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

Personal ^ | Monday September 11, 2007 | Milwaukee_Guy

[AFA-Michigan]

I flew to Baltimore-Washington airport on Sept. 10th and rented a car to drive to D.C. for the next day’s meeting. The lady offered an upgrade to a larger car for only $5 more. Having no expectation of anyone being in the car besides myself, and thus not needing a bigger car, I inexplicably (to myself) shrugged and said sure, I’ll take it.

Stayed at Days Inn in Crystal City, within a mile, I think, of the Pentagon. Took the subway the next morning, which stopped under the Pentagon at about 8:30 a.m. (I’ve wondered since: did any of the people in uniform who got off my car go upstairs to die within the next hour?)

Continued on to our mtg location two blocks north of the White House. I was the first speaker. As I began, the moderator interrupted to inform us that a small plane had hit the WTC. Unfortunate, we thought. I finished my presentation, at which point someone wheeled in a TV and said, “you’re going to want to watch this.” My presentation thus because the first and now last part of what was supposed to be a day-long meeting.

We watched the second plane hit, then shortly thereafter saw black smoke OUT THE WINDOW of our building, rising from the Pentagon.

Not knowing what we might face on the streets of Washington, I remember asking one of the secretaries, “Do you have any weapons here?” (Of course, they did not in heavily gun-controlled D.C.)

Again, not knowing what we’d face once we left the building, I also remember standing in the men’s room, praying, “Lord, whatever you require of me today, I think I’m ready.”

We kept trying to call 911 and 311 to see if we could be of any help by going over to the Pentagon. Never could get through.

Cell phones were jammed, and I wasn’t able to get through to my wife and children til about 8 pm that night. Mid-morning, though, I did get through to my Dad, who as a Marine had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. “Guess where I am today,” I said. He guessed New York, but D.C. was close enough. Uniquely qualified to make the comparsion, he immediately declared the attack worse than Pearl Harbor. He said, “We were trained and armed. Today, they were just men and women going to work.” (Plus, at that point in the day, expectations were that the number of people killed may have been ten times or more the number lost at Pearl.)

At some point mid-afternoon, on the D.C. radio they announced that if we wanted to leave town, do it now, because they were going to close the bridges in and out of D.C. The streets quickly jammed full of cars, and when they were gone, the only thing left on the streets were military Humvees and heavily armed soldiers at each intersection, while Air Force jets flew overhead. In America...surreal.

One remarkable site as we made our way to the subway station to go back across the river to get my (larger) rental car. Not one but three “Marine One” helicopters flew over the White House, then suddenly one of them quickly descended and landed on the White House lawn. We assumed that one carried the president or V.P. and the others were decoys. At another point, people from the vicinity of the WH were running north toward our building, hurried along by police.

Most nervous part of the day was getting back on the subway (remembering the subway gas attacks in Tokyo) and going back under the Pentagon...but it didn’t stop there this time.

Got my inexplicably larger car, filled it with folks I could drop off as I headed west back to Michigan, and took off. Took two hours to get from Crystal City to the beltway, not much traffic after that. Drove past the exit to Gettysburg...couldn’t help but think that we were all part of history today too. Tried to rent cars and split up at several points, but as far west as Pittsburgh, still no rental cars available anywhere. If I’d flown straight into D.C. as I often do and not rented a car the day before, we’d have been stranded. And if I hadn’t accepted the offer of a larger car, wouldn’t have had room to take others with me.

Listened to President Bush address the nation while driving. Dropped a couple off at the Dayton Airport, which was now “bunkered” with concrete obstructions and armed guards. Slept in Dayton, then drove back to Michigan the next morning.

Aside from what I’ve written above, have only general recollections of anger, sadness, and very much regarding the people who’d died that day — having flown into the D.C. area the day before, and being scheduled to fly back out the next day — the feeling that “there but by the Grace of God went I.”

[Froufrou]

“I think a lot of us stayed sane that day because of FR.”

I was leaving home early, just backing out of the drive, when I heard about it in the car. I thought it was a mistake or that I tuned in mid-quote of something else. I had missed the first tower hit earlier while preparing to leave the house.

Then the second tower hit was broadcast and I knew it was real. I had to pull over to cry. I was able to make it to work so I could call my hubby Rockstar, to see if he might be recalled. We thought he would be even though he was 45.

Soon after, living in a military town, we heard of many career soldiers re-enlisting, some with their sons and grandsons. I cannot describe how that makes me feel.

[Santiago de la Vega]

I was in Belgium, working on a software project.

I took the train to Paris for my flight home, and was trapped there for a week.

Trapped?

I stayed in a Paris hotel waiting for a plane connection.

The hardest part was convincing my wife I was miserable.

She wasn’t buying it.

I didn’t try too hard to sell it.

It was great. I did all the things I never get to do when we’re together.

(No, not that.)

I went to museums and archives on a research project.

I also went to every French dive I could find, the ones my wife hates.

[acad1228]

I was at my desk, listening to da blues of course, when my wife called and asked, "What the Hell is going on?!?!?!"

I told her I didn't know what she was talking about. She said, "A plane just flew into one of the World Trade Center towers!" Then she screamed, "Oh my God! Another plane just hit the other tower!" I told her I'd call her back after I found out something. In those days we didn't have internet access at every station, just one station in one room for employee access. But that was pointless as the web was locked up.

Fortunately, the company down the hall had cable TV. So I was able to find out what was going on. Work at their company as well as ours came to a stop as we all watched what was happening over the next few hours.

[tomkow6]

Afternoon, Acad!

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you. You too...

[The Right Stuff]

I was in aerobics class (in FL) when someone heard the news about a “small” plane that had hit the WTC. Right as the class ended, we heard that another plane had hit. Jokingly, I said to the woman next to me, “It’s Pearl Harbor.” When I got in the car, I found out just how right I was. I drove to school and got my then-third grader out, his older brother wanted to stay in school. Went home and watched the rest of the day on TV. Total disbelief. They kept speculating that there could be 30,000 or more deaths.

The left conveniently forgets all that.

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

I had just gotten out of Speech class. I went to the library to bust on my old English Prof, because he was a Steelers fan and my Raiders had beat them on opening weekend.

The librarian walked over and told us a plane had crashed into the Wold Trade Center. We went to the lounge and watch on TV thinking it was a terrible accident. Then we saw the second plane hit and all of us there in the room knew it was no accident. We watched in horror as they reported about the Pentagon, as the Towers fell, and the news of the plane that went down in Pennsylvania.

[texpat72]

We were at home, about to start school for the day. As soon as I heard about the attacks, I went to the bank for some cash, filled our gas tanks and went to the grocery store to stock up. At that point, we didn’t know what else would happen, and I wanted to be as prepared as I could. Later that day, I was going to attend a special prayer service at our church, but our daughter came down with the flu. It took two weeks for it to run it’s course through our whole family. We spent most of that time glued to the TV.

[rhombus]

I was in a class along with some very pissed off active duty military. We watched the coverage on a large screen television in one of the labs. People from my company as well as myself had taken that same flight out of Logan headed for LA many, many times in the past few years. Later we found out we’d lost a co-worker.

[USMCPOP]

I was at work, and someone caught it on the radio, so we all started watching the TV. One co-worker was on a trip in PA. When he heard about the Pentagon, he jumped in his car to come home, as his wife worked in the section that was hit. He passed very near where flight 93 went down. His wife narrowly escaped.

Then a little later that morning, I got this email from my son:

From: karl@++++.net
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 11:11 AM
To: ++++@++++.com
Subject: Terrorism

Dad-

I’m typing this at school during lunch. I went through the webmail backdoor, because the school isp blocks most communication sites. If you don’t already know, a bunch of planes, passengers and all, were hijacked and made kamikaze runs. First one plowed into the World Trade Center, causing one tower to collapse. A second plane, looked like a 737 or something slammed into the second one shortly thereafter. A little after 1030 we got to a classroom that was picking up the news, and right after that we saw the second tower go. Titus pulled the cable, doesn’t want the school panicking, but word is moving faaaaast. Also, a commuter plane hit teh pentagon, all key government officials are being evacuated, bush is on his way home. Unconfirmed reports state that a car bomb went off outside the state department. FAA has grounded everything and fighters can be seen scrambling. A few hijacked planes are still missing, another jet crashed earlier in the day a short distance from the airport, but no one is sure whether or not its related. 1 palestinian group has so far claimed responsibility, but they all try to be proud and stupid. The real perpetrators would know that once the US finds out, they would be incinerated into the stone age. This is an amazingly well coordinated attack, focusing on the major symbols of the free world, all within 1 hour. All the history teachers have studied and have known that there is gap in recent years that should be filled by a war, not just a little gulf war. Even I knew it was coming, but I never expected such a violent and unprecedented attack. This could easily erupt into a holy war if there are enough zealots in palestine and elsewhere, and could cause a huge conflict that could spell the end of the muslim faith. I hope it doesn’t get that global, but you can be sure the world will not let this one go unpunished. This is without a doubt the biggest, most vicious act of terrorism (if not an act of war) in modern times, if not the history of mankind. Looks like Bush and the military will be getting those funds to finish research on all those new weapons and fighters scheduled for the next 8 years. Well, I’ll see what’s going on when i get home, most of the news sites here are normally blocked anyway by the school isp. Just let you know that we heard it too. Now that I’m done, there could have been another attempt at something, although national security forces probably would’ve intercepted. Nonetheless, the nation has been really jarred, and while I fear what’s going to come, most of it is channeled into anger in knowing that something will happen. Take care, and buy more ammo.

-Karl

---

Nine months later, he joined the Marine Corps as a reservist.

[GregB]

Yes they did the bunch of traitors!!! It is a shame on the Anniversary of 911 they are all over TV slamming the USA,the gall of them may they rot in hell!! Thank you for your service to Your Country!!!!

[Titan Magroyne]

Your story of the selfish investor witch reminds me of a particular poster at the non-political Internet board where I used to post quite heavily.

While planes remained grounded in the days after, this well-known board loon had the temerity to whine about spending days stranded in Hawaii, keeping her from returning to CA or KT, wherever it was she called home. Of course she got “shouted down” even more than usual.

In a different thread she started, she crabbed about how the US economy was doomed and, in what passed for her wisdom, advised everyone to cash in everything and stuff our mattresses with the money. While normally I stayed out of the wackiness, I told her she should stock up on ketchup to make those American dollars taste better as she huddled in her trailer with the lights off and black helicopters flying hither and yon looking for the space aliens living under her outhouse. In better days she’d been a source of amusement, but ...

Gawd, we all of us wanted to reach across the keyboard and throttle the addled wench into blessed silence.

[drymans wife]

I have been reading these since you posted this last night and I couldn’t stop reading them. That was such a pivotal day in our Nations History. It was a day that never seemed to end.
I can remember every moment as if it just happened in detail.

I lived in Rockwall, Tx about 20 miles east of Dallas, which is where my husband (dryman) and myself grew up.

I took my daughter who was 6 to school, as I was coming back to the house I commented to myself what a beautiful day it was.

I got home and my husband dryman was ironing and watching Fox. He said some small plane flew into one of the towers.
I sat and watched as everyone was trying to figure out what exactly happened. They weren't sure if it was a small plane or a larger. As I sat watching the news I watched as another plane flew into the other Trade Center Tower. I was like “oh My God” and screamed to my husband who was getting ready that another “F’n” plane flew into the other tower. He came out and watched with me and said this is no accident.

He had to leave for work so I watched wondering what might happen next. I thought about my neighbor who was a good friend was from Manhattan. I called her but she didn’t answer. I just left a message to come over as fast as she
could because I wasn’t about to leave that kind of message on her phone. She called right back. I told her to come over to my house right now. She didn’t ask why, she just came. When she walked in my living room, I told her what
was going on, not long after she got there we watched the second building come down. We held each other as we cried.
Her son use to work in the towers and was getting ready to
get married. She begged him a month before to move away from there because she had a bad feeling that something was
going to happen. Thank God they moved to Texas before this.

However, Jessica did lose family members that day. They
were firefighters.

I left my daughter at school because I felt it was probably safest there.

The only time I felt comfort was when all the planes were grounded, then I didnt feel like a sitting duck, wondering how in the hell has this happened.

Later that night after I put my daughter to bed. Not saying anything because she was a 1st grader and couldn't possibly
understand, I went and set outside in my driveway with Jessica and other neighbor moms and looked up at the sky that was still so clear but this time quiet. There were no Airplanes flying to and from DFW. A sight I hope we never have to look at again.

The most sereal and longest day in my life.

[fatima]

I was home,sleeping to the last minute and then
planing to drink my coffee on the way into the thrift
store.The phone rang around 9AM ,it was my oldest daughter
and she told me to put the TV on.Just as I did the 2nd
plane went into the World Trade Center.I looked on the
internet(Free Republic) for more info and saw there
were supposed to be planes flying over PA that were
high jacked.I left for work and watched the skies.I
remember looking at people that were driving and most
were on cell phone and looking upset.When I got to the
thrift store I put the news back on and began to cry.A
woman walked in and asked why I was vying.She went out
to her car and brought back a bouquet of flowers for
me and I said let’s pray so I put the flowers in front
of a 5 foot statue of Our Lady and we knelt down and
prayed.She left and a priest pulled up who I did not
know.He said he wanted to rent half the building and
help pay the mortgage.I had forgotten that it was the
last day of our Novena to St Theresa and here our
prayers were answered and I didn’t care.I told him I
would get back in touch with him and left to go home.I
called my youngest daughter to pick her up at high school but she said no.She
wanted to stay at school to help the girls that were
upset.Some had been called out of the classrooms
because loved ones were missing.The same thing was
happening at my Grandson’s school.One of my daughter’s
best friends father was a pilot.His next door neighbor
was a pilot.The day before they had traded places and
his next door neighbor was the 2nd plane that went
in.I never did team up with the priest,that was the last Novena that I ever said.

[stevie_d_64]

I work(ed) at NASA doen in Houston...We have TV’s plugged into something from here to Christmas...

We were getting word and seeing what was happening right from the start...

I was in a meeting with some of the crew flying to the ISS for an assembly flight...

The rent a security mob came in and grabbed the astronaut crew and shuffled them off site away from “danger”...Left us sitting there wondering what was going on...We already knew there was an attack in progress, yet no one told us if there had been a decision that JSC was a target...

Kill a bunch of astronauts and you can set back the program years...

But we were left hanging...

I decided at that point after telling my wife to get out of the tallest building (target) in downtown Houston to go home...

The rest of the day was just surreal...Shock was the least of the reaction to me...I was angry because I already knew who was responsible, but knew we were not going to be able to rain on his parade for a while...

This event was the bookend to a year that saw our house flooded twice by Tropical Storm Allison, both of us got laid off from our jobs by October, my wife from WorldCom and me from the NASA Contractor I worked for...

So it was the beginning of a long rut of income loss, job market insecurity in which we are still reeling from to this day...

But it was an awakening to the fact that nothing will ever be the same, nor will there be a “normal” like we had before 9/11/2001...

I believe we have a substantial amount of payback to lay out before its all over...And it shouldn’t stop with Iraq and Afganistan...If you want to pin a nation state to this issue...Those two states are being dealt with...There’s one biggy next door that needs to be smacked just because...

And I personally wouldn’t be offended one bit if we did...Its been a long time coming for that group of yahoos...

[JRios1968]

I arrived at my office at Tyndall Air Force Base at 7:00 AM CDT, ready for another day monitoring contractor maintenance on the air-to-air drones. Our hangar had TV sets all over the place, where we could watch the missions and the missile shots over the Gulf of Mexico.

Every morning we had a 7:45 AM meeting, where we would recap the prior day’s flying and discuss the requirements for the current and following days. That morning, we had rescheduled the meeting for 8:15 AM. At 7:50 AM, as I prepare to go to the building next door, I pass a group of contractors watching intently one of the TV sets.

I asked “what’s going on?” They answered “looks like a plane flew into the World Trade Center.” That got my interest, so I started watching with them, discussing what we thought might have happened. Then flight 175 struck, and a lady from the South Tower who was being interviewed on Cee-BS said “oh my God, did that plane just hit US?”

I ran through our hangar, turning every TV that wasn’t already on the news to FoxNews. Needless to say, the meeting was cancelled.

A little later, as we were watching on our biggest TV, I turned to one of my coworkers and said “I think the Towers are coming down.” She replied, “no, perhaps those floors will topple over, but it’s not possible for the entire building to come down.” I reminded her that my college degree was in civil engineering.

Not even 20 minutes later, the first tower fell. By then we had already decided that this Nation would be going to war, and enacted our wartime security plans.

Later that night, when I was finally able to see my wife, I wept...took me a long time to realize why I was weeping.

[Just another Joe]

I was in Charlottesville, VA.

I had flown in to Charlottesville Sunday.
I had started a 24 hour fast (not eating solid foods) Sunday evening and was at work in the Sprint Central Office installing a new piece of gear in the telephone network.
We had vendor personnel there to help with the install.

I had gotten the vendor personnel started on the install and was sitting down to check my email when someone in the office yelled that an airplane had just hit one of the World Trade Center towers.
I immediately checked Free Republic and was lucky enough to get a connection. Sure enough, there it was on FR.

I alternated between the TV in the office and Free Republic most of the morning,

While watching the TV one of the vendor personnel (They were all middle eastern types, Pakistani, and Lebanese I think) said that it was probably Palestinians and what did the USA expect?
I immediately set him straight that there was no such country as "Palestine" and told him that no matter who it was they were in deeper than they wanted to be because the USA would hunt them down and make sure that they couldn't do it again.

The vendor personnel decided that they would get in their rental car and drive back to Chicago that day.

On a side note, while standing outside immediately after finding out about the second plane hitting the other tower and the Pentagon being hit all of a sudden I heard sirens, a LOT of sirens. Looking down the street I saw a cavalcade of fire engines, ambulances, and police cars go streaming past on the highway leading out of town.
I found out later that the entire city of Charlottesville had been left with two fire engines, one ambulance, and three police cars while everyone else packed up and went to the Pentagon.

After returning to the hotel room I randomly opened my Bible to the following scripture. I thought then, and continue to think, that God sent me a message.

The scripture I randomly opened to was Psalms 108.

[[A Song [or] Psalm of David.]] O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.

Awake, psaltery and harp: I [myself] will awake early.

I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

For thy mercy [is] great above the heavens: and thy truth [reacheth] unto the clouds.

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;

That thy beloved may be delivered: save [with] thy right hand, and answer me.

God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

Gilead [is] mine; Manasseh [is] mine; Ephraim also [is] the strength of mine head; Judah [is] my lawgiver;

Moab [is] my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.

Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

[Wilt] not [thou], O God, [who] hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?

Give us help from trouble: for vain [is] the help of man.

Through God we shall do valiantly: for he [it is that] shall tread down our enemies.

[girlscout]

I was at work by 8:00 CDT, sitting at my desk listening to my radio when the announcement came on over the radio that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. At first I thought it was just a tragic accident and then the second plane hit. My boss left to pick up a TV to bring to the office so we could better follow what was happening. I will admit that when the third plane hit the Pentagon I freaked. I live near Nasa as well as a large industrial area. Fighter jets were sent up from Ellington Field to police our air space. Blockades were put in place at the chemical plants to keep potential car bombs out. I stayed glued to the TV for two weeks and kept my eyes open and alert to potential threats in my area. I will remember those days for the rest of my life. A great deal of crying and praying was done in that time.

[dead]

Beautifully put, Anna.

That morning, I brought my newborn daughter home from the hospital for the first time. We just got a delivery of a cookie basket that somebody sent, when my older brother called and couldn't believe I was unaware of what was going on. I thought I was just having a nice day off with my newly enlarged family and didn't have the television or radio on.

I spent most of the day hugging my then two-year-old son (who had no idea why I was so upset) and trying to contact various family members. My younger brother called me crying from a bar in NYC. He had a lot of business friends who worked in Cantor Fitzgerald and knew they were gone when he watched the building fall. He worked up the street from the WTC at the Travelers Building with my sister. She watched the second plane hit from the corporate lunchroom of her building. She walked down to the trading floor she runs and ordered everybody to get out and go home.

It took hours for my sister-in-law to reach my other brother. She worked in WTC 7 until that day.

The next few days were spent waiting to find out who I knew that died. I was pretty lucky. I have lots of friends who work in the financial markets downtown, so I didn't know if any of them were in those buildings that day. My friend Bob was treated and released at a hospital when a piece of glass sliced his back in the collapse. But no other close friends were harmed. My father's cousin, who I don't know well, was on the 101st floor of one of the towers when the first plane hit. He was an elevator mechanic who walked down, directing firefighters to groups of people he knew about and helping them find sources of water. He walked out about ten minutes before the building fell.

I worked a few years earlier for Marsh McLennan in midtown. I found out that after I left, they moved many in my department to the WTC. I knew a few people who died there, including an unbelievably friendly and skilled young guy I worked for. He was about to be made a director of the company. He left a wife and two kids.

It still hurts so much to remember that day. I can't thank the people who are bringing it back to those who support the ridiculous "cause" that brought that hell here. I take some solace everytime some jihadi douchebag gets blown up in the desert or some mountain cave. It's a start.