Where were you on 9/11?

[QueenCitySouth]

I was employed by DHL Worldwide Express (as it was known at the time) for exactly 3 months on this very date.

[BigPapaKain]

High school; 2nd period biology. Mrs. Cole's class. She was running late because she had first period off and was watching it in the teacher's lounge. Spent the entire day watching every moment if it.

[xxlt]

I was at a work training event. Some of you young whippersnappers will be amazed to know that nobody in the room had a cell phone. A couple of the more well-heeled attendees did have pagers. Some of those only received phone numbers, but our boss paid an up charge to get news headlines on his pager. That's how we found out. It came across his pager and he interrupted the training to announce the first plane, and then the second plane. We took a short break to try to find out what was going on, but nobody really knew any details. It wasn't until we went to lunch that we saw any television coverage and learned the towers had collapsed. It was surreal walking into a restaurant and seeing what many people had been watching all morning, not wanting to watch yet unable to stop staring at it and wondering what the heck was going on. The rest of the day, like everyone else, we were just in a state of shock. What a horrible day and what miserable subsequent days of sadness and confusion by day and restlessness and nightmares by night.

[HarleyDog]

At work. Most of us were watching news in break room. I remember when all the p 'll anes wete ordered out of the sky. Skies wete pure blue, no jet streams or vlouds.

[XenoMorph]

Packing bags getting ready to move to tOSU

Dad told me the first plane had hit so i started watching at that point and saw the second one hit

[BengalHawk62]

At work. Taking to a friend of mine when a gal walked around the corner and said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. At first I thought it was going to be a small plane, crop duster, personal jet, not a huge jumbo jet. Went out to the break room and watched on tv the 2nd plane hit the other tower with the CEO at the time. Also saw the towers fall. Just couldn't take my eyes off the tv. Sat there stunned. Then I got really worried about what could come next. Especially after hearing about the Pentagon ,and at the time, the rumor of another plane being downed in Pennsylvania. Just a sad sad day.

[Bmoreblitz]

I was off post. Running to the cleaners to pickup my uniforms and heard about the first plane. Thought it was just a strange accident. Then I heard about the second and knew something wasn't right. As soon as I got back on post they had completely lock down post. We weren't able to leave until very late. Knew we was about deploy out but didn't know quite where. (Well that happens a lot)

[fredtoast]

I was in court. Heard that a plane had hit the tower, but thought it was just a small plane and an accident. Later a clerk came in and told the judge what was happening. We had a TV behind the judges bench to watch videos of arrests and other evidence. We took a break and watched for a while. By then both towers had been hit and it was clearly no accident.

After a while the judge said that we would address all the cases of the people in jail, but everyone else was dismissed to a later date. The judge turned down the sound but left the tv on behind him in case something big happened. I will never forget trying to make arguments about my clients being in jail of minor stuff like missing an appointment with a probation officer while over the over the judges shoulder I was seeing people leap to their death from the burning towers.

At the time I was dating a flight attendant with US Air. She was actually flying into New York City that day and got diverted to Syracuse instead. She was stuck there for about a week until they started flying again.

[Johnny Cupcakes]

I was in the back row of my first period sociology class. The girl who I sat next to ended up being my girlfriend for a couple of years and at the time we were just beginning the courting process, so I was paying much more attention to her than I was the teacher.

The teacher ended up flipping the tv on to check it out (I can't remember why she was aware that it happened) and within seconds, the second plane hit. I think everyone knew pretty quickly that it was an act of terrorism, even though we were young and trying to wrap our heads around what was happening.

The bell rang for second period And a couple of my friends and I decided to ditch school and go to one of their houses. We watched things happen for the rest of the day and barely said anything to one another.

My mom wouldn't let me go to school the next day, and I remember everyone around me being in a constant state of panic for a while. I hope to never have to have feelings like I felt in those days again.

[fredtoast]

Kind of off topic, but this is an interesting story.

In 1991 I had graduated from Law school, but had not yet found s job as an attorney. I was making a little money doing law clerk work, but I also worked other jobs. One of my friends ran an environmental clean up company, and I was working on a project with him. He was digging up a bunch of dirt where an underground gas tank had leaked at the Raytheon Plant in Bristol TN. Raytheon is a defense contractor that makes things like the Patriot Missile. And while we were working there the United States launched Operation Dessert Storm to free Kuwait.

Every day we had just rolled up to the guard shack and my buddy would show his ID. But the morning after the coalition started the sir strikes there were military vehicles all around the plant and we had to go through like 3 checkpoints to get in. They searched all through our truck and even had the mirrors on sticks to look under it.

In my entire life I spend 2 weeks in a defense contractor's plant and it happens to be when we start a war.

[BFritz21]

Rolled into class to find everyone staring at the TV.

I knew my cousin worked in the World Trade Center, but I didn't know where.

Hia brother, who was also my Godfather, fell off an overpass coming home from a Reds game when I was in the 2nd grade and was in a coma for three years before dying.

Given what had happened to his brother, I thought there was no way he was hurt.

Just before lunch, I was called into the gym and saw my dad sitting in the stands with a blank look on his face.

I knew.

I said "Brian," he nodded, and my head dropped.

Turned out that he worked on the 103rd (I think) floor, and the plane hit something like 107.

I have both of their initials tattooed on my arm- B.K.W. (Brian and Kenny Williams)

[Belsnickel]

I was in JROTC when it happened. Older cadets tended to do staff work in the back while the first years had actual class. Needless to say, no work got done that period. I got a page a bit later to head to the station (I was running squad at the time) because we just didn't know what would be needed. I was given permission and left school to go to our station. I worked an eerily quiet day as far as EMS was concerned here.

A couple of our volunteers were on shift in Fairfax, though (paid firefighters) and they were at the Pentagon that day. When you see images of the firefighters standing on top of the building with the flag draped down, one of my buddies is up there. They had him tie on the flag because he knows his knots (Eagle Scout, ftw). To this day he will only mention that part of the story, he doesn't talk about the job.

[Penn]

That day was the beginning of a serious change in how I approached certain types of discussions.

I worked with a very opinionated Jehovah's Witness at the time.  Another employee and I always seemed on the opposite side of any discussion about politics and religion with the Witness.  Many times we went at him pretty hard with the intent to annoy him or get him to shake his stance a little (and rubbed it in when we did).

As soon as I heard about what happened (minutes after the second jet hit) I told the boss she may want to call everyone together and approach what was going on with them.  She set up a TV with CNN on in the breakroom and called everyone in for an early break.  She explained what little was known and told us this would be an extended break.  A few minutes of watching the coverage that so called religious moron started going off about how the US deserved this.  I looked around as saw a mix of reactions ranging from shocked and disgusted to outright anger.

I don't remember exactly what I said to the idiot but I do recall in less than 10 seconds I got through to him I was not just being my typical antagonistic self but he needed to shut the hell up an be respectful of those around him.  He looked around and realized for the first time he stood alone and shunned.

Within a short amount of time, as I said, I no longer proceeded in conveying my view the way I used to.  Any time I want a reminder of why, I can just pull up the P&R forum here and see how ridiculous people get when they start debating with someone who is idealistically different from themselves.

[*Awful Llama*]

At work, like many of you. Monday had been a really hectic day, and my Tuesday had been a lot slower. Walking down the aisle a coworker, just in passing, mentioned that a small plane had hit the WTC. No big deal, I thought and went on with my day. Then, word quickly spread of a second plane hitting. I went to our HR department because I knew they had a tv, and found all of them watching it. I must have left before the first tower fell, because I didn't see it happen live. I went back to my office and turned on the radio, listening to the news. A little bit after 11, one of the guys I usually ate lunch with came in and said he was going to a restaurant nearby to grab a bite and watch their tv. Four of us went and watched the tv in the corner of the room in silence.

I had promised the night before to stop over at my mom's house and mow the yard. I had to pass several gas stations, and I remember all of them just being jammed, cars lined up into the street, beacuse rumors had started that $5 gasoline was right around the corner.

One other thing I remember about that day for some reason: the weather. It was just an absolutely beautiful September day, with a piercing blue sky.

[Goalpost]

Was watching CNBC in the morning from home. My job has some flexibility with hours, and needless to say, i stay tuned all day long to the tv. Mark Haines, now deceased, was the main morning guy there for squawk box. Just a few months earlier, our family had flown into NY city, and jumped on a boat for a cruise to Bermuda. I very much remember, in almost awe, the sight of the twin towers, up close as we passed by standing on the top level of our ship. A lot of people were taking pictures as were we.

[*jason*]

I had the day off.  I slept through the whole thing.  My landline (blast from the past) was ringing off the hook all morning, but I ignored it.  I remember driving north on 315 in Columbus later that day, and some guy was standing on an overpass waving an American flag.  I remember the Senate standing on the steps of the capital building singing God Bless America.  And I remember Bill Mahr losing his job over a comment that it is more cowardly to fire cruise missiles from miles away than it is to perform a suicide mission.  Two months later I flew to Washington (actually Baltimore because Ronald Reagan was still closed), and I saw the Pentagon.  The gaping hole had been squared off by that time, but it took my breathe away to see it.  I still have a picture (that I took) of a little girl with afro puffs standing in front of and staring at a poster of the victims of the Pentagon attack.  Their faces made the image of an American flag.

[Beaker]

I had just dropped my daughter off at day care and was headed to work. Heard that a plane had hit the tower. I recalled when the B-17 had hit the Empire State Building during WW2 and thought a similar accident had occurred. Went back home to see what had happened. Was watching live when the 2nd plane hit. I remember the news people wouldnt say it was another plane for like 10 minutes. They just kept saying something else had happened to the second tower. Yet they kept showing the replay and you could clearly see the second plane come in and hit. I kept yelling at the tv "It's another plane you idiots!".

[*jason*]

(09-11-2015, 12:53 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I was in court.  Heard that a plane had hit the tower, but thought it was just a small plane and an accident.  Later a clerk came in and told the judge what was happening.  We had a TV behind the judges bench to watch videos of arrests and other evidence.  We took a break and watched for a while.  By then both towers had been hit and it was clearly no accident.

After a while the judge said that we would address all the cases of the people in jail, but everyone else was dismissed to a later date.  The judge turned down the sound but left the tv on behind him in case something big happened.  I will never forget trying to make arguments about my clients being in jail of minor stuff like missing an appointment with a probation officer while over the over the judges shoulder I was seeing people leap to their death from the burning towers.

At the time I was dating a flight attendant with US Air.  She was actually flying into New York City that day and got diverted to Syracuse instead.  She was stuck there for about a week until they started flying again.

Ever hear the story about how a producer for Jim Rome " saved" John Thompson's life on 9/11?  It's a crazy story.  I heard it live on the 10th anniversary.... https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/john-thompson-bruce-boudreau-share-harrowing-sept-11-memories/2011/09/08/gIQA40HEDK_story.html

[magikod]

I was in 4th grade I believe. I remember being at school and they didn't tell us about it that day. So I got off the bus and found out the news from my mom.

[Emphasis]

I was in elementary school in Queens, NYC. All the kids were getting picked up by their parents beginning early morning, and it seemed like over 75% of students were already home when school was done. There was chatter outside the building, all around me when I was dismissed, about The World Trade Center being hit by planes in Manhattan.

I also live on the northwest side of Queens, and of course you could see the massive smoke cloud from there.