Where Were You On September 11, 2001 ?

[Evelyn Dellcerro]

It was a beautiful Tuesday morning as I left for work at 3:45AM. I was at my desk at 4:30AM. The day was great all duties were handed out by 7AM. We were all sitting at the big table plotting our positions at a runway show scheduled at 9AM just a few short blocks away. We were doing a pre take of a Versace show and thats when the chaos hit. The monitors were switched over to the news CNN. The first plane had just hit the North Tower 8:45AM. The audience was lead out and we were packed in record time. We saw what was going on from street level. We parked our trucks in the lot and my boss hugged me and told me "get out of here". I remember hugging and kissing him and my crew, and just high tailing it out of there. I remember driving up the West Side Drive and people pulling over on the shoulder and taking pictures. This was the first time in my life I did not want to stop. I wanted to get home. I knew in my heart this was an attack, and my husband was probably home getting dressed. He had just gotten home a week before on leave. I blasted through traffic. Just as I was pulling into my driveway my husband comes running out the door. We hugged and kissed and went inside to watch what was happening on the TV. Watching on tv the replay of the second plane hit I saw my husband put his head in his hands and just start sobbing. He knew this was trouble. I went upstairs to my radio room and put on all the radios and tuned in. We had lunch and dinner in my radio room that day. It was horror ! America was under attack, and there was nothing we could do. The al qaeda terrorist organization of saudi fugitive osama bin laden, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in the Middle East. I got lucky that week, my husband was called back a week later. I got to spend another week with him. That whole week my boss told me to stay home, and he will contact me on the weekend. I spent the weekend with my father and mother, and we reminisced about the times we spent sight seeing at The Towers when I was a child. My first helicopter ride I was 9 years old back in 1974 and The Towers were just opened a year before that. I still have the picture I took from the helicopter. I think back to that somber day and I cry for the 343 firefighters and paramedics, the 37 police officers from the ny/nj port authority, 23 police officers from new york city, 8 emt private paramedics, and one patrolman from the fire patrol. That day 2,977 people lost their lives in a blatent act of terrorism. Also I want to send prayers out to the families of the 125 military personnel and civilians that were killed in the Pentagon, along with all 64 people aboard the airliner, and to the 44 people aboard flight 93. It truly was a day to never forget !! Just to think of how many lives were altered that day I bow my head down in silence. This is how I want to remember The Towers,, as an innocent 9 year old girl... God Bless America !!

[olympus]

I was at work that day at a commercial aircraft repair facility. Someone came on the plane and said planes just flew into the world trade center. I honestly thought it was a joke until I heard a BBC report. We had 2 of the 767 airplanes in our facility that day. I to this day never look at them the same way. Let us never forget.

[DiaperboyEddie12]

I was sleeping at the time of the first plane hit.  My friend I was living with was trying to call me to let me know what happened.  I turned on the tv when I found out.  Then when I went to work that day nothing but talk that day about the towers.

a few days later I was one of the volunteers to go to the river side in Hoboken NJ to give out food with my team from McDonald’s.

just to let everyone know the truth of that day will be coming out soon to the world.  I pray to this day.  That the families of the many men and women of whom died that day Rest In Peace.  And the families find peace!

if people only new about who organized that tragic day.  They would be having heart attacks.

 

god bless us and The USA

[ValentinesStuff]

Sleeping. I worked 11 PM to 7 AM. At one point, still half asleep, I saw what was going on and thought it was a documentary about the '93 bombing. It was well into the afternoon before I found out what had happened.

[willnotwill]

I was sitting in my office when I got an alert that a plane had hit the WTC.   After that we started getting all sorts of updates (true and not true).   The CNN website was down due to the load.   I manage to get a portable radio propped in my office window (anywhere else had too much noise from the computers).   We also pushed a TV from our conference room out into a parking lot and rigged some OTA antenna adhoc to it.    Meanwhile I was IMing all my contacts in New York.     My brother in law worked for the Port Authority and had been in the WTC on the previous attempt to blow it up (fortunately he was working at JFK airport that day).    Another old college buddy worked for Morgan Stanley there but the MS security people cleared everybody out at the first sign of trouble (heroically dying doing one final sweep of the offices when the building came down).

It wasn't until I got home and found that up to 500 firefighters and police may have died (343 firefighters in actuality) that the full magnitude hit me.    One friend who worked in the Pentagon was elsewhere in the building when the plane struck his office and killed all his coworkers.   My psychologist was dispatched to provide emotional support there for several days.    My sister in law says that office paper from the WTC drifted down in their yard in Brooklyn for days.

[happyindprs]

I was laying in a hospital bed  having been driven there by my wife three days prior due to a raging staph infection . The TV was on in my room and I was just waking up to a program being interrupted by the World Trade Center on fire when I see a jet fly into the already burning building. I immediately think we are under attack. It’s an over whelming feeling of vulnerability that we as Americans have taken for granted for too long.   It was horrific and tragic and from this day forward the world would never be the same ever again, and now I was angry! I wanted to kick some ass. I was ticked as to who was asleep at the switch that let this happen 

[BabyJune]

I was at work and the entire staff was in the staff room watching the Twin tower attack on the projection screen TV. I came into the room just as a plane hit the second tower. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

[AwakenEvil]

I was in a college class when it happened. I remember sitting there with 3 other students and the teacher talking about before leaving. I remember that day pretty well. All the closure of the malls. (Mom owned a restaurant in the mall) College itself closed for several days afterwards. Craziness

[drynot]

I live in western Canada so I was asleep when the attacks took place.  I came downstairs in the morning and flipped on the TV to catch the news.  I thought what I was seeing on the screen was a movie that i had never seen before.....then realization dawned on me.  I yelled up to my wife that she needed to come down and see this.  We watched the next few hours unfold as they did....news reports coming in about the Pentagon and the other crash in Pennsylvania.....it was nuts.

[id0ntknow]

I was in school that day. I want to say 7th grade, but I can't remember if it was science or social studies that I was actually in at the time. It's crazy that it's been 20 years since then.

[~Brian~]

@Evelyn Dellcerro

Where was I on September 11, 2001: I was sleeping in my apartment when I got a call from a friend at approximately 8:26 AM. He said “Brian wake up, turn on the TV we got some serious stuff going on here!“. I then turn my television on to CNN as @Evelyn Dellcerro Did in her office.  This was the saddest day I think I have experienced in 49 years of existence. The mighty city of New York, the Big Apple, the site of many dreams and many hard-working people was attacked by terrorists, whose name it was was to destroy democracy as we know it.  When I turn the television on, I saw a report that said something hit the world trade center: when I saw that, I saw smoke, and heard that a plane had hit the tower. A few minutes later I saw a second plane hit the second tower of the world trade center call and then I yelled as loud as I could:  “Somebody’s going to pay for this!” As I looked in horror at the destruction: I could not believe my eyes nor could I believe my ears or what I had seen on TV.

I was thinking to myself why would someone decide to do this to the United States? There are so many of these other terrorist groups whose job they think is to destroy the livelihood of others. All of my life I have been told that if you work hard and do your best and you give it your all you will succeed! This does not mean that you will always succeed, because you will fail sometimes that is part of life. However, on this day, with all of that destruction all I could do was stare in AWE at The massive destruction that was caused in the big apple, and it is the first time in my life I have seen devastation to that level! It saddened me very badly and I’m thinking to myself “what the hell just happened, why the hell did this just happened? I want to kill somebody!“

I don’t think I slept that day and I don’t think I slept for three days afterwards because all I could see was a boring billowing pile of debris on fire in lower Manhattan. When I think of this type of destruction and I think of all the hard-working New Yorkers, and other people who immigrated To the United States and chose New York City has their home, because they feel that they would be able to partake in the American dream if they work hard enough, it made me cry like a baby:I mean that:  Are used words that I don’t even think I remember using, and some of them could probably get me in serious trouble over here! However, as a United States citizen, this hit me very hard as well that’s probably millions of others worldwide.

For some reason, that day, somebody wanted to get even with us for something. I remember President George  W. Bush saying the words “get ready“. Those words will always be resident in my mind whenever we are in a situation where we must respond in some way.  There are times that I wish that we could take terrorism and cut his head off permanently. We have lost way too many lives because some one decides that it is time to get even with freedom democracy or right of free speech or whatever rights he has United States citizens practice and hold dear. My father, And other family members have served in the military to keep our country safe and to make sure that we have the ability to maintain the ability to have free speech and free expression free ability to worship as we will please and other things. However, when you have left-wing or right wing extremism either way it can cause negative and long lasting repercussions.

Every time I think of 911, I think of the very professional people who risk their lives to save as many people as they could. I think of all of the people who we lost, and the people who will always be remembered for saving those lives. My family has been in the fire service for years.  That day is something that I will never forget, because everything was launched and everything came running and ended up down there to try to save as many as possible unfortunately, this was not entirely successful as many people were severely injured or lost their lives. It brings back memories of a fire that happened in Worcester Massachusetts, and my uncle.Responded to a warehouse fire, and Spencer fire department was launched. When I heard that that fire department was launched, I kept my eye on the screen. I wondered if he would come out of there and he did! People who serve and protect will always be honored because of their selfless determination to save peoples lives. I just wish there was a way that we could make sure that something like this never happens again, but, we know that we have to be vigilant and we have to keep an eye on everything that goes on around us, because if we don’t the one time we do not show up our defense we got a blackeye.

@Evelyn Dellcerro. Some days I wish that I could take the jackasses who are responsible for this incident and roast them alive and dump them into New York Harbor buried them 10,000 feet below it: however, this is simply anger because of the fact that our way of life and our livelihoods were attacked on that day. I was so upset I felt like smashing things, I didn’t know what to think I didn’t know what to believe I just sat there and watched in horror as the toughest city in the United States in my opinion was rocked by something that devastated lower Manhattan. In my mind, it will never be the same again, but we can rebuild and make it better. I just wish that our government could’ve done something to prevent it. It gives me chills to think that we probably knew something was going to happen, and we were not prepared for what happened! In my mind the United States was attacked New York City was attacked, And every time I think of this it brings back memories of that day and while the pain is still there, the anger has subsided because I know that the people who serve the NYPD, the FDNY, and all of the support systems that New York has gave it 1000% and more, and unfortunately people lost their lives.

The words “New York Tough“ and “Vermont Strong” mean a lot to me: New York and Vermont are known for being able to handle many situations. Having to deal with tropical storm IRENE gave us the moniker “Vermont strong“. New York has dealt with many situations, but this one, I didn’t even know what we could do, but as time goes on, we saw how tough and strong New York could be and how the entire United States came together to protect one another and make sure we were protected. There are times that it makes me sad, because we lost so many lives, or because we had some idiot come over here and try to blow up the world trade center! This happened not once, but twice. The only problem is, I don’t think we were ready to deal with this situation before it happened.

When I see a picture of the Statue of Liberty it always brings tears to my eyes: this is because of what it stands for: it means that you are given the opportunity to make your life better, start over, or begin the “American dream“ it is a majestic statue, that means a lot to those who came over to the United States immigrating to New York, and I will never forget how tough New Yorkers are because they are tough.  My family fight for the right for us to be free: the Statue of Liberty as well as the flag stand as symbols of this freedom and democracy and no one should be able to step on that freedom or democracy. Vermont flag says freedom and unity for a reason, New York: well you guys are just about as tough.

It is my hope that we are able to make sure that something this horrific does not ever happen again! We have lost too many lives because of right wing extremism or left wing extremism or somebody that wants to terrorize innocent citizens I don’t care where you are in United States, this is wrong, and I hope that we will be able to maintain security to keep the United States free in the world free of terrorism so that no one else has to deal with this horrific problem.

To those that have served: thank you for your service. Thank you for putting your life on the line to save others in the highest traditions of your services. You are not forgotten and will never be forgotten, because when we all come together, we can do amazing things!

Oh, and I believe the Vermont Air National Guard was running flights all over New York, Including one of our Former Lt. Governors:  Lt. Col. Brian E. Dubie, USAFR, (Ret)

From Wikipedia:

"All told, Brian Dubie logged more than 2,500 hours in military fighter aircraft. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Vermont Air National Guard, serving as instructor pilot, operations support flight commander of the 158th Fighter Wing. In 1998, he left the Air Guard to join the US Air Force Reserve, where he served as an emergency preparedness liaison officer in the National Security Emergency Preparedness Agency. Serving in that role, Dubie earned a Meritorious Service Medal, First Oak Cluster, for his actions at Ground Zero in New York City following the September 11 attacks. In September 2005, he served on the Gulf Coast in the relief effort for victims of Hurricane Katrina. He received the Meritorious Service Medal, Second Oak leaf Cluster, and the Air Force Commendation Medal, First Oak Leaf Cluster, for outstanding achievement at 1st Air Force Hurricane Katrina Operations Center. On June 2, 2012 Dubie retired from the military in a ceremony held at Camp Johnson, the Colchester headquarters of the Vermont National Guard.^[7][8]"

Love always!

Brian

Edited September 9, 2021 by ~Brian~
General Edits

[Wet Knight]

It was hopefully the last day of harvest, so I turned on the TV to check the weather on Ceefax just before seeing the second tower hit'  so obviously the first strike was not an accident.  This was terrorism.

My immediate thought was "That's an end to New York's support for NORAID "

[scorepio]

15 hours ago, Evelyn Dellcerro said:

It was a beautiful Tuesday morning as I left for work at 3:45AM. I was at my desk at 4:30AM. The day was great all duties were handed out by 7AM. We were all sitting at the big table plotting our positions at a runway show scheduled at 9AM just a few short blocks away. We were doing a pre take of a Versace show and thats when the chaos hit. The monitors were switched over to the news CNN. The first plane had just hit the North Tower 8:45AM. The audience was lead out and we were packed in record time. We saw what was going on from street level. We parked our trucks in the lot and my boss hugged me and told me "get out of here". I remember hugging and kissing him and my crew, and just high tailing it out of there. I remember driving up the West Side Drive and people pulling over on the shoulder and taking pictures. This was the first time in my life I did not want to stop. I wanted to get home. I knew in my heart this was an attack, and my husband was probably home getting dressed. He had just gotten home a week before on leave. I blasted through traffic. Just as I was pulling into my driveway my husband comes running out the door. We hugged and kissed and went inside to watch what was happening on the TV. Watching on tv the replay of the second plane hit I saw my husband put his head in his hands and just start sobbing. He knew this was trouble. I went upstairs to my radio room and put on all the radios and tuned in. We had lunch and dinner in my radio room that day. It was horror ! America was under attack, and there was nothing we could do. The al qaeda terrorist organization of saudi fugitive osama bin laden, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in the Middle East. I got lucky that week, my husband was called back a week later. I got to spend another week with him. That whole week my boss told me to stay home, and he will contact me on the weekend. I spent the weekend with my father and mother, and we reminisced about the times we spent sight seeing at The Towers when I was a child. My first helicopter ride I was 9 years old back in 1974 and The Towers were just opened a year before that. I still have the picture I took from the helicopter. I think back to that somber day and I cry for the 343 firefighters and paramedics, the 37 police officers from the ny/nj port authority, 23 police officers from new york city, 8 emt private paramedics, and one patrolman from the fire patrol. That day 2,977 people lost their lives in a blatent act of terrorism. Also I want to send prayers out to the families of the 125 military personnel and civilians that were killed in the Pentagon, along with all 64 people aboard the airliner, and to the 44 people aboard flight 93. It truly was a day to never forget !! Just to think of how many lives were altered that day I bow my head down in silence. This is how I want to remember The Towers,, as an innocent 9 year old girl... God Bless America !!

We remember sadly but will never forget…

13 hours ago, DiaperboyEddie12 said:

I was sleeping at the time of the first plane hit.  My friend I was living with was trying to call me to let me know what happened.  I turned on the tv when I found out.  Then when I went to work that day nothing but talk that day about the towers.

a few days later I was one of the volunteers to go to the river side in Hoboken NJ to give out food with my team from McDonald’s.

just to let everyone know the truth of that day will be coming out soon to the world.  I pray to this day.  That the families of the many men and women of whom died that day Rest In Peace.  And the families find peace!

if people only new about who organized that tragic day.  They would be having heart attacks.

 

god bless us and The USA

I vividly remember that morning. The weather was spectacular but, something about it felt almost surreal - a feeling I still can’t explain. You seem to express “something”.  Something you know like a forbidden secret… “if people only knew about who organized that tragic day.” Whatever truth comes out, let it be out of the shadows. May God watch over us and protect the U.S.A.  Peace, love and universal harmony to all living things on this planet, our only home. 

[BabyChris121675]

I was asleep after meeting friends for breakfast at 7am that morning- was in bed by 8 and I had no idea what had happened until I got up that afternoon after 4- I am a night owl so I usually am up at night and not during the day so I was asleep when the attacks happened and I remember thinking when I turned on my TV that day to CNN- at the time I was a CNN junkie- 'I hope to God I am still sleeping...'- so I called my parents and asked if it was for real and it was.  I remember the rest of day and all night watching TV coverage as it was just surreal- I also went to visit friends who lived in the same apartment complex and we talked about it and all of us were in shock over it all.  

To this day it still seems surreal that it happened and is something I will never forget. I saved the local paper from when the attacks happened and I still have those to this very day 20 years later.  

BabyChris

[spoonchicken]

Woke up, and turned on the TV for a few minutes just to see how things were in the world that day before going to my first day of class in vocational training. Saw what was happening, and immediately knew it was Al-Queda because of being an armchair general ( knowing that they were the guys responsible for the '93 bombing.)  Went to class, and everyone was reacting to it. Our instructor tried to keep us on track but couldn't. Everyone had something to say, until I stated "This was not an act of terrorism". The whole class just looked at me like WTF ?!?!? The guy next to me asked "Well, what the f*** would you call it ?!?" I replied "an act of war". I've never seen a group of young men quiet down faster than that. Then I explained what I knew, and people weren't sure if it was safe to believe me. Two days later, we're in class again, and by now the media had confirmed all my "speculation".  I took no pride in being correct. 

Heard later that all our job sites shut down that day. We had a couple of guys working in the Transamerica Pyramid, and they found out the next day, that security came running up to their work crews and told them to evacuate the building. When they asked why, security yelled at them like boot camp drill instructors to "Get the f*** outta the building...now!" So they did. What a sad day....but not unforeseeable. 

All that being said, I'd urge everyone here to avoid undo commentary regarding conspiracy theories. This thread is not the appropriate place for it. 

[Crinklz Kat]

I was at work in downtown DC just across the river from the Pentagon.  As far away as we were, we heard the plane hit.  One of my coworkers at the time lived (may still be there as far as I know) in an apt tower that's just 2 blocks away from the pentagon.  Everything had gone on lockdown - we couldn't leave.  Even if we were able, the city was in chaos. 

While the govt agency I worked for at the time didn't suffer directly during 9/11, they had felt terrorism prior in Oklahoma City.

[Little Cub Pants]

I remember exactly where I was on 9/11. I was 6 years old at the time. I was in kindergarten and I remember my mom and other parents picking me and other kids up early and unfortunately I remember me not wearing an diaper.?? Although this was before I fell in love with diapers.?????☺️❤️??❤️?

[feralfreak]

in reno nv, waiting to hear about a job at walfart, or was in orientation, i dont remember which one, but i recall the one leading it saying they was considering sending everyone home(why that far away i dont understand, but what else is new? there is a lot i dont understand)

8 hours ago, spoonchicken said:

Woke up, and turned on the TV for a few minutes just to see how things were in the world that day before going to my first day of class in vocational training. Saw what was happening, and immediately knew it was Al-Queda because of being an armchair general ( knowing that they were the guys responsible for the '93 bombing.)  Went to class, and everyone was reacting to it. Our instructor tried to keep us on track but couldn't. Everyone had something to say, until I stated "This was not an act of terrorism". The whole class just looked at me like WTF ?!?!? The guy next to me asked "Well, what the f*** would you call it ?!?" I replied "an act of war". I've never seen a group of young men quiet down faster than that. Then I explained what I knew, and people weren't sure if it was safe to believe me. Two days later, we're in class again, and by now the media had confirmed all my "speculation".  I took no pride in being correct. 

Heard later that all our job sites shut down that day. We had a couple of guys working in the Transamerica Pyramid, and they found out the next day, that security came running up to their work crews and told them to evacuate the building. When they asked why, security yelled at them like boot camp drill instructors to "Get the f*** outta the building...now!" So they did. What a sad day....but not unforeseeable. 

All that being said, I'd urge everyone here to avoid undo commentary regarding conspiracy theories. This thread is not the appropriate place for it. 

what were you studying?

[rusty pins]

I was at work in a large call center and someone said a plane had just hit the World Trade center.  My first thought was some little 2 seater plane with a novice pilot crashed into it.  Later when we weren't getting many calls I remarked on how slow it was.  Someone then said, "It's because we are under attack!"  One of the managers had a TV in her office so I went in to watch.  Just at that time the second plane hit.

For the record, I was just 5 years old and watching TV in the living room when Walter Cronkite came on and said President Kennedy was dead.  I was also around 21 year old working at a mom and pop grocery store when I heard John Lennon was shot.

For years they have said the 3 things you remember most was where you were when you heard Pearl Harbor was bombed, JFK was killed and John Lennon was shot.  The forth now is where were you when the 911 attacks happened.

[ValentinesStuff]

2 hours ago, rusty pins said:

For years they have said the 3 things you remember most was where you were when you heard Pearl Harbor was bombed, JFK was killed and John Lennon was shot.  The forth now is where were you when the 911 attacks happened.

I wasn't around for Pearl Harbor or Kennedy, I have no idea where I was when Lennon was killed. I do know where I was when Apollo 13 splashed down, Challenger exploded, and on 9/11.

[dlnoir]

I was in France September the 11th 2001 spending my holiday with my mom, dad and now ex-wife. I remember it quite well and I also remember feeling so frustrated and angry for I had no decent access to the news. Although I’ve never seen the twin towers with my own eyes I knew there and then things would change for ever. Still, if I picture New York in my mind the twin towers are still a part of the picture for they were such an iconic land mark.

[baby664]

I was in Seventh grade in a small town in PA (also the county seat, home of a certain actor who appeared in It's a Wonderful Life).  Our principal got on the school-wide Television system to tell us about it (and forbid the teachers from deviating from normal teaching).  They did not listen.  A couple of hours later, my mum came to get me from school, and we watched the news the whole afternoon.

Un-fun fact: My sister was scheduled to fly from New York to Pittsburgh that day, but the airport was already closed at that point.  I believe that she had to sneak through the exclusion zone to catch a train back to Pittsburgh.

[WetDad]

I was commuting to work and listening to the news on my car's radio. I was astounded, and kept thinking, this must be a mistake. Then the second plane hit and I knew this was something very bad.

[oznl]

A quirk of being on the “other” side of the planet, momentous events tend to occur during our night for us to discover them the next morning.

Thusly I was woken by the clock-radio very early in our morning.

It took me some time to comprehend why the normal hourly news bulletin appeared to have been ditched, along with all other normal programming.

Within a few minutes, I’d pieced together that something awful had happened in New York.

I had to get up.

I had a plane to catch.

Yep…  I was flying that day.  Flights were not grounded in Australia.  It was even too soon for enhanced airport security to have kicked in.

As a frequent flyer, I was a member of the “Qantas Club”.  For my early flights, I used to skip breakfast at home and grab some toast at the Qantas Club lounge.

I wasn’t hungry that morning.

It was the early-am red-eye flight so the lounge was quiet.  All of us, passengers, cabin crew, flight deck crew crowded around together in front of the new wide-screen TVs that had been set up in the lounge and watched in silent disbelief at the pictures.

Our captain had the chief cabin crew person tie the cockpit door closed after the flight deck crew had entered it with a sock.

[kjgreens]

If you want to see an uplifting video about how many people were saved that day, check this out: Boatlift: An Untold Story of 9/11 Resilience.

 

I was a sophomore in college at the time. I came downstairs from my dorm room right shortly after the second plane hit. People were all gathered around the TV in the lounge area of bottom floor, and I pushed my way into the group. I thought it was a movie, but the conversation around me quickly signaled that the World Trade Center was under attack. I went to my first class, and it was cancelled. Then an email went out saying that all classes were cancelled for the day. Everyone just sat around and watched TV together. I couldn't believe it when the towers fell. It was so horrific to watch. It just kept replaying on TV on every channel. I lived in a dorm that was made up of two towers, and over the days, American flags began to appear in peoples' windows. Whether an actual flag or a printed one, it was an inspiring sight to see.

I can't believe it's been 20 years. My deepest thanks go to all of the first responders who gave their lives so others could live, and my deepest sympathy to the families of those who were lost on that day.