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Didn't see anything posted about reminescence, so here goes:
Where were you? What were you doing? Thoughts at the time?
I was at my undergrad. School was canceled. I tried to enlist... failed again. Played TAPS about 20 times that weekend for different events.
I was in my 8th grade history class, and they shut down all internet and cable to the school so we couldn't find out what was going on.
7th grade history, watched news coverage for 1/2 a day then sent home. Even being that young it felt so surreal, almost like I was in a dream or movie
I still lived in the UK at the time and I remember arriving home from work at 2pm GMT, about twenty minutes after the first plane hit. Went online, saw a thread on a messageboard about a plane hitting the WTC. At the time we all thought it was an accident. Turned on the news and spent the rest of the day glued to the computer.
My wife tells me she was at home in Miami and her mom called her to wake her up (they both lived in the same condo building, overlooking the port of Miami) and they spent the next few days freaking out. She was actually a mod on an ice hockey board and one of the members there worked in one of the towers. His last post was timestamped a couple of minutes before his tower was hit.
My wife was pregnant and over due, her water broke and we went to the hospital at like 04:30, they sent us home and said it would still be like 12 hours so I went to work to finish some quick stuff up. When I got to work they were watching it on the news and I seen the 2nd plane hit. We were living in Las Vegas, so I left got the wife and pistol :) and we went back to the hospital. We watched all day until 16:30 when my son arrived. Will never forget or forgive! They almost ruined one of the best days of my life.
Now every year we observe 9/11 in the morning and clebrate his birthday in the afternoon.
Left work, spent most of the day trying to get in touch with buddies at the pentagon.
Wow, I thought I was young and some of y'all were still in grade school!! I am an old man... Dear Lord....
I was half way through my remote tour at Osan AB, Korea. It was about 2200 at night and my suitmate in the dorms was getting the news feed on the internet when the first plane hit the first tower. He called me over and we watched and speculated over terrorism or accident. Then the second plane hit. We looked at each other and said, "terrorism". We went and got all the agents (we all lived in the same sub wing of the dorm) out of their rooms and briefed them on the news and clustered around his computer while the NCOIC called into el hefe to determine course of action. Then we got news the Pentagon got hit. We all grabbed our gear and headed into the office. We did a quick down and dirty brief and went off base to round up personnel from their off-base activities and get them back onto base. We went to FPcon Delta while we were doing the brief at the office.
We loaded up the SMG's and geared up and went off base to get everyone back on base. Fun times rounding up a bunch of drunk partying GI's prior to curfew (midnight). We got everyone back on base and battened down the hatches.
My wife was ADAF at the time and deployed to Rhiad, Saudi Arabia when the attacks occurred. That sucked. I couldn't get ahold of her for days.
Our two man survey party was sent from Hunt Valley, Md. to Quantico,Virginia;where we stayed in a motel,to stakeout a huge indoor firing range,and three shoothouses for the F.B.I., on the U.S. Marine base in Quantico.I'll never forget that clear morning,when the "roach" coach pulled up at the construction site.I went to buy a soda,and the vendor told me that the first tower had been hit;then later, the second.I went over and leaned up against a shoothouse wall,and told my boss that the U.S. was going to war;under the the din of rifle,pistol,and submachine gun fire,from the next door,F.B.I.'s old gun range.The Marine base went on " ORANGE ALERT"?;that's when the Marine base came alive,with low level F-15's?,doing bombing runs over our heads,to drop their bombs next to the F.B.I.s training Academy grounds.We could see the Marines parachuting from there CHINOOK helicopters nearby.One thing I did learn,is that the Marine's don't like the F.B.I. being there;because both are being interfered with each others training op's program's.
I was scheduled that morning to go to Norfolk, Virginia for a training mission. I was having my last cup of coffee before I left the house, when Fox and Friends announced that an aircraft hit the WTC. I mentioned it to the wife, commenting on how way back when a B-25 (I think) hit the Empire State Building. Suddenly, the other plane came into view and hit the other tower. I instantly knew we were at war, told the wife I loved her and didn't know when I'd be home, and raced to work to get through the gate in case they were going to close the base off.
Wound up the rest of the morning watching everything take place, telling my family I loved them, and waited to see what they were going to do with my crew.