# Sticky  Where were you 09/11/2001? (09/11/2011)



## jebglx (Jul 13, 2000)

This is a remembrance thread of where we were that fateful day

Please be respectful

Thank you

Bill


----------



## vwlarry (Feb 16, 1999)

I was at home on a day off, and had sat down with morning coffee at about 9:10am or so, and when I turned on the teevee to get the morning news...........................................................


----------



## MZMDCM99 (Aug 9, 2001)

Getting ready to go to work in the AM. Had CNN on when all of this was happening. Insane.

I had the car radio on and sat in teh parking lot for 15 minutes after I had arrived at work. Nobody at work was working. There was a small TV there and we just sat there watching the whole event.


----------



## 89VWdieselGolf (Feb 22, 2004)

Grade 9 business class


----------



## Fe2O3 (Jan 13, 2009)

Truly a terrible bookmark in my memory. I can remember the detail of where I was sitting, what I was doing and everything around me as though it happened 5 minutes ago.


----------



## CWDave (Jul 9, 2009)

Working in the stockroom at Target listening to WRIF. We were all initially cracking jokes, but then we all pretty much huddled around the radio after we realized the scale of the event.


----------



## Obin Robinson (Oct 20, 2000)

I was at my desk checking the computer network. I first heard about the first plane hitting the WTC through an IM from my friend Scott. At first we thought it was an accident and then realized it was an attack.

That day changed my life. It only took a few short years for me to realize that computer network administration was not my calling: the military was. Ten years later I can say that the proudest moments of my career took place in Iraq at the forefront of bringing to justice those even remotely responsible.

obin :beer::beer:


----------



## Sportero (Jan 3, 2010)

I was at my desk, starting my new job at a textile company. Since news get slow to my country, I thought it was a military jet that crashed, then I realized it was an atack. Later I remembered my mom who lives in NY worked near there  it took me two days to get in contact with her, thankfully she was fine, but she was grounded in manhattan those two days.


----------



## glorentz (Feb 14, 2009)

I was in 10th grade health class. I remeber looking over at my friend when they made the announcement and saying "who would be stupid enough to do that"


----------



## l88m22vette (Mar 2, 2006)

Waking up in my dorm at the beginning of freshman year, I had turned on the TV before going to my Com class. The first tower was burning and I didn't believe it right away, I thought it was the school TV station. I flipped to a few different stations, all had emergency news broadcasts going. I will always remember how weird it was that the media didn't know what the hell was going on, with reporters struggling because there was basically no information yet. They knew it happened, but there was no cut-and-dry story to give, and it didn't help most of the reporters were obviously in shock.

I was watching as the second plane hit - the North tower was burning, I caught a shape on the edge of the camera, and the plane went right into the building, swallowed up. The whole upper building exploded, and eventually the towers fell. The news also drifted in about the Pentagon and United 93. I was officially in shock. I just watched wide-eyed, and remember being very antzy, or agitated, for the next few days. Even now, remembering it to post, I get this kind of hollow feeling knowing the deaths happened to so many on TV, and knowing I was sitting in my stupid dorm room as a college freshman who didn't know a thing...


----------



## 302W (Jul 24, 2004)

In NYC, sophomore year of high school. Going from homeroom to math, when I start hearing a plane crashed in the twin towers. Kids are freaking out about their parents that work in there. The whole time I'm thinking it's a Cessna until the reports start coming in. Then around noon I get to the cafeteria and I finally get to see the footage on TV. Even though I knew it was real, it took me like 5 minutes to realize what I was watching wasn't Die Hard or some action movie. The rest of the day there were tons of rumors, ranging from car bombs across the city to 4 more hijacked planes in the air.

Taking public transportation home was INSANE. The long island expressway going towards Manhattan was closed off to the public, and yet there was a steady stream of traffic. Emergency vehicles hauling ass towards the site. Plenty of cars were covered in ash, that burning electronics smell in the air, and a plume of smoke in the Manhattan skyline. It was just surreal.


----------



## Rmeitz167 (Dec 16, 2007)

I was in 6th grade in a history class. I remember the teacher and where i sat. They didnt tell us a thing. Foundout on the bus ride home


----------



## GutlessLump (May 20, 2006)

I was in the CG, stationed in Baltimore, at the time I was a pollution/HAZMAT guy, I was down in Palm Coast Florida at an FAA training center taking a HAZMAT Train the Trainer class, DC was in our AOR. 

I remember we were taking a break and on the TV there were reports of the first tower being hit, it was mass confusion, FAA people were going nuts. On TV, I watched the second plane hit, and the reports of the Pentagon were coming in. I was chomping at the bit trying to figure out what to do, all the lines into base were tied up, and I couldn't get in contact with my command at all. By the time I did, they pretty much told me to stay put, and continue with what I was doing, our ICS had started rolling, and everybody was tied up, and the message I got was that everything was in pandemonium. I figured if **** continued to go down, I would be useful at any place I could get to. 

That night I went down and bought some carpet and carpeted a speaker box in my hotel room to stay occupied. I'll admit, I cried, I was scared, I felt helpless. Being the kind of person I am, I wanted to be in the middle of it all. The helpless feeling of sitting there waiting for the next thing to happen was unbearable. I've never been the same since.


----------



## todd19465 (Jan 16, 2009)

I was in 5th grade. Our teachers brought both 5th grades into one room and told us what had happened. I remember the feeling in the room like it was yesterday. We were too young to really comprehend what was happening but old enough to understand that is was something crazy. You could tell by the teachers' voices and the way they acted that they were just as astonished. So we talked for a while there and then went back to class. The teachers tried to make it a regular school day by keeping the tv off and sticking to a normal schedule, but so many kids were getting pulled out of school that it was anything but a normal day. I remember later that night my mom was going outside for a walk and my sister and I were afraid to let her go


----------



## AbuNigel (Jul 11, 2009)

Check this out and add your story:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...oning/where-were-you-september-11-map.html?hp


----------



## 1BadTitan (Jan 14, 2010)

I was home sleeping... I worked the midnight shift at that time. My wife called me and said to turn CNN on and see it. I thought I was dreaming for about the first hour.


----------



## vortexblue (Jan 27, 2001)

I was on the 40th floor of the building with the green top in the picture (40 Wall St). the photo (unknown girl) was taken (unknown time, not 9/11) from inside Tower 2. It's sobering for me to think about how badly things could have gotten if the towers toppled rather than fell straight down.

I sat in the windowsill while the 2nd plane ripped into the building-- I had a front row seat to the massive hole-- and the people that were still in the building. 

This is not my pic, but it was the only one I've ever seen that reminds me of exactly what I was looking at:









The amount of debris that was pelting our building made leaving a difficult choice-- if I go outside, will I be killed with a falling filing cabinet/ shoe/ copier/ whatever?

I didn't lose any loved ones that day, there were a few business acquaintances lost, though.

Here were my frantic emails to friends http://rsjparts.com/chris/wtc/WTC.txt
You can see my spelling go to hell while I was shaking.

I just ended up as one of the dust-covered people you saw getting out of town. I still can't make it through most of these 9-11 documentaries without getting either choked up or incredibly angry.

It was the turning point in my life where I realized that, at any moment, it could be all over. That point still resonates every day. 

Recently, on this very site, I came to the realization that the younger generation doesn't take 9-11 very seriously. I was even told 'it's been 10 years - get over it'. I know they were probably children when it happened, but it doesn't take too much intelligence to see that this was an important day in US history - much like the Pearl Harbor Attack.


----------



## LaFerrari (Apr 18, 2002)

I was getting ready for work that day and had the TV on in the background...I couldn't believe what I was hearing and rushed to work to watch the events unfold, we have a big screen TV on the showroom that typically plays automotive related topics but that day we were all glued to live broadcasts of the attacks.


----------



## scott_0 (Dec 22, 2010)

I had just gotten home from working 6p-6a and went to bed after getting a little something to eat, I used to always listen to the radio to put me to sleep, I had Stern on and I awoke to them talking about a plane flying into a building in NYC, it gave me chills and I just went ahead and got up and just watched the news coverage in shock as it unfolded. then had to go back to work that night at 6p, I was so numb and in shock at what had happened to all those innocent people


----------



## Sir Biggz (Aug 12, 2003)

8th grade lunch.


----------



## wuman82 (Jul 22, 2006)

I was about a month in to my freshman year in college. I was still sleeping when the first plane hit, my alarm clock went off and it was on radio. I remember hearing about the first plane and thinking that I was dreaming. I got up and turned on the tv and realized that I wasn't dreaming. I don't remember much about anything else that day, but the images will always be with me.


----------



## 2VWatatime (Aug 4, 2006)

My post from the OT board:




> Dulles Airport (planned flight to Frankfurt). Every TV was on & people clustered watching. Once the news @ United came on, (Dulles is a United hub) flight crew members looked, well, beyond shocked.
> Left Dulles & picked my son up from school & went home. My next door neighbor at the time was a Senior FA for United, and when we pulled into our driveway, we saw her standing at her front door, looking up at the sky, in complete and utter shock...
> 
> Over the next few hours we watched the smoke from the Pentagon off in the distance.
> ...


----------



## modiGTI (Aug 2, 2003)

Senior Year of High School, once the news hit they actually brought TVs into the classroom for us to watch.


----------



## 16vRocket (Jan 13, 2002)

I was in college getting a coffee at the on campus Tim Hortons watching the second plane hit the second tower then collapsing.... I was in shock! went back to class and told everyone, which they obviously didn't believe me....


----------



## Rich20thGTI (Mar 7, 2003)

I lost my job one month prior to the attacks, and was in bed, when my g/f at the time called me and said, "get out of bed and go turn on the tv, a plane hit the WTC." I thought she was just hating because I got to sleep in. I finally got out of bed, turned on the tv, sat down, and watched in horror at what was happening. I watched the 2nd plane hit the tower, and was stunned and in complete disbelief. I became one of those "junkies," and didnt turn off the tv or do anything constructive for almost a week. 
There are two things I will always remember, the "visions" so to speak, were all the posters/pictures of the missing/dead people (along with the firefighters of course), and the NYC'ers talking about how eerily quiet Manhattan was for the entire week following the tragedy.


----------



## 10Ten (Sep 29, 2007)

my story is not important.

but i can say i'll never forget even a moment from that day.


----------



## phill0046 (Oct 14, 2005)

I was in a high school science class. A teachers assistant got word on AIM and informed us. Class ended, and walking down the hall i saw the first tv images in a class room. The pentagon burning. We watched in horror as the towers collapsed.


----------



## tip (Aug 8, 2008)

I was in senior year of high school, and had just walked into the commons area. All my friends were like "dude, some idiot flew into one of the twin towers, and another crashed into the pentagon. They think it might be terrorists." I remember the eery feeling I had.

I went to my only class "advanced team sports" and we all watched the coverage in the locker room.

It was unreal. Can't believe it was 10 years ago.


----------



## gonzo08452 (Apr 17, 2006)

I was working at Enterprise rent a car inside a Cadillac/Subaru dealership. I was sitting inside the cust lounge at 6am watching TV w/ a service advisor before the dealership opened at 7am pst.


----------



## jamerican1 (Dec 8, 2005)

I was in high school Algebra class... later that day when I heard about the Pentagon and told my friends they didn't even believe me at first


----------



## ChiTownA34DR (Dec 6, 2002)

I was on my way to classes on I55 heading from Burbank, IL to Romeoville, IL where I attended college at Lewis University.

I was driving my 94' Formula and turned the radio on to Mancow. I thought it was a skit until I turned the station to double check. I got to class to find everyone circled around the TV in class. Class was dismissed but we all stayed until they fell. I'll never forget that day. I will also make sure my 5 year old who was born in 2006 will know what happened that day just like how I was taught (in school and by my own reading) about Pearl Harbor.

:heart:


----------



## jarski (Oct 30, 2009)

4th grade. Teacher brought in a tv with the news on, and everyone was like 'what's going on?' then our parents picked us all up and we watched it at home. I was like wtf. Im 9, what is going on.


----------



## VWturbonium (Jul 15, 2003)

I was just sitting down for 2nd period math class in 7th grade. We had turned on the TV to watch President Bush go to Booker Elementary, which is about 20-30 minutes up the road in Sarasota. The first plane had already hit and we watched the 2nd one hit. 

A day which will never be forgotten for those who lived it.

A big shout out to all of the first responders that day, civilian and military.

Rest in Peace to all of the victims, the heroes on the ground, and the heroes on Flight 93.


----------



## Iroczgirl (Feb 17, 2007)

I was on my way to work at the time.

Stopped to pick up a friend at his house so we could car pool and it popped up on the news.

Needless to say we were late that day.


----------



## Non_Affiliated (Feb 12, 2002)

I was in Hawaii on vacation for 10 days. My sister BF called all histerically around 3:50 AM talking about "we're under attack. Some plane has hit the world trade tower, TURN ON THE TV!"
Confused and groggy we popped on the TV, and saw the buildings in flames in. It was really a WTF moment. It was wierd being Hawaii and no planes in the air, and a US navy ship circling the Island. Cause jets come in and out of HAwaii non-stop.




vortexblue said:


> I just ended up as one of the dust-covered people you saw getting out of town. I still can't make it through most of these 9-11 documentaries without getting either choked up or incredibly angry.


I was watching Rising, and I really am not a emotional slob, but there are some stories from that and situations that really kinda teared me up. Even though I was not there, Kind of a mixed bag of emotions. Sad for the people that lost loved ones, angery at how this could have happened, yet also proud that there actually are people in this country that are proud of who they are and of their own country.



vortexblue said:


> Recently, on this very site, I came to the realization that the younger generation doesn't take 9-11 very seriously. I was even told 'it's been 10 years - get over it'. I know they were probably children when it happened, but it doesn't take too much intelligence to see that this was an important day in US history - much like the Pearl Harbor Attack.


I have come to the conclusion some time ago that the younger generation has a lack of respect for much of anything but themselves. Even then some lack that too.


----------



## BattleRabbit (Jun 28, 2007)

I was in my fifth grade class celebrating my best friend's birthday when the announcement came over the loudspeaker.


----------



## IridiumB6 (Nov 29, 2010)

Grade 4, Had just come home from school when my bro turned on CNN and I saw the tragedy...

What a horrible horrible day it was..man


----------



## Hurt (May 3, 2011)

I was at school. No one told us, I didn't know until I got home.


----------



## six_banger (Jul 3, 2011)

I was on a trip in Croatia the day before my flight back home watching television when all of sudden the channel cut out and went straight to CNN which showed what was happening. I had a flight back to the US next day but obviously it was cancelled. We couldn't believe what we were seeing, didn't even seem real at the time.


----------



## thatofinthedistance (Apr 1, 2009)

This brought back the same old feelings that I had durring 9/11
And i was at home, getting ready for school when i saw the 2nd plane hit! 

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2011/09/07/natpkg-911-aircheck-timeline.cnn&iref=NS1


----------



## z28wildcat (Sep 11, 2004)

My alarm went off at 6:30, senior year in high school. I heard "and we will bring you more about the attacks on the World Trade Center when we return." Not wanting to go to school, I turned the radio off and tried to go back to sleep. My Mom came in the room, and she told me I had better wake up because we were in the middle of an international incident. I told her I had heard it on the radio, some people had tried to blow up the towers again (recalling the 1996 incident.) She said, "No, they flew full passenger planes into the towers." 

That got my attention. I don't know how it affected me then, but 10 years later I am an officer serving in the US Army. Still remember that morning like it was yesterday.


----------



## SSVDub (Oct 22, 2004)

Sitting in a boring VW regional meeting in Stanford CT. Meeting got cut short because all of the folks from Jersey didn't want to be stuck in traffic all day due to what was first reported. Went up to the hotel room, popped on the tube, saw the 2nd plane hit, and pooped myself. 100 m.p.h. all the way up rt95 back to Boston as nobody was out. Was absolutely the worst time I've ever had breaking the law that bad


----------



## GPHawaii808 (Jul 5, 2006)

Getting the family up and out of the house. Usually don't watch TV prior to heading out, but when I got to my front door, the neighborhood just didn't sound right. It was too quite and the "usuals" weren't heading to their cars either. Turned on the TV and was like "oh isht"... my wife came over after hearing my dismay and started to cry.


----------



## dubfan (May 26, 2002)

I was at home that morning, doing yoga, oddly enough, when my gf called. It wasn't my habit to have the TV on (I didn't even have cable at the time), so I had no idea what had happened. It was like 9-ish, I think. My answering machine picked up cuz I screened my calls. My gf just told me to pick up the phone, in kind of a strange voice, a couple times. So I did, and she told me what had happened. While we were on the phone, she told me one of the towers fell. I don't remember which one. I thought this was crazy. WTF? How could it just... you know... fall like that? I told her, "this is like some kind of bad Arnold Schwarzenegger movie". We kinda nervously joked that there didn't seem to be any kind of action hero riding in to save the day. I turned on my TV and watched snowy broadcast network coverage the rest of the day, until well after midnight. Kept checking the web and saw all the big news organizations replace all their media-heavy websites with text only. 

I still have her message saved on my answering machine.

I remember trying to wrap my ahead around the fact that by mid-morning the US was flying armed combat air patrols over NYC and DC. F-15s and F-16s locked & loaded. Still almost can't believe it.

The next day I went outside and walked around my neighborhood and it was dead silent -- no planes in the air, at all. Very few cars. Just bright sun and clear, cloudless blue skies. I think the whole east coast had that great weather that day. My thought at the time was that this had to be phase 1. I kept wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. A nuke? Bio attack? And then the anthrax attacks a few weeks later...

What a crazy, scary time.


----------



## dubfan (May 26, 2002)

Another memory -- I spoke to my parents that night, both of whom had lived thru WWII. I asked them how this compared to Pearl Harbor.

"Oh, this is much worse than Pearl Harbor", they said.


----------



## superjario18 (Oct 7, 2009)

Sitting in class doing my school work. I was a junior, and was living back in Ohio (Went to the greene county career center, in cast any ohioans went there too).

Most everyone in the class had no clue what was going on, until the teacher came in and said "At this time the news is reporting 2 planes crashed into the world trade center."

We all gave her a ... you are nuts look. Then when we didn't see any emotion on her face, we buried our noses in our pc's and googled as hard as we could to find out what happened. She then replied with "I am not going to make you guys do any more work today, I will be in my office if needed"

The rest of the day was sort of a blur, no teacher felt the need to have us do any work, as we all just watched CNN/FOX/whatever channel we could find.

Now move onto about 5 hours later on the bus waiting to go home.
The bus PA comes on and the principal of the school said "I have a news update, the military have started moving out and the navy has reported to the general public which ships it is sending over.

*ship list goes out* I recognize one ships name, to which hearing those words causes my heart and stomach to trade places. My brothers ship...

I asked a guy across the isle to verify that name one said, he just said "I'm sorry dude  "

That was the most solmn bus ride I've ever taken.

Fast forward 3 more hours. I am home, my two sisters are home, my step mother just arrives home. While speaking with her about the daily events, out of no where comes what sounds like an explosion directly over the house, pictures on the wall shook, things on tables moved. All four of us ducked as we had no freaking clue what was going on. Me being the idiot I am, ran outside as soon as I stopped ducking to search for a smoke pilar or anything. All I see is a jet in the distance, so I walk back into the house.

My step mother pulled up the local news, Wright Patterson Air Force Base has scrambled fighter jets to assist other area's of the US. The sound we heard was a sonic boom, as it was given the go ahead to mach over a residential area (generally a no no if you have never lived near an air force base). So after all that... its close to 7pm, our nation has been shaken at its core.

The beast of the United States military has awoken.

I am still to this day skeptical of the cause and real reason for the attack and who caused it. But thats a whole nother conversation, nor will I argue in this thread about it.

With all that being said. I extend the most deepest thanks to any and every ex/current/future military that fights for our freedoms.

And on this day I put aside my differences and open my the void where my heart used to be for a huge bastard filled TCL group hug.


----------



## vwlarry (Feb 16, 1999)

The very next day after the attacks, our local skies here in southern DE were constantly filled with the sights and sounds of these A10 warplanes, as they apparently were defending the DC area out to a wide perimeter (we're about 70 miles east of DC, across the bay). The feelings of dread, mixed with intense pride I was feeling are still vivid. 










My wife and I looked at each other on the day of the attack, and agreed that we had chosen a FINE time to move due-east of Washington, DC and due south of New York City (we had moved to DE from Illinois only a few months earlier).


----------



## Tiny4cyl (Sep 5, 2011)

Senior year of high school. 1st period (central time) study hall.

Classmate walking around: A plane just hit the pentagon!
Me: You're full of ****
Classmate: No, come look at the TV down the hall

::whole class gets up, teacher can't corral us::

We ended up watching it the whole time at school even though the intercom said we should 'resume normal studies' -- yeah right, fuk yeh 'merica


----------



## mdp310 (Feb 17, 2010)

Senior year of high school. Gym class. It was only like the 4th day of school so everyone was just goofing around. 

The football coach walks in, blows his whistle LOUD as hell, and says "Terrorists just flew airplanes into the World Trade Center and knocked them down." For a minute, I was sitting there, thinking "He's going to say he's joking, right? He has to be joking!"

My dad was on a plane that day (not one of those planes, thank God. He was going to Atlanta.) and had to rent a car and drive the whole way back from Atlanta, didn't get home until the next day.


----------



## Withidlehands (Nov 29, 2007)

Right before walking to school (7th grade) I turned on the news and didn't really understand what was going on, I though some ass in a Cessna hit the buildings...Not really thinking that it was such a huge event until later when more information started to unfold.


----------



## vwpiloto (Nov 27, 2006)

I was on vacation, visiting family in Paris. I was walking the streets alone, doing nothing, when I saw the events on TVs in various shops ans stores. As a someone who spent his early childhood in Beirut, in the early '80s at the height of the civil war there, I was accustomed to feelings one experiencs as a resul of terrorist attacks, although never had I seen anything of this proportion and magnitude, and certainly never anything on home soil. At least back in the Beirut days, we expected terrorist events and bombings at all times. But those poor folks in NY, DC, and on the plane that crashed in PA, they were only expecting to carry out their normal routines and never imagined such a tragedy. It really stung because it somewhat eroded the sense of security life in the U.S. had granted. 

I immediately called home and called friends, and I wanted desperately to go back home. They all told me to just stay put return home in a couple of weeks, as planned. I did, although pretty much all I did was to watch CNN and the BBC, almost entirely in the immediate days after. What I saw, in particular people coming together as one, was very inspiring, and really made me feel proud to be an American. The heroics of the firefighters, policemen, other public officials, and private citizens alike that was being reported day in and day out, was really something to be proud of, and their actions really humbled me.

Also, it often goes without getting much coverage, but our neighbors to the north really stepped up and helped us out. So many planes had to divert to Canadian towns, small towns and big towns, and folks were stranded there for a few days, and the citizens of all of those towns helped each of those stranded travelers. And to this day, they don't make a big fuss about the heroic efforts they made to help our countrymen. Speaks volumes for what they're made of. 

The last bit of my vacation was to attend the Italian GP in Monza. It was to be my first GP race ever, having been a fan of the sport since the mid '80s. It was a relatively somber event, and Ferrari's two cars paid special tribute to the tragedy with their blacked out nosecones.










J.P. Montoya won that race for Williams-BMW. It was the first of his 5 GP victories.


----------



## standard (Oct 17, 2001)

i was at an undisclosed location in a very classified portion of fort bragg,n.c.


----------



## CK98Beeetle (Oct 19, 2002)

I was a senior in high school in Pekin, IL. I was a teachers assistant for 1st period, and oddly enough, the teacher was out sick that morning, so the other assistant and I were sitting in the office doing homework listening to the radio, and we heard the reports. I started telling my friends on the way to my next class what I heard, and it spread like wildfire. Amazing how words get around to 2,400 kids. Everyone was stunned. It didn't hit me hard until my earth science teacher, My. Dorigotti, a Vietnam vet, brought the TV in, turned it on, didn't say a word, and then very angrily said "Whoever did this, just awoke a sleeping giant." 

For those of you in NYC area, the Tribute in Light will be on all night. :heart:


----------



## SidVicious (Jun 13, 2001)

You can see my posts in there. I was SidRocco then, but the name change retroed to all my older posts.



The most shocking part is how big my kids are now. They were 2& 4 when it happened. Now my son has a mustache and I'm teaching him to drive.

I lived in NY & NJ as a kid, we moved out here to AZ when I was 7, but I remember going to the WTC. You used to be able to go on the roof... It still hurts to know that the WTC buildings are gone. They made up the skyline I lived with in my earliest years.

I wish this stupid war would end, though.


----------



## Gus Polinski (Jul 20, 2001)

I was laying in bed listening to the local morning sports banter on 1310 The Ticket, thinking about getting up and ready for work. Then they broke in with the first plane hitting. I naturally hopped online, saw the CNN clip, and proceeded to the TCL's N&P forum to express my shock and sadness. They (the radio station), replayed the broadcast from that morning on Friday, took me straight back  Went to work for a bit, everyone was gathered around the TV. When the towers collapsed they sent everyone home.


----------



## ErikGTI (Mar 22, 2006)

Was in 5th grade at the time on the way to gym class when we were told to turn around and go back to class. On the way back a kid in the hall way told us the Pentagon was bombed, being an Air Force brat I told him no other country would do that us. We got back to our classroom and the teacher turned the TV on and we saw the first tower in smoke. Shortly after that we watched the second plane hit. We had no idea what was going on. Our teacher turned the TV off after people started jumping .


Erik


----------



## Lwize (Dec 4, 2000)

I was just waking up around 6AM Pacific time, and heard something on the radio about a plane hitting one of the towers. 
I turned on the TV, and watched news coverage of what looked like a tragic accident (having also happened to the Empire State Building in the 1940's). 
I watched as an aircraft approached, thinking it was maybe a water-dropping plane like we have in CA to fight brush fires. 
When it hit the second tower, I knew this was no longer a tragic accident. 

Living along the flight path of a muni airport, and not far from LAX, I remember the silence in the skies while all aircraft were grounded following the events. You don't notice the sound of aircraft until it's gone.


----------



## Non_Affiliated (Feb 12, 2002)

Lwize said:


> You don't notice the sound of aircraft until it's gone.


It's a deafening earie silence.


----------



## 557688 (Aug 21, 2010)

I was just waking up and on the couch.


----------



## @McMike (Oct 9, 2002)

I was at home that morning chilling out before a 11am shift. Drinking coffee, flipping through channels, etc.. 

Flipped to CNN, and there was this coverage of the first tower. I put the remote down and watched with a "WTF?" look on my face. I thought, "Damn, that's odd... " and continued to drink my coffee and watched the footage. 

Then the second tower was hit on live TV. Siht just got real. I don't think I blinked for 30 minutes.

Then the Pentagon. Siht just got panicky. 

Then I spent the next two hours on the phone with my wife I was looking at a map (the paper kind) so I could find her a better route out of her office in DC. Afraid the bridges to VA were going to be closed, I routed her up NY ave to rt 50 so she could take 495 back home. If she couldn't she at least had friends she could stay with out that way.

Nutty, nutty morning. I went to work and kept getting calls from freaked out parents saying they didn't want their kids to leave the house that night. Being staff less, and realizing that most people would be at home that night, I decided to close up the store mid afternoon and go home.

I didn't think about Gary Condit once that day.


----------



## crazywayne311 (Jan 29, 2006)

wow...there is some good stories here...

i was doing my sophmore year at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) i had just left my first class and was meeting up with my roommate and heading to the VCU bookstore...on the way there on the street, and i'm completely serious about this...a bum walked up to me and said can i get a cig...i'll tell ya about something crazy that just happened! 

of course bums have cool stories so sure heres your smoke. the very next moment was so surreal...he goes as plain and simple as you can get "a plane just hit the WTC in NY." and then just walked away...i was a bit confused but wondered why someone would say that...

my roommate and i then decided to hustled to the bookstore and as soon as we walked in, there was a mass of people and no one was making a sound. i looked up at the big TV and as i did the second plane fly in screen and hit the 2nd building! the whole place gasped...it was crazy sad...

edit: a good friend of mine was on Langley Airforce Base (civil service/former AF) and said it was crazy! guys with guns came out and made everybody get down. said there was some sort of alarm and within 5-8 min, 4 FULLY LOADED jets hauled ass from the "special" hangers...thats all he's been able to tell me


----------



## VTECeateR (Oct 27, 2000)

Can you guys remember how much 24-hour news you watched over the days that followed? If there was a bright spot it's that MTV played music videos.....NOTHING BUT MUSIC VIDEOS.


----------



## VMPhil (Nov 16, 2007)

3rd year of College. My classes were pretty late in the morning so I had slept in. I remember I was watching the Simpsons the night before so the TV was on Fox. As soon as I turned the TV on they were showing a building on fire. So naturally I was like "what the hell is going on?" Then I saw the bottom ticker saying it was one of the World Trade Center towers. I was thinking "WTF! So I was about to call a friend who lived not to far from there when the second plane hit live on TV. Then I knew these we deliberate attacks. 

All classes for the day were canceled. I went to work early ( a computer shop) where my boss and the other techs there were pretty much glued to the TV all day. We had almost no customers that day. only a hand full of business users that really needed their machines back that day. It was a pretty chaotic week that followed. 

I had heard from friends that lived in the general area in the following days. I was glad to hear that they were all right. one of my friends (former boss) had watched the whole thing unfold from right across the bay.


----------



## gti dreamn (May 18, 2002)

Barrow, Alaska.

Doing maintenance on equipment we have at the long range radar site that is there.
We were extended 3 days longer since all air traffic was suspended. Oh, and we couldn't leave the buildings since we were in a "lockdown" condition.


----------



## Ramath0rn (Sep 7, 2004)

Freshman year of college, suddenly announcement was made over pa system informing all teachers to turn on tv's. About 15 min later they evacuated school and told everyone to go home.


----------



## OOOO-A3 (Jul 20, 2004)

The Tuesday after labor day I started my new job as IT Director for an architectural firm in NJ.

That weekend (8th/9th) I went to New York City with my girlfriend & her parents. We talked about going up to the top of the WTC, but didn't get around to it. We said, "we can do that some other time".

Tuesday the 11th was the clearest day I'd ever seen. It was slightly cool weather in the metro Philly area. I got into work, and started on the enormous amount of stuff I had to do. I was getting really pissed that cnn.com wasn't loading for me. Neither was slashdot. I thought it was the lousy internet service & misconfigured router, but I could get to Sun Microsystems' site to download software patches. I started trying to figure out why, when one of the architects came over and said "A plane just hit the World Trade Center!" 

I realised everyone was going into the conference room. They had set up a TV and the second plane had just hit. Architects were discussing the grade of steel used in 1968, the temperature of the burning fuel, and speculating how long the towers would last. They were right within a couple of minutes. Then the news came about the Pentagon and speculation about every other city being a target. PATCO trains were running full, with extra cars, from Philly as people flooded out of the city. 

I was only going to work there a short while until my start date with an airline, where I'd already been offered the job I *really* wanted. As I watched the towers fall, I thought "I'm ****ed." I was right... my airline job offer was canceled. I wound up working at the firm for the next 5 years, then other places. 10 years later, I'm now employed as a full-time pilot. The then-girlfriend is gone, taking everything I worked for all that time. It's been a long 10 years.


----------



## yeayeayea (May 29, 2005)

Sitting in my 9th grade geology class. 

Was a pretty weird day for sure, with the pentagon getting hit. A lot of local people have friends and family that work in dc, so it was stressful to say the least. I remember all after school activities being cancelled for a while after that day.


----------



## FoleE (Jan 12, 2010)

Just got home from school (we are 5 hours ahead in the UK) and was watching on TV. Couldn't believe what was happening, it was totally surreal. Still remember the feeling of unity on that day, even though it wasn't our country under attack it was like an assault on all our values, petty differences aside. For example they played the US National Anthem at Buckingham Palace: 






Seeing the footage replaying still makes me sad to this day


----------



## QWKDTSN (Oct 24, 2006)

I remember when I got out of bed in the morning my dad met me in the hall. He was wearing boxers and had his thick glasses on - he always put his contacts in first thing and I never saw him in the morning until after he had shaved and dressed. He told me a plane had crashed in the World Trade Center. I remember thinking, "What is the World Trade Center?" I stepped into the dining room and the TV was on with the first tower smoking... then I understood. I was watching live when the second plane hit, and I was watching when the towers fell. It was unbelievable. I went to school - 12th grade - and all we did in class was watch TV. Nobody knew what to do or think. In the afternoon I drove up to San Marcos and picked up a high-nickel 2-bolt main Chevy 350 engine block I was buying for my 240Z, and I listened to the radio the whole time.

So surreal, all of it.


----------



## dubfan (May 26, 2002)

FoleE said:


> Just got home from school (we are 5 hours ahead in the UK) and was watching on TV. Couldn't believe what was happening, it was totally surreal. Still remember the feeling of unity on that day, even though it wasn't our country under attack it was like an assault on all our values, petty differences aside. For example they played the US National Anthem at Buckingham Palace:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing that. It's very moving.

And I must say the Coldstream Guards have a very, VERY fine band.


----------



## jacobyb (Nov 3, 2000)

Just got back to my area command and was just about to start de-brief. I was on a work computer checking my email when my phone started to ring from my friend in NY. We worked 12 hour shifts at this time and we were all told that we were not going home as we basically had to lock the city down. That was the start of a 25 hour shift


----------



## Cubster (Nov 26, 2002)

I remember exactly. I was at work under the dash of a 2002 Dodge Stratus while listening to Mikey in the Morning. The rental car maintenance facility was at final approach or take-off depending on the wind etc. To go from hearing hundreds of airplanes take off and land daily to complete silence in the air is like nothing I've ever experienced or can explain. This was at DFW Airport.


----------



## NotFast (Mar 20, 2002)

Stuck in traffic. I was getting mad that traffic was dragging for no apparent reason, then tuned on a shock jock to find out that hear the bad news.


----------



## VertigoGTI (Apr 1, 2001)

I was at the library of my college when it happened waiting for my classes to start. My g/f-at-the-time drove to school with me and she had earlier classes, so I had nothing to do except check stuff out online until by Thermodynamics class started at 10:00. 

Someone had turned on a TV in library and then there was an announcement that the school was closed. I sat in the library until my g/f came back, watching people run around sobbing and calling their friends. It didn't really hit me at the time... I was thinking, "we're in Cincinnati and nothing ever happens here. There's no reason to freak out."

Oddly enough, I was posting in the original 9/11 thread on Vortex. I didn't think I'd still be an active member on this site 10 years later.


----------



## butterface (Dec 16, 2002)

My post in OT.



butterface said:


> Nothing special the day of. I was sick as a dog and my girlfriend at the time shook me violently to wake me up from the Nyquil coma I was in. When I came to, we watched the TV as the second tower got hit. Surreal and unbelievably sad. She and I could not even talk. We just sat there dumbstruck for hours upon hours.
> 
> The most interesting part for me was that I had to fly to Ft. Lauderdale from Durham a few days later for a graduate conference. I was pretty scared at the prospect of flying, and it was rather disturbing/intimidating to see what was essentially a form of martial law at both airports. While I was comforted knowing that the soldiers were there to protect me, it just felt weird as hell. The flight itself was eerily cold and quiet too. You could hear a pin drop.


----------



## BRealistic (Dec 17, 2005)

East coast time.
I was at my desk.
The local radio station we listened to broke the story.
And it just got worse from there.
The company manager grabbed a TV from next door so we could watch the news.
When the towers came down, I was just in such shock... the only thing I could do was go back to my desk and work because it took my mind off of what happened.
The very next weekend I was at the beach and when a (military) jet would fly over- everybody on the beach would get quiet for a few minutes.

My brother on the west coast woke up to lots of emails and messages (from friends and family).
One of his friends had a relative that worked in the twin towers.


----------



## Jrod511 (Apr 29, 2009)

I was in college at SUNY Albany. That morning I was working at Denooyer Dodge / Mitsubishi in Schenectady, NY. We had Howard Stern on and I could hear the horror in his voice; by 8:55 AM I was glued to the TV in the service reception area...


----------



## Greensteeldragon (Nov 17, 2010)

Went to history class and my teacher turned it off to get to the lesson....

Sent from T-mobile G2 using my mind


----------



## MidnightSpecial (Sep 11, 2007)

I was doing the memory portion of the ISTEP (standardized Indiana test for Jr. HS/HS), and another teacher ran in. They told us to shut our books immediately though we had 20 minutes left on that section. They turned on the TV and everyone in my 8th grade class looked on in horror. 

I still remember later that day when my Japanese teacher came around and got all her students. She explained that we will never forget what we experienced that day, and we talked about what was on our minds, safety, etc. I remember not being allowed to ride my bicycle home from school that day as my mom's entire side of the family is USAF and they were freaking the **** out.

Hard to believe it's been a decade... If I remember correctly, we had a B5 Passat wagon owner here that we lost on 9/11. If anyone remembers, please link to one of his posts.

Edit: It was a PassatWorld member, Richard S. Gabrielle. I remember I had a thing for B5s then and I came across the profile of his car where it listed he died on 9/11. Chilled me to the bone...


----------



## Hufeisen (Jul 18, 2006)

The morning of 9/11 was a beautiful. After having the summer off and returning to school in the previous days, I remember how blue the sky looked and how it was a perfect morning.

I got to work and was teaching classes when the planes hit the towers and later collapsed. A colleague walked into our shared classroom and told me what was going on. I must have reacted in a loud manner, because he told me to lower my voice. The administration did not want the students to hear about the attacks with the possibility of families being part of the tragedy.

I remember going to my office and trying to call my friend. He just started a new job and was in the North Tower. I called his phone a few times and remember not being able to make any calls and eventually the phone just ringing with no answer.

I was numb the whole day and kept wondering where my friend was and if he was ok. I can't recall exactly when, but I remember getting a call from his fiancé. She was hoping someone heard from him. He was never found and the memorial service a few weeks later was one of the hardest things in my life. 

Living near the city, over the next few days I remember seeing the smoke and as I was on the highway, trailers with large sections of the Towers.

Sorry if this is scattered... a lot of emotions over the past few days...


----------



## Slayer (Aug 8, 2000)

I was at work on my laptop sitting across from my coworker, and he saw something on CNN about a plane running into a tower, but there weren't any details at the time. I remember saying how the hell could someone accidentally run into a building that huge (assuming it was a cessna or something), but I started checking around other larger news sites, and they were all about the same with not much for details. I started noticing that all the major news sites were pretty much unreachable, and I had to turn to BBC.co.uk to get the news, and I also kept getting updates from slashdot since it still worked somewhat fast, as at that point, half the internet was basically unreachable from the amount of traffic from people trying to find out WTF just happened. 

At the time we didn't have cable tv at work, but there was an old tv on top of the soda machine in the kitchen, so some people scrambled to find some coax cable and someone else had some antenna in their trunk, and they rigged something up on the roof for us to watch the news, and we all stood around in the kitchen watching it unfold the second time. :facepalm: It was pretty surreal.. Its something you'll never forget.. basically the JFK assassination of our generation. Everyone around during that time knows exactly what they were doing when it happened. Stuff like this almost makes time stand still, so it definately gets seared into our memory


----------



## rexxmann (Sep 4, 2002)

I was working 2nd shift and was still in bed at the time of the attack although when my radio/alarm came on, I was wondering why the DJ's were talking so seriously and not playing any music. When I finally woke up enough to hear what they were talking about I ran downstairs and turned on the TV in time to see the towers fall. It was one of the most sickening, gut-wrenching moment of my entire life. Just the previous summer, my now wife/then girlfriend had visited NYC and went to the top of the WTC. It still blows my mind when I see the videos from back then. I also remember going to work later that day and we did almost no work and just sat around talking about the whole thing. I spent almost all of my free-time for the next week or two glued to the TV.




vortexblue said:


> I was on the 40th floor of the building with the green top in the picture (40 Wall St). the photo (unknown girl) was taken (unknown time, not 9/11) from inside Tower 2. It's sobering for me to think about how badly things could have gotten if the towers toppled rather than fell straight down.
> 
> I sat in the windowsill while the 2nd plane ripped into the building-- I had a front row seat to the massive hole-- and the people that were still in the building.
> 
> ...


To vortexblue, I can't imagine how powerful an event it must be for you seeing it all happen up close and personally. I'm not sure how I would have coped with living through that and seeing everything you saw first-hand.

On one hand, it's not possible to overstate how horrific and tragic 9/11 was and continues to be. On the other hand, I think TV networks try to slice the events of the day 100 different ways just to get a show that people will watch. For younger people who were too young to remember 9/11 and dismiss it, they just haven't had the misfortune to experience anything that tragic in their lives and don't have the perspective to properly judge it.


----------



## samc (Jan 15, 2002)

I was walking to work which is a block away from the actual buildings. If I went to work early then who knows, yes I'm lucky to be alive today.


----------



## Jan PL S6 (Apr 22, 2010)

I was in the 5th grade in a classroom where we could see the world trade center perfectly along with the majority of the nyc skyline. Things were pretty normal until the principal came into the room and talked to our teacher privately. She walked right to the windows and pulled all the blinds down to cover them. Throughout the day kids kept getting picked up from school and none of us knew what was going on. After a while they just took everyone into the gym and kept the kids there since the majority of us were picked up. I only learned what had happened after my mom picked me up around 11. Came home and we were glued to the tv with our neighbors waiting for my dad to call us back. He was working on 5th ave at the time. 

R.I.P to all the victims.


----------



## bagged_hag (Oct 30, 2005)

I remember that I was in 6th grade english class. I was young at the point and really didn't understand the severity of the tragedy that had just happened. I remember my teacher turning on the the TV and then just starting to cry. Another teacher from across the hall came into the room, crying as well, and they just started hugging. At this point I knew the situation was very serious. As many of you have said, some younger kids don't really understand what happened and might say things like "get over it" or "it was 10 years ago, who cares". 

This to me is the most frustrating thing in the world. Not only did many many innocent people lose their lives that day, but so did so many brave first responders. I am still saddened by the events that unfolded that day and I truly and honestly wish that I could be at ground zero tomorrow to witness the unveiling/opening of the twin towers memorial. Seeing the towers footprints cast in stone in the ground with the two biggest man made waterfalls in the world filling the footprints and the commerative bronze plates that encircle both footprints displaying the names of the fallen to me is absolutely beautiful. 

9/11 - Never forget (we need an american flag smiley just for this thread)


----------



## derkapitan (Feb 20, 2010)

I was a t UW Stevens Point, getting ready for class. Turn on the tele for breakfast, thought I was watching a movie as I was still a zombie from waking up. Went to class and when i came back to my dorm saw the towers fall. Still kind of upset that my prof didnt care at the time of what was happening (yes, she did know what was going on and continued class). After class, find out that she should have cancelled mine and all other classes for the day. That is definately one morning I will never forget. 

Just want to give a huge thanks for our armed forces out there. So many friends/family have given their lives for our freedom.


----------



## Mooosman (Jul 28, 2009)

I was a senior in high school. Flipped on the news while eating breakfast, and the first plane had just hit. Most of the news networks were talking about how it must be an accident. I went into my room to finish getting dressed for school, and when I came back into the living room, the second plane hit. I just stood there and watched as the news replayed the impact over and over. I couldn't get over the weirdness of how the news anchors (usually a very scripted bunch) were at a loss for words. At no time before or since have I heard so much dead air on the news; the news anchors and reporters were just as shocked at what was happening as the rest of us.


I went to school like usual, but I might as well have just stayed home. We did nothing but watch the news in all my classes. I remember that the towers fell between 2nd and 3rd period; when I left 2nd period, they were standing, and when I walked into my 3rd period class, they were gone. 


Finished out the school day, and went home to nothing but the news. It was on every. single. channel. Just watched it over and over as they showed the planes hitting, the towers falling, the people running away from the dust cloud. I remember thinking that this event was going to be the defining day of my generation, and that things were never going to be the way they were before. For the most part, I think that has been the case. 


Nick


----------



## ByronLLN (Jul 29, 2004)

Mooosman said:


> I was a senior in high school.


Same. We got the news over the P.A. just before the end of second period, about ten minutes after the first plane hit. About halfway through 3rd period a couple of us asked if we could go to a different classroom where we'd heard they had a TV set up. Health teacher excused us because we were seniors and we got there right after the first tower had gone down. We were watching when the second fell. I've never seen anything like the faces of my friends when that happened. I remember one girl, Amanda, so vividly. After the second tower fell she just sat there, staring at her desk, the tips of her fingers against her forehead. It looked like she was replaying the memory over and over. I don't think she ever looked at the TV again for as long as we were there. 

They kept us there for another couple of hours before they sent everybody home. 

I've lost a lot of memories over the last ten years, but the one that will always stick with me is driving home after we were dismissed, the top down in my Jeep Wrangler. It was a gorgeous day.


----------



## devianb (Feb 7, 2008)

*FV-QR*

Sophomore in college sitting in Accounting class. Some other students were talking about how a plane went into the World Trade Center. I thought it was some sort of movie they were watching. Didn't realize the seriousness of it till I got home and saw the news report.


----------



## KahviVW (Feb 26, 2009)

Downtown DC. Crazy confusing day, bomb threats, chaos. I went back home that night, after they evacuated the city. Tanks were on the streets. Went down to the Lincoln Memorial, but park police has everything closed off. Ended up spending much of that night sitting with some friends by the Arlington bridge, the sky was still light-up across the river, the fires were still going. I'll never forget the smell.

My place was right on the approach to National airport, I was so used to seeing low planes buzzing over, such strange silence afterwards.

There was a pretty good Vortex thread started that day, it kept me sane. :thumbup:


----------



## 1.8t man (Nov 21, 2001)

i was in culinary school eating roast beef and cabbage we had made .. yeah it was early for roast beef but we started school at 6am. When my buddy Darryl who is in the u.s army bomb squad cell phone rang. no body in school was allowed cell phones in school but he was because it was military issued. He left the room and answered it came back ten minutes later and said a plane hit one of the twin towers that's all he could say and left quickly. He informed the teachers and they all went to the office to watch the t.v. we all sat in our classroom/kitchens about a half hour later all the teachers came back and told us all to go home. they wouldn't really answer any questions but i knew something was up because my teacher a tough guy who rode a Harley to work was in tears. my gti was out of commission so i called my mom to pick me up. All the students sat outside had a few cigarettes and just talked about what the hell could of happened. At this point we thought it was some idiot in a private plan or something so we kind of were taking it lightly talking about sauces and roasting duck.This is when reality set in.. my mom pics me up balling in tears in an absolute panic she cant even get the words out to tell me wtf is going on the ride home. I live near nyc in a small upper middle class town in NJ. My father and Mother met working in the twin towers 27 years ago. we had family working in manhattan and also family living in manhattan once we got in touch with everyone we relaxed a little and just watched tv for 4 and just cried and didn't say a word... Due to NJ transit my town has a direct train to penn station. It was a perfect location for people who worked in manhattan to live.. so it was really sad the next few days hearing about parents of friends i grew up with lost in the twin towers... what a day god bless all those families. cant believe it was 10 years ago feel like yesterday.


----------



## MightyDSM (Apr 16, 2006)

Damn...

I was 16...and I was running late for some English class in highschool when I walked into the classrom and everyone was gathered around the TV watching what just happened/what was still happening.

Terrible day.


----------



## stascom (Sep 12, 2009)

I was at home, in Russia, eating dinner with my mom. I think, I was 13. It was shocking


----------



## SCHWAB0 (Dec 6, 2004)

I was in my English Class at my community college ... I just started college .... that was


----------



## Harold (Jul 31, 2000)

I was just getting up (I work 2nd shift) and my roommate said to me : someone just crashed a jet into one of the towers. Got a cup of coffee and sat in front of the TV. As I was still waking up, trying to figure out WTF was going on, I watched the second plane hit.


----------



## alfafan (Nov 24, 2000)

Ciudad Del Este, Paraguay. I was teaching an English class when a Chinese friend of mine who lived many years in the U.S. called me up after the first plane hit and told me to turn on CNN. Like most Americans I watched as much coverage as I could which unfortunately included the second plane hitting. I became a mouth breather for the rest of the day. 
My Brazilian, Paraguayan , Chinese and Indian friends all consoled me about it. I had visited NYC a year earlier and the last building I left was the North Tower. I even had a foto of the towers in my classroom next to a picture of an airplane and some other fotos of my trip there. 
I also got to see a lot of foreign press coverage of the events. Many countries had citizens that died in the towers as well.


----------



## DedRok (Feb 16, 2004)

At the age of 14, I remember waking up in the morning and turning on my TV to see a building on fire and thought nothing of it. I went to school and realized that it was becoming suspicious as an attack and the entire school watched the whole thing go down.

I'm not American, but seeing this at the NFL Green Bay home opening game, I had goose bumps and shed a tear when I seen this.... 

You can't get more American than this....














I also witnessed a lot of patriotism when I was in the Colorado airport. Random strangers would go up to troops and shake their hands... its a really great thing seeing that the whole country has their backs. 

It's just a shame that this all had to happen. It's changed the world for ever... It's almost a more stressful world. 

God bless


----------



## ByronLLN (Jul 29, 2004)

Reading some more posts just made me think of this:

My father was overseas on business when it happened. In fact, had he taken the trip a week later and taken the same flight, he would have been on one of the jets. 

Anyway, the point was this: In the days following the incident, the locals he encountered were incredibly warm and supportive. He wanted nothing more than to be home with family and friends, but he said it was the most welcome he'd ever felt in a foreign country in all of his business travels.


----------



## Jrod511 (Apr 29, 2009)

I'll also never forget where I was 9/11/06, on the five year anniversary. I had purchased a Saab on Ebay and had to get from NJ to CT to get it; this required a ride up to Jersey City, a ride on the Path into NYC, then getting across town to pickup the commuter train out to CT. 

I ended up in the bar car with a TON of soused Firefighters. One of the firefighters gave me a poster with the name of every person who perished (my cousin is on that list). Driving back from CT, as I passed Manhattan I could see the spotlights on and a local radio station was replaying the 9/11 Tribute Concert. It was another balmy September evening, so with U2 blasting, and the sunroof wide open I gave a salute to NYC.


----------



## 6603 (Aug 26, 2004)

I was at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego getting some dental work done at the Naval Dental Clinic. Everyone rushed to the lounge to see what was going on.


----------



## 6603 (Aug 26, 2004)

BTW MCRD SAN DIEGO is next to San Diego International Airport, and like someone said above, it was eerie not hearing/seeing the constant planes arriving and taking off.


----------



## JorgenP (Apr 8, 2010)

I was 9, I still remember the day. My mom picked me up at school and I remember hearing the word terrorism on the news and didn't know what it meant. Watched the news for 5 hours at home from CNN and Estonian TV:


----------



## CapeGLS (Aug 3, 2002)

I was in a similar position as *l88m22vette*. I was in the cafe eating breakfast before my freshman business class. I was located near a military (navy) installation and can recall the coast guard surrounding the location. It was an feeling that I will never forget.


----------



## Dawg Dee-Lux (Jul 16, 2004)

At the time I was working from home - and usually had the TV on with the news in the background. 

Not long after the first plane had hit the WTC I passed the television having gotten some coffe, and I halted as could not belive what I saw - smoke pouring out of the WTC. I immideatly started looking up news sources on the internet - which proved difficult as the web had ground to a halt at that point.

Switched between CNN and Norwegian news sources on TV from then on - and when I saw the second plane hit it was like a punch to the stomach. What I felt later, when I saw the first tower collapse is simply not possible to put down in writing - the world suddenly seemed so very small.


----------



## KubotaPowered (Jan 27, 2005)

It was 5:45am here in Tucson AZ and I was in my senior year of high school. I woke up and turned on the news that morning and saw the first tower on fire. At that time all they were saying was that an aircraft had crashed into the building but had no idea what size it was. I grabbed my parents to show them what was going on and while we were all standing there watching the news coverage the second plane hit. I remember my dad saying that this was going to take us to war after seeing the size of the plane that hit. It wasn't till I got to school and we had the TVs on that we heard about the Pentagon and Flight 93.


----------



## sullie (Oct 17, 2003)

I was working on a project at work, we had a deadline, I had until the end of that week and I felt an incredible amount of pressure to get that completed. We had had horrible, hot, humid, nasty, cloudy weather but not on that day. It was a stunningly gorgeous and clear day. It was so stunning I stopped before I walked in (knowing I had so much to do) and I just took like 5 minutes to drink in the beauty of that morning. I was 33 and I don't recall ever doing that before or since.

After the first plane hit someone put a t.v. on and I couldn't stop watching. After that 2nd plane hit, as I wondered how that first airplane pilot could have gotten so confused it all sunk in that we were under attack. I knew, immediately, who and whom were responsible.

So many of us were in shock. Driving home, you could just "feel" that everyone else around you was in shock as well. You didn't hear music, no-one honking horns, no-one getting angry with each other, no-one laughing around you, lots of people crying in their cars and a lot of people (even so far away here in Indianapolis) were simply in stunned silence. 

I'll never forget. My thoughts and prayers are with those families that had loved ones murdered this day 10 years ago.


----------



## Rabbit (Mar 5, 1999)

I was at work when it all happened. My boss and I got a video feed setup in our conference room so our coworkers could follow the events. We were in Sears getting a cable and of course the news was being played on all of the TVs. That was when the first tower came down... It was horrible

I was also following the information that people were posting here on the Vortex as it came in. I printed that thread (not sure if it is still archived, I haven't looked) and every once in awhile I read through the posts and the confusion and horror as we learned what was going on is just so sad.



EDIT: DOH I just looked at the second sticky... That is the thread I am referencing.. Thank you for bringing that back!!!!


----------



## atomicalex (Feb 2, 2001)

I was driving home from the pediatrician's office with my sons. My house was being packed for a move to Savannah, GA. I remember calling my BIL, who had just mustered out of the USAF the day before.


----------



## MtnDewBro (Jul 18, 2011)

I was in my 5th grade classroom. The office called the room and told me my mom was there to get me and everybody was like "whats the point of even coming to school?" I bet they felt stupid when they realized what happened. Seaford Harbor School, Seaford, NY it was the most intense day of my childhood


----------



## anothercar (Dec 20, 2002)

I was taking delivery on a new vw. A 4MO 6MT. We were numb.


----------



## mm3 (Oct 10, 2010)

I was 8 years old. Woke up, just as any other school day. Got myself dressed, and ate a pop tart for breakfast. Go outside and wait for the bus to school. We get to school, I get to my 3rd Grade class, sit down, all normal. We just started getting into our math lesson, learning about multiplication past single digits. No PA announcement, but clerks from the main office go door-to-door to each classroom, pulling teachers out of class.

My teacher, Mrs. Penny, bursts back into the room (this was after the second tower was hit and was clear that it was an attack - before any towers fell), rushed to her desk with tears rolling down her eyes, grabs her purse and bolts out the door. All the class just headtilts and asks what just happened. Apparently, I later learned, her brother was on the South Tower. The teacher from next door brings her class into our room and she throws on a movie for us all to watch - we ain't got a clue, the theacher just said that "Mrs. Penny has some family issues". Teachers gather in the back of the room and gossip among themselves. Some of which were crying.

The PA comes on. Blah blah blah, all we heard was "school is being evacuated". Schools all across Long Island (some where, some weren't) were being evac'd, as well as the majority, if not all, of Queens County, Kings County, Manhattan, etc. Buses arrive to take us home, but most parents picked up their kids.

My bus was nearly empty, just me and two other kids. Not a word was said about the attacks at school, but some older kids with cell phones knew and rumor spread, but not as far down as 3rd Grade.

Anyway, I get home and walk in the door. My mother's in the living room watching TV, crying. My uncle was over, he too was crying. I walked in the door at the very instant that the TV was replying the video of the second tower collapsing. 

My mother told me to go upstairs and do my homework (lol? I was at school for like 45 minutes). I went upstairs and used the house phone to call my dad, and asked him what the hell was going on since no one at home would tell me anything. He said that America was under attack and we were at war, just like what happened with Pearl Harbor in World War II. He told me he was preparing to be called back into the Army to prepare for World War III. When I called him he was assembling is issued M16 and his purchased FN FAL (all of which he told me about what he was doing at a later date, obviously). 

He was convinced that there were thousands of these people in hiding, waiting for hte opportune moment to come up and surprise attack the US from within American soil. A lot of people believed the same. Especially those who lived or worked in Manhattan. They ended up not calling back his unit, but he was discharged in 1994, so he was too old to be called back.

And that's about it. I didn't go to school the next day but as the day went on I was filled in on what really happened. My whole maternal side of my family were firefighters and we lost a lot of close family friends that day. My best friend's father was in Boston on business that day, and was scheduled to be on the plane from Boston that hit. He missed his flight because his rental car was dead. He was so pissed he threw his suitcase at the rental car door and dented it, causing him to lose his deposit. After the tow truck came and got to the rental place, he sat down and saw everyone huddled around the TV. Turns out? His plane he was supposed to be on hit the WTC.

So that's a little tidbit of my day nearly exactly 10 years ago.


----------



## Gran Turismo (Jan 6, 2008)

8th grade. Woke up, headed downstairs to see the WTC on TV with black smoke billowing out of it. I initially laughed because I thought it was some sort of a joke but then became morose as it sunk in.


----------



## Tokyosmash (Mar 11, 2007)

I was in second period music class, 7th grade, Ellicott Mills middle, Ellicott City MD.


----------



## GTI_CH (Aug 24, 2001)

I was on a flight from zurich to Montreal. Missed the entire thing. We took off right after it happened. Landed at 3 pm.


----------



## silverlegacy (Mar 17, 2011)

I was sitting in my 11th grade Calculus class. I was half asleep with my coffee in hand, another member of class came in and immediately asked the teacher is she had heard about the World Trade Center. She hadn't, and he proceeded to tell the class about the first plane that hit. We all sat in shock. The whole class period we discussed what, how, or why this happened. We all thought it was a mistake. A pilot lost control or something. 

We proceeded through the class and I continued to my teacher assistant period with my English teacher. I convinced him to let me turn on the TV in the classroom. It was there we saw the video of the second plane hitting. Nearly immediately almost everybody was in tears, including my teacher the stereotypical ex-Marine. We all knew at that moment what was going on. I'll never forget how violated I felt in that moment.


----------



## hugoaswho (Sep 24, 2006)

I lived in Kensington Brooklyn with my Grandpa at the time, I turned on the TV that day and all of a sudden they started showing the first tower smoking saying that a small plane hit it. I remember seeing the second plane hit at which point I looked out my window and could see the smoke coming from Manhattan with my own eyes. At some point that night you could smell the ash and burning smoke linger in the air. My fraternity brothers emailed that they were going to ground zero. A girl I met in college told me her mother worked in WTC . I still dont know if she made it out ok since I never saw the girl again...

I remember saying that whoever did this is going to pay dearly I cannot believe it took us 10 years to get Bin laden...


----------



## Lupo TDI (Mar 11, 2000)

I was at home alone in Luxembourg studying mathematics for an exam later in september when I turned on the tv and saw the first tower full of smoke. At first I thought I was seeing a movie, a very realistic and terrible movie. But after a couple of minutes and after switching to other programs and seeing the same images over and over I realized something had to be wrong.... :-( needless to say that I was not really in the mood to study anything for the rest of the day. 

Requiescat in pace.


----------



## VadGTI (Feb 24, 2000)

Summer between junior and senior year at UCLA. I was enrolled in summer session (quarter system, so fall classes started in late September) and had an Econ final the next day that I was completely unprepared for. My plan was to cram from morning to night the day before so I was up at 6am. Flipped the TV on and got no studying done at all... Just sat there for hours. The final is a complete haze but I just logged into the UCLA system (password still works 10 years later) and I apparently got an A, somehow...


----------



## BOOGATA (May 2, 2010)

*FV-QR*

10th grade geometry class. Teachers started turning on the TVs for no reason, and then it was all too clear.


----------



## mikegilbert (Nov 29, 2006)

I'd been out late the night before with friends. I was still living with my parents who both ran into my room and woke me up. I remember my mother in tears and my father visibly shaken- it was surreal to wake up to all the chaos and destruction.


----------



## barry2952 (Jun 13, 2007)

I was at my desk at my office. I could not believe what I was seeing.

Here's an article about some of the unsung heros of 9/11 10 years later. Warning, sad eyes content.

http://www.eons.com/groups/topic/2610676-K9-9-11-Retrieved


----------



## theBOYER (Nov 10, 2008)

it was my 18th birthday and I spent that morning ditching school to skateboard downtown, by the time I made it into class everyone was watching the TV and crying, I was like "hey, what happened?! it was a pretty crappy birthday.


----------



## joe97 (Feb 20, 2006)

Unimportant where I was during the events which unfolded on September 11, 2011. That said, while I was away elsewhere on that day, my permanent residence at the time had located just blocks north of the WTC site in NYC, and needless to say, there were a lot of memories.

To all 2,977 whose lives were cut short, especially those courageous passengers on UA Flight 93, you are all in our hearts :thumbup:


----------



## PhilHVW (Jun 27, 2000)

I was at work on the 40th floor of a building in Philadelphia, the same place I still work. I remember vividly seeing my first picture of the WTC with a hole in it right here on TCL, and I'm post #7 in the thread from 9/11/01 that was bumped today: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...Trade-Center!!!-(originally-posted-09-11-2001


----------



## 7797 (Jun 12, 2002)

I was on-board this, USS Carl Vinson CVN-70!


----------



## dr.pepperuwm (Nov 14, 2007)

8th grade. Morning classes had just started. We watched it all day. I went to a private, christian school, so my class was small, and we could make things up quickly, so we just sat and watched. I was so angry, and I still am. I am also terribly sad for everyone who lost someone, but, overall, I am still very angry. I just want it ALL to end.


----------



## The Red Baron (Nov 30, 2000)

i remember booking it out of first period class in my last year of highschool and rushing home to try and find out if my uncle who works in the WFC was in a safe place...spent the next 24 hours basically watching the news in sadness/anger/confusion

truly one of the most surreal days of my life...and i was only sitting in front of a tv

the world really changed that day

RIP to all of the fallen


----------



## Lifelong Obsession (Jul 24, 2011)

Fifth grade. School started at 9 for me, and my mother was driving me that day. We were running a little late and had forgot to turn the TV off, and as we were walking out the door, we heard, "Breaking news...", but we were in a rush, and obviously, we did not know yet what was going on. I arrived at school, and the day started as normal. The day before, everyone in my class had made an art project for the "parents' night" that was supposed to be on the evening of September 11. The teacher asked us to pull it out and hang it on the wall. As we were doing so, the principal's secretary came in and gave the teacher a stack of notes.

The teacher said, "Class, please sit down. I'm just going to pass out a quick reminder for everyone."

The notes said, "Due to the events today, the 'Parents' Night' on Tuesday, September 11 has been postponed to a later date."

What had happened, I wondered? The rest of the school day seemed to go on as usual, and the teacher looked slightly worried, but she did not tell us anything. "Oh, it just looks like we have to reschedule the parents' night, that's it." There were no TVs in the classroom, either.

At 3, class was dismissed as usual, and as always, I spotted my grandmother's green Volvo in the parking lot. However, something seemed unusual. Instead of waiting patiently inside of her car, my grandmother was standing in front of her car, waving to me nervously.

"Do you know what happened?" she asked me. "No, what?" I replied.

During the car ride home, she talked about everything that had happened. Needless to say, I was shocked.

When I got to her house, the TV was on, showing the burning remains of the WTC, with the FDNY, switching to the Pentagon and Shanksville at times. Later, I saw 7 WTC collapse live.

Never forget.


----------



## TJSwoboda (Feb 4, 2006)

I had just gone to bed a little after 6:00 AM (CDT). I'm a loser, and was still living at home at age 26. Three hours later, my mom woke me up and told me the news. Tired as I was, the weight of it kept me up for an hour. I mean, seriously, the WTC _collapsed_? It was just too ****ing surreal. I finally fell back asleep, and had a dream that my dad's old E30 and my old Saab 9000 (both gone by then) had been parked in Manhattan near the WTC, and damaged by falling rubble. I finally got up, and joined the rest of the masses putting gas in my (new to me) SVT Contour, and then my dad's '94 Benz E420, as he'd left on a motorcycle trip that morning. Only had to wait a few minutes each time; benefit of living in the sticks.

(extreme selfishness) Thank Odin I was off work that day. Everyone in south Naperville and north Plainfield said, "Okay: Terrorists have destroyed the World Trade Center by crashing two full jumbo jets into it, the Pentagon was damaged in the same way, and the plane headed for the White House crashed in Pennsylvania. Let's see... Obviously, this means I should run out to Jewel and buy LOTS of lunch meat and fried chicken!"







All hell broke loose, but I got to stay home and brood over the same WTF-ness that the rest of the country was feeling. (/extreme selfishness)


----------



## Phaetonchix_2 (Oct 22, 2005)

From a blog I posted about that lovely fall day 10 years ago. 

I first heard the news at work. I was a Sales and Marketing Trainer at BCBSM of Michigan at the time. My training room was on the top floor of one of BCBSM's towers out in Southfield, MI. Just outside the door to the training room was a kitchenette with the floor's main coffee machines. I was getting pre-class coffee when a sales rep told me a plane had crashed into one of the towers. First thought, disbelief, a feeling that would continue to grow over the next few hours.


We had one of the few TVs in the building in the training room. I walked in to find trainees, sales reps, admins and total strangers clustered around the set watching the scene in New York unfold. We all saw the second plane hit. We all saw the building on fire, people jumping (?????) and the stunned newscasters watch their city change forever.


The other things I remember from that September 11th - it was one of the prettiest fall days ever. A sunny 72 degees, too nice to be inside work. My boss was on medical leave, our unit secretary out of the office. Just a handful of trainers without a leader. Our trainees were UAW members, thanks to BCBSMs relationship with the autos. They had very strict rules and regs to follow. But this was a very different scenario. Many of them had come in from Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Flint. They needed to get home to their families, their homes, their comfort zone. And we were on the top floor of a very tall building. After what seemed to be hours, after much of the building was evacuated, we were granted permission by the VP of Sales and Marketing to send them home for the rest of the week. And to go home ourselves. Until Thursday.


Like two days would be enough time to figure it all out.


My drive home was surreal. (Can't recall. Was I in the 1986 MB 300E or the Passat Wagon?) Hundreds of cars streaming out of the BCBSM campus, politely letting people merge into traffic. Everyone driving carefully, their radios all turned to the news. How scared Peter Jennings sounded, how quiet it was outside. No planes in the sky, barely a cloud. Even the birds seemed to be holding their breath.


Home. No air traffic from the nearby airport, no traffic noise, no kids playing outside. Just the sound of tvs all tuned to CNN. CNN, who's servers had crashed earlier that day so we could not even access the news from our laptops at work. CNN, my lifeline to New York.


I lived in NYC when I was little. I remember dropping my dad off for a meeting at one of the towers and driving in circles for what seemed hours because there was no parking, only dark canyons. I use to volunteer to do the NYC Auto Show every year. I love New York. I went at least once a year to visit museums, shop, enjoy, recharge my batteries.


I have not been back since April 2001. I have not seen what was changed. I have not seen the gap in the skyline, the change in the way light hits the streets in lower Manhattan.


I'm not a coward. I'm just not ready. I've been to Oklahoma to the memorial where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building stood. But New York is different. It is in some small way my spiritual home, my Mecca, my Nirvana.


----------



## FourPointOh (Sep 16, 2009)

Sitting in my 7th grade history class, school was dismissed at 10am


----------



## compy222 (Apr 8, 2005)

*FV-QR*

i was in between business law and pre-calc my sophomore year of high school. 

my math teacher had to leave the classroom because his good friend (best man in his wedding) worked on the 102nd flr. he didn't get out. to this day he is quite sure that he watched him jump. talk about something you'll never forget. all told my hometown lost about 25 residents...i was living in CT at the time. 

honestly, i can't talk or think about it without becoming emotional, which is really uncommon for me. i just hope that everyone who suffered through those events first hand can find peace in their lives.


----------



## BarryV (Apr 23, 2001)

Watching memorials today on TV, I couldnt begin to describe the way in which this event has forever changed my life. I dont get emotional over much, but even the commercial with the kids sings the Jay-Z "New York" song got me choked up....

I was in Doylestown, PA at a friends house when it happened... walked in to CNN on in his bedroom, and watched in awe and horror for the rest of the day.

The following day?

Annapolis MEPS station, Annapolis, MD.... signing my contract for enlistment.



People of my parents generation remember Kennedy, and The Discovery..... some even remember Pearl Harbor.

*I WILL NEVER FORGET 9/11*


----------



## rodrigoromao (Feb 14, 2008)

I was at 3rd grade at the time. My mom, coincidentally, has her birthday on the same date, so it was supposed to be a fairly happy day. She picked me up earlier that day for some other reason, we went off to my grandma's and i then saw the 2nd plane hitting the towers first thing in the TV. I was utterly shocked and couldn't understand wtf had just happened.

**** it, i still remember what i was talking about with mom before.


----------



## htownkid (Aug 17, 2009)

I was in Arlington, VA in the 5th grade. IIRC, I was in english class. A teacher walked in and pulled out my teacher. She was gone for a bit so we started to hang out and act up a bit. Suddenly she bursts through the door and turned on the TV, we were shocked when we saw what had happened. And twice as shocked to find out the Pentagon was hit just a few miles away. I remember it like yesterday. It's crazy how a few minutes changed the world and a new era began. 

I will never forget 9/11


----------



## Arachnotron (Jun 23, 2002)

I was a student at Texas A&M at the time. I was at the gym before my archery class when I found out. The rest of our classes were cancelled that day.


----------



## MKV Aaron (Oct 18, 2007)

I was in Mr. Randolph's Government class my Junior year of High School. I remember not doing anything school related that day.

I have watched about 10 hours of the coverage last week and yesterday and I truely wish I was older when it happened. I didn't remember how "big" of an event it really was. I knew what happened, that we were at war, etc, but the actual devestation that was portrayed in the History Channel coverage this past week was truely humbling. My heart goes out to anyone and everyone affected by the events of that day.

Speachless.

RIP


----------



## Tictac12 (Mar 5, 2007)

I was on Honeymoon in Sydney Australia. 
We were staying with my aunt and uncle, we had been out all day and my wife and I were sitting watching some movie on one of the local satellite channels when they put a banner across the bottom of the screen about a plane flying into the WTC. I switched over to CNN thinking I would have a quick look (thinking it was a light aircraft)

The second plane had just hit, and the towers were burning.
I think we sat up until about 2 in the morning (Australian time) watching what was happening...

The next evening we went out for drinks in the Sydney harbor area with my cousin.
The place was SO quiet...
We left early and went home...

That was a Tuesday, we left Sydney on the Friday to fly back home.
Extra Security at the airport, and a general tenseness in the air all the way home...


----------



## Calcvictim (Aug 16, 2011)

Senior year of high school

I was sitting in math class, my teacher turned on the tv and we weren't sure if what they were showing was a movie or a simulation of some sort. The events did not sink in for a while. My heart goes out to the people who gave up their life in the attack and the aftermath.


----------



## D_B_Jetta (Apr 27, 2006)

I was in between jobs at the time. Normally I slept in late, as is the unemployed norm, but for some reason I woke up around 9:30 or so. 
I went down stairs, turned on the TV and assumed it was some movie on. After making some toast I changed the channel to see the same thing.

I was glued to the TV for most of the day.

:beer:
G


----------



## B3passatBMX (Feb 27, 2004)

2nd period study hall my sophomore year of highschool. The principal came over the PA and was pretty emotionally distraught. We did nothing all day but watch it all unfold on TV. Honestly at the time, in my young ignorant state of mind I wasn't that bothered. I remember driving to the skatepark after school and seeing gas at like $4.50 a gallon and people lined up for blocks. People clearing store shelves in a panic of going to war or something. 

Years later I found out a good friend of mine's ex-girlfriend was a flight attendant on the 2nd plane that hit.


----------



## 01tj (Nov 8, 2005)

Sitting in my house watching the today show getting ready to go to class. 9/11 is my birthday but I guess it will never be the same again


----------



## rpmk4 (Jan 24, 2008)

i was in home room my senior year of high school.


----------



## GruuvenNorth (Dec 13, 2006)

I was in my College residence getting ready for class at 9 and since the school i was in was a Big aviation college, I lived on the same floor with mostly aviation students studying to become pilots( i was taking computer networking). As I was getting ready for class, one of the avaiation guys yelled out OMG A PLANE JUST HIT ONE OF THE TWIN TOWERS...i was like wtf...anyways, on my way to class, There were TV's in the halls setup for scedules, etc. Well, they all had CNN on them. There were people just tstanding there watching. I asked a guy what movie is this? He said no man, this sh*t is real...So instead of going to class, we just watched this and then all of a sudden, the second plane hit and the whole hallway just went OOOOHHHH MY GOD. Went to class and it was weird. no one really paid attention and we all just ended up leaving. Poor aviation students were in huge shock.


----------



## xJOKERx (Apr 8, 2009)

I was living in Chicago at the time and on my way to a new job for the first day. I was listening to Mancow in the morning when he interrupted everything to announce the first plane. Just like everyone else i thought it was an accident; I was like WTF just happened... Kept listening as i pulled into the parking lot of the business i was starting at and kept listening ( i was 5 minutes early) and the 2nd plane went into the tower.

Then i knew for sure this was no mistake and we were under attack. I went on in since i was going to be late at this point just thinking what the hell is going on. I walked into the office and was greeted by the office manager and i asked her have you seen what's going on? She said yes, please forgive us for not having anything for you to do..

i was like i don't care that's fine with me but what is going on.. she showed me a desk where i would have full access to the internet and could do freely whatever i wanted to since everyone else was glued to their computers updating CNN over and over again. After a few hours they went ahead and evacuated our building as all of Chicago downtown was evacuated in the case we were next...

I called my girlfriend at the time and told her to go home if they had already let her go, and i remember calling my Dad which was already on his way home too... We all met up at my Dad's place and just was glued to the TV for hours... I don't even remember eating anything that day.. i was so in awe of what had happened... I just wanted to help...

i had no means of getting there but felt so upset over what happened i just wanted to get in my car and drive up there to help whoever i could... All of the tributes were awesome to see yesterday, and what they have done with the water falls is awesome to see. I wish i could have been there yesterday to pay tribute to those who lost their lives that day.


----------



## VDub2625 (Jan 4, 2003)

First few days of my sophomore year at high school. Vocational school, I was in shop class. Teacher was missing most of the morning, we didn't pay attention. We used the opportunity to goof off for a bit, and we noticed the teacher was just sitting at the front of the class, stone-faced, watching TV. We had no idea until we went up a while later and caught it in time to see them fall. 

I remember everyone talking about it, and many students being outright pissed because not all teachers allowed the TVs on (there were TVs in every room).


----------



## Mikes72sb (Oct 27, 2001)

Just began my 2nd year of college. My class started at 10:00am, so I was still home. I usually left the house at around 8:30am to get a bus by 9:00am and get to class on time. I was just about out the door when my Mom called and said that a plane hit one of the Towers. I figured it was some horrible accident involving a Cessna, but we all know what happened now. My bus passed by the Trade Center every morning, so it was a close call, but not as close as a few others I know.

The company I work for (family owned & operated) had a few contracts with the management of the WTC. We did a lot of the fire protection systems under the antenna, in the basements, and a few other spots in towers 1, 2, 4 and 7. I remember going into the lower areas of #7 to help clean out a job during one of my many summers working in the shop. I still have my visitors pass from that day.

One of our field supers was headed there to check on the job when the first plane hit. He drove right into the Deutche Bank garage in order to avoid falling debris. He retired shortly thereafter. He saw some really bad stuff and just wasn't the same afterward. A cousin of mine was supposed to go to a meeting there that day, but he was uncharacteristically late for the train and was not at that 8:30am meeting. 

We lost a few people that we dealt with on a daily basis over there. 9/11/01 was the first day in months that we did not have a single man on that job. On the material side, we lost thousands of dollars of specialty equipment there, but that is minuscule when you look at the lives lost that day. 

I remember walking out the front door of the house and smelling the smoke from the fire and the collapse. I live between 10 and 15 miles from Ground Zero in the south of Brooklyn. I used to be able to see the Towers from 2 streets away. I saw them smoking, and then I didn't see them at all.

However, I can now see the Freedom Tower going up in its place from exactly where I used to be able to see the Twin Towers. It makes me very happy to see this building rising up from the ground. It means a lot to the local economy, the construction industry (which is my business), to New Yorkers, and Americans.


----------



## B3passatBMX (Feb 27, 2004)

It's funny I remember watching the weather channel in the morning with mom and they showed a video of the trade centers and how perfect of a day it was. That was at like 7:30


----------



## UncleJB (Jul 3, 2002)

I was living out in Montana with my g/f and her mom on 9/11. Her mom was watching tv and I was just getting my coffee when the news broke on about the first plane. We all sat there stunned as a second plane hit live. We watched quietly for quite a while, but it became too much and I had to get outside for a bit.

One of my moms good friends died in the attacks which I didn't find out until later. It was just so surreal, or maybe I have watched too many movies but it really took a while to wrap my head around the fact that it was really happening. 

RIP.


----------



## Old Windy (Apr 1, 2009)

I was home that morning getting ready to go out and send a couple of resumes (was a temp at my previous job and was terminated / not renewed that previous friday). Listening to the morning radio show while all of a sudden the it was mentioned of the first crash as an accident. At that moment I went running to turn on the TV set just in time to see the 2nd plane crash and I immediatly knew that was no accident. Then like anyone that had friends and family that worked there started dialing my cousins phone like and could not get a signal. (She worked as a banking clerk at the time on some business on Tower 7 and yes she made it out). Then put a tape on the VCR (yes those existed back in the day) and hit the record button. Spent the rest of the day watching and waiting.

Interestengly when the other news broke this year I was at the exact same place when it was announced. Only I didn't hit record on the VCR.

It was great to see the memorials and I'm looking forward to visit them and pay my respects.


----------



## mtbscoTT (Jan 14, 2003)

I work for a large telecom. Our area manager came into the room, gathered everyone around and said there had been an accident in New York. Our workroom was full of TV monitors that usually showed work related stuff, but they switched them all to live news. When the second one hit, the illusion of it being an accident was gone. We were told that due to the sensitive nature of what we provide, we could become a target and were told to be on the lookout for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. 

I did the tourist thing in the WTC in '81, taking pictures from the top and taking a helicopter tour around them. Was back in NYC in '84 and they were such a ubiquitious part of the skyline. Didn't go back there until 2010, but by fate have made three trips back total this past year. Went to visit Ground Zero the first time, you couldn't see much, but the feeling is palpable there. I will surely visit the memorial on my next trip and my heart soars to see the new towers rising.


----------



## BostonB6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I was driving to work, listening to Howard Stern.


----------



## Maggiolone (Aug 20, 2007)

I was in 1st-period English in Sophomore year H.S, Chicago suburbia. 

The principal came on the P.A, said a plane crashed into the WTC. I initially didn't understand it; I also thought it was a Cessna that had a bad accident. 

The moment the old TV hanging in the classroom was turned on, the 2nd plane hit the WTC. Then I heard them say the Pentagon was hit. That's when I got shivers.

The whole school then started to feel "unsafe" (the whole school was spread out on one ground floor) and everyone was using that excuse to get out early. I stayed; I'd have to walk 1.5 miles home anyway until I had a ride at 3:30. I was appalled at everyone leaving early because they felt "unsafe," only to see them smiling and laughing outside when leaving. 

When I got home, later that night my dad asked me to fill his car up with gas; there was a scare there would be gas rationing and every station had a line like it was 1973 again. I was listening to Bush give an address on the radio. 
Then, two middle-aged people came up to me while filling up and asked for cash. They appeared stoned as hell and they were "trying to get some cash to get out of here." They said they wanted to "catch a flight at O'Hare to get anywhere from here." I said every airport was shut down in the USA. 

9.11 brought out the best and worst of people that day.


----------



## Wings88 (Dec 29, 2010)

To be honest, in the bathroom pooping. I got back to class and everyone was flipping out. I thought I was in trouble. We rolled in a little pre-jurassic TV and watched the news for about 30 mins then we got sent home.


----------



## cretinx (May 7, 2010)

nine 'lebbin

nine'lebbin nine'lebbin nine'lebbin

I was watching the Pentagon burn from my dorm room in D.C.. My wife was busy trying to call her (dead) friends who worked in the buildings and watching the ash roll down her street in Manhattan. Neither of us could reach each other since the lines were all overloaded.


----------



## Maggiolone (Aug 20, 2007)

Wings88 said:


> To be honest, in the bathroom pooping.


Ok, that's a little too honest and also unnecessary. I pray you were in pre-kindergarten at the time, as that would explain a lot. 
Re-read the first post of this thread.


----------



## Booha1 (Apr 6, 2007)

I was at work. I remember everything that was going on that morning....the patient I was working with, the client who came in with the news.

My sister was working near the Pentagon when it was hit...she tells me that she still occasionally has dreams about that day.


----------



## lukas69 (Aug 30, 2009)

i think my age group is the last to witness and remember what i saw. i was 8 years old in 2nd grade. the teachers wheeled televisions into the rooms and the teachers watched along with some of the class. i remember sitting cris-cross applesauce on the floor and seeing the red border around the tv. i remember smoke coming from the towers. i may or may not have seen the second plane hit, i don't remember that much. we went home early and i watched tv with my parents. 

i'm not to patriotic at all, but i respect everything that happened and i acknowledge it. more then most people in my age group. some kids even make fun of it:banghead: ill teach my kids what happened and how much of a tragedy it was not only for the people that died, but for everyone around the globe. 

RIP everyone involved in the attacks and the war


----------



## blacksand (Sep 11, 2009)

i was running late for work and was in the subway @ bowling green in lower manhattan when the 1st plane hit .......blasting my disc man oblivious to what was going on until 2 stops later @ fulton st when people started running into the train yelling that a plane just hit the tower,still didn't think it was that serious,thinking it was a single engine cessna or something, when i got out @ my stop for work and looked towards downtown and saw the smoke billowing and everyone in the middle of lexington ave just staring silently.


----------



## strykr24 (Jan 31, 2010)

I was getting ready for school... First couple days of my Froshman year. I really couldn't believe it happend and was waiting for a "just joking" message of sorts. After I got to school, we all sat in our advisory periods watching the events unfold. That point in my life solidified my decision to do what I do now, which is proudly put on a green suit with US Army on the chest and an American flag on my right shoulder.


----------



## Chapel (Jun 23, 1999)

This is how I remembered 9/11... I was at home when the first plane hit, but I went to school. The second plane hit on my commute and my mom called me to come home, but I went to class anyway. School was canceled after our first class (which was psychology). It was all we discussed. On my way to my car, I heard about the towers falling. I spent the next few hours with my friend at my parent's house watching the news and the updates on this thread. It reminds you of certain things you forget... like the rash of misinformation coming out at the time and the news sites crashing... leaving what was essentially the early age of social media (in this case, VWVortex) to getting the latest feeds. I wish that people really remembered what it was like to be a unified country after this. These days we're more split than ever. We are not what we expected to be 10 years from now. We are far worse... far divided.

when you read through the thread, you can feel the panic and fear in the words... So many people posting at once. It was amazing that the site didn't crash like all the news sites.

I remember thinking that the nation was under attack for days after this... Wondering if it was a multiphase attack of the planes and car bombs and dirty bombs... It really was a terrifying time. Though you forget how really terrifying it was because after it was over, you saw the government and officials forcing an inauthentic terror over everyone with their 'color system' and constant 'terror alerts'. And then the war... we grew distrustful of our nation so soon after we all banded together. And neither side was doing right. I hope that soon we all realize that we all need to put aside our differences and be a nation united.


----------



## 1.8TIM (Mar 28, 2002)

I took the day off yesterday to spend some time with some friends that were in town for the ceremony at ground zero. 2 of them are the younger brothers of a good friend of mine who passed away. 

The youngest, who was 15 at the time, is now 25yrs old - the same age his brother was when he passed. When I saw him, the hairs on my arms stood up and a chill ran down my spine, because he is a mirror image, carbon copy of what his brother looked like. It was surreal. He gave me a hug and a pound and it was just like I was hugging his brother 10yrs ago. Definitely one of the strangest sensations I have ever felt.


----------



## DUBLUV401 (Oct 21, 2010)

Can't believe it's been ten year's already. I remember it like it was just yesterday. I was on 10th grade at my vocational high school. I was in automotive class when this occured. I was painting a car when my shop teacher told me to go to the class room. My Principal came on the PA system and told everyone to put the TV on. Just as we turned the TV on about 2 minutes later the second plane struck the twin tower's. I had so many different emotions going through me confused, scared, angry.. Dont think I have ever really felt that way before. I will never forget when and where I was when this tragic incident happened. My heart goes out to all the familys that were effected from this day.


----------



## teileguy (Jul 8, 2010)

From where i worked you had a clean view of the towers. I watched the second plane fly in. I have a few friends who didnt come home from work that day. 

It is a difficult time of year for me. Ill never forget the smell, or how everyone froze in their tracks when a plane flew overhead on approach to laguardia a few days later.


----------



## r_fostoria (Sep 8, 2009)

I was in fourth grade and was annoyed that they made us stay inside for recess on a very nice day because they were afraid of a bomb or something. It wasn't until after school that I learned what had happened.


----------



## rabbit07 (Feb 22, 2007)

well first off 9/11 is my birthday. second I was in my 9th grade english class when the announcement came on that a plane crashed into one of the twin towers. everyone was freaking out. then we went to the library to watch it live then we saw the second plane hit. after that our schools were told to evacuate so then I went home. was a terrible day. all we did was watch the news for the rest of the day.


----------



## DannyLo (Aug 2, 2006)

*FV-QR*

8th grade Social Studies class. Teacher was one of the first in the school to hear, and then asked me to go to the back of the class and try and pull it up on the computer. Once I found the first breaking news article, he came over to read and I proceeded to watch a grown man break in tears. The class was in shock, and soon enough everyone was pulled out of school.


----------



## Bones_Jones (Apr 2, 2011)

was in my class at Michigan. My graphic design class professor announced what happened and told everyone to go home. Panicky mode at Ann Arbor. I was glued to TV with my friends. I kinda avoided those guys with turban and bowing to the wall during Ramadan. I know that's stereotyping, but i just couldn't stand those guys who walked around campus proudly with their ancient attire.


----------



## Froster (Apr 13, 2006)

I was in Grade 11, and I was just leaving my first class, when a friend passed me in the hall to say that he just heard on the radio that a plane had hit the WTC. Since I had lunch 2nd period, I went to find some other people to see if we could fund out what was happening. After the second plane hit, a friend and I decided to leave school, and go to his house to find out what was happening.

When we got there, his mom was home and was watching TV in tears, worried that they would try to attack Toronto. We almost had her calmed down when she heard that there was another attack in DC. I don't know when she decided that we were going to be safe, but it was probably long after we left to go back to school.

It seems crazy that it has been a decade since that day, but it is one of the few days of my life that I can remember the events so clearly.


----------



## yvmaksimuk (Jan 27, 2009)

I was in 7th grade. I remember that morning distinctly. As usual, my brother and I woke up very early for school as we both went to the same school about an hour away. He was in 2nd grade at the time. No one ever had the radio or TV on in the morning at the house and after breakfast, we both went out and waited for the school van to pick us up.

The morning news were always on in the van but I never paid much attention to it. As it was mostly background noise to me, I still had no idea what was happening until the driver and some of the kids focused in on the newscast. Everyone was mostly hushed from then on until we arrived. At school, we watched live coverage and discussed the event in every class.

I remember getting home and every channel having the same images. Bloody people covered in gray ash, emergency vehicles blaring their sirens. Everyone seemed so lost and confused. Had I been older I would've been able to understand the gravity of the event unfolding more clearly. However, as the years went by I began understanding how serious that day was.


----------



## Sold Over Sticker (Nov 29, 2009)

Freshman year of college, first week in. Drove to the airport for my private pilot ground school, and found out there. Went back to the cafeteria on campus, and watched the news for hours straight. 

I still remember turning on my roommates transceiver and listening to the pre recorded message playing on Tower Frequency at our airport, instructing all aircraft to land ASAP or they'd be intercepted.


----------



## Hater GTI (Sep 14, 2011)

I was in 3rd grade at school.


----------



## GTE77 (Sep 2, 2009)

I was at home, Skipped school that day. Cousin called, screaming telling me to turn on the TV.....

That was a sad day. Lots of things changed in my life since then. Some because of 9/11, Others had nothing to do with it. 

I pray to never have to wake up on a beautiful sunny day again, turn on the TV and see something like it ever again. 

9/11 made me understand the weight of things like WWII in its time. I just hope my Kids wont have something of the sort to fear.


----------



## WhineMCABasket2.0t (Oct 2, 2005)

I was in College Park Maryland. IIRC at the time I was in the shower getting ready for an 9:00 class. Being early I had left to make the long walk, pretty much as it was happening. In class, statistics, cell phones started ringing like crazy. Not knowing what was happening the professor was getting a bit mad... this was well before the ability to web surf or really even text. 

The class went on and ended probably around 10:15. Next class was a government/politics class that I unknowingly walked to. The only people to show up were in the same boat, had no real idea what had happened but rumors were spreading. The professor walks in, says he has to get down to DC for some press events, tells us what he knows, and dismisses us. Spent the next few hours getting caught up in a friends nearby room. 

Once we knew what was happening the fighter jets that I had noticed earlier made sense. Being less than 10 miles from the White House they were roaring over campus throughout the night vigils that were happening.


----------



## AHFlynn (Apr 6, 2008)

6th grade history class, john read middle school, redding ct.

the announcement was pretty vague and i was too young to understand what was really going on until someone made an announcement about the pentagon being attacked. ill never forget the footage on the news when i got home from school, i sat in front of the tv all afternoon watching the footage of the twin towers crumbling to the ground.

my next door neighbor's uncle was on one of the floors struck by the second plane, definitely brought it home.


----------



## svantevid (May 29, 2010)

can i just ask something? 

why is this and the original 9/11 thread in The Car Lounge? i'm not hating, provoking or whatever, but this really isn't car related in any sort of way. wouldn't it be a lot more appropriate to put it in the OT part, i mean OT is getting a lot of traffic now and there really is no reason to have this here and also stickied.


----------



## jebglx (Jul 13, 2000)

svantevid said:


> can i just ask something?
> 
> 
> 
> why is this and the original 9/11 thread in The Car Lounge? i'm not hating, provoking or whatever, but this really isn't car related in any sort of way. wouldn't it be a lot more appropriate to put it in the OT part, i mean OT is getting a lot of traffic now and there really is no reason to have this here and also stickied.


 
Because the original thread started in TCL so that's where I put it. OT didn't exist at the time and there is no ****ing way I'm placing that thread in the OT 

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk


----------



## svantevid (May 29, 2010)

jebglx said:


> Because the original thread started in TCL so that's where I put it. OT didn't exist at the time and there is no ****ing way I'm placing that thread in the OT
> 
> Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk


oh ok, i understand that


----------



## VMPhil (Nov 16, 2007)

Hard to believe that this was 16 years ago.


----------



## J2G (Aug 9, 2012)

I was in the fourth grade. I remember my teacher telling us what happened, my friend's mother picking us up from school and the images on CNN.


----------



## NHDUBN#2 (Sep 5, 2007)

I was at Bavarian Auto-sport (where i worked at the time) I remember that morning like it was yesterday. And to think it was before my daughter was born and now she is in high school.


----------



## DUBPL8 (Sep 29, 2012)

I was a senior in HS during my US Government class. Out of nowhere, my teacher turns the TV on and we see live footage of the first tower being hit and we kept ourselves glued to the coverage as we all knew life would never be the same from that point on.


----------



## 0dd_j0b (Sep 22, 2007)

I was in class in 6th grade. We didn't have a tv with cable, so we listened to the radio. I was a bit young to fully understand what was going on, or maybe accept it. But I remember the day quite well. Can't believe it's been 16 years.


----------



## CodeMan (May 12, 2006)

I woke up late that morning on my bass player's couch with the girl who lived across the street. I ran home, showered, and went in to work to find everyone huddled around the radio. About 5 minutes later the second plane hit. As we all went to our benches, bossman turned off the radio and put on a Marty Robbins album. We all knew that everything had changed. Sombre and surreal.


----------



## EnterTheDonut (Dec 12, 2015)

I was a senior in HS. We lived in NJ, about an hour drive away from Manhattan. I was just leaving English class when the vice principal made an announcement. I thought he meant a small plane like a C172, until I passed by a classroom with the news on TV. I walked into my CADD class and our teacher told us we're all going to do our work as per usual--"no terrorist is going to tell us what to do." He took it personally. A lot of us did. At least one former student decided to drop out of college to enlist in the Marine Corps. We had some volunteer firefighters who drove down as soon as they heard, because maybe they could help out somehow.

Both my parents worked in lower Manhattan (mom still does), about a 5-10 minute walk from the World Trade Center. They didn't make it home until 2 days later if I remember correctly. According to my dad, the first impact sounded like a pipe exploded in their building. They caught the last ferry out to Staten Island. Probably had a clear view of the smoke and debris. Not sure if they saw the towers actually fall from the ferry, I was too afraid to ask. One of our neighbors checked on me and my brother to make sure everyone was okay. I didn't know for a while whether they made it off the island (didn't have cell phones) until my cousins in Staten Island called and said they arrived and were gonna spend the night there.

On a car-related note, later that month we were shopping for a new car for me. We decided on a brand new MkIV GTI, black, manual. The day that we were going to pick up the car, my parents heard rumors of layoffs in the near future at work because of what happened, so we canceled the deal. With two kids about to go to college and a mortgage, money was gonna be tight. The dealership understood and gave us our deposit back. We bought a used E24 635csi in the spring.


----------



## Power5 (Jun 19, 2001)

Senior year of college. Was on co-op that quarter, so was at what would be my first official job next year. We were on the glide path of CVG airport. We would have planes fly over our office windows every 30 seconds pretty much all day long. Air travel was still cheap and plentiful back then. After they shut down air travel that day, we had a B2 circling the area for an hour or so and it was eerie not seeing a single plane on approach for the rest of the day. We had a WatchMan we often used to watch baseball games. This day, we had 15 people huddled around that 4" screen. By the time we rigged a coat hanger to make an antenna, for the office conference room television, the 2nd plane had hit and we watched the aftermath from then on. By about 2:30 we were all dismissed to be with family. Not that we did anything that entire day. Will not forget that day. Heard someone come in late and say that a plane had crashed into the tower and just assumed it was an accident. Other guy then got his watchman out and told us it was not an accident according to the news.


----------



## SchnellFowVay (May 20, 2001)

About 3 weeks into my freshman year of college.

I remember sleeping in, waking up, and seeing a headline on the stupid AOL newsfeed thing that I used back in 2001 that said "second plane slams into world trade center." I was completely shocked, but most of the major news websites were down. So I just sort of watched CNN listlessly for the next hour or so. I went down to the cafeteria and CNN was on those TVs, as well. It was all anyone was paying attention to. The oddest thing was the general silence and listlessness of most people. People were everywhere -- classes were canceled (mostly), clubs were canceled, etc. So people just hung out at the dorms, but people didn't talk much. It was almost like people were zombies. It was surreal. 

My son is now 4 years old, and in a couple of years I will have to explain September 11 to him. All he will have known is a world in which there is a never-ending military commitment in the Middle East, and a world in which various terror groups continually inflict pain and suffering on the world. I don't entirely know how to explain this to him -- or how to describe how different the world seemed prior to 9/11. There was a certain naivety or innocence to things. A certain sense of invulnerability. These no longer exist.


----------



## SCHWAB0 (Dec 6, 2004)

Just like Schnell, first year of college. 19 years old and in my speech class at community college in Rochester, MN. 3 years after I came to the US. I always thought US was safe and such things wouldn't happen here. 


Sent from my mobile office.


----------



## Harpoon (Jan 5, 2008)

Fourth grade, I still remember our principal going room to room and telling everybody that there had been an attack but we didn't have a TV in our room. I remember the news that night and how many of the non-news networks just had a live camera pointed at an American flag waving in the breeze.

The unity and patriotism that followed after than and into 2002 with the conflict in the middle east was incredible. American flags, American pride everywhere. A diner in my town change the name of their French fries to Freedom fries. I mean that was just the culture for awhile, it was all America all the time. I was too young to be talking to adults about politics but it doesn't seem like it mattered which side of the isle you stood on in that moment after the attacks. It didn't matter what demographic you were. It wasn't a divisive climate like today. it was just... unity. Because United We Stand, and people genuinely felt that. :heart:

I didn't fully grasp the gravity of what happened that day at the time as a nine year old, but this time last year I watched a bunch of footage of it again and cried. That day was a turning point in so many ways...


----------



## KizashiAGP (Jun 29, 2016)

*I was in school (junior high school) that day. *

Summarized Backstory (It may be sloppy, bare with me. I just woke up and it's a difficult subject)

My mother and sister host/own beauty pageants. Since 1997, this one particular pageant we'd be a part of_ (first my sister was only competing at first, then she became a host and we became part of the pageant family. I escorted the chicks on stage.)_ was held in 3 WTC (hotel, iirc Marriott). 

Just the year before, my buddy and I ran through the basement of the hotel like the little kids we were, got lost, went deeper, found our way out. Fun times, but I can't imagine if we did it in 2001...in the morning again. 

In 2001, we were supposed to go down there. My sister and I would often miss the first or second week of school (always would be there on the 11th), but we didn't go to the pageant this time as the event _(and it's a huge event) _was rescheduled. I think we planned on not going that year anyway for some reason, it's been so long that I can't remember why. I was pretty stoked, because it was my second year in J-High and was able to chill with my new friends. 

I had a few gnarly dreams a week prior about me being in my basement and my apartment building collapsing but brushed it off, of course. 

Jump to the 11th. I'm in first period, writing a short story. One of the office staff runs in the room and calls me out, saying "Your mom's here to pick you up. You have an appointment, please come!" I think... "I don't have any appointment, what the ****? Ugh! I just want to be in school for once!! (on my first few days)" I get to my mom, downstairs, and we rush to the car. She begins yelling "Downtown is gone! Downtown is gone!" I'm saying "What are you talking about?!" *while looking the direction of "downtown" and seeing smoke* The radio was on, and I hear what's going down and got a sinking feeling. It especially was difficult for her because she was in 1WTC the day of the bombing several years prior. As well, my aunt had a job in the lower level of the complex where all the shops were. She got out just fine, thank goodness.

Later on, we got a call on my landline from my school. My best friend's parents couldn't reach or get to him, so my mom drives out to pick him up and he spends the night at my place. Maybe a few days or a week...I don't remember exactly how long (I'd have to ask my mom) mom, my sister and I go down to around Canal Street and watch the firefighters, police and medical personnel travel down West Street. 

*sigh* So many memories.


----------



## Chris_V (Jun 18, 2009)

I was right here, working in this building, only about 50 ft away from where I am right now. Reading the play by play on Vortex and watching the news sites as I could get them. They closed the office down about 11am and I went home and watched everything on TV with my wife and son. It was a scary and sobering day. My wife knew people that worked at the Pentagon and one of her client's spouses was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.


----------



## g34343greg (Jan 9, 2014)

I was in 8th grade. I didn't find out until after the 2nd plane had hit as I think the teachers were trying to keep it quiet. My weird science teacher didn't get the memo and as soon as we walked in he was like "hey did you guys hear? 2 planes just crashed in NYC". I remember being confused at first wondering how 2 planes could wreck into each other, but slowly learning more details as the day went on. Lots of kids got pulled out of school early. 

I wasn't sure then why it mattered. I mean home was just as safe as school in that moment. I guess people were just scared and wanted to be with their kids.

I wish I had gotten to enjoy more of the pre- Sept 11th world though. Things will definitely never be the same.


----------



## ChiTownA34DR (Dec 6, 2002)

Thanks for bringing these back every year. It really is interesting to read through the original thread and see how absolutely insane it was at that point in time in the world.


----------



## domvert (Nov 2, 2006)

*9/11*

I actually flew out of JFK airport 45 minutes before the first tower was hit - I got stuck in Nashville for 5 days on my way back to Fort Lauderdale waiting for flights to get back online- Eventually took a Greyhound to Atlanta then to Fort Lauderdale- took almost 7 days to get home.....My wife now, girlfriend then would have been in lower manhattan at work if she didn't drop me off at the airport that morning!


----------



## sullie (Oct 17, 2003)

Thanks for posting this every year. As years go by you forget the rawness of it. I am working at the same place then as I do now but I remember the day very vividly, it was extremely chaotic and this thread captures the feel of that chaos. I was watching a documentary two days ago and I found out some details were released that had not be released before or if they had I was not aware of them. I don't want to rehash it all but suffice is to say that some (not all) of the attackers could not speak English, could not answer basic security questions, did not have proper identification and were not properly searched. 

When people get frustrated now with the strictness of security, any security, please let this stand as a reminder that people are just doing their jobs. Of course, no-one could have imagined anything like this happening before that day, however, let me just say this, whatever your job is, DO YOUR JOB! You work in HR, IT, security, law enforcement, marketing, it doesn't matter, DO YOUR JOB! And if something doesn't pass your smell test, say something. If something looks off, be that person who is annoying, who sweats the details, the pain in the ass, the stick in the mud, be that person because in my heart, I do think if everyone did their jobs that day, I do think lives could have been saved. Most certainly not all because the majority had their act together but some of them absolutely slipped by. Again, I'm not blaming anyone, this whole attack was unprecedented and I'm sure there are security people who have to live with this every day, I'm saying we do know now what we didn't know then so there's no excuse for letting things slide.


----------



## PiSSAT4motion (Sep 28, 2006)

I was asleep on the couch after working a graveyard shift that night. My sister called me because she couldn't get in contact with our older brother, who was living/working in Northern Virginia at the time..

Before 9/11, I remember hearing "old folk" talk about remembering where they were and what they were doing during certain historical events... didn't quite get how something could be burned into your memory like that until that morning.


----------



## jon_570 (May 18, 2010)

g34343greg said:


> I was in 8th grade. I didn't find out until after the 2nd plane had hit as I think the teachers were trying to keep it quiet. My weird science teacher didn't get the memo and as soon as we walked in he was like "hey did you guys hear? 2 planes just crashed in NYC". I remember being confused at first wondering how 2 planes could wreck into each other, but slowly learning more details as the day went on. Lots of kids got pulled out of school early.
> 
> I wasn't sure then why it mattered. I mean home was just as safe as school in that moment. I guess people were just scared and wanted to be with their kids.
> 
> I wish I had gotten to enjoy more of the pre- Sept 11th world though. Things will definitely never be the same.


Same grade,same class. Im about 30 minutes from where the plane went down in PA next to hwy219. It was for sure a turning point for this country. I as well wish i would have gotten to live in the pre 9/11 stage of this country. Watching the news in school, seeing those people have no other option than to jump out of the buildings is something not ever forgotten.


----------



## vb22 (Jul 27, 2017)

I was in the 8th grade. We were in math class when our teacher turned on the TV. She stop teaching for the rest of the period and told us this is more important. I will never forget that day.


----------



## PSU (May 15, 2004)

9th grade Honors English class.


----------



## Aonarch (Dec 4, 2006)

vb22 said:


> I was in the 8th grade. We were in math class when our teacher turned on the TV. She stop teaching for the rest of the period and told us this is more important. I will never forget that day.


Same.

8th grade math class with Dr. Fry.


----------



## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

I can't believe it's been 20 years. Wow.


----------



## Sold Over Sticker (Nov 29, 2009)

nater said:


> I can't believe it's been 20 years. Wow.


Currently texting all my buddies from flight school. We were 18, college freshman, and scared out of our minds.


----------



## B3passatBMX (Feb 27, 2004)

2nd grade study hall, I think I was a junior? Principal came over the loudspeaker just after the second plane hit. The next few classes were nothing but watching live tv. Not long after they fell they sent everyone home. I remember going to ride bmx with a few buddies after school and saw gas at nearly $10 a gallon and remember thinking how odd it was the skies were completely clear from planes. What an insane day. We've been watching lots of footage and documentaries about it the last couple days. You sort of forget how utterly chaotic the first few hours of that day were.


----------



## jamerican1 (Dec 8, 2005)

Math class in high school. In complete disbelief.


----------



## Harold (Jul 31, 2000)

Was working 2nd shift. Roomie was watching TV and I was barely awake, came down to living room : he said "someone crashed a plane into the trade center". Just as I was trying to process that while waking up and watching TV, the second plane hit. Sat there shocked and numb.


----------



## SCHWAB0 (Dec 6, 2004)

Rochester Community Technical College, Speech class as freshman.


----------



## PSU (May 15, 2004)

20 years now… still sad and shocking. 

I was sitting in Honors English class.


----------



## Phil37 (Jul 5, 2015)

Driving home from the US Army Hospital in Wurzburg Germany. I had my final medical evaluation and was told that I would be medically discharged within 30 days. This event however delayed my discharge by 18 months.


----------

