Remembering September 11th

[King Jim]

Remembering September 11.th. A very sad day.

I remerber I was at work, and I heard on my radio. Some planes crashed. Then I went home and told my friends and family. It was a very very sad day.

 

[JaniceFerSure]

I remember being in my basement,on the computer.Just one of those telepathy moments again.Something in my psyche told me to turn on the television.That's when the first plane just hit and I watched the 2nd plane then hit.It was such a surreal moment( just like the other tragedies that have been occurring ). May their souls rest in peace. I'm glad that there is a memorum menu in honor of them. Please,let us not forget those in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon that died today too.RIP.

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

I was at college. We left home maybe 15 minutes before the first plane hit. I didn't find out about it until my 9:30 class, when someone mentioned it to me in passing, and what he said didn't register. He was like, "Hey, did you hear a couple planes hit the World Trade Center?" And I said, "Gee, that's too bad. Kinda weird." And I figured he meant little private planes, and I think I assumed it must've been an accident, though it would've been weird with two. He mentioned it to our teacher and he hadn't heard anything either and just shrugged it off and we went on with the class, which ironically was watching the end of "Rebel Without a Cause," where the kid's in the planetarium all freaked out about the end of the world and everything. After class I left and passed by Bruno's, our little restaurant, and the news was on a big pull-down screen and everyone was watching. So I had to see what was going on, and then I understood. I was just shell-shocked for a while. And I was upset because my dad was on his way to State College for a meeting, and I think I stuck around long enough to hear about the crash in Pennsylvania. I'd already arranged to meet Mom at 11, to go birthday shopping for my brother, so she picked me up. Lots of people were leaving and everyone was lined up at the phones and computers trying to get ahold of people they knew. We went to the mall and there was a really weird aura about it. It wasn't very crowded at all. At KMart we noticed all the guns were locked up. My mom had first heard about what was going on when Dad called her and said he heard it on the radio and to turn on the TV. So she did, and she told him to turn around and come back home but for some reason he kept going anyway. As it turned out, they cancelled the meeting. But we were very glad to see him when he got back. We camped out in front on the TV all night and watched Peter Jennings start to act a little loopy out of lack of sleep. It was like the 2000 election, except there was an aura of almost comical absurdity about that, while this was dead serious. I was scared to death and was convinced World War III was about to start and we'd all be obliterated within a week. And people kept trotting out those stupid Nostradamus prophecies, most of which actually weren't his but were tailored to sound like his, and it freaked me out even more. I even cut my third class on Wednesday because I couldn't take anymore - only to find out later it had been cancelled anyway. But I was a complete basketcase for a couple of weeks at least. My best friend was really worried about me and couldn't understand why I was so affected by this, but I couldn't understand why she wasn't. I didn't know anyone personally who was killed, but it seemed like a disaster of that magnitude was personal to everyone.
Erin

 

[JaniceFerSure]

On a side note,I remember when the Challenger disaster happend.I was in 10th grade & we were watching ironically Dr. Strangelove at the same time the shuttle situation took place.Someone came into our classroom & made us turn the movie off & the tv on,and we all sat there dumbfounded and numb watching the shuttle crash.Unbelievable day.

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

I was five, and I was mad because I wanted to watch "The Polka Dot Door" and Dad was watching the launch - and subsequent explosion. I didn't realize this was the same channel and my show wasn't on anyway. I watched the whole thing but I don't think I really knew what was going on, and if I did I was too annoyed to care. I was a pain when I was five...
Erin

 

[core]

I have heard it on TV.
The first thing I tought was'
"Oh my got I don't hope this is the begin of WOIII"!

For the rest I have watched the whole day on television.

 

[Beebers]

The day itself was probably the most beautiful day I have ever seen in my lifetime. I'll never forget the pure color of the sky. I was gardening for a living at that time, out in the country, and often had to drive great distances from garden job to garden job. I had left one garden and was on my way to the next some distance away. We are not far from New York City and I had CBS news88 radio on in the car, on which it was all playing out. The radio reporters were rolling underneath parked cars and lying there continuing to report live, and I could hear every single terrible sound of the morning. I arrived at my next client's home, fighting fear and nausea, knocked on her door and told her I was going immediatey home. She had no idea what I was talking about. I didn't get into it with her, I simply said, "I suggest that you not be alone, and to turn on your television," and I took off. The half-hour drive back home was interminable. I drove much too fast and yet couldn't seem to get there quickly enough. To save money we did not have cable at the time. I called my best friend Greg, a veteran of two tours of Viet Nam, whom I knew would be home alone, and we spent the entire day and night with him in front of his T.V., out of our minds over it. We thought the planes would not stop coming and we did not want to die alone. Hours and hours were spent trying to get through on the phones to find out whether our many Manhattan friends, and family members around the area, had survived or not. The New England and NYC regular phone lines were absolutely jammed and you couldn't get through at all to anywhere 70% of the time. Some friends' fates we did not know until late the following day. A boy in our little village died in the North tower, some of our friends had minor injuries, and all have psychological injury. One friend was in a smaller adjacent building and saw many of the jumpers fall right before his eyes. He remembers with perfect clarity their faces, the colors of their ties and socks and dresses. Others walked the walk over the Brooklyn Bridge in a complete daze of shock. One friend told us of Crips gang members, one of the most vicious gangs in New York, cruising the bridge, doling out kindness, and giving shell-shocked walkers rides to train stations on the other side so that they could get home, and giving the walkers bags of potato chips and water to drink. As I get older I find it harder and harder to talk about that day. My dear friend Greg, with whom I shared it, died this year of his Viet Nam injuries, and it's all intertwined for me somehow; I once thought I might live long enough to see a world not only peaceful, peace alone is not enough, but free as well, free to just be, and free from destruction and fear, stupidity, ignorance and hate. I grew up through Viet Nam, civil rights violence, the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin King, Middle East tensions, and the cold war, and here we are and I am weary now indeed of what people are capable of doing. Thank you for starting this thread, it's important that people talk about it if they need to.

 

[JaniceFerSure]

I remember also the deaths specifically of John Lennon,years later John Belushi too; listening to the radio/music being interrupted,the report of John Lennon arriving at the hospital fatally shot,I listened to the broadcast,tears pouring down.

I do agree thanks for starting this thread for us.

 

[Whatever]

I was in high school German class. Some boys came in and turned on the TV. I thought they were goofing off and was ready to bawl them out when I saw... I didn't think I was in any danger, but I was very worried for my family members in NY and Chicago. I don't think we had any class, we just watched the TV. The principal made an announcement that everything would go on as normal. Right after that a fire alarm went off. Talk about paranoia, we evacuated the building. It was later announced that there'd been a malfunction, but most thought it was a prank. As soon as I got home, I checked my e-mail and was extremely grateful to have letters from the family members I was worried about, assuring me that everyone was okay.

 

[McFraggle]

I was at college. I remember my teacher telling her aide to bring up something on MSNBC.com. Nothing more was said and after class I went back to my dorm room. As I turned on the TV, all I could see was the smoke. At that time they (the media) were still not exactly sure what happened and just watching all of the aftermath in real time is certainly something I will never forget. It was such a sad and surreal day. One of the first things I did was call my mom and we talked about what had happened. Later that day as I went to another class, it just seemed so quiet on campus and the general feeling seemed to be was the fear of what was yet to come.