To be fair, I had typed I was talking to my wife on the phone originally, but then remembered that our wedding was actually 4 weeks later. That was less of a not remembering things clearly than it was almost 20 years of referring to her as my wife.
Where were you on 9/11?
- Thread starter CyVeteran
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To be fair, I had typed I was talking to my wife on the phone originally, but then remembered that our wedding was actually 4 weeks later. That was less of a not remembering things clearly than it was almost 20 years of referring to her as my wife.
Wasn't targeting you or anybody specifically. With the type of thing I'm talking about, none of us even know we are remembering incorrectly. We remember that day way more than the other 1000s of days, but we remember details wrong in a way that we are certain our memories are correct.
I have a pretty clear morning and night memory. I think they are both accurate, one made me feel embarrassed I hit snooze alarm three times and the other made me angry at some jerks. A scientific investigation would have a pretty good chance of showing me I am not remembering one or both of them correctly.
Another thing in the sports realm. I remember watching the Monday Night football game the night before. I'm pretty sure Denver was just breaking in their new stadium and Ed McCaffrey snapping his leg. I dont know why I remember all that, I guess because it was the very last sporting event before the world changed forever.
I was mowing my yard when Bush flew back to DC from Omaha with a convoy of jets, a day or two later? I was confused because jet travel was suspended at the time, found out later it was Bush.
RE Williams that wasn't faulty memory, dude was flat out lying and he knew it. You don't forget a RPG hitting the plane in front vs. your own plane.
I was at work in the closet like office I had at the time and had to call our IT guy. He helped me with what I needed and then said that a plane had hit the WTC. Like everyone else I pictured a Cessna. When I learned it was much more than that I went up to our conference room where they already had the TV on. Got pretty much nothing done as we watched coverage including the second plane hit - now we knew for sure it was an attack not an accident - and both towers falling.
I never think of that little office (the room doesn't exist anymore) unless I am thinking of 9/11.
I never think of that little office (the room doesn't exist anymore) unless I am thinking of 9/11.
My oldest son and I were golfing at the course just north of Adel. Found out about it when we made the turn for the back nine.
Oak-Elm dining hall. I knew something had happened because the usual crap music had been replaced by news coverage of something I couldn't understand in that moment, part because the fidelity was crap and part because my mind was on eating breakfast and getting to class. I wouldn't find out what that was all about until I actually got to class and the other students were discussing it.
First heard it on radio when dropping some of kids at elementary school. Was hoping they hadn’t heard anything but they had. Most of their teachers had it on TV all day long.
The weird detail that always sticks in my mind to this day is how that Sunday (9/11 was a Tuesday) my brother and I were discussing how nothing globally significant had ever happened in our lives at that point.
Wait, you guys didn’t think the fall of the Soviet Union was globally significant?
There was a really good article in the Washington Post this week about the summer of 2001 and what was happening right before everything changed. It's kind of crazy to think back on that summer and everything that was going to happen. Sort of like when you think back to February 2020 and how you had no idea that life was going to change as we knew it.
I'd also really recommend the book 102 Minutes. There's a documentary but the book is a lot better. The one thing that the book does really well is talk about the problems with the rescue and evacuation. With such a disaster, there were obviously going to be problems and everyone did the very best they could. But the NYFD and NYPD did not have radios that were capable with each other. The 2nd tower told people not to leave after the 1st tower was hit, which likely cost a lot of lives (a lot more people died in tower 2 since it was hit later and fell first).
I'd also really recommend the book 102 Minutes. There's a documentary but the book is a lot better. The one thing that the book does really well is talk about the problems with the rescue and evacuation. With such a disaster, there were obviously going to be problems and everyone did the very best they could. But the NYFD and NYPD did not have radios that were capable with each other. The 2nd tower told people not to leave after the 1st tower was hit, which likely cost a lot of lives (a lot more people died in tower 2 since it was hit later and fell first).
good reminder of how young this board is.
I remember how useless cell phones were in 2001 - couldn't get ahold of anyone in NYC until the next day.
very lucky my friends in the financial district were all safe, including one in the towers who overslept that day because he was up watching MNF in the bars!
When the ISU/Iowa game got cancelled decided to drive home to iowa that weekend anyway and saw so many rental cars with out of state license plates doing 90mph just trying to get home....
I remember how useless cell phones were in 2001 - couldn't get ahold of anyone in NYC until the next day.
very lucky my friends in the financial district were all safe, including one in the towers who overslept that day because he was up watching MNF in the bars!
When the ISU/Iowa game got cancelled decided to drive home to iowa that weekend anyway and saw so many rental cars with out of state license plates doing 90mph just trying to get home....
I was a freshman at ISU. My roommate and I were walking out our door and the guy next door asked if we’d heard about the World Trade Center being bombed. My roommate said, “I think that happened in the 90’s.” We all shrugged and went to class. Then the professor told us what had happened. I still don’t think I realized what a big deal it was until later that day, watching the coverage on the TV.
Had recently graduated ISU and was working a night shift. Wife was still at ISU and was getting ready to go to class. Got up and turned on the TV about 8:15, or shortly after the second plane hit I believe.
I think the hardest thing to describe that often gets lost in retrospect is that for quite a while there was this great unknown as to how big this coordinated attack was, and if these were just the first of many dominoes to fall.
Still remember going to work that night and at breaks I remember people late coming back because they were trying to fill their cars up and there were long lines at the gas stations.
I think the hardest thing to describe that often gets lost in retrospect is that for quite a while there was this great unknown as to how big this coordinated attack was, and if these were just the first of many dominoes to fall.
Still remember going to work that night and at breaks I remember people late coming back because they were trying to fill their cars up and there were long lines at the gas stations.
I was in the dorms at ISU. Someone told everyone to turn on our TVs. At the time people weren't sure if it was an accident or what was going on. Then we saw the second plane crash and we knew it was a terrorist attack.
Absolutely surreal and mind boggling.
I remember going and filling my car with gas, just in case things went south nearby.
Absolutely surreal and mind boggling.
I remember going and filling my car with gas, just in case things went south nearby.
I do vaguely remember stuff along that line (or maybe I'm just inserting after action stories). Lots of news sites were scrambling to keep up. I think even some of the cable TV stations flat out turned off their programming.
I do think that a lot of people forget just how relatively young / unadvanced cell phones and the internet were back then. No camera phones, no social media, nothing. Kind of crazy to think about it that way.
I should have qualified - that was directly aimed at/affecting the US. There were things going on in other places, but it didn't feel like it impacted our lives.
I was working overnights at the time. I was on my way home listening to Mancow on the radio. They were talking about it, but I wasn't really paying close attention because I thought it was just some radio bit. I got home and turned on my TV. It wasn't a radio bit.
