9/11/01

I simply remember all of the fear, unrealized and real. Many parents immediately thinking about their sons being drafted in case this was a full fledge war(unrealized), even people afraid of aircraft flying overhead; again a lot of overblown fears because of the unknown.

People were pissed off, and ready to unite to take action to avenge this attack and see forth it never happens again. We lost a lot of innocence that day, and gained a lot of courage once we felt our country’s might rise up from a slumber.

The War on terror has been a necessary evil since then.

I was at work. Nothing much got done that day. There was kind of a general shock that everyone felt.

It was horrible to see the tower on fire after the first plane struck and then to see the second plane hit. One tower fell. The other tower fell. The smoke and the rain of debris. Everyone watched the TV uncomprehendingly.

Shock, anger, fear. Then more shock followed by anomie. Lasted for several days.

I was at my parents house getting ready to go on a work trip for a job I had straight out of college. Rare occasion when my dad was home at that time of the day too. I remember seeing smoke coming from the 1st tower as CNN was on in the kitchen TV, and assuming it was a small plane that crashed into the tower. I called my dad into the room and boom, the 2nd plane crashed into the 2nd tower all caught on live TV and we both immediately knew that was no accident.

It was in about an hour later when the other planes crashed and you started to try to track down where your relatives were in big cities because there was fear other large building in other cities were going to get hit too, I remember everyone assuming the Sears Tower in Chicago was going to get hit.

A few days later I had co-workers who were at a convention in Las Vegas. All rental cars and even U-Hauls were booked since the skies were shut down for about a week. The guys out there actually went and bought a car and drove it all the way back to the East Coast to get home.

I was in the Manhattan, about 40 blocks north. It will always be one of the saddest and most surreal days of my life.

My dad told me that lots of people thought war was starting when all this happened. I can't imagine the amount of panic and fear everyone felt that day

War was starting that day. Fortunately, it has been fought overseas, and because there is no draft, the war really hasn't affected anyone except those who volunteered and their families, less than 1% of the population.

I remember the road to Offutt AFB, where Bush was at, being closed and the insane lines for gas.

I found out about it at work after the Pentagon has hit. A secretary told me the Pentagon was on fire. She said it was a terrorist attack. Looked down at my watch as it was 9:40 AM -ish I think. I helped the company the CEO and another company's CEO work the rabbit ears to a TV in his executive suite to get an news on the air. I finally got them a clear signal. Watched maybe an hour with them before heading back to work. I got to work pretty early the next day and sat in the lot for about 20 minutes before wondering what was the point of working. Felt like we had awakened and had more important things to do. but were unsure who we were about to be to war with.

As a family we watched President Bush talk the night before. Really felt like there was going to be a draft and a huge land war. Mom was really worried about the draft. I was mentally getting prepared to get called up; but it never happened. Two buddies enlisted that week. 1 Army the other Air Force. A Cousin, she was 18 and she enlisted Army.

A bit of resentment at the CIA or intelligence community for letting us down. More aftermath than prevention. Like who the fuck hit us? So which know which country to park an aircraft carrier outside of so we can turn it into a fucking parking lot of polished glass. (a little over the top but I heard that said more than once that week). It was scary not knowing. Pulse I saw was the world was giving us a short window with a blank check. I think we were all in stunned shock and lost some innocence that day.

@rickdugan

Holy crap that's really close. What was it like in Manhattan at the time? The panic level there must've been through the roof

Vanta, it was more numb disbelief than panic. Cell phones didn't work for most of the day and many of the restaurants were closed, though some delis and other food vendors were open. Airports closed too of course, so a lot of people got stuck in the city. It was tough for commuters to get of the city to go home, though they opened the northbound trains later in the day. Anyone who had to go southbound were stuck unless they were willing to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, which many did.

Of course, none of this is talking about the heroes who were working at the Twin Towers that day and for the next several. I won't try to tell those stories as I haven't earned the right.

In Ohio near Wright-Patterson AFB. Might not have been commercial flights, but there damn sure were a bunch of military flights. I was in a meeting when it happened. As we were going on a break, the front door security guard said a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. We heard world headquarters. The headquarters is located there by a small airport known for mishaps. Over coffee we thought a plane at crashed into it from the airport. When we got back from our break, that's when it hit us. We went to watch a TV.

What really struck me was something this fellow from Israel with us said. He said, "Now you know what we have all the time." Really hit home for me.

I just remembered standing on the roof of one of those buildings and seeing planes flying under me to LaGuardia

For about a week there was a general sense of community. Everyone was nice to strangers -- no angry drivers or pushy people in line. I complained to a contractor about the work he had done -- he apologized sincerely and took care of it. It wasn't long before politicians (specifically GWB) put a stop to that by trying to exploit it and divide people. Foolish Iraq war followed shortly. Of course Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with the attack, if anything, we should have gone to war with Saudi Arabia.

Airplanes were grounded for about a week. I remember lying in bed with my wife, hearing military jets flying over and being scared -- wondering what was afoot. There were no commercials on TV for a while, and when they came back they were all feel-good commercials, some were actually moving. Putting up an American flag for a short time didn't mean you were right-wing, it just meant we were all in it together.

I was in my 2nd hour choir class when the first plane hit. We were rehearsing a song about peace for an upcoming public performance.
On the hallways, I heard others mumbling stuff about the World Trade Center and didn't realize what had happened until third hour English, where a live broadcast was displayed on the in-class tv. Our teacher explained that event would have a significant effect on us psychologically, politically, and economically for the rest of our lives. Shortly after, we watched the second plane hit the other tower on the tv. I signed myself out of school for the day at lunch and went home to be with my family.

This happened during my senior year of high school. I don’t remember what class I was in when it happened. I just remember class was interrupted and we all gathered to watch the TV and that is when I saw the second plane crash. Everyone was released from school to go home for the rest of the day, but I still had to go back in the afternoon for football practice.

^ I was also a senior in hs. We're probably the same age. Fuck.

Nine days later back in the SUCK . A place I thought was in my past for good.

The prior weekend was labor day. Driving back from my Brother's house in Virginia my wife happened to mention she had never seen the twin towers, so we went up through Staten Island to take a brief tour of the city and she saw the twin towers. 8 days later they were gone. My Brother is very lucky. By the end of August he had flown American Airlines Flight 11, 36 times. He usually did 3 day weekends at home before flying to L.A. for work. He was swamped so instead of flying Tuesday he went on Monday. Had he not, he'd have died on Flight 11.

I was walking out of my dorm to go to class sophmore year and there were lots of people gathered around a tv in the dorm lobby area, no one was ever there before that day, it was always empty.

"It wasn't long before politicians (specifically GWB) put a stop to that by trying to exploit it and divide people. Foolish Iraq war followed shortly."

WTF are you talking about? You seem to have forgotten about Afghanistan. If by "exploiting and dividing" people you are to the invasion of Afghanistan, which began about a month after 9/11, I am all for exploitation and division. The Taliban in Afghanistan harbored Al Quaida and gave them free reign. The only mistake made in going into Afghanistan was not going in with overwhelming force. If we had done that, Osama Bin Laden might not have slipped through our fingers at Tora Bora, and we might have killed or captured Mullah Omar, leader of the Taliban also.

The Iraq War was not a response to 9/11, although it probably would not have happened without the climate created by 9/11. The Iraq invasion occurred because Saddam Hussein broke the Gulf War I cease fire by kicking out the international inspectors verifying that it had dismantled its nuclear/chemical weapons. This happened during the Clinton administration, which didn't do anything about it. By the time Bush came into office, it was the consensus of the intelligence community that Iraq had rebuilt or was rebuilding it nuclear/chemical capabilities. When you break a cease fire, bad things happen. Plus, Hussein and his sons were thugs/murderers/rapists. The world is better of without them.

I was walking by the student lounge right after the first plane hit so I stopped to see what was going on. There were about 15 of us in the room at the time. The second impact was surreal. I was so focused on the chaos on TV that I didn't even notice that within a half our the room was packed shoulder to shoulder. Had to push my way out so I could get home and be with my wife.

I was in a serious funk for at least a week.

@drevil "the war really hasn't affected anyone except those who volunteered and their families"

Really? No, really?

On Wall Street.

I was in my West Palm Beach shop my office manager called me out of the yard to turn on the TV we watched the replays of the first plane hitting the tower and saw the second plane hit in real time, then we got in touch with our crews on the two ways, and called them back from the field sent everyone home to their families. It was a surreal day and the days that followed were rough. I had friends and family members that were working in those towers we were stunned.

I was in Connecticut, but had an apartment in Brooklyn which looked out onto the World Trade Center. It was a day that has had a huge impact on my life, but I know many people who were impacted much greater than I was. I did not know anyone closely who died, but did know a number of people who were in one of the buildings. I also knew a few firefighters including one who now has cancer which has been linked to the time he spent afterwards in the rubble. I know another person who was on her way to work in one of the buildings (a few blocks away) when the plane hit the building. She never went back to work.

We were allowed to go back to our apartment in Brooklyn that evening and get some necessities, but then were not allowed back for a number of days. I have never heard such "silence" in NYC. Everyone walked around like a zombie. An occasional Military plane would fly overhead. Just an awful time and we should Never Forget.

At the time, I worked for a large, wall street firm. Our headquarters was in Tower II. I remember watching the TV as the towers fell thinking that my company just dissolved. We had 1500 employees in that building when the planes hit. Only two died.

I actually worked for a Company at that time that did daily business with Cantor Fitzgerald on a daily basis. Their phones went dead and ultimately it was discovered that many of their staff were killed. I remember watching that debacle and saying "As a nation we are now at war with somebody".

I also lived near a Detroit Metro Airport and there was constant air traffic normally. I will never forget the days of silence of the skies and the complete absence of contrails in a perfectly clear blue sky. Once in a great while there would be a military jet on patrol.

I also remember people suddenly became polite and courteous. The road traffic was also much less aggressive. There was a general feeling in the air of unity after that. That has faded over time.

I was in high school, 10th grade. I remember waking up to my alarm clock saying the tower had just been hit with a plane. I was kinda dazed because I thought I was dreaming. I left my room and my mom was glued to the TV. School was dead that day, no laughing or much talking. Only teacher who didn't care was my Spanish teacher, stupid prick. She didn't let us watch or talk about it, nothing. She didn't care one bit.

i was on vacation at my house in Phoenix. saw the plane hit the second tower. absolutely stunned by all the news. I cancelled the rest of vacation. the unity of everybody afterwards was unreal.

Dr. Evil, the drumbeat for war with Iraq started almost immediately. I'm sure Dick Cheney was licking his chops realizing that 9/11 would give him the war he wanted. As for the invasion of Afghanistan, it was justified, but poorly implemented. And, perhaps intentionally, GWB let Osama BL escape from the caves he was holed up in -- always good to have a bogeyman.

I was working in Northern Virginia. A co-workers husband called and said turn on the news, and we saw impact on the second tower. Later, looking out my office window I could see the dark smoke pouring off the Pentagon. Heard news of the plane crash in Pennsylvania, knowing that it was destined for within a mile or two of where I was standing.
We stayed in the office, those of us who lived in Maryland or DC, because the bridges were all mobbed. When I drove home at 6, the highways were deserted.

I still have a newspaper I had bought that morning, when everything was fine and normal.

Maxwell AFB, Alabama. On the way to class, ran into a comrade of mine from our previous base in Korea.
Her eyes were huge and a bit teary when she asked "do you realize how many people we know at the Pentagon right now?" Spent the next days looking at casualty lists, elated not to find familiar names, guilt ridden and ashamed at being elated.

Had a strange, sickening thought/moment of clarity. Earlier that summer, my father and I saw "Pearl Harbor" with my grandfather, a 30 year Army Air Corps/Air Force vet. (All agreed it was awful). He told us the story of how they'd heard about the attack of December 7th. He was in flight training and was a newly commissioned 2d Lieutenant. They assembled in the base movie theater, were told what was going on, said the pledge of allegiance together, and went back to work the next day, knowing they'd be going to war & that nothing would be the same. Roughly 60 years later, I was in the USAF, in training, assembled in a theater, knowing we'd be going to war, and that nothing would be the same - except that history repeats. We live in interesting times.

I got the call from my wife who was at home and word spread quickly through our office. We turned on the conference room TV and watched the towers burn. I remember saying, "I hope they're not sending firefighters and cops into those buildings - they're coming down!" Nobody believed me, until they came down.

One of our coworkers was in the subway station under tower 2 when it was hit; he got out quickly and was crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to get home when it fell. Another co-worker was going up the east steps into the Pentagon when the jet plowed into the south side. A friend's office was right in the cross hairs of that attack; luckily, that whole section was under renovation and his office had been temporarily displaced. Finally, my daughter and her classmates watched it all happen from the roof of her school.

Although the plane that crashed in PA turned around over my area to head to Washington before it went down my only interaction with 9/11 was watching some of it on TV. Unlike some of you I was hundreds of miles away and don't know anyone that was directly impacted by it but I will never forget that day.