Where were you on 9/11?

[HFCS]

I had just graduated from ISU and waiting tables before "real job". I usually worked until 11 or midnight and slept in until 10am or 11am. I hit snooze bar through the news several times until I heard them talking about multiple crashes.

I had to work that night and several customers got angry with me when I asked them typical small talk "how is everyone today". My thought was...well I'm working my job as previously scheduled while you're here enjoying food and drinks.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

9 years old and we were looking at houses to move to in Ohio. So I was one of the few 3rd graders that got to watch the whole thing I imagine.

We were at the hotel and going down to get breakfast and there was tons of people surrounding the TV. My dad asked me to go see what was happening while he got us the table. So I moved my way to the front of the crowd and saw a building on fire and people were crying around me. I asked a random person "what is that" and they said "the world trade center has been attacked". I had no idea what it meant but I ran over to my dad and just repeated it. His eyes got wide and we went upstairs to the room to watch just as the second plane was hitting.

We watched for a couple hours until after they collapsed. My dad was one of few words but he was even less talkative now.

We then proceeded to visit houses still because we were on a time crunch. We walked into houses and people were just huddled around the TV. We went to lunch and no one was there. Same for dinner.

It was a pretty wild time to not be in school as a 9 year old. I remember the entire day as clear as almost any memory in my life.

 

[cymac2408]

I was stationed there from 09-13. Air Force.

Hickam AFB?

 

[CoachKM]

In my classroom teaching; with sports center on from "pirated" cable I hooked up myself. A co worker came in and asked if we could turn it to CNN as he heard something had happened....tuned in right before the second plane hit. Watched the coverage the rest of the day.

 

[srjclone]

4th grade, and for some reason I wasn't yet in school. The TV was on and my mom was getting stuff ready for the day so not paying attention. I remember somewhat casually saying "A plane hit a building in New York City" and she dropped a bowl on the counter and whirled saying "Whatt?!"

Her reaction made me think I had said something wrong, I remember. But she just walked up next to me by the tv and kept saying "oh my god" repeatedly. We both watched as the second plane hit live. I couldn't tell you how long we sat there watching the news, but felt like hours.

She eventually did take me into school, just before lunch. But i remember almost half of my class was kept home for the day. It was probably the first time in my life I truly felt the impact of something I didn't fully understand at a young age. I knew something was very, very wrong and my parents did a good job of trying to explain it to me. But I more was just aware that this event impacted every adult unlike I'd ever seen before.

 

[HFCS]

Freshman year at ISU in the basement of Art & Design building in a three hour studio. 8-11am. Remember going to the bathroom and passing two faculty in the hall discussing something in hushed tones.

Went up to the atrium to grab a bite after class was over, a bunch of people were huddled around a tv. I nestled in and saw smoke, but nothing distinguishable. Asked, "what country is this?" Got the reply, "that's the pentagon."

Fellow member of the 4 years of MWF 8-11 am studio while all of my non-college of design friends somehow never had a class before noon their entire academic career.

911 was probably one of the first september days I hadn't been in a studio like that in four years since I had just graduated.

 

[NetflixAndClone]

1st grade, of course all that i remember was nothing being taught since the teacher watched TV the whole day.

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

Grew up in NY. Eighth grade English. Many kids were pulled out of school not knowing if their family member was okay. My uncle worked in tower 7, crossed the Hudson in a boat and hitch hiked his way home in NJ.

 

[cyclone13]

Buchanan Hall, woke up around 8 before my class, turned on the TV right when the second plane hit. knocked my suitemate’s door, asking him whether he had heard about it. He didn’t have a TV so he came to my room and he said “is this some kind of a movie?”
Left the room after the towers collapsed and went to class. Everyone was in disbelief…..truly a tragic day.

 

[HFCS]

1st grade, of course all that i remember was nothing being taught since the teacher watched TV the whole day.

I'm not sure if it makes sense to show kids under 10 that sort of thing at school or leave it for home/society at large.

We saw the Challenger explosion live as young grade school kids but only because it was part of the "teacher in space" promotion where every school in the country was watching a space shuttle launch just to watch it. It was a horrible accident, not an intentional attack...but still shown live to the vast majority of grade school kids.

My guess is the average elementary school teacher might handle it better than the average parent in terms of explaining events of the world...although some kids might need the emotional support only their parents can give.

 

[WooBadger18]

I was in elementary school and we were having bus drills that morning (where you practice exiting a bus in an emergency). I was disappointed that they didn't tip the bus over so that we could go through the top.

I don't think they told us at all that day about it. I didn't know until after school when I wanted to watch cartoons and everything was showing news coverage

 

[isutrevman]

Sophmore year or high school. Hadn't heard anything about it until they made an announcement during homeroom (which we have between 2nd and 3rd period for some reason). Was walking past the computer lab to my 3rd period class and watched the second tower fall live. Surreal day.

Craziest thing was that somehow my dad didn't fully know or understand what happened until he got home that night, despite working a regular office job.

The one employee that actually works all day rather than surfing the internet for 3-4 hours.

 

[CoachHines3]

I remember watching it at home before school quickly but was in 4th grade and we turned it on in the classroom.

one of my classmates dads was in NYC on biz trip and was in the towers the day before. Was west of the towers in battery park when the planes hit. was basically buzzed by the 2nd one when it came flying over.

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

If anyone is interested here is a memorial fund in a family friends name. If they have a place to put a reference mention Iowa State and they’ll know who sent you. http://kevinsfoundation.org/

 

[Shawker]

I was 16 and a junior in high school. I heard some football players by my locker in between first and second period saying something along the lines of "we're going to kill them" and I just assumed they meant in their upcoming game. Then I got to second period and our teacher had the TV on and then nothing happened the rest of the day besides watching the news in every class.

 

[weeterkane]

14th floor of the Equitable building downtown Des Moines. My job entailed calling several businesses in NYC, so it was a crazy time.

 

[Mr Janny]

I was just out of college. I didn't have to work until mid morning so I was sleeping when the first plane hit. My friend called me on the phone and said "Turn on the TV!" I flipped it on about a minute before the second plane hit.
We just sat on the phone, not speaking for like 5 minutes. Then we started wondering about other attacks and how widespread it would be. I eventually went to work, but nobody was doing anything. We just listened to coverage on the radio. The boss griped a bit about nothing getting done, but when we asked him what we should do, he couldn't give an answer. On the way home, I needed gas, because I was almost empty. I had to wait in line for about 30 minutes before I was able to fuel up.
I went home and watched more coverage and got drunk.

The thing that I remember most is when the towers collapsed, it seemed like it happened in slow motion. And the newscaster announced it almost flatly with what seemed like little emotion. It didn't seem real when it happened. Movies show buildings explode in giant fireballs and with great fanfare. This didn't look like that at all. It was more awful and somehow more muted at the same time.

 

[Rural]

(Day off from work) sitting in the recliner watching Imus In the Morning.

First plane was about ten minutes before they went off the air for the day.
They weren't back on for about a month.

 

[GMackey32]

Sophomore year in high school. Ms. Ewald’s English class. Watched the second tower get hit live.

 

[ianoconnor]

Freshman in HS in suburban Dayton, OH. My best friend found me in the hallway between classes and said a plane had hit the WTC. My first thought was some inexperienced pilot in a Cessna or something.

I remember being back at home that evening and hearing a sonic boom - I believe an F-16 out of Wright-Patt scrambling to escort AF1. The rest of the day is a blur to me.