Any personal 9/11 memories?

Question

Would anyone like to share any experiences or thoughts about that day, where they were, what they were doing, how they reacted?

Answer 1

I lived downtown, not far from the towers. I was walking home because there were no available buses. I remember walking down Fifth Ave and you could see the burning towers in the distance. It was such a surreal moment, being in NYC and everyone walking the streets were somber and quiet, as if in a daze. There was so much quiet. The scene reminded me of the after effects of a nuclear holocaust. I arrived at my block and was not allowed through. I had to show proof of residency and luckily I had my mail with me. Once I was let through, I was stopped several times by people handing me masks and asking if I was okay. I remember shaking out my shoes and handbag, unaware of all the dust that had accumulated on me. I stayed in my apartment for two days, fielding calls from friends and family, making sure I was okay. I couldn't sleep, so I would look out my window, no longer having the towers as part of my skyline and watching the trucks going back and forth, loaded with debris. The floodlights and the sound of all the commotion outside my window haunt me to this day. The smell was something I could not describe. My friends and I called it the stench of death. Once I left my apartment, I was always handed a mask and asked if I was okay. The police that patrolled my neighborhood were friendly and their compassion was at times overwhelming. It was one of the few times I truly felt safe in the city.

Answer 2

My son was on a bus to Pittsburgh from Florida. He arrived in DC 30 minutes after the pentagon got hit. They dropped him off at the bus station, and then closed the station, after shutting down transportation. They left him and some others in the streets with no money, and no shelter. He went to the train station, which was open, but not running, and called me from there. My dad, who, at the time, was 75, drove 6 hours into DC to get him. Best part-- They never would give him a refund for the part of the trip he didn't make. Oh well, he's luckier than alot of people that were in DC that day.

Answer 3

I had been counting the days til September 11 because it was the release date of a new cd by my favorite band, Slayer. I went to work that day, and drove a long ways to a mall at lunch to buy the cd. The mall was closed becaues of the attacks! This was in Florida, so it didnt make sense to me, but whatever. On the drive back to work, there is a circuit city. I stopped there and got the cd.

Interestingly enough, the cd is called "God Hates Us All". There are record store promo posters for the cd that says "God Hates Us All - coming 9/11/01". They are collectors items now.

Answer 4

I've already shared that on another question here, but I can tell you this. That was also around the time that the Tom Hanks' movie, Castaway, was hitting the cable/ppv channels and I couldn't watch it. I broke out in a cold sweat and was terrified when in the beginning of the movie his plane went down. I still haven't, to this day, been able to sit down and watch that whole movie.

Answer 5

I just have to say God has a very dark sense of humor,, about the Slayer gag , great gag GOd, I laughed a lot just now as I read it
I was at work, and I opened yahoo to see my e mails and on yahoo news I realized something was happening in NYC
it looked fantastic in the pictures, the empire's fall I thought.
I dont think it was fair to the people who were in the towers that day but it sure was an eye opener on how much th US is hated throughout the world, its coldblooded foreign policy just had a coldblooded reaction from people who has been cornered by these policies and therefore have nothing to loose.
I am amazed you americans have votes again for Bush, keeping the same state of things and even worse.

Answer 6

I am originally from Boston and I was living in San Diego at the time. On my way to work that morning I turned on the radio and caught the very tail end of an interview with a marine at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar. I missed most of what he had said but I figured that there was something going on at the base and I remember thinking, "Oh great! Traffic is gonna SUCK!" Apparently they had been interviewing him regarding safety precautions at the base should an attack be targeted there. I had no idea why they would be asking him this. I then heard the reporter come back and he was saying something about New York and the WTC but it was mid-report and I couldn't make heads nor tails of it. Finally, the reporter announced that if you were just joining the broadcast he was going to fill you in. By this time I was crawling out of my seat trying to figure out was going on and I remember this incredible sense of foreboding just overcome me and I think I said out loud to myself, "Will someone PLEASE just tell me what is going on?!" It was then that the reporter announced that the WTC was no more, that it had completely collapsed to the ground after hijacked planes were flown into them.

It was only 7:30 am in San Diego and most of us got the news as we were driving to work. Most of us never even saw the footage of the horror unfolding until we got home that night and watched the rebroadcast on the evening news. By the time we woke up and heard about it, the tragedies and already befallen the East Coast. It was surreal and I remember being stuck in traffic and every car you looked into, the drivers and passengers were shaking their heads in disbelief, some were crying, some were gesturing frantically on cell phones. When I somewhat recovered from the shock of what I had just heard and came to myself and started listening to the news report again I learned that an American Airlines flight from Boston headed for LAX was one of the first planes to be crashed into the North Tower. A wave of panic washed over me as I realized that friends who worked back east took that flight as a routine part of their business travel. I felt like the walls were closing in on me as I was stuck in traffic, at least 20 miles from work, without a cell phone! I couldn't call anyone or get any news from anyone back home. I thought of friends in NYC. By the time I got to work that morning, I was a mess and the first thing I did was rush past everyone and hurriedly apologize and tell them that I had phone calls that I had to make. They all looked at me knowingly. I made my calls and learned, thankfully, that no one I knew was aboard those flights but there were people I knew in those Towers. God help the bastards who perpetrated these crimes.

Answer 7

I was at home going about everyday usual chores when my friend from across the lake called me to tell me to turn on my TV. She always watches morning news and I never do, so she knew I didn't know yet. I turned it on and could not believe my eyes. My son was in college in Providence and my daughter in college in Boston and all I wanted was them both to come home. It was such a helpless feeling. My husband was in the shower and when he came out I told him and we both witnessed the plane slamming into the second tower. It was like watching a movie about doomsday except this was real.

Answer 8

I had a important skipping habit in HS. I used to circulate to my buddy's abode till now college, hotbox interior the bathing room after which decide on if we felt like going. in some circumstances we stayed in and in some circumstances we confirmed up fried. If we confirmed up, we'd circulate smoke up lower back at lunch time. One time, I screwed up so huge at an identical time as skipping, i replaced into too scared to stand my mum and dad for a week. basically took off settee surfing. i'm greatly surprised i individually went back. they should have basically murdered me. quite, I graduated and thoroughly wiped sparkling up my act. nevertheless embarrassed with the help of the quantity of skipping I did and the crap I have been given as much as.

Answer 9

As bad as that day was, the worst part for me is that my son's 1st grade teacher told the kids that the Pentagon got hit, and told them that that's where the army is. My younger sister was at drills (she's Army Reserve), so he thought the teacher meant his auntie got blown up. He came home HYSTERICAL, and I ended up in a HUGE fight with the principal over it.

Answer 10

when i first heard about it my teacher was talking to her friend about it on her phone so my whole class was confused until she finally told us