OriginalSterm

I was doing an important injector study at Bosch in SC. I got a news flash on my motorola pager. Then I got another message and thought it was the same one. Then phones all over the office started ringing. My parents called from NY to see if I had heard or not. They were both sent home from work, I then took lunch for the next 3 hours and watched the news. Completely in shock. They sent us home then because suddenly noone's work seemed all that important. The next day we had meetings to prepare us in case the terrorists targeted the automotive industry. I then realized how fragile life is, that anyone at anytime could be targeted.

The DareDevil

I was in class when a friend of mine said "Some airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers...". I began to tell him what an idiot he is, "Do you know where the Towers are?" etc etc...

Ah, that day sucked.

89magic98

One picture I took, visiting the site 11-23-2001.

Type_LT

Woke up after a late night at school, walked to the campus the next morning and everything was locked, went home and turned on the tube then it hit me. That was one thing that took a few minutes to set in thats for sure.

89magic98

Another picture I took, visiting the site 11-23-2001.

iloveporsches

I was sitting in math class taking a quiz. One of the principles came running into the room and told us to turn on CNN, so we did. We turned it on right before the second plane hit. While we were in passing period another plane hit the Pentagon. I also remember I was in physics when the Taliban leader came on TV and spoke.

Ironically enough the only teacher that didn't want to let us watch it was the American History TA. We had to plead with him to keep CNN on. For the next couple of days in school that's pretty much all we did, sit there, watch the news, and maybe talk about it with each other.

EZRider

It was morning, I was sipping coffee staring at the beautiful blue sky through the glass door. Switched the TV to check CNN news. The screen was focused on the Twin Towers. There was heavy billowing smoke coming from the left tower. I watched in total disbelief. My gut feeling was that whatever this was it was no accident. But nothing prepared me for the events which occured next. It was difficult to digest the reality of this tragic event.

I spent 8 years working around the Twin Towers area. Been inside the Towers on several occasions for business and pleasure. Security was very tight in that area, everything appeared so secure.

My heart goes out to the victims, for the professionals who lost their lives in attempt to save lives.

Steve in New Hampshire

I was sent back down on 9/28 to help with the disaster recovery at the Bank of New York (I worked for Digital/Compaq at the time). I was at 1 Wall Street. I don't think I'll ever forget the horrible smell of the air. Of course now they're reporting just how poisonous that air was back then.

Steve

2+2

I was just tuning into the radio about NY City and looking out the window to see smoke billowing from the Pentagon. I thought "hmm....there must be a fire..." only to find out about 10 minutes later that the Pentagon was attacked.

89magic98

Even when I was there in November, it was a mix of burnt plastic, concrete dust, and lord knows what else.

I imagine on 9/28 (with fires still burning underground, right?) it must have been really bad.

That building had a lot of asbestos in it.

-Kevin

Wormhole

I was on Madison Ave. watching the madness, then as the second plane hit, it became a little fighting as people started running, crying and screaming uptown. That’s when I decided it was probably a good idea to get out of Manhattan.

oi-punx

I was outside on a beautiful, crisp morning in Sunnyvale, CA getting ready to go to class at the local university. I had just snapped some pictures of my freshly rear-ended (the night before) 944 for insurance purposes. I was putting my camera away in it's bag when my (then) girlfriend's stepdad came out of the house and broke the news. I thought he was joking because his sense of humor could be a little twisted. I turned on the radio on the way to school and found out that it was no joke.

It put my problems into perspective REAL quick.

streckfu's

I was onboard Norfolk naval base going through Instructor school. At about 0930 they locked down all the bases. I barely got out of there.

Patricia

We were on vacation, on a cruise ship off the coast of Normandy. It was about 3 in the afternoon, and I was taking a nap when the captain came on the PA and announced "we are putting CNN on in the theater for our American guests who wish to follow the terrible events in New York and Washington . . ." What the . . . my first thoughts were assassination (yes, I remember JFK's assassination very vividly), but that wouldn't be both places, same for a natural disaster. We made our way to the theater just in time to see the second plane hit. Our tour group sat together, holding hands, and watching. Then, all of a sudden, it seemed to hit, and those with loved ones in New York and Washington ran out to try and phone. With only three lines available, it took hours for some of them to get through. (Our friend's son worked right across the street from the Pentagon, and as she guessed, he saw the plane hit and was one of the people who ran to the scene to help.) The rest of us just sat quietly and watched, most of us in shock. Security on the ship was immediately strengthened, police or military boats escorted us into every port after that, and patrolled while we were there. In Spain, we were diverted to the industrial port where security was better. They began checking IDs and searching bags and using metal detectors whenever we returned to the ship.

We were on shore in Bordeaux two days later when all of Europe stopped for 3 minutes of silence. There, in Spain, and in Portugal, people came up to us and expressed their sympathy, and their support.
We were able to fly home 10 days later because our flight from Paris was one of the few flying. It went out completely full. Airports in Lisbon and Paris were patrolled by armed troops, and our luggage was sealed in Lisbon after being searched.

We arrived at LAX late at night, and it was one of the weirdest things ever. They weren't allowing private cars or non-passengers into the airport, and it was totally deserted when we came out of customs. No hoards of people waiting, etc. No cars on the street outside, no cars in the parking garage. Just a couple of shuttle buses, and our limo we had arranged for before we left. We were lucky, we'd picked one of the few companies that were already cleared and registered to operate at the airport, and so were treated like buses.

We later found out that a friend of our son made it out of Tower 2 ok, and one of our close friends missed his flight and so did not make his meeting in Tower 1 that morning. That son was at school in CT, the school locked down. Since he lived off campus, he went home to find out his neighbor had not gone into work because it was his son's first day of Kindergarten. They watched the smoke, and the fighters fly over. Our other son's mother-in-law was at the Pentagon (her boss had an office in the area that was hit), but left the day before to go to Bismarck. Our son, daughter-in-law, and the whole school where they teach, were frantic until they got a message from her.

I will always remember my one and only visit to the WTC. We went up to the observation deck, and my daughter (then about 11) left her purse in the restroom. When we went back, it was gone. We checked with the security guard, a lovely lady who took our name and address, and was extremely friendly and helpful. Who would have thought - the purse arrive, intact (ie., with her retainer in it) in our mailbox about a week late. When I saw the towers fall, I immediately thought about this lady, and her co-workers, and said a prayer for them.

Today, I sit here reading about 9/11 on the Internet, and watching TV. And praying. May God grant eternal rest to all who died that day.

Pat

pete944

I was on vacation visiting family in Cheasapeake, Va. I was looking for a blank video tape for the camcorder and turned on the tv so I could see what was on the tapes I had. I saw the 1st tower with smoke coming out of it and just thought that there must be a fire. At that moment the 2nd plane came into view and smashed into the 2nd tower. I watched in stunned horror knowing that there was no way this was an accident. We were all glued to CNN the rest of the day wondering what would be next.
I remember standing outside looking up at the sky shortly after they grounded all flights and thinking how strange and quiet it was. Right about then we saw dozens of military fighters from the base at Norfolk screaming accross the sky. As they passed overhead we and the other neighbors who were outside broke into cheers and applause for our fighters. It was a moment I'll never forget.