What were you doing on 9/11/01?

The Australian ^ | September 09 2003

[dogbyte12]

It was weird. I woke up early for me that day. I am on the west coast, and for some reason I decided to turn the news on, when reports came in of a "small plane" hitting one of the towers. I was freeping at the same time, as the second one hit. I was totally freaked out. I had to head to work, and got there a few minutes early and watched the second tower collapse. I will never forget that morning. It is probably one of the most memorable days of my life.

[Poohbah]

I was in a meeting in Crystal City, just down the Jefferson Davis Highway from the Pentagon. with sailors and Navy civilian employees. It was contentious beyond belief.

After we learned what happened, we got a lot less petty, solved our problem, and then began working on how to support the fleet during the retribution that would follow.

[cowgirlcutie]

I was at work. Someone came running in and said that the WTC was on fire. Someone turned on a TV and we all started watching. After awhile, I picked up the phone at my desk and this poor man, who was a security guard at the Pentagon called, worried about his son who attended the college where I worked at the time. He then told me that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. I told him everyone at the school was fine. I then tried to call my brother-in-law's cell phone(he's an American pilot who flies regularly to the east coast) and couldn't get through. Everyone in our office was crying and we then all gathered together and said a prayer for those in the buildings and on those planes.

[Militiaman7]

Visiting my cousin in Copenhagen, just happened to be watching CNN International when the 1st plane hit the WTC.

[ErnBatavia]

I was in a meeting in Crystal City, just down the Jefferson Davis Highway from the Pentagon. with sailors and Navy civilian employees. It was contentious beyond belief. After we learned what happened, we got a lot less petty, solved our problem, and then began working on how to support the fleet during the retribution that would follow.

Do you post here under two names, perchance?...I have to go back and try and retrieve, but I read a virtually identical post much earlier this afternoon, and I don't think it was from "Poohbah"....

[Poohbah]

Nope, it was me...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/979696/posts?page=39#39

On 9/11, we were in the midst of a screaming match in our meeting when word arrived about the first plane hitting the WTC, followed by the second almost immediately.

This was a Navy-sponsored meeting. Sailors, officers, civil serants, and contractors all reacted in the same manner: shock, fear...and then a great resolve came over us.

We put aside our bickering, and actually came to a solution acceptable to everyone. We then turned to figuring out how we were going to support the Fleet as it sailed forth to smite the forces of evil.

That night, I was in the Holiday Inn. Something bothered me.

I realized that what bothered me is that Reagan Airport was only a mile away--and it was deathly silent.

Reagan International without inbound and outbound flights until 10:00 PM is like St. Peter's Basilica without a Mass in one of the side chapels, or priests and pilgrims offering the daily prayers of the Catholic Church...it's just WRONG.


39 posted on 09/10/2003 12:05 PM PDT by Poohbah (Hee Haw was supposed to be a television show...not the basis of a political movement...)

[Fledermaus]

I was asleep when the first plane hit the North Tower. For some reason that morning I didn't turn on the TV and didn't have a radio in the bathroom at the time.

So it wasn't until about 30-45 minutes later that I heard "a plane has hit the North Tower of the WTC" and the speculation was still a small plane, pilot heart attack, etc. when I got in the car to drive to work.

When I got to work 20 minutes or so later everyone was hovering around a TV watching. I was horrified and knew it was terrorism once the 2nd building was hit. I guess I need to read the timeline again because I don't remember if the 2nd plane hit before or after I got to the office.

Anyway, I made a comment that "boy, someone is going to pay for this" and the only left wing jerk we had working started immediately calling me "jingoistic" and "war monger" for thinking this was war. Unfortunately he was my immediate boss and I was so disgusted with his petty comments that I quit three days later.

I realized then "lines" had been drawn between the left and right and those that will never defend the U.S. regardless of what happens. I couldn't spend another hour working for his stupid a$$. Besides, he was one of the worst CPA's I ever knew (which isn't saying much because I've never met one that can do basic bookkeeping or simple accounting without a green sheet and a red pencil) and he couldn't reconcile a bank account if his life depended on it.

[Timmy]

I was on my first day of vacation, preparing to go to Branson for the week. As I was driving to the store, I heard my country music DJ say two planes had just hit the WTC. I called my wife and told her to turn on the TV.

As I was walking down the aisle at the grocery store, my wife called me, sobbing hysterically, saying one of the WTC towers had fallen. She called me again on the way home about the second one.

We left for Branson and spent the next four days vacationing by day, going to shows at night, and staying up until past 2 a.m. watching Fox News each night. The performers (Jim Stafford, the Presleys, and I forget the other) all incorporated patriotic themes into the shows. Branson is one of the most patriotic places in America and was a good place to be at that time.

BTW, watching the CBS special tonite brought back the tears and anger. The hell with those who attack Bush over Iraq. Ann Coulter is right.

[sistergoldenhair]

remember

[AppyPappy]

We had a wonderful service here at Tech after 9/11. Several as a matter of fact.

[Alberta's Child]

That's an amazing account you just posted.

One of the most bizarre 9/11 stories came from a friend of mine, who called his wife and told her to get the hell out of the office because a hijacked passenger plane had just been crashed into the Pentagon.

What made the story so bizarre is that she worked in the Pentagon -- she didn't have a clue about what happened until the phone rang.

[Newbomb Turk]

I was on active duty with the military. When we heard about the devistation we at first thought it was a simulated war game senario to judge our reactions as we had been preforming some war simulations.

Much to our dismay we soon heard it again on a civilians car radio.

Less than 2 minutes later we had gone to war status. Full battle gear, flack vests, locked and loaded ammo.

When CNN says they don't know where the President is they were right.

We knew where our great President G.W. Bush was and we don't disclose that to the enemy !

[Windcatcher]

I was hacking away at code in my office, when someone knocked on my door to tell me about it. We keep a TV in the conference room and that was pretty much the end of any work that day...didn't matter really. I work at a LARGE company and it wasn't long before the governor called and basically announced "everyone, outta the pool" and sent us all home.

[Timmy]

Oh, my gosh! I just read your personal page. How inspiring! And thank you for loving our country so much.

[Timmy]

Yes, we are at war. I remember my family telling of the attack on Pearl Harbor. But, as memory faded of the direct attack on us, many had to be reminded that we were indeed at war for our very survival.

Yes, you are right. Reading Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers made me very sad that the soldiers in the last year of the war felt unappreciated and that much of the country had forgotten about them. I never realized that and have a hard time imagining how it could have been that way.

[luckystarmom]

My kids had a doctor's appointment. My husband stayed home to go to the appointment with me. My son was usually at school, but he was home because of the appointment.

My husband got on the computer to check the news and saw a report about the WTC. He called me over to see it.

I then ran to the TV and saw that the Pentagon had been attacked, and I started screaming. Of course, all of my kids 4-7) came running in asking what was going on.

We went to the doctor's appointment in shock. Afterwards, we debated whether or not to send our son to school. We decided it was safe, and he needed a "normal" day.

[GreatOne]

I was driving with my wife into work at about 8 a.m. in my time zone. I heard the top of the hour news that a plane had run into the WTC, and I laughed, thinking it was like the B-2 bomber running into the Empire State Building in the 1930s and that it was some moron in a Cesna or something. When I got to work, I kept abreast of the situation via Drudge, thinking nothing huge was happening. When I heard about the 2nd tower, I got to a t.v. set. I could not believe it when I saw all of the dust - I kept asking how that happened, never thinking in a million years that the towers could actually fall.

Kill every one of the rat bastards associated with the people who did this.

[Conservababe]

Yes, you are right. Reading Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers made me very sad that the soldiers in the last year of the war felt unappreciated and that much of the country had forgotten about them. I never realized that and have a hard time imagining how it could have been that way.

It might have been so in the last year, but what I have learned is that the first year of WWII was that many were unaffected and unconcerned. They did not have the communication that we have access today.

And remember that it had been only two decades since the 'final war'.

The government, along with the entertainment industry, went into a campaign to gain support.

Can you imagine Hollywood putting ads supporting 'war bonds' before their movies today?

[SarahW]

The weather was so fine, we decided at the breakfast table to make a daytrip to DC. DH just had make a quick errand, to run up to the store for some dog food, while I made ready at home...

The phone rang; DH on his cell.....

[twntaipan]

I live in Asia--had just put my daughter to bed, jumped on FR and saw reports of the first hit. I turned on CNN International and watched the second tower get hit. I watched the second plane hit, and still marvelled at the initial CNN reports saying it must be some type of "navigational error". Aaron Brown did a much better job than the first chump doing the reporting.

My wife wasn't home, but the group she was meeting with broke up when news of the first plane began to spread (via cell phone), and she came home. We watched and cried for the rest of the night (it was night in Asia at the time).