7 Years After 9/11

[bbrich57]

Not to begin a political flame-war here, but today it''s been 7 yrs since the 9/11 hijackings. The seventh anniversary.
Do you remember where you were when you heard?
What you were doing?
What you thought at the time?

Tell us your thoughts and answers to these questions.

Being the OP, I''ll begin:

I was @ work when we heard that a "small" plane hit one of the towers. We were exceptionally busy that Tuesday morning and had little time to think about it too much. Originally we had heard of the "event" on the radio which had little info @ the time. So we thought a small craft somehow got off-course and that would be that. Little did we know....

By the end of my work day, all the Managers were up in our break room watching the TV, and w/o surprise, were all in shock. Though some of them had come into our department during the day to give us little tidbits and updates as they were known or believed, I still could not fathom the extent or viciousness of what had just happened. I could not believe there were people in the world that were this insane and on such a large scale.

For the next 3 days my wife and I watched Peter Jennings (now deceased. RIP Peter,) as it was one of the few channels in our area still broadcasting and he seemed to have the most complete and up to date information. We watched and recorded as the details of the event unfolded. We were all shocked. We still have the tapes.

 

[lazybusinessman]

i remember i was in high school, in my physics class. this girl ran in and started screaming about how a plane hit a tower...but she was the "crazy" girl. so no one really took her serious.

then a little later i found out what really happen and for the rest of the day all we did was watch tv.

 

[jersey_emt]

I had just started my junior year at college (The College of New Jersey, aka Trenton State College) and had slept through the actual attacks. A little before 11AM, I left my dorm and was going to grab something to eat in the cafe. But the TV in the lounge was on with several people crowded around it. This was strange, because while that TV was used regularly for movie showings, those showings were always in the evening.

I watched for about 30 seconds, not know what it was. Then I asked someone, "Hey, do you know what movie this is?". I 100% seriously thought that it was a movie because what was on the screen I thought was impossible. I immediately tried calling people, because my brother-in-law (though at the time he was not yet my brother-in-law) worked in WTC2. He thankfully got out safe.

As an EMT, I knew that a lot of help was going to be required from police, fire, and EMS. I called up a friend who had said that he already spoke with someone from the NJ State Police and that we could go up to a staging area set in the Giants Stadium parking lots in the Meadowlands. Him, myself, and two other EMT's from my school ran over to my car (at the time, a 1996 Chrysler Cirrus LXi V6) and we were off.

A police escort had been arranged for us and a few other carloads of rescue personnel coming up in private vehicles (rather than with their squads' rigs). We all met right before the toll plaza for the NJ Turnpike entrance at exit 7A. We were the car directly behind the leading police car. Two police cars were positioned to the left and the right of our line of cars (there were 4 cars total that needed the escort), with one more bringing up the rear. After Exit 11 (Woodbridge / Garden State Parkway / Route 9) however, the NJ Turnpike was closed to all but emergency traffic. Well, we were indeed emergency traffic, so we drove up. In the section of the NJ Turnpike that was still open to the public, our speed was maintained between 100 and 110. Once we passed through the temporary gate into the closed section of the highway, the rest of our trip our speed was no less than 110, averaged around 120-125, and we even hit 130 going down one hill. I was able to get my thrill of driving stupidly fast without the dangers like other traffic (we were all instructed to stay in the same formation).

When we did get to the staging area in the Meadowlands, we had a moving moment -- hundreds of ambulances, fire trucks, rescue trucks, etc. along with thousands of emergency personnel had come from places as far away as Vermont and North Carolina. There were probably rigs and crews from farther away than that too, I didn't have time to walk around checking every license plate.

September 11, 2001 was a sad and shocking day for myself as well as countless others. However, it was also a day of unity. In that staging & treatment area in the Meadowlands, the color of one's skin, one's sexual orientation, anything like this.....they all ceased to matter at all. The 9/11 attacks brought our countrymen closer to each other than many thought possible. By looking at the attacks from that angle, the terrorists failed miserably.

 

[bbrich57]

Nice one, jersey. That musta' been something for you to be so close... a time you'll never forget. I could only imagine the conflict you must have felt.

 

[magnumP5]

I was a sophomore in high school. I remember I had just got out of my German II class (2nd period) and was headed towards gym classes when one of my friends ran up to me in the hall and started going on about something involving airplanes hitting a building. He was really out-of-breath and took off shortly thereafter so I really had no idea what was going on. I actually went all the way through gym (3rd period) and it wasn't until 4th period in my AP European History class that I finally found out what was going on. The teacher had a TV in the classroom and we spent the rest of the day talking about what had happened.

It really sucks there are already so many of these "Do you remember where you were when...?" moments in my life.

 

[bbrich57]

It is part of life, but they don't all have to be sad, tragic memories.

 

[ghettoracingkid]

I was at home supposed to pick up my car.

I worked a few blocks away

 

[Viralphrame]

I was in school assembly at the time, a new Freshman in high school. The administrator came in and delivered the news. It was mildly somber at the time, probably from a lack of visual aid. I did not grasp the true import of the attacks until I came home that evening and saw the video and pictures.

 

[batmang]

I had just woken up and was on my way to go to class. I used mIRC quite a lot back then and always checked it in the morning out of bordem. Well, it was in a frenzy. People were chatting like crazy and I had no clue what the hell they were talking about. Then I went to CNN.com and was in disbelief. It really did seem like a movie to me at first, all I could think was " NO WAY!? ". Then I saw the footage of the second plane hitting and it just made me feel so sad, instantly sad. That was the weirdest morning I've ever had. It was so surreal.

 

[SuperProtege5]

Believe it or not I was actually in 6th grade at the time. Going to school, we had heard that a plane had crashed into a building in New York on the radio. Nothing was mentioned about the WTC or the fact it was a jumbo airliner. So naturally I was thinking it was this private plane, some Cessna or something like that. Then when I got into class and we did our normal prayers over the intercom (private lutheran middle school), our principle mentioned about the victims in the attacks. I was still oblivious until our homeroom teacher turned on the TV in the classroom and showed tower 1 with smoke pouring out. Then no less then 5 minutes later was when tower 2 was struck and we saw it happen. If I recall correctly, the true impact and everything never really hit until that night when I went home with my parents and brother and watched all the news stations all night, but mainly Peter Jennings as mentioned above. I'm pretty sure the most disbelief I've ever felt in my life was when the towers actually fell and you could see people jumping. I kept wanting to wake up the next morning after watching all the rescue teams and what not go in and start searching the night before and turn on the TV and see that it hadn't happened, much like when War of the Worlds came on the radio back in my dad's younger days. Even as I've become more educated about how this world works, I still cannot fathom why anyone would want to kill innocent men and women. That's where I lost it. May those who were lost rest in peace.

 

[bbrich57]

We musta' been listening to the same station. I lived in Pflugerville then and worked (still do) in Austin. That sounds much like the info we got from the radio.

 

[JCell]

i was in HS at the time, computer class. someone started a rumor about it but no one took it seriously, then the principal came on the speaker and told us to stay in class. The professor got curious and called the front desk, he dropped the phone and turned the TV on, none of us could believe it, we turned it on right before the second plane hit....

 

[paylew]

Believe it or not I was actually in 7th grade at the time.

I was starting to feel really young until I got to yours!

I was in 7th grade, and I got on the bus to go to school and this one kid that got on at the last stop was like "I was watching the news with my mom and they showed some plane flying into the side of a building! It was so crazy!" He was a really random kid and we all just figured he was joking around so we all laughed about it. Then we got to school and heard teachers talking about it and some of the other kids were freaking out and calling there parents to take them back home. My first period teacher wouldn't let us watch it because "we needed to go on with our day." All the rest of our teachers just let us sit and watch the news, watching the same video that everyone saw probably a hundred times. My 6th block teacher had a best friend who was a book publisher, or flight attendant, I don't really remember that was killed in the crash... I remember one of my teachers telling us to write down how we found out and how it made us feel because people would ask us about it, just like they asked her where she was when JFK was shot. It was really surreal, it didn't seem real. I was too freaked out about anyone where I lived getting hit with an attack, it's Arkansas... We don't have much but cows and such...

 

[mikeski]

I was in the marines and was actually cleaning a hummer when i heard someone come out saying that someone blew up the trade centers. We kept working because i thought it was Bull s***. a lil while later they said the same about the pentagon. I still didnt believe it untill i got back to the shop and i saw all of my sgts listening to the radio and acting weird. soon after i realized it was real and realized my dad is in NY working, I remember trieng to call so many times and the phones were just busy. soon after we had a company formation to update our will's and Power of Attorney's, me and my buddies looked at each other and turned white because we knew we were going to war! I was so naive to think i could spend 4 yrs in the military without going to combat, but at the time there was nothing going on. Ive been out for about 4 years now and not a day goes by that i dont think about it.

 

[fishdonotbounce]

I was in the 7th grade as well. 15 miles away from the WTC in Clifton, NJ. I, like most kids my age had no idea what the WTC was at the time but quickly realized what it was when the TV came on. I was in Ms. Herowitz's English class and can remember the school going into lockdown and parents starting to come to the school and pick their kids up since they were all released from work. I can remember a girl named Jessica whose father worked in the WTC and what her face looked like when she found out the news. I couldn't stand to see that look since I too had that look when my mom sat me down at 6 years old and told me my father was killed. I was later picked up by my mom and we went home. I remember being scared of another war starting and me having to live through a war again. Luckily, that didn't happen but what happened that day is one of the most vile and disgusting things in recent history. My prayers go out to all who lost loved ones in this tragedy. I know how it feels to lose people so close to you for the dumbest reason.

 

[SuperProtege5]

A little off topic, but now that it's been a few years since the attack, does anyone else besides me kinda look foward to 9/11 each year, mainly for the fact that the nation acts as a whole nation again? What I'm getting at is that politics are put aside, debates and arguments are silenced, differences between groups of people are dissolved and for one day at least we are all Americans again. To me it seems sad that it takes something like this for it to happen, but I'm at least glad to see it happen, albeit for only one day.

 

[fishdonotbounce]

I do but it's starting to become like every other occurrence where the country USED to come together and now most people just pretend because it's the day...

 

[protojason]

For me,

The clock radio went off, happened to be tuned to npr. Heard the reports about aircraft accidents and the towers in NYC. "Hmm, that's odd i thought, before i realized it was BOTH towers. Then, when they mentioned the pentagon attack, ; that's the one that sent a flash through my spine down through my legs.
This was a direct attack on our military, on our soil.
On with the TV as I got ready for work. Listened to NPR during the commute, and showed up and joined the coworkers surrounding the big screen.

They showed the footage of the second tower being hit. Not long after that we saw the first tower collapsed. My first thought was for the firefighters. It's like I didnt even consider civilians present....of course they had evacuated...!, but we just lost a lot of firefighters. (I was in my 7th year as a volunteer firefighter, and had been OIC several times on our calls)

Coworkers throughout the day began to make comparisons to Dec 7th. ( I recall thinking it was not an accurate comparison..)

Those are the things that stood out for me. I think the fact that I grew up as a military brat, and my exposure to the fire department shaped my reactions.

I just remember being more pissed about the pentagon, (even though they weren't 'innocent civilians' as in the towers, and relating the loss of firefighter lives perhaps visualizing what those guys were doing while the towers fell.

Doesn't feel like 7 years ago to me.

-Jason

 

[SuperProtege5]

Doesn't feel like 7 years ago to me.

I know exactly what you mean.

 

[killermatt]

hmm. 7 years ago to this day.
i was 10 years old, only in the 5th grade, i still remember it as if it only happened yesterday. i wake up around 6am, (gmt) so about 8 eastern.
as i turn on the tv to watch the news it immediately jumped to cnn or something. as the reporting of the wtc was going on i was just in shock.. i recalled my uncle worked in wtc number 5, off to the north east of the wtc, i recall running to my dads room, shouting at him to get up. He just went back to sleep.. i told him, "Uncle ray is in wtc # 5 and the tower just got hit by a plane so call him!"
he jumped up called.... and no answer... he called and called and called...
still no answer....
i was horified, i leave for school, just graving the whole time. Expecting the worst.. school proceeds thew. I ask the techer to turn the news on so i could see as to what was going on. All day... we watched.
i get home, my dad still... trying to call... and nothing.. all day.. im just crying away. the next i guess we got a call from a new york number, and it was my uncle, saying he was ok, but his office was destroyed by the blast.
he also stated that a huge thick metal beam had struck his desk missing him by meer inches. To rap it up hes fine to this day and im very thankful.

to thoes lost on this day, i send the familys my respect and R.I.P. to all thoes who perished. as for i know what its like to lose some one..