I was in Colorado for a medical ortho meeting. The place went into panic with people crying and wanting to get home to their families. Norad there, airports shut down, reps trying to rent moving vans for people to pile in. 3 of us grabbed a rental car from a west coast guy, packed up and started the long drive home. Felt like we were in Kansas for 2 days.
I was a freshman in college. Woke up in my dorm room and turned on the tv. The first plane had already hit. Saw the second plane hit live. Went to class, which I regret doing, had no idea about the pentagon or that the towers had actually fallen until I got back to my room a couple of hours later.
Was working at Travelers in Hartford, CT, and had gone down to the cafeteria to get my morning bagel and when I returned there were reports of a plane having hit the towers. Then a report of a helicopter hitting the second tower which was quickly turned into it was another plane that hit the second tower. I immediately knew then we were under attack, and shortly after, the Pentagon had what was called a bomb gone off, but again, it was corrected to a plane. Oddest part of the morning was we had a TV turned on in the meeting room with the news running, and I saw two guys laughing about something. I got so angry that they were laughing (I am sure it was something innocent), but just the idea of laughing about anything at that time it just infuriated me. They sent us all home early that day because of the fact that we were so close to NY and all of the tall buildings in town.
Fraternity House. Only Tuesday class was at 11:10 in Stokley Mgmt Building. Woke up, didn't turn on TV or computer, actually picked up my Bible and was reading it. Go ready, walked downstairs about 10:40, saw the TV in split screen between the Pentagon smoking and downtown Manhattan smoking. Took me about 15 seconds to figure out what was going on. Went to class, he canceled it after about 5 minutes. Went to work, they had closed for day. Ended up sitting in front of TV for about the next 12 hours.
Working, getting my kitchen ready for the day. Missed the first building being hit, but was watching TV when the second plane hit. I bet we had a half dozen people all lunch that day. Our biggest business came from the staff working the airport store coming in and hanging out at the bar, watching TV. They shut down almost immediately after all planes were grounded. Every time I visit Ground Zero, I can’t help but imagine and feel what it must have been like that day. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the eery feeling, not matter how wonderful the new site is.
Coming back from class, everyone was gathered around a TV the RAs set up at the front desk in Reese. I almost kept going but decided to see what the fuss was about, and just then the 2nd plane banks in.
Junior in high school. I was sitting beside a senior that I played football with, we were pretty good buddies. He had just started the paperwork to join the Marines. He wound up spending a few years in over there.
On the flightline at Ft. Campbell working on a MH-47 when a couple of guys drove out in a Gator, picked all of us up from our various aircraft and told us we needed to get to the breakroom and watch what was happening. We weren't allowed to use the phones all day and into the night. Needless to say it was a pretty frantic conversation when I was finally allowed to call my wife.
economics class in HS, watching the markets about to open while doing class work. I remember my friend and I being extremely suspicious of such a large plane colliding with a prominent building in Manhattan by accident and chance.
I was on the way to work, was an undergrad at the time. Was listening to Tony Bruno talk about Michael Jordan’s ego. When the first reports started coming in of something happening, he said something like “maybe Michael Jordan’s ego crashed into the WTC.” Then we listened to the radio all day at work. Had a couple of classes including a night history class, and we carried on with all of them
One of my first college classes. Political science. Several people -not me- were just getting cell phones, like that was when they were first getting common, and a bunch of people started getting calls in class and quickly turning off/down their phones. A few minutes later another professor came in and told us what was going on. My professor decided this was a teachable moment and spent the class time discussing the folly of investing in nuclear defense. Me of just a little bit older/more college experience would have instantly walked out. Still can't believe he thought that was the time and place for that...two days later maybe.
Freshman in HS sitting in our typing class. Teacher turned on the TV after hearing about the first crash, then watched in disbelief as the second crash happened and then the towers collapsed. Certainly a feeling I don't think I'll ever forget.
Third grade. I honestly don’t really remember what exactly was said to us. Just remember school let out early and sitting on the couch watching the news with my parents.
I was going to work when my dad told me a plane had crashed into the first tower and I thought it was like a Cessna or something similar. I drove to work at this Greek restaurant in Farragut and, when I got there, a second plane had hit. I remember it being extremely slow and the few people who did show up were very somber, quiet. I sat watching the whole thing unfold on a tv at the bar.
I was in a greenhouse picking tomatoes to carry to one of my store customers when my granny come in and said we had been bombed. I thought she was confused when she said a plane crashed into a building in New York and figured it was just an accident. I walked in just in time to see the second plane hit and knew full well at that point it was not a crash. Watching those buildings fall was the worst part. Knowing many didn't get out and many had gone in for them. It was a helpless and angry feeling all the same.
This is a great read - https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/were-the-only-plane-in-the-sky-214230
I was at work at Y-12 in Oak Ridge. We listened to early reports on a radio in a colleague’s office. Then, I was with a group of folks that had to go to a meeting in another building at 9:00. We just missed the hearing about the second plane. Turns out the speakers in our conference room weren’t working and we remained working while the plant was evacuated. We took a break and watched the south tower fall (We didn’t see it start falling but saw the plume still building) on a television in a break room. After a few confused moments we realized the tower that fell was not the first tower that was hit and that both towers had been attacked - obviously what was happening dawned on us at that point. We canceled the meeting and left that meeting. As we walked out on the street, we were passed by multiple fire trucks, ambulances, and personnel transports flying through the plant toward an operations area. Concern ticked up at that point with us wondering if something had happened at our site. Scenarios were running through our heads assuming the worst but also coming to the realization that it must be precautionary as there was no smoke, etc. we didn’t even make it back to our offices before we were stopped and directed to the parking lot (this was the first we heard of the evacuation). I drove up to the plateau that night to spend the evening with my family. I fully expected more attacks the second day, which thankfully didn’t come to pass.
I was getting a breakfast sub, and the guy I worked with always listened to Howard Stern. They were talking about the first plane hitting. I was thinking it was a bad joke, but we got our food and went back to the break room to watch the news. I remember like it was yesterday, watching that first tower crumbling and collapsing. We all stood up in shock, did that tower just collapse? We had a trip scheduled to visit Mexico at the end of the week that ended up getting cancelled. My wife was too scared to fly for years.
I was working at JRTC training center in Louisiana as a defense contractor. My office wa in the main instrumentation building that tracked all the maneuver training battle simulations. I remember hearing something after the first plane hit and walking into the analysis area where the soldiers had put the news coverage up in the big projector screen. We watched as the second plane hit the towers. And then coverage at the pentagon and then flight in PA going down. They closed down the base for the most if the day I couldn’t leave even if I had wanted to get home. I’ll never forget the soldiers that day ready to go to avenge what had just happened. My dad was in the army for 26 years and I grew up around the military all my life. So when I didn’t join up the next best thing was to work in contracting that directly soldiers battle training which helps save lives when they get into the real deal. That day is etched in my mind forever and I am still proud to support the training side of things as long as they will have me.
I always struggle with today. Putting myself in situations i hear described, oddly helps me cope. Maybe because we all felt it. I dont know.
