firefighter family means you're family with all firefighters anywhere.
Never forget.

[rockhound]

i was turning $10,000 dollars into $1500.00 as i had just bought into a new IRA about 5 minutes before the first plane hit.

that damn IRA still hasn't recovered.