Remembering 9/11: Where Were You? Share Your Story.

I'm very sorry to hear that.

 

i was in second grade when it happened all i can remember was my dad waking us up telling us it would be ok and that he was gunna go get the bad guy. weeks later he was diployed to saudi arabia as a base commander terrible day in my life but a very big turning point, that day solidified my dreams of becoming a pilot and to this day i am just a few steps away from achiveing it

 

I was a little over a month into my career with FEMA (The Federal Emergency Management Agency). I had taken the job and moved from San Jose CA to MD. I worked in an office "inside the beltway" but outside of downtown.

I was listening to a radio one of my coworkers had on and we were all trying to make sense of what was going on when I looked out the 7th floor window to see the fireball across town at the Pentagon.

It was only a few minutes after that they called us all together and told us what they knew and sent us home. I listened to the news the entire time (4hrs) that it took me to get home.

After we returned to work I got the word that I would be going to NYC to work at the recovery center set up there. I spent 2 1/2 months working with the family members of the victims. I listened to their stories, cried with them, and hopefully helped them in some meaningful way. This was way out of my field (I was hired as a Inspection services, program specialist...

I returned to the office and sat in front of my computer for almost a month before I really started to function again. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years, I sometimes wonder how those people I talked to are doing and how their lives have been since those days...

To our service men and women... THANK YOU! To your families... THANK YOU... and God bless us all

 

ha ha very nice

 

I think the country was grieving. Some people displayed flags, some absorbed themselves with work, some joined the military, etc. Each of grieves in our own way, and anger is certainly a stage of grief. When you think about 9/11, this was really the first time since Pearl Harbor that this country has felt vulnerable as a collective people. There are very few moments in our nation's modern history where the country, as a whole, grieves to some degree: Over the past 75 years we have had Pearl Harbor, the assassination of JFK, the assassination/murders of RFK and MLK, and 9/11. Prior to that the only events that are comparable (in depth of tragedy for the period) were the Hindenberg and Titanic disasters and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Few other moments have galvanized this nation in some level of grief and/or vulnerability. I think all of us (those of us that were at least adults at the time) went through our own stages of grief. In some ways, I don't think it's over... at least not for me personally.

 

And I hope you do achieve that dream. Good for you!

 

Thank you too. That must have been the hardest job in the world but, I'm sure, one you will never forget.

 

I was stationed in Germany attending the Primary Leadership Development Course. It was a hard time, being away from family. My Mother was a flight attendent and the majority of my family lives in PA. Had a lot of bad thoughts til I talked to everyone.

 

i was in 8th grade. teachers wouldnt turn on the TVs, so i didnt know anything till i got home.

 

My uncle also worked in the North Tower, upwards of the 80th floor (can't remember which floor exactly). Luckily he was running late that day and he never made it to his office.

 

I was doing an inspection on a mh-53 rotorhead in a hanger at hurlburt field. I overheard the radio "breaking news". Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen in. A few days later we were in the middle east to kick some a$$.

 

I was in Hawaii (big island), with my wife, 2nd day of vacation. I woke up at 5am because of the time difference from Califorina, I couldn't sleep. I turned on the tv in the condo and thought all the stations were playing the same movie of planes hitting buildings, and people running in the streets. After about 10 minutes it hits me, and the news just hit us so hard. When the sun came up I looked out over the bay/ocean that the day before was paradise, now littered with Naval warships. we were stranded on an island, we just wanted to go home but couldn't.
Finally after 5 days we were able to get a flight back to LA, when we landed everyone on the plane "clapped", wow, it hit me that were living in a different world, everything will be changed forever.

 

i lived in el paso texas and i was in 3rd grade i had just woken up and my aunt tells shows me the news. I go into my parents room and we are all saying " what happened" then we see the second plane and i didnt really know what was happening since i was so young. Later i go to school and there were barely any kids. we just sad around all day listening to apaches fly over school while we were on lockdown since my school was on ft bliss. i wasnt even able to leave school until like 5 o clock since we were still on lock down...

RIP to all those who lost their lives and lost family and friends in the attacks and the wars that came from them. I send my prayers out to all of them...

 

Hard to believe I was in 2nd grade at the time, now Im a senior in high school. But the teachers wouldnt turn on the news but they were all running around like crazy. I didnt find out what happened til I got home from school that day.

 

i was in middle school i think. i remember my mother telling me about it while we were driving down 95 hwy on our way to wilson. said it was one of the worst historic events that will ever happen in my life time. at that age it was really sad and all, but now that im older, seeing footage and video of it tears me up worse than it did back then. just makes me grateful for the life and family i have. RIP to the workers, firefighters/policemen, innocent travelers and all the others and their families who suffered because of that day. and god bless the american soldier.

 

x2 OP, I'm feeling old now also (was 22 at the time).

I've already shared my story but thought I'd mention the best documentary I've ever seen about this. It's called simply "9/11" and is about 2 brothers from France who were in NYC making a documentary about a rookie fireman. Of course they had no idea what they were in for... Since they were with the fire department they got a ton of incredible footage from inside the towers and all around ground zero.
It's so sad not only for the deaths but also the firemen that you got to know before it happened, but also so inspiring at the same time watching how they race in there to help without a second thought.
I pull it out every couple of years for a watch, and I'm hanging on to it to show my 3 year old son when he's old enough to understand.
Might be worth getting for those on the forum who were a little young to appreciate it at the time as well.

 

september 11, 2001 - my eleventh birthday. my uncle had made it out of the towers moments before the plane crash - we received a phone call and turned on the tv....

 

I have the DVD too. It breaks me up every time I watch it. I have a twin brother and I sort of saw my brother and I like these two brothers. It is one of the most moving documentaries ever made... by accident.