Where were you and what were you doing on the morning of September 11, 2001?

Question

I have lived in the NY area all of my life. I was only 20 yrs. old then and the mall I worked at overlooked the NYC skyline.

That morning it was beautifully sunny and warm. I was getting ready for work while watching Maury (a paternity episode) and I left my house just minutes after the first plane hit Tower One. I was walking to the bus stop when some dude yelled that a plane just hit the World Trade Center. I thought it was a small Cessna and I prayed that the people on the small plane were OK.


When I got to my first destination to switch to my next bus, a record store had their radio speakers on and the news people were talking about TWO planes. I got confused then, but I knew I would see everything for myself when I got by my mall. Both towers were on fire and the smoke wafted across the sky.

The mall closed at noon that day and we drove to the back of the mall where lower Manhattan was in full view. It was also cover in black smoke.

It wasn't until that Saturday that I heard that my former Sunday School teacher worked on the 93rd floor of Tower One at Marsh & McClennan.

He passed away in the attacks, needless to say.

Answer 1

I am from New England, but I was living on East 46th street and second avenue at the time. I worked back then right on 686 Broadway on the east Village over by NYU. I was about ten blocks away from ground zero.

I was on the D train going downtown past canal street around 8:45 when the first tower was struck by the first plane, and I saw the after explosion take place. It looked at the time to be a small isolated explosion on just a few floors, but as the train got closer you could see the fire expanding downwards on the building. I knew something was terribly wrong and that this was not an accident.

By the time I reached the streets from the subway, I could see crowds gathering in horror and crying and I remember crying out, "This is a war cry attack, this is no mistake". Of course the liberal leaning NYers there didn't want to accept it, but as I got to my office and turned on the TV it proved to be true. So much for that nonsensical demolition conspiracy theory some cooks out there have. All you had to do was be there that day to know it was not "staged" or unintentional. Noone will ever convince me of a conspiracy nonsensical thoery.

I remember after the towers collapsed and people were seeking shelter by our offices at the ground floor, you could see the white powder and gas masks on people as they walkbed by. They didn't even run, they were walking as if they were in a funeral procession. I've never seen or heard the city be so quiet. It was like a ghosttown, I was waiting for a whirling dervish to whip by like in the old west.

Cars slowly drove by and you couldn't even hear them. It was the eeriest feeling ever, amidst the gloom and destruction that had just taken place.

Then I remember three days later trying to get back into the city in the pouring rain and how the President had the guts and decency to go right into the fire and help out the WTC workers. A damn site near more than Clinton would have ever done, or didn't do after the first accack in 1993 on the WTC, where those terrorist bastards damn near succeeded back then.

That was my JFK moment and you never forget that, nor should we. God bless the troops, the war effort and the great patriots on United flight 93 that prevented another major catastrophe on the pentagon. One of the darkest days in our country's history.

Peace Through Patriotism.

Answer 2

We were stationed in Hawaii, so it was really early in the morning--still dark--when I became aware that my husband had the tv on very quietly in the living room downstairs. I looked over the balcony and when I saw he was putting on his uniform, asked what was wrong. He got all choked up and said he hadn't been able to sleep and had decided to check the news. When he found out someone had flown planes into the World Trade Center towers, he figured he'd have to go in early anyway...
I still remember sitting in the dark... watching the news in stunned silence and complete horror. I was shocked when my husband came back home less than an hour later.
He had tried driving to work, but the roads to get on base were already so crowded he only traveled a couple blocks before coming back to get his bicycle. He rode the 6 miles to work and ended up being one of the few people from his division able to actually GET to work that day, so he stayed about 16 hours. Similar the next few days as they continued to ascertain the threat to the rest of the nation.
I felt so helpless, so completely unable to contribute... I couldn't turn off the news--it felt like if I turned it off, my prayers for the survivors would be severed and become meaningless... Eventually as the effort shifted from rescue to recovery I was able to pull away from it, but everything felt so wrong. And whenever the clock hit 9:11 my chest tightened and I got teary-eyed. Not seeing any planes overhead was really unnerving at first. But not as scary as it was when they resumed flying...
It's not a day that I'll ever forget, even though we weren't doing anything particularly memorable... But it's a day that I think too many in this country WANT to forget. Me must never forget the lessons we learned that day... to do so would mean that all of those poor, helpless souls would have perished for naught.

Answer 3

I was one of the Training NCOs (SGT) at Eisenhower Army Medical Center...I had spent the morning trying to figure out how to get out of marriage counseling with my now ex wife so I could go fishing that afternoon...I was sitting at my desk when SFC Santiago came in and said that a small place had crashed into the WTC...we went into the Conference Room and turned on the TV...we were watching when the second place crashed...I said..."That wasn't a little plane..." About five minutes later we got a call that the US was under attack and that we needed to "Lock-Down" everything...I did not get a day off after that until Thanksgiving...It was a shock because I joined the peace time Army and in a matter of an hour we were at war...the thing I remember most about Sept 11, 2001 is that it was a beautiful day outside...

Answer 4

I remember I was at home watching TV, my shift at the phone company, where I was working at the time, didn't start until 1pm mountain time (I live in New Mexico). I remember seeing breaking news when the planes hit towers. I remember being shocked and anxious. I din't really know if I should go to work or stay home that day, but my job wasn't one that they would shut down.

When I reported for work there were special instructions up on how to handle incoming calls (I was a 411 operator) for days we had special security procedures and in the months following 9/11 they really beefed up employee and building security.

Answer 5

I live in Florida and was at work. Once it became obvious that the planes going into the towers were not an accident I tried to call my brother. He worked in Manhattan at the time, near the UN. There was a lot of confusion that morning and for all I knew someone was targeting the UN as well. The phone lines were jammed but I was finally able to reach him and find out he was OK. I spent the rest of the day trying to reach our father who lives in Malaysia to let him know that my brother was OK.
A couple of years later I visited my brother and the two of us went to see ground zero.

Answer 6

I was in a 2 hour lab class at college. One of my friends came back in form his smoke break, saying some girl just was freaking out & saying a plane hit the world trade center.

I said, "well, let me check the news." I couldn't get online. Also my cell phone signal had disappeared. My teacher's radio also couldn't pick up a signal.

I got a bit worried.... my BF had told me that morning that he was going to be at the WTC for a meeting, on one of the upper floors. He rarely told me exactly where he'd be.
I tried to call him from the pay phone in the hall, but his phone went right to voicemail every time.

I couldn't access the news, and the entire building was getting restless, so I called my mom. She told me what had happened. The second plane hit as we were talking.

I freaked out. The college sent us home, and I spent the next 12 hours an absolute wreck, thinking my BF had been killed in the hit or the collapse. He finally called me from a pay phone in Hoboken. He managed to get out on a ferry.
The meeting at the WTC had been moved back to 11 AM, and he had been at another meeting uptown. He had tried to call me too, but said all the cell phones had no signal, and the phone lines were jammed. We found out later that all of the people he was supposed to meet there were killed in the collapse. He still carries a measure of guilt that he is alive only because of a double booking.

Answer 7

I was actually in my first period French class in High School my Junior year here in Texas. After the pledge of allegiance a somber principal came over the intercom and recommended teachers turn on their classroom tvs because a plane had just struck the world trade center. We turned it on and payed some attention but I turned just in time to hear one of my classmates say "oh my God!... [explitive]!" As the second plane crashed and a massive fireball billowed out of the opposite side of the tower. The rest of the day was spent glued to a tv for the entire school. There was no loitering in the halls, as one class ended every student scurried to their next class to watch as further reports came in. There were lots of tears and it was the strangest and saddest day of my high school experience.

Answer 8

I live in Pennsylvania.
I was sitting on the couch having an arguement with my husband. I had the TV on but had the souind off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a plane hit one of the towers. I thought it was a movie.
Then it was replayed. I put the sound up and watched for the rest of the day.

Answer 9

I live in Texas and on that morning I also remember it being a very Beautiful Day. I heard it on the radio as I was on my way to work. I remember hearing of the second plane and knew that this was an act of terror. My heart went out to people of NYC.

I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your Sunday School Teacher.

It was very shocking to see this on television, I can only imagine being there to witness such a horror.

Answer 10

I was sitting in my 4th grade class. The teachers anounced that something was very wrong but didn't go into detail so I immediately thought about the high school where my sister was a sophmore. I thought that there was a bomb or shooting there and I got really worried about her. Then the teachers flipped on the tvs and we just sat and watched the twin towers crumble to the ground. It was horrible.