What were you doing on 9/11/01?

The Australian ^ | September 09 2003

[facedown]

As Tuesday is trash day, I was collecting trash, bottles, cans etc. to put out at the curb. As always I had the tv on in the background. A bit belatedly the news of the first tower came on Fox News. At that time they were saying that they thought a small private airplane had lost it's course and crashed into the tower. I was very doubtful based on the size of the whole in the side of the building.

I immediately called my wife who, along with her cohorts, was cubicle-bound at a large corporation. As I was describing what was going on the second plane hit right before my eyes. It was then clear that this was no accident and there would probably be more.

As FR, and the rest of the internet for that matter, had melted down, for the rest of that morning I was the eyes and ears for my wife and her coworkers. The Pentagon, the crash in Pennsylvania, the collapse of one and then the other tower...

What a terrible day.

[AppyPappy]

I watched it all unfold on FR. People were asking me what was happening because I knew more than the news. I remember leaving work and looking up to see a blue sky devoid of contrails. Even the small airport next door was silent which was unusual. I remember it was eerily quiet.

[montag813]

On September 11, I was tired after spending a day working on the outskirts of the Holy City of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

That city is "holy" only to worshippers of Satan. The day when Israeli jets turn it to ashes will be a day long remembered in glory.

[ChynaMdsn]

Was standing in the lobby at work watching everything unfold. One of the Korean managers said "get back to your desk, this doesn't concern you". Can't post my further response to that.

[Made In The USA]

We can not forget where we were that day, the shock, what we felt, and how we felt as we better understood the source of the terrorism. As painful as it can be, I'd encourage everyone to watch at least one of the 9-11 documentaries showing this week to relive the horror. We need to remain just as angry, just as shocked, and just as focused on justice as we were on 9-11.

[Skooz]

I was at work. We had a bigwig from Regional Office here for a little meeting, and the security guard interrupted to say that someone had crashed into the WTC. Then again when he heard that the Pentagon had been attacked. The bigwig was a little bit of a blowhard and it took a while for him to conclude his talk. I then rushed to my computer and logged on to FR.

I went home for lunch, and Air Force One flew right in front of me as I parked at a redlight. After lunch, I went back to work, but it was closed and everyone had gone home. I then went home and spent the rest of the day watching the news.

[KevinDavis]

I first about it when I was on the way to work. I was listening to Mancow. I knew what it was a terrorist attack. My first reaction that there was going to be martial law. When I go to work, a lot of meetings was cancelled, nobody was working that day.

[geege]

I was at work with the phone company.....we had to stop traffic from coming into the city and only allow calls to leave the city since the machines were all congested....I remember what I was wearing and that I said to my sweetie that morning "another dull day"......I then went home and had a drink.

[AFreeBird]

I was home, having coffee and reading the paper. The TV was on, I don't remember what but not to the news, it was just background noise. A friend called from work to say turn on the news, an airplane just hit a World Trade Center tower. I was thinking something along the lines of a private plane or something, not an airliner.

Anyway I turned it to Fox News and was watching a reporter speaking about not knowing too much, with the WTC in the background and one tower on fire belching smoke, when I noticed an airliner come into view from the right upper side of the screen, banking and then disappear behind the second tower and then a massive fireball.

The word "Stunned" does not properly define what I felt. As I continued to watch, mouth still open and coffee gone cold, I heard about them clearing the skies. I had a portable scanner nearby and turned it on to Indianapolis approach. Normally a relatively quiet channel except certain times of day. Today was like nothing I'd ever heard before. The chatter was non stop. Professional, concise, but many, many different voices, one right after another. I think all in all, they landed over 60 planes in the course of an hour.

JFK, MLK, Challenger - rememberence of where you were on those days will forever pale in comparison to September 11th, 2001 (9/11)

[sheik yerbouty]

It was 5:56PDT in the morning and my mother in law, who lives 5 blocks from ground zero, called and was in a state, telling us of a plane flying low near the Brooklyn Bridge.She said that there wasa deafening roar and a huge concussion. My wife and I thought that she had gone mad, or had a terrible nightmare. My mother in law said "Turn on the TV!' We did, and Gail Anderson on KTLA was describing a terrible accident at the WTC, when a second plane came into view, turned sharply, and flew into the second tower. We heard the blasyt over the phone.
This was a day I won't forget; nor will I forgive those who did it, or their supporters or sycophants. May doom be upon them!

[DoctorMichael]

I was coming back from the cafeteria with coffee at 8:45, heard something disasterous had happened and immediately 'booted' and pulled up the feed from C-SPAN on my computer in time to see the second plane hit.

My mainland Chi-com Post-Doc, as he looked over my shoulder at the computer, said, "This is what Amelika gets for sticking their noses in other peoples business all the time."

[Phinanceguy]

I, along with several thousand Airport directors and executives from around the world were attending the Airport Council International annual conference being held in Montreal,Canada. As we were arriving at the Palais de Congress convention hall at about 8:45 AM a person hollered that "a small military" plane had crashed into the WTC.Some of the people from the Port Authority of NY & NJ cell phones started ringing as they were receiving calls from people in the WTC telling them what was going on. We quickly found a TV set in the Press Room and watched the television reports. As we were siting there. along with many senior FAA officials watching, the second plane hit. It took a few seconds for it to register, but we all then knew for certain, this was no accident. Everyone was on there cell phones back to their respective airports getting updates as the North American airspace wasd quickly shut down by the FAA. Sitting and watching the steps being taken to close the airspace down was to say the least, and very interesting experience. When the two buildings collapsed it was sickening being with people who lost many of the coworkers from the Port Authority as they watched helplessly.I will have these memories until the day I die.

[sheik yerbouty]

AMEN!

[Destructor]

I was at work. Someone got a T.V. from a conference room, and I watched it all unfold. I felt emotionally numb for about 5 days after the atrocity. Two years later, I'm still angry about the atrocity, and I've developed a deep seated hatred of Muslims.

[section9]

That Tuesday morning I had had the pc off and the TV as well. I turned on my old PC and happened to go to FR and saw the first alarms that were raised.

By the time I had turned on the TV, the south tower had been hit. I had to go to work, and for the rest of the day watched the goings on with my fellow employees.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[dirtboy]

I was living in Colorado so I had just gotten up. I got a call from, of all people, my ex-wife, telling me to turn on the TV.

[surrey]

I was having my morning coffee awaiting word from my daughter who was due at any time. My husband was enroute to NJ ,from L.I, but we thought he was in NYC. My son was also in The Pru in Boston. My daughter's biggest fear was that she would go into labor that day and have to go to her designated hospital in Boston. Our grandson delayed his entry into the world til the 15th. My oldest son in CA spent his morning worrying about all of us on the East coast.

[the lone haranguer]

I was at work. As I walked in, I noticed a large number of people in the breakroom, watching TV. Someone said that a small plane had hit the WTC. A bit later, I was in the President's office (he has a TV) talking about the first plane when the second came out of nowhere and hit. None of us could believe what we were seeing. I called my wife, who was at home preparing for my son's 3rd birthday party. His birthday is 9/11. She was shocked at the news but called me later to tell me the first building had come down. I watched the second. I was immensely saddened and sickened by what I knew to be a huge loss of life. I was also saddened, for a short time, that my son would forever have that memory associated with his birthday. I am still sorry it happened, however I am no longer sorry it occured on his birthday, because now his birthday provides us a time to reflect upon the many blessings in our lives, and a time to appreciate the freedoms we have, and the sacrifices that were made for us by brave and heroic others. My daughter was born the following Flag Day. We are thereby regularly reminded of the greatness of this country and our good fortune at having been born here.

9/11/01 - Let us NEVER forget.

[rageaholic]

I was flying a Cessna 172 over the Hudson river, saw Flight 11 flash by passing my nose, seemed about 1/3 mile out and slightly higher, coming from the North. Then a black cloud over the WTC. Then a lot of conflicting radio calls. It was a bad, helpless day. Haven't flown since.

[al_c]

I had just arrived at work when the second plane hit. We gathered in a small room to watch the coverage then we clung to the internet for the rest of the day. I ended up staying on FR as all the news sites were jammed. A coworker from the Middle East was opposite my cubicle wall and we were both keeping others updated. When she found some info before I did, I asked her "What site are you on?" I heard gasps from her cubicle as she and two others thought I had asked "What side are you on?" The only bit of humor from that day.

I called my dad to see if he was watching. He wasn't but said that mom had called and told him a small plane hit the tower. I told him to go turn on the TV. He did ... just in time to see the first tower collapse. "Whoa" was all he could say.

God bless all those that were lost (and those that lost loved ones) that day.