9/11 Where Were You? What Did You Do?

[Palladin]

I was wiring a new ride as a subcontractor at KingaMinga when I heard it over the AM radio... The park employees were sent home, I called my boss to see what he thought, he said to keep working.

I learned two things that day... One - the fight that's been rolling for well over 3000 years is nowhere near done yet.

and Two - my boss was an @$$hat.

[fireman836]

On 9/11/2001 I worked for the Office of the Sergeant at Arms for the US Senate. I still don't think I can put my feelings in writing. Friends worked at the Pentagon, uncertanty of what next. Then the Antrax exposure on Capitol Hill in October!
Retired from there a little over 9 years ago.

Saw a show last night that compared 9/11 to Pearl Harbor and how the emotions at the time were very similar.

[Archippus]

I was a Junior in college. I was taking a shower in my dorm room when my suite mates bust in and are flipping out about us being under attack. I watched from the shower(over the shower curtain because I'm tall and dorm showers are short) as the second plane hit. We played a lot of Counter-Strike(computer game with Terrorists and Anti-Terrorists) at the time and we were jacked and ready to go. Classes ended up being canceled for the day and most people just stood in the Student Center and watched the news channels play the same video of the plane hitting on repeat.

We're all nerds so we ended up not doing anything about it and just went back to class the next day.

[meangene]

I was stationed in Germany; one my guys came into my office to tell me the first building was hit and my initial response was that it was a terrorist strike. All the news websites were bogged down so I wandered off to another office to see the TV. We were in Threatcon Delta by the time the second tower was hit. I slept on an old Army cot that night at work with a Beretta on the desk and my radio tuned to the fighting between the Afghan warlords.

[kerchaulk1972]

Dozing with my newborn son. Wife called me form work to tell me about the first plane. My first thought was "What moron flew their plan into the WTC?" and then the second plane hit and I found out it was an airliner and not a little two seater plane like I assumed it was.

Spent the remainder of the day watching the TV.

[steelerfan]

I was a little closer to it than most.

I found an email at the bottom of my inbox and thought I would share it. I wrote it to my girls on the 5 year anniversary of 9-11.

Girls,
I'm watching a replay of the news reports from 9-11. I though of you and wanted you to hear my thoughts at this time, five years after the attacks of 9-11.

I remember the airplane hitting the Pentagon. The explosion. I thought that a helicopter had crashed on the helo pad on that is on that side of the Pentagon. Everyone pitched in to do what ever could be done for those injured. I remember even Mr. Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense being there to help the injured. People almost just instinctively came and brought needed supplies. Trucks with bottled water, bandages, first aid kits, nurses, doctors, fireman all came to the Pentagon. I remember the fire was under the roof and stayed burning for a long time. The building must have burned the whole day.

I didn't realize that it was a terrorist attack until I learned about the airplanes in New York. I got a call from Aunt Denise about the planes hitting the World Trade Center. I remember Denise being worried about me being in Washington. I told her she was in the tallest building in Pittsburgh and it was time for her to get out. Little did we know at that time about Flight 93 that would crash near Pittsburgh.

Our parents and grandparents all remember where they were on December 11, 1941. Our generation remembers where we were when President Kennedy was killed. All of us will always remember where we were on this September morning. Never forget the heroism of the police, fireman and other first responders that day. American people will always step up when they are needed. I also remember the President making his first remarks after the attack. He remembered to pray. We need to continue that example today.

I can only think that we will never be where we were as a country and a people again.

Dad

[Mindflayer]

I heard about the first plane hitting the WTC on WTOP as I was driving to work; then news about the second strike. I knew immediately it was an attack, and called my dad. He told me the Pentagon already considered it an attack on the USA and said, "We are at war." He then told me he was leaving his office in Rosslyn and headed to the Pentagon. I was parking when I heard about the Pentagon being hit. I tried for 30 minutes to get a hold of my dad - my stomach was a ball of ice until I managed to get a hold of him. Turns out the shuttle he was taking to the Pentagon was delayed, and they never made it to the Pentagon. He told me again, "We are at war." He had been unable to get a hold of my mother; when I called her, she had no idea just what was going on. I forget what station she was watching on TV, but they had refused to switch over from running Oprah.

My wife at the time just happened to be taking a day off, and I told her to stay put. A couple of co-workers were absolutely devastated, as they knew people in the WTC and Pentagon. One of the guys that worked for me had a wife working at the CIA in Middle East affairs; she stopped by the office. I still remember the wail when the Towers collapsed. I sent everyone home; our CEO wanted everyone to stay at work. California company - they had (seriously) no idea we were so close to the Pentagon. We happened to have crates of water, so I doled them out to people to take home just in case our water supply was hit.

When I went to lunch that afternoon, it was eerie how empty everything was. There were lots of federal LEO out, openly carrying handguns and larger in the restaurant. This was before I owned any firearms, and it was a factor in my later decision to equip to protect myself and my friends and family.

I live near Dulles, and seeing the sky empty for days was weird.

I sometimes force myself to think of that day, and realize how short and precious life is. We only have a limited time on this world, and we need to take every chance to tell our loved ones just how important they are to us. Strive to be happy.

[Djskrilla]

I was woken up by my brother, telling me "a plane crashed into the trade center". At first I thought "well that sucks, but the towers are solid so they shouldn't worry about them collapsing." Of course, that all changed when we watched as the second plane crashed into it. I was supposed to go wait tables at Texas Roadhouse for the lunch shift, but never went..and no one called either. Was going to work for a few months until college started, but I ended joining the Navy right after that.

[OleMan]

I was watching the news and drinking coffee to wake up when I saw the news of the first plane hitting- had worked very late and was going to work late. I stayed glued to the screen as long as I could before going to work.

After I got to work the second plane hit. I can't put all the feelings into words well - sorrow, anger and amazement come close. My office was on the 19th floor and a block away was a large government building. Later I heard a roar and the building vibrating and looked out the window - it was a F-16 flying at my level! Both my building, the government building and a couple of others house "critical infrastructure". Strangely, I can't recall when I heard of the Pentagon and the United flight that went down in PA - that was probably later.

We were closed before lunch and everyone sent home. State, federal and local authorities had the streets covered and sending traffic flows away from certain buildings.

I thought that 'if this turns into a large scale war, my son has the right education and occupation to be in a combat zone in just months.'

I certainly won't ever forget it.

[PistolPilot]

I had just finished my first class of the day during my freshman year at Embry-Riddle...an aviation university in Daytona Beach, FL.

Needless to say, ALL of us in the aviation program were not only wrapped up in the tragedy, but also what the future would hold for our careers. Apparently, quite a few juniors and seniors marched down to the registrars office and immediately changed their majors or minors, knowing the industry would be in turmoil for the next 5 years.

And they were right...

Flight training ceased for the next week or so until the FAA allowed civilian flying to resume. It was eerily quiet around campus without the usual hundreds of training flights per day.

[MNMGoneShooting]

I was working just south of DC on a navy base. Came by my buddies desk when he old me "some idiot just flew into the WTC".

Then all hell broke loose, particularly after the pentagon got hit.

After all the crap, it was trying to get our kids together and contacting family members up in NYC.

[bryanrheem]

I was working for an IT company providing solutions to investment banks. Our clients were in WTC and we had 2 employees there as well. I was at work when it happened and we were frantically trying to get in contact with our employees with no luck.

We were finally able to get in touch with our 2 people who actually witnessed the 2nd plane hitting the tower.
We were let out of work so I went to the ATM, filled up gas, then went home to my family.

[jrswanson1]

I was out of work at the time. My dad called me saying we've been attacked, the two towers were hit with planes. I was still groggy, so I mumbled something about going to see what was going on on the TV. He hung up. He worked at the Pentagon. He wondered if they were next. The plane hit the Pentagon a few minutes later. Fortunately for Army red tape, his office hadn't been moved into the section that was hit. His office was on the third floor, two offices away from that section of wall that came down. I ended up having to pick him up from the Metro station that evening.

[steelheart]

was getting ready for my first day at a new job. turned on the tube for the heck of it and thought wow nice special effects! 15 minutes later i was heading for chantilly va to grab my then wife and had a shotgun with extra rounds and 2 loaded pistols with extra ammo along. miss my guns (she got em in the divorce) dont miss her.

[SilentServiceVet]

Sorry for the book below, but wanted to share. I'll try to keep this short.

On 9/11 I was at work in Washington, DC. I was an enlisted sailor assigned to the White House Communications Agency (we provide worldwide comms for the POTUS, VPOTUS, First Lady, USSS and WH Staff). I had walked outside our HQ building (located at Anacostia Naval Station) to set up a test link on a SATCOM terminal. A co-worker from the Ops Center came outside on a smoke break and said, "hey some dumbass just flew a plane into one of the World Trade Center buildings." We both figured a small Cessna or something along those lines. We had no idea the magnitude, nor the chain of events that would be set off that day. We were one of the first organizations to know because as I mentioned above, we are the eyes and ears of the White House.

I went back inside and word had quickly spread. The TVs were tuned to CNN(?) and live coverage was already on. Ten minutes later the second plane would crash into the other tower. We sat in disbelief knowing after the second plane hit that this was no accident and no Cessna-sized planes.

I won't go into too much detail about our operations, but by the end of the day I was approached by the Army Major who was going to be leading a team to go to Ground Zero. I volunteered to lead the SATCOM portion of the team. We packed our equipment, loaded it into 24-foot trucks and began the caravan to NYC leaving DC at 8 PM that evening. We finally reached what was, I believe, West St. and after speaking to the NYPD was finally granted access at approximately 0300 and began setting up portable generators and comms. We had been there no more than a few minutes when I saw some workers climbing out of a manhole and telling us to run because a gas leak was going to explode. We took cover, but fortunately nothing happened. They (NYPD) let us get back to our work at 0345 and we had a link established by 0500. To this day, the whole situation was surreal. I thought it was snowing when we arrived. Turned out it was smoldering debris (ash mostly) floating through the air. We were set up two blocks from Ground Zero near a triage center. There were temporary chain link fences put up to control access to the area. The trucks coming in and out were mostly dump trucks interrupted my morgue trucks occasionally. I saw an NYFD ladder truck that had been removed from the debris, smashed flat so it was maybe 3 feet tall. Other vehicles were smashed even flatter than that. I remember walking towards ground zero and looking down one of the side streets and seeing the mountain of rubble that was one of the towers. Most of the surrounding buildings even a block away had broken windows. The proudest memory was all of the workers lined up and working non-stop to look for survivors.

I tried to sleep in the cab of the truck but it was pretty cold that morning -- I remember my teeth chattering. I would get a wool blanket for the next night. I stayed in that truck for two more nights. The "Boss" didn't arrive until the 14th. We packed up and left after he did, to get out of the responders' way.

On the drive out, immediately after the chain link barricade there was more than a mile of supporters and volunteers waiting to help. America still has strength and pride. Too bad it takes moments like this to manifest itself, but every time we as a nation have faced adversity, we have united. I remember recounting my tale of 9/11 to my grandfather and he, in turn, recounting the patriotism following the attack on Pearl Harbor when "every American was lining up to join the Army and get back at those [Japanese]." He used a different term for "Japanese." Oh, and I remember my parents freaking out because they couldn't reach me. Using a cell phone in NYC during the days following 9/11 was not happening. Lines were too busy. My parents thought I worked near the Pentagon and had heard about the plane slamming into it. My dad (retired Navy chief) cursed me out pretty good for making my mom worry.

I've still got that blanket, my safety mask, some debris, an NYPD sweatshirt a very nice officer gave me, and notes of encouragement given to us by onlookers, stored in a box. I kept these items so I could pass them on to the next generation of my family someday and explain what we as Americans went through. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Unfortunately, I think too many have already forgotten what happened.

~ Nate