Information

[1grandma]

Where were you 9-11? I remember that I was at home and woke up right at 8:00AM, walked downstairs, turned on the TV and started to make coffee. As I was putting the coffee on, IT happened. I was so shocked and could not pry my eyes off the TV! I was horrified. That something so horrific could happen to us in the United States was not in my imagination. Unheard of. How? My mind had a very difficult time understanding that it was not a sci-fi show. I even turned the channel to make sure that it was not a mistake. Unfortunately, it was not a mistake.


What were you doing? Where were YOU?

[LyndaKay]

I was at home watching the morning programs. As the events unfolded, I desperately needed to talk to my children who were scattered around the country at school. We comforted each other as best we could by phone. Then we tried for days to reach clients who were located a couple of blocks from the towers. We later learned they escaped but lost their offices from structural damage from debris. Other clients watched the Pentagon burn from their offices nearby. I don't watch the replay of the events every September, but this morning I did. Hard not to cry.

[kathyau]

I was just about to go to bed as I live n Australia. I saw the first broadcast on T.V and ended up sitting up all night watching & horrified at what I was viewing . Although I am not an Amercian citizen my heart & prayers were with you.

[LyndaKay]

I was just about to go to bed as I live n Australia. I saw the first broadcast on T.V and ended up sitting up all night watching & horrified at what I was viewing . Although I am not an Amercian citizen my heart & prayers were with you.

Bless your heart!

[oceanbreezes423]

I was sitting with my sister at a hospital. Her daughter had just been taken in to surgery, and we came out to sit in waiting area. All these people were staring at the tv. As we watched, the 2nd plane hit, and I remember thinking how someone was in huge trouble. To mis-guide a plane like that. Once realizing what was happening, time seemed to go n slow motion. It was so surreal, and all I could think of was getting home to my family, and reaching those away at school. What a sad day in our history!

[scrapscot]

I was at work at the admin office where all of us from the Attorney General's Office #405/904 were housed at the time. Someone came in from the call center and said the world trade center's been hit. I called home and Barb turned on the tv. At work we were glued to the radio. We had to continue to work; weren't allowed to just take off to home. I called my children when I got home. It was surreal.

[sherelm]

I was in my office, and I heard one of our Indian techies say in broken English that there was an plane accident at the World Trade Center. My son was a senior on Long Island, just a stone's throw, and had just been driven back there by us since he had just had his spleen removed and was still recuperating. I turned on CNN on my computer to try to see if it was a small plane. We couldn't get on CNN. Then panic set in, so I called my son. He said he was sure it was nothing, and he didn't have classes that AM, so he was going back to sleep. At that I heard people yelling - those that had managed to get access into CNN said a second plane - huge jet - had flown into the other tower and that terrorism was now the plan. I told my son, and he said "Mom. MOM you always over react." At that he hung up!! Of course I couldn't get a NY connection again! I was scared to death. I remember sitting there as they said on the radio they have an unconfirmed report of a plane going down in PA, as well as the Pentagon. (I'm in PA). At that my phone rang, and it was my son calling back. He said he put his head back on the pillow, and all of a sudden he heard fighter jets flying across the island towards NYC - not the usual JFK noise he heard. At that my government building was evacuated. I told him to stay in touch.


I got home and my brother phoned me from California as I walked thru the door - he wanted to know if I heard from Joey. I reassured him that he was ok. Bill then said "Are they giving you any names in there from the Pentagon flight?" I said no, nothing (of course, way too soon) and then he said "I had two of my staff in there, and they were to come home tomorrow, but Reuben said he thought he'd take the early flight from DC this morning, his wife isn't feeling well - she's pregnant. I told him to wait for Chad, and they could fly home together, either tonight or tomorrow - Chad said he'll be finished by then." Well what my brother didn't know at the time was that Reuben was able to help Chad finish up, and they both had boarded the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. They were both killed.



You just can't shake the feeling of this day.

[gonecamping]

I had just woken up, was getting into the shower when the phone rang, a friend telling me to turn on the tv. I cried watching the 2nd plane hit and then the towers falling. I work at a school and when we got there, it was difficult to keep the day normal for the kids. We had a tv in the staff room and staff came in and out throughout the day to update what was happening. I still can't look at pictures or video of that day without tearing up.

[killarney_rose]

My 9/11 day started about 11:00pm on 9/10. I have forever carried a huge sense of guilt over what happened. 9/11 was a moment that made me face something head on which had always frightened me. I have the gift of prophecy. Larry and I picked up an oilfield load at 8:30 headed to Cameron, La. We took the swing bridge on 84 and the coastal road. Larry and I were in conversation and I was looking out over the Gulf thinking what a pretty night. The twinkling lights of the oil rigs, the soft ripple of the Gulf, and the stars was striking. Then a thought and I spoke it out loud to Larry, 'The way you destroy this country is to disrupt transportation.' He replied, 'Where did that come from?' I replied, 'I don't know....guess it's the oil rigs.' I thought it kind of strange. Sometimes vague, sometimes very specific thoughts. I know though, I could not change what happened the next morning.

Larry and I arrived home at 6:00am. We got the kids up for school and got them off for school. Larry went to work and I turned the TV off and climbed the stairs for bed setting the alarm for 2pm, just 20 minutes before the first plane hit the South Tower. James would need a light meal since he had a football game that evening. Larry called at 2:30 as I was packing the meal...cell phone and trying to pack up the meal had me frazzled. Larry told me the 'Towers had Collapsed!' 'Larry, quit kidding around, I've got to get to the school.' 'Kim, turn on the TV.' When I turned on the TV, I stood there in horror unable to say a word to my husband. My first thought was my brother. On the way over to the school I called my Mom. She told me he had been called to the base. I asked if he knew when he would be leaving. She didn't. My brother was a pilot in the Air Force at the time. No football game so I waited and for James. Then to the high school to pick up Lynn. She was still in Marching Band Practice. I returned at 5:30 to pick her up. As many TV's in that school she had not seen the images. I was thankful. We stopped by Kroger for milk and the video screens in the checkout line all had the News on. I'll never forget the look on Lynn's face....pure disbelief. Then on the way home she asked a question too wise for her years, 'Mom, will my life ever be the same again?' Wow....those ever thought provoking questions which come out of my children's mouths as young teenagers. I had to think quickly, and I had to provide an answer which would not cause any more fear then she already had. My response, 'No sweetie it won't. But it will appear to be normal.'

Eleven years ago the answer I gave my daughter has come to pass. For us life has become normal again, but there are the little things which have forever changed the way we live our lives.

And my brother, he disappeared two months later on a TDY. It was six months before we knew where he was.

[scrapaholic]

on my way to work and heard the news on the radio, drove past the airport and it was so unreal to see all planes on the ground and nothing taking off or landing.

[ammielou]

Everyone says they remember exactly where they were, well I don't maybe I've blocked it out or something. I have no memory of the events. DD says I got her out of school and brought her to my work, she and my co-workers kids were in the break room watching the news and the LPN,( I worked for a Dr then) came in and changed the tv saying they didn't need to be watching that.

[Ayla]

I was working from home as a case manager for people injured in auto accidents, and had taken a few minutes to get the oil changed in my car because I was supposed to head out of town to a dr appointment with a client. I was sitting in the oil change lane and heard about the first plane on the radio. I remember thinking...some dumb fool can't control his plane, thinking it was a little single engine job or something. Then I heard as the second plane hit, and thought "Oh, no, Houston, we have a problem!" I went home and as I walked in my front door the phone rang, and it was another of my clients asking if I had heard the news. I turned the tv on as we were talking and I watched the second tower fall live. I was horrified. My kids school sent out a message that they weren't going to tell the kids about anything...they wanted it to be a family discussion. I left them at school, but cancelled going to the dr appt (it would have been in the Detroit suburbs and I just didn't want to be that far away from my kids). I was pregnant in my first trimester with my youngest son, and fears of what might happen next (I also live very close to Dow Chemical and it was considered to be a potential target area because of what they produce) and what the world would become for my kids.


I actually flew to Denver about 4 weeks later....what a change from what flying had been the previous year! It took me 2 1/2 hours to get through Denver security on my way home....on a Sunday morning!

[pawprints]

It was dh's day off and as we were getting up the phone rang. It was his mom telling us that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center and to turn on the TV. Thinking it was a small plane, dh went downstairs and put the TV on. Moments later he came running up to tell me that another plane crashed into the second tower. We both started to panic. I called my sister right away, as my bil worked out of the World Trade Center. I was frantic while her phone was ringing and was filled with such relief when my bil answered the phone. He was off that day. As dh and I watched the events unfold on the TV, we cried and couldn't believe what we were seeing. It was so surreal. When the reports started coming in about Washington, I was frantic because ds was going to school at the University of Maryland, a stone's throw from DC. I couldn't reach him on the phone and I got hysterical. Our dd was in college on the Island, out in Stony Brook, and she was scared but she couldn't come home. All of the major highways on LI were closed down, so she had to stay put. We talked on the phone trying to comfort each other. My nephew was going to college in Pennsylvania, and then we heard of the plane crash there. It was so surreal and horrible beyond words. And I can't tell you the errie feeling I had when all air traffic across the nation was grounded, yet we could hear jets flying by. They were protecting our coastline and I remember being so scared and so horrified. I couldn't believe what was happening.

Thank God all of our loved ones were okay. Days after was like living in a dream. There were so many firemen from LI that were NYC firemen that were killed in the towers. There were constant funeral processions, write ups in the newspaper every day with columns and columns of photos and small bios of those that were killed, and you couldn't walk into your local beauty salon or deli or any small business without seeing a newspaper clipping taped to a wall of an obituary of someone who was killed. Many times more than one. One in particular that stands out in my mind was of a fireman AND his son. My heart ached so much. To this day there are still so many reminders. Streets here are named after fallen firemen, and there is a small town park that I pass every time I go to a local mall that is named after a fireman who lost his life in the towers. He and his wife used to take their children to the park on weekends, and they changed it's name and named it after him.

I will never, ever forget that day. I don't want to put the TV on today. I don't want to see those images again, over and over. It is enough that they are in my head along with the horror and sadness of that day. I don't want to see it again.

My heart aches for all of those that lost someone they love that day. So horrible beyond words.

[blbabe1234]

I was at Del Mar College, where I was a full time student and a part time worker in the Computer dept. The executive secretary came crying and ran across the hall and gathered all the part time students and techs. They had the tv on in the conference room where we all watched in horror as everything unfolded.

Once we were released, I immediately called my boyfriend (NOW DH) as he worked full time on the Navy Base. They had already gone into lock down and one by one, was releasing their employees. I couldn't get a hold of him. And I was scared. But we finally touched base and he was on his way to pick me up. I remember him telling me that "If necessary, he was going to quit school and re-enlist in the military to help his country. Again." He had already served 8 years in our Navy, and went to Kuwait during the Gulf War.

My heart breaks for anyone who lost anybody during 9-11.

[mgehrke]

I was at work when DH called me to tell me about the first plane that hit the tower. While we were talking on the phone, he was watching the news. All of a sudden he says "Oh my goodness another plane hit the other tower." I couldn't believe my ears. He had also told me when the plane hit the pentagon. I told a co-worker who sat beside me and he started to try to get the news on the radio. Then others around us started hearing the news. Our company opened a bunch of our training rooms that have TVs in them so we could all go in and watch the news. Before I hung up with DH the first tower had already collapsed. Several of us were so terrified, because tower 1 housed a lot of our agents that we work with on a daily bases. We did end up loosing most of them in the tragedy. We were all given the choice if we wanted to go home early to be with our familes. I remember giving 2 other ladies a ride home because they always rode in a van pool. When I got home I was outside with DH and it was so quiet and irey. The house we lived in at that time was at the one mile mark for the airplanes. So we heard planes every day, but when they grounded all the planes, it was the weirdest thing to not hear them. I was already at home when the plane when down in PA.


3 years after 911 I did go to NY for work. I stayed in a hotel that was right next to ground zero. I walked around the area and was readying a plaque that was made. I found lots of people's names engraved on the plaque that I worked with at the agencies. I stood there and cried.

[suewho372]

I was at work. At that time my office was in a seculded area , me and 3 engineers. I was writing an Integrated Contingency Plan for our facility and one of the engineers got an email alert of breaking news.... we all flipped to the news channels on computer and were horrified to see what was unfolding in front of us. The office area and cafeteria have tvs so they were on and telecasting. I do not think much work got done that day.
My kids both were in school one in grade school one in jr high. The teachers at the grade school did not tell our kids what was going on which made

dd very upset when I picked her up and she found out. My son's classes did have tvs on and were discussing what what was going on.



It was and is a very terrible thing. Still very upsetting!

My heart goes out to all those affected by this tragic event.

[Monroe1218]

DH and I were home that morning together. We had just come down stairs and turned the tv on and watched the second plane hit. We were glued to the tv the rest of the day and couldn't believe what was happening. I was worried that DH would be called back to active duty since he was listed as inactive reserves for the Marine Corps.

[ernstem]

I was in my classroom teaching during my second week of my first teaching job. And trying to field questions from 8th graders. The offices had the tvs on all day.

[butterfly843]

I was at home,off from work and heading to see dh (we were dating at the time). He lives further out west and my dad called and told me to turn on the tv while I was getting ready. I couldn't believe it, I rushed to head out and lucked out they were closing highways and I was able to get through before the closures. I remember all the emergency vehicles on the highway. My dh was stuck on the bridge, the car in front of him was the last they let through before closing the bridges. Cell phone reception was terrible and I was worried about him. My dads good friend was in one of the towers, but luckily made it out.

[Charleneanne]

on the freeway headed for my 2nd mammogram in less than two weeks. My mammo turned out ok but the 9/11 news knocked us off our pins.