Where were you? September 11, 2001 10 years later it's still vivid

[Daven]

With the 10 year anniversary weeks away, I thought I would ask where you all were that awful day. 

I am a religious person as you all know. That day REALLY solidified my faith. 

in 1999 I started a home health care company in Washington state.  I got my grants and government funding from a company in NYC. for one week every other month I traveled to NYC for meetings.  I did that from 1999 - 2002. I have a photo of myself on the top of the WTC date stamped September 10, 2001. I was supposed to go back up there on Sept 11. 

I was staying with a friend in Brooklyn that week. Normally we took the train in to the office, Which was in the WTC.

September 11, my friend had a dentist appointment so we drove in instead of taking the train in.  We couldn't find parking and were running late. I pushed the button in the lobby of the WTC to go up to the office when the first plane hit!. We ran 16 blocks to a friends apartment and watched the towers and TV as the day proceeded.  IF my friend, Ross, hadn't had a dentist appointment that day, I would be dead, the office was on the 89th floor!.

So yeah, Don't mock me or make fun of me if you don't believe, because I do believe.  It wasn't my time to go.  I was able to finally fly home Sept 24th, I was supposed to fly home Sept 12th. 

Because of all of this, the whole 9/11 news stories, etc is very "close to my heart". 

I lost 11 friends who died in the office that day.  I miss them every day. 

SO, where were you that day? 

P.S. I really don't expect people to say negative things about my post, but said what I did to make sure.

God Bless those who died, and their relatives who mourn them. 

The real sickening thing I hear is Mayor Bloomberg said that due to all the dignitaries invited to the anniversary stuff this year, the NYFD and NYPD are not invited, I read one response "They weren't invited that day but they showed up anyway, I sure hope they show up again.  A small part of me fears something bad will happen this year on the same day, thank GOD Bin Laden is fish food.

[buddha]

I was sitting in my dining room listening to the Tom Clark program on Wisconsin Public Radio. It was a call in program and I was mostly tuning it out until some guy called in and said that what they were talking about was all well and good but what does it have to do with the attack on the World Trade Center. I thought about the attempted car bombing of (I think) '93 and I remember thinking "what the hell did he bring that up for?". Then Tom Clark says something like "hold on, we're getting word about this right now". I ran to the nearest TV and turned it on just in time to see the second plane hit.
That's where I was.

[Chavster]

I am a religious person as you all know. That day REALLY solidified my faith.  

I'm not a religious man at all, but I can certainly understand how your faith would have been solidified that day, and I can also see how a lot of people might have totally lost their faith. It was horror on such a grand scale that I cant imagine there was anyone who wasnt totally affected by it.

As for me, I was at home that day. I'd just returned from a business trip to Nebraska, so I had a couple of days off when I got back to the UK. It was around lunchtime I guess, maybe 2pm, when a friend called me and told me to turn on the news, because a plane had hit the WTC. I remember saying 'oh no, not again', because if memory serves, a few days or weeks before 9/11, a small plane (perhaps a microlight?) had hit the WTC. I dont think it caused any damage, and I dont think it was intentional, but I remembered it happening, so I assumed the same thing had happened again. There's a 5 hour time difference between here and NYC, so although the first plane hit at around 8.40am I think, it was lunchtime here.

So I turned on the news. BBC News didnt have much on the story, so I went over to CNN, and then for the next 20 hours or so, I sat there, completely stunned. I'm not a fan of CNN, so after an hour or so I went back to BBC, which by this time was totally devoted to breaking news from the WTC, and then from Washington and Pennsylvania.

It was a truly bone chilling day, even considering I was 5,000 miles away.

A few weeks later, after the transatlantic flight ban had been lifted, I flew to NYC. I'm an American, but because I've lived overseas for a long, long time, I cant claim to be a particularly patriotic one, but something was drawing me to NYC, so I flew over. I visited the site of the WTC, and I could see what was left of it, and it was truly horrific. I couldnt get that close, because the streets were still roped off, but I got close enough. I didnt stay long, it gave me the chills badly.

And I cant remember if it was later that same day, or maybe a day or so later, I was due to fly onwards to Las Vegas, but news suddenly hit that a plane had crashed somewhere on Long Island. The entire city seemed to freeze with terror. As it turned out, it wasnt a terrorist attack, but a 'normal' (if such a thing exists) plane crash of an American Airlines flight on its way from JFK to, I think, Santo Domingo. But all flights were cancelled once again, I was stuck in NYC for a couple of days, and the look of terror on people's faces during that time is something I'll never forget.

9/11 really was a day that changed the world forever. Nothing has been quite the same since, and I think it affects our lives today in ways we dont even really comprehend.

[valldo]

Hi, I was in Spain that day (still am  ). Sep 11 is a local public holiday here, so having the day off and it being a foggy day, think it even rained (which is not usual in this part of the world), me and my girlfriend decided to go to the movies right after lunch. We are 6hours ahead so by the time the first plane hid it must have been shortly after 3pm here, sitting there watching a movie which I do not recall which it was.
When we went out we took the car, and once on the highway we switched on the radio, and wow they were only talking about the attacks. 30min later we were home and watched TV as events unfolded until late in the night

[Mikekoz13]

I was at work. I heard a lady that works downstairs telling a coworker of min that a plane had hit one of the towers. I immediately went on line and then the second plane hit. I went to a common area here at work and watched with dozens of others as the first tower fell.
Women were crying and people were literally running out of the building to head home.

Once the Pentagon was hit (about 20 miles from here as the crow flies) I headed home. The thing  I can remember vividly about that day is that it was a clear, beautiful day................ and there was not one plane in the sky (I work just miles from two major airports).

Side note: I recently visited the Shanksville, Pa. site while on a motorcycle trip. Please read my thread about that visit:

http://www.slybaldguys.com/smf/index.php?topic=15041.0

Every single American should visit one of the crash sites. I have NEVER been so humbled by something so simple in my entire life.

[Laser Man]

I was in my office which faces the Manhattan skyline.  While I did not see the planes hit, I saw the aftermath very clearly.  We have close friends who work in lower Manhattan and our concern was focused on finding out if they were safe.   

One memory that stands out is that of driving past the local train station parking lot (commuter rail into NYC) on the night of September 11th, seeing cars still sitting there and wondering if the owners were ever coming back.

[Chavster]

The whole thing still gives me the creeps.

[tomgallagher]

Was just there last week. The Memorial area looks really nice. I can still hear the sound of the bodies of the people that jumped slamming into the ground  and the porticos. It is still with me 10 years later. I guess it will always be with me. It breaks my heart.

[Chavster]

You actually heard it? 

[schro]

I was working in my office at home.
The Lovely Mrs. Schro was watching the news when the first plane hit and shouted at me to come watch the news.
Surreal moment....

Sick, sick people.


PS - I'm scheduled to fly on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11....it was the only day that fits in my travel schedule. Ugh.

[D.A.L.U.I.]

What I remember as much as the shock of the attack itself was a series after the attack by the New York Times.  I was recovering from back surgery (done the day after) and the NYT helped fill the days of limited mobility. The series was a picture and short paragraph about the person, almost each and every person, who died that day in the attacks in New York and PA.  Reading the short bio's and having a picture to relate that information to really brought home the loss that each family, our nation and the world incurred by the acts of demented individuals.  So many fine people from numerous nations, faiths and backgrounds who we'll never have the opportunity to meet and whose contributions an potential to life will be a void in the culture of the world.  That sense of void, empty space and loss is reflected very well in the memorial approved for the site. 

[Arnie]

I was teach a pilot course in radar theory in the Navy for my specialty.  So at first we got an announcement, about the first plane being some sort of accident...and I was told to keep my class on track.  Then, just as the second plane hit the WTC, we were about to go on break.

I had many students from New York in my class that day...even a few from New York City.

We didn't exactly keep the the curriculum standards after that.  After a long discussion, the class as a whole continued to press on.

A big motivation for most was that they were about to graduate and a good chunk were moving on to Tomahawk Missile schooling...everyone knew after they got through that,  many classmates would soon have the opportunity to literally lob some missiles the terrorists way....

[theebaldguy]

I was on my way to work that morning in upstate NY. I have friends in NYC, and was relieved to hear they were all fine. I've never been to the WTC, or Ground Zero, but would like to someday see the memorial to the people we lost that terrible day.

[TheSlyBear]

I arrived at work and noticed that everyone was huddled around a TV set in one of the common areas. I walked up to the crowd and asked "What's going on?"

Nothing could have prepared me for the horror that was ensuing...

I've been watching a documentary on the rebuilding going on at the WTC. It's simple amazing.

[Daven]

Yeah, My DVR has been working overtime on History channel and Natural Geographic channel, the NG channel has a TON of INCREDIBLE documentaries all week. Most of them make me cry, I SO want to come to NYC to see the memorial, with my friends names on it, but can't afford it anytime soon. Oh well. It'll be waiting for me when I can.