Where were you

[gonfishn]

when the first plane hit the towers. My wife and i were crossing the Peace River Bridge coming back from the falls when the first plane hit. They closed the border as we were crossing. It was the longest ride home wondering if we were at war.

 

[garbageguy]

I was at the office and wondering why everyone was (quietly) watching the TV in the conference room, then I went to look...

There's a memorial in a nearby park that I ride by often. I always take a moment to reflect on all that it means - we must never forget

 

[Volphin]

I was in my office and remember watching it on the conf. room TV. I remember getting highly pissed off..

 

[southkogs]

I had just gotten up (worked second shift back then). I remember most all of it very vividly as I was keenly aware of what was going to happen to the building because I was a facility manager for a building designed by the same architect as the WTC.

Creepiest thing I recall locally was seeing a combat air patrol of 2 F-16s passing back and forth over Nashville. My guess is they were inbound to look over Oak Ridge.

 

[gm280]

I was in the office and we had set up a large screen (tube model of course) TV and the managers/supervisors made a schedule for somebody there to watch the news swapping out every hour. However, we had a young girl in the office at the time that had folks coming into the United States and was worried sick about them. So I gave up my hour time frame to her so she could at least feel like she was doing something... Sad day for this nation, but it did bring everybody together no matter gender, race, color, or religion proving that we are all one people when we need to be...

 

[ondarvr]

I was just leaving the house headed for the airport to go to Sea Ray, I had scheduled a later flight that day than normal, on the normal flight I would have been in the air and stuck in Phoenix when they shut down all flights.

 

[littlerayray]

I was at work and we all stopped to listen to the radio reports

 

[Tnstratofam]

I was at work at a small retirement home in Asheboro NC. I was the maintenance manager there and knew allot of our residents. The staff kept tabs on what was unfolding in NY, DC, and PA. We tried to keep the residents busy and occupied as the day and days wore on.

I will never forget the response one of the residents had. He was a WWII vet and was watching the news in his room. As I walked by I stopped to check on him as I could tell he was very upset. He looked me straight in the eye and said " I'm willing to help the people who are hurting today, and if they'd let me I'd pick up my rifle to take the fight to the enemy who has done this to our great nation." I told him he was a great American and thanked him for his service. Then I told him to rest it was our turn to battle evil.

I had been out of the Air Force for 5 years and all I could think about that day and for many days afterword was how could I get back in to make a difference, I was told by a recruiter "Thanks for your service but it's our turn to fight evil." It was and has been very humbling for me all these years. I pray for all the souls lost that day and in all the years since, and I pray for our nation and all nations still.

 

[boatman37]

i was working 4-12 and sitting on my couch watching TV while my wife was getting ready for work. i told her about the first plane and that they thought it was an accident. i saw the 2nd plane and knew then. i grabbed my .40 glock and went and picked my kids up from school. i live just north of pittsburgh and likely that flight 93 flew right over me a few minutes before it crashed.
my mother-in-law was buying a new car and was at the dealership signing papers. she still has that same car. i will never forget that day

 

[Limited-Time]

I was at work and walked into the conference room just after the first plane struck the first tower. I remember watching plane two target the second tower and saying out loud "Holy sheet we're under attack" My first trip to ground zero a few years later was very emotional and sobering :numbness::numbness:

 

[ehenry]

I was in my car sitting at a red light on Pascagoula St. in Jackson on the way to work. Heard it on the radio. I picked phone up and called Pop.

 

[Harritwo]

I was at NAVSTA Ingleside, By the time the 2nd Plane Hit, Our alarms were sounding, It was Emergency Underway. Steamed solid for 7 days before pulling in for Food, Fuel and back underway. Base went to Lockdown, all ships were directed to Sortie. Within 2 hours, every ship in Ingleside was underway. Didnt get to tell our families anything as we didnt have time to let them know. We left with not knowing and return date unknown.

 

[poconojoe]

I was in bed. I had worked the overnight shift in tower 1. Working nights saved my life. I knew a lot of people that were murdered that day.

 

[southkogs]

I was in bed. I had worked the overnight shift in tower 1. Working nights saved my life. I knew a lot of people that were murdered that day.

I've met several folks in your position ... I know I'm not that close to the whole thing. Sorry that you've got to carry that burden.

 

[angus63]

I was on the Long Island Expressway just east of the WTC.

 

[StingrayMike]

I was deployed on the USS Tennessee SSBN 734 on patrol when we got the message traffic. Didnt really know what was going on. We had guys that had family who worked there (luckily everyone was safe).
we didnt get to see any footage for 2 months after the fact.
very difficult time. my commanding officer has a brother who worked in the pentagon. when we pulled in, we had a chaplain ride us in, never heard of, so we figured the worst. good news that he was ok. the chaplain was there just in case.
really weird watching the videos and reading the papers after the fact.

 

[NYBo]

I was at work. When I heard about the first plane, I told some coworkers that I figured it was some small plane, probably from Teterboro Airport, who got turned around somehow. The second one hit, and the reality of the situation became clear. Two of my friends were NYC firefighters, and another friend an American Airlines pilot. When I called their houses, all I could manage to say to their wives was, "Is he alright?" They were all safe but we lost 5 FDNY members from our area that day.

 

[JoLin]

I was at home on Long Island. Just returned from FL where my Dad died in hospice, and was taking a few days' breavement leave. I was listening to the radio in the garage when the first plane hit. Broadcasters all thought it was a bizarre private plane accident... until the second flight came in. I ran into the house and turned on the TV, and all the stations were off the air, as they all transmitted from the WTC. It was awhile before I could find out what was gong on. Terrible, terrible day.

It wasn't until a couple years ago that I ran across the story of the 2 Air National Guard pilots who took off on a suicide mission to bring down Flight 93, the one that crashed in PA. I wonder how many people are even aware of it. No-one I knew had ever heard this one before. Brave, brave people...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...8cddbc-d8ce-11e0-9dca-a4d231dfde50_story.html

 

[MTboatguy]

I left my last duty assignment on September 1, 2001, the last 5 years I was on active duty, I was assigned to the Pentagon and was in charge of one the sections devoted to cyber security, I was supposed to be discharged in September 12th 2001, because of the attacks, I was retained and did not receive my discharge until 2006, I trained a lot of men and women in the next 5 years in close quarters combat strategies that ended up in combat.

On September 11, 2001 I had just returned from Cody, WY, I was asleep when the first plane hit, my partner at the time, called and my wife frantically woke me up for the call, he told me, I need to get up, with saying "We are at war!" for the rest of the day, I watched TV as the events were revealed, I spent a lot of time on the phone with many of the people I served with and many of my commanding officers. They informed me, that I needed to report back to Washington DC on the 15th for a duty assignment, there was no question on my part, I reported and as I said spent the next 5 years training.

I lost a lot of friends and people I knew on that day that were in the Pentagon, so 9/11/2001 is a day, I will never forget, I will never forgive and most of all will never get over!

There for the grace of go, go I and think often of how if it had happened 10 days earlier, I may not be here. Thank you to those who have served, those that have given and pray some of the work that I did after that horrible day saved at least one.

Rest in peace my friends.

 

[Jeep Man]

I was reprogramming an alarm system in a small office in Port Dover Ontario. There was no one there but me and just a radio on that the painters left behind. Very "War of the Worlds" situation as I didn't know if it was real or not. Went from there to a yacht where I was working on another system. They had a TV on which confirmed it was real. A memory I can never forget.