Seven years ago today around this time i was hanging at a shopping mall in Paris when i saw a bunch of people glued to a store window, 5 different TV screens showing the same footage, the WTC in NYC and the Pentagon in DC were being attacked by planes. Everyone around me was in shock and no one had a clue about what was going on,i felt numb thinking about all the people i knew in New York, wondering if they were safe. Later i got in touch with them and found out everyone was ok,i also called my family who was here just to hear their voices because i freaked out for a couple of days.

What about you? Where were you when it happened? How did it affect you?

I was in a Marine class in Hawaii.  There was just a whole bunch of angry talk about nuking them, going to war, etc from other Marines.  I had no idea what was going on, then the instructors showed us what was going.  We got that day off from class and then everything changed.  It affected me in many ways.  Base security got really tight.  Barriers were created, things were a mess.  We all new something was going to happen.  I started questioning if I joined to fight, and what it would be like to be in a fight.  I knew it was my duty as a Marine to be a rifleman first, and if called, then I would have to go.  I can't really explain the emotions I was going through at the time.  Just kind of surreal. 

Interesting, yesterday I was listening to the song by Allen Jackson "Where were you when the world stopped turning?"  I think that is one of the best songs about the day.  Instead of words of hatred and killing everyone, it just kind of asks what everyone was doing or thinking during that time. 

Its good to remember what happened.  But the government and American people exploiting it every year has gotten old.

I wish we still had the feeling of togetherness we all had then.  I wish the world was still behind America.   

At the exact moment that the attacks were going on, I was in my bed, sleeping. When I got up out of bed and went downstairs, my mom had the TV on and told me that some big attacks had been made on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I was appalled (for lack of a better word).

We traveled to Cal State Northridge that afternoon, since I was supposed to have a class at 1PM, but I found out that they were evacuating the entire campus for the rest of the day...so we went all the way back home.

I was at work, probably eating my lunch at the time.  Then I guess I was busy in the lab.  I usually checked out the BBC web pages but obviously didn't that afternoon.  The first I heard about the attacks was watching the BBC news at 6.00 p.m. at my parents house.  I was totally shocked by what I saw.

Actually if it had happened on any other day that week I wouldn't have known about it till the day after.  Dai was away with work (in Paris I think) and I generally didn't watch much TV when he was away at that time (a three year old and a seven month old kept me busy enough!).  I called round my parents because it was my dad's birthday. 





Its good to remember what happened.  But the government and American people exploiting it every year has gotten old.




http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/10/yelclap.gif

It was the only time that I knew when everyone was together, no matter what we were (Black, White, Liberal, Conservative, Christian, Jewish,...)

One year later...no one cared. :\'(

It was also my Grandparents Anniversary, they would've been married 60 years if my Grandfather was still living.

My youngest step-daughter was visiting. Carlos was at work. We were sitting at the kitchen table talking when a friend called to tell me about it and asked if she could come over. I hung up the phone and told my step-daughter to follow me into the living room. I turned on the t.v. and when my friend showed up, the 3 of us were glued to the t.v. ALL DAY!!! The two of them went out to get a pizza for lunch but I couldn't peel myself away from the t.v. I did go and call my mother to tell her about it. She didn't know about it-she was watching some movie and asked me what channel. I said, "All of them!" (expect the one she was watching). Carlos' son lived in D.C. at the time as my father (who still lives there). I told my step-daughter to call her brother. She couldn't get through. I tried to call my dad and I couldn't get through. It wasn't until that evening when we got through to my step-son and had him call my dad to tell him that I couldn't get through. He called me so I could breath a sigh of relief.



Cat

I was laid up with a back injury on too many meds to count and mad because my mom woke me up to tell me about it.  Didn't realize how bad it was in my drug induced state.

I was at home watching the Today Show.  The first plane hit, I thought WTF.  Second one hit I was thinking kamikaze.  Then there was D.C. and PA.  My concern was for my cousins.  One who worked for the State Department and the other one that lives in Saudi Arabia.  Phone lines were down in D.C.  He finally called us a week later.  The one in Saudi Arabia, he and his wife ended up putting everything in storage and headed to Vietnam to visit the in-laws.

I was at home watching the Today Show.  The first plane hit, I thought WTF.  Second one hit I was thinking kamikaze.  Then there was D.C. and PA.  My concern was for my cousins.  One who worked for the State Department and the other one that lives in Saudi Arabia.  Phone lines were down in D.C.  He finally called us a week later.  The one in Saudi Arabia, he and his wife ended up putting everything in storage and headed to Vietnam to visit the in-laws.


Ouch!

This is one of the three tragedies that America will remember in Modern Times.

The other two are Pearl Harbor and JFK Assassination.

Ouch!

This is one of the three tragedies that America will remember in Modern Times.

The other two are Pearl Harbor and JFK Assassination.



We should remember the Oklahoma City Bombing as well I think.  It may have not been a Muslim extremist, but it definitely shows us that anyone can do it.  Great Depression ranks up there on list of tragedies too. 

I had just gotten off midnight shift and was coming home from work. I got a shower and plopped down in front of the computer, only to find my connection was out. I turned on the TV (not much to watch at 8:40am) and saw the first tower on fire. The rest is history.

Ant

I was waiting to go into  court with my husband for a traffic ticket, when we heard some lady talking on her cell phone. She said"My son was supposed to go into the city to a Yankee game, but a plane had crashed into thbe WTC, so he decided not to". She then went on to say, she wasn't sure if it was a small or large plane. We were admitted to the court room, and about 30 mins later the judge came in and told everyone what had happened, he started to hear the cases, when a bailiff came in and whispered in his ear. He then announced that both towers had been hit, and that one had collapsed. that if we had school aged kids to pick them up as Bridgeport, Ct was letting them go home. My husband remained in the courtroom and I had to go pick up  my son from school. I put the radio on in the car tuned to newsradio and heard Rudy Guiliani tell everyone to just walk towards the Brooklyn Bridge. When I got to Jamies school all the kids were running around like panicked the teachers were panicked. I picked him up, and drove back to the courthouse where my husband was waiting. They of course dismissed court for the day.My Mom called my cell and told me about Washington D.C. she was panicked because my brother worked at The Pentagon. He worked on the opposite side of the crash, and was fine.
We went home scared to death, at that point they had grounded all the air traffic, and they said that there were 30 planes unaccounted for.We were all scared, I remember him asking Jim "Daddy are you scared?" I  think Jim said something like "Yes, I am but don't worry I'll protect you and Mommy."
We went home and had to explain to my 8 yr old son what had happened in a way that wouldn't scare him  half to death.  He was obsessed with watching the coverage, we all were. Thank God for Nick news. I believe someone ran a special that late afternoon early evening for kids to help them cope.
We lived about 35 miles from NYC.

I will never forget what I was doing that day.

I was woken up by my college roommate in time to watch the second plane hit on live TV.  Talk about a rude awakening.

If I'd known it was going to happen, I wouldn't have slept until 11:00.  I woke up to pandemonium.  I was frightened, confused, and angry.  I kept watching the repeat footage of the towers falling and waiting for somebody to explain the controlled demolition with the bombs in the building, but nobody did.

I felt unsafe for the first 24 hours after.  Was there something worse to come?

Within 72 hours the fear turned to paranoia.  Somebody was lying to us.

A song I was listening to much after 9/11/01.

FAD GADGET: AND THE SHEEP LOOK UP

This is the shadow of a great cloud
This is the flag of hate
Patriotism is the key word now
Here in this democratic state

And the sheep look up
As the sky falls down
Tumbling heavy to the sea

Follow my leader is all I can play now
The people want war 'cos war is for real
We can pull together with our common enemy
Hatred stimulates - it's infectious

And the sheep look up
As the sky falls down
Tumbling heavy to the sea

The late Frank Tovey penned these lyrics amidst
the Falklands War, 9/11's philosophical sibling.

I was in my office when the first plane hit, and found out when I went to teach my 9:30 class.  The kids had the tv in the classroom on and we watch for a bit.  It looked to me like it had been a small plane.  Once many years before, as an undergrad, we got back from a spring break tripp and landed at Laguardia instead of Newark, so they flew us across in a small plane.  The pilot flew over the G.Washington bridge and dove down so we could get a good look at Lady Liberty.  We could have hit the WTC.  Thats the kind of thing I thought happened.  So I turned off the tv and went back to teaching Latin American History before the second plane hit.

We should remember the Oklahoma City Bombing as well I think.  It may have not been a Muslim extremist, but it definitely shows us that anyone can do it. 




Secretly I was hoping the 9/11 attacks were done by a group similar to McVie's.  Think about it- had these terrorists been white there would've been a moratorium on racial profiling. 




This is one of the three tragedies that America will remember in Modern Times.

The other two are Pearl Harbor and JFK Assassination.




Great Depression ranks up there on list of tragedies too. 


Btw you guys forgot MLK and RFK's assassinations as well.



Back on topic....

During the I spent a lot of time watching Nick. The programming was on a loop so they showed the exact same episodes for about 3 or 4 days in a row. It was a good escape and at the same time an eerie reminder of what had occurred.

After reading Max's comment and greenjello's I wonder I am I just out of touch or is it an east coast/west coast thing....

I felt none of that terror that others are describing.

Taking those who were "directly" affected - I know everyone was affected- I mean people who live/work in or near the areas of attack out of the mix....were others equally panicked?

I called work and learned they were getting hundreds of calls from people upset because there were planes/choppers in the air. These were
military planes (Vandenberg Air Force Base is just 30-45 minutes north) and also police choppers were allowed to take flight. Some were mad thinking the ban was on all air craft.  ::)  Others were just scared. 

I didn't have that fear of what's next. Maybe its the dispatcher in me.
We are trained to suppress in an emergency  :-\\ guess I was just doing what I was trained.


It actually didn't hit me until much later when- perhaps not so shocking to those who know me-
I saw a two part Third Watch dealing with the attacks.... I know it sounds weird but- my tag line does read

they might live inside your tv but they're still your friends

before it was something that just happened. It was a tragedy but I had no personal connection.

Sometimes its scary just how disconnected you can become in my line of work.
I'll get calls where people have during and it's like "oh well...next" 
I'm not completely devoid of emotion. I feel loss I just have to be connected to it for it to affect me.

Anyway- when they showed it on Third Watch it finally shown to me in relation to people I "knew"  I finally cried that night.  Strange....

Secretly I was hoping the 9/11 attacks were done by a group similar to McVie's.  Think about it- had these terrorists been white there would've been a moratorium on racial profiling. 



Btw you guys forgot MLK and RFK's assassinations as well.





Ya, those were very big as well.  

Well, 8 years of George W. Bush could be considered a tragedy as well.    ;D    I'll definitely remember it.  

Ya, those were very big as well.  

Well, 8 years of George W. Bush could be considered a tragedy as well.    ;D    I'll definitely remember it.  






;D

As for feeling the uncertainty of the days that follow, what really got to me was hearing the jets going overhead. Normally, we rarely hear planes going by-if we do, they are usually small planes (prop-jobbers as I call them). They suspended ALL commercial flights for about 4 days after and yet we were hearing jets from the Vermont National Guard going over head-A LOT!!! My best friend also commented to me about that, too. I don't think it would have made me so nervous if those jets weren't a constant reminder.



Cat 

I was at work and one of my co-workers came in and said a plane had hit the WTC.  Like Carlos, I figured it was a small plane.  I turned on my radio just after the second hit.  After the Pentagon we knew it wasn't an accident.  I guess we knew before, but that is something you don't want to believe.  It couldn't be real.



During the I spent a lot of time watching Nick. The programming was on a loop so they showed the exact same episodes for about 3 or 4 days in a row. It was a good escape and at the same time an eerie reminder of what had occurred.



Same here, but I had a 3 year old.  She didn't need to see the aftermath.


As for feeling the uncertainty of the days that follow, what really got to me was hearing the jets going overhead. Normally, we rarely hear planes going by-if we do, they are usually small planes (prop-jobbers as I call them). They suspended ALL commercial flights for about 4 days after and yet we were hearing jets from the Vermont National Guard going over head-A LOT!!! My best friend also commented to me about that, too. I don't think it would have made me so nervous if those jets weren't a constant reminder.



Cat  


Mine was just the opposite, the absence of planes was eerie.  I live in the landing path to the airport so commercial jets going overhead is nothing to me.  There was one day that one of thos military cargo planes flew over and that freaked me out a little.

As for feeling the uncertainty of the days that follow, what really got to me was hearing the jets going overhead. Normally, we rarely hear planes going by-if we do, they are usually small planes (prop-jobbers as I call them). They suspended ALL commercial flights for about 4 days after and yet we were hearing jets from the Vermont National Guard going over head-A LOT!!! My best friend also commented to me about that, too. I don't think it would have made me so nervous if those jets weren't a constant reminder.



Cat 


I got butterflies in jy stomach whenever  a jet flew over. Now I live in the flight path of two mid sized airports, but if jets come in on a low approach ot still makes me pause and take notice. :o A slight correction to my last post, my son was 11 not eight when this happened. Just my "sometimers kicking in" ;)

I was in college, and that semester I had back to back classes at 9 and ten on Tuesday morning. My 9 o clock class went on as usual, and as I walked to my next class in a neighboring building I saw one girl crying in the arms of another girl. I thought it was probably due to relationship problems, and then when I got upstairs to my next class, which happened to be comparative politics, we sat glued to the television for the entire class and it became clear that I had probably misjudged the reason for the crying that I saw on the way there.

My initial fear was not that a hijacked jetliner was going to crash into Amherst!  I just didn't know at first if planes or explosives were going to decimate the Capitol in Washington or the John Hancock Building in Boston, for example.  A whole series of bombings would trigger martial law and possibly economic collapse.  My fears subsided within a day or so, but I remember more nervous persons, such as my sister,were anxious for weeks and months after.  We didn't trust this government to start with.  My sister tried to keep the television off at her house.  My niece was two at the time; old enough to pick up on fear, but too young to make any sense of it.

A lot of parents I knew told their children similar things to what Greenjello and her husband told their son.  I wouldn't have said anything different.  What are you going to say, "Sorry, honey, but this is way bigger than Daddy and there's not a damned thing he can do if those mean people come after us!"
:o

I was getting ready for work when the first one hit the tower, mom came and got me and we watch the Today show when the second one hit the other tower.  Talk about being shocked.  I watched for as long as I dared, then finished getting ready for work.  Since we don't have television at the library where I worked, I didn't know what was going on.  My friend called me and told me that something was going on in Pittsburgh (and at that time, my fiance was working in a downtown office in Pittsburgh) so I started getting a little nervous.  My friend told me people were jumping out of office buildings, but he wasn't clear about what was happening where.  I actually didn't know that the towers fell until about 5 when I took my dinner hour from work and it was on at the restaurant I ate at.  My boss didn't seem overly concerned all day.  So I just did my job.  My co-workers were concerned that someone (since we didn't know who was doing the attacks) could attack the chemical processing plants that are along the Ohio River about 20 miles away from us.  The scariest part was not knowing what was next honestly.

I was really surprised at the support and outpouring of grief from other countries.

I was in college at the time, walking to my first class, I saw crowds of people gathered all around the TVs that were around the campus.  I didn't have time to watch as I had to go to my Sociology Class, but when I got there, our teacher informed us on what was going on

I watched the newsreports when I got home, and throughout the week, I kept tuning in to see further developments.  When the news eventually settled down after weeks on end, and TV programming resumed back to normal, I remember Dan Rather crying on national TV during his appearance on 'The Late Show with David Letterman'.  That sort of brought a tear to my eye.  To see a (then) well respected news journalist crying was something that you do not see often

I was 14 and in school. I found out around a half hour after the second tower was hit and we went to the next class, then the whole school gathered in the like hall area and the TV was on in the corner and the Pentagon was getting hit like right at that time and people were saying the White House is next. The rest of the day was very somber, we had the radio on later in the day too, teachers and students crying.

Might as well bump this thread for this year, and those who haven't seen it yet...in case they'd like to share their memories.

I cannot believe that it's been eight years already. :o

I had the week off ( after labor day) and was in a public Library when I heard someone scream, She had said one of the towers had been hit by a plane. I went on a computer and her story was confirmed. I went home quickly. I turned on the TV and saw only 1 tower standing. (I guess the first one fell while I was on my way home)  Then I saw the 2nd tower fall, live.
I was shocked, in disbelief really.
Then I heard about a plane hitting the pentagon. I couldn't believe all this was happening.
But, it did.  :\'(

I remember it very well.

I was at the time living in a private homeless Veterans facility, which was located right under the approach to LAX, which was a mile away.  I woke up, and as I laid in bed, I was surprised at how quiet it was.  Normally planes passed over every 5 minutes, only a few hundred feet above the building.  But this morning, it was quiet.

I turned on the news, and immediately noticed that there was only 1 tower standing.  And maybe 5 minutes later, that too collapsed.  I watched the news for maybe an hour, feeling totally numb.  Then I had to go to work.  I brought my pocket TV with me, and all during the day my co-worker and me watched the news, in total shock.  He was an immigrant from El Salvador, and was pissed that somebody would do this to his adoptive country.

The next day, I had to go to my other job as a DJ.  Whenever possible, I was playing patriotic songs, like "God Bless The USA".  And since everybody that I lived with was a veteran, there was a huge feeling that we should find whoever was responsible and kick their arse.

Since then, I was able to make a lot of changes in my life.  A move, a career change, re-entering the military, and a reconciliation of my marriage.  Last year shortly before I deployed, I went back and visited the place I lived at on that day.  I talked to the director, who remembered me and was happy to see I was back in uniform.

I also remember the 1993 attack, I was at work as a security guard when that attack happened.  I spent all day listening to the radio, and when I got home I watched the videos of people comming out of the towers, their faces all black with smoke.

This is what I wrote last year


I was at work, probably eating my lunch at the time.  Then I guess I was busy in the lab.  I usually checked out the BBC web pages but obviously didn't that afternoon.  The first I heard about the attacks was watching the BBC news at 6.00 p.m. at my parents house.  I was totally shocked by what I saw.

Actually if it had happened on any other day that week I wouldn't have known about it till the day after.  Dai was away with work (in Paris I think) and I generally didn't watch much TV when he was away at that time (a three year old and a seven month old kept me busy enough!).  I called round my parents because it was my dad's birthday. 



Re-reading it I realised I made a mistake.  Everything I wrote is true except the part about my kids.  I only had one child and was about 5 months pregnant.

I was in college at the time, getting ready to go to my first class. I noticed a large group of students surrounding a TV in the lounge, I joined them to see what was going on, and couldn't believe my eyes. People were scattering everywhere, some crying, some fearful...everyone heading home (all classes had been cancelled that day). When I got home, I literally sat in front of the TV ALL day and ALL night long. It didn't seem like it was real..what my eyes were seeing.

I live not far at all from where the plane went down in Pennsylvania, infact, people not far from where my parents live have sworn that they saw the plane enroute to the crash site, flying overtop of a golf course, but I guess they can't be definitely certain.

I got up, on the way to getting to work, when I heard about it.

I was in the College of Business (purpose ?) and when I walked out, the small tv in the hall caught my eye.  I watched what would turn out to be the 2nd plane flying into the tower.  I remember my first thought is that the pilot must have medical or equipment issues because it was a clear day, how could he not see the building (remember, I still didn't know what was happening as there was no sound with the tv, so the first attack was still unknown to me).  I went back to the office and pulled up cnn.com and saw what was happening.  Someone brought in a small tv from home on their lunch hour and we were pretty glued to it for the rest of the work day.  I remember wondering if there were going to be more.

On the nod.  I slept until 11:00 that morning and when I got up, it was pandemonium.  Never been so scared for my country in my life before or since. 

I kept watching and watching and watching for the part of the story I missed earlier in the day, but nobody ever did explain the controlled demolitions.  Well, that's what I thought when they kept showing the towers collapsing.  It looked like controlled demolition. 

Scary day.  I hope I never have to see something like that again.

I was at school in Sarasota, FL. where the President was pretending to read to children just down the street. We all watched it on TV. I remember it being pretty messed up, but most people were probably secretly happy to not have to do any work. At first I was shocked, but within a week or two it wore off when I realised they would be abusing the sh!t out of this for years to come. I feel sorry for those directly connected to the attack, that is, to those who lost good friends and relatives. Other than that, and other than the event being huge on the geopolitical end of things and in the study of international relations, I really have no sentiment left for September 11. What little I had has been milked dry, to the bone. You can thank Bush for that.

I remember a few months after, when it became clear what the Right would be exploiting the hell out of the memory of 9/11, in protest a buddy and I started pretending to have never heard about it. When people would bring it up or talk about it, we'd feign total ignorance. I remember it bothered the sh!t out of people.