Where were you...

[hollyxann]

when the world stopped turning that September day? (Song title & Lyrics from Alan Jackson)

The majority of people in the United States would not tell you "You know I don't know". Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing at the very moment they heard the news.
I know that I personally can remember some details greater than others. On September 11th, 2001, I was 15 yrs old & in 10th grade. It was 1st period, world history, we were just getting ready to begin when another teacher came into the room. She told our teacher that an airplane had hit the World Trade Center in NY. That's when everything started and ended. Everyone froze, kinda stunned. And then instantly the discussions began. Who, why, how, was it intentional? Our teacher went to find us a TV so we would could watch the news. That's when we saw the 2nd plane hit the second World Trade Center. We continued to watch in shock and disbelief. And then we heard about the Pentagon. And later found out about the Pennsylvania crash.
The school was put on lock down. We were able to leave the classroom to get lunch but had to return to the room to eat. Then we were able to move to another period. But we had to do it in silence & quickly. I remember being in what would have been 6th period French class. I got the note to get my belongings and go to the office. I was being taken out of school by my parents.
We came home and sat infront of the TV and just watched the coverage.

[ayaandjudah]

The morning of September 11, 2001 started out normal. I woke up, got dressed, grabbed my book and got on the Subway. I know it was primary day because someone handed me a flyer to vote for Michael Bloomberg which I used as a bookmark. When I got to the Trade Center I walked around the mall downstairs the same way I did every morning. Did some window shopping and then walked outside to grab some coffee. I perused the fruit from Mohammed the fruit vendor and then went upstairs to the 25th floor. Around 8:40 in the morning I was deciding whether to go downstairs to the base of tower 2 to get another cup of coffee or go to the bathroom. The bathroom won out. I went into the bathroom and while I was in there I felt the building shake. Thinking they were doing some construction on the 26th floor, I didn’t think much of it. When I left the bathroom I saw papers raining down outside the window and everyone had their faces plastered up against the window looking up.

The evacuation bells started ringing and someone pushed me into a stairwell. I ran down the 25 flights and when we got outside I was shocked to see a gaping hole in tower 1 with fire shooting out. Because I sat on the other side of the building from the bathroom, I didn’t see any of my co-workers. So I walked to the other side of the building to try to find people. I couldn’t find anyone. That’s when I started hearing the thuds. Sickening thuds. I turned to face the tower and every few seconds you would see people jump from the hole and fall to the ground producing another one of those sickening thuds. I turned away.

Someone came up to me and told me to go back upstairs, that it was safest up in the building. I went in and rode up in an elevator with a pregnant lady. I got up to the 25th floor and immediately picked up the phone to call my mother. I burst into tears, I told her a bomb went off of the 1st tower. She told me I was nuts. Just then I look out the window and see the shadow of what I would later know was an airplane go by and then BOOM, the building shook again. Someone ran out of his office yelling “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES”. I told my mother that another bomb went off and that I had to leave and hung up on her. I didn’t talk to her again for 4-5 hours.

I bent down to grab my purse which I didn’t have the first time I evacuated and my backpack and when I looked up two of my very close friends were there (we happened to work for the same company). I was never so happy to see those two guys. We ran down the 25 flights of stairs (me for the second time). When we got down I couldn’t look. I couldn’t bear seeing more bodies falling.

Interestingly that day I did something different. Normally I would wear sneakers in on the subway and change to my dress shoes once I got to the office. For some reason that I will never know, I forgot to switch into my dress shoes, I was still wearing my sneakers.

We milled about and decided the best thing to do was to walk up to Penn station to get a train home (we were in such denial about the magnitude of the situation). We had to walk down around the tip of manhattan. When we got back adjacent to the towers (but on the other side of them) I heard an explosion, or what I thought was an explosion. I looked up and I swear I saw the top half of the tower falling towards me. There was mass pandemonium at that point, people screaming and running. That’s when the big huge cloud engulfed us. We ran as fast as we could be we couldn’t outrun it. Eventually we got north of it and stopped to catch our breaths. We decided that we needed to get off of manhattan island immediately and we were at the base of the Manhattan bridge so we joined the thousands of others and walked across it.

All this time we were trying unsuccessfully to get anyone on a cell. My friend craig got his mother once and gave her the numbers of all of our family for her to call and say that we were alive and running.

The Manhattan bridge connects Manhattan to Brooklyn and my father was a teacher in Brooklyn at the time so we thought to get to Brooklyn and call him. A girl our age (I was 24) saw us and offered us to come to her house. While we were walking over the bridge the second tower fell. The Brooklyn bridge just south of the Manhattan bridge disappeared in the smoke from the tower falling. We walked faster.

We got to her house and used the restroom, drank some water and I called my mother and fiancé. She gave me the number to my father’s school and we called him. He was one of the last cars to be allowed to head west and get us.

I found soot in my eyes, ears and belly button for days after. Two days later I reported to a disaster recovery site in New Jersey where we stayed until 1 week before my wedding in November 2002. They rebuilt our building and we went back.

I learned so much that day about New Yorkers. Sure, we’d knock you over to get a subway seat but when push came to shove we looked out for each other big time. I was fortunate. We had a few broken bones in my company but no loss of life. I know that for me it could have been so much worse.

But still, ten years later I can hear the thuds of the bodies hitting the ground. I wonder, how hot it had to be in that hole for jumping 100 stories to your death to be the better option. My heart still hurts wondering about the loved ones those people left behind. I wonder about the Afghani coffee stand where I never even had to place the order, they knew it and made it as they saw me walking. What became of their stand? Or the homeless men who lived in the mall under the trade center. Who accounted for them?

My life has changed so much since that day. I am no longer capable of riding on an airplane without it negatively impacting me for months leading up to the flight. But it has also made me a stronger person and I know that I am strong and capable.

[marlathrall]

On September 11, 2001, I was twelve years old and had just started the 7th grade. The morning began like any other with Mrs. Myers’ all girls art class. A couple of minutes in, someone came into our room and said a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. I was young, didn’t watch the news, and had never been anywhere near New York City. Honestly, at that time, I had no idea what the World Trade Center even was. We assumed it was an accident and continued to work on our projects. Mrs. Myers headed down the hall to the library to watch the news. Within minutes, she returned, telling us, “Girls, I think we are making history. You all need to come to the library.”

Within seconds of walking into the room, we watched on live television as the second airplane crashed into the South Tower. That was the moment that my entire world changed. I went from being an innocent child to a very scared young woman. Suddenly, I realized that there was actual evil in the world and people who would hate me solely for being American. I recognized that the world wasn’t an entirely safe place and that good didn’t always overpower evil. I remember watching television and realizing that I was witnessing hundreds of people dying right before my eyes and their was nothing we could do about it.

My panic and fear only grew when I realized my mother, who taught English, was crying. We soon gathered in a circle and our entire Junior High and High School began to pray and cry together. Later, we watched in horror as the news stations reported even more bad news. The Pentagon was also under attack. The White House was being evacuated. I cried when the North Tower crashed to the ground, realizing that even more people were lost.

All together, 2819 civilians died in the attack that day. Almost three thousand ordinary Americans went to work that morning and never returned home. I have never been to New York City and don’t know anyone who lost a family member, but I will never forget those who died and the feelings of despair I felt on September 11, 2011.

[emmasmommy]

i have such a problem with it, i hate to even talk about it. melodramatic as it may be. it's the truth.

[marlathrall]

Originally Posted by emmasmommy

i have such a problem with it, i hate to even talk about it. melodramatic as it may be. it's the truth.

Totally understandable. I have no connection to anyone in NYC and I still view it as one of the worst days of my life. I never want to go through that kind of fear again.

[KyRainbow]

Alisa I cried reading your memories of that day. Thank you for sharing. I have no words.

[MamaBee]

wow, Alisa... I'm sitting here in tears. I've never known anyone who witness it for real... I just can't imagine what you went through and continue to...

I was on a 2 week business trip to Beech Island, SC... just across the border from August, GA. We were in the beginning of training the mill on a new asset management system... since I was one of the experienced trainers on my team, I was there for support, sitting outside of the training room making sure everyone had security access to the computer system and the go between the training group and the subject matter experts back in Neenah, WI. I notice one of the mill assistance going into our training room... and then she came back 5 min later... interrupting class. After she did this for the third time, I asked her if I could help her... she told me that a plane flew into one of the world trade centers. I was able to get out onto the internet and was reading about it... when she came back and said there was a missing plane. We broke for a break and most of the class went to watch the tvs in the conference rooms.

My team was freaked out because the planes weren't flying and they wanted to get home to their families and assumed that they would fly back on Sunday. One of the ladies on my team found out her husband suffered a heart attack and I gave her the keys to my rent car and she left to drive back to Wisconsin... a number of other people drove back, too. I stayed with one or two of my team... I was use to be on the road 6 weeks at a time, and figured I would be okay where I was... my mom knew where I was... and I didn't think I would be able to fly back so quickly after what happened. Of course all the planes were grounded. Once we had the clear to fly... oh, that was a day... flying out of Atlanta - which is already one of the busiest airports in the world... we stood in security for 4 hours. That was the longest flight I've ever been on... I just wanted to get home... and I was nervous of everyone around me...

I was so scared to fly that the stress of the thought of it... I got really sick and was out of work for about 2 weeks. I shortly changed jobs so that I wasn't traveling as much.

Oddly, one of my next trips was a year later, I had to go to Philadelphia... and spent the anniversary of 9/11 watching the recap on hug screens at the SAP corporation... flights weren't flying on the actual day.

[NeverendingJen]

On September 11, 2001 I was 14 years old and in the 9th grade. I remember walking into school and everyone was talking about a bomb being set off in the WTC. This was shortly after the first plane hit, and no one had any idea what was going on yet. We went to our first classes(mine was Spanish), and I remember sitting down and my teacher turning on the news, as usual. Every morning we watched the last ten minutes of the news and then had to write a paragraph in Spanish about what had happened. Today, no one was writing. No one was talking. We were all captivated and devastated by the news. I was watching when the second plane struck. I was watching when the towers fell. All day that day, no one did anything. We ran from class to class, silent, crying, worried. Every class was either watching or listening to the news. I grew up only a few miles from Hill Air Force Base, and many of my classmates had parents in the military and were scared as to what this meant for them. I remember hearing the windows rattle all day with the jets flying by.

This day forever changed my friends and I. For the first time, history wasn't something we read about in textbooks. We were witnessing and living history. While we weren't in an area directly impacted by the events of that day, many things changed for us after that, being in a military town.

[cardinalskate]

Alisa, thank you for sharing your story. It was amazing.

I was working in an academic library at the time. I was actually in the car on my way to work when the first plane hit. I rushed into work and saw some friends on the way in and told them what was happening. We went inside and got about 10 TVs and set them up around the library and students started coming in. We had hundreds of students parked in front of those TVs for most of the day. We all gasped and cried together most of the morning. When the first tower fell...it was so shocking. I kept thinking of the triage they had set up right at the base of the tower. I remember I kept saying "All those people being triaged" over and over. Of course, they were only part of the horrible devastation that followed. I feel like Laura a bit, because sometimes I feel like I wasn't there, so I'm being melodramatic, but 9/11 affected me more than anything in my whole life. The world was never the same after that. But I do remember how the country came together after 9/11...and for a brief time, we were one. I do miss that, but wish it hadn't happened because of such a horrific situation.

[hollyxann]

WOW Alisa your story brought me to tears. I've never known anyone who had a first hand account of it. Yea you read the stories of others but you are one of "us" part of our community so it impacts me harder. I can't imagine what you went through.

[Julie Billingsley]

Thank you Alisa for sharing your story... wow, it was just heartbreaking to read. hugs,

[Lyd]

Alisa - your story is just amazing! I can't even imagine living through that and how it would impact you long-term. Big HUGS to you!

I honestly can't bring myself to write out my experience of that day again. I did a pretty thorough recounting of it on a layout last year, so if you're interested in reading my personal experience, you can look here: https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...=9999&way=desc

It's hard to believe it's already been 10 years. In so many ways, it seems like just yesterday.

[kristijoy]

wow. Amazing stories gals. I lived on the west coast and had just finished up my morning prayers when one of my girlfriends grabbed me outside to tell me the news. I went to work (we all did) in a daze. At that time, I worked in a small bookstore. All day people came in to the shop just for comfort and company. They just needed to know someone was there.

[Libby Pritchett]

Wow Alisa. Thank you. I'm in tears reading your story.

[ayaandjudah]

I always feel better after telling my story. Like it seems to help ease the memories a bit.

What's amazing to me is that ten years later and I can get back to the same place I was that day. The memories are so vivid that I can be transformed back to the moment it all happened.

I often say that my mother had a pretty bad day that day. See, I KNEW I was alive. Even at the most horrific moments I knew I was still fighting and running and OK. All my mother heard was me gasp and then yell and hang up. She had no idea where I was. She was at work and when someone told her that the towers fell she flipped out because she couldn't imagine anyone surviving that. Thank God the towers imploded instead of falling to the side. (Though I still maintain that the top of the tower fell towards me).

[SmallMoments]

Wow, Alisa. I'm so sorry you witnessed everything first-hand. Your story is an amazing one.

I was in my 2nd year of teaching. I dropped the kids off at the gym for their PE class. It was about 10. Then I went to the office to get my mail and it was an eery quiet in there. I asked what was going on and they just pointed to the TV monitor that they had on, but with the volume down. This was the first I had heard anything about it. I stood there in shock. I had no words. I taught 2nd grade so we all had to carry on with the rest of our day like we would any other day. That was so hard. We'd turn our TVs on any time we had a chance- recess, lunch, then after school. I remember after school we had a meeting about how we'd address it with our kids. We primary teachers were really at a loss. We wanted to acknowledge the kids who had questions. To comfort them. But at the same time we had kids who had no idea about what happened b/c their parents didn't talk to them the night before.

It's crazy. We talked about it yesterday in class (still 2nd grade) and it's weird to me that some of them had never heard about 9-11 at all. They weren't even born yet! But it's still hard to know how much to share with them. It was such a scary time for us all.

[nun69]

I was 31 years old and standing duty in the laboratory in Sigoneall Sicily. See Italy is 6 hours ahead of the East Coast so when the news broke, we everyone was getting ready to go home for the day {except for the people that were on duty in the hospital and would be there until the next morning, like me}...I stood at the front desk and watched the news in HORROR on the TV in the patient waiting area. It was so surreal...like you were watching a horrible movie....the locked the base down and it was almost 8 pm before people could even get off the base....I'll never forget trying to leave after my duty the next day and they almost didn't let me off the base because my name was not on some "list"...I said look, here is my ID I am leaving and going home to my family! for I don't know how long, our kids had armed security guards on their school buses and it was just the scariest thing for them....and who would have known that 7 years later this horrible act would impact my life and send me to Kuwait away from my family for 8 months.

[Julie Billingsley]

As someone who lives on the west coast, I'm sure my account is similar to many others so far away from the tragedy.

Little did I know, but at the time of the airplanes hitting the towers, I was waking up and getting ready for work. The three hour time difference put the first plane hitting at 5:46am Pacific Time. I wasn't watching the news and was unaware. My son Jacob was in elementary school and I drove to drop him off and then head to work. In the car, I heard the news about the crash at the Pentagon and of a "small plane" hitting the towers in New York. There was a lot of confusion and misreporting and I didn't have the scope of the incident. I went into work and it was just 2 of us in the office. I worked for a surgeon and he was at the hospital in surgery that day. Several patients called in asking if their surgery was still happening later that day, I had no idea why they'd ask. Around 11am Pacific (hours after the crashes and collapse of the towers), a coworker who worked afternoons only called in and told me the news. What I had initially heard was a small plane crash ended up being the biggest horror anyone could imagine. We closed up the office and went home around 1pm Pacific. I glued myself to the news. My husband left work and went to donate blood because that was the only thing we could think of to help all the people that would be needing it in New York. An email went out saying our church would have a prayer night that night. Hundreds attended and we mourned and prayed for America. I live on the flight path of the airport and seeing the sky empty for days was so strange. We are use to seeing tons of planes fly over our house and my work, but the only things flying were the Air National Guard jets. I watched the news continuously and although I was so far away from the tragedy, my heart was with my fellow Americans across the nation.


I read an interesting news article about the one American that wasn't on the planet when 9/11 happened. News link

[Paula]

On September 11, 2001, I was living in Wyoming with my hubby and children. It was one of those rare occasions that I got to sleep in. I had spent the night before organizing a Daisy girl scout activity with my co-leader and got to bed late, so the hubs was letting me sleep in. So, I was in bed asleep when the first attack happened. My husband was up and getting the kids ready for school. My oldest was in 3rd grade, my middle girl was in 2nd grade and my baby was in afternoon kindergarten.

Just as I was waking up, the phone rang. It was Steve's boss calling to tell him that America was under attack and that all federal offices would be closed until further notice. (the hubs works for the Dept. of Interior in the BLM). He came into the bedroom and turned on the TV and sat horrified at what was happening. Then he shook my leg and told me to get up.

I can't describe the horror I felt down in my soul as I watched the news all that day. I was immediately scared for a friend of mine who was a cop in Manhattan. He and I chatted many times about New York it was a place I had always wanted to visit. His mother worked in the south tower. (she didn't survive)

I can still remember that helpless feeling and the burning of my tears as I sat there and watched the towers fall. I couldn't help but grieve for all those people who were in the planes that hit them, and then as they fell. I thought of the desperateness of those poor people as they jumped to their deaths.

I took all three of my babies in my arms and held them. We had a family prayer and prayed for the people who died and their families and we prayed for the people who were trapped under the rubble and the rescue people who would be helping to locate them. But, we also prayed for an understanding of how this terrible thing could happen to all those innocent people.

It's been 10 years since that attack and I can remember that day vividly. I will never forget that day and all the emotions that came as a result. I know it's weird, but that day taught me that each day with my children and loved ones is a blessing. Since that day, not a single one of my loved ones has left my house without me hugging them and telling them I love them.

[Andrea Gourley]

Alisa thank you so much for sharing your story. You are a very brave woman.

[Paula]

Alisa, I have no words. I really appreciate reading your account. It truly adds a personal touch to the events of that day.

[SweetMelissa]

I was 13 years old and in my 2nd period class - which was English. We had a sub that day and were doing our work when over the intercom the teachers were told to stop teaching & to put on the news that we should watch 'history in the making'.

At first we thought it was an accident. Then we watched the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower. That's when it sank in it was real. I will forever remember the toughest kid in our grade just break down & sob while watching it.

After that things got crazy because the school could not handle all of the parents coming to pick up their kids. There were parents walking from class to class and getting mad because the teachers wouldn't not release the kids. The police ended up being called to help at the middle school & high school.

The elementary school kids (my sister) was put into there gym with all of the doors locked. Parents had to call the school & give their child's name and the school had them by the curb waiting for their parents to pick them up. Parents had to show a valid ID to pick up any child and the child had to ID the parent as well.

[Andrea Gourley]

I'm not American, I'm English and I live at the other side of the world but I remember every single thing that happened that afternoon (time difference) like it was yesterday. I was a week into a new job and we'd just moved to a new town at the other end of the country. I knew no one other than family and my parents, Aunty and cousin were all on holiday overseas. My brother flew out to America that morning and for 3 days no one knew where he or his plane was. They'd been too far across to be turned around and brought back to England when the planes brought down the towers and they weren't allowed into America so they ended up in Calgary, Canada where they were kept under armed guard as they had no visas etc. to be even in Canada. They flew with Virgin and luckily for them their plane was the first of 80 odd planes to end up at Calgary that day so Virgin were able to get them a hotel but they couldn't leave the hotel. They weren't even told what had happened until they were eventually allowed off the plane and it was the journalists waiting in the airport who told them what had happened. Chris was interviewed for one of the local news channels and I wish I had know because for 3 days he was unable to get news out of Canada and into the UK and even the UK government had no idea where all the planes had ended up that day. All they could tell me was that his plane hadn't come back to England. By then everything was grounded and I knew that the planes involved weren't his but I still didn't know where he was.

I've never been so scared and lonely as I was then. I simply didn't know what to do and by bedtime of that day I had to track down my parents in Italy and explain to them that I didn't know what had happened to him. They'd seen a news clip whilst in a service area on the motorway in Italy but hadn't really grasped what had happened and I had no news but bad news.

I'm always nervy this time of year but with this being the tenth anniversary it's making me worse than I normally am. We were going to spend the day together tomorrow as a family but my brother is a call taker for the Ambulance service and they seem to be bringing in extra staff so I wonder if they have a heightened security risk, I'm not sure.

I'll be thinking of all those who lost their lives tomorrow, all of our lives changed that day.

[Leontine78]

I don't live in America but I still know exactly what happened. I was at work. My day was almost over when we vagely heard something about a plane in the WTC. We thought we didn't hear it correctly and laughed about it. I am so sorry about that. I went home but first I went shopping!

Then, when I finally came home I saw my parents with scare on their faces watching tv. That's what we did the rest of the evening, seeing that plane fly into that building over and over again. I will never forget the image of people jumping down from high floors.

This event changed the whole world.

When I read Alisa's story the tears jump into my eyes.....My husband is a firefighter and I have the utmost respect for rescue workers nowadays.
Thank you for sharing. I can't believe it's been ten years already. Let alone the people who actually been there.

[nesser1981]

I was 20 years old, stationed in Japan at work. I was in intell, you wouldn't believe all the things that were wrongly reported that day, on top of everything that was actually going on. We watched the second tower fall. And they locked us down, gave a curfew, it was scarey. I wonder what it was like in the states.

[Megan Turnidge]

Alisa, thanks so much for sharing. I'm sorry you had to witness and experience it like that.

I woke up that morning and started to get ready for school. I was a sophomore in high school. We turned on the radio in the bathroom, like we did every morning, to listen to music while my sisters and I did our hair and makeup. Instead of music, we heard a very somber voice announce that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers. I remember thinking how horrible it was, but I thought maybe it was just a horrible accident - I had no clue what else would ensue or that we were being attacked by terrorists.

I went to school and in my first class my teacher looked sad and terrified at the same time. She turned on the news and everyone sat silently watching as the clip of the second plane crashing into the other tower played over and over. This was clearly not an accident anymore. Then I heard about the Pentagon and the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. I was terrified. I was shaking. For the first time in my life, terrorism was a real threat. I didn't feel safe.

I remember crying as they showed footage of a body falling from one of the holes in the first tower.

We watched the news almost all day in school. We were all kind of in a daze and no one really talked much. We were all scared.

Some reporters speculated about the possibility of war.

I was nauseous all day.

Late in the day I had choir. We sang the national anthem. We were all crying.

I don't remember what I did after school that day. But I know that I've never felt so terrified and I said a lot of prayers as I was seeking some comfort.

[Stacey42]

I was at work 70 miles outside of DC. Many of my co-workers had family & friends at the Pentagon. My boss came over to my desk & asked me to check up on a story her DH had heard on the radio about a plane crashing into the WTC. I had one of the only internet connections. I found the story but the site was jammed, so I called my DH who was home & he turned on the TV. As we were talking the other plane hit. Then came work about the Pentagon. They brought a tv up and put it on the spare desk by my own so people on the floor could come by on their breaks & watch the news updates. People with family at the pentagon used the spare phone to try & reach loved ones. I spent 6 hours watching the news over and over, fielding questions, taking messages, helping management work out what do with staffing as our main back up center was in NYC so we couldn't shut down because our own people wanted/needed to leave. The NYC site was on Long Island but they'd shut down when the towers fell & sent their stuff to us. I'd been at the NYC site a week earlier, I was supposed to actually be there 9/11 but they'd had to reschedule things so I was sent home over the weekend to come back up the following week. Watching the tv for 6 hours & dealing with the coworkers who were trying to reach family at the Pentagon was overwhelming. I had to watch Star Trek for 2 hours when I came home.

[livelys]

You're a pretty amazing person Alisa, for sharing such a personal story that must be so incredibly tough to tell.

I was at work, here in the UK. My boss had just returned from lunch & told me about a plane having flown into one of the Towers. We quietly logged onto the BBC website (using the internet for personal use was a big no-no) to see the news & find out what had happened, and then sat & watched the footage of the second aircraft going into the other Tower..

My husband was in London on business that day, at Canary Wharf, which at that time had the largest/ tallest building in the UK dedicated to banking, security etc - a perfect target, was all I could think. It took a couple of hours for me to contact him, all the while watching the events in NY. It was all so unbelieveble , how it could be happeneing right then and I was just sat watching it all unfold. I've never felt so impotent.

You're right - I don't think any adult will ever forget that day, where they were & what happened.

[Traci Reed]

Wow, Alisa...just wow. I can't believe you made it out of the towers twice!

I was 17 and a senior in high school. I got up that morning and since we're in the west coast, it had already happened when I got up. While I was driving to school, I heard the announcers say that the second tower had been hit. We watched the news all day at school. And I still have a very vivid memories of sitting in a (mostly freshman) computer class where I TA'd and they were all just playing on the computer while the world was crashing down around them. i said (being the melodramatic person I was at 17) "Don't you know that your life is ending? That life will never be the same?" Melodramatic, yes..but still true.

[kscwgirl]

I was driving to my sister in law's house to help her paint. I heard on the radio that a plane had hit the tower but at that point, they still thought it was an accident. I forgot about it and we were prepping to paint, when her dad called and said turn on the tv now. We sat on the couch and watched all the coverage and cried. I still can see people jumping. Jeff was working at a high school here and they got locked down, as did my mom's school. My dad works in a hospital and they were all downtown. People kept coming to the hospital trying to donate blood.

I will never forget anything about that day.

Alisa, thank you so much for sharing. I cannot imagine. How amazing that you got out of there twice!! Wow. Just wow.

[jacinda]

I was at home that day (here in New Zealand). It was breakfast time. Hubby was getting ready for work, and my BIL had stayed overnight on his way to somewhere else. I turned on the TV to get the morning news, to see them reporting about the first plane hitting the tower. I told DH and BIL and they didn't believe me. They watched for a bit had to go to work. I stayed glued to the TV for the rest of the day really, my heart breaking for all the families who wouldn't be holding their loved ones anymore. I cried and prayed, and really couldn't believe what was happening. You didn't have to be in America that day to feel the impact of it all.

[pewtertm]

I was just getting ready to leave for work when I heard it was announced on the Today show that a plane had hit one of the towers. At that point, it was speculation as to whether it was a small plane, because things like that have happened in the past.

By the time I got to work (I was teaching kindergarten), co-workers were telling me that it was a jet and that another plane had hit the second tower, and it was obvious that it was a deliberate attack. As parents and children filtered in, I heard bits and pieces of news, but so much of it was rumor at that point.

When my class went to PE, I ran into the library to flip on the news...there was an HPD officer in there (our D.A.R.E. officer) watching, and it was only a few seconds later that we saw one of the towers fall. Utter shock, disbelief, numbness, and fear, because we didn't know if more was coming (and if you recall, there were rumors that more were coming).

That night, mom and I went to a prayer vigil at Second Baptist...we held hands throughout the chapel and prayed for our country. I think our TVs stayed on around-the-clock for days. Even when we went out, the news was everywhere.

One of my most vivid memories was going over to my friend Carolyn's house...another friend, Susan, was staying with her because she had lost her home to Tropical Storm Allison earlier in the year. Susan was the former sister-in-law of Barbara Olson, who was on her way to LA to guest on Bill Maher's tv program when she was killed in the plane that hit the Pentagon. Barbara had called her husband (who was Pres. Bush's Solicitor General) from the plane to tell him what was going on, and she was all over the news as they were reporting what had happened to the Pentagon). Susan was obviously grieving and wanting to go to DC for the funeral, but with the airlines grounded, there was on way for her to get there. It definitely reinforced that feeling of helplessness.

I remember the lines at the blood banks...it was great for the banks, but unfortunately most of that blood wasn't needed for 9/11 victims. The rush for those clip on American flags for car windows. The way in which people were united and you didn't see all of the partisan griping that has taken over our country. It's sad that it takes something so tragic to bring this country to its knees and get us to focus not on ourselves, but on each other.

[kelley]

I was 21 years old, working at Carlos O Kelly's (a mexican cafe) as a waitress. I was waiting tables in the bar area and the tv's were on when the news popped up. Everything seemed to stop - nobody cared about their food, and I don't even remember how long it was until we (the staff) got ourselves together and took care of the restaurant. It was just total utter shock. Nobody could even believe it was happening, and I just remember feeling so scared. I had never felt unsecure living here until that day, that is for sure. Now I definitely do not take my safety for granted at any time. It's crazy everyone can remember it so clearly - most of my memories from that far back are much more blurry

[breakingbrie]

Alisa, thank you for sharing your story! I can't imagine what it was like to be there.

I was 21 and working third shift at a gas station. I had already gone home and fallen asleep, when my brother who lived next door at the time came rushing into my bedroom and turned on my tv. He kept telling me a plane crashed into the WTC, and I'll admit, I had no idea what the WTC even was. He sat down and we watched the news for hours. I was just shocked. I literally couldn't believe it. I kept thinking this stuff doesn't happen here. In our country. In my lifetime. I got that feeling like I needed to get up and do something, anything. I've never felt that helpless before. A few hours later our boss at Duke (we worked together) called and said things up there were getting crazy, so we all went into work. Everyone got called in that day, and we even had friends of employees and former employees working, to keep the lines of cars going smoothly. We were located on a corner, and the cops came to rope off parts of the lot so we could get one enter and exit lane going and get them out faster.
September 11 is the reason my husband and his brother joined the army.

[Amy Carey]

Alisa. Wow. words just don't even come ... reading your story brought such tears. Like so many others here I had never heard a first hand personal encounter like that...not once but TWICE. You must know God has a special reason for you to be here!

Myself, I was a work at home mom at the time, I had a 2 year old, 4 year old and 9 year old. I was home with the babies, my husband was sleeping (he worked 2nd shift) and I was cleaning house getting ready for a friend to come visit. I was walking through the bedroom and saw the building on fire on the TV and stopped to watch just in time to see the 2nd plane hit as it was happening. I woke my husband up and we watched the rest of history unfold before us. My friend was driving when it happened so she didnt know until she got to my house and we were supposed to have a lunch date. We went anyway, not knowing the full magnitude of what was going on. I kept looking at the sky, afraid of what I might see. We live 3 miles outside of an air force base and our jets were the first scrambled to NY air space. For all I knew, because it was a fighter jet base we might be a target. I just was so scared. My husband works on base and had to report as normal ... with guys holding machine guns going through every vehicle and patting every one down. The highest alert our base has ever been on. I'll never forget the shiver I felt up my spine as I hung our American Flag outside that day and turned on the porch light... I knew it wasn't enough, but didn't know any other way to express my sorrow for our nation. I remember being glued to the coverage for so long that it became almost a sickness.....

[rach3975]

I worked at a non-profit in Washington, DC at the time. I took the subway to work, and my line went right under the Pentagon. I got to work after the first tower had been hit, when people still thought it might have been an accident. I remember walking by the conference room (where people were watching it on tv) just as the second tower was hit and it became clear that we were definitely under attack, then watching as the news of the Pentagon broke.

I spent the next little while alternating between watching tv in horror in the conference room and rushing back to my office to make desperate phone calls trying to get in touch with my DH and my sister (and other relatives). DH also worked in DC in a Federal building right near the Capitol, and my sister lived in NYC near the WTC. She was woken up that morning by the noise of one of the 2 planes flying so low overhead.

Finally everyone at work decided to try to get home. I got on a train, and they still were running under the Pentagon even though the Pentagon had been hit. Just before my train went under the Pentagon, there were rumors that another plane was on its way and that the Pentagon was one of the potential targets. They evacuated us from the train, and we stood outside waiting for buses. I stood there in shock, watching the plumes of smoke billowing up from the Pentagon, smelling the smoke.

A lot of that day is a blur; I spent hours of it in traffic, trying to get home. IIRC, my 1 hour commute home took about 6 hours that day. I spent most of that time worrying and trying unsuccessfully to get through to people on my cell. I didn't know if my DH had managed to get out of DC, didn't know if more planes were coming that might be heading for the Capitol or even his building. I can't remember if we listened to the coverage on the bus radio -- you'd think we must have, but I remember the feelings of that day more than the facts. I remember getting home and being so relieved that DH was home safe. I remember being glued to the tv, watching for hours as I caught up on what had happened while I tried to get home. The whole thing was surreal and terrifying, the kind of thing you read about but never expect to be personally affected by.

[lovely1m]

I actually did a layout on where I was that day. Here's some of the journaling that tells my story.
On the morning of September 11th, I worked overnight at my security job. I had planned to go home, get in a quick nap and then go to class. Barely into my nap, I got a phone call from my dad. The first thing he said was,"Have you gotten a call yet?". I told him I had no idea what he was talking about and he responded by telling me to turn on the TV. As soon as I did and saw the horror that was happening in New York City and Washington DC, I got up and started getting my things together. Shortly after, I got the recall message and headed up to the Air Guard base. We started our shift somewhere around noon. I spent that day standing on the Main Ramp guarding our F-16s that had been placed on alert ready to take to the air if needed. At the time, we had a detachment unit that was stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton Virginia. It was the closest unit to Washington DC with fighter planes. They were the ones scrambled to protect the air space over our nation's capital, the ones ordered to shoot down civilian aircraft. I cannot imagine what they were feeling at the time. I spent the next few weeks working 12 hour days on the base. We were operating in ThreatCon Delta which meant no civilian vehicles on base, this meant our days often lasted 14 hours. Our first day off happened a few weeks in. Due to being on the base for all of my waking hours, I felt very removed from what was happening. We had no TV or radio, so it was impossible to know anything more than what we were told. It was a strange feeling, we knew what was happening and that we were there because of this, but we did not see it. When we finally had the chance, we watched all the videos from that day. Even now, nine years later, it is so hard to see. So many lives lost, so many lives forever changed, our military still affected. One day that forever changed our nation. Journaled Sept. 10th.

My layout:
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...p?photo=151036

[isaacsmom]

Wow, your stories are all so amazing.

I remember everything that day, but will just point out a few things.

I was working outdoors at our University here in my city and knew that all air traffic had been grounded. All of a sudden, I heard an airplane. And it seriously made me feel instantly sick. I looked around and everyone had this look of fear on their faces - an airplane...why were we hearing it. Turns out, it was Air Force One with the President on board flying into Offutt Air Force Base / STRATCOM in Omaha Nebraska. Lincoln, where I live, is only about 45 miles from Offutt. Apparently, they were flying extremely low to fly under radar. I will never forget the chill I felt when I heard the sound of that plane.

Also, we lived close to the airport and main interstate at that time. I just remember that night when I tried to go to sleep, I couldn't. First off I was terrified of what else might happen, but also there was this eerie silence. No air traffic flying in to the airport, and no traffic on the interstate. I was really just an eerie, scary lack of sound.

[Tracie Stroud]

I was 21. Michael and I had just gotten married that June, and it was the very first day of the fall quarter at our university. After my first class got out, I went to the Student ID office where I worked as a student worker. I did notice that there were LOTS more people than usual in the student center, but I figured it was just because it was the first day of class. They were watching the news, but I was in such a hurry to get to work that I didn't notice. I got to work and my boss told me that a bomb had exploded at the World Trade Center (no one really knew what had happened at that point). We were super-busy at work since all the new students were coming in for their ID's, but my boss would run down to the bowling alley next door on campus and watch the news in the staff lounge when we had a break. She let us know everything that was going on. It just got worse and worse. After work was done that afternoon, I walked down to the Chi Alpha (campus ministry) house where Michael and I were student leaders. All our friends were gathered in the living room glued to the TV. They had been there for hours when they didn't have class. That was the first time I saw the footage of the plane hit as they were replaying it over and over. I remember putting my face in my hands and saying 'Oh my God' and crying and everybody was so surprised that it was the first time I had seen the news. The next few days are kind of a blur, but I remember everything from that day like it was yesterday.

One of our good friends is a pilot, and we found out later that he was one of the very last civilian planes in the air after the grounding order went through. He was flying medical supplies in a small company plane and several times they told him he had to land but he was able to keep getting clearance to go to the next airport since he had medical supplies. He didn't really get all the details of what was happening until he finally landed and flight control told him he was one of only a few planes allowed to stay up after the grounding order.

[SeattleSheri]

I was on my way to work at around 7am PST, less than a mile from my house when I heard about it on the radio. I remember getting to work and being in shock. It's so hard to believe that it's been 10 years.

[AmyG]

I was up getting my then 4 year old son ready for preschool. I had Regis on and it was interrupted by the coverage, then thinking it was a bomb, which was horrible enough to stop me in my tracks. As I got him fed and dressed I kept the news on. I just sat down on the coffee table staring at the TV. I remember calling my BFF to tell her to turn on the TV and my Mom at work to tell her what I was seeing. It was so surreal. Got the kiddo in the car and didn't have to turn to the news-it was on every radio station. When I got to preschool everyone was quiet and I was wondering if I should even leave him there. When I got back home I sat down in front of the TV just as the second plane hit. I will never forget that moment. I remember, growing up, my parents telling me where they were when Kennedy was assassinated and how they remembered every detail of that day. I remember everything. I remember having trouble sleeping, dreaming of bombs hitting our town, worrying about nuclear attacks and people on the news taping themselves into their houses and buying gas masks. I remember going to a church prayer service that Saturday and thinking of giving blood but knowing it wasn't needed. It was such an anxious time for me and I lived in TX and didn't know anyone personally who was killed or injured or who even lived in NY at the time. Heartbreaking.

Thanks ladies, for sharing your stories.

[mrshobbes]

Ladies, your stories are amazing and heart-wrenching. Thank you for sharing!

It was 9:15PM in Manila and I was channel-surfing when I caught CNN broadcasting about the first tower. Then I saw the plane hit the second tower. I remember thinking--is this really happening?? It's only 9AM over there. What is this? I called my brother and we both watched the news for a while. It's amazing what people can say about something when they don't know exactly what's happening.

But I freaked out when we saw first one, then the other tower fall. Like in slow motion but it was happening. Then all you could see for a while was smoke and debris. I remember channel surfing again because there was absolutely NO WAY the World Trade Center could've fallen like that. A friend of mine who lived in Brooklyn at the time heard the whine of the plane overhead and then a dull boom as it hit the tower.

[Gemma]

I was pregnant at the time and was off school, I was laying on my bed as I was unwell and was talking on a forum type thing on my mobile phone, there was someone from New York there and they told me to put the news on asap, I went downstairs to look and couldn't believe what was happening, not long after that the 2nd plane hit

[kendallt]

Alisa, that is such an amazing story. Thank you so much for sharing. Wow...I'm speechless.

Rebecca - I can't believe you've even heard of Beech Island, let alone that you were there on 9/11! I live in Aiken, SC, which is not far from Beech Island at all. My DH had just started working as a lab tech for a Department of Energy nuclear facility in the area, and due to major security issues and the nature of the materials at the facility, they were initially placed on lockdown. Eventually, most everyone was sent home - something that was unheard of at the time for that particular facility.

I was a freshman in college and had no idea what was going on until I got to my 9 a.m. English class. One of the guys in the class told the professor a plane had hit the Empire State Building (obviously he was misinformed, but no one knew at the time). We all assumed it was a terrible accident with a small plane and carried on with the class.

By the time I got to my next class in a different building, all the TVs in the hallways were showing footage of the Pentagon crash. I can vividly remember the headline "America Under Attack." I still didn't know what was going on until I got to the classroom, and our professor began to tell us about the events that had transpired. I remember desperately wanting to get home to my family and my newborn baby, but I had to report for work that afternoon.

It wasn't until I got home after 5 p.m. that I was able to watch any news coverage on TV and truly take in the magnitude of the tragedy. I remember very clearly sitting on the couch beside my husband, while holding my baby girl and watching the news coverage on TV. I was on the phone with my mom, and she told me to make sure and hold my DD extra tight and that someday I would be telling her all about the events of that day. It was truly history in the making, and I think we all realized everything as we knew it had changed in an instant.

[FireWolf]

Alisa, thank you so much for sharing your story with us! I cannot even imagine the impact that day has had on you.

I was living in a small town in North Carolina and was on the phone with my now husband who was in the Netherlands. We'd only met on the internet in late June of that year. I remember switching the TV on and Good Morning America was on. They were filming as the second plane hit the towers and I just went completely silent with disbelief. The next thing I remember saying was, "Alright, you can come get me NOW!" I told him what I had just witnessed on TV and we talked for a little bit longer, probably about 10 minutes before we got off the phone so he could try to make arrangements to come pick me up and move me to the Netherlands. I just couldn't imagine spending another day living on the other side of the world from the man I loved. Anything could happen. Eight days later he arrived in Atlanta and after eight more days of going all over the US to take of paperwork and getting a passport we were on a plane the Netherlands.

I'm still horrified by the terrible events of that day but my life would not be what it is today. I don't know if I would have ever truly made that leap of faith if it hadn't been for 9/11. But here we are 10 years later and I made my first trip back to the US last year to get married.

I've been watching NatGeo for the past two days and it brings it all back as if it's just happened. it still makes my heart heavy.

[Sasha]

Alisa, thank you for sharing. Its amazing you got out twice. and safe.

[taracotta7]

Alisa.....Thank you for being brave enough to tell your story. I am just speechless. ((HUGS))

My story.......I was 25 years old (all of you that were in Jr High and HS are making me feel old btw!). I was on my way to work when the first tower was hit. Once I got to work (a bank) I quickly went to the break room to turn on the TV. I thought the radio had it all wrong and that couldn't be the truth. The pictures on the TV totally proved my thoughts incorrect. I was so scared. People starting coming in the bank asking lots of questions and worrying over if this was the end of the world coming. That is when the second tower was hit. Then people really started freaking out and withdrawing all the money they could. Then the gas station next to the bank hiked up their prices to an ungodly amount. People were waiting in line for a LONG time at the gas station filling up their cars. It was causing so much panic.

Then the tower collapsed......I screamed at the top of my lungs. I swear I freaked the customers completely out. I just starting bawling and praying. I didn't know what else to do. Then the other tower collapsed. I was speechless. I wanted this to be a horrible TV made up story and not reality. I was numb, in shock and completely overwhelmed. I called my husband (police officer at the time) and I think I totally freaked him out. He was aware of what was going on but to hear me lossing it was too much for him.

We had to close the bank early because we didn't have enough money in the vault to continue with business. Yes, it was THAT crazy here in Oklahoma. I think it hit us Oklahomans so hard because of our terrorist attack we had a few years before in OKC. It was making us relive that terror all over again and realize the effect on the families in NYC. After that day......I was just glued to the TV. I just keep hoping for more survivors. I will never forget 9/11.

[scrapweaver]

Alisa, thank you for sharing - I am another brought to tears by your story. And thank you everyone for relating your stories.

Living in Australia, the first I knew of it was getting up early to the kids (who should have been in bed!!). They were cranky because there were no cartoons on, just news on every channel. As I had the day off, I put on a video for them and went back to bed.

When I got up again and saw the morning news, I was just stunned. I could not stop watching the coverage, not wanting to watch but not being able to stop. And the thing that has stayed with me, that scarred me from so many thousand miles away, was the footage of people jumping to their deaths . . how terrified must they have been, to think that jumping was the best option?

It was truly horrific, and I felt helpless, scared . . and dreadfully sorry for those in America.

[clearskies]

I was a senior in college and heading to my first finance exam of the semester. Got in the car and turned on the radio. Was surprised to hear Katie Couric talking...

[ayaandjudah]

Weird reading this, I feel so exposed after my diving LO.

I have already had a nightmare this year in preparation for the anniversary and reeading my post here made my heart pound.

I guess you never do get over it.