It's one year later. Where were you then? Where are you now? How have you changed?

Fast Company ^ | September 2002

[oldcodger]

Thank you for this thread. On Sept. 11, after eating a leisurely breakfast at Burger King, I turned on my radio in the car as I headed home. The radio announcer said that both WTC towers had collapsed after being hit by airplanes, and that the Pentagon had also been hit. My first thought, since the radio was tuned to a music station that did not carry news at that hour, was that this couldn't really be happening - that it must be some sort of hoax like the Orson Welles broadcast in 1939. So I changed to a news-talk station. The announcer on that station was saying that all high-rise office buildings in downtown Dallas were being evacuated. So I knew that it was for real. I continued home, hugged my wife, and watched the terrible events on television.

Our church had a special service that night. There were more people there on short notice than we usually have for the Wednesday night service. We prayed for our country, for the victims, and for the evil-doers to be brought to justice. That was the appropriate response. Our faith is still in a sovereign God.

One thing I am grateful for is that there were not as many victims as I first thought. I had envisioned tens of thousands of casualties. Thanks to heroic rescue efforts there were not nearly that many.

One way I have changed is that I have more respect for New Yorkers. I see them now not as "yankees" (half the word), but as wonderful Americans who deserve our respect and admiration.

[agrace]

My husband works in NJ, just across the George Washington Bridge. Until mid-2001, he worked in Manhattan, first downtown in the Woolworth Bldg (he took the train into the WTC each morning) and then shortly before he changed jobs, his office moved to midtown. We live in Somerset County, NJ (at first my husband thought the PA plane went down in Somerset Co, NJ) and on 9/11, he called me after the second plane hit. Until that moment, I hadn't yet turned on the TV, even though my habit is to watch the news first thing every morning as my kids and I (then 4 and 6 months) get moving. That day we got a slow start, and I still remember my husband's "Are you watching this? Do you have the tv on? PICK UP THE PHONE NOW!" on the machine as I headed to get the phone.

When I read this thread, I went back into my email files and read the exchange that the two of us had that morning. It was really tough, because almost immediately, local communication was completely stopped. I was on the phone with my mother in PA when the second tower fell - for a while, long distance still worked, but soon after that, nothing. Phone circuits were jammed (no doubt around the country!), email was excruciatingly slow, and all local channels were snow.

Here's our unedited correspondence. I think it speaks better than I do. First are some emails from the Emergency Email Network that notifies of storms, etc, followed by my first email to my husband. For some reason, the sent times on his emails were way off. The last email exchange is with my husband's best friend, who works downtown.

From: The Emergency Email Network
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 9:32 AM
Subject: World Trade Center, NYC

Two planes have crashed into the twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
AP reports that the incident to be an act of terrorism.
United States Financial Markets openings have been delayed
and some some markets closed to the day.
More information as it becomes avaliable.

From: The Emergency Email Network
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 10:04 AM
Subject: FAA has SUSPENDED ALL AIPORT TRAFFIC

FAA has SUSPENDED ALL AIPORT TRAFFIC

From: S
To: K
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 10:36 AM
Subject: ARE YOU THERE???

I can't get through on the phone, all circuits are busy. This is unbelievable. In the past half hour, I have watched BOTH towers collapse. I have no tv coverage except one local station and CNN - the other news channels were probably in the WTC. There are F16s enforcing a no fly zone over Manhattan. A 3rd plane crashed into the Pentagon - no live pics there. LOWER MANHATTAN IS ENTIRELY COVERED IN SMOKE AND DEBRIS. DO you have a tv there? I want to talk to you!!! Please call me on your cell if you can get through. XOXO Better yet, come home!!!!!

From: K
To: S
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 7:27 AM
Subject: Re: ARE YOU THERE???

I am here. I have been trying to call you. We are listening on the radio only.

Pray, pray hard.

From: S
To: K
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 10:44 AM
Subject: Re: ARE YOU THERE???

The local news has said that New Jersey is on high alert, whatever that means. The second plane was from Newark. I want you to come home. I'm not kidding. With that said, I can't tell you how much I would be freaking out if you were still in Manhattan!!!!! Part of the Pentagon just collapsed - live shots on CNN.

Please keep emailing me - its the only link - don't mean to be melodramatic but this is the biggest thing that has ever happened to the US.


From: K
To: S
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 7:35 AM
Subject: RE: ARE YOU THERE???

Brian just said a plane crashed in Somerset county. Are you still there?

From: S
To: K
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 10:52 AM
Subject: Re: ARE YOU THERE???

Yes we are still here. Why are YOU STILL THERE??? DO you think it would just be too much trouble to get home at this point? I can understand that. I may call Norths soon and ask them to come here or for us to go there. Talking to M right now, her husband works in Newark and is on his way home. They expect smoke from lower Manhattan to reach pretty far out. They are monitoring an unidentified plane flying over DC. Thank God, Bush was in FL when all this happened.

From: K
To: S
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 7:43 AM
Subject: RE: ARE YOU THERE???

I don’t know if I am coming home or not. At the very least, I want to finish some things. I understand you want me to come home. I will see what I can do. TMB is worldwide and is not closing.

From: S
To: K
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 11:02 AM
Subject: RE: ARE YOU THERE???

I understand. THe highways are probably jammed right now anyway. If you want to try, I won't stop you. :) TD just called - emergency prayer meeting at church tonight at 730. Guess your trustee meeting is cancelled. The plane that went down in Somerset Co is Somerset Co, PA - plane hijacked from ALlegheny Natl Apt -= commercial, and no doubt full of people.

From: S
To: K
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:25 PM
Subject: Unreal

(17:55) Israel evacuates embassies, Palestinians celebrate
By The Jerusalem Post Internet Staff

Israel has evacuated all of its embassies throughout the world in the aftermath of today's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, according to a CNN report.

Reports are indicating residents of eastern Jerusalem, the West Bank, and southern Lebanon are celebrating the mass terror attacks in the United States at this time.

Dozens of Palestinian youths have taken to the streets and are distributing candies on a main thoroughfare passing through eastern Jerusalem.

Israeli police are reportedly clashing with the youths.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority policemen are attempting to stop the spontaneous celebrations.

From: The Emergency Email Network
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 2:37 PM
Subject: UPDATE: NYC Disaster

Summary: World Trade Center - Pentagon Attack
A third building (Building 7) in the World Trade Center Complex collapses.
President returning to Washington. Will address the Nation later tonight.
Sign up for e-mail notification from the Network is at
http://www.emergencye.com/

From: S
To: K
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:34 PM
Subject: Trustee meeting

It's cancelled - M just called.

From: S
To: E
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 3:57 PM
Subject: are you ok?

Hey E, K didn't know if you were still in Cleveland or if you had come home by now. Where are you and are you ok? PLEASE let us know asap. Thanks, S.

From: E
To: S
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 10:35 PM
Subject: Re: are you ok?

Hey

I am okay. I will call tomorrow. Today was chaos. I had three crews headed into the city this morning, and it took most of the day to make sure they were all okay. The rest of the day was spent trying to see if we could lend any lighting or electrical help. The attempt to donate blood was turned away too.
Thank you for checking.

Love you much. Talk to you soon.
E

My husband and I stopped emailing when we did because we could finally get through on the phone. At some point, local tv came back on as well, but the signal wasn't always the greatest. My husband finally made it home, but not early because his usual hour commute took over 2. When he did come in, he sat in stunned silence for a while, catching up on the day's footage, all of which he had missed while at work. By then, almost every single channel was showing live coverage.

One of our friends from our church was on the 84th floor of the second tower when the first plane hit. Rather than heed advice, he and many others headed down. He was just a half dozen or so floors below the second plane crash when it happened. Hours later, he finally found his wife, who also worked in Manhattan but further uptown and who was convinced that he was dead.

Going in on the 12th took my husband 3 hours, and he was stunned by the sight of the huge cloud of smoke completely engulfing lower Manhattan as he drove up the NJ Turnpike and looked across the Hudson. The smell of smoke hit our neighborhood (30 or so miles west of Manhattan) the afternoon of the 12th - a friend who lives 2 blocks away called and asked "Do you smell that???"

That Saturday, we took a drive up the turnpike so I could see what my husband had been watching all week, and he was right - the smoke cloud was immense, and seemed to cover half the city. But even after looking across the Hudson, it was a long time before I could really accept that it actually had happened. It was just so surreal.

To close out my very lengthy post (thank you for the indulgence), here is an email I sent on the 12th. It's very appropriate, because in the aftermath, amid the heroic rescue efforts, the incredible relief donations, the raising of the flags at just about every address, public and private, and our military response and preparations, I've never been more proud to be an American, and never before realized just how much that meant.

From: S
To: K
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 11:46 AM
Subject: Aircraft Carrier

The George Washington is being tracked by local news off Long Island - just left Jones Beach area heading for Manhattan. What a sight she is.

[DC native]

It was moving day for me, from Southern Maryland to Northern Virginia. The movers were upstairs listening to the radio, and I was downstairs on my hands and knees cleaning the floor where the washer and dryer had been. The movers had been teasing each other all morning, so when one of them came downstairs to tell me a plane had flown into one of the towers, I didn't believe him. Soon after, he came down again to tell me about the second, then about the Pentagon.

We all looked at each other and wondered how we were going to even make it across the Potomac into Virginia. As I approached the river, I could see helicopter patrols flying low over the Potomac, up and back, up and back, in groups of four. As I crossed the Woodrow Wilson bridge, the smoke from the Pentagon was clearly visible, and the traffic leaving DC and Arlington was gridlocked. My children were scattered in Maryland and Virginia, but I knew they were ok and that we were very fortunate. After I got to our new home near Dulles Airport, I went outside and watched the F-15s literally thundering overhead all day as I waited for the movers to arrive.

I did not sleep at all that night or the next. We have been to the Pentagon several times since then, and once to the WTC site in New York. I bought a cheap little junk statue of the Statue of Liberty, something I never spend money on...just in case. Thank you for this opportunity to remember.

[discostu]

In general I live in a bubble from about 8 at night until 8 in the morning. I don't watch TV news, I don't listen to the radio period, between FR and "mainstream" news websites that's pretty much my contact with the outside world. The TV is usually off by 8 or 9 on weekdays, and never on in the morning at all (and anyway History Channel doesn't do a lot of breaking news coverage). Since it was a voting day instead of my wife and I heading of in opposite directions from home we drove down to the polling place in our own cars to head off after voting. She actually listens to the radio, we piled out at the polling place and she said "some plane hit a building in New York, everything is confused, the guy on the radio said he doesn't know what's going on". The people in the polls seemed their usual oblvious, so I voted and headed to work as usual. For some reason I didn't think to yank the CD out of my stereo and listen to the radio.

Morgan Stanley owns the top floor of the building where I worked (unfortunately past tense, down economies aren't good for startups, I'm back at work now, just not there). When I was walking in the building I saw a couple of people I knew worked their crying. Somehow I thought this might be connected to what my wife had said. There's a guy I worked with who was always in VERY early and well connected to the news sources, thanks to our pony cube life I would sometimes ask him if there was anything interesting going on in the world. That day I said (this is permanently in my psyche) "what the hell is going on"
"two planes hit the World Trade Center"
"Planes?" (hands close together) "or planes?" (hands far apart)
"big ones, 7 something 7s"
"oh shit"
"the World Trade Center collapsed"
"both parts"
"yes... and a plane hit the Pentagon"
"holy fuck"
"everything is grounded"
"that's good"
"two planes still unaccounted for" (as near as I can tell the 4th plane had just crashed in Penn when I got to work, remember things were very confused)
"Oh hell"

Then I heard the sound of the TV coming from one of our co-worker's cubes. We went over there. Saw the footage of the towers going down, the news broke about the 4th plane, at that time they still thought there was 1 unaccounted for, saw the towers go down again, saw the second plane, saw the towers go down. The rest of the day is a blur. Had my radio on a news station, spent a lot of time on FR. Smoked a lot. Went over to the TV periodically. Listened to news radio driving home. Got home, watched Fox news until my eye blurred (which was officially wednesday). Got up, turned on Fox News, car radio, radio and FR at work. That got me through the week. I remember thinking it was very important that I watch the beginning of trade on the stock floor the next monday, I did. Stopped listening to the radio at work that day (not that I ever truly listened to the radio the week before, my reception was lousy and mostly I heard static). Wednesday the 18th I actually watched TV other than Fox news... I watched TLC's BBC coverage. Then Fox did that retrospective "as it happened" thing (I think that was the next friday). Then the sports came back and that kind of pushed my brain back in the right direction. It wasn't until the 13th that I thought of my friend from New York and checked in on him (usually when bad stuff happens my first thought is "who do I know there" and the second thought is "who do I know with loved ones there", the fact that it took two days to get to the second though says a lot), he lost 3 friends BTW, but his father got stuck in traffic and never made the meeting he had in the the South Tower (since then I've heard a lot of stories of people that weren't in the building because they got stuck in traffic, life long New Yorkers that should be able to compensate for the traffic, kind of interesting I think).

I don't know if I can define how I've changed. Most days the world seems crisper than it did on 9-10. Other days the world seems more blurry and confusing. It never seems the same though. I can still close my eyes and see it. The most vivid memory is actually of a kid, must have been 10 or 11, covered in ash and dust, a New Yorker in one of the many crowd scenes. He was screaming one sentence over and over. "Why did I have to see that?" That pretty much some it up for me. Why did any of us have to see that?

[inflorida]

My memories of 9/11 are similar to a lot of the responses I have read on this thread. I spent most of the day at home just glued to the TV and in shock.
I had been in NYC for the first time during the summer of 1990 with my parents and on the morning of our last day in NYC we visited the WTC and went to the top. In June of 2001, my husband and I took a cruise out of NYC, port 92 I think, and I was so excited about the embarkation. We boarded the ship early and after unpacking and eating lunch, he wanted to take a nap while I wanted to go on deck and just enjoy the view of the city. I remember telling him to be sure to get up in time to see the WTC and the Statue of Liberty. He made it up on deck just in time as we passed the WTC. I took many pictures and we had our picture taken together as we passed the towers but unfortunately I was using a new camera and when I removed the film, it got tangled up and we lost all of the photos.
What's funny is that my memory of that embarkation is clear except I don't remember a lot of the WTC as we passed it. This didn't happen until after 9/11 but my husband remembers it clear as day.

The day of 9/11 itself started out normally for me. There was one small thing that happened that I remember as though it was this morning. I got up as usual at 6:30 and fed our cat, got breakfast out, etc. while my husband got ready for work. After he left at 7:30 I went back to bed for a while (I work from home and stay up later than him). I happen to wake up a little later and I remember turning my head to see what time it was. My alarm clock was one minute fast and it said 8:48. I have heard different accounts of when the first plane hit, either 8:46 or 8:48 but either way, I will always remember that moment as either the last minute of normalcy in our country or the first minute of hell.

[ItsBacon]

9/11 started just like any other school day for me, I woke up at 5:30 and went to school. I was sitting in my Creative Writing class and we had just finished watching the school news program when an English teacher from down the hall came in and whispered something to my creative writing teacher. I'll never forget what came out of her mouth.

"They've bombed the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

She turned on the TV to CNN and the images of the smoke pouring out of the top of the WTC and then the Pentagon reminded me of something out of a movie. My first thoughts were "God, save this country," and then I had to continually remind myself that what I was witnessing was actually happening. We sat in stunned silence for the next 20 minutes and then attempted to get on with class. The rest of the day was a blur. At lunch (around 10:50 to 11:20), I was in my psychology teacher's classroom with about 20 other students and we were all glued to the TV as we watched the first collapse. A student wrote on the chalkboard, "The message will be sent. Attacks against America will not stand." I had psychology right after lunch and the teacher had turned the TV down right before the second collapse, only to have to stop class and turn it back up as the fate of the Trade Center was sealed. In Physics, we had a lab that day that we all did but none of us had our minds on it. When I got home, I remember giving my parents a big hug and then they left to donate blood and were gone for a few hours. I was in FR's Yahoo chat room discussing the Fox News coverage for most of the rest of the day as I had cancelled my weekly piano lesson due to the attack and couldn't think about homework.

A few little things of my day that stood out:

In my creative writing class, we had a writing journal that we did at the beginning of class and our assignment for that day was to write a funny story that had happened to us. We had all done the journals before we found out about the attacks and it always was strange to look back to that day's entry and see at the top "9/11 - Funny story".

Several years ago, my aunt and I visited New York City and I have a framed picture of me on the Statue of Liberty ferry looking toward Lower Manhattan with the Twin Towers prominently in the center of the picture. I came home and pulled that picture off the top of the bookshelf that it's on and looked at it and started crying. I remember putting my thumb over the Trade Centers to try to visualize what the skyline looked like without them, but I couldn't fully comprehend it until this past July when I once again visited NYC and could see Lower Manhattan and Ground Zero.

Every time I think about the attacks, and especially now that I've visited Ground Zero, I can't help but be inflamed with anger at the evil that did this. They may not get what they deserve on Earth, but they certainly will in Hell.

[austingirl]

CNN is abominable, but the health club always has them on. I rushed home so I could watch Fox.

[CARepubGal]

I was driving to work. At first it sounded like a Tom Clancy novel being read but it quickly became evident how real it was. Every base went into lockdown immediately and people huddled around radios in shock. Downtown SD was a ghost town. I came home, logged on to FR and registered that night. President Bush was amazing during all the turmoil. One of my cousins was a volunteer firefighter on LI. He lost qa lot of friends. Another cousin in the AF reserves was called up 3 days later. A coworker who was a retired Marine wanted back in to "get the bastards OOHRAH!" (at 65 years of age). The American flags and slogans went up almost immediately which was a relief. One boy and his dad stood on a bridge over I-15 waving a large American flag.

[185JHP]

We've killed some human filth. We're going to kill more. The craziness of the Islamists goes so deep, they don't comprehend what their actions are going to cost them.

[CARepubGal]

Oh and River Rat & Travis McGee say it best regarding the cowardly rat bastards that perptrated this act. Muck Fecca is about the best I can do. And pray for the families who are left to mourn.

[Rollee]

I went to work in downtown Chicago, in a building that looks very similar to the WTC. Someone told me that a plane hit one of the Towers. Our company had offices from floors 100-108 of the second tower. The phone rang, and it was one of our executives from NYC. He was on the bridge, going into Manhattan and saw the first plane hit. Then he saw the second one. He called people in Chicago, where our company was HQ'd and finally got someone to answer the phone (me). I will never forget the sound of grief and rage in his voice. Many of our people were killed that day, and many more died on the inside.

I spent from 9/11 until 1/30/02 dealing with the murderous devastation - listening to stories, people raging, people crying, and much more, too much to mention. Most of my friends in NYC survived physically, but not mentally. 9/11 has changed me forever.

I found different employment this year. Much more of my time is devoted to conservative activism, becoming involved in my community politics, and helping people find homes. Selling real estate gives me a chance to help people realize the freedom of homeownership. It's satisfying and healing.

Never again will I leave this country. My heart breaks all over every time I think of 9/11 and its carnage.

I pray for the victims, families and friends daily. Most of all I pray for President Bush, VP Cheney, AG Ashcroft and the rest of the good guys. Sorry for the long post, I don't get asked this question too often. God bless you, MHKing for asking. Not too many people want to hear the answers.

[Rollee]

My husband went to enlist, but was told he's past the age. I applied for a firearms owner id card (I live in Illinois, near the people's republic of Chicago). Haven't bought the gun yet, financial concerns. I lost my job on 1/30, and haven't had a lot of disposable cash lately.

[Rollee]

I think like that too. I had the "funeral conversation" with my husband. He called me a ghoul.

[Rollee]

haven't stopped since, it's made me a damn crybaby.... I see pics of 9-11 and still cry....and yet I also feel so hardened inside. I wouldn't feel a thing if every Arab/pali/islamic/middleeastern man, woman and child was wiped off the earth right now.

You certainly are not alone. That is exactly how I feel. I cannot say that to my liberal freakazoid sisters, they think I am the family's right wing kook. Thank God for FR. I will think of you, and pray that we heal, but we will NEVER FORGET, will we? God bless you and yours.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Wait until the next attack and we'll see.

[tubebender]

I was still asleep here in Eureka CA but my wife rises at 4 AM and meets our daughter around 5 for a one hour walk. TWhen she got home he TV was reporting the first hit so she woke me up to come see. My first thought was a flashback to WWII when the B26 crashed into the Empire State building and I wondered how that could happen today. We watched as the second plane hit and I was confused how two planes could do that altho I think they were already reporting other planes were off course. As the hour played out I was really trying to comprehend how they could do these highjackings with the restrictions in place (I thought at the time). I'm retired so we just watched TV the whole day.

Our Granddaughter was born Sept 11 1984 and her brother was born Sept 11 1988...

[CARepubGal]

I am with you on the firearms thing: I just started a new job (worked temp for the last year 1/2: Thanks to BJ & Hitlary). After getting out of debt, I want a nice handgun (with proper permits of course). Any suggestions?

[patton]

M1911A1 .45 CAL - You shoot, they fall down and play dead.

[two23]

I was at home that morning...a family member called and told me to turn on the TV...I then saw the 2nd plane hit...I ran to my daughters room (age 19) and told her: "wake UP--we're under attack"....family left work and came home (self employeed). By noon time, I was in the grocery store--still in shock...stocking up on enough dry goods and bottled water to last a few month's (weird, huh?)
Almost a year later..I now maintain an emergency supply of food and water (and ammo). I FINALLY got a tool box and created the mother of all first-aid kits (something I always talked about doing)...and got every member of my family each their own 14 day supply of iodide tablets...
I keep my gas tank full.
Spending time on the outdoor shooting range restores confidence and relieves stress. I do that every weekend (weather permitting)
I have a greater appreciation and a daily renewal of what freedom really means and how much I value that for myself and family.

[Darheel]

My company lost 3 at the WTC, and we helped in the recovery of 30 businesses in the aftermath of the attacks. I had the honor of traveling to the WTC site in March, saw the free-standing girder-Cross and flag there, and said my prayers. Feelings run deep and emotions run high, but in the end America will triumph, of this I have no doubt.