First reaction thread from Freepers on September 11th, 2001

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[Lisa_from Buckeye Country]

The reactions of Freepers after the first plane hit.

[Biggirl]

I remember that Tuesday morning so very well, I had just gotten into work for a local community college and was on the phone with my “season citizen” mother when she thought when the first plane hit the first tower it was a movie going on. I thought it was a tragic plane crash, but when the second tower was hit, I KNEW it was TERRORISM.

[HangnJudge]

Was at work
Heard that a plane had hit the WTC
At first, thought it was an accident

While watching the TV, the Second Plane hit...
Then knew it was an Act of War...

The anger was intense,
as was the sense of
grief and loss

[ezo4]

I signed up here at FR that day to get fast news - been here ever since

[Biggirl]

Also I was in too much shock, which lasted for me for about a week.

[Steely Tom]

I also live in upstate New York.

We drove to Rhode Island the weekend after 9/11. I was amazed at all the flags attached to overpasses.

I attended a NASA-sponsored SBIR event in Albany about two weeks after that awful Tuesday. At the luncheon, the seniormost NASA representitive, who was the "keynote speaker," led the entire room in prayer. There were about 250 people present.

We all prayed too. You better believe it.

[PGalt]

Thanks for posting the link. Never forget. Never forgive.

[Clintonfatigued]

I remember that day. It was unreal, watching those buildings collapse.

[Lisa_from Buckeye Country]

I was at work at the time, as an admin asst. My cube was right next to my boss’s,office and he never left, at that time of the day. I went down to the breakroom, and everyone was just starring at the tv, my boss included. He was the type that wouldn’t even leave his office for a fire drill. I went out for a cigarette, and I swear I saw the plane that crashed in PA, as they had grounded all air traffic at that point. Then, after I heard the Pentagon was hit, at that time my niece and her hubby lived in a suburb of DC. Called my sister, and she couldn’t get through. Also called both of my kids, just to hear their voices, even though they were both here in Ohio.....

[PGalt]

Thanks for being here Lisa. Ray was one of the great posters of all time on this forum.

R.I.P. sir.

love

[HereInTheHeartland]

“Never forget “Let’s roll”. Never forget “3000 Americans” and the soldiers who continue the fight against a dastardly enemy. “

Amen to that.
And let us keep that in mind as we all work for the upcoming elections. Who is in office DOES matter, and we can influence that.
Some politicians do not want to think that our nation does have enemies.

[bigredkitty1]

I was at work with my radio headset on. I kept a small, handheld tv in my desk for breaks and such. I pulled it out and turned on the ABC affiliate here in Dallas. Video feed from the Twin Towers showed that one had been hit. As the feed continued, you could see the second plane in the background.

My first thought was it was terrorism. The common sense side of me said there was a rational explanation not terrorism related. Less than three minutes later, the second plane plowed into the other tower.

We were sent before noon that day. I spent the rest of the day glued to my tv, praying it wasn’t as bad as I feared.

That night, I slept better than I had since I was a child. I felt this strange, complete peace as I drifted off. I just KNEW the country would get through the rough times ahead. If The Almighty could take the time to calm my fears, He would steer us through the long months ahead. He guided President Bush in the dark days and weeks after the attacks, of that I have NO doubt. I say this with all sincerity: God Bless President Bush.

[reagan_fanatic]

I was just pulling into work that morning when the announcer said something about a small plane striking one of the towers. It didn’t sound too bad at the time. My idiot boss wouldn’t let us turn on the TV so I got most of my info right here on good ol’ FR.

[smokingfrog]

Shock

Anger

Then very proud to be an American after hearing about the heroes of Flight 93.

---

Good to see you back Lisa.
We miss Tater.

[j.argese]

yeah, the voices thing is important.

[Mozilla]

Heard on the radio that a plane hit. I then turned on my AM station that later ran Rush Limbaugh and heard the ex-host, who has since left to another city, while I was working a job I have since left. I followed the rest when I got home on FOx News and on Drudge Report and on a website about 9/11.

This was the website: http://www.september11news.com/

[Tainan]

Can't, and won't forget it.
I was living in socali and heard the beginnings of it as I was driving to work. Sat in the parking lot of the convenience store I usually stopped at and listened further. Went inside the store and it was stone silent as the TV covered the events. People were crying.
A young Samoan woman who worked there was getting more upset by the minute. She was comforting a Mexican co-worker who was shaking with tears. A Viet Namese guy stocking the shelves just kept saying..."Damn man..what is this?" over and over. People coming into the store had a looks of fear and confusion on their faces. A lot f confusion.
I got to work and we had the TV, internet and radio on the news. Our phones were silent. It was that way all day.

One thing I remember was how the skies were empty by noon. All a/c were grounded. This was along the Orange county coast. A LOT of a/c traffic was normal...It went empty.
Very eerie to have no air traffic.

[CitizenM]

That day and those minutes will always be in my memory. I had just turned on the radio at my desk at work. The announcement about the first plane striking the first tower came on and I immediately thought...this was no accident. However, I did not think of terrorists, I thought it was someone suicidal or some crazed former airline employee who was angry about being fired or something (like going postal). I stood up and shouted across the room to my coworkers about it, and in that time the second plane hit. We all knew then it was an attack on our country. No one had any doubt.

One employee grabbed the TV from the break room and set it on a table in the center of the office. For the next several days it ran continually and no one really worked. We were all glued to the television, in disbelief and hardly speaking, except to discuss what we had watched at home in the evenings.

Politically, we were a mixed bunch, but everyone agreed that President Bush displayed confidence and determination, and was reassuring to Americans. Not one person criticized his actions or questioned his resolve. It was such a unifying time, even if the event that brought us to unity was so tragic, we agreed his strength was apparent and were glad he was President and were solidly behind him.

[TonyInOhio]

Glad you stopped for a visit! I miss Common Tator; I sure learned a lot about Ohio politics from him (and enjoyed it all).

[depressed in 06]

My first reaction was I hope we don’t lob a couple cruise missiles for this. God Bless George Bush and Dick Cheney.

[Publius]

I was on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight on the way from Seattle to San Jose for a summit of West Coast rail advocacy groups. We were coming into the Bay Area and I was on my way to the dining car when one of our group told me what had happened in New York and Washington. My first thought was that World War IV had just begun, and I was hoping for the first use on nuclear weapons since 1945.

The meeting never happened as the California people were at their emergency stations. We spent a night and day watching CNN and listening to totally quiet skies when it was time to take the train home. We were lucky we had decided to do the whole trip by train, because those who chose to fly either couldn’t come to San Jose, or were stuck in San Jose indefinitely.

The train trip back was the trip from hell. We missed every dispatching slot on the Union Pacific, and we were held for 5 hours on a siding in the mountains of Northern California because of a terrorist scare in Utah that turned out to be a false alarm. We got into Seattle’s King Street Station 10 hours late, but we got there. Never was the site of that old building more beautiful and more welcome.