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Senior year of high school. Was in 1st period when in happened. Went to work that afternoon and all the other guys my age knew we were going to go to war. We all said when we did that we'd join the military. I ended up being the only one who did. I remember watching the initial footage of A-stan at work a few months before I graduated high school. Was in OSUT for 19D when the invasion of Iraq occurred.
I was in Brooklyn that morning. Had friends who died in the towers and can still remember the smell. I went to ground zero over two weeks later and it was still on fire. Seeing those pictures still kind of fucks me up. I'll never forget that day so long as I live.
I was on my way to a DOR driver's license revocation hearing I had been subpoenaed to. The radio program I usually listened to had two guys who always were joking together and they were very serious in their tones and reporting the news. I sat in the parking lot and listened as long as I could and then went to the hearing and returned to the car to continue listening. I went back to the PD and watched it with another officer who was a veteran as well. Little did we know at that time that both of us would deploy multiple times overseas because of it.
I tried to give blood that day. Waited for 12 hrs. and they still never got to me.
I was was a contractor for IBM at the time. Pulled into the parking lot. Right as I was getting out of the car, Peter Boyles came on that that a plane hit the WTC. No other details. Went to the office. Only a couple of people were in.
"Did you hear anything about a plain crash?"
"No. What are you talking about?"
We had a TV, in the lobby, that scrolled upcoming events. Turned on the first channel that had news. Shortly after, the second tower was hit.
The whole day there were rows of people watching the TV. A lot were crying but all were glued to what was going on.
I had to avoid the lobby that day. Too much emotion for me to handle.
I remember the smell too. People have asked but I can't really explain it. I also remember the thumps as people hit the ground because they would rather jump than burn.Quote:
Originally Posted by izzy
I was on Active Duty that day. We went from a peacetime Army to a wartime Army in about two hours. One of the things that sticks in my mind was how crisp the salutes were from the lower Enlisted- it was not a game anymore.
Was an instructor at the schoolhouse at Goodfellow AFB...saw the tv on in the office, the first I thought was an accident....the second one was all I needed to know it was an attack. Been a different life since then...
I was in the Army at the time and stationed in Hawaii when we were woken up about 0305 and told to assemble at the flight line in BDU's. We were actually on gunnery on the Big Island at Pohakaloa Training Center with our attack helicopter battalion. We were briefed and handed tools to start digging .50 cal pits at the entrances and laying down triple strand concertina wire until the HI ARNG arrived and took over security. A few aircraft started doing armed patrols until all US air traffic was suspended and we were stuck on the Big Island with a couple more tables of gunnery to finish before we could leave. I first saw the footage in the TOC about 12 hours after it happened and some didn't see it until the next day, but all of us were visibly upset and wondering if we would be selected to go wherever forces were needed to find the people responsible. With the limited phone lines there it took people from that area several days in some cases to be able to contact their families.
I was a sophomore in high school. I saw the second plane hit on Good Morning America, and then went to class. By the time I got to school (15 minutes or so) I heard then that the Pentagon had been hit. That was when I knew this was serious, and I was honestly terrified. It felt like it was the first wave of something much bigger. Thank God it was just a bunch of goatfuckers with some flight sim time.Quote:
Originally Posted by wyome