Where Were You?

Waiting for the school bus in 9th grade. My neighbor's mom stopped and told us on her way out. Then we watched at school pretty much all day.

I was at work and my boss came in.He told me if i had seen the news.I said no.He told me to get into the break room with the rest of my co workers and watched.I saw the 2nd plane hit and it was terrible.I did not have my daughter so i had to stay at work.People with kids got to go pick there kids up and leave.

I was in lockdown on a Marine instillation in Okinawa Japan due to a typhoon. I was sleeping because I had just gotten off the midnight shift at the domestic violence shelter I worked at when my husband woke me up to tell me what was going on. He was only home because of the typhoon, he was supposed to be TDY but got delayed because of the storm.

Triplets:

On September 7th, I had just lost a baby.

On Monday the 10th, I had had a DNC.
On Tuesday the 11th, I was sitting at my kitchen table eating breakfast with my son. I was watching Good Morning America.

My husband had just changed jobs 3 months earlier. He worked in the Pentagon. He knows two of the people that were killed. He worked near the section that had been hit. I had a friend IN THAT section - but luckily was in a meeting on the OTHER side of the Pentagon...he knew all that were killed. And he is now in Afghanistan - for the 4th time.

As soon as I saw the plane crash report - I called my husband at work. When the Pentagon happened, I called my husband again. Our entire area here in DC was in MAJOR LOCK DOWN - duh! Traffic was horrible as people left work. The sounds of police and fire were in every direction....and the sky was empty of airplanes (we live near Dulles Airport).

From that day forward, we have hung our flag 24 hours a day. My husband went to Home Depot that evening - it was really empty! And bought a light to shine on our flag so it could be hung at night.

I had just gotten to work, and was the first one there. I was opening my email when my boss called and asked if I was watching the TV. I said "Well no, I'm working..." he told me to go turn the TV on in the break room because a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I thought it was a small plane, some kind of accident. I turned it on, and as each of my co-workers arrived to work, they ran straight back to the break room to see the TV. We watched in absolute horror as the second plane came into view and hit the other tower. We were allowed to watch the TV for basically the entire day. When the Pentagon was hit, we were sure they would declare war, but with who? I also spent the morning trying to reach my sister in Seattle, as her building was a rumored target. She had woken up to the news and decided not to go in.

I was at work sitting in my cubicle at my computer in Northern Va.
Someone said to check out CNN web site - a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.
We thought it might have been an accident at first.
Working for an airline maintenance company it wasn't uncommon to hear about plane crashes - we hoped it wasn't one of ours.
And then we heard about another crash into the Pentagon and more crashes.
Within 20 minutes the building maintenance man had set up a tv in the conference room and everyone crammed in to watch the news.
Many co-workers had relatives/friends/neighbors who worked in the Pentagon (and people had just flown out of Dulles airport which we were right next to) and everyone was silently crying - tears running down almost everyone's face.
Then at around 10am the company announced that everyone could go home for the day so they could begin inquiring about the status of loved ones - and we all left.
My husband stayed at work - he worked on base in Bethesda - and traffic was crazy with most people being let go to go home - it was an unscheduled rush hour.
I picked up our son at day care and went home - he was 2 yrs old at the time so he had no idea what was going on.
I watched the tv most of the day till it was too repetitive to bear anymore.
(I saw enough that day - I have no desire to watch any of it ever again.)
We fully expected a declaration of war or a modern 'Day of Infamy' type speech - immediately everyone had Pearl Harbor in mind.- nothing like that happened in those first few days - we couldn't identify a firm enemy.
News of some people dancing in the streets and celebrating over this tragedy made people sick and angry.
(Pearl Harbor happened on December 7, 1941 but it was on August 23, 1994, that Congress designated December 7 of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - they waited more than 50 years - perhaps a bit of a long time.
The memorials that sprang up for 9/11 were too soon - I refuse to remember in graphic detail every Sept 11 this way. It's just too raw even now 10+ years later.)

My husband and I were on the train on the way into Midtown Manhattan where we both worked. We saw the smoke from the train.

We saw what was going on on TVs at the office. My building was evacuated because it was a port authority building, and I walked to my husbands office to be with him. As I was walking through Times Square I saw the second tower fall on the giant jumbotrons.

I had volunteered to drop off some legal documents at another office on the way to my husbands office, and the person who I delivered it to had a huge window facing right downtown-all you could see was a smoking hole of destruction.

We were there until about 3pm when the trains were allowed to run. We walked to the train station through a QUIET city. It was surreal. The train ride was a bit scary because we had to go through the tunnel on the way home and of course, we were thinking that anything could happen.

I was able to call family and let them know we were ok.

New York City was like a small town for months after that. Strangers were connected in a way that they never were before. I've been back there for travel since then and there is still an energy in that city that I love.

I was teaching middle schoolers in a K-8 school. At the end of my first class, I heard from a teacher that one plane had hit the WTC. Together we went to look at a TV and were there when the 2nd plane hit. The teachers and principal had to strategize about telling the kids - how to do this, how to give parents the option of picking their kids up, and how to control panic in a situation that was unfolding before our eyes. So we had to contain our own fears and think about the students. The older kids picked up on the vibes anyway, and we had to plan that they would find out on their own through technology, so we opted to gather the middle schoolers in assembly and explain the few basics that we knew, and try to reassure them. This was a Jewish school, with many kids having visited Israel or even having lived there for a time. As such, they were experienced with air raids and attacks from extremists. Their biggest concern was that they, and the school, would be targets. We let the parents decide how to handle the younger kids. After that, We had to put together a plan to deal with this from Jewish values and beliefs, and we had some rabbis work with us to address the kids at age-appropriate levels. Within two weeks, we also had a program in the works with two neighboring schools, one Christian and one Muslim. We did a concert together, with each school performing a few songs about peace, and everyone coming together with a joint performance with a song. It was awesome and positive, in the wake of a horrible crisis.

I was in living in another country due to my husband's job. I was busy vacuuming but had the TV on. When I looked up at it I thought it was a movie but was confused because I had the Today show on (we had military TV). Then I realized quickly what was happening. The country we were living in was not very American friendly so I turned on the house alarm and waited for my husband to call. I knew it would be awhile before I saw him. I then spent the afternoon trying to get in touch with family that lived in NY & DC.

I was working as a nanny and my sister called me and asked me if I was watching the news.

I was devastated when I turned it on. I too saw the second plane hit. When talking to my husband we talked about what all had happened.

It still haunts me when I think about what they must have felt, what they must have had going through their minds when they saw the smoke and fire below them.

I was at my parent's house.

Hubby and I then spent 5 hours trying to get his parents in Ireland on the phone.

With my youngest families and children, on the first day of school. I couldn't reach loved ones, who worked in the blast area, for hours. Many of my children's families also had loved ones in NY and couldn't reach them. In time, I found out that, by minutes, my loved ones were spared. Their building was destroyed. Their friends were unaccounted for all week. Their best friend was very involved with rescue efforts. None of them will speak of 9/11 or go to that part of the city.
P.S. My sympathies to Wild Woman. How very sad for you.

I was at work training for a new job in the company I had been temping for. All of a sudden my e-mail inbox was flooded with news alerts and e-mails from friends and family. Then I got an e-mail from my husband to go out in the main atrium because there were TV's being set up with news channels. The supervising trainer wouldn't let us out right away but gave us permission to check the news channel web sites. When we realized what was happening, the supervisor let us go watch the news in the atrium. Over the company PA system, they gave everyone who had children permission to go home early; everyone who had family in New York, Washington, and anywhere else that there were suspected target areas and family that was flying that day were encouraged to go home. I had an infant at home with my mother-in-law so I left, and had to help take care of my nieces and nephew because schools closed and my sister-in-law was working at the hospital and wasn't allowed to leave yet.

So until 8:00 PM that night, my MIL and I were watching the children together and trying to keep them occupied.

My husband owned his own Internet company at the time, we had no kids at the time & set our own schedule...so we slept late.

My sister tried calling us a gazillion times w/no luck, so she came over & woke us up & turned on our TV!

I remember being completely shocked. My husband skipped over feeling shocked & sad & went straight to being pissed off!!

I was in 5th grade sitting in the gym listening to a fund raiser guy. Our principal came in and had our teachers take us back to class n he told them what happened and then my teacher let us watch the news (we weren't supposed to but she felt we were old enough to understand and learn from it

I was at my old studio apartment, alone in the morning. The man I was seeing at the time had called me to tell me about what was happening and told me to turn on the television. It all seemed very surreal and astonishing; I am not the kind of person to follow tragedy by staying in front of the tv for too long and I had to get to work, so that day was sort of a haze of reality (work) and unreality. Plus, I work with kids, so a certain amount of discretion was necessary so as not to upset them. It wasn't until I got home from work that I was able to really process any of it.

At the time I was living in Santa Barbara, and I lived a block from my job at a DR's office. I would pretty much wake up 10 minutes before I had to be in, throw on some scrubs and roll up there, so for some reason I was really surprised when my supervisor asked if I saw the news... Like duh, I live down the street, why would a bother to turn on the news between waking up and strolling up here? That's all I remember from that day other than watching it and discussing it all day at work and later at home.

I distinctly remember the ensuing months because of what was going on in my personal life. I relocated about a week later to be closer to my boyfriend (now husband) and it was really hard for me to leave SB. Then it took me forever to find a job and it turned out to be a really difficult transition. The whole country was feeling so sad and uncertain during those months, I just remember so much of the emotion during that time. It seems like just yesterday.

At the time and I don't think I had more than 1 or 2 friends living in Manhattan and I was pretty sure they were not in harms way. My sister's MIL was in one of the towers (we didn't know her at the time, she hadn't met her husband yet). I can't remember if she was in the first or second tower hit, but when it happened there was a big loudspeaker announcement on her floor telling them all to stay put, something was going on elsewhere in the building but their floor was fine. She said her entire office was like "yeah, okay, right" and walked straight out. She was long gone when they fell.

I was on the Internet in the days of dial-up. I was trying to watch orcas on an underwater camera somewhere in Canada, and wasn't having much luck. At that time I was working for a parliamentarian (US equivalent of Federal Congressman), and at that time we had a Cabinet Minister in town. He needed to access our electorate office to teleconference in for an emergency Cabinet meeting regarding the terrorist attack. Unfortunately because I was trying to look at orcas, they couldn't contact me by phone. I was surprised at 7.30 am by a Cabinet Minister knocking at my door desperate to get into my office for the teleconference.

Updated

I was on the Internet in the days of dial-up. I was trying to watch orcas on an underwater camera somewhere in Canada, and wasn't having much luck. At that time I was working for a parliamentarian (US equivalent of Federal Congressman), and at that time we had a Cabinet Minister in town. He needed to access our electorate office to teleconference in for an emergency Cabinet meeting regarding the terrorist attack. Unfortunately because I was trying to look at orcas, they couldn't contact me by phone. I was surprised at 7.30 am by a Cabinet Minister knocking at my door desperate to get into my office for the teleconference.

My cousin was living in Manhattan at the time. She lost contact with her husband working in the city.

I was probably one of the last people to find out about what happened on 9/11. I was in college at the time, and after a long night, I went to bed really late and woke up at 3 p.m. PST. I turned on the television to see the WTC on fire, and I thought I was watching a TV movie, until I changed the channel to realize that the image was on almost every single channel. I cried.

I was at work. Someone came in and told me about the first plane. We immediately went to the break room, and turned on the TV. Pretty soon it was standing room only, everyone around was in that break room, and we all saw the 2nd building fall. I called my husband before it happened and told him to turn on the TV, he was at home with the kids that day. It was a terrible day, and one that I will never forget. I kept all the newspaper articles from that and we have talked to our kids a great deal about it.

My sister and I lived in a high rise along Lake Michigan in Chicago, next to our university. We were both getting ready for classes when I turned on the morning news to see the 1st tower on fire. I sat down and was watching it, and when my sister got out of the shower she sat down with me. We watched together as the 2nd plane hit, and I immediately sprang to my feet panicking and just saying over and over again, "That was Osama bin Laden!" We watched the coverage for as long as we could until we went to classes. Watching the live footage will never leave my memory, as we saw desperate souls jumping from the burning towers.

That morning I had a philosophy course, where we all just sat talking about the nature and origins of evil. Since my afternoon classes were all at the downtown Chicago campus, they were all canceled. Downtown was pretty much a ghost town. My sister spent the night at her (future) in-law's home in the suburbs that night because she was afraid to be in the city.

I was teaching high school English, and we were between classes. One of my students came rushing in and said to turn on the TV (I usually didn't have a TV in my room, but that day I did). I turned it on, and as students came in we cried together. It was so awful.

I was on a walk at the park after dropping off my 1st grader and fifth grader. I came back home and my best friend from college called before I turned on the TV. We hadn't talked in at least a yr. I turned on the Tv after about 30 mins to see the tower get hit. I told her and immediately we had to decide if we were going to go get our kids. I opted not to. I was pretty sure the teachers would not tell them and being home meant watching it on tv.
My mom called a few mins later, very worried.
The next night my 5 th grader had an already scheduled PTA play about America. Not a dry eye in the house.

I was ironing a pair of pants and watching Good Morning America. They cut live to the first tower so when the plane flew through the second we saw it live on TV.

My mom and I were looking at each other saying "did that just happen?" Then we starting crying. Mom was begging me not to fly out that afternoon. My husband and I were due to leave that afternoon for a conference in Houston. Needless to say, that was cancelled.

I remember the days after when all the airplanes were ordered out of the sky. It seemed so quiet and surreal. I will never forget that day.

it was the morning of the first meeting of the homeschool horse club. i'd just greeted the first mom when my older son came out to the barn to tell me that a plane had just crashed into the WTC. i said that was awful, the pilot must have had some sort of issue. a few minutes later he came back out and told us about the second plane.
my husband was working in DC that day. he saw the smoke of the pentagon from the office. i couldn't reach him, and have never been more relieved than when he called and said he was on his way home.
we rushed inside to the news and spent the rest of the morning there, sending the kids out to groom ponies under the eyes of the older more experienced kids.
what a terrible day.
khairete
S.

I was at work - heard about it on the radio. Didn't really pay a lot of attention at the time. Found out the details when I got home.

That day was the same day I had my first ultrasound with my first child! It was a happy blessed day for me shadowed by sadness. I will never forget it for those two reasons. While still getting ready for the appt. at home I saw the 1st bldg on fire but didn't know what had happened to it, then as I sat watching, I saw something flying at the 2nd bldg then it exploding into it. I was in shock, I swore the news was showing a clip from a movie, it was so surreal. The disbelief and sadness came pouring out. Chicago was just in shock, everyone everywhere you went was watching the news.
But I got to see my first babys' little body and hear the heartbeat and see his heartbeat flickering.

Gods amazing life inside me and a horrible act of war in New York.

I was home in my apartment, still asleep (west coast). Heard my roommate's boyfriend on the phone (had no idea what he was talking about, but was annoyed in the moment that he was so loud). I got up and he told me. I couldn't stop watching the news, even though by the time I turned it on, both towers were down. It was horrible and I still get really upset when I think about it. I ended up having to go into work that day, but couldn't concentrate and just really wanted to be at home.

I was pregnant with my daughter at the time...I had a final exam that morning, so I dropped my toddler off with my sister and headed downtown in my city of residence. I heard something on the radio, and turned it up to listen.
I had to take my final, so I took it as fast as possible and ran to find a pay phone to call my sister so she could tell me what she was seeing on TV. All the nursing students were waiting to see if classes for the day would be cancelled, and in the meantime, I was trying to find a tv to watch the news. I ran to the hospital on campus where I was a student nurse, and went to my unit's breakroom, which was about a 9x9 room with a tiny little TV. There were about 25 people crammed in there, all watching the towers go down.