Where were you when learned of or viewed the attack?
Were you personally affected by the attack?
What are your thoughts on this day?
Where were you when learned of or viewed the attack?
Were you personally affected by the attack?
What are your thoughts on this day?
kiwi / 633 posts
Where: I was in AP biology, senior year of highschool. The principal interrupted our class and everyone moved to the classrooms with TVs to follow what was going on.
I was not personally affected. There were 3 students in my highschool who had family members working in the WTC, all survived (thank goodness).
Today I'm grateful for the EMTs, Firefighers, and First responders to risked (and lost) their lives in the immediate aftermath. I'm sad for the loss of life and for certain aspects of the way the situation progressed after that day. Sending out positive thoughts to everyone affected.
pear / 1974 posts
Where were you when learned of or viewed the attack? I was a senior in high school, and I heard about it on the way to gym class. A lot of kids in our school started to freak out because a lot of parents in our school worked in NYC.
Were you personally affected by the attack? I knew a lot of people who lost loved ones in the attack, no one I knew personally.
What are your thoughts on this day? I work about 5 blocks away from WTC. it still amazes me how many people lost their lives, and I hope they were able to heal and move on. Also, I've been passing by the construction site on a daily basis for the past 6 years, and the progress is amazing!
bananas / 9899 posts
I arrived at high school as normal, went to home room and then my first class. 10 minutes in to my first class (around 9:10am) a teacher ran in and turned on the television in the classroom and we all just stared in horror.
I'm Canadian, so I was not personally affected. I was extremely shaken up though and actually went home from school around 10am.
My thoughts and prayers are with those who were directly affected by the attacks.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
I was in my dorm room getting ready for a 9:40am poli sci course. I was watching The Today Show in disbelief. Even thiugh I was in doors I felt like I was exposed, vulnerable. The terrorists could see me. The terrorists could see all of us and cause us harm. Did you ever create a minature room inside a shoe box and look in on it b from the top? You could destroy the room with one seat of your hand. When I left my dorm I kept looking up at the school. See if anything would launch over my head or if there were people watching us.
I wasn't personally affected. I didn't know anyone who n enlisted because of 9/11 or was killed in the attack. I decided not to travel by plane for an upcoming trip. The airline did not refund my ticket.
Today, I am thankful for George Bush standing on the rubble and bringing the nation together. I am sad for the people who lost their so tragically. Those on the plane were forced to become bombers and those in trapped in the building died in agony. I am disappointed we have not brought everyone to justice that food this to us and disgusted at the mal treatment and tiortyre we inflicted on the innocent. I am hopeful we can prevent anotger 9/11.
grapefruit / 4085 posts
I had just graduated college and was jobless so I was sleeping at the time and my mom called to tell me what had happened.
I know people who worked in and around the towers that thankfully survived.
I will never forget watching the local news and hearing the newscaster speak to people in the tower, saying they were OK and trying to get out. I'll never know if they made it. I'll also never forget looking downtown and seeing the smoke rise from the rubble. Missing person signs posted in the subway stations will always haunt me.
clementine / 896 posts
I was in 5th grade (yes, I'm only 22) taking a math test. Our D.A.R.E. officer came in and started whispering to my teacher and they rushed out of the room together. They didn't let us watch on tv because we were so young but we were sent home right away. When my mom picked me up and told me what happened I didn't understand until I got home and saw it on tv. I was not personally affected. I still just find it so hard to believe and so so sad. I am so thankful for all the men and women who risked their lives to save others.
papaya / 10570 posts
I was working in an old people's home and was calling the bingo for the elderly ladies.
I wasn't personally affected but I think the entire world was thrown for a loop, really. Even thousands of miles away, I was heartbroken - and sick to my stomach.
I have just been amazed and humbled by the bravery of the rescuers - both professional and volunteer - and the remarkable and dignified way in which the people of America responded, helping each other out, supporting each other and coming together. They can destroy your buildings and take the lives of so many people who were so loved but they will never destroy your humanity or your spirit. It remiinds me of a poam, written about my home City after the WW11 Blitz:
"And the city will rise from the ruins
like the phoenix rose from it's nest.
The people will help with the building
and God will do the rest".
grapefruit / 4582 posts
I was in my 9th grade Spanish class. They made an announcement over the loud speakers for everyone to turn on the televisions.
At the time, no one I knew was affected. Later, one of my boyfriends had lost his dad who worked in the towers.
My thoughts are with him today and all those who lost someone. I am also thinking how grateful we are to live here and holding my family extra tight.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
I was not personally affected, but I think as an American this hits us all at our core in some way, shape or form. I could not turn off the radio on my drive to work this morning, nor could I control the tears... RIP to those lost in the tragedy.
I was a senior in high school, 2nd period ap english class when the news came on... watching the second tower being hit was surreal and an image that is forever ingrained in my memory.
my prayers and thoughts for those families affected by this horrible, horrible tragedy.
eggplant / 11824 posts
I was at work - anyone who watched it happen live I'm sure remembers all the false leads (airplanes hitting the WA Monument, the White House, etc.). Everyone assumed the first plane hit was some terrible accident, but then it became clear that it wasn't. We all went to the breakroom and watched the second plane hit live on the news. I will never forget that image, or seeing people jumping from buildings live on TV.
My uncle had an office in the Towers, on the same floor as Cantor-FItzgerald, whom he did a lot of consulting work for, and who lost half their employees in the attack. We also had a few other family friends who worked in the Towers - most survived, some did not.
Additionally, my cousin was in the first special ops recon team sent into Afghanistan several weeks after 9/11.
I'm proud of how the country came together after the attacks, and I'm sad that some of that solidarity was exploited by politicians. I'm thankful for the brave first responders and bystandars who did whatever they could to help. I'm disgusted by the people who think 9/11 was a hoax or government conspiracy.
bananas / 9229 posts
Where were you when learned of or viewed the attack? - I was a freshman in college and had just finished an 8:00am class. It ended at 9:15am so when I got back to my dorm room, I learned of it/them.
Were you personally affected by the attack? 9/11 took on a whole new meaning after moving to the NYC-area and working in NYC. I commuted from NJ to NYC for the past 5 years. I could see ground zero from my apartment and walked by it during my commute. I wasn't personally affected but a lot close to me were. DH use to work in one of the WTC buildings and overlooked ground zero. His boss was there on 9/11. My boss was in one of the twin towers on 9/11 so this day is particularly hard for her. Another former partner at work had severe PTSD afterwards.
What are your thoughts on this day? I have a hard time listening to them read the names, play certain songs and talk about the events. I try to avoid the news because it's hard to watch.
bananas / 9899 posts
@yoursilverlining: I remember all the false leads well. There was so much mixed up information.
squash / 13199 posts
I still feel mostly shock and horror about it, I tear up whenever I see the photos of people jumping from the burning world trade center or hear their 911 calls. I get goose bumps just thinking about the level of evil it takes to do a thing like this. I also have a lot of questions as to how they were able to pull off such a large attack without inside help.
eggplant / 11408 posts
I was a senior in high school, and I was walking into Calculus when we learned the first plane had it. We had the TV on but the volume down, and the teacher tried to conduct class while we waited for news to come in. I bent my head down to write a problem in my notebook, and when I looked up, the first tower was gone. Needless to say, nothing got done that day after that.
I'm grateful for the brave first responders and everyone who came together in solidarity to help heal those who were affected. Sending love and prayers to those who lost loved ones that day. May you find peace
persimmon / 1205 posts
I was at work the morning it happened and remember my friend coming by and telling me that a plane hit the World Trade Center. I figured it was a small plane, so did she, and so we went and turned on the TV in the kitchen. We saw the second plane hit live, and the towers fall live. It was surreal. I remember the panic after hearing a plane hit the pentagon and another crashed in a field. We were under attack. Living so close to Boston, and knowing one of the planes came from Boston was scary. They evacuated the city where my father and many friends worked.
I am lucky to not have lost anyone personally, but I have multiple very close friends who were there that day or who lost loved ones. The company I work for now was in the second tower and lost just under 150 employees.
I almost don't know how to put into words my feelings about 9-11. I am forever changed because of it. I remember the feeling of comraderie and american pride afterwards, with people proudly waving their american flags and being a bit kinder to others. We were united as a nation after the attack and it was amazing to experience. I am really looking forward to the museum being completed and doing a proper visit to the memorial site.
nectarine / 2085 posts
I was halfway around the world, watching TV when they cut away to the live coverage. The whole nightmare was especially personal because my family lived near one of the attacks and it was well over a day before I got word from anyone. My immediate family was okay. I ended up on the phone most of that night in a fruitless attempt to reach my family and then translating the garbled news reports into English for American friends.
A relative died on Flight 93. A classmate died in the WTC.
I'll never forget it.
pomelo / 5789 posts
I lived in Washington DC and was headed to traffic court, and the radio interrupted to speak about the first "accident".
Shortly after, they spoke of the second plane and it was clearly not an accident.
I started driving back to my apartment so I could watch the news, when I saw a plume of smoke in the distance. I flip on the news and see the pentagon had been hit (this was the smoke) and that they thought there were addition DC targets.
I grabbed a bag of clothes and started driving north, and didnt stop until I got to my dads house in Canada.
I didnt lose anybody, but I did lose all faith in our world that day. Life will never be the same.
coconut / 8234 posts
I was at work on Park Ave. South when we heard. I heard about the first plane and then we watched the rest of the events on the TV screens in the office. My mom and sister both worked near there. Mom was fine, sister was fine, too but we didn't hear from her until the evening, she had a crazy time getting home and was caught in one of those dust clouds when the towers collapsed. Her office building was a few buildings away.
I don't know anyone who died personally. I have friends that lost friends. I went and volunteered to serve food to the rescuers down near the site to feel like I was doing something to help. One of our clients at my former job was Cantor Fitzgerald and we had to help with an event that would benefit the families of the people who died. That was a really hard event to be at. And it was hard to walk around seeing the faces of the dead, whose faces were plastered up around the city on missing posters...not nearly as hard as losing a loved one, though.
For the past 7 years I worked near the Freedom Tower. It's weird that I'm not down there for 9/11. This was the first year that I didn't think about it until a few days ago because I didn't have the constant reminder of seeing the new tower going up.
@honeybear: That is so sad. I'm sorry that you lost loved ones.
cantaloupe / 6800 posts
I was in school, I was too young to really understand what was happening but I remember watching my teacher answer her cell phone, rush over to turn the TV on and sit there and cry. I'll never forget the way she sobbed, heartbroken for those strangers. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
I also remember the class phone ringing off the hook with parents checking their children out of school (80% of my classmates were military kids)
I don't know anyone who died, or related to anyone who died.
I don't know how I feel today. I always spend the evening watching all of the shows about it, and i'll do the same this year. It's so incredibly sad.
nectarine / 2771 posts
I was a freshman at Columbia University at the time. I was taking a shower and getting ready for class when someone burst into the (communal) bathroom and yelled, one of the towers just got hit! I remember thinking, it's the first thing in the morning and the girl is already drunk! I didn't think too much of it and assumed it was an accident until my good friend called and said I needed to get to her room pronto. I rushed to her room, which was the top floor of our dorm building, and we could seek the smoke from the twin tower. We were watching TV and saw the second tower get hit live, as well as when both fell. Everything after was so surreal. The campus got shut down, the cell phone lines were jammed, the internet was barely working, and I was just brand new in this city with few friends yet. It was terrifying, honestly. The fear of the unknown was overwhelming. My brother and I were able to find each other, (he was a sophomore at Columbia), we were eventually able to call our parents and assure them of our safety, and then I remember spending that night in prayer. I volunteered with food distribution and collecting supplies with my campus fellowship frequently for the next few years while I was in school.
I was lucky to not be personally affected, but a good friend of mine - his mom worked at the twin towers and she called in sick that day because she believed he was sick and she insisted on being home with him. Well, he was faking his illness and was pissed he wasn't going to be home alone. Best lie ever...?
It was a tragic, horrific day, and the heartache of that morning remains with every anniversary that passes, but what I chose to remember most is NYC coming together and really becoming a different place. I'll never forget.
coconut / 8861 posts
It happened at the start of my senior year in college. I was waking up in my on campus studio apartment to the news. A friend called me. I already had the news on, so it was a huge state of shock. I remember my dad calling me sooner after to check on me.
My college campus was basically 2 or 3 malls with lots of foot traffic. The campus was so empty for most of the day. During the afternoon, there was a gathering in the school's chapel. It was so sobering then.
I didn't lose anyone personally. The summer before I was in DC. I immediately contacted my internship mentor to see if she was alright.
I really remember the dramatic shift in airports post 9-11 and the heightened sense of fear for months later. I consider myself pretty naive then, but it stuck out as historic event then.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
I was asleep in my dorm room. My dad called and told me to turn on the radio and to start trying to get through to my brother. We listened to the news and pretty much tried all day to get ahold of people we knew in the city. All circuits were jammed of course. We finally got through to my brother several hours later. He spent the entire day walking home (to New Jersey) and was totally covered in ash.
I personally did not know anyone who lost their lives that day. My school was affected because many parents were on the plane that had departed from Boston, going back home from parents' weekend. One of my classmates lost both of their parents. We all attended a vigil on campus that day.
My brother lost friends and acquaintances. One of them was to be the best man at a wedding a week later. A close friend worked in the WTC at the time, but happened to be offsite that day. His whole team made it out.
There were rumors that buildings in my city were also being targeted and lots of evacuations and scares that followed.
I was numb about the entire attack for several years. I think on the 5th anniversary I cried about it for the first time. When the Boston Marathon bombing happened, I cried about 9/11. I'm glad I didn't have a TV to watch that day. I didn't watch video of the planes hitting the buildings until several years later.
My thoughts on this day every year are prayers for healing for all who were affected.
pomegranate / 3401 posts
I was a junior in college on the west coast, living in my sorority house. I woke up to my roommate crying (she's from NJ) and quickly figured out what was going on. We all went downstairs nd huddled in the TV room and watched the second plane hit...it was surreal, like we were watching a movie.
I wasn't personally affected by this tragedy but my heart goes out to all those who have been. I heart hurts especially for the children of 9/11....kids who were in their mom's tummies when this tragedy happened and never got to know their dads...
grapefruit / 4703 posts
I was a freshman in college, and I first heard about it when I stopped by my dorm room to switch out my books for my 9:00 class. A girl in my hall said "a plane just crashed into the twin towers" and I think I said something like "how could you not see those towers, they're huge" and went to class. I think because I was a naive 18 year old, the gravity of the situation didn't sink in for a while. When I got to my 9:00 class my professor was running around trying to get a TV and rambling about Osama Bin Laden, embassy bombings and other things I had never heard of. I thought he was joking, or that this was an elaborate sketch to start class (he had once collapsed on a row of desks on purpose to teach us about narcolepsy). When he couldn't get the TV to connect, he sent us all to watch it in the coffee shop on campus, and we arrived just after the second tower was hit. Even after watching it on TV, I still didn't realize how world-changing it would be. In fact, a few of my dorm mates and I tried to go to the mall that afternoon and were surprised when it was closed.
I am from the Boston area, so there were a lot of people on the planes that are somehow connected to someone I know. My dad's boss was killed on flight 11. My roommate's mom was a flight attendant for AA (BOS-LAX) and she couldn't reach her all day. That was the thing that really made it sink in and feel real for me, that she was sitting there grief-stricken, not knowing if her mom was dead (she was ok, just stranded on a plane that had been grounded). The girls I lived with that year are still my friends 12 years later. I think going through something like 9/11 less than two weeks after meeting each other forced us to bond quickly.
It's a sad day, and I do avoid the media coverage. After this year's marathon bombing, it just brought up a lot of those old feelings of fear and helplessness.
GOLD / wonderful pea / 17697 posts
Where were you when learned of or viewed the attack? I was in homeroom (junior year of high school). The student council president walked into the room, spoke to my homeroom teacher for a minute and then turned on the TV. We thought it was a horrible accident, and then watched the second plane hit. No teachers even tried to get anything done that day, we just all sat in dark classrooms and watched the news.
Were you personally affected by the attack? No one I knew was there. One of my classmates had a father who was supposed to be in a meeting in one of the towers, but had missed his very early morning flight because of traffic due to an accident on the highway.
I am however loathe to say I was not personally affected. I think we all were, in one way or another. It was the first terrorist attack on domestic soil that I was old enough to really understand. I was alive for Oklahoma City, and the Olympics bombing, but I too young to really understand those. 9/11 was a real eye-opener for me that we weren't wrapped in some magical force-field shield, safe from the things I saw on the news that happened in other countries just by virtue of being the Mighty United States of America. We were vulnerable, just like every one else. There are people who hate us, just like every one else and can and will hurt us, just like every one else. It was a loss of innocence that I lived in an impenetrable country.
What are your thoughts on this day? I'm feeling a bit solemn today. I'm not dwelling on it, but it has certainly been on my mind.
grapefruit / 4441 posts
I was at the doctor's office with a 102 degree fever (strep). The daughter's daughter worked at the pentagon and was called out of the room to speak to her. I didn't know what was going on until I went into the dept office at my grad school... they had wheeled in a tv and everyone was standing around watching. When the towers came down, many of us started crying.
A good friend of mine worked in Tower 2. She luckily had taken the day off of work (which is crazy, because she is a workaholic). It took me a little while to get in touch with her, which was scary. My college roommate's brother was killed, however. I had only met him a few times, but it still was/is very sad. He was so young (just out of college) and such a smart, fun, happy, athletic guy who adored his family.
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
I was a freshman in HS and sitting in Choir when our band director came in to tell us what was happening. At the time, my dad was working in NYC, and I had no idea what part of the city he was in at the time. I cried all through Geography, which I had next, but when I went to my next class, I remember my friend running towards me with her arms open saying "your dad's ok!!" I'd never been so happy in my life.
Thankfully, my dad was on Long Island so I was not personally affected. I texted him today to tell him how much I love him and how glad I am that he was not in the area.
My thoughts... honestly, after having LO this year I'm more emotional about it than usual. I wish she didn't have to live in a post 9-11 world. It's strange to think that what the Kennedy & King assassinations were for our parents, 9/11 will be for us... a watershed in our history and culture, when we all remember where we were and how it affected our lives from that day forward.
pomelo / 5820 posts
I was a junior in high school. I was in class at the TV studio, where I spent a lot of time throughout high school. We were in the middle of class, when a secretary (who always watched the Today Show in the morning) rushed in to let us know a plane had hit one of the towers. I remember thinking "Ok, what person flying a little prop plane could miss the towers and hit one?!" When we turned on the TV and saw it was a commercial airliner, we were all in shock. We watched the second plane hit and everyone panicked. When the pentagon was hit, I remember feeling like the world was caving in on us... it was unreal.
I was in French class when we watched the towers fall. My French teacher screamed when the first tower fell. I remember watching that screen with vision blurred from tears. In that same class, reports came in that a plane had gone down in Shanksville (about 1.5 hours from us).
I wasn't personally affected by the attacks. I didn't know anyone who was injured or perished. September 11th has always deeply affected me, however. I loved New York. I still love New York. We were booked to spend Thanksgiving in Manhattan that year to see the Macy's parade. My parents cancelled that trip right away. I did an internship in NYC when I was a Sophomore in college. It's amazing to see the progress that has been made since then.
honeydew / 7235 posts
I was in college at the time working at my co-op job that morning.... I remember getting to work, seeing the news about the first plane on Yahoo - and I turned the TV on in time to see the second plane crash live - it was so surreal and awful to watch unfold, and I remember the shock in the reporters voices as it happened... I also remember - as others mentioned - the false reporting and fear.
I was in central Boston at work near Boston common and the city was shutting down.... Me and a friend had to walk home since the subway was shut down.
I was glued to the TV - I still feel shocked about that day.
That weekend me and my roommates got out of the city since we just felt like we needed to get away.
A guy from my high school died in the north tower... I didn't know him that well, but many of my friends did. There were some stories about him in Sports Illustrated. I felt so badly for his family.
My uncle worked in the south tower and thank god he was late to work that day. Many of his co-workers died.
pomelo / 5257 posts
I was a freshman in high school, and my school was just a couple miles from the Pentagon. We were outside running the mile. I remember looking up at the clear blue sky and thinking it was such a nice day out. A girl in my class was late because of an appointment. She came into the locker room and said she'd heard on the radio that planes had hit the World Trade Center. We still went to our classes but we didn't do much; in some of them we watched the news. I was worried about my parents working in DC. They both ended up having to walk home, though a cab driver picked up my dad after awhile and drove him home for free.
A classmate's dad was on the plane that hit the Pentagon and my mom's secretary lost her daughter who worked there. DH's mom was working in the Pentagon but she was on the other side. My school bus drove by the gaping hole every day and it seemed like forever before it was fixed.
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