# Sticky  9/11 Remembrance companion thread



## jebglx (Jul 13, 2000)

Members,

This will be the companion thread to discuss the A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!!! thread that was originally in The Car Lounge.

This is ONLY to discuss what happened that day and the memories of members as we all tried to get information on what exactly was happening.

*Please* do not turn this into a political thread. If that happens, you will have your posting privileges suspended for the weekend.

Almost every year since this happened, we've brought back the 9/11 thread. It is fascinating to see what/where/who/how/why.

These threads will be available for the weekend if everything goes as planned but this thread will be locked if members cannot behave themselves

Thank you

Bill


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## absoluteczech (Sep 13, 2006)

never forget :thumbup:


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## jhignight (Nov 21, 2000)

Still remember constantly refreshing Outlook for check-in messages from Scirocco.org mailing-list members that worked in NYC. 

Also remember rigging up a TV in the middle of the office to watch the news and got it working right when the second tower fell.


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## Tokyosmash (Mar 11, 2007)

All these years later I still remember that day vividly, I joined the military because of 9/11 and have done some pretty wild **** as a result. Still can't believe it happened even now.


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## Shmi (Mar 25, 2009)

I was in 10th grade... I remember we heard about it after the 1st plane hit, then our History teacher (rather appropriate class to be in...) turned on our TV and we watched as the 2nd plane hit the towers and they both crumbled shorty after.

I live in the DC area and remember so many kids whose parents worked at the Pentagon crying because they couldn't get a hold of their parents. Cell phones weren't as ubiquitous then and we were pretty much locked down until 12 or 1 when they let us go early. 

So crazy.


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## Fined (Sep 3, 2013)

absoluteczech said:


> never forget


that your government knowingly allowed a plane to fly into some buildings so they could fund a never ending war


*EDIT*- He was banned for three days. I suggest you think first before posting in this thread- Bill


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## ByronLLN (Jul 29, 2004)

jhignight said:


> Also remember rigging up a TV in the middle of the office to watch the news and got it working right when the second tower fell.


That was when we got the TV going in class.


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## absoluteczech (Sep 13, 2006)

jebglx said:


> *Please* do not turn this into a political thread.





Fined said:


> that your government knowingly allowed a plane to fly into some buildings so they could fund a never ending war


Well that escalated quickly.


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## 88c900t (Jul 7, 2014)

Fined said:


> that your government knowingly allowed a plane to fly into some buildings so they could fund a never ending war


Not even your disregard for the mods request could melt steel beams


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## bzcat (Nov 26, 2001)

I was eating breakfast with the TV on and watched the 2nd plane flew into WTC. It's one of those where were you moments that you will never forget.

The first post-9/11 babies are starting high school this year...


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## ByronLLN (Jul 29, 2004)

Don't quote him, guys. You're just making more work for the mods. It has been reported.


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## jebglx (Jul 13, 2000)

Fined said:


> that your government knowingly allowed a plane to fly into some buildings so they could fund a never ending war


and that earned you a three day suspension

I'm serious about this


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## H.E. Pennypacker (May 4, 2010)

6 posts in. Even for TCL I'm (shamefully) impressed.

Being on the west coast the time difference made things, interesting. I wasn't even up to get ready for school yet (just started 12th grade), but I do recall my mom coming into my room and turning on the lights and TV saying "Something awful has just happened." Was very surreal to be woken up and see those images, but to this day they are emblazoned very vividly in my memory.

School was fuzzy too. Most teachers threw out the lesson plan and we sat in silence or had very melancholy discussions about what this signified.


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## jreed1337 (Jun 30, 2009)

R3Drew said:


> Being on the west coast the time difference made things, interesting. I wasn't even up to get ready for school yet (just started 12th grade), but I do recall my mom coming into my room and turning on the lights and TV saying "Something awful has just happened." Was very surreal to be woken up and see those images, but to this day they are emblazoned very vividly in my memory.
> 
> School was fuzzy too. Most teachers threw out the lesson plan and we sat in silence or had very melancholy discussions about what this signified.


same exact story for me, but replace 12th grade with 10th grade, and mom with dad. my dad even used the word awful as well.

i was surprised that a few of the classes actually had the news on in class and allowed us to watch. 

it was a surreal experience to say the least.


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## absoluteczech (Sep 13, 2006)

R3Drew said:


> 6 posts in. Even for TCL I'm (shamefully) impressed.
> 
> Being on the west coast the time difference made things, interesting. I wasn't even up to get ready for school yet (just started 12th grade), but I do recall my mom coming into my room and turning on the lights and TV saying "Something awful has just happened." Was very surreal to be woken up and see those images, but to this day they are emblazoned very vividly in my memory.
> 
> School was fuzzy too. Most teachers threw out the lesson plan and we sat in silence or had very melancholy discussions about what this signified.


Yea I was a junior and my dad woke me up by calling and saying turn the tv on. Worst feeling in my stomach ever that day


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## Pennywise (Oct 18, 2003)

I was in middle school when it happened. I was brushing my teeth and my mom was watching TV. Out of nowhere, she screamed. It was the second plane She started saying "I knew the first one wasn't an accident."

Sad day. What's even sadder is now it is just a joke/meme to a lot of people, showing no respect for any of the lives lost and changed that day.


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## jreed1337 (Jun 30, 2009)

Pennywise said:


> Sad day. What's even sadder is now it is just a joke/meme to a lot of people, showing no respect for any of the lives lost and changed that day.


:beer:


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## .LSinLV. (Nov 13, 2009)

:thumbup:

I remember going to the Blood Services main location, along with hundreds to donate blood. My wife worked PR at the time and I called her and got her company to donate a truckload of bottled water (delivered) so all of the people waiting to donate blood could have a cool drink. 

I'm saddened that our country isn't as cohesive today as it was during this terrible event.

Never Forget.


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## Sold Over Sticker (Nov 29, 2009)

It was my first week of college, and I was a brand new student pilot. It was crazy getting to ground school that morning to see all of the aircraft grounded on the flight line, not a plane in the sky, and the air traffic control frequency playing a looped message instructing pilots to land immediately, state their intentions on GUARD, or they'd be intercepted. 

My school lost a few alums in the attack, and it hit the aviation industry hard. I got to our cafeteria at school right as the second tower collapsed. 

Hard to believe that was 14 years ago.


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## 1985Jetta (Mar 12, 2012)

I was in Little Rock giving an Army presentation/training exercise about a scenario very similar to what actually happened. When they called us up and informed us about the attacks, we thought they were kidding


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## Lifelong Obsession (Jul 24, 2011)

I was 10 years old, just starting fifth grade. Massachusetts - same time zone as the events. We did not have TVs in the classroom. After our first class, the teacher came around and passed out a sheet of paper, telling us to take it home to our parents. "Due to the events today, the PTA meeting tonight, September 11, will be cancelled until further notice." I don't remember anyone asking about it - I think we just assumed the principal was sick or something. The rest of the day went on eerily normally - maybe the teacher was checking her email more than usual, but that's about it.

3 PM. My grandmother was waiting in her car (since this is TCL, a Volvo 960). I got in and greeted her as usual. With a petrified look on her face, she asked, "Do you know what happened today?" "No, I don't," I replied. My grandmother went on to fill me on all the events, and I don't think I said a word until we got to her house. The TV was blaring, and images of the rubble and FDNY were the focus, along with the occasional WTC collapse and Pentagon security camera clips. (I did not see the "jumper" images, etc., until many years later - they were long gone by 3 PM.) Now that I think of it, how ironic that my grandmother had purchased that Sony Trinitron WEGA TV (top-of-the line back in the CRT era) just a year earlier to watch the Summer Olympics in vivid detail, whereas now we were watching the horror of the attacks in vivid detail.

The next day, the class was asked to write about the attacks in our journals.

Never forget.


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## Hufeisen (Jul 18, 2006)

The morning of 9/11, I remember how the sky was crystal blue and it was a beautiful September morning. I was teaching classes all morning and when I left my room at some point after 10 a.m., colleagues started commenting how bad and unbelievable "the attack" was on NYC. As I gathered more information, I thought of my friend who recently started working for Cantor Fitzgerald in one of the Twin Towers. I called a few times with no luck due to busy signals. When it did finally ring, he never answered. After work I went by one of the scenic look-out points and could see the plums of smoke in the distance. 

In the days and weeks after the attack, it was surreal seeing trucks with large twisted steel being towed to their destinations, armed security at airports and even local malls. I still get numb thinking about the day...

My friend was never found... He was a great guy and huge car enthusiast. We would talk about all the new cars and especially BMWs. His dream car was a BMW M5 and his goal was to own one soon.

9/11 - Never Forget....


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## Hostile (Nov 18, 2001)

*FV-QR*

Never forget.


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## RAVatar (Sep 28, 2005)

I was sitting in AP Language Arts class as a sophomore in high school. I had already bombed that days' presentation because my partner was a total dunderheaded moron but the entire project got written off since we had spent the following week doing little else. 

So I guess in some small way, 9/11 helped me pass AP LA.  Horrid way to reflect on it, sorry. I didn't fully grasp the dreadfulness of 9/11 for a few days until the very real possibility of my father having to go to war as a 38 year old soldier just one year from his full 20 in service was staring my family and I in the face as the coming months unfolded. Truth be told, I was petrified my father wasn't going to be at my HS graduation.


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## DasCC (Feb 24, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> It was my first week of college, and I was a brand new student pilot. It was crazy getting to ground school that morning to see all of the aircraft grounded on the flight line, not a plane in the sky, and the air traffic control frequency playing a looped message instructing pilots to land immediately, state their intentions on GUARD, or they'd be intercepted.
> 
> My school lost a few alums in the attack, and it hit the aviation industry hard. I got to our cafeteria at school right as the second tower collapsed.
> 
> *Hard to believe that was 14 years ago*.


this..... One of those that you'll always remember where you were when that happened.


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## ATL_Av8r (Oct 17, 2002)

I was on vacation abroad.....and scared ****less. Only been to Paris once, for four days, and the WHOLE TIME was spent in line at the US Embassy or the Delta ticket office on Champs Elysees. Got a couple free taxi rides when the drivers found out we were American. The trip back was interesting....CDG evacuated 4 times due to bomb scares. You haven't lived until you've had a good portion of the French Army running toward you with machine guns yelling what I assume was "GET THE **** OUT!" in French. Can't believe it's 14 years now.

I still remember my mom's email...."Try not to look too American, okay?" :laugh:


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## NeverEnoughCars (Aug 2, 2013)

When I first heard someone say a plane hit the WTC I was thinking a small single prop plane hit the WTCNO. We turned on the news just in time to watch the second plane hit. That was the moment we knew it was going to be a day we would never forget. It is also hard to believe that it has been 14 years, it is still so vivid.


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## Phillie Phanatic (Mar 4, 2013)

Last week I was in NYC and saw the Freedom Tower and the ground zero tribute lights for the first time. 

Also met a couple people from my company (NYC office) rehashing stories of people they worked with frantic about missing family and the horror some of their lives were and continue to be. Weird feeling realizing how trivial most of the stuff I complain about is. Lots of very strong people emerged from this.


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## Pizza Cat (Dec 2, 2006)

Shmi said:


> I was in 10th grade... I remember we heard about it after the 1st plane hit, then our History teacher (rather appropriate class to be in...) turned on our TV and we watched as the 2nd plane hit the towers and they both crumbled shorty after.
> 
> I live in the DC area and remember so many kids whose parents worked at the Pentagon crying because they couldn't get a hold of their parents. Cell phones weren't as ubiquitous then and we were pretty much locked down until 12 or 1 when they let us go early.
> 
> So crazy.


Pretty much my story exactly, except replace 10th with 11th grade, and DC area with New Jersey/NYC commuting parents.

That afternoon I closed up the hardware store I worked at, and we had a little TV on the whole time. All I remember was everyone walking in looked like a zombie (surprisingly, there were more customers than I would have thought that day)


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## bagged_hag (Oct 30, 2005)

I will never forget that day, even though I was fairly young when it happened. I was in 6th grade and having a normal morning at school. An announcement came over the PA system that asked for all students to return to their home room immediately. At this point, myself and my friends were happy that we were getting out of class, for what reason we didn't exactly care. As I returned to my home room I saw a number of teachers in the hallway talking, and looking frantic/distraught. My home room teacher came back into the room and said, "Something terrible has happened, I am going I turn on the TV so you can see. I know many of you won't understand the severity of this, but one day you will."

She turned the TV on and at that point we saw both towers after the planes had hit. The TV was left on and my whole class/school witnessed the first tower collapse. At that point they had rallied all of the school buses and let school out early. Again, at this point, I was happy to be getting out of school early, not understanding the seriousness of what took place. Now, being old enough to comprehend it all, I am shocked by what I witnessed that day. It has made me realize that in bad times this country can be strong and work together. I will never for as long as I live forget where I was and what I was doing on that day.


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## MagicBus (Oct 3, 2003)

NeverEnoughCars said:


> When I first heard someone say a plane hit the WTC I was thinking a small single prop plane hit the WTCNO. We turned on the news just in time to watch the second plane hit. That was the moment we knew it was going to be a day we would never forget. It is also hard to believe that it has been 14 years, it is still so vivid.


Similar story here. 


I was a year out of college and working at my first post-college job 15-20 miles out of NYC in northern NJ. I was still living at home - also northern NJ. It was a pretty normal morning around the office until the news started trickling in. 

At first, we all thought it was a small private plane, as you said. In fact, we were initially joking about it. We knew it was tragic, but the feeling was - "how can a pilot hit the WORLD TRADE CENTER by accident?!?!?"

We turned to the internet, but it was hard to find out anything concrete. Then, we heard about the tower falling and the second tower being hit (forgive me - I don't recall the exact timeline of how everything went down - whether the first tower fell before the second was hit). When we heard about tower 2, all jokes instantly stopped. We all knew, immediately, that it was a terrorist attack.

This was before I had a cell phone and we soon found that making any call, even from a landline, was almost impossible. The office closed almost immediately after that. 


I jumped in my car and switched over to AM radio for the first time ever. It was the only way for me to get news. I drove home and located my parents - my mother was home. My father was at work, but ran (well, still runs) his own local shop. As I recall, my younger brother was out in Montana for school at the time and my older brothers lived in North Carolina and Georgia at the time. We couldn't contact them for a few days.

My father and I got in my car and went to the highest point in our town, where there's a scenic lookout. You can see all the way to NYC from there. Where the twin towers had been, there was a sickening plume of black smoke. I'll never forget that as long as I live.


For weeks after, there was almost no broadcast TV and limited radio in the NYC area. I THINK (don't quote me on this) that much was broadcast from the antenna on the old WTC. 


I wasn't in the city, but I could see the smoke clearly from out in NJ. I'll never forget that day. Scary, sad, and humbling.


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## volvohutter (Jul 24, 2012)

I'll never forget waking up in the morning and walking into my parents' room to see my dad sitting on his bed with his hand over his mouth. I had a dentist appointment that morning, I sat for several hours in the dentist's chair watching CNN and not being able to fully comprehend what was happening.


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## SchnellFowVay (May 20, 2001)

I was in my third week of college. It was very weird. I distinctly remember that, the night before, I went to bed feeling like I finally had a handle on my new world.

The next morning I woke up, checked my e-mail, checked VWvortex AND HOLY CRAP A PLANE FLEW INTO THE WTC. Shortly thereafter the second plane hit the WTC. 

I just sort of sat there in silence. For a long while. 

Then I went down to the dining hall in the dorm where they had a big screen TV. There were hundreds of students there, most still in their pajamas still, just watching in shocked silence. It was absolutely surreal. Everyone just froze -- people were not going about their day, not interacting. Just sitting there.

It took me about a week before I started behaving and interacting normally again. 

It's one of those things that I will have to tell my son about in a few years, and he won't really get it. Which is just fine with me.


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## [email protected] (Apr 2, 1999)

My recollection of the day is still pretty vivid as it involved a lot of moving parts surrounding a few of my family members.

I was on the George Washington Parkway in an Audi TT Roadster heading west when I saw the plane coming from Dulles coming Eastbound turn slightly North towards the White House over restricted air space, pass to our right, pass behind the car and slam into the Pentagon not a mile South of us. My friend and I were travelling down to Northern Virginia in an Audi press car and were listening to Howard Stern as we traveled from Ellicott City, Maryland where I lived at the time down to Arlington, Virginia. Our normal path would take us down the Baltimore-Washington Expressway to New York Avenue and then across the bridge and onto US 50. We were listening to callers calling into Howard's show and at first it seemed like a small craft (think Cessna 172 or the like) flew into the first center but then as you all well know.. all hell broke loose in New York. We were listening so intently that I made the wrong turn onto US 50 and went into Alexandria. I turned around and headed West and my buddy and I saw the scenario with plane #3 unfold right in-front of, beside and then behind us. Rather than attending our class we headed back out to 495 and drove home in relative silence, not sure of what had just unfolded.

My now wife was a teacher in Howard County, Maryland in a high school and the call came out to get the classrooms prepared for evacuation. They had the state police at her school fearing an attack on nearby Fort Meade and they had the students turn over desks in case bullets came flying in from an unknown source.

I had been thinking about my older brother who lives just off of Central Park West who works on Wall Street and hoping that he was safe. It turns out that he and my sister-in-law were home headed to a pre-school interview for my niece. They were both safe on the Upper West Side but as they lived at 89th and Central Park at the time they lost many sets of friends and parents who worked in the twin towers.

My brother-in-law was at the Pentagon that day but was on the opposite side of the building when the plane struck. He helped to evacuate a team-member of his who was wheelchair-bound and carried her almost a half mile out of the building and to safety. 

That was a day that I will never forget. Rest assured that my family members will all be flying flags tomorrow.


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## ByronLLN (Jul 29, 2004)

Rabbit5GTI said:


> Pretty much my story exactly, except replace 10th with 11th grade, and DC area with New Jersey/NYC commuting parents.
> 
> That afternoon I closed up the hardware store I worked at, and we had a little TV on the whole time. All I remember was everyone walking in looked like a zombie (surprisingly, there were more customers than I would have thought that day)


12th and DC area here, so the Pentagon was the concern here as it was for him.

I was working at Blockbuster at the time, and as I walked in the store manager came up to me and just said, "OK, two questions: Are you OK and is there anybody in your life who you can't get in touch with?" 

She was a former prison guard. It was a touching moment, all things considered.


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## 03GTI4Me (Feb 25, 2003)

I will still living at home @ the time, going to college and working full time. 

I remember my mother came into my room at 6am (keep in mind we are in CA so we were way behind on hearing about this stuff) very upset talking about seeing a plane hitting the world trade center. I believe this would have been the second plane. 

I immediately turned on my TV and saw what was happening. I had one of those TV/VCR combos at the time so I threw in a blank VHS tape and hit record (still have that somewhere).

I didn't see any of the planes hit, but I saw the first tower collapse... That will always stick in my mind.

I ended up going into work that morning around 8am. At the time I worked undercover loss prevention for Target. We were just sitting in the office watching news reports, lost in the moment.

In late 2001 Target started selling leather jackets. I even remember that the brand was Merona and they were listed at $99 or so. I didn't work in the nicest part of Sacramento so we knew that these were going to be high theft items and as a result we had a camera constantly aimed on them. Shortly after 9am a raggedly looking gentleman came up to the jacket display, selected a jacket, removed the hanger and just put it on. The whole thing took about 15 seconds. We knew he was going to take off with it.

I remember being pissed off. Here we were with 2000+ people dead or dying (at the time there was talks of 50,000 plus people being in the towers. Remember that?) and this guy wants to steal a ****ty leather jacket. So here I am having to run out onto the sales floor to follow this guy while I am still trying to comprehend what's going on in the world.

He ended up walking out of the store and we go into one of the biggest wrestling matches I can remember at Target. Two other guys and I had to detain this guy at the entrance to the store because he refused to come back inside with us and tried to run off. We finally got him handcuffed and brought back into the office. He was a homeless man and as a result was not of the best hygiene. On top of that, he had defecated in his pants.

We called the Sacramento City Police and it took them five hours to come out... They had bigger things to worry about that day. Since several of the flights were headed to California, there was concern that there were other planes in the air. 

Five hours sitting in a small office watching the world fall apart on TV while listening to a mentally ill man, who stunk of feces, yell about his innocence.

It was one of the most surreal days of my life, and I will never forget it.


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## VadGTI (Feb 24, 2000)

I remember waking up early that morning to study for my Econ final (UCLA is on a quarter system and I was taking a summer quarter Econ class, with the fall quarter scheduled to start in late September). Turned the TV on and got no studying done at all that day ...


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## warren_s (Apr 26, 2009)

I was working at a major web hosting provider in Toronto at the time. The traffic levels to our websites showed an over 95% decrease in activity within 30 minutes of the first plane hitting.

The company brass sent out an email to everyone saying that we had to stay in the office and work. That was a major morale-killer to say the least, especially for the Americans working in the office. sheesh.


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## Silly_me (Jul 26, 1999)

ATL_Av8r said:


> I still remember my mom's email...."Try not to look too American, okay?" :laugh:


LOL sounds like something my father would say :laugh:


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## retro_rocket (Apr 17, 2002)

Rabbit5GTI said:


> That afternoon I closed up the hardware store I worked at, and we had a little TV on the whole time. All I remember was everyone walking in looked like a zombie (surprisingly, there were more customers than I would have thought that day)


I remember leaving school that day with a friend - it was a scheduled half-day anyway, so we were out before noon - and driving back to his place listening to news coverage on the radio. Then we drove back across town to my house and watched it on TV. Then we drove back across town and walked around the county fair for a while. Then we drove back across town again and went to Circuit City and watched the news coverage on their wall of TVs. Everywhere we went, everyone was like you described - like zombies going through the motions. Myself and my friend included. I think everyone just wanted to be around other people to make themselves feel less vulnerable, somehow. I remember very distinctly when we were at Circuit City, nobody was saying a word; if it wasn't for the TV audio playing, you could've heard a pin drop in the place. There were plenty of customers and employees there but everyone was just watching, staring, in shock.


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## E CODE (Feb 2, 2005)

Was in Grade 12 chemistry class when some kid ran in and told us about the first plane. 
Went home for lunch and didn't go back, sat in front of the TV all afternoon.

I was working co-op for a Veterinarian at the time, and the week after our Vet (who was from TN) drove down to ground zero to volunteer to take care of the search and rescue dogs. They were clawing at the rubble so much they were shredding their paws apart. We sent custom Kevlar booties down to help protect them. Incidentally, there is a documentary about the dogs at ground zero, where they are now etc. 

Unfortunately (and hopefully the only) 'JFK' moment for my generation.


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## aging_fleet (Jun 22, 2004)

Nope, don't know if any of us who were old enough to understand what happened will forget that day. 

I was working third shift for a company that operated business jets and had just gone to sleep when the first plane struck the wtc. For the next three nights I had to go to work as a flight scheduler despite the airspace being completely shut down. The crews who were on the road rented cars and left their jets where they stood. It was such a surreal event and I was nowhere near the actual devastation.


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## 2 doors (Jun 18, 2003)

I was working in Columbia, MD at the time, about 30min north of DC. We started watching the events on TV after the plane hit the second tower. We got out of work early. It was so weird driving north on I-95 back to downtown Baltimore and not seeing a single plane in the sky. The weather was perfect that day. Not a cloud in the sky. I got home, went into the back driveway, turned on the radio to the non-stop news coverage and worked on welding patches into my truck. Still a vivid memory.

I drove by a local high school on the way home today where every year they line the sidewalks with American flags. I was doing the math to see if these high school kids were even born when this happened. Some certainly weren't.


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## Abe Froman (Mar 11, 1999)

My father, who just turned 64 last week, told me it's a memory to my generation equivalent to when JFK was shot for his--even more so than the Challenger explosion, which I heard about while I was at school in 2nd grade.

It was 8am, I had just gotten out of the shower, getting ready for work, and had the news on while I was brushing my teeth. I saw the scroll at the bottom of the screen "World Trade Center Explosion" and thought to myself: "Is this the anniversary of the bombing attempt back in '93? I thought that was in February. I wonder why they're doing a story now." About 10sec later, I watched the plane hit the second tower. I remember yelling "holy sh--" and spitting toothpaste all over the floor. One of the most vivid memories of my life.


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## VRhooptie (Jul 24, 2009)

I was in fourth grade in a public school in Astoria, Queens. I was in an ESL class and when the principal came on the loudspeaker most of us didn't understand him very well. The teacher began drawing on a large piece of paper the twin towers and airplanes. At the far corner window you could always see the twin towers but when we looked we saw dust. A lot of dust and just a hint of black smoke. Not long after, kids were being picked up by their parents. On Sept 6th I had visited the twin towers with my family for the first time. It was breath taking and I told myself I would work there one day. My mother had an interview in one of the towers a year back. Thankfully she did not get the job.


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## ErikGTI (Mar 22, 2006)

I was 11 at the time and in 5th grade. We first got the hint something was going on when a girl whose mom was a flight attendant was called to the office several times. We were trying to figure out why when an announcement came over the PA for all classrooms to turn on the news. It was shortly after that we watched the 2nd tower get hit live on TV. Luckily the girl's mom wasn't on any of the 3 flights that went down. I couldn't process what had happened that day, what 11 year old could? I don't think I saw my dad more than a couple times over the next week because his Air National Guard unit was responsible for flying tanker sorties over NYC refueling all the combat air patrols(his unit had some of the first planes in the air that day I might add). Now my job is making sure things like this don't happen again.:thumbup: Crazy its been 14 years, I wish we all could all come together again like we did then.


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## dodger21 (Jan 24, 2011)

I was 13 at the time, being homeschooled.

My father was on the 2nd day of his 24 on, 48 off hour shift. He is a firefighter Paramedic. Real calm and quiet guy. He spoke, everyone listens.

My mother was making breakfast for us while I sat at my desk doing Saxon Pre-Algebra.

The house landline rang and my mother answered. She gasped, yelled at my father to get the TV. He had just put it in the basement the day before in an effort to curb distractions in the house. He got it up stairs and plugged in just in time to see the 2nd plane hit. My mother is weeping going "Oh my God! Dear Jesus help them!" while my father stood there holding her. I remember just sitting there looking at the TV and then looking at my dad. My father started mumbling "Don't do it. Don't go up there." I didn't know what he was talking about.

The 2nd tower fell. My mother started sobbing and praying. 

The 1st tower then fell.

IT was then, for the 2nd time in my life, I saw my father cry. The first not even a year before when his mother died.

My father wept for all of his NYFD brethren who fell in that blaze.

All 343 brothers.

I am teary now. So many lives lost.


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## Tokyosmash (Mar 11, 2007)

2 doors said:


> I was working in Columbia, MD at the time, about 30min north of DC. We started watching the events on TV after the plane hit the second tower. We got out of work early. It was so weird driving north on I-95 back to downtown Baltimore and not seeing a single plane in the sky. The weather was perfect that day. Not a cloud in the sky. I got home, went into the back driveway, turned on the radio to the non-stop news coverage and worked on welding patches into my truck. Still a vivid memory.
> 
> I drove by a local high school on the way home today where every year they line the sidewalks with American flags. I was doing the math to see if these high school kids were even born when this happened. Some certainly weren't.


Where in Columbia were you working? I lived in Ellicott City at the time.


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## Juicebox432 (Jul 18, 2013)

I was 17 and in court for my first major speeding ticket. When I arrived at the county courthouse, my dad and I were listening to sports talk WTAM1100, nothing major was going on. The Browns were trading players and proving how terrible they are managed, stuff like that. When I got out of the courthouse, about an hour later, we turned on the radio to find out that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. Me being the plane nerd that I was, thought it was an accident just like the B-25 that flew into the Empire State Building years ago. 
As we started driving back to school, news of the second plane hitting came over the radio. Then I knew it wasn't an accident. We had to stop and soak in the news.
I remember looking up in the sky during the drive back and seeing a weird contrail, like a u turn in the sky near the horizon (we lived in Northeast Ohio at the time). Little did I know, that u turn contrail was United 93.

I made the decision to join the military a week later, I had to do the delayed enlistment though. I graduated basic training on September 11th, 2002 and did ten years. 
September 11th will always remind me what prompted the best damn decision in my life.


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## Ryukein (Dec 10, 2006)

I was, I believe, in third grade, and don't remember a thing. I never can decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.


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## RollingInDubs (Jan 23, 2003)

I was in Science class. Adam Miller (our class clown) came to class late and said a plane just flew into the WTC. We thought he was kidding and/or high as a kite. My teacher turned on the TV and low and behold, we saw the tower burning. Then we saw the replay and that it wasn't a Cessna. Then we saw the second tower hit live on TV. My teacher started crying and I just remember all of us were silent. Just taking it all in. Then the Pentagon hit etc. 

The weirdest part for me was flight 93. I lived in a Pittsburgh Suburb and our local news broke the story that an aircraft had crashed in Somerset. It had not been identified and the story was just starting to get traction. So the Pittsburgh folks found that out a little quicker. It was a few minutes later that CNN and Fox all picked up the story. The other odd thing was I remember the flight path coming out and it basically showing the plane flew over our neck of the woods. 










As for the way the day went, everyone sat in silence. A few kids had parents that were in NYC/Jersey for business and they were appropriately freaking out. One girl even lost her dad IIRC. My now stepdad was actually in Jersey and couldn't get home. (I didn't know at the time or I would have freaking out as well.) He ended up finding a one-way rental car and driving all the way back.

Once I got to my History class, my teacher (who was eccentric) had the TV on. He then shut off the television and said that there was nothing more to see and that we should try to have class. He was the ONLY teacher that made this attempt, as kids including myself got up and walked out on him. We were disgusted.

Finally school let out and I headed over to a friends house. We were under the approach path to PIT so it was common to hear planes landing. That day however, the silence was deafening. I do remember that we heard a couple...and froze every time we did. It turned out to be military fighters/freight planes. 

The oddest part was the following day when I went to work after school at at Nissan Dealer. We sold two cars. I couldn't help but think that despite the world descending into unknown chaos, there were people out there that still couldn't wait to buy a new car and go on with business as usual. 

And Paul, I've read your personal account many times and your description hits me hard each time. I couldn't imagine seeing the Pentagon attack first hand. I'm sorry you have to have that memory logged into your head.


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## =CC= (Mar 15, 2014)

NeverEnoughCars said:


> When I first heard someone say a plane hit the WTC I was thinking a small single prop plane hit the WTCNO. We turned on the news just in time to watch the second plane hit. That was the moment we knew it was going to be a day we would never forget. It is also hard to believe that it has been 14 years, it is still so vivid.




I actually thought this too.

I was at work, doing a dental cleaning on a little poodle (I still remember that dog's name), when a client walked in and told us a plane hit the World Trade Center. My first thought was "Good grief, that thing's big enough, how did the pilot not see it?" My co-workers found a radio and tuned it in to the only station we could get (some Am news station), and had just gotten a station tuned in when the second plane hit. We sat there listening, and trying to carry on as normally as possible. 

My sister was working at an assisted living facility across and down the street from the Pentagon, so she was very close by when that plane hit. I recall trying to get in touch with her, and trying to contact a friend who lived and worked in NYC. I was able to get through to my sister, and talked to her long enough to find out that she was ok, and I eventually found my friend, who was supposed to be working in the WTC that day, but was late getting in to work due to some sort of traffic snafu, so luckily he wasn't anywhere near it when the plane hit.

The other thing I remember so clearly is how quiet the skies were that afternoon....

9/11 is like this century's Pearl Harbor. If you were alive when it happened, you will always remember where you were and what you were doing at the time. Even though it's been 14 years, the memories are crystal clear.


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## Hawk (May 7, 2010)

Like everyone else, when I heard the first one hit I thought it was an accident (a small plane) when I heard the second one hit it sent a chill down my spine because I knew something evil was unfolding. When I heard about the Pentagon my first thought was "Oh my God, this is the beginning of something huge - the world will never be the same." I hate how the terrorists have changed our world in the 14 years since then. Wish there were a way to rid the world of Islamic terrorism once and for all.


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## wasim12 (Aug 6, 2011)

343


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## Silly_me (Jul 26, 1999)

Hawk said:


> Wish there were a way to rid the world of Islamic terrorism once and for all.


I prefer to wish to rid the world of terrorism. I don't care which religion pulls it off, it should just all go the feck away. Seriously, place all the nutter religious crowd on an ark two by two with all teh nutter politicos crowd, shove off without a paddle to the middle of [name your ocean here]. The world would be a better place in a matter of weeks :thumbup::laugh:


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## Chris Mac (Jul 17, 2004)

I was in 9th grade and was walking through the halls to my 2nd period class Ironic enough was world history with Mr. Deblois. He like all of the History teachers had TV's in all of their rooms and he had the news on, i walked in to class and watched the 2nd plan hit the tower. It was surreal. Being in Rhode Island the rest of the day was crazy after leaving school because The Navy War College and Raytheon are located here as well as being so close to both NYC and Boston. I remember the police and National Guard presence was exceptionally high for a while.

What really hit close to home for myself and i know a lot of my friends was when we visited NYC to go to the MET the following spring on a field trip. We visited one of FDNY Stations that was close to ground zero. Met some of the strongest human beings i will ever meet on that day.

As others have said it does not feel like 14 years ago.


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## Lwize (Dec 4, 2000)

9/11 is sort of an odd duck for me. 

In 2003, 2007 and 2014, I observed 9/11 from outside the US while traveling. 
In 2007, in fact, I flew to Turkey on 9/10, arriving on 9/11. 
It might be my way of thumbing my nose at the terrorists. 

I'm always waiting for something to happen, and there's a stillness in the air, like everyone is holding their breath, but nothing does happen.


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## bzcat (Nov 26, 2001)

Lwize said:


> 9/11 is sort of an odd duck for me.
> 
> In 2003, 2007 and 2014, I observed 9/11 from outside the US while traveling.
> In 2007, in fact, I flew to Turkey on 9/10, arriving on 9/11.
> ...


I happened to fly JFK-LAX on 9/11/2002, exactly 1 year after the attack. On an American Airliners 767. I recall really heavy security at JFK and nearly empty AA lounge. There were maybe 15 passengers and AA upgraded us all to first or business class. The captain and first officer came to greet us at the gate before we boarded and thanked us for flying AA on the anniversary. It was a really strange experience. 

I also flew again on 9/11/2007 on the 6th anniversary to Asia. That time, the plane (a 747-400) was half full and the guy sitting behind me nearly had a nervous breakdown.


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## caliatenza (Dec 10, 2006)

Hawk said:


> Like everyone else, when I heard the first one hit I thought it was an accident (a small plane) when I heard the second one hit it sent a chill down my spine because I knew something evil was unfolding. When I heard about the Pentagon my first thought was "Oh my God, this is the beginning of something huge - the world will never be the same." I hate how the terrorists have changed our world in the 14 years since then. Wish there were a way to rid the world of Islamic terrorism once and for all.


I wish that too. I mean we dropped 2 nukes on Japan, and now look, they are some of our best friends and strongest allies. I don't know how to stop Islamic terrorism though. 

I can't believe it has been 14 years since that terrible day .


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## caliatenza (Dec 10, 2006)

ATL_Av8r said:


> I was on vacation abroad.....and scared ****less. Only been to Paris once, for four days, and the WHOLE TIME was spent in line at the US Embassy or the Delta ticket office on Champs Elysees. Got a couple free taxi rides when the drivers found out we were American. The trip back was interesting....CDG evacuated 4 times due to bomb scares. You haven't lived until you've had a good portion of the French Army running toward you with machine guns yelling what I assume was "GET THE **** OUT!" in French. Can't believe it's 14 years now.
> 
> I still remember my mom's email...."Try not to look too American, okay?" :laugh:


One of the most striking thing about 9/11 was how the whole world came together and supported us that day. I remember the headlines in France said "We are all Americans" in French and what not. It was just a very touching thing to see. Even countries who hated us, like Iran, North Korea, etc, sent condolences and stuff.


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## K.Lagan (Jan 12, 2011)

caliatenza said:


> One of the most striking thing about 9/11 was how the whole world came together and supported us that day. I remember the headlines in France said "We are all Americans" in French and what not. It was just a very touching thing to see. Even countries who hated us, like Iran, North Korea, etc, sent condolences and stuff.


It's a shame that it took such a tragic event to unite most of the World.

Being in France, I've learned about the planes only very late in the day (it was around 21:00 IIRC). I specifically remember my mother telling me "The world will be a very different place from now on". 

She sure wasn't wrong about that.


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## 0dd_j0b (Sep 22, 2007)

I vividly remember this day. Was in the 6th grade in class. I was a little young to fully understand what was happening until my Dad explained it to me. Very sad day. Never forget.


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## karl_1052 (Feb 10, 2008)

My ex GFs parents hosted families, since they lived in the neighbouring town.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/31491/september-11th-and-hospitable-people-gander-newfoundland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Yellow_Ribbon


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## nobbyv (May 18, 2001)

It was my first day at a new job selling home theater equipment for a regional chain of stores in a mall. I heard about the first plane while listening to Stern on the drive to the mall. I got there in time to watch the second plane hit, as it was broadcast over each of the 20+ TVs we had set up for demos throughout the store. By 10:00AM or so, we had virtually every customer and at least half of the mall employees in our store watching the coverage. I remember being confused: it's my first day at a new job, so I was eager to make a good impression. But how the hell do you sell home theater equipment on a day like that? I eventually gave up any pretense of attempting to sell anything and sat on the floor in front of the largest TV in the store, watching the coverage.


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## Cooper (Sep 11, 2000)

Driving to play golf in NJ at Hillsborough Country Club. Heard about first plane as I was driving to the course and asked that TV in bar be turned to the news. Played 9 holes and stopped in the clubhouse. Heard then about the second plane, but the towers hadn't fallen yet. People standing watching TV. Pilot from McGuire AFB was golfing with his dad. Base sent a helicopter to pick up the pilot. It landed in the polo field/driving range.

My wife was in a seminar in Princeton, NJ. Lots of DoD people were there. They were all simultaneously paged and left the conference en masse.


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## Sortafast (Oct 6, 2001)

I was working for Boeing in Seattle at the time. I was on my way to pick up my coworker I carpooled with. My wife called me on my cell and told me a plane had hit the 1st tower. I was thinking it was a small Cessna and some kind of accident. While we were on the phone she gasped and said "Oh my god another plane hit the second tower."

We didn't get much work done that day. Most people had news feeds or radios going on their desks.

The week of downtime for the airlines had far-reaching consequences. Because so many airlines operate on thin margins, many of them cancelled orders with Boeing. The recession plus the cancelled orders caused 31,000 people to be laid off. I was laid off at the end of January, 2002. Fortunately I had been able to line up another job. Weird to think about 9/11 directly affecting me on the other side of the country.


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## [email protected] (Dec 12, 2001)

[email protected] said:


> My father, who just turned 64 last week, told me it's a memory to my generation equivalent to when JFK was shot for his--even more so than the Challenger explosion, which I heard about while I was at school in 2nd grade.


This is exactly what I've said for years now.

I remember my mom and dad telling me about how they learned about Kennedy, where they were and what they did. We'll be telling our kids (mine is 7, and he's already been to the Shanksville memorial and knows about what happened that day) about where we were on 9/11.

I was at work. I start at 6:30, so I'd already been there a few hours. Someone came in to our office area and told us to come look at the TV because a plane had hit the WTC. A bunch of us were standing in a hallway watching while the second one hit, and then when they collapsed. I work at a college that has a large population of students from the NY area, and our phone circuits went NUTS that day. So much in fact that we got a call from the phone company asking us to shut off outgoing phone calls from our campus because we were clogging up phone lines that emergency services needed, so we did. That left the relatively few kids back then with cellphones, and email for students to talk to their parents.

I'm an IT engineer, and I was the young single guy, so guess who got to sleep on his office floor that night to ensure that electronic communications were available to the students 24/7 and nothing broke? This guy. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat, even though my old man back would probably seize up now.

-Tim


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## [email protected] (Oct 7, 1999)

Might as well.

I lived just up the street from the Pentagon and had a contract with the Army near the south entrance. My apartment shuttle had just dropped me off and I was walking over to my office in Crystal City. I heard a loud BOOM, but didn't think anything of it. Thought it was construction. Got into the office saw the other thread and got a call that a plane had crashed into the WTC, then was hearing that the Old Exec Building had been hit. I looked out my office window which looked out over DC and saw nothing, but then black smoke came in front of the window. That was the Pentagon burning.  All the building over there cleared out in an instant. Lot of people panicking. Co-worker and I started walking to my apartment. We got to Army-Navy Drive, right across from the Pentagon. Floods of people were walking out. Smoke everywhere. Will always remember the smell. Two F-16's came over, dumped their wings to take a look and then they poured on the coals and headed north. Later learned that was to head off Flight 93. They only had dummy/practice rounds loaded it turns out. Next thing I see is a cop come flying out to tell another one something. He gets on the loud speaker and tells everyone to MOVE/RUN/get away from the Pentagon as another plane is inbound. It was like a scene out of a bad disaster movie. Everyone starting moving fast away towards Pentagon City Mall. We moved the other way, got past the blockade that was just being put up to walk up the hill near the old Navy Annex down by where the Citgo was(no longer there). The sights, sounds and smell is something my brain still tunes out. It was hot. 

Caught up with some folks that we knew that worked in the Navy Annex. They were out for a smoke when they saw the plane swoop in and crash. They were shaking...badly.  Saw some other stuff, don't want to get into, but... yeah.

Got home and saw that the other plane had crashed into WTC. That night, I went down to the hill overlooking the Pentagon and watched it burn. Over the next couple of days, the winds shifted around and blew the smoke back into the apartment complex. They told us all to keep the a/c on as much as possible. It also caught fire a couple of times as they tried to remove debris. Every night, I'd watch them clear stuff away and piece it back together.

For DC it was a pinprick overall. We got lucky. It's strange to drive by there every day and just look over. You can't help it. I still haven't walked the memorial. I will someday, but it still weirds me out a tad.


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## g60vwr (Apr 9, 2000)

I was getting ready for college. (3rd year). I was watching the tv while getting ready and my mother was sitting in the dining room adjacent to my room and we were just talking like every day. Then I saw the first plane hit and said that it was odd for someone to misjudge on such a clear day. We then both saw the second plane hit. We then knew that there was no way it was an accident.

I drove to school (about 15min) and I was listening to the radio. I got to school and walked to my first class but after sitting down I wasent feeling it. So I left class and went to the great hall where I heard they put on the large tv. I watched, with my classmates as the towers fell. 
I then walked to class planning to go help when I got out of school. I sat in class for 5 minutes when a messenger came into the room with a messages from the Provost to go home and be with our families. I frantically tried to reach my father on his cell phone. He worked in midtown. I got him on the phone finally and he said the train opened the doors at Jamaica station and he said he could see smoke.

I got back on the highway, headed East and can still remember the lack of cars on both sides on normally gridlocked highways. At one overpass, I stopped and looked West (toward the city) and thought of how to get there. They were only allowing first responders to get through. I felt guilty. I then went home and tried to keep busy working on my car. I got glared at by the people in Pepboys when I went in to buy some spray paint, again I felt guilty like I was supposed to be helping. But, I couldnt get through.

The whole week was solemn and silent. The skies were clear, as all air traffic was suspended. I remember everything that I did that whole week. I remember people lining the streets on the weekend with American flags, The cheering for the firemen and the police, the sense of unity for a brief period of time.


H20 International that year was weird. Almost like most people felt guilty for having a good time.


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## Pizza Cat (Dec 2, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> Might as well.
> 
> I lived just up the street from the Pentagon and had a contract with the Army near the south entrance. My apartment shuttle had just dropped me off and I was walking over to my office in Crystal City. I heard a loud BOOM, but didn't think anything of it. Thought it was construction. Got into the office saw the other thread and got a call that a plane had crashed into the WTC, then was hearing that the Old Exec Building had been hit. I looked out my office window which looked out over DC and saw nothing, but then black smoke came in front of the window. That was the Pentagon burning.  All the building over there cleared out in an instant. Lot of people panicking. Co-worker and I started walking to my apartment. We got to Army-Navy Drive, right across from the Pentagon. Floods of people were walking out. Smoke everywhere. Will always remember the smell. Two F-16's came over, dumped their wings to take a look and then they poured on the coals and headed north. Later learned that was to head off Flight 93. They only had dummy/practice rounds loaded it turns out. Next thing I see is a cop come flying out to tell another one something. He gets on the loud speaker and tells everyone to MOVE/RUN/get away from the Pentagon as another plane is inbound. It was like a scene out of a bad disaster movie. Everyone starting moving fast away towards Pentagon City Mall. We moved the other way, got past the blockade that was just being put up to walk up the hill near the old Navy Annex down by where the Citgo was(no longer there). The sights, sounds and smell is something my brain still tunes out. It was hot.
> 
> ...


Jesus 

I actually just went over to the Pentagon memorial a couple months ago for the first time. Glad I did it once, but honestly I'll be happy if I never go back again.


I'll admit, I still get weirded out just being in the city on 9/11. I'm close-ish to the Capitol, and my wife is virtually next door to the WH.


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## RollingInDubs (Jan 23, 2003)

Rabbit5GTI said:


> Jesus
> 
> I actually just went over to the Pentagon memorial a couple months ago for the first time. Glad I did it once, but honestly I'll be happy if I never go back again.
> 
> ...


I actually got the nerve to go to Ground Zero five years ago. I was doing fine, until I got to the wall with all the missing people posters. I absolutely lost my sh*t, and am welling up just typing this. I can't even begin to imagine being there that day...and to all of you that were there or lost friends and/or family I AM SO SORRY.  You saw an evil that no one should ever have to see.


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## Pizza Cat (Dec 2, 2006)

RollingInDubs said:


> I actually got the nerve to go to Ground Zero five years ago. I was doing fine, until I got to the wall with all the missing people posters. I absolutely lost my sh*t, and am welling up just typing this. I can't even begin to imagine being there that day...and to all of you that were there or lost friends and/or family I AM SO SORRY.  You saw an evil that no one should ever have to see.


Went to ground zero back in '04 with my GF (now wife). That really ****ed us up for a while.


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## pawa_k2001 (Feb 3, 2003)

I still remember how shocked everyone was in my class, the silence and only hearing my teacher cry.


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## mhjett (Oct 16, 2000)

Just opened up the "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!!!" thread and it gave me chills. As it does every year. I watched that thread unfold live.



[email protected] said:


> My recollection of the day is still pretty vivid as it involved a lot of moving parts surrounding a few of my family members.
> 
> I was on the George Washington Parkway in an Audi TT Roadster heading west when I saw the plane coming from Dulles coming Eastbound turn slightly North towards the White House over restricted air space, pass to our right, pass behind the car and slam into the Pentagon not a mile South of us. My friend and I were travelling down to Northern Virginia in an Audi press car and were listening to Howard Stern as we traveled from Ellicott City, Maryland where I lived at the time down to Arlington, Virginia. Our normal path would take us down the Baltimore-Washington Expressway to New York Avenue and then across the bridge and onto US 50. We were listening to callers calling into Howard's show and at first it seemed like a small craft (think Cessna 172 or the like) flew into the first center but then as you all well know.. all hell broke loose in New York. We were listening so intently that I made the wrong turn onto US 50 and went into Alexandria. I turned around and headed West and my buddy and I saw the scenario with plane #3 unfold right in-front of, beside and then behind us. Rather than attending our class we headed back out to 495 and drove home in relative silence, not sure of what had just unfolded.





[email protected] said:


> Might as well.
> 
> I lived just up the street from the Pentagon and had a contract with the Army near the south entrance. My apartment shuttle had just dropped me off and I was walking over to my office in Crystal City. I heard a loud BOOM, but didn't think anything of it. Thought it was construction. Got into the office saw the other thread and got a call that a plane had crashed into the WTC, then was hearing that the Old Exec Building had been hit. I looked out my office window which looked out over DC and saw nothing, but then black smoke came in front of the window. That was the Pentagon burning.  All the building over there cleared out in an instant. Lot of people panicking. Co-worker and I started walking to my apartment. We got to Army-Navy Drive, right across from the Pentagon. Floods of people were walking out. Smoke everywhere. Will always remember the smell. Two F-16's came over, dumped their wings to take a look and then they poured on the coals and headed north. Later learned that was to head off Flight 93. They only had dummy/practice rounds loaded it turns out. Next thing I see is a cop come flying out to tell another one something. He gets on the loud speaker and tells everyone to MOVE/RUN/get away from the Pentagon as another plane is inbound. It was like a scene out of a bad disaster movie. Everyone starting moving fast away towards Pentagon City Mall. We moved the other way, got past the blockade that was just being put up to walk up the hill near the old Navy Annex down by where the Citgo was(no longer there). The sights, sounds and smell is something my brain still tunes out. It was hot.
> 
> ...


Wow, I can't even imagine. Having lived in Arlington for about 5 years (wasn't there during 9/11), I can't imagine what it was like to be there that day. I've gone to the Pentagon Memorial on 9/11 anniversaries and it's surreal. Just being in the DC area on this day makes me uneasy.


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## Chockomon (Aug 20, 2005)

*FV-QR*

I was pretty young when it happened - about 13 years old, but I remember it vividly. I was in my US History Class when one of the science teachers ran in saying that the first plane had hit. My school was pretty close to Liberty State Park in Jersey City, so we could see the towers relatively clearly. We watched the second plane hit and the towers come down. I was one of the lucky ones who didn't have family working there, but I know of people who did. My father, who worked for Continental at the time in Newark, didn't come home for a couple of days.

My parents are actually on a plane now headed to DR to visit some family - I know that flying is pretty safe but it still makes me feel nervous.

RIP to everyone who lost their lives that day. Never forget


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## [email protected] (Oct 7, 1999)

Rabbit5GTI said:


> Jesus
> 
> I actually just went over to the Pentagon memorial a couple months ago for the first time. Glad I did it once, but honestly I'll be happy if I never go back again.
> 
> ...


14yrs later, it all comes around. I now work across the street from where I worked back then and am closer to the Pentagon now. 

It's weird to describe, but maybe it's the brain's self-defense mechanism, but many folks I talk to shrug it off outwardly, but with a little mental shudder. Other thing I remember is noting all the street lamp poles that were knocked down as a result of the plane sort of bouncing into the side of the Pentagon. They were down on 27 all over the place and cars were stopped as a result.

Weird things the brain remembers even so long after....


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## evosky (Feb 13, 2010)

I was a sophomore in high school, and I remember our first period being interrupted by the intercom stating that something very bad had happened in New York and that they would provide updates later on as more information came in. Suffice to say, everyone started looking at each other like WTF (we were in DE, near the PA border), so it was a very real thing for us. It eventually turned into a half day, with teachers basically using class time to reflect on what was going on. I feel like we were sort of kept in the dark for the most part until we went home to watch the news ... Definitely a scary day, and I tried to track down all the friends I knew in NY to make sure they were all OK. 

Now, living in the DC area, I am much more sensitive to these things. Patriotism, jingoism, call it whatever you want - we remember those who were lost that day and those who have to live with that reality. I'm proud to be an American and will always remember.


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## rstolz (Jun 16, 2009)

High School Junior at the time. I had the same feeling as a lot of others initially, "what idiot bush plane pilot managed to hit a skyscraper?..." They let everyone with cars leave I think around 9 or 10a. I sought out my AP history teacher before bugging out. He was speechless and basically crying; this guy was never speechless, and never without a smile. That shook me. 

I looked at the other thread too, and am still getting chills. I was glued to the TV. watched the second plane hit and the towers come down... 

My parents were both working, they worked at a Hospital in Chicago. When I spoke to my mom she said not to leave... I said "yea, not a chance." It was a brutal day to sit at home alone. no internet at my house at the time. 

I never knew before then , how used to the sound of jets we all were until that sound was gone for 3 days (outside of the occasional military flight).


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## tbvvw (Jun 19, 2002)

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. 

First, I was working a consulting engagement at a global ins company that had offices in the towers and lost people that day. The whole day in the CLT office was spent in the break and conf rooms watching tv.
Second, I came home and found out my wife had just had a miscarriage.

I've been going to lower Manhattan on biz trips 2-4x a year for the past 11 years and have spent a LOT of time in the area (I mostly stay at the Marriott a block south) and I've felt a LOT of pride watching the new tower go up, but will never forget the twin towers.


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## Chris_V (Jun 18, 2009)

I was at work here at Social Security HQ in Woodlawn MD. Someone heard it on the radio and we went to the internet to try and watch it on live TV feeds. I was also refreshing the Vortex thread on it on a constant basis trying for updates from people in the affected areas. My wife had firefighter friends (since whe had been an EMT in NEw England) that went down to NYC to help out and she also had friends working in the Pentagon that were afrfected (a couple were killed there). I remember the office here shutting down early as everyone was in a panic about what government facilities woudl be targets, soi wnet home and watched the news with my family (got home in time to watch the towers fall). Many tears were shed for the people that were dead or dying that day.


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## atomicalex (Feb 2, 2001)

They were packing our house up to move to Savannah. My BIL has just gotten his walking papers from the Air Force. I was bringing one of my sons home from the pediatrician when KYW cut live to the NY chopper feed. It was frightening. I called my sister from the car to ask her if he had been called back.

I got home and they were packing up the front of the living room. I said, no stop, turn the TV on. Terrorists are bombing New York. 

Then it was all day on ClubB5 trying to find people, make sure people I knew were ok. 

We (CB5) lost a member in the event. He was up above the line and didn't make it down. Two others made it down the stairs. One had not gone to work that day because of some subway issue or other transit problem, and one was stuck on a bridge watching it. Someone else had (lol VW) engine problems. We didn't know the full aftermath until about four days later.


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## dieselraver (Nov 11, 2007)

i will never forget. 

i was at st. johns university in organic chemistry. from 7:30-9:45 we get out and signs are all over the walls saying class was cancelled for the day. (i think it was a tuesday) and i wondered why they would pull pranks on a tuesday. then as we got out of class, you could see students freaking out on the phone, crying, looking worried. we then figured it out. i got in my car to drive home, along the grand central parkway. in the far distance you could see *TWO *distinct plumes of smoke, one that was ashy white, and the other a horrible YELLOW cloud it was that moment that I became freaked out, my mother worked in bay ridge, my sister was going to Bronx Science high school and we lived in queens. trying to get her home was going to be difficult. she didn't get home till 8pm that night. 

The days that followed were of peacefulness and serenity, i know its hard to believe, people were courteous, kind, patient with each other, everyone flew a flag, or had one in their car window. flags were hung from every single bridge or overpass by citizens. the amount of national unity even neighborly unity was overwhelming. 

i lost many good friends that day and others subsequently due to cancer and asbestos inhalation. 

may you never forget that day.


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## dieselraver (Nov 11, 2007)

I was just down there last night driving through but it wasn't good for pictures. I'll post some up that I've taken in the last few weeks 















































Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## PsychoVolvo (Dec 4, 2009)

I'll probably be among the youngest generation who remembers the attacks and could understand their significance at the time. I was 9 years old when it happened and remember my mom, dad, sister and I sitting in the basement watching the TV in disbelief. I really hope some day war and terror will not be such a common occurrence. Thinking of those who lost their lives in the attacks and the war on terror that followed. :heart:


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## nfx (Jul 18, 2004)

bzcat said:


> The first post-9/11 babies are starting high school this year...


You are correct... we've got kids that have been born past 9/11 at this point. It's tough because they don't find it as important as we do, even though I was young, I was in 9th grade History class at the time and watched it unfold on TV (I remember our teacher getting a bunch of **** for that because they said not to turn on the TV). The younger kids just see us as a nation that has always been at war over terrorism... even though most of them don't know what the term actually means.


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## maac311 (Apr 23, 2003)

From that day, for about a couple of weeks, that's all I could watch on TV.
All the news and stories coming out.

I visited the 9/11 museum in NY in March 2014. Not ashamed to say I broke down in tears.


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## VAG-Approved (May 30, 2008)

i Was only in 7th Grade when this happened, the whole interior of the school was silent expect for the Tv's in every classroom.. 

All those people...

Never Forget


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## VAG-Approved (May 30, 2008)

Juicebox432 said:


> I was 17 and in court for my first major speeding ticket. When I arrived at the county courthouse, my dad and I were listening to sports talk WTAM1100, nothing major was going on. The Browns were trading players and proving how terrible they are managed, stuff like that. When I got out of the courthouse, about an hour later, we turned on the radio to find out that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. Me being the plane nerd that I was, thought it was an accident just like the B-25 that flew into the Empire State Building years ago.
> As we started driving back to school, news of the second plane hitting came over the radio. Then I knew it wasn't an accident. We had to stop and soak in the news.
> I remember looking up in the sky during the drive back and seeing a weird contrail, like a u turn in the sky near the horizon (we lived in Northeast Ohio at the time). Little did I know, that u turn contrail was United 93.
> 
> ...


That is awesome bud :thumbup:


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## Chockomon (Aug 20, 2005)

From last night


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## ByronLLN (Jul 29, 2004)

Forgot to mention before that I did visit ground zero. I think it was in 2005. Like many here, I feel like it was a worthwhile trip but not one I'd want to repeat.


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## Gear_Cruncher (Mar 28, 2013)

Wow, all those sick feelings came back and choking back the tears. 

This place was pretty wild back then ..... lots of rumors in the mix.

I went home and popped in a VHS tape ... I still have all the news from that day.


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## Cooper (Sep 11, 2000)

Bought a copy of What We Saw by CBS News (2002), which includes a DVD of CBS news coverage of the day. Saw it on the sale table at Border's and picked it up. Haven't opened the DVD.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-we-saw-cbs-news/1101117711


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## ByronLLN (Jul 29, 2004)

Oh, and I mentioned before that I worked at Blockbuster at the time...

I still worked there when the semi-official documentary came out on DVD. Nobody wanted to spend money on something so depressing, so the store had several copies that never moved. I bought mine and never opened it. Watching it was never the goal. I purchased it for two reasons:

1) Some of the proceeds went to 9/11 charities.
2) I felt somehow obligated.

I've moved three times since buying it. Never once lost track of where it's kept. 










Edit: OK, Cooper. That was officially creepy.


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## TheDarkEnergist (Aug 22, 2009)

For people who haven't visited yet, please avoid the temptation to smile and treat this memorial like its a cute panda exhibit. I understand that folks want to commemorate their visit to NYC with photos, but there are an infinite amount of other actually appropriate places to do it. Take photos of the memorial, the building, the pools, etc. Not yourself. 

I felt sick to my stomach watching teenage tourists laughing and smiling and throwing up peace signs for pictures at this memorial. 

URL is appropriate: http://gothamist.com/2015/09/11/old_man_yells_at_cloud.php


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## Cooper (Sep 11, 2000)

ByronLLN said:


> ... Edit: OK, Cooper. That was officially creepy ...




Really. We both posted at the same time that we bought something we've never opened.


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## Hufeisen (Jul 18, 2006)

evosky said:


> I'm proud to be an American and will always remember.


Well said...


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## EPilot (Jul 27, 1999)

I was working in Philly in the Curtis Building. I was listening to Stern and was hearing it unfold. All the craziness and calls where nuts. I was pretty much the hub of news in my office because we had no TVs and the internet was hosed as soon as the second plane hit. 

A few minutes after the second plane hit they kicked everyone out. At the time they had a few federal government offices, I think the Treasury Department and the FBI had some type of offices there so we were a supposed target. Police and other security types came around and ordered us to drop whatever we had and get out quick. There was also a weird rumor that the Independence Mall area was a target and the Curtis Building is a couple blocks from there. 

At this point we were on our own on how to get out of the city. I took the train in from NJ and getting on PATCO was a nightmare. Police actually stuffing people into cars to get the doors to close. The look of fear on everyone's face and crying was what I can't forget. Everyone was scared and shouting out new rumors or news that they were hearing on their radios. 

Once I got home I saw the endless replays of the attack on the tv and it was just insane how quiet it was. Not a plane in the sky and the only thing you could hear was sirens. Seemed like constant sirens all hours of the day and night. 

Then going back to work was full of bomb scares, anthrax scares (someone poured non-dairy creamer in the lobby of the building and they locked down the building and had hazmat teams come in, this after I had stepped over the spill a few minutes earlier). The only sounds in Philly for the next week or so was sirens. Non-stop sirens. 

I knew a few people at the towers that day that were lucky to be running late when the first plane hit and were spared and they told me of the things they saw. I can't even imagine how they can cope with that. My biggest and lasting change is my awareness of my surroundings. Before that day I wouldn't say I was naive, but I never felt how vulnerable we actually are until that day.


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## Ermegerd (Aug 5, 2013)

Unfortunately for the three friends and I, we witnessed the towers fall from our roof (30 floors high). Now doubt. 9/11 is the worst thing that has happened in my life. I can't quite explain the events that day. There were a lot of angry people on the streets and then there were the likes of my friend and I- felt like our world was coming to an end. 

But the lives of the fallen have not gone in vain. New Yorker's bond through the memories, and we're there for each other, more than ever.


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## vortexblue (Jan 27, 2001)

I was working on Wall St as a network admin. I ended up being one of those dusty people racing to get out of the city.
Here's some of my emails as they happened: http://chris.chemidl.in/2014/09/11/my-emails-from-9-11/









I'm not sure who this girl is, but this photo was from the South tower looking down at my building.

It was easily the scariest thing that has happened to me. The sound of the debris smashing into our windows, the terror of watching jumpers, and the never-ending growl that the towers made while collapsing will never leave me.


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## Deserion (Jul 28, 2000)

I remember going into the living room at the time (home that day from HS), and saw the news report stating the Pentagon was hit with an airplane. I wondered why the screen was showing just smoke, but then I suddenly found out that is where the Towers were. 

I haven't felt an emotion hit from this in quite a while. Haven't forgotten, but reading this again (and the locked thread) brings it all back very clear. I later knew someone who was supposed to be in one of the Towers for work at a law firm (attorney), but wasn't in that day.

Our country, and the world, certainly changed that day.


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## Tornado2dr (Mar 31, 2001)

Cooper said:


> Bought a copy of What We Saw by CBS News (2002), which includes a DVD of CBS news coverage of the day. Saw it on the sale table at Border's and picked it up. Haven't opened the DVD.
> 
> http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-we-saw-cbs-news/1101117711





ByronLLN said:


> Oh, and I mentioned before that I worked at Blockbuster at the time...
> 
> I still worked there when the semi-official documentary came out on DVD. Nobody wanted to spend money on something so depressing, so the store had several copies that never moved. I bought mine and never opened it. Watching it was never the goal. I purchased it for two reasons:
> 
> ...


I don't recommend watching them. Maybe one day with your kids to educate.

I made the mistake of watching a couple of the History Channel's docu-compilations of news and private video coverage a few years ago. Really brought me back to a bad place. I remember all of the details from my day as most do - that's enough for me at the moment.

5yo is in kindergarten and they do a short moment of silence/remembrance ceremony at the school. It will be interesting to see what questions she brings home. When my wife was student teaching at this same school 10+ years ago, many of the kids were old enough to remember the day itself and had parents who had been shipped overseas as a result. None of the kids there now would have experienced the day it or much of the results first-hand(thankfully).


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## Pennywise (Oct 18, 2003)

TheDarkEnergist said:


> For people who haven't visited yet, please avoid the temptation to smile and treat this memorial like its a cute panda exhibit. I understand that folks want to commemorate their visit to NYC with photos, but there are an infinite amount of other actually appropriate places to do it. Take photos of the memorial, the building, the pools, etc. Not yourself.
> 
> I felt sick to my stomach watching teenage tourists laughing and smiling and throwing up peace signs for pictures at this memorial.


I went to the memorial with my dad about 3 years ago, and this was exactly the same thing I was feeling. Most of the people there are very respectful and are quiet, not taking pictures of themselves, but of the memorial pieces themselves. Then there are the ones that are having loud conversations, laughing, and taking pictures with items. It's not the right place and the conversation can wait.


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## MexicoCityM (Jun 23, 2015)

What an eerie experience reading that original thread below from the very day. Gave me the chills and brought me back. I got up late that day and remember hearing on the radio about what had happened on the way to the office and arriving to see everyone crowded around a TV.

Also got the chills a couple of years ago visiting the memorial. It was a sobering experience. I think the memorial is in great taste except for the absolute idiocy of having a souvenir store right there. Ugh!


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## Iroczgirl (Feb 17, 2007)

I have chills just thinking back to that day.

Back then, we didn't even have internet, or a radio at work. We had to get our updates from walk-in customers.


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## ByronLLN (Jul 29, 2004)

Tornado2dr said:


> I don't recommend watching them. Maybe one day with your kids to educate.


I've seen quite a bit of it. I watched some of it when it aired on TV, and in the annual repeats that have run since. I just have no desire to deliberately sit down and watch this, if that makes sense.


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## RollingInDubs (Jan 23, 2003)

First of all I just want to say talking with you all about this is therapeutic. I wasn't there or anything, but 9/11 still resonates with me as it does with many of you. By resurrecting the thread, the moderators are doing a great service. :thumbup:

Secondly, does anyone remember how CNN used to repeat the news broadcast from the day as it happened online? It was like watching it again live. I remember thinking that was an interesting way to remember the day. Within the last three years, they have stopped doing it. Wonder why...


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## StlVDub (Aug 1, 2010)

Wow, 14 years...it's just crazy to think...

I remember that day quite well. I remember it was beautiful out, super-nice September day.

I was in 10th grade at a smaller private school (only 75 per grade). First plane hit right near the beginning of our first class. Teachers started racing down the hallways opening every classroom door to see who had a tv and to quick turn it on. We all ran into an English teacher's classroom, who just brought in a tv on one of those wheeled carts (remember those things?) By the time we got the tv on and going, the second tower had been hit. We were all just standing there...silent. It was eerie. We were all just in a daze, all trying to figure in our minds how this would even happen. 

I remember a classmate going "look at all the pieces just falling" and hearing another quick reply "those aren't pieces, those are people..." I just went white.

We really didn't have classes the rest of the day. Some teachers tried to resume classes, but everyone just knew it was pointless. We were all just in a state of shock. I still remember people searching for phones, trying to call those they knew in NYC. No one could get through, everyone was just crying. It was awful.

I will never forget that day.


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## MagicBus (Oct 3, 2003)

Just tried reading some of the sticky thread. Couldn't take much of it...

I'd almost forgotten that the worst part (for me) was not know what was happening and not knowing what might be coming next. 9/11 threw me off balance like I'd never thought could happen. First, the horrible reality of one tower being hit. Then the second tower. Then the collapses. Then the Pentagon being hit. The plane downed in PA (?). The news outages. The chaos.

Something in the other thread triggered a memory. Someone contemplated whether this was the start of WWIII.

I remember thinking and fearing exactly that. There was no way to logically think through things. I remember fearing the possibility of a nuclear strike, among other things.


No matter how badly divided we became as a nation in the days, weeks, months, and years after 9/11, we were united in the chaos that day.


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## Gear_Cruncher (Mar 28, 2013)

I was at work.... some guys got a TV plugged in and we gathered and watched as the people were jumping out of tower's windows so they didn't burn to death and then the first tower went down. I couldn't believe that I was seeing people who went into work having no idea they would be jumping to their death that day.    Dang, I'm getting choked up typing this!
I walked back to my cube and was fighting back the tears .... I couldn't do it and finally got composed enough to walk out to my car and go home. 

The weird thing was, all the traffic was poking along at the speed limit down the freeway... all the way, 30 miles home. It was like everyone was in shock and in a daze.


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## GroovOn-SLC (Jul 26, 2003)

I like to think my daughter was conceived that night. Born 6/11/02. 

I was off that day and moving from our duplex into our house 20 miles away. Lots of trips with Band Van that day back and forth and I just remember being glued to the radio all day. I didn't see much of video until that night. Probably watched 5 hours of coverage. Just gutted, fearing tens of thousands dead. America and me changed that day.


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## Cooper (Sep 11, 2000)

GroovOn-SLC said:


> ... fearing tens of thousands dead ...


You, too? I thought there would be many more dead. Actually surprised at the final tally. The time kept casualties lower than it otherwise would have been. I'm a morning person and used to get to work at 7:30. Sometimes I forget that's not the norm.


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## Cooper (Sep 11, 2000)

Tornado2dr said:


> ... I made the mistake of watching a couple of the History Channel's docu-compilations of news and private video coverage a few years ago ...


Ever watch the falling man documentary?


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## TheDarkEnergist (Aug 22, 2009)

Pennywise said:


> I went to the memorial with my dad about 3 years ago, and this was exactly the same thing I was feeling. Most of the people there are very respectful and are quiet, not taking pictures of themselves, but of the memorial pieces themselves. Then there are the ones that are having loud conversations, laughing, and taking pictures with items. It's not the right place and the conversation can wait.



:thumbup: Thank you. A lot of people I mention this to totally freak out about "BUT IT'S OUR FREEDOM TO BE HAPPY!" 

Yes. It is. It's your freedom to do a lot of things. But you pretty much cast yourself as someone who really doesn't understand the gravity of the events when you treat it like Times Square. And I wonder how people are even compelled to feel anything but reflection when inside that memorial. It's VERY different in that space. I've mentioned my part in the cleanup post attacks numerous times on this forum but I remember being there very well. Going back gives me a very strange range of emotions.

I do however remember my first trip to the memorial and while trying to photograph the waterfalls this little guy swooped in, landed, looked at me for 2 seconds, and was off again immediately. 











Now I don't personally assign or put stock in the symbolism of crows, but if you do...this was a weird occurrence nonetheless.


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## dhoyle (Nov 21, 2006)

car related: 

I left work in Marietta, GA around 1700 that day; driving on 275 on the northeast side between 75 and GA400 was quite eerie since it was practically deserted.


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## Honda_Appliance (May 4, 2000)

TheDarkEnergist said:


> Now I don't personally assign or put stock in the symbolism of crows, but if you do...this was a weird occurrence nonetheless.


That is not a crow...


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## Pizza Cat (Dec 2, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> Two F-16's came over, dumped their wings to take a look and then they poured on the coals and headed north. Later learned that was to head off Flight 93. They only had dummy/practice rounds loaded it turns out.


Here's a story on one of the women you saw up there - 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/f-...-on-sept-11/ar-AAebKjD?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=HPCDHP


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## SchnellFowVay (May 20, 2001)

Honda_Appliance said:


> That is not a crow...


:laugh:


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## TheDarkEnergist (Aug 22, 2009)

Honda_Appliance said:


> That is not a crow...


And I am not a birdist.


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## Honda_Appliance (May 4, 2000)

TheDarkEnergist said:


> And I am not a birdist.


It is immaterial to the thread anyway. :thumbup:


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## vwpiloto (Nov 27, 2006)

Rabbit5GTI said:


> Here's a story on one of the women you saw up there -
> 
> http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/f-...-on-sept-11/ar-AAebKjD?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=HPCDHP



Wow! That's an amazing story. Such courage and bravery.


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## GLIguy (Nov 3, 1999)

I was working in Tysons Corner, VA which is right outside of DC. I was sitting at work emailing with a buddy. He was at home watching TV when he reports a plane just hit the WTC. I'll never forget my response....I just responded by writing "terrorists?" I couldn't go home because my place was about six miles from the Pentagon in Alexandria. They had shut down the main highway (395). So I drove west to my In-laws place in Leesburg VA. I'll never forget the traffic was heavy like afternoon rush hour but it was only mid-morning. I drove right by Dulles Airport where the plane that hit the Pentagon had taken off not too long prior. No planes in the sky...very strange. I spent the rest of the day in front of the TV, watching in complete disgust and horror...sick to my stomach. 

The next day I had this very strong urge to show my love for my country and printed out an American flag and taped it to the back window of my car. It turned out a lot of other people had the same urge as I. 

Here are a few phone pics I've taken. First one is of a now outdated skyline map in Jersey City, second is of the memorial for Jersey City residents who died that day (it's steel from the WTC)


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## jimb (May 29, 2000)

We were on a family vacation in Pensacola Beach, Florida. We were taking our two daughters, then 4 and 2, to the Pensacola Naval Air Base to watch the Blue Angels practice. We were sitting in the bleachers, waiting for a show that never happened. There were six F18's lined up and ready to take off, but only 4 ever did. A few minutes later the 4 planes landed. There was no explanation as to why the show never took place. The volunteer ushers just said that the practice had been cancelled and that we were free to visit the museum. We heard some people in the crowd talking about a plane hitting a building in New York, but no other details. (Sometimes I forget that 14 years ago, most people did not have smart phones.)

We proceeded to visit the Naval Air Museum. In a very slow and methodical manner, the museum was closed and people were asked to leave. All the while, there was no mention of what happened in New York, Pennsylvania, and Arlington, VA. I remember leaving the museum and being disappointed that our day trip was less than expected. We turned on the radio in our rented minivan and those thoughts were immediately replaced with shock and disbelief. Getting back to the condo, we turned on the TV and only then saw the extent of what happened.

Our thoughts turned to family and friends and making sure everyone we knew was safe. My parents were living in Arlington, VA at the time, but fortunately were in Cincinnati and missed the events of the day. We contacted the rest of our family members and I remember being extremely grateful that everyone was safe. While I did not know anyone who died in the 9-11 attacks, I felt a great loss that day. Every time I see the video of the towers falling, I know I am watching people die. It is a feeling that I will never get used to.

Peace


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## Internal Combustion (Apr 17, 2007)

I too was a 10th grader. The towers fell during 3rd period. My 3rd period history teacher was reserve Apache pilot. He had already done 2 tours in Bosnia and Kosovo. His reaction sticks with me. He knew his life was changing again.


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## MK5golf (Jun 30, 2012)

I was in 4th grade, remember it pretty vividly, especially for only being 9. My father picked me up from school and said something terrible had happened (around 4 pm that day). Teachers at school didn't tell the kids but there was a meeting and things were quite strange for the day, teachers seemed distraught and kids over heard talking about something terrible happening on the news.

What I remember most is the next day in Mrs. Chant's class: "Just because people with blue hair did something bad, it doesn't mean that all blue haired people do bad things."


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## 2.0T_Convert (Mar 23, 2009)

I'll be visiting the memorial site for the first time this coming weekend. Sister & her husband will be in town and it's on the tourist list. Despite living in this area for 2 years now none of my NYC/NJ friends want to go. None of them even want to talk about it and refuse to watch any of the clips going viral on Facebook. For the people of NYC metro 9/11 seems to be a dark blot in history they all want to forget.



> steel from the WTC)


There are two Jersey City memorials I know of. The steel bars you posted which is close to my office. Another memorial was built at Liberty State Park with a sort of "window" into where the towers used to stand. The names of all the NJ victims are engraved on the inner walls.


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## B3passatBMX (Feb 27, 2004)

10th grade 2nd period study hall, I remember the principal coming over the PA and saying two planes had struck the towers. Next period was my social studies class and we all sat glued to the TV and watched the 2nd tower fall live. At the time 

A few years later an older friend of mine told me his ex from highschool was a flight attendant on the 2nd plane that hit.


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## EdRacer71 (May 10, 2006)

I will never forget that morning. I was in Topeka KS for the SCCA Solo II National Championships which was at Forbes Field on the Kansas Air National Guard base. I remember getting to the site after stopping for a quick breakfast, and heading over to where we were keeping our car, and we were paddocked around a bunch of other New England Region cars and drivers. When I got there, at about 8:30 local time, our area was a ghost town, I mean there was no one around preparing cars or anything. I really didn't think anything of it, especially since I hadn't seen a TV or heard the radio at any point yet that morning and figured everyone was watching the run groups that were running at the time. So, I started getting the car ready, a 98 Camaro Z28 that we were running in Street Mod class, even though the owner of the car wasn't around and it was getting close to our run group time, so I was changing the wheels with the street tires on it over to race tires, checking pressures, etc etc....then one of the other guys from the New England Region pulled up, and the first thing out of his mouth was "We lost the first tower, the first tower just (expletive deleted) just came down!" He filled me in real quick, and at this point I am dumbfounded, in almost complete shock. I started thinking about everyone that could have been lost, I started thinking of the two ex girlfriends I had who were both flight attendants for different airlines, and the a friend of mine who makes monthly trips to California.....finally the owner of the car I was running showed up, he and his girlfriend were back at the hotel, and were actually watching the news when the second tower was hit. We did end up getting the car ready, and it was announced that we were going to be the last run group before we ALL had to evacuate the gated part of the Airfield we were on. I have to say, I couldn't get my mind off of what was going on, and I drove like absolute $(#(, and ended up in 30th place out of 52. For the rest of the day, we were all hanging out in the camping area, I must have let at least 8 or 9 people use my cell phone to call home to check on loved ones, and I didn't get back to my hotel until almost 6 that night. That was the first time I actually got to see a TV, and see for myself what was going on. In all honesty, my heart sunk. I just couldn't fathom what actually happened until I actually saw the videos. Just such a sad day.....


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## Justin (Mar 7, 2006)

*FV-QR*

I remember waking up just as the second plane hit the WTC. I was sleeping on a friends couch after a long night of studying for a Psychology test. I actually fell back asleep and when I woke up I was telling my friend about this crazy horrible dream I had about planes flying into the Twin Towers. Thought I was still dreaming when he turned on the TV. 

Ended up going to class and there were people there that still hadn't heard the news, we all crammed around 1 old TV with horrible reception and watched as things unfolded.


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## klaxed (Oct 16, 2006)

I remember my mom waking up my brother and I for Junior High School, and telling us that planes had crashed into the Twin Towers, I think this was about 6:30 am Pacific time. And then on the bus ride, hearing news about on the radio. And once we got to our first classes, they turned on the TV's and I remember seeing one of the towers collapse (a replay at that time I'm sure). Just surreal.



PhillyGTIs said:


> Last week I was in NYC and saw the Freedom Tower and the ground zero tribute lights for the first time.
> 
> Also met a couple people from my company (NYC office) rehashing stories of people they worked with frantic about missing family and the horror some of their lives were and continue to be. Weird feeling realizing how trivial most of the stuff I complain about is. Lots of very strong people emerged from this.


I also was in NYC last week (well for the Labor Day weekend) with the wife, and on our last day we stopped by and saw the memorial, the last standing tree, and the new WTC Tower. It was the one thing I definitely wanted to see, and I'm glad I got to see it at least once.



Lwize said:


> 9/11 is sort of an odd duck for me.
> 
> In 2003, 2007 and 2014, I observed 9/11 from outside the US while traveling.
> In 2007, in fact, I flew to Turkey on 9/10, arriving on 9/11.
> ...


Well, I'm there with you (well one time anyway), My wife and I flew out on 9/11 last year for our honeymoon.


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## trbochrg (Dec 1, 2004)

I realize it's been 17 years, but it's 1:34PM EST and i have yet to hear anyone at work mention what today is.


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## JOHNS92JETTA (Mar 2, 2003)

trbochrg said:


> I realize it's been 17 years, but it's 1:34PM EST and i have yet to hear anyone at work mention what today is.


I know what day it is.  Love from Canada! :heart:


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## Tornado2dr (Mar 31, 2001)

trbochrg said:


> I realize it's been 17 years, but it's 1:34PM EST and i have yet to hear anyone at work mention what today is.


In some ways I am glad the particular date has faded a bit. In others I am not. Like when my girls say “wait why do we have a ceremony at the elementary school on 9/11?”

Or when people I know are returning from or headed back into deployments. Yup. There we go, a little disgusted at people now.


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## GreenandChrome (May 24, 2002)

I think for people around NYC and DC 9/11 means a lot more than the rest of the nation. 

I had just rolled into work at about 7:30 and was grabbing breakfast when tower #1 fell.


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## ForTheWin (Jul 13, 2018)

Tornado2dr said:


> In some ways I am glad the particular date has faded a bit. In others I am not. Like when my girls say “wait why do we have a ceremony at the elementary school on 9/11?”
> 
> Or when people I know are returning from or headed back into deployments. Yup. There we go, a little disgusted at people now.


We're at that point now where there are people in high school who weren't alive when it happened. Take it as a teaching moment and relay what you experienced. That's what older generations are for.

I was in high school, 9th grade, when it happened. We were a school that started early, so it was already 3rd period by the time we found out. It was economics class. Before we even had our first assignment, a student burst into the room and told us something happened in NY. Every classroom had a CRT TV mounted on those crappy swivel mounts. The teacher turned it on and by the time we had the news on, the first tower was already hit. We sat speechless as they talked about what might have been going on. Being so soon after the first hit everyone was still scrambling for info. I'm sure most of us at that age experienced our first real horrors as we watched the situation unfold. We saw the second plane hit and I can still remember the reactions we all had from watching it. 

What made it all the more surreal for me was seeing Ground Zero up close. My uncle owned a business that operated near the city. Corporate Liquidators Inc. They bought and sold business related furniture. Cubicles, chairs, desks, big tables for meetings, and more. One contract had us directly across the street in 2006. We were maybe 6 floors up, so we had a good view of the area. I don't think I can properly describe how it felt to see it in the state it was.


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## DasCC (Feb 24, 2009)

trbochrg said:


> I realize it's been 17 years, but it's 1:34PM EST and i have yet to hear anyone at work mention what today is.


To be honest, I haven't mentioned it to anyone today even though its been on my mind for the majority of the day.


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## BRealistic (Dec 17, 2005)

My boss flew cross country today for his dad's memorial service.
I was going to make a "you flying on 9-11!?" scare comment.. but I decided not to.
A have a few coworkers that don't remember 9-11 because they were 5 at the time.
Makes me feel old(er).


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## Tornado2dr (Mar 31, 2001)

GreenandChrome said:


> I think for people around NYC and DC 9/11 means a lot more than the rest of the nation.
> 
> I had just rolled into work at about 7:30 and was grabbing breakfast when tower #1 fell.


I would concur.


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## GreenandChrome (May 24, 2002)

I just had to rip an old high school friend for his idiocy about 9/11. He posted the stupid Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel s**t. And something about 707s are more destructive than 767s. :banghead: Pissed me off. For one, the structural engineer for the towers was Les Robertson. His son works here in Seattle. We've talked about 9/11. The claim about the planes is patently false, as the 767 is longer, wider, and heavier than 707s. The 707 can travel 77 knots faster. I don't think I need to learn physics to prove the 767 carries more destructive force than a 707.

Pisses me off that that s**t continues when thousands have died, and thousands more will as a result of the attack.


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## ForTheWin (Jul 13, 2018)

GreenandChrome said:


> I just had to rip an old high school friend for his idiocy about 9/11. He posted the stupid Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel s**t. And something about 707s are more destructive than 767s. :banghead: Pissed me off. For one, the structural engineer for the towers was Les Robertson. His son works here in Seattle. We've talked about 9/11. The claim about the planes is patently false, as the 767 is longer, wider, and heavier than 707s. The 707 can travel 77 knots faster. I don't think I need to learn physics to prove the 767 carries more destructive force than a 707.
> 
> Pisses me off that that s**t continues when thousands have died, and thousands more will as a result of the attack.


I've had to deal with a few people like that. They questioned how could a plane that's so large not just plow through the building and leave large chunks of debris. Even after showing them how fragile they really are, especially in comparison to the buildings they hit structurally, they were still skeptical. Stupid people are dangerous sometimes.


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## GreenandChrome (May 24, 2002)

ForTheWin said:


> I've had to deal with a few people like that. They questioned how could a plane that's so large not just plow through the building and leave large chunks of debris. Even after showing them how fragile they really are, especially in comparison to the buildings they hit structurally, they were still skeptical. Stupid people are dangerous sometimes.


yes. they vote. and drive cars. and order s**t from Amazon.


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## bzcat (Nov 26, 2001)

I put up my flag on 9/11 on the side of my house by the garage like I do every year. Except this year, when I came home at 7 PM, the flag was missing. 

I looked at my security camera and the flag was there at 5 PM when my wife came home. The camera view to the flag is blocked by garage door so I don't know what happened between 5 and 7 PM but it's obvious that someone took it. 

I can't believe someone will steal an American flag on frigging 9/11 :banghead:


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## BRealistic (Dec 17, 2005)

ForTheWin said:


> I've had to deal with a few people like that. They questioned how could a plane that's so large not just plow through the building and leave large chunks of debris. Even after showing them how fragile they really are, especially in comparison to the buildings they hit structurally, they were still skeptical. Stupid people are dangerous sometimes.


It's 2018.
Stupidity is now considered a Point OF View that needs to be respected.


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## GreenandChrome (May 24, 2002)

BRealistic said:


> It's 2018.
> Stupidity is now considered a Point OF View that needs to be respected.


that's a bumper sticker.


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