Saturday 9/11 - Where Were You 3 Years Ago Today?

[Greenguy]

I was sorta hoping that someone else would have started the official Saturday thread today, because I was - and still am - at a loss for words on how to start it.

I can't exactly go with "Happy..." or "Good Saturday..." because, after all, it was 3 years ago today that the lives of every American - and probably alot of people around the world - changed.

I know that everyone will be remembering those that were lost 3 years ago - that's a given. But let's do this.....

Where were you 3 years ago today?

I remember I was still in bed when the 1st plane hit. Karen woke me up to tell me to turn on the news. I sat in bed & watched in shock for about 5 minutes & then came down to my office, turned on the TV & called Jim. If I remember correctly, I was on the phone or ICQ with him when the 2nd plane hit. All I really remember after that was watching the TV for 3 straight days.

I do remember that...
Emerald was stuck in Chicago for a couple days.
It was XXXJay's 30th birthday.
We didn't know where Tommy & Barbie were and later found out they were stuck in Mexico on vacation & Tommy had messed up his shoulder, but they were not in NYC, which was our main concern.

So, let's fill this thread - where were you?

[MrMaryLou]

I remember it well Jim ICQed me said hey are you watching cnn by the time I turned it on the second plane was hitting the tower

[Surfn]

I was sitting here listening to Fox and Friends when they started showing an accident or something had happened to one of the WTC towers. It piqued my curiosity because I use to enjoy eating at "Windows on the World" and I have/had friends working in the two towers. Then the second one hit and all hell broke loose...I sat here numb, transfixed, and wondering if it was the end of the world ...

Tis a sad memory because I don't know if any of the jumpers were friends or not. I only hope that friends I lost went quickly with little or no suffering.

[Cleo]

Morning all

On 9/11 I was exactly in the same spot as I am right now doing just what I'm doing now, posting on a board, same time, same place, different board.

Someone posted that a plane had hit the WTC and to turn on CNN so I did, watched the 2nd plane hit and I posted this.
"A second plan just crashed into the building while I was watching. It looks like we are under attack!!!
Cleo
Message # 9472 208.61.44.30 Tue Sep 11 07:58:29 2001"

So sad
So many people killed in a pointless attack. I watched them build the towers when I was young and visited them a few times, even ate in the Top Of The World restaurant.

I still think they need to rebuild them or at least put back office space as tall as what was there.



On a lighter note…
Waited all day for my insurance company to call and they were the one call that I missed so now I'm playing voice mail tag.

[docholly]

I took it very personally. I was at IKON in Atlanta doing a database job and was watching the aftermath of the 1st when the 2nd one hit. MY CITY!! and having worked at 2WTC for 5 yrs, i knew there was no way the 1st one was an accident because of the safety measures that were in place already, no fly zones etc.

My husband was called back from retirement on Oct 3rd, 2001. My son and i went to NYC for 45 days from Oct 10 to Nov 24th to aid the volunteer program. I lost 22 former co-workers and friends.

Yes it was personal for me, which is why i intend to do everything possible to make sure the administration that was on "watch" is held accountable, not by the current powers that are there, but by the people when we go to the polls and vote every last MoFo out of there!!

Thanks for the Tips-N-Tricks yesterday, GG&J, it was very timely and motivational.

[Dr Bizzaro]

At the time, I was still working for a start up company and living about 2 blocks away from the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago.

I was updating my sites and getting ready to go into the office when my wife told me to turn on the TV. As I was watching the one on fife, the other plane hit.
Then the report of the one going down in a field and the one that hit the Pentagon.
I thought for sure the Sears tower would get hit as well.

The wife and I grabbed the dog and hopped in the car and got out of the city for the day, just in case.

Drove to my parents house in the suburbs. Incidently my cousin who lives in NY was visiting and staying at my parents house. He slept till about 1pm. And awoke to find what had happened and that he could not get home.

That was a surreal day.

[Greenguy]

You know, I think a lot of us forget about the other 2 planes - the one that crashed in PA was only about 200 miles from here & crashed in a field near Rt 219, which starts up here in Buffalo & run about 1 mile from my house.

I also remember saying to myself a day or 2 after that "It's time to get the flags out" I've had 2 flags flying on my property ever sense.

[Kezza]

I was asleep in bed and Mark came in to tell me what had happened... I didnt fully comprehend what he was saying, and rolled over and went back to sleep. In the morning I realised that Mark had been up following the events on television all night... actually watching the devastation in the US and our world changing.

Driving to work that morning was almost dream like... the radio in the car was covering all events... everyone had their car headlights on as a sign of respect and acknowledgement... and looking across at other cars stopped at traffic lights, I saw drivers, both men and women, crying as they listened to the same reports as I was.

Its a day that changed us all.

[Jim]

Yep, I was here watching "Today" like every morning. When Matt said, we have a breaking story. I jumped up and ran to tell Vickie to change the chanel to Today. I had to write a newsletter the next day for Cybererotica. All I did was write a statement from all of us titled, "America Weeps".

[MrMaryLou]

Yes there were so many lost that day and here we are three years to the today and feelings from that day are as strong as they were 3 years ago With all the things that happen since this sad day three years ago the rat who master minded the whole thing is still a free man how can this be

[tiny]

I was livin in cali at the time and for some strange reason woke up at 5 am and turned on the tube after 2nd cup of coffee. and pretty much like everyone else was glued watching when the second hit..
I icq'd my boss who was on the eastcost something i'll never forget seein that for sure

[plateman]

I was at my tranny rebuilding job when it come over the radio and after words I was glued to the radio and cnn.. Also my step fathers daughter family works in the city so it was a scramble to see if they were ok.. This was something that should never happened, And the sick thing about it is that they will never give up trying to harm us and our free way of living life in the USA..

Truly a very sad day for everyone that lost life and the people that went though it..

[Torn Rose]

It was my day off and Toni and I was getting ready to go see the 11am showing of “American Pie 2”, we had gone out the night before to watch the first MNF game and had a really good time that we woke up in a good mood.

I was in the shower when Toni came in a told me a plane hit the WTC, I started to laugh, since I was thinking a 2 seat Cessna for some odd reason and thinking damn, how could anyone hit a big ass building w/o doing it on purpose. Then we turned the TV on and I saw the smoke and knew it wasn’t a small plane.

We had missed seeing the 2nd hit by seconds. And that deep sick feeling hit knowing that I was right, it wasn’t an accident.

I called my dad who lives in way north Minnesota, since I knew it was his day off and he never watches TV until at night, so Toni and I sat in our office and talked to our parents on the phone watching it all go down.

[jennym]

I had just put my daughter on the bus. I sat down to watch the Today Show, and saw the first plane in the building. I woke Dean up, and told him about it. It was so weird. While I was watching, I saw the 2nd plane come into the picture. I remember thinking "WTF is that plane doing?" It was completely slow motion as the other plane hit. I knew right then we were under a terrible attack. I went and got Dean out of bed, and we were glued to the TV all day. Then, the plane hit the Pentagon, and the other went down in Pa. It was so surreal. It is a day that will definitely never be forgotten.

Our kids made a flag out of colored plastic cups stuffed in a chain link fence at school. It is still there, and the cups are replaced as needed. There were sooo many flowers. The kids bring flowers every year on Sept. 11, and lay them at the fence under the flag.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all who lost loved ones that day.

[Toni KatVixen]

That day was surreal……..

It was my day off, so it was one of the few days we got to sleep in on. Torn was in the shower, we had yet to turn on TV (which is usually on CNN Headline) & I had to call a co-worker, as I was the phone she had the radio going. She was “something is happening, the Pentagon has been attacked”………I turned on TV & ran in to tell Torn.

We called our parents; we had both missed seeing the towers as they were hit. Torn was telling his dad that a tower was missing & trying to convince him that it wasn’t just the camera angle. I was on the other phone with my mom……..as we both watched the 2nd tower collapse……..my mom was like “OMG” and had to let me go.

Torn went and put our flag at half-staffed.

We spent the next few days just glued to the TV………sometimes I still feel as if it was all a nightmare and I’m going to wake up, maybe cause I want it to be…..

[selena]

~wipes eyes, heart tugged upon~

Like Cleo, I was sitting right in front of the monitor. I was in a chat room, and one of the regulars came on saying a plane had hit one of the towers. It was so early into the attack right then, that no one in the room really grasped what was happening. I had to leave just a couple of minutes after that for a very quick trip to the dentist.

As I sat in his chair, neither of us said a word, listening to the radio. The growing sense of dread was almost...palatable. He checked what he needed to, and I was out of there, and flew the handful of blocks back home. I was sitting on my couch watching when the second plane hit. Then I was glued to the TV up until the afternoon.

I was in school then, and I had a logic and design class. I called the school, and classes were still in session. So I made the 30 some mile trip. I was afraid of getting behind in the class. When I pulled onto campus, the sight of the flag flying just broke me. Cried the first tears then. And also marched into my class, and informed my professor and everyone else that we weren't starting anything until that flag came down to half mast. I don't know why it was just an instant and complete obsession, but it was. I was allowed to present my feelings to the Dean, and he saw that the groundspeople lowered it.

The drive home was totally surreal. One gas station had a line of cars over a mile long. The trip that normally took 45 minutes or so took close to 2 hours. People were just everywhere...like lost damned children, waiting on somone to make it better.

I was anxious to get my boys with me. That was all I cared about. Getting them with me and keeping them safe. I live 12 miles away from an inland Navy base that is considered a target by some. The odds are likely against anything ever happening there, but that day changed all my basis for comparison. I just knew that if we were going to die, we were going to die together.

As soon as I got them from their school, I came home and turned on CNN, where they were showing the endless replays. My youngest was 5 then, and he thought that every time they showed a replay, another plane was hitting. So I turned it off, and we've never watched news in this house since when he is awake.

As I just told a new friend in Q, if there was any silver lining to that cloud that is so dark...it is that overall, I have a different perspective. Hell, I'm not perfect, and I still lose it over stupid things sometimes.

But sometimes I am able to catch myself, when I start to get irritated by this or that, or start to feel sorry for myself, or whatever. And I look at faded and tattered red, white and blue ribbons fluttering on my front porch, and at the sign in my yard supporting our troops...and I say thank you to those that helped me gain perspective through their own tragic deaths.

And when I am, I remember what is really important in my life, and how lucky I am to have those things. Things in the form of two sons.

Thanks, Greenie. This thread is so fucking painfully, yet helpful at the same time. You gave us a place to articulate what we are feeling today.

~hugs~

[Ramster]

I had just got to work (I had a real job back then) and was logging onto the net when I saw Cleo's post about a plane hitting. I called my wife and she turned on CNN to see that a second plane had hit.

I went home until after noon to see what was going on.

[stuveltje]

i know i just picked up the kids from school and was zapping the telly and saw the first plane hitting in, my mouth felt open, its something you cant believe that it is happening, while i tried to call my hubby on his work, the second plane came in......i couldnt say anything and just stood there, i sat down infront the telly and followed all what was happening the rest of the day and eve and night and the days after, have phoned alot of fam and friends trying to get some info about people who i know lived nearby WTC...they survived, sadly many others not....

[Trev]

I forget why... but my cable was out... I missed the planes actually hitting... but I heard about it and dug out the little battery operated b&w tv and started watching. Soon I was online talking to a group of friends.

What sticks out most in my mind was when the towers went down... I was sitting hear open mouthed, watching it in shock on a 9" b&w tv.... it all seemed so surreal. The words I remember most are..... there goes the other one.......

[Ghost&Lliandrin]

I was in bed and my ex called me and told me to turn on the tv. I did and watched for a moment as the reporter was talking about the terrible "accident" of the first plane. Then the second plane came into view and my heart stopped for a second and I realized that this was not an accident. I spent the rest of the day in a daze, I worked in a mental health hospital for children then and when I went to work that afternoon it was so tough to deal with my own emotions as well as those kids'. They were so scared and being locked away from their families made it worse. Being there for them really helped me though.

Lliandrin

[ReyRey]

I woke up with my alarm radio and heard it first there then I turned on the tv and started watching it. I couldn't beleive this was happening. 3 years have gone by and it still seems like it was yesterday. God Bless them all and may we never forget!

ReyRey

[Petros]

I was at home that day and it was afternoon here in Europe.
When i turn on Tv i saw that one tower is on fire but i didn`t know that plane hit the building.On the news here they didn`t know exacly what happened.Then secend plane came up and hit the secend tower. After that i spend the rest of the day watching news. Good bless all Them and all people who died in rescue action

I know that i am changing the subject a little bit but it`s still about terrorism.Did you heared about Terrorism attack on that school in Russia almost 200 hundred kids died.It is really horrible i never thought that they can do something like this.What next?????

[Alphawolf]

I was working in an office building 'bout 20 miles from NYC. When i got in I had my coffee and someone mentioned a small plane hit the WTC.

At first, it was business as usual until someone put the TV on in the meeting room.

Soon the meeting room was flooded with people watching- many of whom had family/friends working in the tower or area.

When plane 2 hit live as we watched that was very fucked up.

When the 1st tower fell that was horrible.

After a while when I heard about the other planes I just figured if they had several they probably had several dozen.

I left and was able to get home just as they were closing off all the Western bound parkway exits.

I watched TV like everyone else.

I also put together my computer to give me something to do.

I actually went out around 7PM to geta computer part. There was nobody out and the store was closed.

It's still pretty amazing to me after seeing lots of documenteries that people didn't start freaking out in general.

Everyone was in shock.

[ChrisExtreme]

I was a mananger at Home Depot in queens, NY at the time. The first plane hit right after I got to work that day. The TV we had was a piece of crap and the picture was fuzzy so looking at it I kept thinking it was a small plane that just went off course. After the second plane hit we closed down the store because some of the employees had family that worked in the towers. At this time some officers from NYPD showed up with a list of supplies they needed so me another manager loaded up a truck with generators, gloves, power tools, and other safety equipment. Then we made a stop at the supermarket to load 2 pallets of water onto the truck and then took everything to police station. We waitied around there for a few hours to see if they wanted us to drive the truck into manahattan but eventually they decided to do it themselves.

I remember that day like it was yesterday, its really weird I can close my eyes and picture everything perfectly and I can still feel the sun beating down on me that day. I remember standing in the street talking to a cop and he was scared, all he kept saying was that he "didn't need this shit anymore" he said he was going to retire asap. I remember thinking that it was going to be my last day on earth, I expected more shit to happen that day and didn't think there was going to be a tomorrow. I remember calling my parents and wanting my sister to get back home with them. I remember watching all the off duty cops rushing into the police station and coming out in riot gear and being loaded onto a bus to go the WTC. Sometimes I think I just remember too much and wish I didn't.

Also, at one point in my drive to work I used to see the twin towers and for weeks after the attacks I remember the big cloud of smoke that marked were the towers stood. I also remember smelling the smoke and thinking that was the smell of bodies burning.

May all those who were senselessly killed Rest In Peace

[RawAlex]

Ahh... an easy question.

9/11/2001 started with me in an airplane. Actually, 9/10 started with me in an airplane, late flights not my normal (I usually fly as early as possibly in the day, more time to handle fuckups). My second flight into vegas was delayed, and I finally got into vegas about 3am local time. My (at the time) business partner picked me up and I crashed at his place.

Less than 3 hours later, the first plane hit. He was already up watching the news, and I guess sat just sort of stunned. I thought it was just a really bad accident. Then the second plane hit, and he came to wake me up... about 6 am local time, I guess.

I was trapped in Vegas for a while, away from my friends and such. I can remember being outisde the next day, and being stunned by the silence. Vegas is an air town, always planes, copters, and everything, and on that day, EVERYTHING was grounded. People weren't working, the hotels and casinos were quiet. It was surreal.

9/11 was a tragedy, a horrible act of war from an enemy that is but a shadow, not a solid object. The biggest tragedy is that the current president has used this single act as an excuse for so many agressive actions, which has cost the lives of almost as many americans again.

Death and revenge bring nothing but more death and revenge. It is a cycle that doesn't stop without the will to stop it.

Alex