Where were you at 9/11/01?

[sundevil2000]

The morning of September 11 I had woken up early to study for my statistics test that day. My radio alarm went off at 5:45(8:45 NY time), and the first thing I heard was "A plane has crashed into the world trade center" and I jumped out of bed and turned on the tv, to see that it was true. I ran to the phone and called my Mom. When she answered I said, "Mom, were being attacked, a plane crashed into the world trade center", and she replied "It's okay, dont worry about it", and I said "NO, MOM go turn on the T.V.". She came back to the phone and was completely shocked. I called all of my closest friends and woke them up. Every class at school that day was cancelled and all of the students were mourning.
Its hard to believe that this was a year ago.

[Rio_Kohitsuji]

I had just hopped in the shower when I heard my father banging loudly on the door saying that New York had just been attacked. I just shrugged it of thinking, "Okay Daddio (who was in the Navy) you're over-reacting as -usual-.." But I finally got out, threw on my robe and walked in the living room to see the horrific pictures on t.v..it's like for once in my life I was truely scared. I quickly got dressed and quickly sped to school ( I had a 11:30 Psych class) just to find the lecture hall the class was to be held in filled with various teachers and students watching the news on the screen in the front of the class. I watched it for a while getting sicker and sicker and finally had to leave only to run into some friends who had just decided to join up that day. The rest of the day I floored it on every back road I could find just to come home and have a message from my exboyfriend (who had lived in Albany NY and now is stationed in Italy in the Navy) saying he was alright but he didn't know where he was going to be the next day.

I still dont' know how some people who lost their loved ones can handle all of it now. My grandfather, boyfriend (at the time) and my brother-in-law are firefighters and just thinking about losing them in something like that was heartbreaking. The familes are truely strong.

[ladybug1116]

I was in my car driving to do some Music Therapy contract work at 2 nursing homes (about 45 minutes out of Tallahassee, FL where I was living at the time). I was singing along to the radio when they interrupted with a news bulletin telling about the first tower being struck. I couldn't believe it and at that point it hadn't been confirmed as terrorist action. I was still driving when they reported the second tower being struck....at that point I knew something was very wrong and I started driving faster so I could get to the facility and see the news. I got there and the directors wanted me to get started with my music group immediately. They said the residents were getting agitated (they had dementia) because of all the chaos of the morning. The room where the group was had a big screen TV and I positioned the group so that I could see the TV (on mute) while the residents faced me. I saw the first tower collapse while I was in the middle of singing a song. We sang hymns for the rest of the group. I still had to go to the next group (at another facility) where there wasn't any TV.

When I got in my car to head back to Tallahassee I remember feeling nervous and not safe being in a capital city. I knew Bush had been in FL that day and his brother Jeb is/was the governor of FL. My apartment was only a couple miles away from the capital building and I kept thinking something bad was going to happen. Traffic was horrible as I was heading home and I decided to cut through FSU's campus...classes had been cancelled that day and traffic was gridlocked there too. I ended up turning off the radio because it was information overload and I felt powerless. I finally made it home, called my family and was glued to the TV the rest of the day.

[chideltjen]

I had just woke up. It was about 6:00 am. I jumped out of the shower and found a new message on my cell phone. My bf had called me to tell me to turn on a radio or anything because the twin towers were gone and another plane had gone into the pentagon. First instinct was to call my mom at home to make sure my dad was ok since he works for USAirways and who knows what was going on at SFO. Second feeling was pure frustration because our cable guy was installing our cable on September 12th!!!!! So I didn't have a TV so I couldn't see any visuals until classes were cancelled and everyone was huddled in the pub watching CNN. And then all of the radio stations stopped playing music all day. Pure chaos... and I was on the opposite side of the country. It's amazing how fast a university can be shut down but how LONG it takes everyone to leave.

[PotentialPledge]

I was walking to my Anthropology Class, when I got there the TV was on and towers were on fire, and then they showed the pentagon on fire. I rushed out to call my mom cause she works at Reagan Airport which are right next to each other. I couldnt get through to anyone in the DC/MD/VA area. Nothing is more frightening than to not know if your family is safe. Well, I got through to my mom in evening.

[Optimist Prime]

Walking to german class and my friend was like did you hear about what happened and we were joking before so I thought it would be funny but it wasn't.

[kddani]

I was walking out of my room in the sorority suite, and saw in the living room the tv and what was going on. It was about 9am, so i saw the second plane crash. But, of course, at the moment, not having any idea how serious things were.

I went to class, calling my mom on the way to talk about it. The class was Theory of International Relations. The prof had only heard through a few people vague bits of info, so we discussed it for a few minutes. He asked us who we think did it, and why, and I was the first one to say Osama. We talked for a few minutes then went into his regular lecture.

I came out of class and went to the student union to meet with the greek advisor, and ended up sitting with 200 other people in front of a tv showing what was going on. At this point in time I was just learning of the crash in Somerset, a little over an hour away, and that the WTC buildings had collapsed.

I go back up in our suite and try to comfort a number of sisters- many are from outside NYC and have family and friends that work there. I call my mom, and my then-boyfriend who worked downtown in one of the larger buildings, which was being evacuated. Later on in the day we went to a vigil service. Everything was just so weird and overwhelming.

About two weeks later someone called in an anthrax threat to campus. It was a Saturday night, and I wasn't feeling well so I stayed in. I hear people yelling out in the suite, but i thought nothing of it- a Saturday night in the sorority suite, people are gonna be loud. Finally i go out to see what's up, and there's a cop screaming at me to get out of the building NOW! Wouldn't tell us what's going on. So i'm in pajamas, running out of the building. Outside there are SWAT team guys with gas masks and HUGE rifles yelling at us to run as far away as possible. Talk about scaring the shit out of people. I called my little brother on my cell, he lives on campus as well, and told him to get out NOW, that i didn't know why, but just to do it. Then I called my parents telling them that i had my cell but no idea what was going on... i was okay. Went to a friend's apartment where we tried to find out what was going on. Eventually we find out it's a hoax, but wow, that was a scary night.

[AGDPrincess70]

I had skipped my 9:30 class that day because I was out late with friends the night before. I was getting ready for class and turned on the Weather Channel to find out the temperature. I kept seeing scrolling news at the bottom of the screen, but I thought it was just saying "planes crashed in NY and DC," so I thought it was sad but didn't really think anything of it. Then I turned on local news right as the second tower collapsed. I kept thinking that it wasn't real. As I was walking to my 11:00 class I overheard people talking about it, but still wasn't conviced it was real. In my PR class, my prof told us that we were witnessing history and to go find a tv ASAP and just watch. I went into the theatre building and people were crying everywhere. Some friends and I just held each other and watched.

What made it even worse was that night I had to go a funeral home for the viewing of my friend's mom who had passed away the day before. On my way home, I drive past Detroit Metro Airport, and it was the creepiest feeling. There was nobody on teh freeway, and there was no sign of life at the airport.

That night my roommates and I kept hearing fighter jets overhead. Anytime we heard a plane we freaked out. We were so scared we couldn't sleep.

[phisigduchesscv]

It's normal in my family as soon as we get up in the morning to turn on the tv to a local news station. My alarm had gone off and I had just hit the snooze when I heard my mom turn on the tv and then I heard her yell for my dad to get up that the WTC was on fire (didn't know that a plane had crashed in to it yet). At that point I put my tv on just in time to see the second plane crash in to the other tower. All I could think of was "oh my God we've just been attacked". We immediately got on the phone to call my sister and brothers who all live out of state. I also texted message my boyfriend and then tried calling him about the news. Then the news starts talking about 2 other planes going off course and then that the pentagon has been hit with a plane too. After that it was a lot of calling family and friends back and forth with the news and talking about all the rumors various news channels were reporting.

I have one brother in the Coast Guard stationed near Norfolk, VA and the base was immediately locked down and on the highest level of alert. My other brother, who lives in Washington State, called to tell me to put on BBC America ( I have different tv company then my parents do). I was watching their coverage and they actually showed a video of the plane that hit the pentagon. I've only seen it the one time and it's never been shown on American tv, I guess it may show some national security measures. If I didn't know a couple of other people who saw the same thing i would think I had had a nightmare of it.

I remember just sitting in front of the tv in shock as all this was going down. I do have to say it was the oddest thing flipping to every channel on directv from shopping channels to sports to animal planet and everyone was broadcasting the attacks on tv. i have never seen anything like it before. Finally when it came around to 8:00 when I should have been in the office I called my boss and told her that I would be late and didn't know what time I would be in. She knew a plane had flown in to the WTC but didn't know about all the attacks.

I don't think I will ever have the memories erased in my mind of watching the towers collapse. this is truly the "where were you" of my generation (generation x) even above and beyond the shuttle explosion. Pretty much any generation born since Kennedy was shot or when the shuttle exploded this it the where were you time. I finally forced myself to go to work but ended up answering questions about what had happened since we didn't have tv feed in the Admissions office. Finally the Campus President announced that Governor Davis was shutting down all state offices and that the campus was closed. I drove home and just sat in front of the tv not still not believing my eyes.

I do remember everyone in my family telling each other we loved them. It's not something we normally do although it was always understood without saying the words. At that time they needed to be said. Then we just prayed our hearts out.

This Wednesday CSUDH is going to read off the names of the Californians that died in the plane crashes. After each name is read a bell will sound. Then a Patriotic quilt is being unveiled at the university. Finally at 8:00 Wednesday night we will hold a candlelight vigil.

[sigmagrrl]

The previous night, I had been in the ER with my then BF. So, I had called in late to work. I got to work just as the news of the first plane crash was reported. I was in shock, since I'm from NYC and used to visit the towers regularly. But, I still didn't think anything more than a horrific accident had occurred. I sat in my car for a few more minutes to hear that the second plane had hit. I walked up to my office and told everyone what was going on. The cynical group they are, no one believed me. I could care less about starting work, I just ran into our break room to see the news. I kept running back and forth between my cube and the break room to watch. When I saw the towers collapse, I just felt such a profound sadness. I called my mom at work and left her a message: "Mom, the towers are gone." She called me back, but we didn't say much of anything except, I can't believe it." I live just outside of DC, so when the Pentagon was hit, that was a little too close for comfort. Soon, rumors were flying through the office "The USA Today building is on fire" , "Camp David was attacked." It all seemed surreal and I just needed to get home, safe. My a$$hole boss was trying to keep from us the news that we were allowed to leave if we wanted to, but I found out, walked up to him, and asked him why he didn't tell us. The negative, cynical prick he is said, "You can go, but I don't know why you are so upset." I just stared at him and said, "I'm outta here." I booted my PC down, grabbed my stuff and drove home (I only live 2 miles from work). At that point, all I wanted to do was see my BF. I called and called, no answer. Turns out that the "sick" ex was ata bar, drinking!!!!!! And he never called to see how I was (needless to say, can you see why we aren't together anymore). I got home, woke my then roommate up and she was in shock as well. She travels for a living and most of her colleagues were out of town. All of them had to rent cars to get back home (one from CO, the other from FL). I just sat in my room and watched the news all day. I was actually supposed to drive to Raleigh, NC that evening, but was too scared to even venture onto the roads, much less the Capitol Beltway.

And guess what everyone? I am flying.....to Raleigh, NC...on 9/11, this Wednesday. How weird, huh??

[AOX81]

I was at work when everything happened. My boss was on a business trip so the phones starting ringing off the hook. Everybody was wondering where he was and if he was okay. I had to explain to everyone that he was in Detroit and he DROVE. His wife was in Amsterdam and she couldn't fly home because they had cancelled all flights.

I didn’t get to see anything until around noon. One of my co-workers went home on her lunch hour and taped CNN for an hour and brought the videotape back to work.

I tried to call my uncle but his phone was tied up for hours. I finally just sent him an e-mail to make sure my cousins were okay. One of them lives in Yonkers with his wife and the other one works at the Museum of Natural History in DC.

[ZTAngel]

I was sleeping when it all happened. Around 11am, I was driving to my 11:30 class. I turned on the radio and heard some news report. I wanted to hear music so I kept flipping through the stations. Every station had a news report on. That's when I knew something was up. I listened and, at first, I didn't believe it. I thought it was a new version of War of Worlds. It took me a minute to realize this was really happening. I called my dad because I was really worried because he travels to NYC all the time. Luckily, he was at home safe just as shocked as I was that this was all going on. My boyfriend had a 4 hour Chem lab that day from 8am-noon so I knew that he had no clue what was going on. I called his cell phone to inform him. He went back to class to report it and his lab stopped mixing chemicals to watch the news.

[Corbin Dallas]

I had just gotten out of the shower, and walked back to my room, and my bro in the next room, was like, steve, get dressed and come over here. he told me what happened. we were watching when the second plane hit. we were just in disbelief. after the first plane hit, we thought it was a plane off course or something, but the second one hit and we knew it wasn't!

my boss, along with a couple dozen other NSWC Crane employees were at the pentagon when it was hit. no one from Crane died though.

[UF_PikePC98]

On the morning of 9/11 I missed my first class. I went out the night before and got seriously wasted. I woke up because my girlfriend was leaving to go to class ( She doesn't skip). I had a major hang over and I ran out to the frig to get some Fiere grape gatorade. I fell on the bed afterwards and layed there. I turned on my TV in my room and saw one of the towers on fire, I was like dayum, " I knew somone was going to get pissed at all those high air fare prices".......then next thing I know I saw the 2nd plane crash into the other tower. Then I thought to myself, the democrats might be trying to start a revolution since the shadyness of the bush win. Then the pentagon got nailed.....Finally I figured out that we done pissed off some of Saddam Husseins cousins, enough to make them crazy Mullahs bust a cap on the trade center. The main thing that kept dawning in my head was "Dayum, there goes the Dow Jones".

I find it rather odd that Baby Bush was in Florida at the time of the attacks and not in D.C.

[SigmaChiCard]

I was at work, I get there around 6:30 and am sitting at my computer when someone was like "a plane just crashed into the world trade center." But we all just think that it was a freak accident, like maybe it was flying too low and clipped the tower, until someone yells "Oh My God, the other tower has been hit." So we feel like we feel like we just got stuck in the middle of a war that we hadn't been informed was coming. Mind that I worked for one of the US's biggest defense contractors.....so we did what we had to do, we geared up for world war III. Glad it didn't come.