Everyone remembers exactly what they were doing, where they were, who they were talking to, when the world changed forever on 9/11. I certainly do.

(I live in Australia incase you are confused of the times)

Sept. 11, 2001, 10.40 pm local time (8.40 am NY time)

I had stayed up late watching late night news.. before going to bed, I decided i should call my mother (she was overseas on vacation and was expecting my sister and i to call her. My sister was asleep in her bedroom).. I should've really called her the night before, as instructed, but forgot. I couldn't put it off another night. I turned off the TV and rang my mother. She answered the phone and we started a normal conversation, basically asking how she was, etc. She had her TV on the whole time tuned to the BBC. My TV was off.

Approx. 10.50 pm local time (8.50 am NY time)

Our conversation was interupted halfway through as news broke through of the first plane to hit the WTC. We finished our conversation about 5-10 minutes later (before the second plane hit). I turned my TV back on for a couple of minutes to check, before heading to bed. Sure enough, there were images of Tower 1 engulfed in flames.. At the time, I knew it looked serious but I assumed it must have been an accident with a light plane or something. I turned off the TV and went to bed.. If i had watched just a couple of minutes longer i would have seen the 2nd plane hit and be glued to my TV screen the whole night. Before going to bed, i told my sister that "a plane had hit a building in New York", ironically incase it was major news the next day.

I had no idea the magnitude of the events that unfolded as I was sound asleep that night.

Sept. 12, 2001, Approx. 6.30 am local time (4.30 pm NY time 9/11)

My sister woke me up early saying that "heaps of planes have crashed all over America". It was on the radio, on TV - i was in complete shock! I stayed glued to the TV all day, i just couldn't believe it.

If i hadn't called my mother before going to bed, I would have been completely oblivious to the tragic events until i woke up! In a way, i sort of was aware of it but I assumed the first plane was just an accident (at the time before i went to bed, the reports on TV were sketchy, they didnt even know it was terrorism).. never ever entered my mind it was a massive terrorist attack on America.

I also think its remarkable that I missed the 2nd plane hitting the wtc LIVE on TV. My mother definately saw it, as she told me later.

I'm sure you all have interesting stories... please tell!

I was on my ship, The night before I had the mid-watch and didn't go to bed until 3:30.  I had to get up at 5:30 so I was a little tired. Our ship was in the second day of a big inspection and at 6:30, we had a meeting, and about 7:00 the civilian inspectors started to arrive,  

  I don't remember what time it was, but, I was talking to my boss trying to figure out how we were going to schedule everything, and then one of the people I work with came in, and he turned on the TV and said something like "hey check this out".  I thought he was just acting stupid, like he did normally.  So, I looked at  the Tv and thier was a fire in the world trade center,  Then everybody that worked in our dept came running in to watch. We saw the other plane hit the other tower, A plane hit the pentagon, The towers collapse, and so on.

They canceled our inspection for that day, but we did complete it later that week.  They also closed down the base for a couple days, and I didn't get to go home until that Friday.  

 

I was in my program(workshop)and the supervisor informed us that the World trade Center had collapsed.Everyone was just devastaded.There was lots of chaos.-howard-(don't call me jammin'!) :-*

  At the time I was working the graveyard shift, so I was probably tits-up.
  I found out about the attacks on a the messageboard I modarate when I started seeing topics like "What's Going-On In The U.S.? and "Pray For America".  Man, what a shocker that was.

I woke up and turned on the TV as I always do so I can see if there is any news.

I was getting dressed and not paying any real attention, when I looked on the screen and saw the headline behind the presenter "America Under Attack".

Even then it took me a little while to comprehend, as commercial networks tend to overstate things in the main.  For all I knew, it was another story about a big stock market fall.

But then as I watched (bear in mind this was all replays by this stage) I saw the whole thing unfold....suffice to say a lot of people were late for work that day.

During the day we had the TV in the Conference Room on and watched stunned as more and more different footage came in....

FB  :(

My best bud called early that morning, and we were on the phone together watching "Today"...we watched in disbelief as the second plane rammed the WTC, and wept as we saw WT2 collapse.  An unforgettable day...I wept for weeks... :'( :'(

I was out doing some inspections with another counselor (and I was smiling at every plane that flew overhead because I was 8 days away from flying to Europe for the first time) when we heard the first tower had been hit (we had the radio on) and then the second tower got hit.  The other counselor has a daughter who worked there, so she asked me to take her back to the office, which I did.  At this point, I still thought it was just a horrible, freak accident, so I continued with my inspections.  When the radio announcer said people were jumping from the buildings, the seriousness of the situation hit home and I headed back to the office where I found all my co-workers crouched around a radio.  Then the Pentagon.  We were standing there in shock when someone ran into the office and yelled something about a plane circling our little town (I live fifteen minutes from Dulles Airport and 20 minutes from the Pentagon so the plane that hit the Pentagon went over us at some point).  Well, there was a plane circling, but it was because National (oops, I think it's now called Ronald Reagan National) Airport had completely shut down and Dulles was close to being shut down.

Our company refused to close down, but I went home for lunch and just didn't go back that day (spent the whole evening trying to donate blood, but they had so many people they asked me to come back in a couple of weeks when they needed to restock the supply).  I will never forget the silence.  The sound of no planes going overhead.  It was eerie.  And I can't even describe the feeling I had when the first plane to take off from Dulles after the airport re-opened flew overhead.

MissInformation
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My paps had just had open heart surgery the day before..and after being up for way too many hours....I was sound asleep in bed with my soon to be ex at my parents house.  Goldie was in and her hubby called to wake us up and tell about the first plane...she and my mom ran upstairs and woke us up and the 4 of us all piled upon the bed...watching the news, watching the 2nd plane...with our mouths open...not saying a word...and having no idea what to do next.  My paps was lying in a hospital bed....and we did not know if it was even safe to leave and go and see him.  It was two months later before paps even knew it had happened...and he just sat and cried

I was in Vegas sleeping in my dorm room when my dumb ass RA (resident advisor) bang on our door.  At that time I didn't care what was going on,  I just wanted some sleep.  It was 7am, 10am eastern time.  No offense, but I went to bed 4am that night.

I was driving to work when I tuned into the radio and there were reports of the World Trade Centre being bombarded by commercial aeroplanes. I thought it was some sort of sick joke a la "War Of The Worlds" - complete with sound FX, etc. When I got to work, everyone had this wide-eyed, pale expressions...really eerie and then I saw the film footage on KABC channel 7 (Los Angeles): the stuff that nightmares are made of.

Tarzan Boy

It is still hard to talk about that day. I don't think I will ever completely heal from the insanity and heartbreak. My sister and I had planned to go shopping on that day for a birthday present for our mother, whose birthday was the following week. My sister arrived at my house a bit early and I had not gotten ready to leave. I went upstairs to take a shower and my sister went to my kitchen to fix some breakfast for us both to eat. I had finished taking my shower and had put on my clothes when my sister began to knock urgently on the bathroom door. I opened the door and my sister said, "Something horrible has happened. Come downstairs to the television... now!" I'll never forget the horrified look on her face and the fear in her voice. We both ran downstairs and watched as the complete and utter madness and chaos unfolded before our eyes. Mere words could never express my heartbreak and grief. I kept saying "Please, God, just let this be some kind of horrible nightmare. Allow me to wake up and everything will be okay..." When the first tower collapsed, I literally fell to the floor, weeping. My sister went numb and couldn't speak or react. The phone rang. It was my mother. She was crying hysterically. We remained on the phone together, not really speaking, but just connected in our anguish and disbelief. Then there was the footage of the people jumping from the second tower. I had to turn away... those images will haunt my nightmares forever. When the second tower collapsed, I didn't think I could bear the pain. I didn't know anyone that died but I felt as if I knew all of the lost souls. The madness continued with news of the plane crashing into the Pentagon and still another crashing into the Pennsylvania countryside. Later that afternoon, my sister and I went to our mother's house. There wasn't a great deal of conversation... but we all needed to be around our family. It was a simple and small comfort. I didn't sleep that night. I don't think I ate a real meal for days after. Talking about it today opens up the fresh wound around my heart...

I was at work.  A lady came in and said that a plane had just hit the Trade Center.  We all thought it was just a horrible accident.  By the time I got the radio on the second plane had hit.  My boss called to see if we knew what was going on..she had been watching the news and saw the second plane hit.  It was a truly horrible day in our country's history. :'(

I was at work listening to a local sports talk show. One of the hosts said that someone had just called and said a plane had flown into the WTC... I thought "accident", maybe a Cessna that had gone off course or had mechanical problems. But then when the second plane hit I knew it was no accident and went to find a television. That's where most of us spent the day, in a conference room watching the news.

I was at work, a plant literally right next to a major airport runway.

I was in our weekly project status meeting, to which I and a few co-workers had walked about 8:50 when this started, and were about to switch gears to scheduling ~10.  We were a bit behind the times because of the meeting.  However, 1 of our test guys walked out then for a restroom visit.  He came back and said rather succinctly, "a plane flew into the Pentagon and World Trade Center".  And he had found out only because of his wife sending e-mail on his Blackberry!

We were all sort of stunned at what he was saying.  What was this about?  We just stopped the meeting and scattered.

I went down the hall and found a group of people at a cubicle.  The lady there I knew had a tiny radio TV.  Now I could see what was happening a bit - and that both WTCs had been hit w/2 separate planes.  And shortly, they came crumbling down.  Some women were teary.  I was just stunned.  Before long everyone was just aimlessly milling around.

I walked back to my desk - had to go outside then cuz of temp. quarters - and planes were coming into the runways right next to us.  None were going out.  There was no announcement from plant HQ so I stayed.  Meanwhile, I tried calling family.  My dad works here too, so I called him 1st.  We had my nephew going to a private school w/no buses, so we had to find out what would happen there.  Dad called the school and I called my sister (not his mother - he's living w/us instead of his dad for schooling) to see if she could get him since she's only 5 min from him - but she had to pick up her son, too (another private place w/no buses) and get her girls in line.  We didn't quite know what to do cuz not everything fell in place.

Meantime, I went to get lunch since we seemed to still be staying at work.  I drove to my usual McD's near the airport - but it was closed, all chairs up on tables.  Eerie.  Got something elsewhere.  Drive back into our parking lot (behind a couple other cars), and there is a huge long line of cars *leaving* the lot and criss-crossing all the drive lanes.  I saw a friend in that line and he told me we were excused "liberal leave" (nature of our work it's not surprising we'd have to shut down in such an emergency - compounded by the airport proximity).  I pulled into a spot along w/the man in front of me, and we both got out, perplexed, and agreed we'd not bother to leave yet since it's "liberal" and we're obviously not going anywhere, anyway!  We both walked in together to the plant and went our ways.  I figured I'd eat my lunch and then leave since maybe the traffic would be gone then.

I walked back to my place - again, outside, total silence now from the airport - and discovered an equally silent building.  It was very eerie.  My room was dark - except a door open on a lit office.  I brashly called out "any stronghearts left here?" and a supervisor rushed out of that door, wildly exclaiming "what the hell are you doing here?!?  Get outta here, you're supposed to be gone!  You don't know what kinda !#@^#@ these a--holes are going to do, get outta here!  This is serious!  Could be biological crap and chemicals!!!  I'm serious get outta here now!  It's MANDATORY"  He was hysterical, let's say that.  Then he left, I said I'd leave but had to make phone calls.  Called my sister's, where her friend answered and said they got my nephew already - and my dad just walked into her house then and yelled "what the hell is she doing there!?" and told me to get moving.  Which I finally did - by then the lot was empty and easy to get out of.

We all just sat around at our house that afternoon, waiting for my mom to return, my dad and cousin and I just sitting around speculating and talking it over.  It was such a beautiful day weather-wise, it made it extra surreal knowing this horrid outrage had occurred.  And again - no commercial planes (further out, but still many go overhead).  But we did hear/see evidence of some fighters a few times in the day.

I was in study hall.. the principal came in and took us all to the gym.. He told us a plane hit the Pentagon, we really didn't care, it wasn't a big deal to us just then, but later we realized it WAS a HUGE deal, and it still makes me very sad.

I was in prison, in Northern Ireland - working.  They had a little portable television nearby, which didn't really get sound and had a very grainy picture (hell, no arial inside a prison - it was lucky to get a picture at all).  I didn't really notice what had happened until seeing only one tower, when it was a sort of "hold on a sec, shouldn't there be two of those" kind of feeling, and trying to tune the thing in to get some sound through.

I had to fly back that evening, the plane was delayed by a couple of hours (they did everything bar dismantle the laptop at the security search), all the time in the departure lounge it was showing the day's events over and over.  I was kind of glad to get home.

Phil

I just woke up, and I was eating breakfast. Call me dumb but at the time I didn't really care much for the twin towers because I didn't think that they were exciting. But when I heard that I got scared a little because we were all under warning that it might happen again somewhere else. At school that's all we talked about.

i was at work in elmira, ny.  my co-worker and i had just brought that day's shipment in from the receiving area.  i had been telling her about how i was excited about my birthday the next day (sept 12) and how i was hoping it would be a good-luck charm for me because i'd had a really rough summer.  then my boss came by and said that there were planes going down in new york city and the wtc had been hit.  she told us to go into the breakroom and see the news.  when she first told us, i thought it was a sick joke, but when i saw it, i actually started feeling sick.  there were dozens of workers in the store who were freaking out because they had family either in new york, near the pentagon or in pa where the other plane crashed.  it was almost like a hush fell over everything that day...customers didn't chit chat, business was slow and the only sounds other than those of the store running were the sounds of people crying or expressing sorrow in some other way.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania USA

I was in School

1st Period- History

My history teacher\principle was called out of the room
class continued with our joint english teacher. until 1st and 2nd were over.

3rd Period
announcement and all televisions in the school were turned on showing us what had happened.
2nd plane hits TT(twin towers)

4th Period- Religion (I go to a catholic high school)
Sister Gabby tries to explain. Decides to pray. ALOT

5th Period- MAth
Mathe teacher decides to continue with class. He doesnt have a tv in his room.

6th Period-Lunch
Go to regular table with friends.
Announcements come on stating that the school will be in LOCK DOWN for the rest of the day. After we eat, we are moved to the gym were we are locked in. And monitered on our trips to the bathroom. Teachers get a tv from gym teachers office and put it in gym. Watch as everyone panics on tv.  ;) Downtown Harrisburg is shut down also. Raving Parents come to grab their children and leave. I ride the bus home.

Home- 3:30P.M (Eastern)

I was doing my community radio program (10pm - midnight, Sydney time). At midnight, I switched the station over to automatic in time for the BBC world service bulletin. By then it was about 10am NY time. I quickly went home and found half the people in my street sitting in the living room watching the live coverage on TV.