Tell your 9/11 story

[DeadSlash]

Everybody had a different experience on 9/11.  Thought it would be a cool thread.

 

I was off-site for a seminar, I was the only person from my office there.  I found out during one of our breaks, I was actually in the crapper and a whole bunch of people came into the bathroom sounding really agitate.  There were 2 guys right outside of the stall and they were saying "This NEVER would have happened if Clinton was still in office!" and the other guy said "Are you kidding? This happened BECAUSE Clinton was in office!"   I asked them what was going on (side note, the only time I have ever initiated a conversation with a stranger in a bathroom stall) and they said "We're under attack."

When my class returned from break, the guy leading the seminal said something like "I understand there are some very traumatic event occurring right now, but there is nothing you can do about it and I will report you as leaving to your respective companies."  People were pissed and someone said "We are at war." and he said something shitty, like "Tell me, what are you going to do about it? How can you help?"  People started leaving immediately, and kept trickling out.  I left when the 45 person class got down to like 10 people.

 

I don't know how many people remember, or had a cell phone (imagine that, in 2001 every single person was NOT walking around with a phone!) but most cell service was out.  AT&T was my carrier and luckily still worked, but I got "all circuits busy" several times before reaching home.  Because cells were out, and the internet wasn't on people phones, there was a real lack of information.  Most of the people in the hotel were gathered in the bar where there was a TV.  People were saying all kinds of crazy shit.  As bad as 9/11 was, I had thought it was a LOT worse.  People were saying that they had taken down the St. Louis Arch, Epcot Center, the Washington monument, Statue of Liberty and that the attacks were ongoing.  I hid in a hallway to call home, because everyone was asking other people to borrow their phone.   It was insanity.

 

Leaving the Hotel in Dover Delaware was absolutely SURREAL.  It's a city, and for some reason the traffic lights were out and police were directing traffic.  This made it even more scary as there were emergency vehicles EVERYWHERE, and the lights were out... did someone take out the power grid? WTF is happening?  One of the really weird things that stood out to me was that even though it was bumper to bumper traffic, not one single horn was blown. Not one, not one time during the 30 some odd minutes it took me to get out of the city.  Once out of the city, traffic lights were on, so that made me feel a lot better.  On the radio I listened to Peter Jennings.  Whatever station it was had turned the broadcast over to the live TV feed.

Random thing that happened on the way home, about 25 min from my house, there were 4 kids on the side of the road, throwing ROCKS into traffic. I didn't see anyone stop, and they hit a few cars, including mine.  I just wanted to get home.  I would guess someone eventually did, but it was just so surreal.

 

Misc. 1.  Does anyone remember the airstrikes that night?  I think it turned out to be Israel hitting Syria, but nobody knew who did it at the time.  The initial assumption was it was a US retaliation.  Me and my sister were clapping and my Dad said "Bush isn't fucking around." My Dad doesn't really curse.

Misc. 2   This was a really a point of contention during the 2016 election, but I saw it with my own eyes.  Channel 6 Philly was showing people in the middle east cheering in the streets, holding signs that said "Death to America" or showed the Statue of Liberty on fire.  It really stood out because my whole family was watching it when Channel 6 was showing it to people on the street and getting their reaction.  We all laughed when this one guy said "Man, we have the technology. just find that street and blow it up."  Maybe it was staged, by some news or local terrorist organization, but it 100% happened.

 

Edited September 11, 2018 by DeadSlash

[janrichmond]

I remember it well, in England it was about 1.30 and my fella rang and said "a plane's hit the WTC" i put the tv on and watched it all, switching between the news channels. I cried. A lot. 

I have a dvd by these 2 french guys that happened to be filming a documentary about the fire station, i still watch it from time to time and it still makes me shed a tear.

It's still such a shocking vision when the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower, that confirmed it was deliberate. 

 

[DieselDaisy]

I was in bed. Same place I was when Princess Di had died. 

[-W.A.R-]

I was in school (3rd grade) and don't really remember anything.

[janrichmond]

10 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

I was in bed. Same place I was when Princess Di had died. 

So was I  and when Diana died

[Kwick1]

I was rushing out the door for work. Good Day was still on in the kitchen. Tim Ryan was the anchor and they were showing footage of the first plane reporting it as an accident. Then the 2nd plane hit and all the world changed. By the time I tore myself away from the TV and left for work it was surreal. No planes in the sky, no traffic lights and hardly a car on the road. I had a race scheduled that weekend which was canceled. i was glued to the tv watching the news for days if not weeks afterward. I draped a huge American flag over my house as did my neighbors. For the next year, every race I ran I pinned an American flag to my singlet. Being sponsored by Asics I felt like I needed something American on. And yes, I cried called my dad and my mom. 

Like Deadslash, I remember the panic that all cites would come under attack. Local radio stations were taken over by National broadcast but it seems like they were down for a short while. I don't recall any radio on my drive into work about 10 minutes after the 2nd plane. Walking into work I immediately learned of the Pentagon hit and later of the plane brace passengers took down in the PA field. It was truly a frightening time. The only broadcaster I watched was Peter Jennings  there was something calming and reassuring about him. 

When Princess Di was killed, I was sleeping but the house I was staying in woke me up. 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Kwick1

[Len Cnut]

I was stoned with my mate in Argos (dont ask me why, I was off my tits) and saw it on a bunch of display tellys on sale there.  I thought it was a film or something.  Didn't realise til later what it actually was.

[DieselDaisy]

Just now, Len Cnut said:

I was stoned with my mate in Argos (dont ask me why, I was off my tits) and saw it on a bunch of display tellys on sale there.  I thought it was a film or something.  Didn't realise til later what it actually was.

Stoned in Argos. That mysterious place where they go in the back and produce a box. 

[Len Cnut]

3 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Stoned in Argos. That mysterious place where they go in the back and produce a box. 

After i grew out of going around and nicking the order of the day in 00s was just to get off my fuckin’ tits with my mate and just wander around town aimlessly.  Was seriously hammered that day, weed and E’s.  Made it all the more of an odd thing to see.

[DieselDaisy]

Argos though? It is the Tardis. It breaks the known bounds of geometrics and physics. The buildings are usually your standard size of a smallish supermarket yet they go in that back and produce bikes, lawnmowers and all sorts of stuff. 

[Len Cnut]

12 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Argos though? It is the Tardis. It breaks the known bounds of geometrics and physics. The buildings are usually your standard size of a smallish supermarket yet they go in that back and produce bikes, lawnmowers and all sorts of stuff. 

Y'know, I never thought of that but you're right.  This particular one was quite small and it couldn't've gone that far back because the fuckin' bus station was on the other side.  And yet they could reach into that motherfucker and produce just about anything from out of their voluminous colour catalogues.

[RussTCB]

My 9/11 story really isn't that special. It's actually really boring in a way. I went out to karaoke with friends the night before and woke up to the first plane having hit and mass confusion. The news still wasn't sure if it was a terrorist attack or what. They I saw the second plane hit live and that, for me, was the moment everything changed.

The rest of the day and coming weeks were so odd, different and unsafe.

Over the years, it's mentioned less and less on the anniversary. Like all things, it has faded despite the whole #NeverForget thing. I happened to be able to see Manhattan from my hotel room this morning, so it was a very big reminder this morning. I left a national news channel on in my hotel room as I was getting ready today and was surprised to hear it mentioned once over the course of about 2 hours. I'm not getting on any high horse about that, I'm just saying it happened and that it happened to be way more front of mind for me because I could see Manhattan from where I was sitting.

[cineater]

I live by an airport so even now on occasion when I don't see a plane in the sky that eerie feeling comes back.  The feeling I need to turn on the news and see if something has happened.  I remember the silence, people in shock and disbelief, when words failed to describe the horror in front of your face and the inability to do anything about it. 

I was walking into the kid's psych hospital when the first plane hit.  Normally a pretty noisy place but as things unfolded, the silence set in.  Doctors and nurses stuck on the job just wanting to go find their loved ones.  Kids looking to the adults for reassurance that the adults weren't wholeheartedly able to commit to.  Shakey day for everybody to get through that lasted well into the next day.

[ZoSoRose]

Although I was only in 5th frade I remember it very well. Inwas actually beneath the towers just a month or two prior. 

The world unmistakably changed that day for the worse. Its ramifications cannot be undone and have indirectly affected millions of lives in many countries, western and non western, alike. 

[Gordon Comstock]

My memories are vague: I was 8 years old, and I'd woken up early to use the bathroom or get a drink or something, but to get to either the bathroom or kitchen I had to walk past my parents room. That morning, their door was open and their tv was on, louder than normal, and both my parents were watching the news. Honestly the loud tv could've been what woke me up, I can't remember. I walked into their room to see what was happening shortly before the 2nd plane hit. I remember their reactions left me more confused than anything, and the rest of the day had a very strange feeling to it, kids at school thought the US was at war and the teachers basically told everyone that nobody knew what was happening.

[Dean]

I was going on 8 years old and got home from school, bewildered to why I couldn't watch Cartoons. After being informed on what was happening, I think it had a long lasting effect that made flights extremely uncomfortable for me when travelling abroad. Even to this day, it's not something I enjoy doing and I reckon it's to do with how much that event impacted my mind at that young age. 

Edited September 12, 2018 by Dean

[AtariLegend]

I was a kid on a plane from Heathrow to Madrid.

Didn't know until we got off the plane, I think the flights were all canceled immediately afterwards even in that part of the world.

[DeadSlash]

4 hours ago, RussTCB said:

My 9/11 story really isn't that special. It's actually really boring in a way. I went out to karaoke with friends the night before and woke up to the first plane having hit and mass confusion. The news still wasn't sure if it was a terrorist attack or what. They I saw the second plane hit live and that, for me, was the moment everything changed.

The rest of the day and coming weeks were so odd, different and unsafe.

Over the years, it's mentioned less and less on the anniversary. Like all things, it has faded despite the whole #NeverForget thing. I happened to be able to see Manhattan from my hotel room this morning, so it was a very big reminder this morning. I left a national news channel on in my hotel room as I was getting ready today and was surprised to hear it mentioned once over the course of about 2 hours. I'm not getting on any high horse about that, I'm just saying it happened and that it happened to be way more front of mind for me because I could see Manhattan from where I was sitting.

Yeah,  I noticed too.  I guess "never forget" has a term limit.

 

It's weird seeing all of the people who were too young to really process it as it happened.  For an old man like me, that's how it was when Regan got shot.  It was bad, and I knew it was bad from my parents reaction, but I didn't really "get it."

Some additional randoms

1. I went to a Met game at Shea on almost exactly one month before the attacks.

2. My Dad still has his ticket somewhere - He took FLIGHT 93 less than a week before 9/11.  Some people don't realize flight 93 isn't a plane, or a one time flight name, it's (was) the name of a route.  

I would have been more on the side of conspiracy if my Dad was on it.  He was a real high up muckety-muck with Lockheed, government clearances etc. He still wont talk about some of the projects he was involved in.

[RussTCB]

39 minutes ago, DeadSlash said:

Yeah,  I noticed too.  I guess "never forget" has a term limit.

 

It's weird seeing all of the people who were too young to really process it as it happened.  For an old man like me, that's how it was when Regan got shot.  It was bad, and I knew it was bad from my parents reaction, but I didn't really "get it."

Some additional randoms

1. I went to a Met game at Shea on almost exactly one month before the attacks.

2. My Dad still has his ticket somewhere - He took FLIGHT 93 less than a week before 9/11.  Some people don't realize flight 93 isn't a plane, or a one time flight name, it's (was) the name of a route.  

I would have been more on the side of conspiracy if my Dad was on it.  He was a real high up muckety-muck with Lockheed, government clearances etc. He still wont talk about some of the projects he was involved in.

Fuckin excellent call out with the Regan reference. I'm gonnna guess by that, that we're similar in age with me being slightly older perhaps?

I have 3 distinct memories of traumatic things from when I was very young.


1) Elvis Presley passing. I was only 2 but there was a HUGE feeling of sadness in our house that day. My mom was a huge fan and viewed Elvis as "a friend" because she'd grown up with him.

2) John Lennon being shot. Again, I was only 5 but I just remember knowing it was something BIG

3) Regan being shot. Same, if not the same age? But again, it was just a big, BIG thing.

My son and I shared a similar thing to the day Elvis died on the day Michael Jackson passed away. I sat on the couch weeping openly (Yes, that's true and I don't care who knows it). My son, who was 3 at the time was rubbing my back and said "Daddy, was Michael Jackson a friend of yours?". It was a full circle moment to what happened to my mom and I when I was 2. 

[SoulMonster]

I was in the lab, working on my Master's. I had a computer there and we watched the news as it unfolded. Then I hurried to my grandmother where my parents were visiting and saw the towers crumble on live TV. Hard to fathom that such a thing could happen. I was stunned for days.

A catastrophe always happens when my parents visit, btw. Some years later, as they were helping me out in my garden, Breivik did his massacre on Utøya. I suppose they are harbingers of death, my dear old parents.

[wasted]

I don’t know where I was. 

[BadApples87]

Well, I was 27 when this happened, so I remember it quite well.  My girlfriend, who is now my wife of 16 years, and I were on our way to the beach when the news broke.  It was quite an eerie scene at the beach that day.  Nobody outside.  Flags at half mass.  Everyone inside watching TV.  

The 9/11 memorial and museum in NYC is incredible.  We went there in 2014.  Must see for everyone visiting NYC.

[DeadSlash]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

Fuckin excellent call out with the Regan reference. I'm gonnna guess by that, that we're similar in age with me being slightly older perhaps?

I have 3 distinct memories of traumatic things from when I was very young.


1) Elvis Presley passing. I was only 2 but there was a HUGE feeling of sadness in our house that day. My mom was a huge fan and viewed Elvis as "a friend" because she'd grown up with him.

2) John Lennon being shot. Again, I was only 5 but I just remember knowing it was something BIG

3) Regan being shot. Same, if not the same age? But again, it was just a big, BIG thing.

My son and I shared a similar thing to the day Elvis died on the day Michael Jackson passed away. I sat on the couch weeping openly (Yes, that's true and I don't care who knows it). My son, who was 3 at the time was rubbing my back and said "Daddy, was Michael Jackson a friend of yours?". It was a full circle moment to what happened to my mom and I when I was 2. 

Yeah, looks like we are the sameish, I was born in 74.

[Dazey]

2 hours ago, DeadSlash said:

Yeah, looks like we are the sameish, I was born in 74.

I'm a little bit younger than you guys (born 79) but I still remember it pretty well. I was a student on my day off from Uni and I'd slept late that day because I was due to work a 3pm shift tending bar. Got a call from the living room to get out of bed and come see what had just happened on the news. We were both watching the coverage in shock when the second plane hit. It was pretty soon after that I guess when it became clear that this wasn't an accident. Anyway I went to work and spent most of the afternoon watching news coverage on the big screen in the bar feeling just a little bit shell shocked by the whole thing.

[Lio]

I was at work. Got an e-mail with the breaking news of a plane flying into WTC. I thought it was an accident at the time. My coworkers and me all went to watch it live on tv, and then the second plane crashed and we all realized this was no accident. I will never forget that feeling, even if I was in another part of the world. Suddenly all seemed unsure and unreal. As the story unfolded, it kept on becoming more surreal by the hour almost. We were all stunned for days, it seemed.

It's so strange that it's already been 17 years ago, and to many, it's like ancient history, when I can still recall the feeling so vividly. Guess that's getting old.