I was at work. Our IT guy told us what happened as soon as it was on the radio. Some of us said it was terrorism right away (since heightened security had impacted our business since the start of the year, everyone was sort of waiting for something to happen). Our webmaster shouted us down saying we didn't know that and it was irresponsible to voice it. Then the second plane hit while he was talking. It was the first major event I ever watched unfold live on my laptop instead of a television.

The mood in the office was mixed. Some people were crying. Some people were angry. Some people wanted to lash out at any target they could find. There were people that thought an air strike on Mecca was imminent. Thank God they were wrong. One of our attorneys called claiming she had just seen US Air Force jets shoot down the third plane in a forest near her property in Pennsylvania. To this day, I wonder if that's what actually happened to Flight 93. This was immediate, not later when conspiracy theories started.

I know there are lots of theories as to what happened. All that matters is a lot of innocent people died. Terrorism, like war, is when people that have nothing to do with a conflict are killed because of the actions of governments. All of it is tragic. It's part of why I despise politics and don't think politics or religion belong in discussions. Even at family functions, they are two topics that just cause problems.

Bay Area, CA. Finance business office.
My VP, who is one of the best folks I ever worked with,
shut down our branch, gathered us together,
explained what happened (about 9 am CA time), that our country was under attack,
told us to leave, get our children/family,
and go home.
God bless.

I was at NORAD, directing the planes into the WTC towers...
Spook spook!

I had just come home from school (high school). I'd prepared some food and took it to my room and turned on the telly. That's where I saw it. Not 20 minutes went by and then the second plane slammed the WTC. I started taking notes because the next day in school we had a class about politics. I just knew that this was gonna be the subject of discussion. That's where I heard the name Osama Bin Laden for the first time. Thank god that @#$%& is dead.

JumpingKentFlash

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Rocky Dijon
All that matters is a lot of innocent people died.

That's certainly one of the things that matters. It may even be the most important thing. Or, in terms of its potential impact on our democracy, this may be:

[harpers.org]

Back then I went to 12th grade in Germany. As every Tuesday I went to a local youth club after school with one of my closest friends who happened to be on the top of the world trade center just a month before the attack. after the first plane hit the building we heard the news on the radio.

I was at home in West Los Angeles, getting ready for work around 5:30 am, when the first reports came in on the local news...I'll always remember the initial live video showing the gaping hole in one of the towers. During my commute to Simi Valley for work (about 30 miles away), I listened to Howard Stern on the radio, describing everything that was happening...the second plane...the Pentagon...the first tower collapsing, etc. It seemed like something else every other minute, and was all a blur. It felt like the world was ending. When I exited the freeway near my office, I purposely stopped to gas up my car. Not knowing what would happen next, apparently I wanted to be ready to flee town, or have enough gas before they ran out. Amazing the things that run through your mind.

As someone mentioned earlier, this day also marks the passage of time...since then, both of my parents are gone, plus many others. We all shared memories of that day, and it's strange not having them around now.

I was in Amsterdam at the Van Gogh Museum. The ladies that worked up front were talking about it. Stunned, I returned to my hotel on the Marnixstaat, which was being clerked by some young Muslim guys. They non-chalantly told me who did it, and why.

When I returned to my job in Los Angeles a week or so later there was a letter for me dated 6 Sept 2001. It was from Gary Haag, and his letterhead was from the 100th Floor of Tower 1. We'd been working on an insurance claim together. It was eerie to see his name signed to the letter, knowing he simply disappeared. They never found his body.

Coming home after my day of living.

Changed my mind for ever.

Stayed up all night staring at the reports pouring in ... surreal ...
The only artist I could handle for the following week or maybe two was Woody Guthrie ....



ROCKMAN

I was in my office (in Holland) as one of my colleagues ran in to my office that the USA is in war and that the WTC and the Pentagon is been attacked by planes ( WHAT are you kidding this is not possible !!!!!!, I had a on my office a small TV I think it was a 9" so we could watch it a doze time and the weeks that followed so the pictures are burned into my brains.

__________________________

Just got to work...when I heard a plane struck the first tower a co-worker said "maybe it was an accident"...I said no, I think it was a terrorist named Bin Ladin and they looked at me like "who's he"?...true story.

I watched it all on TV. It was sickening. I felt like I had to do something. A few weeks later I started working out and getting back into shape. I joined the Army and got deployed to Iraq in 2003. Did another tour in 2005. I don't regret any of it and I wish we destroyed the whole Muslim world

I WAS IN SAN FRANCISCO, WORKING AT THE STOCK EXCHANGE....WATCHED THE SECOND PLANE NEWS FOOTAGE PRIOR TO THE OPENING BELL.

THEN THERE WAS A DELAY FOR THE OPENING, ONCE WE REALIZE THE PENTAGON GOT STRUCK...WE RACED OUT OF THOSE TALL FINANCIAL BUILDINGS.

I DIDN'T TAKE BART (UNDERWATER TRAIN) FOR MONTHS, FIGURED EASY WAY TO KILL MANY WAS DO DAMAGE UNDERWATER.

9/10, THE DAY BEFORE, I WAS WALKING AROUND IN FRONT OF THE BUILDINGS IN NYC, ON A SITE SEEING EPISODE.

CAME HOME THAT AFTERNOON, THEN EVERYBODY'S WORLD CHANGED.

I was right across the Hudson river in Bayonne, New Jersey. Someone had came and told us the first plane had hit so we went up to the roof and watched the orange flames and smoke billowing out through binoculars. A little while later the same person came in and told me a second plane had hit the other building and I said "Who was it Bin Laden" and he did not understand what I had meant.

I tried to go home but they closed down the New Jersey Turnpike so I took a local road home. All I heard were sirens and then the sight of frantic first responders and emergency lights. I took me over three hours to go what I normally drove in less than a half hour.

I lived right across the Hudson in a town called Cliffside Park (One of the biggest Stones fans bases ) and walked over to the cliffs which had an unobstructed view of the Twin Towers and stood there with about forty or fifty other people, not one parson spoke. We just all stood there in disbelief that the buildings were at this point were gone.


At that point we heard the roar of fighter jets flying above and wondered if this was the beginning or the end. I left at that point and called my parents. They asked me if I had heard from my very close friend Pat who was New York City Firefighter. I told them no and my Dad told me a lot of those fireman went in the building and did not make it out. At that point They were only reporting a few first responders did not make but about a half hour later they had said there may be five hundred first responders dead and I just lost it.

I finally got the call about 3:00 PM and it was my friend Pat and he was OK. About a year ago he retired with a disability that was 9/11 related.

But looking back at this time (8:45 EST USA) I remember the sirens blaring and rumors of the George Washington Bridge was attacked.

Asleep in my apartment in Brooklyn and awakened by my then girlfriend's voice on the answering machine (remember those) telling me to get up, that planes are flying into the World Trade Center. I kept that answering machine for that message until Hurricane Sandy took it from me.

Just called two good friends as I do every year -- one lost her father and the other worked at Cantor Fitzgerald who lost about 3/4's of their employees. I got off easy but it was an intense time for every New Yorker.

I was in a hotel room, on business, in Fresno, CA. I received a call from one of my work colleagues also staying at the hotel who told me to turn on the TV. I said "what channel?" ...she said any channel.

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runaway
I watched Kennedy's assassination and Twin Towers both on tv, concerning the Towers I was with some Artists in the North of The Netherlands and was shocked and not a happy man when I watched the news.

Your memory must not be great, as the Kennedy assassination was not televised. I guess, like w/ the Twin Towers, you mean that you watched the news stories.

Per the question, I was working in Jersey, about a 30 minute drive away. Even from that far away, we were able to watch from our windows, the smoke rising in the sky.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-09-12 05:50 by LeonidP.

I was going to SF state. At around 7 AM My roomate woke me up and gave me the phone. It was my Dad. He said "Turn on your TV..." I thought it was the beginning of the end. It was surreal and I felt sick inside. Then I remember getting in my car and listening to a morning show on a classic rock station that Greg Kihn, of the Greg Kinh band, was the host of at the time. What he said really calmed me down and helped me get some perspective. I don't remember it word for word , but it was something along the lines of, " I know a lot of people are freaking out right now, this isn't the end of the world, the country is going to come together and the people who did this will be brought to justice". Nothing really that profound I guess, but it was just what I needed to hear at the time and it came from the right person. Later on, I didn't agree with him about the direction the country was going in, but From that point on I've had hope again for the future. I"ll never forget that.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2017-09-12 08:58 by ryanpow.

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LeonidP

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runaway
I watched Kennedy's assassination and Twin Towers both on tv, concerning the Towers I was with some Artists in the North of The Netherlands and was shocked and not a happy man when I watched the news.

Your memory must not be great, as the Kennedy assassination was not televised. I guess, like w/ the Twin Towers, you mean that you watched the news stories.

Per the question, I was working in Jersey, about a 30 minute drive away. Even from that far away, we were able to watch from our windows, the smoke rising in the sky.

That's correct Kennedy's assassination news came through the radio, the tv broadcast came much later.

I was running late, driving to work outside Philadelphia. Heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day. I thought how could a plane crash into that building on such a calm weather day. Then the second plane crashed into the second tower and I knew it was terrorism. At the office, we had no television. Someone ran to a local store and bought a small portable tv. We had to attach a metal coat hanger to it to create an antenna to reception inside our building. Everyone was huddled around the tiny screen, silent then shock as the first tower fell. We all went home early. It was strange to see the sun shine and children laughing and playing outside. The world had not yet changed for them.

Going by date stamps on pictures : flew out of SFO for a 3 week vacation around 7PM PST on the 10th and landed in Paris around 8.30AM EST on the 11th just before the first tower got hit. There was lots of catching up to do and we only found out what was happening when worried in-laws called around 11AM EST to ask if we'd arrived ok...still remember my dad hanging up the phone and saying they'd called with some disturbing news. Then we turned on the TV and just couldn't believe what were seeing, horrible.

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IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

stone4ever....I'm with you.....I was in Kiev Ukraine ...also foolishly believed..

To me that date, 9/11, belongs to the coup d'etat against Salvador Allende's government in Chile. In 1973, that is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-09-15 08:00 by Witness.

was in scotland, just dropped my 3 year old daughter off at nursery, came back home, was trying to get teletext, regarding an issue to do with football and saw headline saying "small plane hits twin tower,1 dead, new york" i quickly turned the news on to see one tower had been hit but it didnt look like a small plane to me.

wasnt sure what was happening then i saw the 2nd plane hit live on tv, i knew then it must be a terrorist attack, collected my daughter a couple of hours later then watched the rest of news for most of the day as the horror unfolded.

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread, it's been interesting reading about each person's experience, all over the globe.

This past summer, my wife and two friends from Boston and I went to an Irish bar on 57th Street in NYC, to sit at the bar and watch the Yankees on TV.

A softball team called the Ballbusters, one of many that play in leagues in Central Park, loudly came in to the bar, celebrating the night's win.

I've never met a stranger, so soon we were all sharing a couple of beers and talking, and I noticed that each of them had black and white patches on their sleeves that said "KB Never Forget." When I asked about them, the team members explained that the team had been founded in the early 90s by an NYC Firefighter, who wound up being one of the first in to the Trade Centers, and never returned.

We asked if we could have our pictures taken with them, and the next thing we knew several of them had taken off their jerseys and given them to us so we could be "Honorary Ballbusters", at least for the pictures.

God bless all the families that are still struggling with this loss every day.

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runaway

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LeonidP

Quote
runaway
I watched Kennedy's assassination and Twin Towers both on tv, concerning the Towers I was with some Artists in the North of The Netherlands and was shocked and not a happy man when I watched the news.

Your memory must not be great, as the Kennedy assassination was not televised. I guess, like w/ the Twin Towers, you mean that you watched the news stories.

Per the question, I was working in Jersey, about a 30 minute drive away. Even from that far away, we were able to watch from our windows, the smoke rising in the sky.

That's correct Kennedy's assassination news came through the radio, the tv broadcast came much later.

The Zapruder film was shown first time in 1975. Maybe that's what he meant?

JumpingKentFlash

Quote
24FPS
I was in Amsterdam at the Van Gogh Museum. The ladies that worked up front were talking about it. Stunned, I returned to my hotel on the Marnixstaat, which was being clerked by some young Muslim guys. They non-chalantly told me who did it, and why.

When I returned to my job in Los Angeles a week or so later there was a letter for me dated 6 Sept 2001. It was from Gary Haag, and his letterhead was from the 100th Floor of Tower 1. We'd been working on an insurance claim together. It was eerie to see his name signed to the letter, knowing he simply disappeared. They never found his body.

Gary Robert Haag, 36, Ossining, N.Y., Marsh&McLennan Companies, Inc., World Trade Center.


From Wikipedia:
At the time of the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, the corporation held offices on eight floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, from 93 to 100. When American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the building, their offices spanned the entire impact zone, from floors 93 to 99. Everybody present in their offices on that day of the attack died as all stairwells at impact zone were destroyed/blocked by the plane crash, and the firm lost 295 employees and 63 contractors. (Cantor Fitzgerald is the only company to have lost more in the attack.)

I was working the early shift at 30 Rock in those days. For a few hours, my work was mundane and mind-numbing. Graphics for a syndicated morning talk show. Later on in the day, I worked in the busy news graphics area. The morning gig was nice and different for me, as I worked in a room alone on the opposite side of the building from news graphics, where the TVs were always on in every room and cubicle. For just a few hours each morning, I could have the TV switched off, maybe listen to some music.

One morning, I quietly read the paper and drank my morning coffee. The production assistant came into the room in a panic. "Did you hear what just happened?" he said. "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!"

I immediately switched on the TV. I couldn't believe my eyes. Couldn't understand... I ran from the small room towards the news graphics area, horrified. I heard the PA call out behind me, "Our taping is cancelled this morning" ... In the news area, people were like chickens running around without heads as the second, third and fourth planes hit.

Then building security on speakers announced a building evacuation. I walked down the stairs and exited onto West 50th Street. I walked with some other people to Fifth Avenue. I stood on the steps of St. Patrick Cathedral and looked straight down the avenue and saw it with my own eyes. The tops of both of the Twin Towers were burning. I thought that this was truly really happening even though it looked like it ought to be a nightmare. I thought that this is going to be something I cannot forget because it is the worst thing we have ever seen.

I was able to get off Manhattan Island that day by walking (that's when the towers fell - I'm glad I didn't see that) to a ferry dock on the West Side, getting on a boat to New Jersey, hitch-hiking (hadn't done that in a long time...) to a train station and then home.



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 2017-09-16 23:52 by schillid.

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JumpingKentFlash

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runaway

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LeonidP

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runaway
I watched Kennedy's assassination and Twin Towers both on tv, concerning the Towers I was with some Artists in the North of The Netherlands and was shocked and not a happy man when I watched the news.

Your memory must not be great, as the Kennedy assassination was not televised. I guess, like w/ the Twin Towers, you mean that you watched the news stories.

Per the question, I was working in Jersey, about a 30 minute drive away. Even from that far away, we were able to watch from our windows, the smoke rising in the sky.

That's correct Kennedy's assassination news came through the radio, the tv broadcast came much later.

The Zapruder film was shown first time in 1975. Maybe that's what he meant?

I was a teenager when the radio broadcasted the Kennedy news cause tv was not up todate in those years but for sure watched the assassination on tv early sixties