Where Were You On 9-11? (merged)

[Paratrooper]

I was going through school up at Fort Belvior, Va near Washington D.C. at the time. It is about 7 or 8 miles from the Pentagon. I remember we stopped what we were doing and just were awestruck by what we saw on the T.V. I was amazed how they had locked that city down so quickly. You could see the jets they had scrambled flying over the city. There were so many rumors that day. I had heard the White House was struck and the Washington Monument. Little did I know back then how much this event would affect my life. I don't know about some of you but I still get angry and am shocked by those planes ramming into the WTC.

Where were some of you at?

[pirate44]

i was in a safety meeting at work. as i was walking back to my office, i heard a plane flew into the WTC. at first i imagined it a prop accidentally crashing. moments later i turned on the radio and heard the news. it seemed there were reports of several plane crashes and i actually asked myself if this was the end of the world. the rest of the morning was a rough one. then on my way to my apt to have lunch with my wife, i saw the giant US flag at the local Saturn dealership flyin half mast, and i started to tear up realizing the significance of it all. i think we are much safer now then we were, but to a lot of people it may not seem that was since we realize our vulnerabilities now that we didnt realize before 9-11.

[injuredinmelee]

I was just getting to school when the first plane hit and the asst supt and I sat down in front of the tv in my classroom and were watchign when the second plane hit. I also get vry angry when I think of that day. I can not imagine the hate.

[txkmom]

Teaching at Texas High. We stopped class to watch the news all morning. I had mainly upperclassmen that day...

[shankbear]

At my office. We shut the doors and went home. Never forget!!!!!!

[hawkfan]

I was a school thet day. In between classes I usually sit in my truck and read thepaper and listen to the radio. For some reason that day I had the radio off. I went to my next class and while we were waiting the Secretery of the kinesiology dept. came in and told us class had been cancelled, still not knowing what had happppened. I went to the student center and I overheard somebody talking on their phone about the WTC being bombed. I went to the nearest TV I could find. By then the first tower had collapsed. I just sat the dumbstruck. I figured My father hadn't heard what had happened because he was out building fence. On the way there the other tower collapsed. The rest of the day I was just wondering what was going happen

[CHS_CG]

when the first plane hit i was in band in the parking lot practicing our show. we got outta class late and i was rushing to my English class and she has CNN on the tv. I sat in awe watching the 2nd plane hit and the towers fall. I will never forget my teacher crying and the hush that fell over our very loud class.

[Underwater Basketweaver]

I was already at work, sitting in the principal's office filling in for the principal that day. I had the news on the TV. It never shut off. I can't believe how many students were pulled out that day. I remember thinking that the eastern skies were going to part any minute and Jesus Christ himself would be coming back that morning.

[pirateman98]

When the first plane hit, I was on the couch, asleep. My roommate was watching tv. when I awoke and at first I thought it was a dream, and turned around and tried to go back to sleep. As I began to listen to the tv. more, I turn and asked my roommate what was going on and he told me about the plane hitting the WTC. I got up and saw the second one hit and I just sat there in disbelief. I couldn't understand why something like this would or could happen. I had to work later that afternoon, for the YMCA afterschool department, and was told by both teachers of the school and my Program Directors that the news of the events were not to be talked about. All that was on our mind was on the events and it made it hard for all of us Counselors not to talk about it.

[IHS Fan]

i was in the hospital with my son. he had broken his arm the day before and we went in to get it set. the first plane hit just after we walked in. there were many of us standing at the desk watching the story when the second plane hit. it was a long trip home around the bay that morning. i called the school and they said don't bother bringing him in because several other parents were picking there kids up. that was a very long day.

[Adidas410s]

That morning...Hardin-Simmons was having their inauguaration ceremony for the new president at 8:30AM. Seeing as how classes were cancelled for the day already, I chose to sleep in instead of going to the ceremony. My mom called me about 9 from her office (she worked at HSU at the time) and told me to turn on the TV. After that...I didn't leave my room until about 7PM as I just sat in front of the TV in awe that day.

[Rabbit'93]

I was off of work that day. I woke up early for some reason and turned on the news. I'll never forget seeing the smoke billowing out of the towers. I remember sitting in front of the TV all day and how emotionally spent I was that night.:(

[District303aPastPlayer]

i was asleep, got a phone call that woke me up. i don't normally wake up to answer my phone. my ex girlfriend said to turn onto the news, that an airplane had hit the world trade center. i put it on. my roommate and i, who never really got along, sat there... and just watched it together. i got ready for class, which had been cancelled, and then headed to our student center. all the couches had been placed to face the big screen, and everyone sat around, comforting each other, and just watching in silence.

[pirate4state]

I was out in the sticks in between Pettus and Kennedy on my way to Garland to pick up all my stuff and move back to Sinton. My best friend called and asked where I was and told me that we were under attack!! I couldn't get to Kennedy and their Wal-Mart fast enough. I turned on the radio at that point and couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had to "see it" so we stopped at Wal-Mart and just stood there with everyone else as the tower collapsed!! :( Finally had to get back on the road, but it was like driving in a fog listening to all the reports coming in. Terrible day.

[Bulldog_12]

I was at football practice in the morning. We didnt even know what had happened until after the towers fell. I rushed to chemistry and he had the news on. The stupid prick made us turn off the tv and focus on class. Needless to say, the students were very unfocused.

[NateDawg39]

I was just getting out of football practice.

[LH Panther Mom]

I was in the car driving to work. I turned on the radio shortly after the first tower was hit, but really couldn't tell what was going on. I tried to call people at work to see if they had heard anything, but didn't get anyone. (They were all in a conference room in front of the tv.) I called my husband, told him we were under attack and to turn on the news to tell me what the heck was going on. :( When the service was held later on, the entire company gathered in the lobby of the office and watched on our "system". After it was over, we closed for the rest of the day.

[AggieJohn]

It was my first week in college or so, when i was walking to a class. I walked by a professor who I knew who had heard something about a plane hitting the WTC and asked had I heard something. I was pretty quick to know how to find out, but I really only thought that it was a small cessna that had hit the WTC, but unfortunately it wasn't. I ran to the media center at the college, but they had carted a TV with cable to the front of the Library and were airing the CBS feed. I was just in amazement watching it. By that time, both towers had already fell, but we still watched in shock. My instinct was that I was that I wanted to be with my family, but I still had more classes during the day. I started freaking out, but then got calm, remembering that who ever did these dirty acts wanted me to panic. It was a still as could be in the library, the only noise coming from TV, when the big telephone in the library ring. It took three times for it too ring for someone from the library personel to answer it. The receptionist said three words in her conversation; "Yes, Okay, Thank You." She then informed us that she just had talked to the president of the college and he is asking for everyone to evacuate campus. I quickly departed, know that being in a moving car was a better option than being stand still doing nothing. I didn't know know what I wanted to do, but I did know that I had to do something on this day that seemed semi-valorous. I don't know if it was because of a desire to be a Hero, or if it was just my general desire to help out. Either way, I knew that I had to make it to my mothers school where she was teaching.

As I raced home I had about a 1000 things going on through my head:

"I live near Baytown, go to school in Baytown, Baytown has the second most refineries in the state, it could be a terrorist spot."

My mind was racing, "If something was going to happen to anyone, God don't let it happen to the her school."

I was driving back towards Liberty, listening to the news and hearing that there was still a plane unaccounted for in the air. I wondered if that plane could come towards Texas and was this a multiple coast attack.

I got home to Liberty, a city whose name I had never really thought about. But on this day, that I was more proud to be a part of a city as I was my hometown. I went to my mom's school. They were on "Lockdown." An appropriate approach with the business that they were in. I don't remember actually walking in. I just kind of floated. They were being very guarding of the school on that day, but somehow I think the school secretaries could see my face. I mumbled out six simple words, " Can I go see my mom?" They let me walk down the hall that she had her classroom and the students from what I remember had no clue what so ever. Was it a teachers place to tell such horrible news? I got to my mother, and it felt like I had just finished a marathon trying to get to her.

I talked to my mother for a little bit, and then ran back up to the front office to see if they needed anything. I didn't know what I could do, I was just a lonely college student, but at that moment I wanted to save the world. I was overcome with emotion.

I didn't know where to go, do I go to the chuch and talk to my pastor. Do I call my friends, and see what they are doing?

My family was at work for the rest of the day and it was Noon. I knew of one thing that I needed to do. I needed more information. I ran to the TV. I sat in my livingroom for the next 7 hours and watched programing on this. I heard possible casualties number, possible reason, possible places planes hit.

That night the president came on the air to talk to us. I've never been so confident in my president. I've never heard a president speak the words of Psalm 23 before. He was so strong. He was so emotional. He was about to break, but in that sight of him about to break, I saw character and poise.

Fast forward to 2006, my brother is in Iraq. I am so proud of him. He's going into the war thinking "If not me, who? If not now, when?" Why can't more American's have that type of courage. He might be over there and in a place that is completely safe(which makes my mom happy) but he's OVER there. He found out that his group was going to be called over there and deployed, but he didn't flinch. He told me during Christmas Eve, when I was with my family. He told me, "I love you man", and said that when he leaves he wants me to have his car. His first car that he payed for.

He's over there today, and as a 20 year old he's probably taking part of a service today. He was only a freshman or sophmore in high school so I don't think that he fully understood the level of it.

[Technoredneck]

Well said:clap: :clap:

[eagles_victory]

I was in 8th grade and the administration in Fairfield ordered all tvs off and get to work pretty typical for Fairfield

[zeus63]

I was sitting next to my phone waiting to see if i was going to get called back to active duty.

[Txbroadcaster]

I had just woke up because that day was my late class day at college..I remember turning on the TV to watch ESPN, and everything was about the attacks. My wife( then girlfriend) was going to school about two hours away, and I called her, and we talked on the phone as we watched everything unfold.

That night I went to work at Wal-Mart, and we have the TVs all down the aisles and I remember NO ONE really working as we sat around the televisions watching for anything new.

That night I literally just sat in bed and watched all night long the news coverage.

I also remember the rumors..Gas was going to go up to 5.00 a gallon, in Commerce every station was flooded with people getting gas.


One of the STRANGEST things about all of it, was the week before my history teacher was trying to explin the ramifications of an event, and his analogy was if an airplane struck the building our class was in how the impact would not just affect the building, but the surrounding area...the next time we had class he was just stunned because he said I have never used that analogy before, and I dont think I ever will.

All the talk about feeling proud to be American and all that did not really hit me right away. I also was not angry right away. More than anything I was just stunned. Seeing the people jump from the buildings because they had totally given up hope, really hit me.

The people who started putting up the pictures of their missing loved ones shool me to the core, because they had NOT given up hope. They all knew the truth, but they wanted to keep that glimmer of hope that some miracle had saved their loved one.

Honestly the first time I felt proud to be an American was a little event..Watching people's reaction in England a WWII veteran said it best

The United States has bailed so many other countries out of trouble by coming to help, I think it is time we return the favor...That right there is what made me proud.

[TheDOCTORdre]

It was my sophmore year in high school, and there was so much freaking teenage drama going on that it was ridiculous. A summer on again off again relationship had carried over into the school year and it was really stressing me out, I was on the junior varsity team and in the back of my mind the thought had been there since the 1st day of 2-a-days that the last JV team to go undefeated in sweetwater was in 1984, (the year before Sweetwater won state.) The NFL kickoff weekend had just passed and the night before the Denver Broncos beat the New York Giants, 31-20. I remember I had a difficult night sleeping the night before just trying to sort out my life and try and figure out all this drama. I had gone to first period that morning and dozed on and off all through class, as I prepared to walk to 2nd period I got to the stairwell and noticed there was alot of talking going on, more than usual for high school and was about to head up the stairs when someone came up to me and made the statement, Did you hear whats going on? and I replied no, and the answer came "the Twin Towers are no more" My mind is always on sports for most of my life and right away my mind made a jump to sports, and I was wonering to myself what was happening to the San Antonio Spurs, and Tim Duncan and David Robinson aka the Twin Towers, did one of them get traded or something. This what went through my mind but all I said was oh and walked to 2nd period. When I got to geometry I fully understood what was meant when I saw the TV on and saw what had happened. All of a sudden the high school drama didnt seem so important and the rest of the school day was spent in all my classes watching the news.

[DDBooger]

i was at work and heard a bunch of ladies say that there was an a accident in ny and the wtc had been hit by a plane. then the second one hit and I never heard so much screaming and crying. pretty scary stuff. Felt like the whole world came to a stop and was looking at that moment in time. for 19 men to ground every plane in the nation, topple our monuments of economic might, and attack the head of the armed forces(Pentagon), the President flying around the nation trying to figure out the intentions of the attack. it put into perspective that we are no longer protected by both oceans. But like most Americans I was pissed and waited for a response, needless to say we hit back on my bday! Sociology teaches us to be tolerant of others culture, not in this case, the war was brought to our doorstep. Their are limits to tolerance, and I hope every one of them that mean us harm get their chance to meet allah expedited by a US servicemen.

[shankbear]

Amen Booger.

[LHSEagleFan]

I was in U.S. history class at SWT (it was still SWT at that time) but did not find out until my next class, computer lit. The professor had CNN palying up on the big screen. He came in and told us "This is saddest day in America since President JFK was killed. Now go to your chosen place of worship." We had a road volleyball game scheduled for that night so I went to volleyball office. We were watching in the assistant coaches office when the second tower fell. Never before and hopefully never again will the volleyball office be that silent on game day. About 30 minutes later the head coach came in and told us that the game had been cancelled and to go home and be with our families. By this time the entire team had gathered at the office and no one complained about the cancelled game. We tried our best to comfort each other. I was the only male working with the team that season and it seemed that the players were looking to me for safety and security. I tried my best . It seems to me that it was that day that we became a team.

[LHMom]

I don't really have anything special to add but I'll include my story as well.

I was sitting at work in a meeting. The man chairing the meeting was late... He walked in - pale as a ghost. He'd just received a phone call from his wife who worked for American Airlines - the first plane had hit. We tried to pull up news web-sites but they were all too busy... We went to a breakroom that had a TV and began watching... We stayed open, but not much work got done... Me and several of my close co-workers went to Gatti's for lunch because they had a big screen TV, and we felt the need to "be together."

I remember an interesting aspect. My older son was a sophomore in high school. I picked him up after football practice that evening and they had watched it pretty much all day. My younger son was in 8th grade. The junior high kids hardly knew anything was going on.

We got home... ate dinner and all watched the news for the remainder of the evening. It was mesmerizing... When my oldest went to bed, he hugged me tighter than usual and said, "Some kid there in NY is going to bed without his Momma tonight." I'll never forget that compassion he had...

[00Sinker]

I was in Minot North Dakota. I was coming back to my dorm after morning baseball practice. I turned on the t.v., so i could get ready for class that saddened day. About two hours later they said we had twelve hours to get what we needed for the week because they were shutting down the city incase the air force base had to go into commision. I don't know if this is true or not, but when i was there people were saying that Minot has the second biggest airforce base in the U.S.

[Maroon87]

I was at work. I had just hung up the phone with my wife when my boss (who is from NYC) raced past my door and down the hall saying something about a plane hitting the WTC. I went to the break room and turned the TV over to FNC and saw the fire. Then I saw the 2nd plane hit. Everything kinda got fuzzy for a while after that. I just called my wife back and told her to turn on the TV at her office. Everyone there was watching as well. Soon, her office closed for the day but I worked until 5pm. I'll never forget the drive home, looking at the people next to me in thier cars. Zombies. I probably looked like one too.

[awizzy]

i was at jefferson middle school in abilene tx...i was in the 8th grade and i was helping out in the office bc i was an office worker 1st period...never will forget it

[hutex04]

Gosh its funny how everyone knows exactly where they were when they heard about the towers on 9-11. I was a sophmore in highschool and we found out when our assistant band director announced to us that the twin towers had been struck. It was a tuesday and we had just wrapped up band practice outside the week of the liberty hill game.

[luvhoops34]

My husband and I were in Harahan, LA delivering a load of drainage pipe to a super wal mart under construction. We had gotten up early after staying at a truck stop south of Baton Rouge, and headed to Harahan. On the way, we heard these two gentlemen obviously from southern Louisiana talking about a plane crash on our CB. But, we couldn't understand them.

Upon unloading, we called our dispatcher, and she told us we wouldn't get any kind of back haul because all the military installations were shut down. I had no clue what she was talking about. She immediately told me to get to a TV if I could and if not to turn on the radio.

I called my best friend in San Antonio, and while I was talking to her the plane crashed into the second tower.

All I wanted to do was go home and hug my little girl. I remember crying all the way back to Poth and then staying up for two days solid watching all the news reports.

I will never, ever forget the outrage or sorrow that I felt and still do to this day. And I will never forgive the perpetrators of this crime against the United States.

[sahen]

I know its late, but i have been busy all day....

I was in Baytown, like John because that was where i went to highschool (my mom was also working at the school in liberty and my sister was there too, weird how that works out hunh john?)

I heard about the first tower getting hit over the PA in school but we thought just a plane errorantly flew into it, when i went to my next class was when it really went bad....

We were watching it and they kept saying planes are in the air that are hijacked and they didnt know how many and all....Well if you have lived on refinery row down there on the ship channel you have been told many times this is a prime target if we are in a war, NYC and D.C are first and then they would come here...Now imagine a highschool full of kids who have heard this their whole life and probably 75-90% of them have parents that work in the refineries...We saw the second plane hit the tower in my next class we were all talking and then it just went silent, i remember getting a massive sick feeling in my stomach thinking who would do this? And then we hear the pentagon had been hit and there are planes stil out there with hijackers in them, it basically became a panic attack on the school...We just knew they were coming to hit the plants out there and we were gonna get blown up with them and if not us then our parents...

Probably by the next period or so half of the school was gone (i couldnt leave, my mom was in liberty and my dad was working at ExxonMobil)....i wanted to call my dad but couldnt and same with my mom, it was really bad...the ones of us left just comforted each other and we waited, finally the end of the day got there and we were still safe, i was never so happy to see my parents and sister when i got home, i remember watching the president on tv and honestly i started to cry out of sadness and anger (and i am definitely not a cryer)....ever since then everytime i hear the pledge/national anthem i tear up, its amazing before that it was like something we do now it means something....

[maroonpirate04]

I was asleep on that morning when my phone rang and my best friend happen to be living there and called me to let me know what was going on. So I turned to tv on and was in shock of what i was seeing. He had been trying to get through in calling me and his family when the circuits were down and finally he got through and told me to let his family know down here that he was ok. He lived just 2 blocks away from the scene:( Later that day went to work and everyone was sad completely silence at work. We just couldn't believe this thing happen on American soil.:(

[Boosty_Hondo]

I was in the 8th grade and and announcment came on and every thought it was a joke and then we turned on a tv and everyone thought that they were just playing videos like making up stuff and then we realized it was all real it was pretty crazy

[piratebg]

I was walking by the library at the Del Mar Campus and heard I a guy talking on his cell phone. He said something like "a plane hit the tower." At the time I didn't think much of it. When I looked through the glass doors at the library, all I saw was a crowd gathered in the main lobby with all of their eyes glued to the tv. I walked in and just after the second plane hit. We all jus pretty much stood there in silence and I stood for about an hour before I decided to go home. The whole drive home to Sinton(30-45 minutes) there was no music playing on any station. I went home and found my nocturnal sister in the living room watching CNN. We both just sat there for most of the afternnon.

[PHS Wildcats]

I had broke my ankle the Thursday before and came to work in Downtown Dallas on 9/11 and a co-worker of mine walked and told me that a plane had accidentally flew into the WTC and here I am thinking that the plane is stuck in the building with the wings sticking out.

So we turn on the tv in the break room just about 30 secs before the 2nd plane hit. When it hit I remember a lady behind me screaming and then passing out. We knew then that it was an attack. We looked out the 7th floor window and you can see people running from other buildings Downtown.

Our boss told us that we couldn't leave until we were told to evacuate the building. But didn't any work get done, we stayed in the break room the entire moring and when the 1st tower went down, there wasn't a dry eye in the room and when the 2nd tower went down it was total boo-hooing.

We got a call around 11:30am asking why we were still in the building. Everyone else had already left. We were one of the last people left downtown. The whole day, I was watching CNN. I didn't even go to sleep that night I was so glued to the tv.