Where were you and what did you you that day?

[Mom in Texas]

I was at work (a major defense co) listening to the radio w/headphones. The first plane hit and I turned and told my coworkers. Everyone was stunned. Second plane hit and I knew.... I turned to my coworkers again and said.....my son is going to war. (yeah, selfish motherly thought, I know)

Then, the initial report on the radio then was that the Pentagon had been bombed. I stood up and announced this LOUDLY.....everyone then turned on radios. I'll never forget the office hard ass, he turned white as a sheet.

My phone rang and it was my son. He asked about the threat con there....I said yeah we got an email....said threat con delta. He said.....mom, get your ass out of there NOW!!! So, I did. Went home and watched in stunned disbelief all day.

I knew we were going to war but.....WHERE? I really didn't have a clue.

[42L5V]

This is a damn good thread. It seems that everyone seems to remember exactly what they were doing, where they were, how they felt, etc. I can't friggin' recall last Wednesday, but some days are just etched in the brain. Like the song says, "Where were you when the world stopped turning?"

I haven't heard if there's a proclamation for half-staff (half-mast to you swabbies and jarheads) for Monday, but the flag in my yard will be there.

[BruteForce]

This is a damn good thread.

I haven't heard if there's a proclamation for half-staff (half-mast to you swabbies and jarheads) for Monday, but the flag in my yard will be there.

Since that day, a week after 9/11, I got a 25' flag pole installed in my front yard, mounted a spot light on the roof (aimed at the flag), with a 5x7 cotton flag, and it's been flying ever since.

[lusus]

I was a partner and the general manager of a small manufacturing company in Cleveland at the time. I was in my office when someone came in from the warehouse and told me that Howard Stern was talking about a plane that had just hit one of the towers. I thought 'cessna' and told him to stay focused. After he left I turned on the radio and they were talking about it, but they didn't have the full story yet.

A few minutes later our design engineer, who had a TV in his office, called and said I should come check the news coverage out, it was a lot of smoke and it seemed like it had been a pretty big plane. I went down to watch. I didn't see the second plane hit, but when I got there he was very agitated, telling me what he had just witnessed. I remember saying 'Holy shit, we're at war'. The warehouse guys had been listening and knew what was happening now, and we moved to the conference room. I was the only veteran there, and as the story expanded everyone was asking me what it meant. When the towers fell (I couldn't really comprehend what I was seeing when the first one went down), a lot of the younger employees were saying 'fuck it, I'm joining the army, I'm going to the recruiter right now.'

Most of these kids weren't fit for duty, morals, intelligence, etc. I told them there was plenty of time for that, but to not forget that the US manufacturing base was critical to any war effort, and that they could play an important role right here. One kid eventually did sign up. Physically strong but extraordinarily mentally weak - I mentored him to the best of my ability but I imagine he did not have a stellar career.

Some of the employees had kids and asked if they could go pick them up, I said of course. Most everyone else stayed, and actually did some work albeit with frequent news breaks. I drove up to the bank and took out a few thousand bucks, went home to confirm the bunker inventory and bought some additional bottled water. Went back to work and tried to be productive. Bad day.

The company was close to downtown, and is on the final approach route to Hopkins. I do remember over the next few days standing in the parking lot and being severely depressed by the lack of air traffic.

[Glass Cannon]

I was in my 7th grade homeroom class at a civilian school in Kuna, Idaho (20 miles SW of Boise). Just like every morning, we were watching the half hour Channel One news program for middle schools. After no more than a few minutes of normal programming, the channel switched to CNN and live footage of both of the towers smoking. We watched as the south tower collapsed; the entire classroom was in shock. Footage of the second plane flying into the south tower was replayed, and I remember feeling sick and praying for the people in the towers. I watched as the north tower went down. A few people were crying, but everyone was glued to the T.V. School went on, everyone just went from class to class, watching the news. Went home that day and watched the news with my mom until my father was released from work, training the National Guard. He sat me and my two older brothers down and explained to us what had happened, how we were attacked etc. Both of my brothers have gone on to join the army and Serve, and I am just waiting until I can DEP in. That day will always be engraved in my mind.

[SouthernBlonde]

Thank you for starting this thread, Paratrooper SkyShark.

I was in my apartment on E13th Street. I’d slept in that morning and, by the time I got up the first Tower had already been hit. I woke up to a ringing phone – so many people were trying to call at once that the phone line just went dead. I turned the TV on just in time to see the 2nd plane hit. A split second after I saw it, I heard an odd noise – kinda like thunder but not quite – outside. It wasn’t until then that I really realized what was going on. I was supposed to call into a conference call, so I sent an email to my boss telling him my phones were down and I didn’t think I’d be able to call in – as if the day was just going to go on as normal or something.

Like so many others, I spent the next hour glued to my TV but, for some reason, never sat down. When Tower 2 fell, I literally dropped to my knees – they just buckled and I fell. I started praying then - don't know why it hadn't occurred to me to start earlier. When Tower 1 fell, I got dressed and went out to see what I could do. Mayor Giuliani had asked us all to stay put but I just couldn’t. By this time my part of the City was shut down – no traffic except emergency vehicles – and there were people streaming up 3rd Ave., covered in dust. Some were crying but most were just in shock. Several of the delis and restaurants in my neighborhood had started giving water and food to people walking by, so I started handing stuff out. That night I took food to the firehouse that’s on my street but no one was there... they lost 12 guys that morning.

The next morning I started helping people put up flyers for their missing loved ones. You had to show proof of residence to go below 14th St., so I was able to post the flyers in places they couldn’t go. By the afternoon of the 12th the Red Cross had called and put me to work. I started working at an elementary school that was serving as a respite center a couple blocks north of ground zero. I know the Red Cross took a lot of heat after the attacks but I will be forever grateful for the opportunity they gave me to be useful in the days, weeks and months that followed 9/11.

[Spartan]

I watched from my living room, feeling outraged, furious and helpless to do anything, but wanting to crush skulls. It was very much the same feeling I had when I first heard about our Brothers in Mogadishu.

When I saw the replays of those planes hitting the towers I pretty much thought it was a matter of time before they failed structurally. Seeing them actually fall was something totally different.

I went into work that afternoon, but I only stayed about 45 minutes then went home.

[gijoe7.62]

I got up from bed and turned on the TV, seconds after the first plane hit. I was confused. What was going on? Not long after I watched as the second plane impacted. Then it all came clear to me. How could this happen to us? That's when I decided to join the Army. I will always remember those people in the towers. This is the last 9/11 that I will have to sit and do nothing. Then it will be my turn.

[Chiron]

I was working from home and had the TV on as usual to catch any breaking news that may be of interest.

My 2 year old son was sleeping and my wife was at work. All of a sudden every channel was showing the same thing live. It was just after the first one hit. I’m like holly shit! I called my wife then my parents to ensure they got the news. Then I stopped working and stayed glued to the TV all day after that.

The first thing that crossed my mind was “If this isn’t an act of war then what is?â€

[Flesh Thorn]

I was at work and heard the report on the radio that a plane had just flew into the WTC. I walked directly to the break room where my boss was running his dick sucker about something to someone. I turned the tv on, turned up the volume and told them to "Be quite!". I then watched as the second plane flew into the other tower.

On the positive side, this started the chain of events that led me back to my Ranger brothers.

[Tirehouse]

I was in Kosovo on Camp Bondsteel working in S3. Was a quiet day just like all the others had been when one of the soldiers working for me busted through the door and said a plane had just hit the WTC. I told him to keep it down and asked him what the fuck he was talking about. He repeated what he said and I was thinking the whole time some jackass was pulling some stunt and got to close with a piper cub and clipped the tower. So I headed over to the Red Cross as they had a big screen TV in thier office area and as soon I as stepped out of the door streams of people where filling out of their offices headed in the same direction.

We got over to the RC a couple of min before the 2nd plane hit. Every single person in that room was pissed...you could feel it. I stayed there and watched for a couple of hours and then went back to work but that day and the rest of the time there had a cloud of depression over it.

[Flesh Thorn]

I still remember the cobalt blue sky that day.

I remember that sky too and the clear blue skies the next several days after. Not a plane one to be seen where I live. People seemed friendlier and factories and offices installed tv's so people could watch the news.

[Creeping Death]

Well, my first marriage was all over but the crying. We had already paid for a vacation to Alaska, and we scheduled to fly on the morning of 9/11. We were going to go ahead and go on the cruise as a last ditch effort at working things out.

I went into my office to tidy up a few things before leaving for a week's vacation, and my wife (at the time) called and told me what had happened. A couple of hours later and I would have been in a bird and stranded in God knows where. But, they grounded all flights before we got that far. I guess it was GRITS' way of saying "fuck the bitch, time to exfil, Ranger".

[Cat]

I was just starting my sophomore year in college. I had an 8:00 am class and went to the library directly after, around 10. I heard someone on their cell-phone say ‘I don’t know what they think this will accomplish, all they’ve done is start a war’. , what a shock. I jumped up and ran to the food court…the only place near me with a TV.

There I found a crowd of people- the largest crowd I’ve seen in there before. I had to fight to get to the front and see the TV. I looked up and saw the replay that was to be played again and again. It was the planes hitting. At first I thought that was it. Then I saw a Tower fall. Everyone gasped. It was amazing standing there with everyone else..everyone feeling the same thing. Disbelief, sadness and anger. No one really knew what was going on. Then it was time for the next class. Life had to go on right then.