[davidosborne]

I was in Bosnia (Eagle Base). It was about lunch time. I was on duty law enforcement patrol supervisor for the base when my dispatcher told me over the radio to go look at a TV. The sound of his voice told me that something MAJOR had happened. I went to the MP station and everyone in the office was glued to the TV. My first glimpse was seeing what appeared to be a small plane hitting one of the WTC towers. My first thought reaction was a pilot trying pull a stunt flying between the towers and "missing". Then I saw the 2nd plane hit the other tower and knew it was deliberate and knew we were under attack as news reports of other plane crashes came in our mission focus immediately changed. Much of "the rest of the story" may or may not be classified. I have since been deployed overseas 3 times much of which is noted here on FR.

[Chong]

Sitting in front of my computer freeping...
NEVER FORGET!

[real saxophonist]

I was right here on Free Republic.

[sneakers]

I was in my office in our local courthouse. Oddly, I was feeling particularly patriotic and I had just downloaded a picture of the Signing of the Declaration to my computer. My sister called me to ask me if I heard about what was going on in NYC. We gathered in my boss’s office around the radio and then down to the employee lounge where others were watching on the tv down there. We live near a huge power plant in western Pa and they were talking about evacuating that plant because a plane had been hi-jacked and heading that way. They thought they might be the target. That was flight 93.

They ended up sending us home around 11:30. Everybody wanted to be with their family.

Never, EVER forget! I get renewed anger every Sept. 11th. It needs to be played over and over again.

[TurkeyLurkey]

I was at home, just getting ready to start homeschool classes with my two grandkids. A friend called and told me to go turn on the TV, that a plane had crashed into one of the towers. I remember thinking that I’d catch it later on the noon news...but we turned on the TV and then there came the second plane. We stood in shocked silence and unbelief,and knew an enemy was at work. I immediately thought about the day President Kennedy was assassinated (I was 17 at the time and living out of the country)—had the same feelings. I WILL NEVER FORGET.

[Hotmetal]

I was building a house.We had a truck come in and had to unload some drywall,the driver had left his radio on and we heard it then.That day at lunch I was rear ended at a traffic light and hurt my back,spent the next week in bed watching almost 24-7.

[davidosborne]

TODAY - 11 September 2010 - I am on duty Day Shift Patrol, Leon County Sheriff's Office (Tallahassee, Florida)

[NamVet71MP]

Left a midtown meeting and walked up 5th Ave. after we got the news. Looking over my shoulder watch the smoke from towers. At around 50th & 5th someone yelled “it’s coming down”. My first thought, people are really going nuts over this. I stopped, turned around and watched the first tower fall. THEN it sank in. Spent the rest of the walk home trying to reach the wife. She was also in midtown at work. By time I got to 80th & Columbus people were sitting in cafes, drinking coffee, chit-chatting. It was surreal. Upper West Side IS another world. We were both back in the apartment I think around 2:00 glued to the tv. No FR for us, dialup internet was out.

[kinsman redeemer]

"If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

[kinsman redeemer]

[R. Scott]

I was at the car wash, watching TV while waiting for my cab to be cleaned. The 1st plane hit the tower. The general consensus was that someone must have screwed up big time. By the time the 2nd plane hit, the towers collapsed and the Pentagon was attacked we knew it was no accident - we were under attack.
When the plane went down in Pennsylvania no one knew what to expect, the Hampton Roads area is loaded with military targets. Airports were shut down and military bases locked down. I went home early, I made no money but was in no condition to work. I stayed glued to the TV.

[BigSkyFreeper]

At 6:45am on 9/11, I was still in bed. I got up to the breaking news on the radio and turned the TV on just in time to see the second plane hit the south tower. I became a FReeper in December 2001.

[Biggirl]

God Bless you and THANK-YOU for your service to the USA.

[cripplecreek]

I was standing in the living room in front of the TV with my mouth hanging open.

[MestaMachine]

[wombtotomb]

I was in a clothing store. I remember seeing no one else there, no clerks to offer assistance. I went to the counter, and found them crying and talking on the phone. They informed me as to what happened with the first tower. I rushed home, saw the second plane hit on the news. I dropped to my knees and prayed and cried for hours.

Kids schools all on lockdown that day. Kept them for several hours, so family members of all the new orphans in our area had time to get to the schools to pick up kids that lost their parents that day. There were seven victims in my church alone. Lived very close to McGuire AFB, constant planes scrambled to NYC and DC for weeks, felt like they were 2 feet over the house. My youngest would not go outside for a long time.

Hubby watched from the roof of a building across the hudson while at work. Cried as he saw a piece of paper flutter down at his feet. His mom, dad and sister helped receive, clean up, feed and drive home victims shuttled by ferry across the bay to the harbor in the town where they lived.

That night, I laid in my husbands arms and we cried, together. It was the first time in my life that I had ever felt truly afraid for my children, my country, our way of life. I had 2 dear friends who were snarled in traffic that day who survived this attack. One of them had been in the WTC bombing several years before, so her company moved to the Prudential building, her husband was in the WTC as a commodities trader. Both lost alot of friends/coworkers that day. She died last year from brain and lung cancer. She was 50. Husband had a nervous breakdown right after the attack.

I also remember this country coming together like I had never seen in my lifetime. Patriotism, love for our country, our fellow man, and family soared. Churches were packed. People were respectful and considerate in the northeast. No horns honking by impatient drivers, people offering you their place in line, conversations being struck up in grocery lines. Neigbors came out of their homes and actually started talking to each other, flags EVERYWHERE. God bless America on mailboxes, cars, pinned on lapels.

Truly it was the worst of times, it was the best of times.

I am off to get ready for 3 different 9/11 events I or my husband/sons are working with today. This morning, an event at our city that a dear friend, who is a 9/11 first responder NYPD retired and his wife are doing, along with an art gallery of items/photos from survivors and family members, as well as their own personal items from 9/11. This afternoon, a blue Mass for the fallen, and this evening, a candlelight vigil by another 9/11 first responder and a member of my husband and sons Ancient order of Hibernians group. We will be graced by a piece of the towers at the site for a memorial garden, and we will have a piece of hallowed ground to meditate on the day forever now. Busy day, full of tears and renewed hope.

Sorry this is so long. I have never put any of my experience down before so it just felt good to say it.

[Corin Stormhands]

First, David, thank you for your service.

I was right here on FR. We got a lot more breaking news that day and I picked up the first thread when the first plane hit. Went next door and mentioned it to a co-worker. We had few details. By the time I got back to my desk, the second plane had hit.

[Boardwalk]

I was probably the most innocent person on earth that day as I had no idea anything happened until about 3 pm...I was on vacation in the country and had sworn off tv and it was a gorgeous day in New Hampshire!

[BluH2o]

Driving my wife to work that AM when the local radio station broke into regular programming to announce that an aircraft had flown into the WTC. The reason I was taking my wife to work she was scheduled to fly out to San Fransisco for a three day meeting and would go to the airport from her office later in the day. That of course didn't happen.
Another women, attending the same meeting, flew out of Newark, NJ on UAL 93 the aircraft that went down near Shanksville, PA. She had arranged to take this earlier flight so she would arrive in time to do some sight seeing in SF prior to the meeting. It was her first trip to the Bay area.

[samiam1972]

My husband had lost his job in Texas two months before the attack. We had just gotten home late the night before from a job interview in Wisconsin. My MIL called and told us to turn on the TV. We sat on the floor with our 1 and 3 year old children. My daughter learned to walk that day. Very bittersweet seeing so many lives end that day and having her take her first steps.

[Momaw Nadon]

I was on Free Republic. My first thought was also that a pilot in a small plane had an accident. “What kind of an idiot would fly so close to skyscrapers?” I turned on the TV and saw everything else as it happened, including the second plane hitting the second tower. Howard Stern was live on the radio reporting events as they happened. I made calls to family and friends to ask if they were aware of what was going on and asked if they had heard any new information. I watched in horror as the towers collapsed. Everything was so surreal.

I will NEVER forget.