Where were you when you heard?

[theGinsue]

I was sitting @ a red light @ Powers Blvd & Platte (24Hwy) in Colo Spr on my way to work @ Peterson AFB (was AD USAF back then) when I heard the smart a$$ D.J.'s announce the first place hitting the WTC. I remember thinking that of all of their jokes, this is the worst and most tasteless yet.

A few minutes later I was working my way around to a back gate and more info was coming in from additional sources. That's when it hit me that this wasn't a bad joke; it was real. I made it through the gate about 20 minutes before they started to get locked down.

Everyone I worked with started rolling in behind me about 5 minutes later - we all had looks on our faces like someone had hit us in the head with a shovel. Since we didn't have a T.V. around, we tried getting info via CNN.com (yeah, I know) but EVERYBODY on base had the same idea and the limited bandwidth was slammed.

We had a radio in the shop and heard about the second plane - then, eventually the Pentagon.

About 2 hours into the whole ordeal the base went to FPCON (Force Protection Condition) Delta ~ actual attack in progress. Everyone was sent home that wasn't absolutely mission essential (even those marginally mission essential were sent home). My building, a fire station, and a dental lab were the only buildings with people in them on that side of the base but it still took well over an hour to get out of the gate which we were practically right next to. Except for searching for a newspaper late on Sep 12th (I'll share that story some other time; hint: bear encounter)I sat @ home for the next several days just watching the news and waiting to be told to report back to work.

[Mtn.man]

Didn't know about it for a week, was in the wilderness and had no contact with the outside world.