Marc Gelefsky

I was in my 911 on the way to work, I remember it well because it was a beautiful day and I had the top down, when I heard the reports on the radio I knew instantly is was terrorism.
My closest friend works a block from the WTC and the first thing I did was call him since he takes the Path train in.
Fortunately he had returned home from a cruise the night before and was still home.

I knew people who perished in the WTC, Used to see the towers from my house.

On December 7th 2001 I was able to go to ground zero with my Aunt who works for NBC news, It was night and they where welding what remained of the tower to remove it and still bringing out remains draped in American flags.
It was a very surreal scene and something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Paul T.

I was getting ready to leave for work, the kids were watching their normal morning cartoons. We got a phone call from a friend of ours in Texas and she told us to turn on the news. We did and the horror of that day began to unfold.

Ken

I was asleep when the first one hit. At the time I was living in my fraturnity house in Hoboken. I was awoken by the sounds of people going on the roof to try and get a look at something. I thought it was just regular highjinks. When I got out of bed, everyone was freaking out. Many of my brothers worked in the towers, but for many different reasons, none of them were harmed. Two of them called out sick(from drinking the night before). Another had taken the day to be with his family. The last pair were on the PATH train as it pulled into the WTC station at the same instant the first plane hit. The train was sent back to NJ and they were all ok.

The rest of the day we all just sat around watching the TV. I couldn't call my parents, all the cell phones lines weren't working. I managed to contact my parents by IMing a friend and having him call them for me. It was a horrible day. The worst part was the feeling of absolute helplessness.

My best friend Jim is an amateur radio operator and spent most of the following days over in the city helping to restore communications for emergency personnel. I've never been prouder to call him friend.

elf89

I was driving to work listening to the local DJs talk to their sports guy. He had the TV on and commented that one of the Towers was on fire. Then the second plane hit and he said, "Sports is over!" and signed off to find out what was going on.

I was shopping for the 944 at the time and had just found one I liked, but wasn't sure if I should buy it. In feeling sad for all the people who were killed and wondering how the world was going to change, one of my thoughts was "Life's too short, just buy that car now!" So I did.

My thoughts today are with everyone who lost family and friends in that tragedy.

Perry 951

-8:46am I was on my way to work on my motorcycle, 62 degrees and crystal clear blue skies.

-9:03am, I walked into the studios of 700 WLW Cincinnati to begin my show, not knowing of anything that had happened. 7 people were in my studio staring at the TV as Mike McConnell passed it to our news anchor Brian Combs. As I set my helmet down and glanced to the TV to see what all the fuss was about, the 2nd plane hit. I thought it was a movie.

For the next 78 hours, I was at the helm of the Big One trying to inform and support my fellow countrymen.

This morning was much the same, motorcycle to work about the same time, blue skies, 66 degrees, and I had not turned the radio on until a few minutes ago.

Fishey

I was in school and the world seemed to stand still. Classes ended and we just watched some T.V. The weird thing is for me, It really didn't seem to bad with the twin towers it was like "Ok they finnaly did it" but then when the pentagon got hit I was like "OMG this isnt supposta happen WTH is happening? thats a military strong hold and its been attacked.

PeteL

I had just dropped my daughters off at school and turned on the radio just after the first plane hit. The DJ said a plane flew into the WTC. I was just passing my house, so I went in and turned on the TV. I was in shock..and was mesmerized by the images. Then the second plane hit, it seemed so unreal, then the word of the Pentagon and the plane in PA. I was frozen. I had to tear myself away from the TV and get to the Office. I was the Commanding Officer of a sealift unit in Texas and we had 1400 vehicles waiting to be loaded on a ship that was in port. Since this was clearly a terrorist act, it was a good possibility that military equipment and ships could be a target....and we had no means to protect these assets as they were in a commercial port....needless to say the next few weeks and months, were incredibly busy.
I took these attacks personnally, I grew up on Long Island, and my father worked in the WTC. He past away long before these attacks but my visits to the WTC with him were some of my fondest childhood memories. I dedicated every day that I serve in the military to my father, the city and the thousands that died that day. Although my job requires me to stay here in the states, I ensured everything my command did in support of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were done to the best of our ability. Its the least we could do.
I will never forget that day.

Techno Duck

I was in highschool, likley falling asleep in Mr. Boards english class as it was happening. As i was going to social studies, i heard a few kids saying a plane hit the WTC, but i didnt believe it. I went to next period math and the teacher said "Class, i have some terrible news..." and she turned the tv in the class on. I was at a loss for words at what i was seeing.

Brian McCoy

Unemployed, I woke up unnaturally early (for me at the time) and went to the living room to watch the morning news. I'd been there for all of 10 minutes when the news all switched over and started covering what happened. I watched the entire thing progress on tv that day ~ it was well after midnight (like 4~5am the next morning) before I could get up off the couch.

I've never been affected like that in my life - I hope nothing ever comes even remotely close to affecting me like that again.

AndyK

Seems like a few months ago to me for some reason. I work in Jersey City, and at the time, lived in Manhattan on the east side. Because of an early meeting that day, I went into the WTC underground concourse to get money from an ATM (the receipt says "WTC - 8:25am"). I remember how blue the sky was that day, and how shiny the towers (and the Financial Center buildings) looked from across the river.

We heard the first plane, and saw the rest. Kinda surreal standing at the window, watching it all like it was a movie.

The worst part was the days after, seeing all the "missing" flyers hung all over the place, created on PC's by people who would never see their loved ones in the picture again. Very sad.

Can't wait to see Bin Laden's corpse on TV!

TaboII

I was at home getting ready for work, when the special report broke on the news. The hardest part for me is that I watched the second tower get hit live! I still feel guilty that I watched that live and could do nothing to turn away. So many lives lost for no relevant reason. I now try and remember that every day is a good day that I can tuck my children in bed and wake up in the morning safe and healthy. I had no idea how hard it would be to even think about it after two full years it would be. We all should never forget just how lucky we all are. And in some way be thankful even if it is in the smallest way.

TaboII

ToxicSlick

I was sitting in math class about to fall asleep when the dean of studies walked in and whispered something to my math teacher. She stopped in her tracks and looked lost, then said, "April fools" kindof in a desperate way. After math I walked into the student lounge and saw a tv set up with 20 people crowded around it and saw the towers with smoke

sharky47

I was at orientation for my first day at college.

89magic98

I was supposed to fly up to San Jose, and bought my ticket at 3AM that morning. I decided to take a later flight, or else I would have likely been stuck up there.

A friend called and woke me up, I turned on the TV to see both towers gone.

My parents and brother were flying back from Ireland that day, and the plane was turned around and sent back to the gate. It took them 5 additional days to get home.

My sister commuted through the Path station under the WTC complex to Jersey City. For some stupid reason, she had taken the day off. It took me the better part of 3 hours to get through to her on the phone.

She had voicemail messages from girls who worked for her, calling to say that they couldn't make it into work (because they were stuck in Manhattan), with sirens and people screaming all around. It's kind of surreal to think of people calling their boss to say that they were going to be late.

My girlfriend's father was a pilot for American Airlines, and was captain of a flight from Japan to San Jose, in the air, when the attacks happened. They had to declare an emergency (no fuel to divert to Canada or Mexico), and were escorted into the airport by military jets, with the warning that their plane would be shot down if it diverted from its flight path. The three crewmembers had barricaded themselves in the cockpit (after having "profiled" all of the passengers) and were waiting with the fire ax in case someone tried to come break in.

Flying just a week later was a surreal experience... standing at the airport in San Diego, as one of maybe 15 passengers in the entire terminal... wanting to knock out this assh*le (who was waiting for his flight)protesting against being "profiled" by looking at some WTC pictures in a Time Magazine like it was a Playboy Centerfold.

I was bumped up to first class several times in the next few months for no apparent reason, as were several other people I talked to, probably looking for bigger single men who might fight if some assh*le tried to pull something.

-Kevin

txhedg

thats SOOOOO wrong