What were you doing when you heard...

[Rocky]

about the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the heroes at Shanksville, Pennsylvania?

The date was one of those historic events that people always seem to remember exactly what they were doing when they heard the news, like the bombing of Pearl Harbor (I was just starting my second trimester in the womb) and the Kennedy assassination. So what were you all doing on 9-11-01?

I was Purchasing Manager for a local company and I was meeting with a representative of our landlord discussing some building issues and leases. He got a call on his cell and said, "This is my wife. I have to take it." and he excused himself and left my office. I few minutes later he returned and said, "My wife told me a plane flew into the World Trade Center." and we all thought, 'what a terrible accident!' We resumed the meeting and a little later his phone rang again. He answered it in the meeting and turned to us and said, "Another plane flew into the other tower of the World Trade Center!" We all immediately knew we were under attack.

Our company dismissed early that day and we all went home to gather our thoughts and hear the gory details of the attack. One of my most vivid memories is walking from our building and looking up into a clear blue sky. It struck me that although there were always many, there was not a single contrail to be seen as all flights had been grounded.

 

[Julie]

I remember being at work. I work for a school district. I was a secretary back then. I remember the son of the one secretary that my desk was beside calling and saying he just heard a plane flew into the world trade center and I looking at her and saying "What the hell is the matter with these planes?" and then all hell breaks loose on the radio, the news caster was saying the US is under attack, I remember one of the secretaries dropping to the floor, screaming and praying. I remember going downstairs looking for Mike and finding him and the school custodian watching this whole mess on a TV on the stage. I remember calling Jason to make sure he was ok, I remember calling Mic, to make sure he is ok. I remember parents, a lot of them crying, coming to the school pulling their kids out of class and I remember for the first time and this to become a common practice, our school district went into lock down.

 

[AZMDTed]

I was in an Army computer security planning meeting just south of there at Ft Belvoir, VA. That afternoon I stood on a small hill above Pentagon City and watched the Pentagon smolder with the Lincoln and Washington Minumenta in the background. First time I had ever seen armed fighter jets flying a combat air patrol in the US. That was a Tuesday.

That Thursday I entered the Pentagon at 0600 charged with building a team to put in computer and telephone networks for up to 2,000 displaced workers that would be moved to leased buildings in Crystal City. I will never forget the smell in the building that morning. A smoke smell made up of things I don't even want to think about. It gave me a headache for a week.

The best and the worst of times.

 

[Boatboy24]

I was single, and living by myself. Had overslept that morning and had Today on TV in the bedroom as I slowly got myself ready for work. Was watching the coverage, and headed off to work probably 20 minutes or so before the 2nd plane hit. I had just finished logging in and getting ready to start my day when a co-worker came to my office to tell me about it. At that point, I didn't know there had been a 2nd plane. I spent the rest of the morning trying to reach my college roommate who works in that area and whose father in law worked in the WTC (60-something'th floor). Communications were tough, but we managed to exchange a couple emails (cell phone calls were pretty much impossible). He was able to locate his father in law and his brother (who'd just started working in NY that week). They walked home to his place in Garden City, Long Island. Then of course, was the Pentagon, and PA tragedies. There was word that planes were headed to the US capitol and all sorts of other rumors rolling around. I lived about (and currently do live) about 10 miles from Dulles Airport. Planes are everywhere, all the time. But for that day and the few that followed, the skies were empty, except for the occasional fighter jet. It's amazing how eerie that was.

 

[Steve_M]

As a former employee of Cantor Fitzgerald I'll never forget. That morning I was at a Dr. Appointment heard on radio about first plane tried calling some of my friends who still worked there. Saw second plane hit at that point I was heading back to my office doing well over 100 mph. Never did get through to anyone I knew.
Never forget

 

[WildernessMedic]

Riding he bus to school in 4th grade. I remember worrying my mother was going to get sent to war. Though never crossed my mind I would go overseas years later due to it.

Then a day at school forced to watch people dying live on tv by school faculty.

 

[dralarms]

I was putting an access control in a chicken plant in pikeville, tn. Was so upset I pulled off the job. I did very little work for the next few weeks I was a wreck

 

[mennyg19]

I was 11 years old then. I actually was in school 4 miles away from ground zero in Brooklyn, NY.
We started early in the morning and had breakfast in school. When we got up from breakfast, someone told me a plane crashed into the towers. Didnt believe it until i looked out the window. I saw the towers straight down Ocean Parkway and the smoke reached all the way to us.
After a while, classes actually started. I sat at the window but on the other side of the building. I distinctly remember thunder in middle of class. That must've been the collapsing. I had a neighbor who was killed in the towers.
I dont remember this clearly, but I think we got dismissed early. When we got home, we saw papers floating in the air. Some landed and they were office papers from Tower 7.

 

[jgmann67]

In my car, headed to the office, listening to Howard Stern while he was still on celestial radio... The first I hear was then..

Within 8 hours, we had the kids in the car, packed and headed to my mother's house in the Pocono mountains. Mrs Mann was a little worried that we lived too close to Three Mile Island...

For the 150 mile drive there, the roads were nearly empty. The light up signs along the way advised that roads to NYC were closed to non-emergency vehicles.

Mom was happy to have the company, I think.

 

[ceeaton]

I was working in Lancaster City at the time. We all went out into the back parking lot for a break, and as I normally did I turned on the radio to listen to some Sports Talk station. Of course every station had a news flash saying that a plane had run into one of the Towers. Then we took turns listening and logging the events as they occurred. Can't clearly remember but I believe they let us go home early. Had 33 and 11 month old kids at the time, which were in "daycare", so picked them up and put the TV on when we got home (knew the kids weren't old enough to parse what was happening). Had some talk with my wife about TMI since I worked directly East of it. She bought me my first cell phone so we could keep in touch in case of a TMI incident. Had lived and "escaped" the earlier TMI incident in the late 70's. Funny that our escape back then took us to Indian Lake not far from Shenksville. Figured we'd head North to our cabin near Wellsboro since that is in the middle of nowhere. What terrible memories, can't imagine what these anniversaries are like for people who lost family members.

Edit: I have been corrected. My wife was home because our daughter had a double ear infection. I was right about the evacuation plan and the cell phone. Also was told to remind people what a gorgeous day it was, much like today around these parts (eerily like today).

 

[Mismost]

I work at home and walked out of the office to get a cup of coffee, TV was on and I saw it...sat down to watch it for a few minutes...never got up, watched all day. I knew that day, things would never be the way they were...and they haven't been.

 

[opus345]

In Anaheim for a user group meeting. I was one of couple software developers that the marketing folks had drug out to California with the promise of great dinners and drinks in the evenings. Of course there was that evil requirement to wear a tie whenever I was out in public with the customers.

On the morning of 9/11, I was on a treadmill in the Anaheim Marriott. I almost fell off as I watched the second plane hit. The conference was suspended and everyone became a news junkie. Took the team a week to finally get back home.

 

[JohnT]

I was in the towers on 9/10 teaching a one day class. Normally, I teach the same class in groups for several days in a row. This time, it ended up just being one, single class.

On 9/11, I was on my way into PA, passing through the poconos when I heard about the crash over the radio. At that time, I had a really lousy cell phone so I could not get through to the wife. I called her just as soon as I got to the client's office. I never heard her yell at me so much... "Don't you EVER do that to me again" and "I thought you were dead" was mostly what she said.

I started teaching the class for about an hour, then ended up cancelling it and rescheduling for another day. Nobody was going to learn anything with all that had happened.

 

[bakervinyard]

I was at Logan Airport that morning. I was working for a big box club at the time and was traveling to Texas for 3 days of training.
It was the first time I was flying by myself and got to the airport early, grabbed a cup of coffee and a newspaper to wait for my co-worker I was going with. The airport got spooky quiet. My cell phone rang and it was a fellow co-worker and he told me about the first plane crashing into the tower. A few minutes later my wife called me and told me what was going on. The second plane crashed into the other tower and my co-worker called again and said I had to get on the plane and go to the training. I told him I wasn't going and the company can fire me if they want. Moments later they closed the airport and told everyone to evacuate the airport. I walked as fast as I could, left my luggage, and got the shuttle back to the remote parking lot. As we were going back to the lot a report came over the radio that the first tower collapsed. I will never forget the look on the woman's face sitting across from me. I got in my truck and drove to the nearest club and called my boss to tell him I was ok. Then I went home. I still have my plane ticket from that day. I will never forget that day. Bakervinyard