...on Sept. 11, 2001 when you heard the news?






I was driving into work and got into the parking lot at 9am. My boss was walking to her car and I told her that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center.

My dad called me and woke me up and said the US is under attack....I was like what?!?! Who the hell is going to attack us! I turned on the TV and saw the horrors.....

Driving to a job site to shoot some elevations, upon learning that they were attacks, my then wife begged me to come home and be with her and the kids.....

one of the few times she made me feel like a husband.....

also, we would not here from a family member that works in the city until the next day, they shut all the bridges and tunnels so he couldn't get back to jersey, and all the cell lines were jam packed.....it was scary

but relieving when we did here from him

so sad.....

i was working as a temp doing graveyard shift work from 11pm to 7am...i'd just gotten in from work that morning and was settling in and turning on the morning news chat shows, and i remember they were just about to do a piece on "what's going on with whitney houston?" when all of a sudden the footage of the first plane hitting the WTC flashed on the screen, very much out of nowhere, and so it began. it was very disconcerting, as it was for everyone. my first thought was to call my best friend lila in NYC, who was living in the lower east side at the time, and make sure she was okay. i actually got through to her, and she was home and ok, but we were both in hysterics and i remembered feeling really helpless because i'd only been in chicago a few months and all my friends were in NYC and i wanted them all to be okay and there was nothing i could do. and it made me really really miss living in NYC, because i just wanted to be there to help, because at that point, new york still felt more like home to me than chicago. but i couldn't do anything. in retrospect, i'm just glad my friends are all okay, and when i hear people say "never forget 9/11" i always want to say back, "how could we ever possibly forget?"

I was getting ready to go to work...passed the TV which was still on...saw that a plane had hit one of the towers, and I figured it was an accident...then I realized both towers were on fire, that both had been hit by planes...and they showed a repeat of the second plane...that's when it truly hit me that this was something big.

Then...word came across the news on tv that the Pentagon had been hit..and I immediately thought "We're being attacked...oh my God."...at some point the towers started to collapse, and I just stood in shock watching them crumble before my eyes...it went from a high-rise fire to a complete collapse of two huge buildings full of people...in an instant.

I drove to work, listening to my car radio...when I arrived at work, almost nobody was there...and the few who were there were in the upper conference room, watching the news on tv. I joined them, and we just stood silently watching what was occurring...wondering what to do...nobody worked that day, we each went home instead.

stupid server
[Edited 9/10/04 22:31pm]

My (ex)wife and I were sleeping after being up all night. We woke up to some dumbass yelling "we're going to war".

Well.....I was sleeping as it it happened very late at night for us here.
I woke up to chaos on the radio and tv.
They kept playing the planes crashing and we saw live feed of the whole thing for the next 3 days. I was just fixed infront of the tv hoping that people would survive.

I was at work when someone turned on the tv saying something horrible was happening.

I was at Wayne State University leaving class. I went to work in a total daze that I didnt wake up from for weeks...



"An Open Letter to NYC"--Beastie Boys

Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten
From the Battery to the top of Manhattan
Asian, Middle-Eastern and Latin
Black, White, New York you make it happen

Brownstones, water towers, trees, skyscrapers
Writers, prize fighters and Wall Street traders
We come together on the subway cars
Diversity unified, whoever you are
We're doing fine on the One and Nine line
On the L we're doin' swell
On the number Ten bus we fight and fuss
'Cause we're thorough in the boroughs and that's a must
I remember when the Duece was all porno flicks
Running home after school to play PIX * 1
At lunch I'd go to Blimpies down on Montague Street
And hit the Fulton Street Mall for the sneakers on my feet
Dear New York I hope you're doing well
I know a lot's happen and you've been through hell
So, we give thanks for providing a home
Through your gates at Ellis Island we passed in droves

Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten
From the Battery to the top of Manhattan
Asian, Middle-Eastern and Latin
Black, White, New York you make it happen

The L.I.E. the B.Q.E
Hippies at the band shell with the L.S.D.
Get my BVD's from VIM
You know I'm reppin' Manhattan the best I can
Stopped off at Bleeker Bob's got thrown out
Sneakin' in at 4:00 am after going out
You didn't rob me in the park at Dianna Ross
But everybody started looting when the light went off
From the South South Bronx on out to Queens Bridge
From Hollis Queens right down to Bay Ridge
From Castle Hill to the Lower East Side
From 1010 WINS to Live At Five
Dear New York this is a love letter
To you and how you brought us together
We can't say enough about all you do
'Cause in the city were ourselves and electric too

Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten
From the Battery to the top of Manhattan
Asian, Middle-Eastern and Latin
Black, White, New York you make it happen

Shout out the South Bronx where my mom hails from
Right next to High Bridge across from Harlem
To the Grand Concourse where my mom and dad met
Before they moved on down to the Upper West
I see you're still strong after all that's gone on
Life long we dedicate this song
Just a little something to show some respect
To the city that blends and mends and tests
Since 911 we're still livin'
And lovin' life we've been given
Ain't nothing gonna take that away from us
Were lookin' pretty and gritty 'cause in the city we trust
Dear New York I know a lot has changed
2 towers down but you're still in the game
Home to many rejecting know one
Accepting peoples of all places, wherever they're from

Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten
From the Battery to the top of Manhattan
Asian, Middle-Eastern and Latin
Black, White, New York you make it happen

Case said:

the best track on the album.....

I was at home... it was late at night in Australia, but I was still awake as I was up writing an essay for my psychology class... and the tv was on at the same time... and I saw everything unfold live and woke up everyone in the house with the news... my brain could hardly compute what my eyes were seeing... that essay I was so absorbed in writing was immediately forgotten... I'll never forget that night.

In my building at work were were moving from one floor to another and we were listening to it all unfold on a battery-operated radio that a coworker had.
It didn't seem real...our bosses kept having us move everything and then bought lunch for us and sent us home at 1pm.
I remember driving home from downtown Detroit and the highways were deserted. It was the creepiest feeling.
I was in shock for days...but, when I heard about how many firefighters were losing their lives...going into the rubble with missing and broken fingers to rescue people...it was then that I broke down and was able to feel something.

althom said:

It was the same for me, waking up and seeing it on TV and thinking this can't be right I'm seeing things

When the tragedy occured, I was at work. My supervisor called down to my office and told me to turn on the television in a nearbye room.As we watched the event, the whole staff was in shock. Then, my head supervisor is given an call, we were given an order to leave premises early.
[Edited 9/11/04 14:18pm]
[Edited 9/11/04 14:19pm]

My best friend called me, woke me up and said "We're under attack."

I wasn't sure what he meant but turned on the TV and hoped it was a bad Orson Welles movie or something-just felt so surreal.

Still will never forget that-and I'm glad people came together instead of it turning into chaos.

My heart goes out to the families of those lost and those lost themselves.

Why, oh why, did I open this thread

I was on the sofa wathcing news with horror, my sons were with me (other one as 3 and the other ½-years-old) and the 3-year-old asked "Why is that plane flying towards that house, mom?"

I had a day off from work. I was in the car and we were listening to the radio. I couldn't hear it clearly but I heard something about the Twin Towers and a fire. We continued listening and the man on the radio said an aeroplane had crashed into the World Trade Centre.. We drove home listening to the radio and when I got home I turned on the T.V. I was in shock. My thoughts immediately turned to a friend who would have been walking to work that day as he lived and worked in downtown Manhattan. He walked passed the WTC every day to get to work. I called his mobile, no answer. I emailed him. Nothing. I was in a panic and feeling completely helpless. I called his mobile again and again... and then hours later, he said "Hello." The relief was not something I can put into words. He said that they had been evacuated and that he had seen one of the towers collapse in front of him. I was in London, but the space between us, just for that moment when he said hello, disappeared.


After that, NY disappeared under a cloud of smoke, and then it re-emerged broken and bleeding. It's a day I'll never forget.

These are my memories of that day.
Thanks for this thread.
[Edited 9/11/04 4:25am]

Ya I was sitting in siminar class in Highschool. And some1 mentioned something about a plain crashing into the pentagon. I really didn't think nothing of it because there always goofing around in class lol We had a get off early day at school so I got off at 10 am. When I got home I turned on the tv as usual and I was in shocked what I was seeing !

i was supposed to be around there that day.... something told me to stay home in my head.. so i did.. i put on the tv and there it was..My Beloved towers... GONE what upsets me now.. is that how dare security tell people to stay in the building...the images i saw were horrible... people jumping out of windows...i still have nightmares about it

I remember arriving home from high school and switching the TV on shortly afterwards. I noticed that the news was on..I was thinking what? news at 3.30pm on the BBC? But I just saw down and watched anyway without really knowing what was going on. There was news on the attack on just about every other channel.

It took a few hours to accept that what I was observing on the screen was real. It was extremely scary.

There were so many questions going through my mind, who would do such a thing? why?

One of those moments I'll never forget.
[Edited 9/11/04 5:28am]

It was around 10.35pm here when I saw it live on da late night newz. When i first saw it...i thought it was bogus...couldn't believe it was real.

I was at work....we kept hearing lil bits about it, so turned on the news...it didnt even seem real so we all stopped and gathered in the waiting room and prayed together Its still hard to think about it

I had just come in from the gym...

I switched the TV on and saw pictures of a plane flying into one of the towers....

I too hoped it was a sick Orson Welles story....

and sat in shocked disbeleif as the events unfolded....

It wouldn't sink in at first

I was at work. My friend Ceadrick emailed me along with a group of friends and after the first plane hit and that's how I found out. I tried relentlessly to get on cnn.com to see what was going on and couldn't get it to come up so finally kept updating the info through a local news site. It was surreal. All business stopped and we kept emailing throughout the day to check in with each other. Ceadrick's father worked near the WTC so we kept waiting for updates on whether he could get his father's whereabouts confirmed. That night a bunch of us met up at a local watering hole (none of us really wanting to be alone, let alone continue to watch the coverage and those images played over and over and over on tv). So we had a few beers and made the bar turn on Bush's speech. violett and I held hands as it began.

I was working at the office, it was the middle of the afternoon here. We always have BBC Radio 1 on here and in the afternoon they always have fairly humorous DJ's on. Anyway, the news broke and all the DJ's stopped joking, news bulletins were every 10 minutes and they changed the music playlist to more sombre music. It was surreal. We were told to continue working. I put down my phone and did admin work on my PC instead, but my colleague had nothing to do but phone people to try and sell them advertising. As you can imagine, no-one gave a shit.

applekisses said:

For me it was that day after I'd gotten off the bus and was walking home from work. There is a very large church along my walk and there was someone posting a very large sign on the lawn out front that read "Open for prayer. All denominations welcome." I'm an atheist, but something about that sign just got me. Maybe it was just the "we're all in this together" mentality of the sign. The tears just started flowing down my face and I kept on walking home.

I was in the shower and my friend called me screaming that America was being bombed. She was sleeping when she heard it so she wasnt exactly sure what was happening. I jumped out and ran to my tv and just stood there for the longest time. I saw the buildings collapse. It was terrifying! Then I had to go to work. I was walking into the building as they were evacuating everyone else, I was told I had to be at work because I'm considered an essential employee. They did eventually let us leave. Nobody was working anyway, just watching the news in the breakrooms and on the internet. I dont think that I have ever felt so scared and helpless in my life! I went and pulled my kids out of school early, even though they kept saying on the news not to, because nobody knew what was going to happen next and I needed to know that they were near me. I went home and spent the next couple of weeks in front of the tv.

i was in morocco eating lunch with the other kids in my junior year abroad program. it was the second day of our classes. the guy at the table next to us said something like, "a plane just flew into thewhite house." we were all like "wha???? yeah right, whatever." and then we went to an internet cafe and read about the twin towers and then we went to a hotel with a TV in the lobby and actually saw it. The lobby was filled with these men who were cheering and stopped cold when they saw us walk in. One girl was bawling her eyes out because she thought her sister was on the plane. Then she found out that her sister was fine and she went back to being a regular pain in the ass but boy, was that the strangest experience in my life.

after that, my school wanted us to leave morocco and go to england and my parents wanted me to come home. I was not about to leave morocco where everyone thought i was moroccan and just left me alone to america where planes were flying into buildings or to england where there's a higher concentration of fundamentalists and everyone was pissed the fuck off. I stayed my ass right there and had a grand old time. Then I came back to the states that winter and found that america had completely changed. it's a damn shame.

I was at school in the classroom during free time talking to my friends when suddenly one of my other friends ran in and told us. rest of the day spent watching 24 hour news until bedtime.