Where were you on 9/11?

agape1cor813 · September 2011

I feel compelled to write something about this, given the gravity of the day.

Where were you on 9/11/2001? What do you remember most about that day? How old were you, and how much of the news coverage did you watch? Looking back on it, what has one thing that has stuck with you?

agape1cor813 · September 2011

I was a sophomore in high school when 9/11 happened. I was in homeroom, which also happened to be in the same room as my first class of the day; I had left the classroom to get a drink of water and when I got back, the TV was on and we were watching the attack.

I ended up watching a lot of the news coverage (we didn't have cable, and it was the only thing on TV for about 4 days). The things that stuck with me most happened early in the attacks, hearing a classmate say, "How can any group of people hate us this much?!", seeing a girl in my math class trying to get a hold of her mom because her dad was supposed to be in a meeting in the World Trade Center, and my design teacher (who I believe was a first-generation American citizen) began to choke up as she told us take out a sheet of paper and write down what it means to us to be American.

I remember watching everything but trying really hard to not be so upset at all the death and destruction, but when the high school choir director sang "God Bless America" at the homecoming assembly I started to cry. I feel today that a lot of people don't necessarily want to remember all the raw emotion of that day, perhaps because each anniversary kind of reopens the wound, and it's particularly worse this year and people still don't know how to cope. I hope we can eventually heal but still remember the lives lost.

FaithCaitlin · September 2011

My 5th grade class had just gone to the library. I was 10. I remember someone coming into the library and telling the librarian that something "awful" happened and they both disappeared for awhile.

Then, someone came in to tell us that the Towers were attacked, but I don't think any of us had a clue what the World Trade Center was.

At first they decided they weren't going to release us early, but then parents started swarming the school so they released us. My dad worked down the street and came and got me immediately.

I remember going home, my parents crying, watching the news, and hearing tons and tons of planes flying over my house at night. And, I slept in my parents' bedroom that night.

I remember, more than anything, the passion people had for America after the attacks. It was beautiful admist all the chaos and tragedy.

God Bless America.

fpaemp2011 · September 2011

I was in 9th grade World History taking a test on Ancient Egypt. One of the seniors came in and said "Someone is bombing New York with planes." After all the tests were in, our teacher turned on the news and we just stared at the TV. It was right after the 2nd tower fell.

When I got home from school, mom told me that no one had heard from my uncle, who worked in the Pentagon. It was 4 days before he was able to get through.

I grew up 5 hours south of DC, but we were still terrified every time we heard a plane go over.

10 years later, I still remember the fireball when the south tower was hit. We didn't see it live, but it was the one scene that was replayed over and over.

I remember the first MLB baseball game after the attacks. I think the Yankees were playing in NY and it was just amazing to see Americans coming together.

ochemjenn · September 2011

I was 16. I found out at the beginning of second period Latin. One of the other students had been in English and had found out there then told our class. We watched some footage online, but our teacher made us do our work for the day. The school wasn't letting parents call and talk to students, except one of my classmate's had a mom who was flying that morning. His mom called and they were allowed to talk.

My dad's side of the family all lives on Long Island. We heard from everyone, except we hadn't heard from my Uncle Charlie since early in the day - he had called my Aunt to tell her he was there helping (EMS). He'd gone in to the city when he'd heard all the radio traffic. I don't remember how long it was before we found out he was ok. He was buried in debris a couple of times. Even after the second time he hadn't known that one of the towers had collapsed. He found out from a photographer friend he rescued. So much stuff got in his eyes that he wasn't allowed to go back again until the 14th because he couldn't see well enough. His sister's husband was killed and so were half of the guys he worked with.

My fear turned in to anger. Now sadness.

SoonToBeGenao · September 2011

I was in 10th grade. We were outside second period practicing our marching routine for marching band. A BIG plane flew over us really low and we all noticed it was strange. We live only a few miles from NYC biggest airports, but the planes are never that low. We figured out afterwards that they must have grounded all planes and that that one was landing in a tiny private airport very near to our school. We went inside to 3rd period AP Literature and that's when out teacher announced that a plane had hit the WTC. Administration hadn't decided yet if they were going to let us watch the tv or not- so by the time the we did get the tvs on, the second tower had been hit- We all watched as both came tumbling down.

My father works in NYC every day and we never know where he is at any given time. He is an electrician and kinda travels around where ever the work leads him. I remember being so striken with fear that I didn't know where daddy was. I got released early and my mom and I signed my sister out of middle school. The three of us sat in the backyard waiting and waiting to hear word from my father. When he was finally able to call we were all so relieved. But we watched the news all day and night all week. I was diagnosed with PTSD and had to see a school physcologist for a while because I was completely unable to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it.

The worst memory for me was an image on the front page of our local newspaper. It was a picture of 2 people jumping from the collapsing buildings from 50+ stories high. I can't imagine being faced with a choice to stay and burn, or jump.

I am proud to be an American, and although this was the worst day I can remember, the unity it brought this country was second to none.

iamjoesgurl · September 2011

I was working and was in a conference call with a client when another manager came in and suggested that we get off the call because of what was happening. We went up to the big conference room in our building where they had the news on. I don't remember a lot of details but I remember being scared. I left the conference room and called my Dad who lived in Upstate NY at the time. He had no clue that anything was happening until I called. I didn't personally know anyone that was affected (lost a friend/loved one).

On Friday night I was flying home and there was a Dateline special airing (the plane got satellite TV). It was a special for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. As I was watching it, I was thinking that it was not very smart for me to be watching while on a plane and it brought back so many unsettling memories.

I am thankful today for the many men and women who put their lives in danger every day to protect us here in the U.S. (military, firefighters, police, EMTs, etc). And I am praying for those who lost someone 10 years ago.

ravenray · September 2011

I was on the west coast and I must have been in 8th grade. 9/11 happens to be my dad's birthday. He was supposed to be gone that day. In fact he was supposed to be on the plane that was supposed to fly out of LA (but never did). Well he woke me up around 7 am and told me that something bad had happened and we should come what is on tv. We never watched Tv in my house. I got up just before the second tower was hit. I watched the first one in horror. No one was prepared for the second one to hit. What I remember most was the people on the ground when the towers came down, the women had left their high heels to run and there were all different pairs of shoes strewn all over the sidewalk. It was such a powerful image I can see it as clear as day in my mind. I will never forget that day. My whole family spent the whole day glued to the Tv watching it reply over and over again. I was pissed because the next day when I was at school people didn't think it was a big deal.... It was so sad.

Today I was pissed at Fi's Mom because when I told her I was remembering 9/11 today she asked me if I was in an emotional wreck ball. I told her no. She was being a B!tch for no reason.... Didn't make me happy. I listened to Presidents Bush speech 3 days later at a memorial and it made me tear up again. Thank you for all sharing your stories I don't think 9/11 will be a day that anyone will forget soon.

diehld · September 2011

I was in 8th grade... A good friend was late to school that day and said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. Since he had good family in NYC I knew this had to be a big deal. My mom was subsitute teaching in the 8th grade wing that day so we were all able to ask my mom what was going on... She told us that it was true. We were taking our state standarized tests at the same time so we watched what ever news coverage we could when we were testing... I'll never forget that morning...

AshNoel8 · September 2011

I was in 11th grade (3 months before I turned 17). I was in Chemistry class and they made an announcement about the Pentagon. When I was in Advanced Speech class a couple periods later,we were watching it on TV and the office called my classroom and my friend's mom asked if I wanted to go home. I don't think I realized the severity of it at that point. We went to her house with another girl and we watched the news coverage all day.

My biggest memory is when I went to NYC with the newspaper staff from my high school in March of 2002. It was 6 months after 9/11 and we visited Ground Zero. I just remember taking pictures of the dirt and empty land and all the flowers and things by the fire station. Very moving. And sad.

Lisa, my H and I watched that Dateline special on Friday too. A lot of tears flowing from me. The stories of the wives/children of guys who were on Flight 93 were really touching.

AllyG303 · September 2011

I was a freshman in high school and was curling my hair and listening to the radio like I did every morning. As soon as the first plane hit and they were talking about it on the radio, I turned on the tv and watched until it was time to go to school. When I got to my first class (health), a girl in my class was crying because her entire family lived in New York.

I didn't really understand what it meant, and didn't even know what the world trade center was before then. I just remember that we watched the news in all classes that day, and I was really scared when I saw the headline on the TV "America at War". I still think about that headline flashing on the screen.

azdancer8 · September 2011

I was 19 and a sophomore in college. My dorm was still being built, so my three roommates and I were living in a hotel down the street from campus. One of the girls had just broken up with her fiancee the night before, so she hadn't slept well. She woke us up early that morning (West Coast time) to tell us that the towers had been hit. I came out in time to see the second one fall. I don't rembember too much about what happened the rest of the day, just that the news was on every television on campus all day.

MelissaC315 · September 2011

I was in 8th grade sitting in homeroom. I remember my homeroom teacher turning on the TV and watching the news coverage over and over. At first I thought she had turned on a movie and was super confused until I realized this was real. And then I remember feeling really scared because I didn't understand what was happening. It was a strange day in school overall because they cancelled classes and we watched news coverage all day. We also had to evacuate the school twice for about an hour at a time, which looking back now I have no clue why. I mean I do live in NY state but we're about 4 hours away.

The thing I remember most was labor day weekend I was in NYC with my family (as we do every year) and we sat on the steps at the entrance of one of the towers to take a little break from walking and we took a picture. It's weird seeing that picture hanging in my parent's house (my dad obviously framed it) because we sat on those steps just a few days prior and didn't think a thing of it.

I think the thing that struck me the most was ... well two things actually.... 1) How kind and warm everyone was towards eachother during the weeks following 9/11. I was pretty young but I remember picking up on that vibe and realizing that everyone was being really kind to one another and we were "united." 2) I have visited ground zero several times and it is an experience like no other. We visited in August the next year and seeing the rubble and thousandssss of pictures, cards, teddy bears, etc. surronding the fences around the site was unbelievable. Just watching people standing there in disbelief and some crying was really emotional.

Purple&7 · September 2011

I was in my 6th grade science class. My teacher was called out of the room by another teacher and I remember her coming back into the room with this sad/terrified look on her face. I remember some kids asking her what was wrong and she wouldn't answer them. A few minutes later the principal came over the loud speaker and told teachers not to turn the t.v on. I had no idea what was going on because I was only 11.

We had a 1/2 day and when I got home I called my mom to let her know I was home and she said she was on her way. I asked her why and she just told me to turn the t.v. I learned so much that day!

SuMmErKuTiE · September 2011

I was a freshman in college and in only my 2nd week of school and I was sitting in Geography class which was an 8:00am class that went until 9:35 and of course it was with the type of professor who would use every minute of the class, so when I finally got out of class at 9:35 I had messages from friends that some planes had crashed into these buildings. Yeah.. not very informative, but I still remember thinking that was crazy.

I went back to the dorms and watched the television coverage with a bunch of people and we just watched the towers burning but never ever expected them to collapse. As the south tower started to collapse I remember watching in disbelief and thinking that they'd no longer be the twin towers as there was only 1 left and I never fathomed that they would both collapse. We all watched in horror as the 2nd one collapsed as well, and breaking news reports of the crash at the Pentagon and in the field in PA. That's when fear started to take over that planes could be crashing anywhere. My mom was at work and finally got through to me on my cell phone, and asked me to go pick up my brother from school, as I was about 1/2 an hour away from home when I was at school. I picked him up, and we went home and our family was glued to the tv for the rest of the night and waited anxiously for President Bush's address to the nation.

yodacub · September 2011

I was a junior in high school. During break between 2nd and 3rd hour, I heard people talking about planes and knew something had happened. Then in 3rd hour history our teacher told us that planes had crashed into the WTC. The rest of the school day was kind of a blur of getting info here and there (no tvs in the classrooms), and everyone being afraid that one would hit the Sears tower since I grew up just south of Chicago. After getting home I watched the news for hours, then went to a prayer service at church. It was one of 2 times in high school I did not do my homework.

sessionswedding · September 2011

I was in the 8th grade, and I was 13. Through a strange series of coincidences, mean teachers who never told us anything, an odd class schedule, and dumb luck, I managed to go literally the entire day without knowing that anything was even going on in the world.

At the end-of-the-day announcements, the principal applauded the teachers for keeping calm all day "despite everything that had happened in New York and other places." I was like huh?

I was staying after school that day for the first meeting of Christ on Campus. I ran across the hall after the dismissal bell to ask the club runner what time we would be leaving, and she said "probably about 3:30." So I ran back to the office to call my mom and tell her what time to pick me up, and she said "you mean you're still having it?" At which point she told me what was going on. We spent the whole COC meeting praying about what was going on.

After the meeting, my mom took myself and my two brothers (one was 12 and one had been 3 for literally 9 days) to the store to stock up on supplies. Not because we would need them per se, but because she knew everyone would buy stuff up in a panic and it would be hard to get stuff in a week or so. We also tried to get gas, but the lines were out into the street, so we just went home, where my mom had already gotten a couple of American flags. I just stared in awe at the news and fiddled with my cross necklace until bed time.

katiedidthat · September 2011

I was in 8th grade. We were in 2nd period (I had civics) and I remember our teacher got a call on her phone and just turned completely pale white and walked out of the room. One of the kids in the class got a call from their mom and told the class "We're under attack- someone is bombing the Twin Towers in NYC." We turned on the TV and just sat watching as the second tower was hit. The school moved us all into the cafeteria/gym where they could have us all in one place as parents started showing up to pick kids up. At approx 9:55 am we heard a low flying plane go over our school building and within minutes of the news report announcing that Flight 93 had been taken down in Shanksville, many of us knew that we had heard it fly over in its final minutes since nearly all other aircraft had been grounded by that point. The news reports after the fact said that the passengers had begun their revolt just moments after they passed our area, while they were over Latrobe PA.

The strongest memories of have of that day are the sound of the plane flying over and looking up at the sky that afternoon on my way home and seeing no jet trails at all. Even to this day anytime I go outside I look up for the trails and get anxious/nervouse when I don't see any.

Where were you on 9/11?

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