9/11

[Forever_frost]

I know I'm early but I'm about to hit the hay after a long day. I was driving home today when I realized that it was tomorrow and how as a country, we have forgotten. Forgot the planes hitting the towers, forgot the terror and helplessness as FDNY dug through rubble looking for survivors and them rushing into burning towers. Forgot what it was like and the visceral reaction of that day.

I forgot for a while. It ran below my conscious train of thought and I was careless. So to bring it back into conversation, what were you doing when it happened?

I was in basic and they called us in from training and sat us down after the first plane hit. We all, as a unit, saw the second. First thing the drills told us was that we were being taught to shoot and then deploying. We spent the next 3 months alternating gate guards, armed (even before passing our rifle quals) with orders to shoot anyone trying to run the gates.

[Mysticcobrakilla]

R.I.P. to all that lost their lives that day. A day I'll never forget.

[Tx Redneck]

[564826]

I haven't forgotten I live it everyday.

[Treadhead]

I was asleep (just got home from work a couple hours before) when my now ex-wife woke me claiming that terrorists just blew up the WTC in Dallas! Needless to say, I went to work on a few hours sleep that night since I watched TV in stunned amazement all day. I will never forget that day and the amazing silence in the skies that followed.

[ram57ta]

I've never...not even once...forgotten what happened on 9/11/01. I was waken by a phone call to turn on the TV...the first tower collapsed 5 minutes later. Working for a mass transit system.....the threat of attack on our system was very real. I drove to work at noon....and noticed how empty downtown was. When I arrived there were heavily armed guards at the front gate to where I worked. We were given a small briefing by Transit Police on changes to policies and then given modified work instructions for the next several days because of the high threat of further attacks...especially on public transit systems. I remember the nonstop 24 hr coverage of the collapsed WTC recovery effort for several weeks on practically every channel. Pretty much the only thing that interrupted it was the local news in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I remember no planes flying for several days...(both my mother and sister had been on the final 2 days of a trip to Europe and were stranded for nearly a week wondering if there would be an America to return to). It was a scary time...and I knew vast changes were on the way. I visited ground zero almost 1 year to the day following the attack and it was a very humbling experience. I will NEVER forget 9/11.

[Vertnut]

They say you always remember where you were when monumental things occur. I was 3 years old when Kennedy was shot, and we were watching TV in Austin to see when he was leaving Love Field. My mom was taking me to the airport to see him land because Austin was his next stop.

I was at my office drinking coffee with my dad when the planes hit the towers. My first reaction was to call my wife in downtown Dallas, then I checked on my kids (12 and 16 at the time) at their schools. I'll always remember how eerie it was to have no airplane traffic over the metroplex.

We must NEVER forget this day.

[oh1bullitt]

18 years old and a senior in high school. I noticed the instructors were talking amongst themselves during drumline practice. It wasn't until second period i found out what they were talking about. Ten minutes into second period it was as if the entire school fell silent as we all watched the second plane hit. A few months later I decided it was time to enlist and offer my help for payback. I remember after basic and ait watching CNN as we invaded Iraq knowing that I was soon to see the night vision images on TV for real. I remember 9/11 as if it were yesterday. It changed my life forever.

[helosailor]

11 years ago today, this very moment, I was hearing the words familiar to so many Sailors..."Underway, shift colors". We were headed to sea from Jacksonville, FL for 5 weeks of "routine" training. None of us could have imagined, in our wildest dreams, how our lives would be forever changed in less than one hour.
We watched in shock and horror, as did every American, as our Nation was attacked.
38 days later, we would return to the soil of a Nation that was as changed as we were.
Rest in Peace, gentle souls and brave heroes.
We will never forget.

[Downs]

Junior in High School walking through the Cafeteria on my way to my next class. Buddy stopped me and told me someone flew a plane into the WTC. Watched the second aircraft hit on live TV.

[Woods Racing Transmission]

I was slinging dial-tone for Southwestern Bell at the time. I was working around University Park. I was very eery when they grounded all the air traffic. Not a plane in the sky for days. I went home and watched the news while holding my 6 day old little boy and thought man he is going to grow up in a different America than I did, little did I know how different it would be.


Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward. Freedom will be defended!
-- President George W. Bush, September 11, 2001

[Shorty]

I was sitting in my first period theology class and another teacher came in and told our teacher a plane had hit the WTC. We turned on the TV and watched the second plane hit and the buildings collapse. Even now it seems unreal.

I remember our coach canceled football practice that day. That was the only time that ever happened.

[Forever_frost]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn_iz8z2AGw

[bluecollar]

18, senior in high school, about to get dressed in cap and gown for senior pictures when the first plane hit. I went back into my work co-op class and the teacher had the tv on. I sat down just as the second plane hit. That feeling will stay with me forever.

[BttleFedC10]

Well, I was in 7th grade and heading to band. Teacher told us that a plane flew into the WTC. We were able to watch it on tv later. But i was only 12 or 13 years old and didn't know what was happening really..