Where were you 9/11/2001?

[{CLR} ObiTroy]

I just started a conversation on my FaceBook page and thought it would be a good topic for here as well.

My FaceBook post:

Where were you on 9/11/2001? I had just gotten to my office in Charlotte. I was in our little break room getting a cup of coffee... someone came in and said a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers in New York. I didn't think much about it, some drunk pilot in a little Cesna I thought.

Shortly later, we were all gathered around the TV in one of our conference rooms with a very sickening, sinking feeling in our guts when we saw the second plane hit the tower.

My FaceBook friends John, Debra, and Ski were most likely huddled... around that same TV with me. That's an experience we'll never forget.

Post a comment, please, let us know where your were

I'll be flying my flag out front at half staff tomorow. I think it would be very good and healing to post your thougts on where you were, what you were doing, your initial feelings.

Just thinking about this... makes me want a group hug really bad. Such a horrible day.

[BadHabitz]

I was in Norfolk, VA. My ship, USS Deyo (DD-989), was starting out on a 9 month maintenance availability. I remember that 9/11 was on a Tuesday, because the ship was just starting to be torn apart. We had the day off on the previous Friday because the ship was towed upriver from Naval Station Norfolk.

So it was in the middle of the morning and I was out on the pier in the smoking area conversating with a few of the guys when someone casually joined the group saying a plane crashed into the World Trade Center.

Not thinking much about it I finished my smoke (I've quit since then) and walked back onto the ship. I walked past the mess deck and saw people watching CNN on the TV. I thought that maybe a Cesna ran into the building. As I stopped to watch I saw the second plane hit the second tower. That's when we all knew something was wrong and this wasn't just an accident.

I can't remember if we were called to muster or not, but I remember heading up to my divisional office. We sat there for a few hours watching TV. We heard about the Pentagon being hit. We also heard a report about a car bombing outside the State Department building. That's when it started to feel like we were going to war that very day! One of the guys has a brother that worked in the WTC so he was trying to get a hold of him (turns out he was ok). Another guy's wife worked at the State Department building so he was allowed to leave to go get her. Turned out the car bombing at the State Department was an erroneous report and was probably meant to be a report about the Pentagon.

The captain said we were going to start putting the ship back together so we could go to war if we were called on. I knew that it wasn't going to mean anything. They scrambled some ships for air defense of NYC but they rightly picked the much more capable DDG-51's with the AEGIS system and SM-2's.

We had to stay onboard the ship that night, which sucked. The guys that worked at the Naval Air Station Oceana (near my apartment) were all told to go home except for Security. Just in case there was an attack on Oceana they didn't want all of their people being there as potential casualties.

It was a day I'll never forget

[Rand{CLR}]

I woke up and was getting ready for work on-campus at the library at UMD. This was before I regularly had the TV on to at least check in with news. I was trying to connect to CNN.com for my news, and kept failing. A few minutes later I went to the BBC and saw the news that a small plane had hit.

I turned on the TV to a massive plume of black smoke and realized it wasn't a small plane. Watched for awhile, then had to go in.

Coming over a hill just outside the University, I saw a massive column of jet-black smoke in the distance, and knew instantly it was related to the tower strike. I was listening to the local news-talk channel the whole way in, but they didn't have this yet. When I parked, I had to sit for another 10 minutes before word finally came through that the smoke column was caused by the Pentagon hit.

I saw the first tower fall on a 4 inch black and white screen in the back room before I had to go work the desk. They ended up opening all the media rooms for people to watch, and I gave directions while trying to keep abreast of what was going on.

A couple weeks later, the FBI showed up while I was at the desk on another shift: they were looking for information on one of the hijackers, who may have used one of our computers. The Pentagon team was staying at a motel in Laurel about 12 miles up the road from the campus.

-Rand

[lolcat]

I was in my 9th grade science class. The principal came on the intercom and announced all teachers to turn on their tv's. We spent the whole day except my third period Study Hall (The teacher said study hall is for studying *insert expletives here*) watching it.

[Apache Warrior]

I was home with a sick child. I remember the CNN Anchor stating "that Air Traffic Control was deliberately running planes into the World Trade Center". when the second plane went in. I remember thinking he was an idiot and that it had to be terrorism.
I also have a cousin who's office was in the section fo the Pentagon that was hit by the third plane. Lucky for him his office was being remodeled and he was working from across the street.
A customer of mine lost her son in the World Trade Center attack.
Apache

[Queen B]

I was living in Ottawa at the time and I was in class. The intercom went on and the principal started relating what happened. We got outside and I remember seeing SO many kids desperate because they had relatives there and others who could just feel the pain of what happened. There's a girl, Kirsten, who is my friend, was my neighbor back then, was in my class and lost her dad that day.

[Duke{CLR}]

I was sitting in my living room watching the news when it happened.

[DougBob]

I was standing in our test lab and we had the tv going when the news showed a alert with what had just happened and after the first plane hit they were showing love footage when the second plane came in for the second tower.

We all just stood there for a few minutes and then it began, rage mostly, with a little sadness mixed in. It was mostly rage though. We all knew it was an attack and we pretty much all were saying the same thing, find them and eliminate the threat, but we all work in that environment. Find the threat and eliminate it! We had a van loaded and our software was deployed and online in the next couple of days for U.S. airspace.

[Skud]

My brother called me at home and said we were attacked. I was like, wtf? What are you talking about. I turned on the tele and watched. There was rage, shock. I bought my first AR that week. Considered joining the forces, but didn't because I didn't trust the commander in chief's judgment (in fact, haven't seen one in decades that I would give absolute authority over me to)...for which I'm glad, seeing as how we still haven't gotten the guys responsible. We did help to create Al Queda in Iraq, though.

[Reconsnipe1]

I was at home watching tv when my parents ran into the room and changed the channel to cnn.

[Pumpkin_Jack]

In school 3rd grade i think i didnt know what happened but i remember they dismissed us.

[Minerva]

I was in Barcelona, at my parents house. September 11th is our National Day, "Diada de Catalunya" (we commemorate the 1714 Siege of Barcelona defeat during the War of the Spanish Succession) so we were all together, it's a holiday... We were staring at the TV with a shocked face. It was pretty intense.

[AmazingRedd]

I was riding the subway at the time heading back home after deciding to skip school cause i was late, the train i used to take to go to school pass by the WTC (chambers street) train station. at the time i remember passing by was around 7:50 - 8am, it was when i got home and turn on the tv. i didnt pay much attention at first but it was on every channel so then i was listening on the tv on what was happening so then i turned into shock, also that i remember passing by there 20mins ago. thanks god i wasnt so late otherwise i would of get caught in the ruble. i was 13 at the time.

[Furryappleseed]

Junior year in high school. Walked into my 3rd period Computer Apps class, the t.v. was on and my teacher was sitting in the corner staring at it. I remember someone asking her what we were doing that day and she just said watch the t.v.

The lasting image I have is when the second tower got hit, but I thought it exploded because I never saw the plane. It was later on that afternoon that I learned it was actually airplanes that hit the towers.

[mapes]

I didn't have cable TV and I never hooked up the antenna for over the air tv. So I had no clue . I was a bit hungover from a friends party the night before and I was a bit late to work. I jumped onto my motorcycle and was heading into work. I was working at Nokia at the time and our site was only six miles from my house. As I'm hauling a$$ trying to get to work I am suddenly passed by what I can only describe as a fleet of FBI SUV's. Gov plates and all. Thinking hmm thats strange I rarely get passed.....

When I get to work one of my co workers told me what happened. Nokia USA division shutdown all of its plants and sent everyone home.

Later that night a bunch friends ended up going to one of the local dive bars to get a drink and talk about it. There was a ton of people out. I think people just didn't want to sit at home and needed some type of contact. I will never forget watching my friend Violet cry her eyes out on her boyfriends shoulder.