What were you doing on september 11 2001?

[Joe Williams]

In the morning, at work.

In the afternoon, standing outside the recruiter's office with my sobbing (now ex) wife begging me not to walk through the door.

My wife told me how proud she was of me when I went to the recruiter's office. Sadly, they had no need for aging, overweight, cannon fodder, no matter my previous service

One reason I've always been proud of her is that she understands that living here comes with responsibility. No matter what she said, I'd heard her crying in the bathroom, talking to her Mom about being scared I'd be hurt or killed, and leave her and our son alone. But, she was all smiles when I went to the office. Just like a good wife and woman should be, and I mean that with all sincerity, and no condescension. Men gotta do what men gotta do, and so do women.

 

[sadclownwp]

I was taking my ISTEP test in school the writing part when the teachers turned on the TV's. seems like only a few minutes went by. Then the teacher said, "Ok, put down your pencils." FML

 

[DagerOne]

I was in class in grad school. "Oral Pathology." When we arrived to class, the professor who was known to be a bit of a jerk, nonchalantly inserted "a jet has crashed into one of the towers in New York" and then went on to more important things like squamous cell carcinoma. This was one of those long, multi-hour classes, so we had breaks in between. When we came back from break, he had the live television broadcast on the 50-foot projector screen...and we saw the first images of the second jet coming in and hitting. He allowed us to watch for five minutes (and allowed one girl to make a call checking on a family member who, ultimately, had managed to escape) and then it was back to business as usual.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

My wife told me how proud she was of me when I went to the recruiter's office. Sadly, they had no need for aging, overweight, cannon fodder, no matter my previous service

One reason I've always been proud of her is that she understands that living here comes with responsibility. No matter what she said, I'd heard her crying in the bathroom, talking to her Mom about being scared I'd be hurt or killed, and leave her and our son alone. But, she was all smiles when I went to the office. Just like a good wife and woman should be, and I mean that with all sincerity, and no condescension. Men gotta do what men gotta do, and so do women.

I have nothing against her for that. We were newly married, she hadn't been with me "in the day", and never even knew anyone in the military. She saw a side of me she had never seen and that I never wanted to show her.

And you know it's not even one of those uncomfortable things you discuss while you're dating. You know, like will you get pissed when I leave the toilet seat up? If we get a dog will you scoop poop?

You can't expect everyone to act appropriately when they don't know what appropriate is.

 

[rfontes]

i just got home from work at 12pm, fixed myself some lunch & a beer, then while channel surfing on tv, i keeped seeing news coverage showing clips of a airliner slamming into a sky scraper.

 

[Knife Lady]

I first heard it on the car radio while driving to work that morning to a car dealership on the southside of Indy. I was already crying before I got to work and the service dept had the tv on in the customer waiting room. I spent most of my time in there watching it on the tv. The phones were really slow that day. What an emotional day in so many ways. I remember feeling sad and then anger. I still have those same feelings to this day.

 

[DemolitionMan]

I was at a business meeting in Louisville. We were in a hotel conference room and the meeting was just getting serious when one of the VP's got a call on his cell phone. He talked quietly for a moment. He looked shocked as he announced that there had been an accident at the WTC, a plane flying into one of the towers. His wife had called and was concerned about people they knew in NY.

We turned our attention back to the meeting. Not long after, his phone rang again. I'll never forget the way his eyes bugged out at what he was hearing. He set the phone down and said that a second plane had hit the other tower.

I immediately said "That's no accident!" Others started to chime in along the same lines. The CEO glared at me and actually said that it could be an accident, that we didn't know anything yet. The idiot actually tried to keep the meeting going but none of us could really concentrate. As soon as there was a break we all trooped into the hotel bar where we watched in shock as the first tower collapsed.

I remember standing at the bar, muttering things I can't say on this forum as I watched the devastation. I called my wife back in Avon, and was interrupted by the CEO calling us back to the meeting room. Not sure to this day what he was thinking. We tried to hold the meeting for a while but eventually even he realized that it was useless.

We all talked for a while in the parking lot about what might happen in the coming days. Eventually we all headed home -- it was a very long, strange drive back to Avon. I still remember going past the airport and seeing all the planes sitting idle.

I hadn't thought about that day in a while, at least not in that detail. It surprises me how clear those memories can be. Why can't I remember good days that well?

 

[00BlasterResto]

I was a freshman in High School, I was in homeroom.
I went to Penn H.S. about 100 Yrds. from the AM general plant. We were told that we were on a lockdown and every one was to stay where they were in the school. they turned on the TV's in the classrooms just intime to catch the second plane. we watched the reports until we were sent home. Supposidly they were worried about AM General and Cook Nuk. plant.
I thought if that is the case then I would rather go on home to my house on the complete other side of town.
I remember that when we heard that the pentagon was hit and the plane in the field, my homeroom teacher told us in a very serious way that he believed that we under under attack. you could tell that he did not think that was the end of it.
-I had no idea what the WTC was at the time, when I heard pentagon I thought whoa that dose sound serious.
I was to young to join the millitary and crashed a motorcycle badly before I was of age to join. Now I have way to many screws in me for them to consider letting me join

 

[doglb]

I remember being at home, enjoying my day off!
I was on the phone with some computer company-trying to buy a new laptop when the guy on the other line said that a plane had crashed into a building!

At first I didnt think much of it, I figured it was a small plane and there was just "some crash"-

When I turned on the TV to see what had happened...my jaw literally hit the deck! I stayed glued to that tv the entire day...

My heart had sunk...

 

[Gabriel]

Sitting in a hotel room in Vincennes. Had just gotten off work and had been asleep for an hour or so before my wife called me and told me to turn on the television.

Sat there the rest of the day watching the prices at the gas station next door rise to over $5 while there was a line of cars as far as I could see waiting to get fuel.

I was then told we wouldn't be allowed back to work for a unknown amount of time. I sat in the hotel all week (Vincennes is about as boring as a town can be) until my boss called and told me to just go home and wait until we would be allowed to work again.

 

[K_W]

I was in High School math class, and we were just sitting down when the social studies teacher walked in and said, "Turn on CNN, now." The first plane had hit just a few minutes before. We stayed in that room and watched the coverage till lunch time. That afternoon there were no clouds, and with no planes either, the sky was clearer than I have ever seen it. One of our teachers was recalled to Guard duty 2 days later.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

At that time, I was detailing cars. We where, listening to the radio that day. I was washing the guy who owned the building's Durango. We heard, over the radio that a plane hit one of the towers. We, really did not think much about it. Then we, heard that a plane hit the second tower. The building owners parents lived next door. His Mom let us in to see it on TV. I was so shocked. Then we, heard that a plane hit the pentagon. When I, got home, I was so mad I actually cried. Needless to say. I left for basic training in February of 2002. That was one of the main reasons I joined. I remember in basic. Our CC's played a video of the attack. I do not think there where one set of dry eyes in the place.

 

[Greg.B]

We got up that morning, and took my oldest son to a doctors appointment; we first heard the reports on the radio on the way there, and when we got to the doctors office it was on the TV. We watched for a while, and the doctor called us back. It was a very brief appointment, as they had decided to only see the people that were already there, and were closing after that because of the attacks. When we left there, I remember the solemn feeling that had overcome everyone we saw, as well as the oddity of not seeing any planes in the sky. We headed home, and watched on the TV for the rest of the day, crying together, and getting angry together.

At that time, I was an OTR truck driver, with my normal route being from Southern Indiana out to Southern, CA and back. It just happens that I had gotten home 2 days before (on the 9th) and was due to leave out again on the 12th. We shut down all of our trucks until the 15th because of the attacks. I'll never forget that drive to CA; people lined the overpasses on I40 - some of them near the bigger cities, and others out in the middle of nowhere. Regardless of where they were, they were waving the US Flag. Everywhere you looked, you saw the Flag - overpasses, cards, businesses, homes...it was a very emotional trip, and encouraging to see everyone pulling together after such a disaster.

 

[Wheezy50]

I was a soph. at Purdue. IIRC the first plane hit around 8:20, my Economics class was supposed to start at 8:30 but the Prof. was late. When she came scurrying in at about 8:35 she told the news. Her words were something like: "You all might want to chek the news after class, it looks like there was some kind of plane crash in NYC"

When she said this about 100 people (myself included) got up and left class. I remember hearing her plead with us to return to our seats, she actually held an attendence quiz after that to punish the people that left. I think she threw it out after learning that it was a major event, not simply a "plane crash"


I always thought it was strange to hear my parents talk about where they were when Kennedy was killed, or where they were when Elvis died, but now i know i'll always remember exactly what i was doing that morning.

 

[JetGirl]

I was working in my kid's school.
The administrator came in and told us...
We all convened in the chapel and prayed. At the end of the day, one of my Girl Scouts was supposed to have been picked up and it was two hours PAST that time. Her only parent was out of town (business commuter) and couldn't get a flight back home. I got permission to keep her with me until another family member came to get her... I couldn't allow myself to freak out like I FELT like doing...I was trying to keep her and my girl from being scared that planes were going to fly into our house (which was the talk of the playground...you know?)

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I was on my way to Ft. Wayne for work; along I-69, when the reports started coming in over the radio. My co-worker, Jon, had Jim Rome on; during the local news breaks they'd discuss it.

I was sitting at my computer (imagine that) when I heard the first jet fly over my apartment building a few days later. I remember thinking that it was a beautiful sound.

-J-

 

[curraheeguns]

I was sound asleep having just got off the job at 0600hrs. My mom called me and woke me up. Said you have to get up and watch the news. I turned it on about 3 minutes before the second plane hit. Shortly after my best friend who was a rookie Chicago Police Officer called and told me they had detailed him at the base of the sears tower. I think his quote was "What the &%*$ do they want me to do if a plane hits the sears tower, &*^$ing catch it as it comes down?"

That was the start of a veeeeeeeeeeeery long work week and really a long month.

 

[DHolder]

I was at home, I watched the second plane hit. I knew it wasn't an accident. I remember watching the planes in their holding pattern, stacked up here by the airport. The eerie quietness of no aircraft later that day. Ialso remember the heightened security at the airport, I worked for Fed Ex, sucked to be us, all freight went out on trucks, talk about a PIA. Still pees me off, they can find were the solmanilla came from in your eggs, but they cant find the chicken that did that.

 

[O2guy]

I was installing AC and furnace for friends in Trafalgar, remember seeing all the news coverage not knowing what to think. The only thing I could think of is OMG what is going on no small plane could do this type of destruction. Watching all day as reports came out. Looking back how many incorrect reports and the misinformation we received through the media.