# Where were you on 9/11



## Matthew Grubb (Nov 16, 2007)

I’m very disappointed today at the lack of remembrance nationally for those who were murdered on 9/11. I woke up today and it was like any other day… as if our nation forgot. 
Where were you on 9/11?

On 9/11 I was sitting in Judge Cashman’s courtroom in Downtown Pittsburgh, waiting for a plea agreement to be reached in one of my cases. I remember it was hot in the hallway and I was wearing a double breasted suit…… so I decided to sit in the back of the courtroom in the air conditioning. 

I remember getting a page from my wife saying that a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. Like most of America, I assumed it was some small piper cub. I remember making some grunt noise that caused the woman sitting next to me to look over. I told her that a plane just hit the World Trade Center. 

Once my plea agreement was made, I went back to the parking garage to go home…. It was my pass day so I was free all day. As I was leaving, I turned on the radio to catch the rest of Howard Stern…..that’s how I found out what happened….from listening to Howard Stern.

As I pulled into my driveway the first tower collapsed. I remember sitting in my car, unable to go inside. I didn’t want my wife to see me crying.


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## James Downey (Oct 27, 2008)

2 days out to sea from Honolulu to Hawii to Baja California in drug interdiction ops.


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## Terry Devine (Mar 11, 2008)

I was standing in front of a classroom full of High School students. I interrupted my lesson to watch coverage on T.V. then thought better of it and turned it off. After the reports were confirmed I had to tell my students what had occurred and try to give them answers to their questions. During my planning time I made calls to family to see if we had any relatives in the towers as I have family that live in N.Y.


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## Konnie Hein (Jun 14, 2006)

I was driving and walking around my neighborhood in Michigan, looking for my dog who decided it was a good morning to run off after a deer. I was worried I wouldn't find her before we had to leave to attend our loan closing for our new house. My then-husband (now ex) was driving around looking for her too and he had the radio on. We stopped mid-search to listen to the radio.

We lived near an airport, and the silence of no planes over the next several days was eerie. 

My FEMA team was deployed, but I didn't have a certified dog at the time, so I stayed home. My current husband was called by FEMA's MATF-1 to respond to the WTC with his dog. He worked the night shift. He doesn't say much about his time there, although I've been able to read a few of his stories in a book that features responders to the WTC.

Last year some members of our team went to NYC on the eve of 9/10 and morning of 9/11 on our way home from a hurricane deployment. Rest assured that there are thousands of people who will never forget and that a memorial is held every year. On the night of 9/10 as we drove into the city, two long beams of light stretched up from the city where the towers stood. On the morning of 9/11/08, our team stood on the opposite side of the river (the city was expected to be crowded and we decided to pay our respects from a watchful distance), watching the fire boats line up in a show of rememberance and respect. One of the fire boats sprayed red and blue water in a cascade across the river. 

We will never forget.


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## mike suttle (Feb 19, 2008)

I was just getting home after driving all night long from a pistol match in Maine, I was sooo tired and all I could think about was getting home and catching up on some sleep. I had just pulled into my driveway when I heard it first on the radio, then went inside and saw it on the TV as the second plane hit.
Needless to say at that point sleeping was not an option. I began to prepare for war:evil:!


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

I was picking up some things at a dry cleaners when the second plane hit. Just 1/4 mile down the road from Fort Bragg. Once I got on post/base I didn't go home for 4 days. Years later, the post is fenced, guarded, armed and a closed installation to outsiders except DoD ID Card personnel.

God Bless all that passed, those who have served and continue to serve and those who support!


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## Keith Jenkins (Jun 6, 2007)

I had just turned on the TV after the first plane had hit. I'll never forget watching the live video as the second plane flew into the WTC. Then the Pentagon was hit and then the plane went down in PA.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

I was driving toward my office. the radio announcer came on with breaking news. The news was; it appeared an airplane had struck one of the towers. I remember thinking, how in the world could a pilot be stupid enough to not see that big building. As the events unfolded, like many other people, I was just numb.

DFrost


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## Tamara McIntosh (Jul 14, 2009)

I will always remember 9-11. I had just finished my military trade training and gone to my first real unit I had spent 6 months bugging the crap outta every NCM I could find to go on TD, and they finally sent me to our northern FOB. About a week and a half into a 3 week or whenever deployment, I came down to the mess on morning, and we have a huge big screen TV in our Mess/social area.

I saw a huge crash on the TV and asked which Die Hard movie they were watching. "It's no movie!" the cooks said. "Someone just flew a jetliner into the World Trade Tower!!!" I said, "ya right, I wasn't born yersterday". Then we watched the second aircraft hit.

There was absolute pandimonium. The entire world had shifted. And 9-11 still governs our actions today.

Tamara McIntosh


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

My experience was similar to David's. I was driving and heard something on the news about a plane hitting the twin towers, and thought "how could they do that??" I heard a little bit of buzz at the store but nobody seemed to know more then me, so when I got home I started flipping TV channels and looking on the web for news reports. When I realized what had happened, I just sat there, then started making phone calls to make sure family members were safe.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Keith Jenkins said:


> I had just turned on the TV after the first plane had hit. I'll never forget watching the live video as the second plane flew into the WTC. Then the Pentagon was hit and then the plane went down in PA.


Same here.

Matthew if you do a google search you will find there are Remembrance events being held across the country. Nobody has forgotten.


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

Getting ready for work and I recall just staring at the TV. Saw the 2nd one hit live. When I got to work everyone was watching TV and then the planes in PA and DC had hit.

Some of my coworkers were at a meeting in DC at a 15 story tower in Rossyln looking at the Pentagon when our boss, a former tank commander, herded them out of the building as they did not know what was going to happen next. They were from all over the country and had to pile into rental cars to get everyone home. They were very crammed but grateful to be able to even get home.

What hit my kids was we went there in July and went to the top of the tower so it was very real to them. I still remember my husband feeling uncomfortable as he said how easy it would be for a plane to hit the towers. He was just thinking about all the small planes and helicopters you could see below you while standing at the top. 

It was very surreal having the skies empty of planes for so long. {we lived near a major airport}


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## Mike Di Rago (Jan 9, 2009)

I was at a policedog seminar north of Montreal when I got a page saying that we had to go to Montreal international airport and give assistance to the local airport security because all planes headed to the USA would be rerouted and that many of them would land in Montreal. I had a bomb detection dog at the time and we worked from 11am till around midnight doing planes, mainly American airlines.
It was surreal at the time seeing all this happening and not being sure of the full extent.
I felt like we had been part of the whole thing even if we never went to NY.
Mike


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

I was at home in Switzerland, had just decided to quit work for the day and get ready for a birthday celebration for which we had no heart afterwards. The whole valley was bathed in a peculiar yellow light as if a storm was brewing. I switched on the tele and looked, stunned, at the pictures they were showing. I didn't "get it" at first and called Toni up to watch. We sat there mesmerised until we realised what was happening. I don't think I will ever forget the second plane attack as we were watching. It wasn't until the next day that it all sunk in and the sadness took over.

You are so right Susan. No one has forgotten it over here in Europe. It was the first thing I heard on the news when my alarm went off this morning. I don't think other countries have forgotten either.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

I was out in the yard cutting the dead fronds out of a queen ann palm. THe phone kept ringing, and I went and answered it, and my girlfriend at the time says we are going to war !

I said, "right now" ??

She said that the trade center buildings collapsed, after terrorists slammed jets into them.

I said "they finally figured it out, and only took 8 tries". I then explained to her that there were 7 other attempts to blow up that building.

Later, I heard that they had taken over the plane with box cutters. That was probably the first time that I have ever thought that we were gonna be done soon as the king shit of the world.

I was in South beach Miami, and it is a mini New York. I got laid off, and was able to work enough to get out of Florida.

I remember 9/11/01 was a really beautiful day.


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## Candy Eggert (Oct 28, 2008)

Driving in to work, watching the sun rise, thinking what a beautiful morning. Then I heard the news report. I pretty much thought the same thing as the others....'how could a plane crash in to such a large building?' Ran upstairs to the lunch room, turned on the t.v. and sat watching...numb.

Left work early, had to drive past LAX to get home. All the exit ramps were closed off and the tears started flowing. How could this happen in America?! 

Lest we never forget!!


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

I was talking to my daughter on the phone. She was working a few blocks away from the Towers and they had no power, no news, nothing but rubble and smoke and sirens, and she was calling me in California because she knew I was working at home and could turn on the TV and tell her what the heck had happened. 


e.t.a.
I remember too how long it took her to walk out of NYC, some to walk across the bridges that are never full of pedestrians .... my daughter and hundreds of thousands more to walk the long way to the piers, hoping to catch a ferry across to New Jersey. New York Waterway had 24 boats running, and then Circle Line and World Yacht added their boats. The ferries moved several hundred thousand out.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

susan tuck said:


> Same here.
> 
> Matthew if you do a google search you will find there are Remembrance events being held across the country. Nobody has forgotten.


I will be attending one tonight ... a candle-lit vigil. I imagine hundreds of people will be there, because there are hundreds there every 9/11.


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

I bought some round trip plane tickets through expedia.com for my less internet-savvy retired friend, from MT to visit his family in NJ.

On his return leg of the trip, he departed right behind that first plane that struck, and being a pilot himself, realized the airliner was in restricted airspace as he pointed out to the stewardess and the passenger next to him. A minute later they witnessed the impact.

He was rerouted through Canada, and concerned for his son, who was scheduled for a meeting at the WTC that morning. Fortunately, his son cancelled that meeting.

Later on, we were together huntning in the hills north of Livingston, and just finished skinning two antelope. Upon loading the carcasses in the truck, we listened to the radio announcements of U.S. retaliation in Afghanistan. We were at war, and it was a good feeling.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Daryl Ehret said:


> ... we listened to the radio announcements of U.S. retaliation in Afghanistan. We were at war, and it was a good feeling.


I agree that retaliation seemed good to me, too.


Where everyone was -- this thread makes it all seem like yesterday, doesn't it?


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## Jason Moore (May 3, 2009)

I was here at work. My bosses brother kept a tv on at his convenience store next door and they called us right after the first one hit. We took turns walking down there whatching the news when it was my turn is when the second one hit and then the news of the others came shortly after. I was 24 at the time and alot of talk of the draft opening back up made me scared but I would have went without a word. I honostly wish I had whatched my weight more and took an active role in the military in my younger days. Today weve been to busy to really set back and take it all in. But every time I right a ticket I'm reminded with todays date. I to am saddend by the lack of rememberance throughout the usa and even the world. But then you stop and think that not just one day of terror stands out in the minds of some countries but many. And for that I thank god that we have so few attacks on our soil. For so many other countrys are not that lucky and live with it all through out life.


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## Sheldon Little (Aug 26, 2009)

I was at home sick and I heard a newscaster on the TV say a plane hit one of the towers. I was still half asleep and just figured a small plane had hit it. I remember then hearing that it was a passenger plane and suddenly I was wide awake. I don't think I have ever watched the news for so long with out changing the channel or ever as emotional.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Like most people in my part of the country, we were still sleeping as the events unfolded on 9/11. I remember my alarm clock going off and rather than hearing the usual music I heard excited, almost frightened voices talking about the WTCs, which by that time had both collapsed. I still remember the look on my husbands face when I told him what had happened.

Watching the news was like being at a funeral. I remember feeling both hollow and angry all at the same time. Going to work was even more surreal particularly like many others, I live nearby an airport and at the time worked at the ANC International Clearance facility for FedEx. That's right, the same one mentioned in the move "Cast Away".

All planes had been grounded, which included packages of all shapes and sizes and some 100 beagles that were being exported to Japan for testing. There they sat, in two long rows of stacked kennels one on top of the other. Some of the kennels contained more than one dog per crate and like the planes and packages within them, they had been grounded for the day to come waiting to be sent to their final destination.

Everyone was sent home that day and told to remain home for the next several days. I think in light of the feelings of helplessness we all had it only seemed right to take care of those dogs. In some way I suppose it gave people a sense of helping in a situation that none of us were prepared to cope with in any other way.

Forgetting about 9/11 is an impossibility for me. In addition to being a licensed customs broker, my husband and I also own a local tattoo studio. The military bases as one might expect happen to be our largest client base. As a matter of fact, we just lost two more of our soldiers/friends in Afghanistan last week. We don't forget, there's no way that we can nor do we want to.

Note - right after I posted this I went into the kitchen. The time? 9:11 am. I've thought this before and will say it here, I don't know anyone who sees those numbers together that doesn't pause to think about the impact of that day.


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## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Me I was at work and just came out of the washroom and a good friend told me when the first plane hit and then the 2nd hit short there after. It seemed like in 5 minutes the whole aura of safety dissapeared. I remember my wife was off on maternity leave with my first boy. She was supposed to be off to see her mother which involved crossing a major bridge (we live in the capital of Canada) which could've been a target for the terrorist assholes as well. So I first pleaded with her not to go and then forbade her. Thankfully she took my advice and that eased my mind a little bit.

We continued to work and as Mike Di Rago was saying all the commercial planes started to stream into Ottawa INTL Airport (very close to where I live) and Mirabel and Trudeau in Montreal, Pearson in Toronto. I remember driving by and seeing what seemed like 100's of American Carriers planes on the tarmac and out into the taxi ways. They were all backed up and packed in like Sardines. 

Then the skies were clear and silent except for the odd low flying Canadian Forces CH-130s coming in and 24/7 continuous growl of prowling CAF CF-18s loaded for bear. 

There wasn't enough hotel/motel rooms and there was a scramble to find accomadations for all the displaced travellers. So there was a call put out to local residents to find beds for all of them. So many of the displaced people stayed in private homes here. 

Then at work they put us all on standby since I worked in first response emergency services in case we were needed to go help in NYC but that call never came. 

After the 3rd or 4th day all the American owned airliners started to line up and what seemed like within 45 secs between each take off there was another on deck ready to go. It was quite a sight seeing them all run up. As each aircraft rotated I was choked up and happy to know that people were going home. But it symbolized to me the loss of our innocence with each aircraft rotating into flight.


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## Meng Xiong (Jan 21, 2009)

My uncle and I where on our way back home from a camping trip when we heard it on the radio. We where both kind of hung over from the night before and I seriously thought it was a joke. It wasn't until I got home and flipped on the TV that I had really started to understand what had happened.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i was at work where the guys in the yards had a small tv. my scaler came in and said a plane had hit the first tower; like others, i was thinking small plane. when the 2nd one hit, a gal that was in nat'l guard said "this is NOT an accident--it's terrorists". how right she was...

i watched the towers crumble between trying to carry on with my job...it was horrific, and such a PERFECT september day. called family that could've been in NYC to ensure they weren't, but it didn't really sink in til that evening when i got home and started watching the news. then i obsessively watched the news for weeks (the kids were 12 and 9 and thought i was batty/boring for it), alternately crying/feeling it couldn't really be true/rage.

air nat'l guard had f-16's (i think--maybe -15's?) at the local base at that time, and they started carrying out night manuevers which brought them screaming low over my property at all hours of the night (i'm about 40 miles west of the base); one night i got so spooked i called them to ask if there was a "problem"; the officer i talked to was terse, but calmed my fears, and i was glad we had the fighters there-vs the re-fueling monsters we have now....

the skies were eerily silent, president bush was at offutt AFB just down in omaha, and i remember thinking "everyone knows he's there, what if the next thing is nuclear aimed at OM? we're all dead". 

for those that did die, i still get emotional thinking about their last moments, can only imagine (and do) what their families must go through every year. FWIW.


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## Becky Shilling (Jul 11, 2006)

I worked nights then and had just come in and joined my husband who was watching the first tower. We were speculating whether it was deliberate or some kind of horrible accident, then the second plane hit, and I just felt cold all over. My husband said' "We're at war. We just haven't declared who on yet".
I thought of all those people and what their last minutes were like and tears starting running down my face.


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## Rachel Schumacher (Oct 11, 2006)

I was in Vegas. While trying to find my way to the nearest coffee shop at the MGM I got some nice assistance instead of getting lost like on all other days. Back in the hotel room my X was on his ham radio and he heard that we couldn’t drive to the Hoover dam. We got some more “weird” info and eventually turned on the TV. I will never forget this morning, this day and the terrible pictures. Since we rented a car for the day, didn’t use it someone was really thrilled getting it and driving home. Rental cars were all gone in no time and of course no flights out of Las Vegas.
Was really weird being in Las Vegas during this time. The casinos didn’t stop but no airplanes and the ambiance at the pool was kinda not Vegas.


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

I had just come out from an appointment with an accountant and whilst standing lighting a cigarette outside a secondhand store, overheard a conversation by the ladies in the store that a plane had just crashed into the twin towers. The door had been open as it had been a trully beautiful day, and as I walked along the street you could hear others relating this shocking news. 

This was small town Scotland, it was felt quite profoundly here too.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Do you guys remember how all the hospitals geared up for major traumas and all those people put up fliers looking for their missing loved ones, and made frantic appeals on the TV "Has anyone seen _____________ he/she was working on ______ floor and was wearing______________"then the absolute horror and sick feeling when it started to register that those people were all gone, there were no mass casualties to help? This is the memory that continues to break my heart to this day, when I had the realization they were almost all gone in an apocalyptic instant.

I also remember I could not wrap my head around the death toll of 3,000 people. I couldn't picture in my head what a group of 3,000 people would look like, how big that actually was, that really bothered me for a while that I couldn't really grasp that amount.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2009)

I looked out my window and saw the smoke. Dogs were up, girlfriend was asleep. I turned on the TV just before the second plane hit. We were evacuated from a high probability target area and we all walked to find my mom whose practice is just a few blocks north of the WTC. Luckily she was unhurt. I will always remember seeing fighters streak over my building that evening, close enough I could see the pilot clearly. The following weeks and months had far more impact on me than the day.


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## Tanith Wheeler (Jun 5, 2009)

I was in history class at college - some guy came back late from lunch and said that the world trade centre was on fire, the teacher tried to keep focus but people kept getting news on their cell phones. 

There was so much misinformation at first, rumours of bombs and missiles. After a while we were allowed to leave class. I remember running into the cafeteria where the nearest TV was.

Glancing up to see the WTC fall down. 
Everytime I see it now, it still has the same power, still gives me goosebumps...

There must have been 5/600 kids in that room; crowded around a tiny TV, crammed on every chair, table, sitting on the floor and yet there wasn't a sound.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

susan tuck said:


> ... I also remember I could not wrap my head around the death toll of 3,000 people. I couldn't picture in my head what a group of 3,000 people would look like, how big that actually was, that really bothered me for a while that I couldn't really grasp that amount.


Someone sent me this video of approximately 3,000 people lined up to buy a new iPhone in Singapore, as a way to picture that number of people. It takes a long time to scan the lines that total 3,000 people.

http://www.9to5mac.com/Singapore-iphone-lines


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## Greg Naranjo (Oct 28, 2008)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> I remember 9/11/01 was a really beautiful day.


 I was also in Miami and I too remember it was one of those perfect Miami winter mornings. I was in the Doral area heading to work and stopped at a local bagel store to pick up breakfast when the first plane hit; I was at the TT site a few days later.


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## Nathen Danforth (Feb 12, 2009)

It was my Senior year in High School I was sitting in Physics class when a teacher ran in and said a plane hit the World Trade Center we turned on the news and in a few minutes watched the 2nd plane hit. We spent the rest of the day watching and discussing the events. We had one teacher and a few students that lost people that day.


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## Jennifer Marshall (Dec 13, 2007)

I was at school, Freshman in HS. First period, History or Economics or something. I remember everyone walked around in a daze that day. Kids were crying, teachers were distracted. Nobody was allowed to go home unless they had a relative that was possibly involved. They kept us there but didn't teach us anything. We just sat in silence for most of our classes, watching the news.

My Aunt was visiting from Oregon and was supposed to fly out of Milwaukee(WI) about an hour after it happened. Needless to say she didn't go anywhere for a couple of days.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

just reading the responses to this thread gives me goosebumps...i got on my computer at work that morning,and thought perhaps up to 10,000+ ppl had been killed. some website i was on said that was the # in the towers on an average day.

can a person be thankful it was "only" 3000? and that doesn't count the men/women who have since succumbed to more chronic problems as a direct result of working/living in the immediate area.

the 2nd most traumatic event in my adult life.


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## Mo Earle (Mar 1, 2008)

I am glad we all took a moment to remember- 
I was in WPB-watching the TODAY show, couldn't believe what was going on-and when the plane hit the Pentagon and the next crashed into the field-I was scared they were moving down the East Coast to the Nuclear Plant. I knew we were at war. Keith was in Atlanta doing Fire Dept. interviews, no planes were flying- but he got home, a bunch of strangers trying to get south all banded together to rent a car to head South- furthest guys south dropped the car off -people really came together during that time.
Later he went to NY to ground Zero with FEMA SAR.

Today a LOT of people remembering on Face Book.....
The History Channel had things on most of the day-brought back the emotions of the day and time- being scared,anxious, sad, mad....how proud we were to be Americans and finally remembering the LEO's, the FF's, the SAR teams, the regular citizen...what we lost and how we came together!

The bad guys who ever they are took a lot from us that day- but in honor of those that lost their lives, I will remember and will move on- so the bad guys can't take anything else from us-IMO....they did not win anything by this cruel act!


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

I was living in Winnipeg, Manitoba at that time. I didn't believe it when I heard it on the radio, I thought it was another Orsen Wells thing.

I would probably get banned from here if I stated my first thoughts once I realized it was not a farce.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

Gerry Grimwood said:


> I would probably get banned from here if I stated my first thoughts once I realized it was not a farce.


though this IS the land of the free, i'm happy for your sake that you have such self-control. please continue to keep those thoughts to yourself.


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

I was at ******'s coffee shop in East Lansing, Michigan... preparing to meet with my dissertation advisor. I remember where I was sitting... on the bench looking out the window. All the tables were full. I remember hearing somebody say that a plane hit the WTC. There was comments here and there, but no real details.... a lot of questions. My first thought was to get in my car and get to a TV or radio ASAP to get more information. I remember driving to my apartment listening to the radio the entire way... hardly believing what was happening. As soon as I got home, I immediately turned on the tv and sat glued to it from the couch. The second tower had already fallen by now, and they kept showing the images over and over and over and over again. I couldn't move from the TV all day. I just sat there crying, wondering what was going to happen next. I remember for days and days this was all that was on TV. Every time you turned on the tv, you'd hear all the sirens going off in the background... The police, ambulances, etc. Even though I was in Michigan and nowhere near NYC, it left such an impact on me... For the longest time I'd have a physical reaction when I'd hear sirens.... like those I endlessly heard on TV. My body would tense up; my breathing would change; I would get tense and anxious. It still amazes me to this day how I still had such a strong physical reaction to sirens MONTHS and MONTHS after it all happened... and this was just from experiencing it from all the TV and news stories... Last night I was watching some of the news footage on YouTube... I had the same physical reaction, once again, when I heard those endless sirens in the background. 

Later I was in NYC for a conference and went to see where the towers used to stand. There was nothing but a huge hole in the ground. The fences surrounding the area where still covered with pictures of loved ones who never came home that day. Handwritten letters were still posted, asking if anybody had seen a wife, a son, a daughter, a cousin... One of my professor's had a brother who died in one of the towers. I found his name written on one of the temporary walls that were built around the site where the towers used to stand. After moving to New Jersey in 2003, I remember driving past the Meadowlands and the parking lots next to the train stations that took people into NYC for work. I heard stories about how so many cars sat empty in these parking lots... even weeks later. The owners of the cars left them there in the parking lots when they headed to work that morning, as they headed into the city... but they never came home that evening. They parked their cars there and took the bus or train into work, but they never came home.... I always wondered what happend to all those cars... who eventually came and picked them up... I will never, ever forget....


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## Nikki M Williams (Jul 17, 2009)

I was in a training class . We had just broke for lunch and turned on the TV , at first paid no attention to what was on. Than as it started to set in with more and more people in the room the room went silent. Our office is close to O'Hare International airport . It was the most eeriest thing to not see one plane in the sky.... I will never forget where I was that day.....


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I was getting ready to go to sleep (working 3rd shift at the time) when my wife told me a plane hit the tower. I got up and the only thing I could think of was terrorists. It was way to clear of a day for any accident but I hoped. When the second plane hit we just both stood and stared at one another.
I knew we had to go to war but also saw the difficulties of fighting a way of life, an idealism and not a country....again. 

These are the things that will stick with us forever.
JFK - I was a senior in High school, in American Problems class.
RFK - watching the news on TV
MLK - Just got to work
I hear Dion's song "Abraham, Martin and John" whenever I think of these three.


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## David Ruby (Jul 21, 2009)

I was doing the most mundane of things, watching TV. I had to work later that day, apparently I didn't have Tuesday classes that semester in college. I remember nothing going on that day seemed significant, relatively speaking. I watched the footage until I eventually called and found out that the store I worked at was still going to be open. I was irritated on some level that we didn't close shop, considering I worked at a vitamin store. It just seemed wrong at the time to do something so capitalistic as working retail and peddling something as unimportant as vitamins, herbal Viagra, and bodybuilding pro-hormones. I was disgusted that most of the people who came into the store (albeit very few in number) were almost bubbly, although a few seemed in a daze. Still, the fact that anybody could be so unaffected and downright chipper just bothered me on a fundamental level.

As for the original post, this date always affects me. Every time I think of or am reminded of the date, I am saddened, angered, and just feel kind of hollow. I think some have tried to move on, partly due to human nature, partly perhaps to not let the terrorists win by causing us to change or remain shell shocked. For me, it always triggers a deep emotion in me, and I suspect it always will.

-Cheers


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## Sarah Atlas (Dec 15, 2008)

i was deployed to NY city with my USAR team assoon as the forst tower was hit. Arrived 3 hours later and spent the next 10 days working with my k-9


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## Jason Moore (May 3, 2009)

I just whatched it again and man it still just brings forth all sorts of emotions. My sis works at a local country club bar on friday evenings working her way through school I stopped by dropping her off some index cards and some sonic. And every body was just setting around carrying on about there usual bs. My sis asked me what was wrong I told her that I've just been thinking about it all day. I don't know why but for some reason this year has been worse for me than any other. I guess sneaking back to the computer on and off reading every ones stories. Also I heard a little scetch about 9 11 this morning as I was getting ready for work this morning. It honostly makes me mad all over again.


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## Jennifer Michelson (Sep 20, 2006)

I was very sick while pregnant with twins. I was on a home IV because I couldnt eat or drink without getting sick, so I was basically house-bound. I turned the tv on right after the plane hit the first tower and watched everything as long as they covered it. I called my mom and husband to let then know what had happened. 

I remember going to the bathroom at one point and coming back to see 1 building--I really thought the camera angle was just blocking the 2nd building, but of course saw the replays of the 1st tower going down. I vividly remember a scene from the Pentagon with people quickly evacuating the building, but then, I think, being called to help--and a mass reversal as people ran back towards the building--that made me cry.

I remember being so frustrated that day because I couldnt do anything to help.....

I wrote in my journal that day and remember writing that if we didnt bomb the country who did this, I was moving to Canada...I was so angry. After watching all the coverage, I could not watch anything else for several years. My dh bought a cd of the camera crew that was with one of the fire companies and I only watched it maybe 3 years ago.

We had several neighbors who commuted to NYC to work and I am glad none of them were affected.


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## Matt Grosch (Jul 4, 2009)

I was wrapping up a graveyard shift with the PD, probably listening to howards stern and sitting in the car typing a report. Started getting messages on the computer from dispatch before I heard it on the radio.

Before that I had studied a lot of cold war type history in college, after that I began looking at islam ( I wondered about going with a Fed job but I wasnt interested in sitting at a desk and working for a few idiots was bad enough, I couldnt take hundreds....also, apparently wanting a job like tom cruise in mission impossible isnt that realistic...go figure)

It bothers me that people give muslims in general a way too much slack.....AZ was a hotbed of radical islam I know the tucson mosque was involved (I believe the tempe one too, which I often park by when I ear in the area).....when I had to go to tucson for the state bar, their terrorist supporting mosque had some B.S. banner on it that said "Love for all mankind" or something...

Unrelated side not, Gates of Fire is the best book ever (Spartan battle at thermopalye), and 'the afghan campaing' is facinating in the alexander the great had the same issues in afghanistan that we have today.


*In the very credible book 'marching to hell' the author predicts a terrorist attack in england by muslims anyday.....Europe has really F'd itself by letting muslims infest the whole country


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## Matt Grosch (Jul 4, 2009)

I dont really have emotions, but thinking about 9/11 and muslims will anger me


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Matt: I am sure your "emotions" about Muslims would change were you to get to know my extended family. Two of my husbands brothers married sisters from Iran. They are Bahai - a Muslim sect. They and their family who are now living here in the USA are wonderful, compassionate, productive members of this society. After 9/11 they and their children, were subject to instances of being unfarily judged by their heritage and religion. 

Just please remember there are many fine Americans who happen to be Muslim, just as there are many fine Americans who are Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic and Atheist.


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## Jason Moore (May 3, 2009)

Matt Grosch said:


> .Europe has really F'd itself by letting muslims infest the whole country


Have you taken a look around in this one lately. In particular the head of the state. I sat and thought last night what 8 years after 9 11 we have a muslim leader.IMO this does not show how far we've come it shows how blind appearently the magority of the land has become. LMAO but not on my part. I myself am registered as a Dem but never let that interfear with my voting decisions. I just can't see how after something like what took place not so long ago we are now under command by him. I lost alot of respect after he was voted in. Statistics show his talk was completely the opposite of his actions. Yet with the help of his political party people helped him right in office. Talk about leading the sheep to the wolf. I mean wtf when else have we seen govt leadership have so much involvement over the industry. I just wander how far we are from dictatorship. I'm a firm believer in law and order but where does it stop. Sorry for the rant.


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## Matt Grosch (Jul 4, 2009)

susan tuck said:


> Matt: I am sure your "emotions" about Muslims would change were you to get to know my extended family. Two of my husbands brothers married sisters from Iran. They are Bahai - a Muslim sect. They and their family who are now living here in the USA are wonderful, compassionate, productive members of this society. After 9/11 they and their children, were subject to instances of being unfarily judged by their heritage and religion.
> 
> Just please remember there are many fine Americans who happen to be Muslim, just as there are many fine Americans who are Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic and Atheist.






From talking to the former Iranian Commando/jeet kune do instrctor I know (which made me look into things), Bahai are nothing like muslims. They #1 generally seem to be great people, and #2 believe that all of the worlds religions are related in that buddha, jesus, abraham, mohammed, etc where all sent from the same God/source as prophets/messengers. They probably have more in common with christians than muslims...

Also, all of my opinions are strongly supported by facts. (IE- Palestinians nearly without exception supporting hammas, muslims in this country refusing to condemn, but instead defend, terrorism, etc)


But.....I was afraid I might get things sidetracked


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## Anne Jones (Mar 27, 2006)

I was at work when one of the ladies that worked for me got a call from her dad telling her that a plane had crashed into the WTC. I remember thinking, how is that possible. One of the guys in an office down the hall went home & got a TV & we would walk over there during the day to see what was going on & if anyone was being rescued.

I had some friends that worked in the 2nd tower & were on the 10th & 12th floors & were able to get out in time. I know a few others that didn't make it out of either tower. I remember thinking how could anything like this could ever happen in the USA. How arrogant of us to think that it could never happen HERE!


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Jason if you are talking about President Obama, he is a Christian.

The Bahai faith is descended from the Muslim faith. Aside from that, from my college days and through my extended Iranian family, I know many Muslim people, they are not monsters or evil incarnate - they are just like YOU and me.

I am so sorry to see this thread which was about "Where were you on 9/11" become ruined because some people feel they have to voice their pitiful personal prejudices about an entire religion and NOT based on facts but on fear of what you don't understand. [-X

And yes it is too bad you sidetracked a beautiful thread with your unjustified opinion. You have no clue whether or not there are members of this board who are Muslim. You should have just kept your rude mouth shut.


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

susan tuck said:


> Matt: I am sure your "emotions" about Muslims would change were you to get to know my extended family. Two of my husbands brothers married sisters from Iran. They are Bahai - a Muslim sect. They and their family who are now living here in the USA are wonderful, compassionate, productive members of this society. After 9/11 they and their children, were subject to instances of being unfarily judged by their heritage and religion.
> 
> Just please remember there are many fine Americans who happen to be Muslim, just as there are many fine Americans who are Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic and Atheist.


The fact that it is impossible to judge a group by one or two individuals in North america doesn't have much in common with the fact that the majority acts and thinks in a totally different way at home.

Don't believe me, take the family there for a holiday.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I have been there Gerry. My brother lived in Bahrain through much of the late 70s and I was lucky enough to visit Bahrain as well as many of the surrounding countries. I was treated very hospitably every where I went. 

You assume too much if you think I am judging an entire group of people based on knowing only one or two individuals. 

The Muslim faith and the overwhelming majority of Muslims are no more responsible for 9/11,than the majority of Japanese and Japanese Americans were responsible for Pearl Harbor.

BY THE WAY - THIS BOARD IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A PLACE FOR POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS DISCUSSION. THE ONLY REASON I RESPONDED AT ALL IS BECAUSE YOU MADE IT PERSONAL ABOUT MY FAMILY AND FOR ALL YOU KNOW I AM MUSLIM TOO. I SUGGEST YOU HONOR THIS BOARD AND STOP NOW BEFORE THE THREAD IS CLOSED.


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

I guess we could agree on one thing, the Japanese weren't responsible for these attacks.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

susan tuck said:


> I am so sorry to see this thread which was about "Where were you on 9/11" become ruined because [of] prejudices about an entire religion


I'm sorry too. 

"Muslim" and "muslim radicals" are not the same.

Many of us knew this was going to happen, too, and were just crossing fingers that it could go for a few pages.

_QUOTE:
__The Muslim faith and the overwhelming majority of Muslims are no more responsible for 9/11,than the majority of Japanese and Japanese Americans were responsible for Pearl Harbor._ ... _BY THE WAY - *THIS BOARD IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A PLACE FOR POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS DISCUSSION.* ... I SUGGEST YOU HONOR THIS BOARD AND STOP NOW BEFORE THE THREAD IS CLOSED._ _END QUOTE
_
Too late. 
:evil:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Thank you to everyone who posted personal memories. 

This was a very moving thread, and many of us appreciated it.


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