Where were you on 9/11?

[cydsho]

Was getting ready for work when radio hosts talked about "small plane" hitting one of the towers. Turned on the TV and didn't leave it for hours. Eventually went to work but took a small black and white TV to watch.
Left work early (Omaha) to see Air Force One en route to Offutt.
Amazing the information changes since then. I think the "news crawl" we are so used now began that day and pretty much never stopped.

 

[KidSilverhair]

I was standing in my backyard when Bush flew over Iowa headed to Omaha with a convoy of fighter jets.

I was an air traffic controller in Cedar Rapids at the time, although that Tuesday was my regular day off. Another controller on duty when Air Force One flew over took a frantic phone call from someone demanding to know who was flying, since all air traffic had been grounded. He assured her that, while he couldn’t tell her who it was up there, she had nothing to worry about.

Stories from the day after: I went back to work on the afternoon/night shift on the 12th, as scheduled. The FAA canceled everyone’s leave and wouldn’t let anybody take time off that day - even though there was literally nothing to do. I sat in front of our radar screen all night; every couple of hours a high-altitude target would fly past heading to the northeast, then a little later another would come back the opposite direction. I’m sure it was the military heading up to patrol the Great Lakes (probably out of Wichita).

I also had to answer multiple phone calls from airline personnel wondering when they could move their aircraft out of Cedar Rapids. The FAA went back and forth about six times on the 12th, giving out a tentative time for repositioning and then canceling. While other airports were jammed with diverted airliners, I think we had about three. When the FAA finally gave permission for airlines to move their planes late that night, all the crews had timed out and were back at their hotels.

 

[madguy30]

Wait, you guys didn’t think the fall of the Soviet Union was globally significant?

This and a few other things come to mind but those also weren't as sudden or jarring as 9/11.

 

[wxman1]

I was an air traffic controller in Cedar Rapids at the time, although that Tuesday was my regular day off. Another controller on duty when Air Force One flew over took a frantic phone call from someone demanding to know who was flying, since all air traffic had been grounded. He assured her that, while he couldn’t tell her who it was up there, she had nothing to worry about.

Stories from the day after: I went back to work on the afternoon/night shift on the 12th, as scheduled. The FAA canceled everyone’s leave and wouldn’t let anybody take time off that day - even though there was literally nothing to do. I sat in front of our radar screen all night; every couple of hours a high-altitude target would fly past heading to the northeast, then a little later another would come back the opposite direction. I’m sure it was the military heading up to patrol the Great Lakes (probably out of Wichita).

I also had to answer multiple phone calls from airline personnel wondering when they could move their aircraft out of Cedar Rapids. The FAA went back and forth about six times on the 12th, giving out a tentative time for repositioning and then canceling. While other airports were jammed with diverted airliners, I think we had about three. When the FAA finally gave permission for airlines to move their planes late that night, all the crews had timed out and were back at their hotels.

I was wondering if you had any good stories. Sounds like it was relatively benign at CID. I know when I lived in ICT they had pictures of taxiways full of parked planes.

 

[Omaha Cy]

I was cleaning up a concrete pour we did the day before when the first plane hit. At the time I had an online business selling heavy metal, hardcore, etc CDs & shirts. I had some free time and went home to call a distributor in Boston to make an order. On the way home I caught a little coverage on Fort Dodge's college radio station. At that time they still thought it was a explosion and I had no idea about the ramifications.

I get a hold of Ken in Boston and he's really acting weird. He asked how in the hell did I get through? He said phone lines were all jammed up. He asked if I was near a TV, and to go turn it on. It was bizarre conversation and after he explained what happened, I didn't even place the order.

Spent the next hour or so on the couch watching TV coverage. I do not recall if I saw the 2nd plane hit or not. That night from my upstairs apartment, I could see a few blocks over through Randalls packing lot and there was an incredible line of people getting gas for their vehicles. There was a concern that the country would be locked down for a long time and a gas shortage could be coming.

 

[KidSilverhair]

I first heard about the event as I was taking my son to school. It was my day off work, so I was on school delivery duty. We were listening to Mike and Mike on ESPN radio, as we usually do - I don’t remember if they were talking about the first plane before or after I dropped him off. I do remember their shock when the second plane hit, and they turned over the show to the news people just before I got back home.

Spent the rest of the day glued to the TV, except for a road trip back and forth to Iowa City I had to make. I remember the first tower falling, with the ABC-TV angle not really showing it that well. It looked like just the side of the building was collapsing, and even Peter Jennings was confused until the reporter on the scene said it had completely collapsed. And the shot of the second tower coming down, I saw that live, with the top floors crumpling into the fire zone until it all cascaded down.

We went to a church service that evening, and saw the lines at the gas stations and the jacked-up prices. Seeing absolutely zero contrails in the pristine evening sky was just bizarre. We were able to fill up at the Sam’s Club gas station, they hadn’t jacked up their prices yet.

 

[KidSilverhair]

I was wondering if you had any good stories. Sounds like it was relatively benign at CID. I know when I lived in ICT they had pictures of taxiways full of parked planes.

With that being my day off, I wasn’t in the tower that day, but it sounds like it was pretty wild for a bit. Clearing the entire national airspace had never been done, there were no procedures, it was all seat-of-the-pants. I think a couple of controllers had to get pretty stern with a few private pilots to get them to land (I heard a pretty good story about one old crotchety pilot fighting on the radio with the controllers at Moline before they finally convinced him to land).

If anyone‘s seen the movie United 93, the backstory of the FAA’s decision and how things went down at the Command Center is really good. Plus the guy playing the National Operations Manager, Ben Sliney, the guy who made the call to clear the airspace, is actually the guy who was National Operations Manager that day … and it was his first day in the job. True story.

 

[Frog]

Wow, so many exact memory details associated with this attack on our country.

My wife was inside with our baby. I took our daughter to kindergarten and was having a bad day. I just went to check the cows and was dealing with a stillborn stuck and trying to get it out to save the cow and my wife came out and told me what was going on. A couple hours later I went in and watched tv with her. My problems became meaningless immediately. I think of that cow every year. I was struggling with a freaking cow in eastern Iowa and those amazing fire fighters risking their lives to save lives.

We watch the specials every year and watching special now with footage we have never seen before. Like everyone I cant imagine having to make a choice to jump or burn. Those poor people.

 

[Aduhbolu15]

Everyone showing their age.

 

[cmjh10]

I was stationed in Pearl Harbor. We were woke up early in the morning that the US was under attack. Reported to our submarine and spent 7 days with nukes loaded and reactor started up ready to go the Middle East

You win

 

[cyclone13]

I recall everything got more surreal as things unfolded. I read on BBC about people jumping off the Towers. I don’t think we could find about it in our networks and cables - they were censored (rightfully so, too disturbing).

Another friend just graduated from ISU that summer and was about to return to her home country. She wanted to visit Easr Coast (can’t recall exactly where, could be Boston or NYC or both) and her flight ended up getting grounded in ST Louis so another friend ended up having to drive and pick her up in St Louis.

 

[cmjh10]

3rd grade. Teacher left the room, came back with a tv on the rolling stand. We all were excited because good things happen when the tv comes out. I think we watched it the rest of the day. Of course, we didn’t completely understand what was happening.

 

[BDAL23]

I left for the base at about 4:30 am thinking the US had been attacked. I thought for sure we were going to war. When we arrived on base it was chaos. 9/11 scared the hell out of me. It would be a year until I finally saw footage of the towers falling. I just couldn’t bear to watch it and still can’t.

 

[WooBadger18]

ABC is doing a special right now on the experience of several women on 9/11 that looks like it will be very interesting.

Edit: This is also an excellent article

 

[theshadow]

ABC is doing a special right now on the experience of several women on 9/11 that looks like it will be very interesting.

Edit: This is also an excellent article

National Geographic channel just aired a 6-part series about that day:

Watch 9/11: One Day in America TV Show - Streaming Online | Nat Geo TV

Watch full episodes of 9/11: One Day in America online. Get sneak peeks and free episodes all on Nat Geo TV.

www.nationalgeographic.com

I found "Turning Point" on Netflix interesting, also, as it weaves together some of the threads that resulted in 9/11.

 

[nrg4isu]

With that being my day off, I wasn’t in the tower that day, but it sounds like it was pretty wild for a bit. Clearing the entire national airspace had never been done, there were no procedures, it was all seat-of-the-pants. I think a couple of controllers had to get pretty stern with a few private pilots to get them to land (I heard a pretty good story about one old crotchety pilot fighting on the radio with the controllers at Moline before they finally convinced him to land).

If anyone‘s seen the movie United 93, the backstory of the FAA’s decision and how things went down at the Command Center is really good. Plus the guy playing the National Operations Manager, Ben Sliney, the guy who made the call to clear the airspace, is actually the guy who was National Operations Manager that day … and it was his first day in the job. True story.

I'll have to watch united 93. I'm planning on going to the wvu game this year. Looks like the memorial is only 45 minutes from Morgantown.

 

[vacyclone]

I was a freshman at ISU and had a break from 9-10 between classes. I usually used that time to read on a bench outside Coover, and I remember overhearing bits and pieces of conversations people were having as they walked by. At one point, I specifically remember thinking there must be some new movie featuring the World Trade Center that I hadn't heard of yet. I started to piece together that something odd was going on before going in to the 10:00, which was a lab for a CprE class where everyone had their own computer. We were all on various news sites reading about it when the instructor showed up and sent everyone home. I spent the rest of the day watching coverage, but I don't remember watching any of it live because there was no TV in the lab and then I had to walk back to my room.

 

[KidSilverhair]

I'll have to watch united 93. I'm planning on going to the wvu game this year. Looks like the memorial is only 45 minutes from Morgantown.

It is a very powerful, very well constructed film.

 

[Rabbuk]

I was in 5th grade, caught the first and 2nd on tv before I headed to school. The teachers pretended nothing was going on the whole day. I just remember all my family in Chicago sheltered in place rather than going to work because they had no idea where targets were.

 

[ISUAlum2002]

Senior year at Iowa State, I was driving to my part time job listening to KGGO and they mentioned in their news report that a plane had hit one of the towers. They were just talking it off as a terrible accident (as most would at that time), then as I pulled into the parking lot at work they reported that a second plane had hit and I can still remember hearing them say "well, we know what this is now for sure."

All the local radio stations flipped to national news coverage and we listened to that in the store I was working at. I wasn't able to see any video of what was going on until I got back to my apartment early in the afternoon. I remember calling my roommate, waking his ass up and telling him to turn on the TV and describe to me what he sees. He said "what channel?" and I said "any of 'em." And I kept him on the phone for a few minutes to tell me what the video was like. Still remember most of that conversation.