9-11 Is Monday. What's Your Story?

[Murph]

09-11-01. I was off that morning drinking coffee. My wife was at work, she worked 3rd shift in those days. The baby was asleep. When I turned on the television, the first plane had already hit the first building. Everybody was still speculating.

I saw the second plane hit the second building on live t.v. and knew this was war. Some kind of war. I actually locked the house and went 2 blocks and filled my truck with gas, and quickly returned. My wife and daughter were scheduled to drive to Louisiana the following morning to see her mother. When she got home, I took her Nissan Pathfinder out looking for gas. There were gas lines wrapping around city blocks at that point, she had a 1/2 tank and I just returned home, and she called her mom and cancelled the trip.

American media wasn't nearly as corrupt in those days and we Americans were immediately patriotic, and ready to fight. We were pissed. Flags were out, taped to cars, flying from business, homes and trees. People were joining the military within' hours, and it was on!

I didn't lose any family or friends that day, but many, many did, and the world changed instantly. I think average IQ's have dropped, sanity has left the building and people are more divided than ever on a host of subjects.

But not that day.

[Karloff]

I was at work listening to the radio & I heard it reported that a plane flew into one of the towers. I immediately thought it was a small private plane, situation like what happened to the Empire State Building decades earlier.  then I heard a 2nd plane hit & knew something crazy just happened. everyone wound up in the break room watching the news coverage on tv.  then I watched the 1st tower collapse & thought "that's just like when they demo a building".  

Edited September 7, 2023 by Karloff

[Larsongs]

I retired 9-10-2001…

Early morning 9-11-2001 I had just poured a cup of Coffee & was going to kick back, enjoy my first day of retirement & watch the News.. I watched the whole thing in real time.. I flashed back to my time in Vietnam.. We never thought it could happen here.. But, it did…. The World changed that day. Our Country changed that day. It hasn’t been the same since..

Edited September 7, 2023 by Larsongs

[gearbasher]

I worked in Manhattan, but I happened to be on vacation that day. I watched the news for a while and figured there was nothing I can do. Being an avid cyclist, I decided to go for a ride. I got about 3 miles from my house when ashes started to rain down on me. I turned around, went home, shut all my widows and basically sat around all day.

[Sgt. Pepper]

I was in the USCG stationed on a Patrol Boat in Puerto Rico. A crewmember's wife called, and said a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. We turned on the TV on the Mess  Deck and saw the world had just changed in the blink of an eye.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[fortyearspickn]

I was in a training session with 20 or so others being put on by the HR Weenies.  They gave us updates. We spent the entire lunch break glued to the news.  They re-convened and completed the training around 3 pm.  We felt they were as stupid and clueless about everything at that point.  Very disappointed.   I had a 3rd cousin on my mother's side (Lynch) in the NYFD who didn't make it out that day.  Another cousin driving in to The City, worked at the Twin Towers, saw the plane hit while crossing some bridge, turned around and went home.    Remind me of that Revolutionary War song  "The World Turned Upside Down"   part of the music un-earthed for "Hamilton".   Michael Lynch, apparently was substituting for a fellow firefighter that day. 

[Pinch]

I turned on CNN one day, I believe it was morning over here. I was just... It took a long time to even believe it wasn't a movie. 

It changed a lot of things, obviously. Remember flying before? 

[GuitarsAnn]

I was at one of our electrical substations safeguarding painters  and listening to the radio when the first report of a "small" plane hitting the World Trade Center came  in. Then it it quickly escalated into the tragedy we know today. Didn't see any televised reports until that evening when I got home from work. I will NEVER FORGET.

Edited September 7, 2023 by GuitarsAnn

[ksdaddy]

I was at work and happened to be alone at my end of the building. I was hung over and sick. A female coworker came down the hall and told me a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. All I could picture was a little Cessna smacking into the building and wondering how in the world they would be able to clean up the mess, up high like that. Next thing I knew, a report came in that a second plane had hit, and we got the call to shut the office down for the day. 
 

I think 9/11 has affected me a lot, even though I’m a few states away and didn’t lose anyone, nor did I have any direct affect in the ensuing military actions. But now I tend to think of things as “pre-911” or “post 911”.  I listen to old Art Bell shows at night and when the announcer says (paraphrased) “this show was originally broadcast on August 4, 2001” or similar, I cringe and feel sick, knowing 9-11 was coming up. 

[SteveFord]

One of my younger cousins was at work on the 101st floor of the 2nd tower.  Wife, two young kids, none of those people that  day had anything to do with any sort of conflict in the Middle East.

It took a while but I'm glad they threw Bin Laden in the drink.  Say hello to the fish for me.

[tx-ogre]

It was early morning and I was watching it on TV, seeing the second plane hit the second tower.  All leave and non-essential travel was cancelled.  I was recovering from gall bladder surgery and scheduled for double-hernia surgery a few days later.  Fortunately, I was able to go through with the surgery.  As soon as I was physically able, I was back in the game.  Things were never the same after that day.

[IanHenry]

I saw it on TV here in the UK and couldn't believe my eyes. A truly monstrous depraved act.

I hope their 70 virgins turn out to be old hags, hence the reason why their still virgins.

Edited September 8, 2023 by IanHenry

[Sheepdog1969]

I was at home, 40 odd miles northwest of Chicago, looking forward to starting a new job with Toshiba in a few days. (My job at Ameritech had disappeared when SBC bought us out.) I flipped on the TV just after the first plane hit, and despite the TV people saying it was a small plane, I knew it was defiantly knew it had to be a large plane.  I had just been in New York city in late July of 2001 with my parents, house hunting in Manhattan. My Dad was working for Morgan Stanley in Chicago, but they wanted him to move to NY and work out of their office in the South Tower.  Morgan Stanley was the largest company in either of the Twin Towers, with more than 20 floors in 2 World Trade Center. Extending up to the 74th floor, its offices were located just below the impact zone of one of the hijacked planes. I remember being amazed at how wide the towers were when we visited. Each tower's foot print encompassed at least one square city block. The Sears tower in Chicago wasn't nearly that wide. A small plane, like a Cessna, would look like a grain of sand compared to that. Thankfully, Dad was still working at the Chicago office on 9/11, and just as I picked up the phone to call him there, the second plane hit. When he answered my call, I was stunned to learn that his office was oblivious to what was happening. He told me that the NY office had mentioned something about a small plane hitting one of the towers, but they were still "business as usual" in NY. When I explained what had happened, he didn't believe me until someone in his office turned on the TV. I told him that we were at war that they were using large commercial jets as missiles, and Chicago skyscrapers would be their next target. Since he was a Metra train commuter, I explained that he wouldn't be able to evacuate Chicago that way and that Ogilvie station would be chaos. He needed to leave now, either with a coworker who drove to work, or by renting a car from the Hertz office on the first floor of his building. He and three other train commuting coworkers were able to secure one of the last rental cars available from that Hertz location that morning. I told him to have one of the three coworkers call me on their cell once they got out of the building's garage so I could guide them home. Knowing the expressways would soon become parking lots, I had them take surface streets, like Milwaukee Ave., to get out of the city. 3 hours later, they were all home.

Just like with comedy, timing is everything. Had the timing been different, Dad could have been working in the Towers. We know now that Chicago WAS a target, and had a ground stop not been ordered when it was, Chicago would have been hit. Obviously Dad's escape from Chicago wasn't "life saving", but it was prudent. Needless to say, Dad decided not to move to New York when Morgan Stanley finally was able to move the Chicago office there. 

[Murph]

Timing indeed.

The chaos was nationwide for days.

 

[kidblast]

like most of you guys I was at work, 

one of my coworkers had just been down at the cafeteria for coffee, stopped by to tell me "Some idiot just flew a plane into the trade center"

while we were shooting the blarney,  2 minutes go by, everyone is leaving their offices, heading to the cafeteria.

by the time we get there, the facilities crew had already setup more TVs  and the place was packed. 

Everyone just watching the TVs including the entire cafeteria staff.

I just looked at my buddy and said "This seems something more than some idiot in a plane"

Right about then is when the second plane slammed into the second tower

 

 

[merciful-evans]

I was in the office at work. The word spread quickly and everybody was getting the news up on monitors. It was after this that I told some people on a faith forum that 'I no longer care about what you think or believe. I only care about what you do'. I regard zealotry of any kind to be dangerous. All that misery, heartbreak and horror was overwhelming.

I took this on a visit in 2014. 

[Mr. Gibson]

Like everyone else I was drinking coffee and watching the news when the sh1t started to unfold. My older brother was working at the Pentagon at the time and when the plane hit the Pentagon he was only 2 windows to the right of impact. He never got hurt. His office ended up getting destroyed in the aftermath and he ended somewhere else for the rest of his tenure in the navy. 

[saturn]

I was working at BWI for US Airways as a Supervisor at the time. I was also trained as Ground Security Coordinator (GSC). As part of my ongoing GSC training, a good portion was taken up discussing Al Qaeda and OBL. That whole summer before 9/11 we were constantly getting Information Circulars and Security Directives from the FAA. There was definite intel that something was being planned. But most of the concern was with IEDs and artfully concealed weapons.   

The night before, I was late night Supervisor and got out after midnight. Me and a few others stayed up drinking a little after work, so I got home about 2am. The next morning, my 2 older kids went off to school and my wife was taking  our youngest son to Ikea with her mom and sister. She woke me up and said a plane had hit WTC. I assumed a small plane and went back to sleep. At some point I realized it was eerily quiet because I can usually hear planes flying over our house. Then I heard the sound of jet engines and could tell it wasn't a civilian aircraft and it sounded right above the roof. I got up and looked out window to see two A-10s flying just above tree level.  I got up, let my dog out and switched on TV to see the chaos. I immediately knew it was OBL behind what was happening.  I tried calling the office at work, since I was due in at 3PM but got no answer. I called my manager on his cell phone and he told me the airport has been evacuated and don't bother trying to get in.

One of the women at work, was working  the gates and her husband was in the tower as an Air Traffic Controller. He called her at the gate she was working and told her there was still one plane in the air and may be headed toward BWI. Somehow she repeated this and it was overheard, and a panic began and spread. People began running for the exits and just dropped  their belongings, lost their shoes etc.  Glad I missed all that.  There's so much more I could elaborate on, but I don't feel like typing all that and it would probably just bore you all. 🙂

Although I didn't directly know anyone killed, that day certainly affected my job, career and basically entire life thereafter.  

  

 

[merciful-evans]

22 hours ago, saturn said:

 

Although I didn't directly know anyone killed, that day certainly affected my job, career and basically entire life thereafter.  

  

 

 

I cant think of anyone it didn't hit in the pocket. But that's only money. The real misery is still going on for many bereaved. 

[DanvillRob]

Was working in my office.... when I left home, I told the wife I'd be home Friday....was headed to Washington then Salt Lake City (set up for the Winter Olympics).

Heard about the first plane on the radio....went into the conference room and watched it on the TV there.....

After a while, my wife called.... I answered the phone and she said, "What are you doing there?"    

I said, "I work  here."

She said, "No, you said you were going to Washington today.".... I said, "I'm sure not going now!".

She didn't know if I meant Washington State or Washington DC.   I was planning to leave at noon for University of Washington in Seattle.

[Sgt. Pepper]

On 9/8/2023 at 5:40 AM, IanHenry said:

I saw it on TV here in the UK and couldn't believe my eyes. A truly monstrous depraved act.

I hope their 70 virgins turn out to be old hags, hence the reason why their still virgins.

Where does it say you get attractive virgins of the sex you are attracted to? Or even a person?

Edited September 11, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Guest]

It was my now mother-in-law's birthday (as it is again today, of course). I was at work. It was mid afternoon over here. Work was in a call centre at the time and my shift had only started an hour or so before. News didn't travel as fast during the working day back then with no smart phones and people generally only using work systems on the PCs. Obviously with something that big news did start coming in and I specifically remember calling bullshit the first I heard of it. No way 2 planes had hit the twin towers. I was sure. 

As the shift went on into the evening and got quiet, and details had been filled in I remember a chap, Steve was his name, turning to me looking emotionally wiped out and said "the world changed forever today, you mark my words". He was absolutely right, of course. 

I can't offer prayers and I'd have no idea how to really send "vibes" but all my American friends are in my thoughts today. 

 

[fortyearspickn]

On 9/7/2023 at 10:30 AM, fortyearspickn said:

I was in a training session with 20 or so others being put on by the HR Weenies.  They gave us updates. We spent the entire lunch break glued to the news.  They re-convened and completed the training around 3 pm.  We felt they were as stupid and clueless about everything at that point.  Very disappointed.   I had a 3rd cousin on my mother's side (Lynch) in the NYFD who didn't make it out that day.  Another cousin driving in to The City, worked at the Twin Towers, saw the plane hit while crossing some bridge, turned around and went home.    Remind me of that Revolutionary War song  "The World Turned Upside Down"   part of the music un-earthed for "Hamilton".   Michael Lynch, apparently was substituting for a fellow firefighter that day. 

Turned out he was a 2nd cousin not a 3rd...  - wife did some'ancestry research'.  We heard his name read off at the commemorative service yesterday morning, watching on TV.                               22 years ago -   When I was a kid in 1963, I thought Pearl Harbor was ancient history.  Obviously it was real and recent and painful to our parents.  Maybe in another 50 years, there will be people claiming 9/11 never happened like the Holocaust.   I read some comments on a different site where people are claiming it wasn't a commercial jet liner that hit the Pentagon, but a missile.   Pffft!

[10PoundLester]

Having been out in the field all day and knowing nothing about it, when I got home the first thing I saw on the tv was bldg. 7 going down and I thought to myself, "Why would they be doing a controlled demolition now?".

[DanvillRob]

42 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

Turned out he was a 2nd cousin not a 3rd...  - wife did some'ancestry research'.  We heard his name read off at the commemorative service yesterday morning, watching on TV.                               22 years ago -   When I was a kid in 1963, I thought Pearl Harbor was ancient history.  Obviously it was real and recent and painful to our parents.  Maybe in another 50 years, there will be people claiming 9/11 never happened like the Holocaust.   I read some comments on a different site where people are claiming it wasn't a commercial jet liner that hit the Pentagon, but a missile.   Pffft!

This is a guy I worked with, (truth be known, his family OWNS the company), and he told me this story one day at breakfast!

Many people consider the Crown Family a crime family, but I love them and gladly worked for them right up until I retired:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/September_11/911-anniversary-survivor-reflects-escaping-death/story?id=14479161