September 11, 2001: What were you doing when you heard the news?

Question

What did you think? How did you feel?

Answer 1

I had been out with friends and when I got home at 1am(in australia) I switched the TV on to find one of the Towers burning so I changed the channel because it didn't register but all the channels had the same thing....from there I watched live the second plane hit and the ensuing collapse of the buildings. I didn't go to bed until 9am I was in total shock thinking what the hell is going to happen to the world. I remember crying for all those people and the sheer brutality of the whole act of terrorism. They were right when they said it was the day that changed the world.

Answer 2

I live in a small town in the middle of the country, but my husband was born and raised in NYC. His family still lived there and his sister worked less than a block from the Towers. She often shopped or went to lunch there. We were at work (worked at the same place) when someone came in and said a plane had hit the WTC. I went to my husband's office to tell him. I just thought it was kind of a bizarre accident until we learned a second plane had hit. Someone went out and got a television and we turned it on and watched the entire thing unfold. My husband was on the phone desperately trying to get in touch with his mother to make sure his sister was alright. I remember thinking it was definitely a terrorist act and hoping it was not a domestic terrorist. I remember Janet Reno plowing down a commune in Waco and all of the anti-government groups that became so violent after that. I could imagine that kind of thing happening again, especially considering 9/11 was only 3 months after Tim McVeigh's death. I felt a kind of bizarre relief upon learning the terrorists were muslim fundamentalists. I spent the next week in shock and glued to CNN.

Thankfully, my sister-in-law escaped serious injury. She did see the planes, the fire, the people jumping to their deaths and she had to run 30 blocks to escape the collapsing towers, but she made it home that night. I later learned another friend of ours from our tiny little town in the middle of nowhere died in the WTC that day. He worked on the 103rd floor of tower 1, so he basically never had a chance. I drive by his parent's house nearly every day and they still have a flag and memorial in their yard. I say a little prayer for them every time I drive by.

Answer 3

I was working for NY State in Albany at the time. I was in a training class on a local college campus. Usually I worked in the tallest building between NYC and Montreal.

We took a break, turned on the radio and heard the news reports. The Student Union was in the same building to we ran to find the nearest TV. We turned on the TV just as the second plane hit the towers. I was breathless.

One of the men in my class was a manager of 3 offices in the towers - he would have been there that day if not for the class.

I was supposed to go to NYC later that week for my Aunt & Uncle's 50th Anniversary. We were going to make a day of it. Our #1 spot in mind to visit - the World Trade Center.

Answer 4

I had just turned CNN on & that's when I saw the second plane hit tower 2. It felt like a dream. I panicked because I live in W, New York and didn't know what was going to happen after that. Terrible day, I won't even watch the videos they replay on every anniversary.

Answer 5

I was driving a work van in Manhattan about 10 blocks a way. I had a guy who was in his 50's crying and asked me if I could take take him home across the river and that he would give me any amount of money i wanted. We made it to his house about 7 hours later and i dropped him off in the driveway and he lived in a million dollar house and didn't offer me a penny. He said he seen the 2nd plane his tower 2. If I had to do it over i would of picked up a girl..Stupid me! I was not even thinking, everyone was in shock!

Answer 6

I was sleeping in my bed, near my brother's (we were in the same room at the time), when suddenly there was yelling. Both me and my brother woke up and ran to where the screaming was to find our parents at the computer, looking at the dreadful news... I remember going to school and the event barely talked about. Which was pathetic of course. But American teachers are such wimps, trying to avoid as much as possible. Just a moment of 5 minutes' silence and we go back talking about multiplication-- the nerve!! Anyway, back home, I snuck in my parents' room with my mother crying to find the awful scene of the event on television... we both cried hugging... she felt devasted. I felt devasted. I have chills now as I write-- everytime I think about it. It's there, all in our hearts. And always will be.

Bless the victims and their families-- I send my strongest sympathy and sincerest best wishes to them!!!

Answer 7

I was watching Good Morning America when it all unfolded, I saw the second plane fly right into the tower, I sat and watched as the each tower fell, and as every thing else happened that day. it will never be forgotten, the day JFK was shot.

Answer 8

i used to live in morris county, new jersey, about 30 miles or so from the city. we went to the city every weekend, every holiday, and with every guest. i was in 6th grade and we had a lockdown procedure and early dismissal. it was the scariest thing that ever happened to me. i went home and my mom's eyes were glued to the tv, my brother, who was a sophomore in high school, watched it live when his teacher happened to turn on the news to put it an educational video. that night, our little neighborhood had sort of a candlelight vigil. it's not that much fun when you're only 11 years old.

Answer 9

I was in school. The teachers told us that two planes hit the world trade center. About an hour later the fire alarm went off in our school. There was no fire but it still was scary. I was sad when I heard the news and saw the videos it was very disturbing.

Answer 10

I was at home and turned the news on and remember feeling scared and mad at the same time... I was in shock... I remember the feeling the whole day, it was just awful... Monday is 5 years... cant belive it, already! I remember going to work that afternoon and no on knew what to say