Where Were You On 9/11? Tell us your story!

Personal ^ | Monday September 11, 2007 | Milwaukee_Guy

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Might be a good time to revisit how we all heard about the the attack on 9/11 and how we reacted to the darkest day in American history.

What emotions were strongest for you on that day?

How did you find out? Did you stay at work? Did you go Home? Who did you call?

[Balata]

I was watching tv waiting to leave for my tee time at a local military base. Needless to say I never made my tee time, however I recorded the events of the day on my VCR from the very start. I have footage that the networks later refused to show.

[thefactor]

i lived about 4 blocks south of the WTC at the time. i was on the subway when it happened. when i got on the subway, all was right with the world. i got off at my stop and as i reached the street i saw a fellow with whom i worked. as we began walking together he said, "did you hear a plane hit one of the twin towers?"

i asked what kind of moron would do that and offered that is must have been a small private plane. didn't even look over my shoulder to see if i could see smoke.

i got up to my office and everyone was huddled around the tv. that is when i got my first glimpse of the damage. the second plane had already hit. i was floored. i rushed back to my computer, made some calls to family and told them i was fine. i also logged on to FR and posted some gibberish about what the hell was going on.

i went back and watched the towers as they collapsed. the one thing i remember saying to everyone in the room was, "do you have any idea how many police and firefighters were in those buildings? a lot."

i then began to walk uptown to my dad's place. i knew i would never make it home. the streets were filled with people just trying to get somewhere...anywhere! a couple of us from work tried to give blood but the line was around the block already and they informed us they would only be taking the rare blood types and to try again later.

i was out of my apartment for a week. no running water. i snuck past a checkpoint by walking along the water because i needed to see that my place was still there and i really needed some clothing. it was weird seeing military vehicles on wall street.

i then took stock of my life and had no idea what the heck i was going to do. for a variety of reasons i knew i could not sit in an office forever, but i knew i could not leave manhattan.

long story short, in july of 2003 i took the oath as an officer with the NYPD. the sting of 9/11 was still with the guys who had been there firsthand. the stories they tell are fascinating and harsh and sad and uplifting. it was a tough day.

[eyedigress]

Thank You. I remember BKO (i was a lurker at the time) but his name I didn’t know. :^)

[txroadkill]

I was at work, I was in the middle of a big project and someone came in yelling to turn on the TV. I can't remember what that project was, but I remember the rest of that day like it just happened.

I guess like everyone else I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV just unable to wrap my mind around what I was looking at. I vividly remember watching the first tower fall, it was on split screen with the Pentagon on one side and the towers on the other. Half my mind knew I was watching the tower fall, the rest of my brain was telling me that I was seeing things, that what I was seeing couldn't really be happening.

[Starrgaizr]

It takes a lot of cash to smash two jets, don’t you think? Can you say Osama bin-Laden?

89 posted on 9/11/01 6:08 AM Pacific by HalfIrish

[RDTF]

amazing that thread has less than 150 original posts

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

I was in the Walmart looking for sneakers cheap enough to do yard work in, and throw away. (It was a messy yard.)
They announced over the system that a plane had hit the WTC tower. I figured a small plane like the one that hit the Empire State Bldg in the ‘40’s, but after a moment’s reflection, I got out of there and headed home. Planes don’t accidentally hit skyscrapers in Manhattan, not in 2001. We’d lived there years ago, and my mother used to tell me that planes flew low when she was little, and a blimp was a common sight, and balloons and stunts occurred...but not anymore. It had to be deliberate.

[Lorianne]

I live in Hawaii so it was mostly over before I heard about it (the second tower hadn’t fallen yet).

I went to work early but did not watch the news or listen to the radio. I was blissfully unaware. I turned on my computer and see a photo of a tower on fire, but I ignore it, thinking it was a movie promo or something.

A few minutes later some co-workers came in. One was crying. I heard from them but I did not believ it. I went back to the computer and read the news but I still did not believe it. We went to an office on another floor that had a TV and watched the second tower fall.

I keep saying no, no, no. Trying to negate what I was seeing.

It took about a week for the enormity of the whole thing to set in. Even now I cannot accept that such a thing could ever happen.

[Collier]

Thank you so much for your kind words.

A few weeks after 9/11, Madison Square Garden held a Concert for New York.

It was held for all the rescue workers and their families.

My family and I went with the Foley family.

We had to listen to the likes of Susand Sarandon, Richard Gere, and Bill & Hillary.

I’m happy to say they were all booed, but Hillary was actually booed right off the stage. She couldn’t recover and stopped talking after under a minute. Then she introduced Bill. He too was booed, but he’s much slicker than she.

He would refer to the firemen, and the crowd had to stop booing.

Anyway, tomorrow night, 9/11, MSG channel is replaying that concert. You know they are going to cut out use booing Hillary off the stage.

[Gabz]

May Tommy rest in peace.

NYPD is in my blood, but that also means so is FDNY.

God Bless them all.

[wastedyears]

I’m Stamford, ping me if the Muslims are coming.

[Shortstop7]

I was at work. Heard a newsflash on radio that a plane had hit the WTC. We all dashed to the TV, and saw the second plane hit. It was true horror for all of us to realize what was going on. I work in an office building, and started going around telling some friends in the building to be sure they knew.

By the time I returned to my office, the Pentagon had been it. No one could really work that day, so we all went home to watch on TV.

[exit82]

I was just beginning work and someone mentioned that the radio had a report about a small plane hitting the World Trade Center. I told those there—get on FreeRepublic.com we’ll get the story—and sure enough there was the historical thread, just beginning.

We all went to the lobby where there was a TV and watched the second plane hit and then the towers falling.

I would find out later that one friend, Bruce Van Hine, Truck 43,a NYFD firefighter, died in one of those collapses. His shift had ended, but he and his crew got on their truck and went to the WTC. Another senior couple I knew, Don and Jean Peterson, were passengers on Flight 93-they arrived at the airport early and the ticket agent told them there was an earlier flight to San Fran than the one they had tickets for. They were going to see their kids and grandkids.

They found Bruce’s remains when the took away that long ramp that was left to get into the ruins. All those anniversaries, and people were walking on top of him all of the time. The found Don Peterson’s bible—the one he used to counsel the alcoholics at America’s Keswick in Whiting, NJ—and nothing else. To his family, that was like a sign from above.

All three were fine, dedicated Christians, always in service to their fellow man. I miss them, but I know they were ushered into the presence of their Lord that day, and someday, I will see them again.

[LukeL]

I was in 11th grade at the time and taking a American Problems (Civics) test when my teacher said a small plane had hit one of the twin towers, I thought litte of it, thinking wannabe pilots get lost all the time and in a big city this is bound to happen.

Bout an hour later on my way to the restroom one of my teachers stops me and asks me if I know whats happening in Manhatten. I decide since it is my study hall to go to the library and watch on the tv they have. When I get there I am in complete shock and sick to my stomach, as myself and many people are watching in disbilefe. I am also shocked at how many people including adults are ignoring the news and more concerned about their own petty problems like studying or talking to friends.

Funny thing is to this day I do not know if I saw the second tower collapse or not. I was in such a state of shock I don't know if I only saw a replay or the actual live event.

I could go on and describe my whole day in detail.

[Professional Engineer]

At my office within spitting distance of Dallas Love Field.

It was eerie quiet.

Thank God for FR and a T1 line.

[generally]

Thanks for posting. It’s good to be reminded that life goes on and there is still so much good in the world.

[Marie]

I was on top of the world because our beautiful daughter was born five hours before the attacks.

Wow! What a welcome to the world! *sheesh*!

I remember trying to get in touch with friends who lived in Manhattan. It took us two weeks to get through the busy phone lines and to finally locate them. They were in a bit of shock. They'd lost a few dear friends in the attack.

I felt so stupid crying when they weren't. I asked one of my friends (Henry) how he could be so strong. He told me that the measure of his grief was a blessing. "I could only hurt this much if I'd loved really well."

I'm humbled still by that memory.

[Dawgreg]

Doing what I always did every morning.........watching Fox&Friends. When that bulletin came that what they thought was a private plane accidently hitting the North Tower I thought they’d get everyone out and it would be ok. How wrong I was.

[Christian4Bush]

marked

[RobbyS]

Drove my wife to work. Cming back, I thought about stopping for breakfast, Changed my mind, came home, put on the coffee anbd turned on ABC morning show. After a few minutes, the first plane struck the twin towners. ABC turned to the event, and while we all were watching, the second power hit. Then we all knew, it was no accident. Got a call from my daughter who was working n a building, a non-profit, a few blocks from the White House. She was looking at TV, too. While we were talking, I saw a picture of the Pentagon. It had been struck. She didn’t notice, so I told her its was the Pentagon. Oh my God. What should we do. You all should get out of the building, they being so close to the White House, and there was alread a rep;ort that a fouirth plane was in the air. She signed off. They were evacuating the building.