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Blog: Where Were You That September Morning?
September 11, 2010
September 11, 2001. It’s been nine years. We’ll all ask each other, “where were you”. So here’s my story.
Life, at least when that morning began, seemed good. I’ve always been a work at home dad, so I was home with my two girls. The youngest was almost four months old, and the oldest was approaching her fourth birthday. It was a normal morning. The little one was asleep, “fat and happy” as we used to say, after a morning bottle. The oldest was in the living room just a few feet from my office watching PBS Kids on the TV as I worked on a project for a client.
Then this arrived in my inbox:
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 08:52am– World trade center damaged; unconfirmed reports say a plane has
crashed into tower. Details to come.
I got up, walked to the living room and flipped the TV to CNN. They were talking about how a pilot could make such an error, hitting such a large building. They were speculating that it was just a small plane. But then as the TV news helicopters zoomed their cameras in closer, the anchors were beginning to notice what I had already thought….those holes the tower were to big to have been a small plane.
I called my wife at work in Atmore. She had seen the breaking news email, and had tried to visit the CNN website to see the story. If you remember trying to use the internet that morning, it was near impossible to get a news website to load; they were all overloaded. She was unable to see the pictures. I was describing what I saw on the TV to her.
I managed to grab a picture from CNN via my web server and then download and email it to her. We were speculating about how it could happen when the second one hit.
I remember saying “wait, hold on, wait…”. I told her what I just watched on the TV. The second plane had hit the other tower. We quickly decided that we were at war as the anchors on TV speculated again that perhaps there was a problem with some navigational system, causing jetliners on a beautiful, clear morning in New York to fly into some of the tallest structures in the world.
Another breaking news email arrived:
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:21am– Second plane crashes into World Trade Center.
She and I began to speculate ourselves that we were at war. What would we do? What should we do? What about the kids? It was not panic, understand, but just that protective momma and daddy instinct, I suppose. Prayer. That was a good idea. Maybe go to the bank and get out a little cash. That seemed like a good idea. How would you prep for a war on American soil? We were not sure.
I continued to relay information about what I was seeing on TV to my wife at work, who, in turn, would relay the information to her coworkers. They had a TV, but no cable service or antenna. They ended up fashioning a homemade antenna to see a fuzzy picture.
Meanwhile, the breaking news emails kept arriving…
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:32am– Sources tell CNN one of two planes that crashed into World Trade
Center was an American Airlines 767.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:42am– President Bush calls plane crashes at World Trade Center a
terrorist act.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:45am– Significant fire at the Pentagon. Details to come.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:46am– White House evactuated. Details to come.
The Pentagon on fire? The White House evacuated? Notice that in CNN’s email they were in such a hurry that they misspelled “evacuated”. One sentence at a time, the situation became more grave.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:55am– CNN confirms a plane hit the Pentagon
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:03am– One of World Trade Center towers collapses; fire forces
evacuation of State Department
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:30am– Second World Trade Center tower collapses in Manhattan
Over and over, we watched those towers collapse on TV, and we watched our Pentagon burn.
Our almost four year old asked a lot of questions. “Were people hurt? Did they need a Band-aid?” The magnitude of the event was lost on a four year old. Looking back at those first few hours, I think the magnitude of the event was lost on all of us.
Like many Americans, I sat glued to the TV that day, continuing to watch the video of the towers falling. Our almost four year old asked if another building fell down or if it was the same one. It was time to change the channel on the TV.
You might remember that many of the entertainment TV stations ran network news feeds. Others just simply ran screens about the day’s events. There was no USA network, no ESPN, no MTV. But on PBS, we found children’s programming at a time it was not normally on. For a little while, sitting in the living room floor holding my kids, the world stopped turning that September day, as we watched Big Bird and the Cookie Monster.
Country artist Alan Jackson later wrote a song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?”.
Some of those lyrics:
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cryDid you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don’t know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left belowBut I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Where where you when the world stopped turning that September day? Your comments are welcome below.
(We ran this blog last year on September 11 and by popular demand reprinted it today.)
Comments
41 Responses to “Blog: Where Were You That September Morning?”
I was working around the house when my sister called and said are you watching tv, when i say no, she said” we are being attacked.!” I couldn’t understand what she meant, so she told me to turn on the tv and said goodbye. I turned on the tv not long before the first tower fell and it just didn’t register. I thought it was just a program on what could happen………it was like a bad dream. My first thoughts were omg! did they get all those people out of the buildings? I had lived and worked in lower Manhattan for 10 years just a short walk from the world trade center and that made it so hard to believe what was happening. I watched all day long. I had been at the top of the towers, had lunch in Windows of the World resturant and knew what the view was from the top. When they showed people jumping out of windows near the top, it made me sick and mad that someone had caused so much human suffering.
You know what’s most sad to believe…is that this very well couldve been planned by our own people…
I very vividly remember this day and i will never forget it. I hope to never see such a day as this happen again…but I know that as long as people rule the world…its very much a possibilty.
Sorry I missed this site on this recent 2010 anniversary.
I was on vacation from the Anesthesiology Department at the only Level One Trauma Center in Northern Virginia. My wife woke me and told me “someone just attacked the NYC World Trade Center”! I watched the pictures in shock. Then the Pentagon was hit. I called into my Department and went to help my colleagues at the hospital. All elective surgical cases were cancelled and 20-30 OR suites were made available with multiple surgeons, OR nurses, CRNAs and anesthesiologists. Burns were sent to the Burn Center in DC, minimally injured went to the nearest hospital to the Pentagon but there was no one left other than these. No one survived to come to my hospital. My Navy CAPT neighbor never came home.
May God Bless the USA and HE will continue to do so. May HE and HIS SON accomplish what I find so difficult to do, “forgive those that trespass against us”!
I was in sixth grade getting dressed to go to school and i was watching good morning america and it showed the plane crashing into the world trade center.
Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001? … I do. It started out as just another day and then quite suddenly it became terribly tragic. I was coming home and turned on the radio. The news reports were talking about airplanes crashing in New York. I called my wife and told her to turn on CNN, that I didn’t know what was going on but I was on my way home. When I got home I sat in horror watching the replays of the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center and then saw the unbelievable as the second plane flew into the other tower.
Do you remember hearing the reports of another plane crashing into the Pentagon? … I do. I watched as firefighters from the towns surrounding the Pentagon came rushing to the scene. I remember hearing of yet another plane crash in Pennsylvania and stared at the screen wondering when this nightmare would end. I remember hearing the reports of passengers on Flight 93 contacting their loved ones by cell phone. I remember hearing of the last words of Todd Beamer, as he and others gave of themselves and prevented that plane from becoming yet another weapon of terrorism. The words “LETS ROLL” will forever be a call to heroism for me.
Do you remember that on that day 2823 people died as the Twin Towers collapsed? … I do. On that day I also lost 343 of my brothers and sisters, three hundred forty-three fellow members of the International Association of Firefighters and International Association of Fire Chiefs, three hundred forty-three of New York’s bravest. On that day they willingly gave up their lives as they rushed unselfishly into buildings that everyone else was trying so desperately to get out of. On that day they were simply doing their jobs, unmindful of the consequences, trying and in some cases succeeding, in rescuing people, victims, from the worst act of terrorism to ever be visited upon the United States.
Do you remember that day? … I do. I will never forget it so long as I live.
I was working as a phlebotomist for Northwest Florida Blood Center when we saw it come over the TV. We just couldn’t believe what we were seeing. Most of us spent more than 15 hours drawing blood as people came out of the woodworks to donate. I remember feeling terribly sad and amazingly hopeful all at the same time. Sad for lives lost; hopeful that Americans – true Americans – are so loving and compassionate.
Really??,
I was in there taking the ASVAB also. my junior year with you whoever you are.
William, thank you so much for rerunning this blog. Please put it on your calendar to run every year. May we never forget this terrible tragedy and always remember the ones who lost their lives in it. God’s blessings to all who lost loved ones and friends. God willing, this will never happen again but we must be vigilant.
I was in 3rd grade, Mrs Linda Jacksons class when our principal came over the intercom to announce what had happened. we were not allowed to watch it on tv but we were sent home early after the school as a whole sang my country tis of the and the national anthem. I remember goin home and seeing it on tv and crying because i realized what really had happened…
I was sitting with the rest of my Junior Class in the auditorium at FHS. We were taking the ASVAB that day. There were two Army officers there administering the test. Mr. Corbin rushed in and spoke to the men. One got on his cell and made a call and then the two officers rushed out. It wasn’t until we finished the test and exited the auditorium that we started hearing about what happened. My boyfriend had called his mom to ask about something and she told him. She thought someone had bombed the Pentagon. I remember thinking they are blowing this way out of proportion. I thought people had been misinformed. It wasn’t until we got to Mrs. Lisenby’s class next and she turned on the T.V. that the realization hit me that it was real and worse than anyone could have imagined. I remember sitting in class shocked and speechless and wanting to just cry. All of those innocent people and their families. How could something like this have happened on American soil? I think up until that point I had thought that nothing like that was possible here. A lot of things changed that day. My prayers go out to all the people who lost their lives on that tragic day and their families they left behind. Praise to those heroic people who helped in the rescue efforts and those in the military who protect our freedom. God Bless America!
I was in my 9th grade BST typing class at West FL High school. Our teacher turned on the tv…. I will never forget that day. God bless America.
I was setting in my chair in the living room watching my 8month old play in the floor. I was watching Good Morning America when it happen. All I could do was cry. I called my husband first because he was in the National Guard and he was at work in the oil field at the time. Then I called my mother and sister on three way. My little brother was in the service and I was deviated. All the lose of lives our country was violated in the worse kind of way!! My brother was deployed with in a month to Iraq then my husband. Both my husband and brother lost friends from their units to this war!! My God Bless all of OUR HEROS!!!
I was laying in bed, 8 months pregnant with my son. I first remember thinking that it was a movie until I watched for a little while longer. My second though was for my baby. I kept thinking, what kind of world am I bring my child into. I just wanted my loved ones close to me. It took me awhile to get my mind around the fact that this was happening. Then all I could do was cry. Those people who we lost were strangers but in the moment that could have been my family or friends. I felt the lost that greatly. We can never forget the lives we lost on the day and the consenquences that happen when we hate . Every life is precious. I haven’t felt patriotic in a long time but in the moment we were truly “one nation under God” and one “American” people united in our grief. May God bless the families who experienced loss and those of us who morned the losses. May God bless our enemies and before they leave this earth, may they repent before God for their sins.
I was getting myself ready to take my son to preschool, I froze in my path and sat on the couch and watched in shock of what was happening. Later that day, I went to work at Ztel. At that time New York was a large amount of our customers, I was a supervisor and I assisted on numerous calls of where people weren’t able to contact their families. It was a heart breaking day. I heard of all sorts of stories of lost loved ones. One of our main switches was located in the Towers and had been destroyed. Then, I found out my cousin was just a block away. And that my aunt was grounded in Las Vegas not able to get a flight back home. I remember the day was full of crying and panic. I remember questioning what the future had for my two children. I questioned how someone could do such to innocent people. And horrible those people must be. ….. God Bless this country. Prayers for the ones lost and their loved ones left behind. We should never forget! Those should never be forgotten!
i was sitting in my truck finishing my breakfast in front of the auto-mechanics building at jay high. i first heard the news of the first plane on the radio while listening to lex and terry(tk101) once we figured out it wasnt a joke everyone went inside to try to find it on the tv in the class room of the shop. All of us teen aged boys and girls from 9th graders to seniors where glued to the tv in shock and near panic for our country. every class for the rest of the day was near silent as we watched the news and the storey unfold before us trying to understand what was going on and praying for the families of the people that where lost on that horrible day.
I was working in Flomaton and had made a P.O. run and stopped in the dollar store to get some office supplies. They had the radio turned up real loud and it seemed to be on a channel that was airing a soap opera, I thought…. I wondered what’s a program like that doing on the radio here in 2001. They were talking about the twin towers being hit by planes and spectulating whether it was accidental or a terrorist attack. I thought about the “War of the Worlds” broadcast way back when and the terror everyone felt thinking it was real. The more I listened, the more this broadcast sounded real – then I heard customers talking about it – then I felt the terror. I asked the cashier what was going on and she asked me where I’d been. She told me about the crashes and I just couldn’t make myself believe we could be attacked like that. We had no tv or radio in the office, so I stayed outside most of the rest of my day listening to the radio in my car.
Remember how quite the skies were for a long time after that day? No, I will never forget! When will Bin Laden be brought to justice???
As I read all the comments, and the terrifying memories flooded back, I started crying again – for all the people who died, the ones hurt, those who lost loved ones and friends, for the brave firefighters, police, and volunteers, and for the security we all lost that day. We found out we are hated by a group of people whose total purpose in life is to kill Americans and we found out they can get to us here, on American soil. God Bless our military who are willing to lay down their lives for our protection and freedom. Let us never forget!
I was on my way to work that morning I heard the news on the radio…I worked at Pensacola NAS and when I got to work everything was on lockdown it took me at least an hour toget on base because they were searching everyones vehicle from top to bottom when I finally got to work they sent alot of ppl home to be with their families so when I got home I dont think we turned the TVs or radios on for the rest of the day….we just spent time with each other and prayed
I walked into the beauty shop to get my hair done and the first words my beautican said were ” what do you think is going on in New York?” I’m not a big tv viewer so I had no clue what she was talking about. We started watchung tv and were so shocked we couldn’t even believe it. As we watched the second plan hit and after that it seemed like the rest of the day and for several days afterward everyone was just waiting to see what happened next. Oh yes, I did get my hair done but don’t really remember how or what was done to it.
paula,my mom was one of those bus drivers that day,and i was sitting in class training to be a bus driver and my son was in kindergarten ,i remember ,i was terrified
I was in a bagel shop near the U.S. Capitol.
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/bagel-day-4/
getting off work, from baptist….headed to my daughters apt listening to 95KSJ..heard them announce the first one….felt alittle bewildered……got to her apt and saw the second one…..now, in shock…went to walmart..it was on all of the overhead televisions…got home and then, couldnt sleep….remember sitting in bed, sobbing, as i was glued to the television….
I was on a flight headed to Ancorage Alaska which was an 8.5 hour flight from Atlanta and full of fuel.I had my pocket knife with on the way,but was not allowed to have it on the way back…..Glad I didn’t need it.
Another line from Alan Jackson’s song…..”Were you teaching a class full of innocent children…?”
That was me; teaching middle school. The morning started with bus duty, and as cars came in to drop off children, parents reported hearing bits and pieces of news on their car radios and through phone calls from friends and family. We were stunned, but still didn’t know the magnitude of the situation. Then, over one of the bus drivers’ dispatch radio came the order for all middle school buses to immediately pull over and evacuate; someone had called in a bomb threat that morning, claiming “a bomb had been placed on a middle school bus.” Of course, that was a hoax, but terrifying while everything else was going on. We were hearing news reports of terrorist attacks, and our students were stranded on the sides of roads all over the county while law enforcement checked each and every bus before they were reloaded. I remember wondering about the “coincidence” of those events occuring at the same time. I deliberately didn’t turn the tv on in my classroom; I couldn’t bring myself to force my students face the images I saw when we gathered in the office for a few minutes before the bell rang. What I saw when I did watch TV after school will be in my mind forever. We teachers went on with our day, and tried to achieve as much “normal” as we could, knowing the world was changing moment by moment. The days after 9/11 were filled with answering unanswerable questions, comforting and alleviating fears, and rallying together to show our support of the United States and those who lost loved ones.
I was taking 3 little girls to ballet class when my husband called me on my cell phone to tell me we had been attacked. I spent the next several hours trying to reach my Mother and two sisters who are all nurses and work in 3 different hospitals in New York and my Brother-in-law is a New York City police officer. Never forget…God Bless the American people.
When I got up that morning I was in a Peacetime Army, I was putting on my uniform and getting ready to head to work at Fort Bliss (El Paso, TX). I had the news on in the next room and heard that a plane had crashed into a building in New York. I thought it might have been a small plane that accidentally hit a building, and thought no more about it since I had to get going. Besides, a B-17 had hit the Empire State building during WW2 and it shook it off.
When I got in to Fort Bliss, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I showed my ID card at the gate and rolled in to my parking spot. I was in a new job with a lot more responsibility, so I went into my office and head-down started digging into the “In Box”.
Suddenly a young Major ran into my office and said “There’s something going on, you need to come see this!”, I asked if it was about the plane hitting the building in New York, and said it was probably some pilot reaching for a casette tape on the floor of the cockpit when he crashed. “No, I don’t think it was a small plane”, he replied. I went out to a waiting area where a TV was on just in time to see the second jet fly into the second tower of the World Trade Center. “Jason”, I said to the Major, “we are at War. Get the senior NCOs and have them report to my office for orders. Now.”
I assessed our situation, El Paso is sitting within rock throwing range of another country, that even though a neighbor, hasn’t always been our closest friend in the world. I had my NCOs report all our section’s status, and set up a temporary Op Center for my department. I then told my boss what I was doing, and he looked stunned by the news, and told me to do what I thought best. I then called the Command group to inform them what I was doing, and called my senior staff liasons in Fort Sam Houston and Washington, DC to let them know that we were on emergency/wartime footing and stood ready for whatever happened next, and let them know our contact information. I then met with my commander and I let her know what I was doing. We held a hasty Command and Staff meeting and locked down our site. No one in or out. Prepare for defense against an attack.
I stayed up and on duty, coordinating actions and soldier movements, issuing orders for our operations, and monitoring for other enemy action, especially from south of the border,. Didn’t get much sleep, if any that night, or for the next week, but when I woke up that morning we were a Peacetime Army, and by the time the first Tower crashed down, we were a Wartime Army.
I will never forget that day.
I was an on-duty Firefighter (Shift Leader) just getting the 24hr shift started on that Tuesday morning. We had finished our morning assignments around the station when one of my Firefighters alerted me of the breaking news on CNN. We quickly gathered everyone around the television in disbelief of what we were witnessing and notified the other fire stations in our city who were already doing the same. I can still vividly remember the sick feeling that we all had, knowing that our Brothers at FDNY in New York were very possibly rushing towards their final call. It was almost unbearable to watch the Towers fall and know that all of those Firefighters who had fought their way up those thousands of stair steps to fulfill their obligation of saving lives and property were now victims of this tragic incident. I can also remember how tough it was to prepare ourselves to carry out our responsibilities in our own city with those thoughts in our minds. May our Fallen Brothers at FDNY rest forever in peace and may we NEVER FORGET the sacrifices they made in answering the “call”. May we continue to pray for their families, including their Brother Firefighters, who were left behind……and, to answer Alan Jackson’s question, I did call my mother. May GOD continue to BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was working at the blood center and had no clue as to what happened until hundreds of blood donors were lining up to give blood. The response was so great from the community….ECAT had their busses bringing donors to us. We had local restaurants bringing food for the donors and even Massage Therapists were there to help relax the donors. I will never forget that day…my heart still aches for the lives lost.
I was in Evergreen in Cosmetology class when my teacher, who’s husband works at Eglin, said with tears in her eyes “Everybody come over here something terrible has happened.” Her husband had called to inform her that there had been a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. We turned on the tv. She explained to us that “there were probably 10,000 people in that building! She asked that we all gather in a circle, hold hands and PRAY! We did.
We were dismissed from our class and told to “Go home, hold your families and pray.”
On the drive home, I listened to the radio. The next plane had hit… the Pentagon….. the other…. I could not even grasp what was going on. The traffic on the interstate was slow. People just driving along, everyone listening to the same story no matter what station you turned to…… same story.
When I got home my son (then four) met me at the door…..”Look mama another one just crash!” As I watched it just hit me… My God! The magnitude! And then my son again “Look another one hit!” Over and over I watched the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. All I could do for days was watch the news trying to understand Who, What, WHY?
I was at a traffic light on my way home from an overnight shift – the radio announcer said they had reports of a small plane hitting on of the towers and smoke billowing. I put in a CD …. it was a little while later that I walked into my mom’s living room where she was glued to the TV and said “The whole world has gone crazy – they’re crashing planes into buildings”
we sat together and watched the towers fall.
I WAS DOING STUFF AT HOME AND HAD MY BABIES WHOM WERE ALL A FEW MONTHS TO 3 YRS OLD, I REMEMBER THE TV SAYING A PLANE HAD HIT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND THEN HE SECOND PLANE HIT, MY STOMACH DROPPED AND I THINK I STOPPED BREATHING A FEW SECONDS,, I STAYED OFF WORK A WEEK BECAUSE I WAS SCARED TO LEAVE MY KIDS, I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY AND I PRAY FOR ALL THE USA ESPECIALLY THOSE PEOPLE WHOM DIED AND THEIR LOVED ONES AND FRIENDS…..WE WILL NEVER FORGET…………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND THOSE PEOPLE WHOM FOUGHT AND FIGHT FOR US EVERYDAY! I LOVE YOU DADDY !
i was at home, alone and had just gotten up…just stood there in disbelief…think my chin was down on the floor as i just stood there, silently, alone and couldnt even move..will never forget that day….still praying for those families involved
My family and I were in a motel room in Panama City, FL. We were at a Missions Conference that week and was getting ready for the day ahead that the church had planned for us. My Mom called us and asked if we were watching the news. We turned on the TV and saw the second plane fly into the second tower. Then we watched them fall. Like everyone else, i don’t know that I will ever forget the feeling that I had that morning.
I was at the office, watching streaming video of the first crash and saw the second crash. About a dozen of us were crammed into my office, watching in total disbelief. Lots of questions and tears.
I had just given my daughter a bottle, my mother and my inlaws were getting ready for Grandparents Day at my son’s school, and my husbad was at work in downtown Pensacola. I was watching The Today show when they suddenly broke in with a story that a small plane had just hit one of the twin towers, I watched in horror as Matt Lauer anxiously said OMG there is another plane. Our whole world changed that morning. I Haven’t Forgotten, and neither should you. God Bless America! I remember being glued to the TV for days and crying for those lost. I personally didn’t know anyone involved, but I can still feel the pain to this day.
I was driving to work with my friend when the first plane hit. We heard that on the radio, so when we got to the office, we went to the attorney’s lounge and watched as the second plane hit. I called my mother and she told me one had just hit the Pentagon. The rest of the day, we sat and watched the t.v. and starred in disbelief. God Bless America!!!
i was in training class to become a school bus driver,our director came in and told us ,and i remember just wanting to get to my children,i cant describe what i felt that morning
My husband was working 3rd shift at that time. Our routine was, he would come home and have breakfast with our kids and love on them for a bit before they would go off to school. Then he would go to bed himself and sleep most of the day while the kids were gone. That morning when my husband went to bed, he had only been sleeping for about an hour, I think. I got on the computer and BAM, it was all over the internet. I really had no idea what I was looking at. Everywhere I tried to go on the internet, it was there. Finally I really started to read all of it. I couldn’t believe it! Should I go wake up my husband? But he just got to sleep. I had decided to continue reading a checking things out for a bit. When all of a sudden, the first tower fell. I remembered thinking, Oh my God! I had to go tell my husband. I finally went into the bedroom, gently woke him up and had explained what had happened. He, being partly out of it still, didn’t believe me. I told him it was true and I didn’t quite understand what it means. He sat up and looked me straight in the eyes and said, “We are under attack! We are at war!”
What? War? Here? In America?
It was all falling into place for me. Our kids are at school. Should we go get them?
We did not have cable at the time, so we sat around our computer and watched as everything unfolded right before our eyes. It was such a sick feeling.
I am all choked up as I remember this. Those poor people. I will never forget!
I was at work for a local phone company and was taking a call from a lady who lived in NYC and she described the whole the thing to me play by play up until the first tower collapased, as the tower collapased the phone lines went dead. The Verizon switches for the entire Northeast section of the US was located in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center. I had written down that ladies phone number and when we were able to get back through to them about 2 weeks later, I called her to check up on her and found out that she had lost her son, daughter-in-law and her baby granddaughter who was at the daycare in the towers. that is definately one day I will never forget. I think of that family often.
I hope all will take time today to remember 9-11-2001
I was teaching Honors A&P at Northview High school when Terry Ravey told me about the first plane we thought it was a comerical airline accident so turned on the TV and watched live the second hit……Some cried, some prayed, but all said GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!! Needless to say not a whole lot of teaching A&P went on the rest of the day!!
I was driving by the airport in Atlanta, noticing that no planes were in the air.
I was still providing childcare in my home at that time.The children were sitting watching Dora or something like that,while i was fixing breakfast.The tv in the kitchen was on and i watched as those planes hit the towers.For some reason the children were very quiet and well behaved that morning,and i was able to watch it all.Then when the news came on that there was another plane down,i had to turn the tv off.The children needed me and i had to keep smiling for them,but i will NEVER forget that feeling in my stomach that day.My heart ached for all those people,
the families,the friends who died and those who had to deal with the loss of their loved ones.May we never forget that day,God bless this great country.