9-11, Where were you when you heard

[GothingNC]

Sitting at my desk at work (same company I am with now)and my boss told me what happened.

We first thought it was pilot error till the second plane hit
I just felt out of place for the a while and everything I was working on at the time became irrelevant.

My wife told me this morning that she still remembers watching the chain of events unfold live on TV while her VW was getting serviced at the dealership. She had our 2nd daughter who was 5 weeks old at the time and was sitting with a lady from Iraq and a gentleman from Germany. All of them were justing staring at the TV in silence-like being in a trance.

[Buckterrier]

I was at work in my office, conflicting stories circulating the plant. Called the wife and she gave me the scoop. That evening driving home I come to my exit. There is a McDonalds at the end. They fly a huge American flag. It was windy so the flag was blowing beautifuly. I look at it and started crying like a baby.

[widgeon13]

headed to Laguardia from my home in CT, glorious sunny crystal clear morning, one of those days when you feel "it's great to be alive". Warner Wolfe came on Imus in the morning and said a helicopter had hit the World Trade Center. Got my attention since my son was flying S-76 in and out of NYC on a frequent basis and was flying that morning. Everything went downhill from that point forward.

By noon I had found out a good friend's daughter was a flight attendant on AA flight 11, in first class. A tragic story as she was called in to fill in for another attendant who was ill.

I lived close to DXR, that night the airport was eerily quiet as we all know, no planes in the air, just too quiet.

[wilke3169]

I was pouring concrete on a military base. Driver stepped out and said my wife just called and said someone flew into the WTC. I said how the hell could someone not see something that big.
Of course we went all stop. Last truck was at the gate and wasn't allowed on base. The project was shut down for two weeks while security was ramped up.
Saw a lady friend a few hours later who is from NYC. She asked me with tears in her eyes, "Kevin, What are they doing to my city..."

[Jim Richards]

From what I could see walking to my office this morning, it's business as usual around the White House.

[Geronimo '74]

At a friends house. I saw the second plane crash.
I was lost for words, and scared of what the future would bring.

[jriera]

I was on a business trip in Toronto, saw the first and second plane hit the towers at the office, to this day still feels surreal .... manage to get home in Dallas on Sunday.

[Red Baron]

I was in a meeting with one of my employees when my VP came in and asked if there was a television somewhere in the building. His wife had called him and told him what the news was showing. We found a TV and watched in horror as the tragedy unfolded. I was scheduled to pick up some Executives from the private airport they were flying into and received a call when I was in seeing distance of the airport. They were forced to land in Mississippi so I turned the car north and picked them up there.

A sad day in our country's history, no doubt.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I walked into my apartment after the first plane hit, my roommate was watching in shock. I was there to see the second plane hit. It was so surreal, something I will never forget. I didn't personally lose anyone that day, but I spent a lot of time choking back tears.

I spent the afternoon at work, listening to coverage on the radio. Didn't get anything done. There was talk of potential gas shortages, so my girlfriend (now wife) and her sister packed their bags to stay at my apartment. My place was closer to the KSU campus, they figured they could more easily walk to class. I wonder how many hours we spent, just glued to the news. For a few days, the world just stopped.

I concur with everyone else, you never really notice the jet vapor-trails across the sky.....until they're gone.

[ramonesfreak]

at this very moment, 9am, i was at the supreme court in riverhead long island filing some papers with the clerk. the girls at the counter were all in the back watching a tv and talking anxiously and were upset. i handed my papers to them. they said nothing. and i still didnt know. i went into the courtroom and argued my case before the judge who screamed at me for bringing a newspaper into his courtroom. i left court, turned on my cell phone and got a call from my mother telling me what happened. even from riverhead, as i drove back towards manhattan, i could see the smoke and while listening to the news radio...it was the eeriest thing..and like this morning, the sky was perfectly blue

[Mule]

I was standing by my office manager's desk when our delivery driver called and asked if we had the radio on. I told him no. He said we were "under attack" and a plane had crashed into the WTC. I had a tiny 9' tv in my office. I brought it to the front office and watched in awe with my office manager as we witnessed the wonder wrought by the practitioners of the religion of peace and fielded calls from every friend I have. We did little that day other than watch in horror on the 9" tv.

[Tim Hancock]

I was at work running off a new machine with the buyers who had flown in the day prior from the Carolinas. We could not hear the shop radio with the machine running and did not know what was going on until the wife of one of our customers called with the news. We had to continue the runoff, but later in the day I was glued to the internet at my desk. I brought a TV in the next day and my boss gave me sh!!t about it..... I nearly quit as I p!ssed off that my boss had a problem with us listening to the newscast. Our customers had to rent a car to drive back to the Carolinas.

Several weeks later I contacted the local recruiter to see about getting back into the reserves, but was told I was too old. My wife was not happy with me, but I desperately wanted some revenge for this tragic event. I will probably carry my deep hatred for the Islamofreaks till the day I die.

[allaircooled]

I was somewhere in the Pacific ocean. About 4 days away from pulling into Pearl Harbor after a 6 month deployment in the Persian Gulf on board the USS Chosin. We had DTS which is like Direct TV for a ship so I got to watch CNN all day. We were worried we would be turned right around and head back but we didn't.

[stomachmonkey]

Sitting in my office for plane 1. Turned around and looked out the window and saw the smoke over the rise.

Later was in a conference room watching the live reports and an F-16 pulled a high speed U turn right over our building.

Growing up on Military bases I knew what that sound was well before it got to us.

That's when I packed up and went home.

You could smell it for days as far as 30 miles away.

Took me a number of years before I could look at a plane in the pattern without getting a panic attack.

[Z-man]

I heard on the news on my way into work about the first plane hitting the tower. Initial reports indicated it was a small plane. By the time I got to work, the second plane had hit. Then we all knew it wasn't an accident. I live and work in Northern NJ, in the shadow of New York, so the news hit home, quite literally.

Though I knew she was miles away from NYC, I just desperately wanted to get in touch with Kim, my wife, who works a couple of towns west of my workplace. By the time I got in contact with her, the first tower had fallen. I remember being on the phone at my desk watching the news on my PC (my company set up that broadcast as soon as word came there was an attack). I remember telling her, "We still have one of the two towers." She said, "What do you mean???" I told her, "One of the World Trade Center towers -- is gone." She said, "What do you mean, its gone???" She couldn't understand what happened. As a teacher, she was told of the crisis in NY, but had no idea how severe it was.

My company closed up early that day. I was in shock and mourning. I drove to Kim's school to see if I could help in any way. There was no need for help, so I just went home and sat glued to the TV for hours and hours. Called my folks, and found out my mom's cousin, who lives in NYC was ok. She was downtown when the planes hit, and she had to walk miles and miles to get back home, since the subways were halted.

Perhaps the most sombering moment for me was the next morning. I work in Montvale, NJ, across form the last rest area on the Garden State Parkway. There's a big commuter lot there for the folks who travel into NYC. That morning, the lot was hauntingly empty - most companies in NYC were closed down. There were a few cars still in the lot - from the day before. I realized that those people would never be coming back home...

For weeks after 09-11-2001, I found it very difficult to drive on roads where you could see the NYC skyline. I just didn't want to see it without the towers.

Still very difficult for me to remember the events of that tragic day. I didn't personally know anyone one of the 2000 who perished that day, but it still strikes a chord in my heart, and my prayers go out for the families who are still struggling with their losses...

-Zoltan.

[DavidB911]

When the first hit I was sitting in Pre Calc wondering how I did on the quiz/exam we took the day before somewhat excited because I knew she wanted to talk to 5 of us. I had to stay after class a few minutes and she told us we would be moved up to Calc1. I was really happy walking to my next class as I was just informed that I was one step closer to graduating in 4 years.

So I just before I arrive to my English101 class, I hear someone say "did you hear about the WTC?". I was late and couldn't listen to the conversation so I walk into the class room and find my teacher is crying with the TV on. She informs us what has happened and we watch the TV only to see the second one come in. About 5 minutes after that she tells us that class is canceled and we can/should go home. I was somewhat scared for what else could happen as I returned to my dorm room.

It was so weird when all the sporting events nationally were canceled. I knew NYC would be fine when Piazza hit the GW homer in the 9th the day baseball was resumed. It seems like baseball has always healed us when something major has happened.

[vash]

i just woke up. my girlfriend told me there was an accident, and a plane went into the WTC. we were just trying to put the pieces together (sleepy) when the second plane went in. i was sicken. i had to go to work that day to button up things. longest 8 hours of my life. i had to stop a fight at work. an ironworker got very racial with a middle eastern co-worker. it was ugly. they have since made up, and things are fine. the tension cracked the guy.

[bivenator]

Working in a hospital on that day. I had a patient for a gallbladder exam. the tv in the breakroom was broadcasting the events. I would sprint back and forth from breakroom to exam room to update the patient.
the following days my wife would awake during the night crying out. She kept having the vision of the pic with the satanic face in the smoke of the WTC.

[legion]

I was at work. I'd been here for a little over a year.

I got an e-mail from a coworker that a plane had hit he WTC. I got another e-mail that a plane had hit the Pentagon. Remembering the '93 WTC bombing, I said out loud: "Osama Bin Laden." No one around me had heard of him.

Someone had hacked CNN to a video feed over the network. I was watching CNN on my computer when the 2nd plane hit the WTC. Then I found out there was a plane down in Pennsylvania. I may have the sequence of events wrong as I was pretty out-of-it that day.

[gassy]

Sitting in traffic heading in to Chicago, staring at the Sears Tower.