So Where Were You?
Fred Cole ·
September 11, 2012 at 3:34pm
Today is the 11th anniversary of 9/11.
Where were you that day? When and how did you find out? What are your recollections?
I don't know if there was a thread last year, or any other year, asking this. There probably was, but we get new members all the time, and even if you shared last year, it can not hurt to share again this year.
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May '10
Re: So Where Were You?
At our home, for the last few years during the month of September, we replace our American flag with the Navy Jack. Following 9/11, the Secretary of the Navy directed all US Navy vessels to fly it during the Global War on Terror. And to my knowledge they still do. Prior to 9/11 it was only flown on the ship with the longest active status in the fleet. It's our family's way of remembering those that were lost and to honor those who served in the defense of our country and those who continue to serve.
Jul '12
Re: So Where Were You?
I was a graduate student at the time, but classes weren't in session (summer break). I was at my office, though, and was talking to a friend that morning, upset about a motorcycle accident my father had been in over the weekend that I had just found out about. When I came out of his office, I went upstairs to the restroom, and didn't know why some people on that floor (it's a different academic unit) looked upset and people seemed to be congregated in one room.
Back in our computer lab, someone said a plane had crashed into the WTC. Like others, I thought at first it was a little plane. I tried to get online, but the news websites were all completely jammed up by that point. I ended up walking with the friend to his nearby apartment, where we watched the towers fall. Then I went home and spent the rest of the day glued to the tv, in shock.
The broken foot my father suffered in the accident actually kept him from being sent to NYC that night when his NJ National Guard unit was activated (he was just 2 weeks from retirement).
Aug '10
Re: So Where Were You?
I was a Junior in college. Tuesday morning and my first class was Discrete Math at 7:30am. I remember waking to my roommate flipping out and shouting into the hall that the Palestinians had attacked us. I thought that was an absurd notion. In a half-asleep state I tried to find out what was going on by checking FoxNews.com, CNN.com, and Drudge Report. No news websites would respond. It didn't click with me as to why the websites weren't reponding.
I took a shower and got ready for the day. I didn't know what was happening until my mom called to let me know. Some students were gathered in a lounge in my dorm watching the news. I watched for awhile trying to grasp what was happening. By the time I was taking it in the towers had already fallen due to being 3 hours behind in California. I left late for class only to find everyone in the class watching the TV as people evacuated the White House. Five minutes later class was cancelled. The professor in my next class, Programming Languages, was determined to not let the terrorists disrupt the day.
Sep '12
Re: So Where Were You?
I was working in Toronto in the midst of a budget review meeting. I recall the many unknowns (rumors of attacks pending on the CN Tower, for example). I also recall that the kindness of the Canadian people shortly after the attacks (never had I seen so many US flags flying there). At the same time, the feeling of aloneness and desire to be back in the US was pretty strong. Changed my outlook on the world forever.
Jun '10
Re: So Where Were You?
In church, commemorating the beheading of St. John the Baptist, which falls on this day. The attacks were announced during the sermon. I quickly sewed a red ribbon cross on my veil, before heading out the door to pick up children from school, as the schools in Queens closed asap.
Sep '12
Re: So Where Were You?
I was living in Korea at the time, so for me 9/11 was an all-nighter experience...
Began at about 11 p.m. I was alone in my studio apartment and on the Internet, and started seeing reports that a small plane had hit the WTC. Then the reports began to signify it was something bigger. I didn't have a TV, so I called up an American friend who lived a short walk away and had cable TV with BBC and CNN. He said "Dude.come.over.now" So from about midnight we sat in front of his TV and watched the horrors unfold. Drank a lot of beer, too. At about 4 a.m. left for home, stumbling in stunned disbelief through the densely-packed neighborhood's dark narrow alleys. Contrasting wee-hour quiet with ringing awareness that the world had just become very different. That all world-historical bets were off.
Back home, couldn't sleep. At about 9, called in sick to work. Finally fell asleep in the glaring late-morning daylight, but had vivid nightmares about the world erupting in chaotic wars, e.g. with North Korea preparing to attack the South ...
Re: So Where Were You?
I was in the shower, waking up, with a day of radio interviews ahead: it was the pub date for my book. Listened to the radio; couldn't figure out why there were playing tapes of the attempt to blow up the WTC in the Clinton years. Figured out it was current. Thought it was an off-course private plane, and wondered how difficult it would be to extinguish the fire.
Went downstairs, turned on the TV, and was disabused of my assumptions.
Spent the day with my infant daughter, who played happily in the sun while the horror unspooled. When all civilian planes were grounded, I heard the roar of the jets over my house, one after the other, landing nearby. Then silence.
After dark, one lone fighter jet overhead, circling, circling, circling. Waiting.
Re: So Where Were You?
I was up early -- we were shooting on location that day -- and watched the first tower come down.
What was there to do? I went to work.
We shot all morning, half-watching the television. Everyone was numb, or, worse, terrified. One of our film loaders had a sister who was supposed to be working on the second plane. (She was a flight attendant.) Around noon, she called to say she was safe -- a last minute switch to a flight to Buenos Aires.
And then we learned that the great, kind, immensely talented David Angell and his wife were on the second plane. He was one of the creators of "Frasier," and more than that, an aptly named angel: he and his wife were deeply committed philanthropists, gave millions away to Catholic charities. And he was about the nicest and most decent person I've ever met in the entertainment business.
After that, we called wrap. No one had the heart for work. A few of us went back to my house and we did about the only thing that made sense: we watched the world change on the television, and we got drunk.
Sep '10
Re: So Where Were You?
Getting ready to teach a math class. Radio news was on, and at first there was a report of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. In my mind there was an image of a small plane, and I wondered how such an accident could happen.
Then a few minutes later on the radio, "Special report: we now hear that a second plane has hit the World Trade Center..." -- and as if a switch had flipped in my brain, I immediately thought, terrorist attack.
But I was still thinking of small propeller planes. It was only when a colleague managed to get to the CNN website (overloaded) that I saw an image of a large airliner. That's when the world changed for me.
Jul '12
Re: So Where Were You?
I was teaching my first year, second week, of high school English. The seniors I taught were all on retreat that day, and I was sitting in my classroom at a student desk, grading a few homework assignments.
A colleague came in and asked me whether I knew of what had happened. I hadn't, and so I turned on the tv to see what he was talking about, barely even knowing what the WTC was, and thinking it was probably only a small prop plane anyway. When I realized it had been an airliner, I supposed it was terrorism, and found that suspicion confirmed by the second strike.
My day mostly consisted of watching the television, grading forgotten. I had a couple of classes that day - a study hall and Junior Honors English, but all we did was talk about what had happened, and what was next.
Jan '11
Re: So Where Were You?
I was in Salt Lake City for an Institute of Navigation conference. I slept in as it was the set-up day for the booths, and I know mine wouldn't take but a couple of hours to set-up. At about 9 AM I got up and headed down to breakfast. A guy, going to the same event, got on the elevator. He was oriental with strong accent and poor grasp of American idiomatic expressions. He kept saying something about those poor folks in the plane crash. I smiled and nodded then stepped off the elevator, heading for the waffle maker. I did notice a group of folks huddled around the TV, but I couldn't really see what was going on. So I made my waffle, got some bacon and a juice and headed for a table. From my seat I caught a glimpse of an airliner hitting a sky scraper and thought, was that guy stoned or what. As I continued to watch it became clear to even me what had happened.
I stayed two extra days in SLC until I could fly back to the Ronald Reagan Airport and home.
May '11
Re: So Where Were You?
I was sitting in my office when a colleague came in, visibly shaken. She said a plane had hit the world trade center. I had just been in meetings next to Tower One the Thursday before. The people in my office gathered in the conference room where we watched as the second plane struck, confirming it was a terrorist attack. We continued to watch as an NBC reporter reported from the Pentagon as it was hit.
At some point people started to leave the office. I remember driving home and hearing on the radio that the first tower had fallen. Having lived in Manhattan when it was built, I could not even imagine in my mind how that could happen. I watched more coverage and then pulled my kids out of school early as most parents did in our area. We went to church and prayed.
Though hours away from the attack sites, before bed I made sure all our doors were locked thinking there was no limit to what forms additional attacks might take. At the time, it was incomprehensible that there would not be more large attacks on our soil. Bless those that have kept us safe.
Dec '10
Re: So Where Were You?
I was in class ( I want to say it was Mine Power & Drainage, but I could be FOS on that), and then I needed to put diesel in my truck.
There was a line around the block at ever filling station in town, and I had to wait nearly an hour to get fuel. That is when I knew something big was up.
When I got back to my fraternity house, everyone in the house was piled into the chapter room watching TV. I found out what had happened at about 11am CST, long after everything was over with in NYC.
We all just sat there in silence as they played the footage over and over again.
Jun '12
Re: So Where Were You?
I was driving to work traffic was light and it was a beautiful day. I heard about the first plane from a morning radio show, and thought like many here that it was a small one. I worked for a corporate travel company, so when I got to the office a TV in the closest conference room was on. We gathered there and watched as the second plane hit the towers. Then the phones started ringing, all our customers wanted passenger lists and itineraries for all their people. I had nothing to do with any of the real work, so I spent the day bouncing from my cube to the conference room and back feeling totally useless.
Aug '12
Re: So Where Were You?
The first reports began to trickle through in the three minutes it took to turn off my TV and begin my daily trek to the office. At first I was perplexed, how exactly does one accidentally fly into a skyscraper in this day and age? By the time I was half-way to my destination the chilling truth hit with the report of the second plane.
The normally frenetic Atlanta traffic was eerily subdued as every driver strained to give as much attention to the radio as he dared.
I made it to the office only to discover the internet and cellular services imploding from the demand, my alarm growing with every snippet of information.
"Fires In DC"
"People Fleeing Capitol Hill"
"Major Downtown Areas Being Evacuated"
Unwilling to sit one minute more in an information vacuum, we adjourned to a coworker's nearby home to watch the live feeds sweeping across the broadcast spectrum. It was there that I watched the first tower tumble. It was there that I sat, consumed by my anger as history forced to bear mute witness to the Republic being attacked, its citizens murdered and its great works violated.
I am still angry.
May '10
Re: So Where Were You?
I was in homeroom. 10th Grade. I was excited about plans we had with family that evening for my birthday, which is today. The teacher turned on the TV and we saw the smoke from the first plane. Each class we went to that day, was filled with nothing but watching the news unfold. I remember watching the second plane hit. The people jump. And both towers collapse.
At some point before the collapse, I called Dad (David Carter) at work. I knew what was happening, but needed to hear it from someone else. I asked what this all meant. I'll never forget listening to him struggle to find words to respond. He was almost hesitant at first, but each of the three lines he spoke to me increased in resoluteness.
It gives me a lump in my throat to know that so many people do not have the loved ones they started that day with. It also reminds me that we cannot let our defenses down for one second.
Edited on September 11, 2012 at 11:41pmFeb '12
Re: So Where Were You?
I had an 8:00 Calc class that morning. When we got out, I went up to talk to the guys taking their smoke break, and I heard the news. Having been a kid for the WTC parking garage bomb, my first thought was "Again?!" Someone rolled a TV into the engineering study lounge at the community college and we clustered around it.
My new boyfriend (literally; our first date was Sept 1, 2011) (now husband) was driving into school from his morning job as a KC golf course mower. His first thought was that it was some kind of "War of the Worlds" moment, as all the radio stations were tuned to news. Only later did he start listening to what was being said. He was supposed to have a Civil Air Patrol meeting that night; his mom had even baked a cake for the squadron as it was his dad's 41st birthday.
Jul '11
Re: So Where Were You?
I love these stories, and contributed my own.
But after today, I have a suggestion - LET IT GO
Al Qaeda and Bin Laden are dead, swimming with the fishes. Double taps to the head. Thrown out to sea. HAIL THE SEALS.
I understand the pain of people that lost someone on that day, but it would be sad that it's turned into a navel-gazing exercise every year on this date.
In the end, they lost, and civilization won. It started with Flight 93, and it ended with Seal Team 6.
Edited on September 12, 2012 at 1:03amSep '12
Re: So Where Were You?
EstoniaKat,
I would be happy to let it go, but it's not over yet. Regard the islamist activities against our embassy in Egypt and consulate in Libya today.
Apr '12
Re: So Where Were You?
9/11, I was getting my blood drawn as usual for approval for life insurance prior to driving 300 miles to visit all my vineyards. My wife called down from upstairs and said, "Turn the TV on, something happen in New York". Later that day I had to make my vineyard rounds because harvest was going to start in two days. It was surreal to listen to news accounts and reaction while still having to go through my day and focus.