Where were you on 9/11?

[jsb]

I graduated from Iowa state in may 2001 and was still in training for my job. We were all still in a training classroom rather than our desks. Someone announced a plane had hit, I said it was surely an accident. It wasn’t. The one thing I remember is that the internet was stretched thin bandwidth wise. CNN wouldn’t load properly. Probably the last time that type of thing happened.

my friend worked for American Airlines. It was not a good day there.

 

[nfrine]

Was at home with the day off to do yardwork. Heard about the first hit and turned on TV because we had a nephew that worked in the Towers. Saw the second plane hit. He had just started his job in June. Needless to say, I spent much of the day trying to determine if he was okay. Couldn't get any information until late afternoon. Turned out he had a offsite training session a couple of blocks away. When he was getting out of the subway, He saw people jumping from the towers. He spent most of the day walking out of the city. His regular desk was near were the first plane struck. Very blessed.

 

[Ankency]

Pulling into parking lot at work when I heard planes had hit the towers. Immediately went in to break room and started watching on TV. Spent most of the day watching all the news coverage and occasionally trying to work, but couldn’t really focus. Very surreal day.

 

[beentherebefore]

Teaching class at a large high school. A student entered my classroom to sat that "there was like a fire at the top of one of the twin towers in New York." We turned on the classroom TV just a few minutes before the second plane hit the other tower. Needless to say, that was the absolute end to whatever I had planned for class for the remainder of the day.

 

[jcyclonee]

I was driving to work and the people on the radio were talking about a plane hitting the 1st tower. Then a plane hit the second tower and you knew it wasn't an accident. The internet was completely jammed (at least the news sites) that day so you couldn't get any info from there. However, we had an old FM clock readio and we were able to get some info from NPR. My boss brought our department into a meeting and told us that we should stop paying attention to the intrigue and focus on our work. That went over really well.

 

[Urbandale2013]

Im actually going to be one of the few on here who doesn't remember. Must have just started Kindergarten just flat out have 0 memory of this event.

I’m the same way. I would have been in first grade and I’m not sure if they just did a good job of shielding us or if I’ve just blacked it out.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I was at Sheppard Air Force Base at my Tech school. We were supposed to take an exam that morning and we were all studying our materials when our instructor walked in and said that a plane had hit one of the WTC towers. After the second plane hit the entire base went into full lockdown. We marched back to the barracks and had to stay in our rooms unless given orders to leave for chow etc. We were glued to the TV for the next 48 hours. Two doors down from me was a guy who was from Brooklyn and his dad worked in one of the WTC buildings. His family hadn't heard from his dad all day long and they were fearing the worst. I can't even imagine how helpless this guy felt, he was inconsolable. He found out like 8:30 that night that his dad made it out alive but wasn't able to get through on his cell or anything. To this day I will never forget the look of relief on his face when he found out his dad was ok, it still brings a tear to my eye. That night I was lying in my bed and I knew that my time in the service was going to look much differently than the day I raised my hand.

 

[cyfanatic13]

Im actually going to be one of the few on here who doesn't remember. Must have just started Kindergarten just flat out have 0 memory of this event.

I was in Kindergarten and very vaguely remember it because I just remember wondering why we were watching TV at school. The other thing I remember was thinking it was cool/weird that my brothers (all in HS/college) were all home on a random weeknight and not at their practices and what not.

 

[HFCS]

Remembering details incorrectly is one thing, but at least it's not Steve Rannazzi bad of flat out lying about his experiences that day.

People in and around New York that day remember the day of the experience as poorly as people who followed on TV. I'm sure some of it involves natural human ego, but it think it's a pretty innocent phenomenon that can happen to the most humble person.

So many of those Kennedy assassination memories are likely just as wrong, we are just further away and harder to prove how poor our memories are. We remember the day/morning more than most, but we don't remember entirely accurately.

Since listening to that podcast I've found some evidence of happy/sad times in my own life that I had remembered incorrectly. Not necessarily about 911 morning but other events that are big in my life and I just flat out innocently remembered the details wrong and have proven to myself that my memory was inaccurate.

 

[Clonefan32]

I was in freshman algebra. Another teacher came in and told my teacher what had happened and he flipped it on for a few minutes then went back to our lesson. This was during that initial period where you figured it may have been some kind of accident. I remember watching after the second plane had hit in a science class and seeing the footage of people falling from the buildings.

Thinking back it's really amazing how little detail I remember about that day. I remember the two classes I mentioned above and I remember watching the sky that day in football practice wondering if I'd see any planes fly over. But what we did the rest of the day in class and what we talked about at home has completely slipped my memory.

 

[CyCrazy]

Sophmore at ISU, we watched it all day long.

 

[davegilbertson]

Probably been shared before, but tv coverage from that day leading up to it. Watched this a few years back and it's just trippy.

 

[Land Grant]

I lived in Washington DC. I was in my apartment was four blocks east of the US capitol. I suddenly saw scores of well dressed people on the street outside my window. The capitol complex had been evacuated and rank and file members of congress were literally wandering about surrounded by their staffs. There was no plan; everyone seemed a bit dazed. Smoke to the west from the Pentagon.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

People in and around New York that day remember the day of the experience as poorly as people who followed on TV. I'm sure some of it involves natural human ego, but it think it's a pretty innocent phenomenon that can happen to the most humble person.

So many of those Kennedy assassination memories are likely just as wrong, we are just further away and harder to prove how poor our memories are. We remember the day/morning more than most, but we don't remember entirely accurately.

Since listening to that podcast I've found some evidence of happy/sad times in my own life that I had remembered incorrectly. Not necessarily about 911 morning but other events that are big in my life and I just flat out innocently remembered the details wrong and have proven to myself that my memory was inaccurate.

And your point in bringing this psychoanalytic BS to this thread is what.......that most here are just shoveling BS and don't even know it?

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I was at work on a phone call and ended up being the first person in my office to know about it. When the person I was talking to told me that a plane had hit the tower, I went to the break room and turned on the tv to the coverage.

I told others in my office and then gave my wife a call since she had flown to NYC for work before and knew a ton of people there. She was frantic.

I won't ever forget watching the second plane hit live. It still brings tears to my eyes.

 

[HFCS]

And your point in bringing this psychoanalytic BS to this thread is what.......that most here are just shoveling BS and don't even know it?

I find it interesting. I was a little miffed at the idea too until I started examining some of my own memories critically. It's not calling anyone a liar, it's understanding how the human brain works better.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's stories...and it's even more interesting knowing that half of us (very likely myself included) are remembering one of the most memorable days inaccurately in a completely innocent way without being intentionally dishonest.

 

[madguy30]

Probably been shared before, but tv coverage from that day leading up to it. Watched this a few years back and it's just trippy.

It was an absolutely beautiful September morning weather wise. For whatever reason that always sticks with me.

Don't have any crazy story other than being a sophomore in college, in a Psych class of some sort.

Went back to my dorm and the coverage was on, I think the first plane had hit.

It's interesting looking back how we could be somewhere and not know something like that has happened, compared to now when most of that class would have been updated via cell phones.

 

[nrg4isu]

I was a Freshman in Friley 5th Floor, Lincoln. I slept in late that morning, but still got up before my roommate, logged onto yahoo news and saw the headline that a plane had crashed into the trade center. I clicked on in, skimmed it and assumed it was some small plane flown by an idiot pilot.

Eventually I went down to the dining services and sat with some friends. They had all been at class and had already discussed it for hours and it wasn't mentioned. Finally I went back up to my room and my roommate had woken up. When I walked into the room he said "dude, we're under attack". That's when reality hit.

It still boggles my mind that I sat there with 3-4 friends and no one said anything about it.

 

[NoCreativity]

I still remember it like it was yesterday.

I had just started my first real job after college working in a call center for an insurance company.

I woke up around 830 so didn't see either of the planes hit but started watching it immediately because my mom had it on. The one thing I distinctly remember about the TV coverage is Tom Brokaw mentioning that with the damage they sustained they would probably have to be demolished at some point. It couldn't have been 5 minutes later when they collapsed on live TV.

I went in to work at 10, everyone sitting around doing nothing and talking about it. There was absolutely nobody calling in so I got to go home around 1 I think.

I remember driving home and people lined up at the gas stations. Another thing I distinctly remember was it was the nicest Fall day I ever remember in Des Moines. It was the bluest skies, not much wind, and probably 75 out. I remember on the way home not seeing any planes in the sky and how surreal that was.

Once I got home that afternoon I don't recall much, I probably watched on TV the rest of the day.

 

[ajspatio19]

Im actually going to be one of the few on here who doesn't remember. Must have just started Kindergarten just flat out have 0 memory of this event.

I was in Kindergarten as well. Remember the school cancelling the rest of the day and being picked up by my mom early. Went home and sat with her while she watched the news the rest of the day. I still can't tell if I actually was aware of what was going on at the time or if I've just seen the videos so many times since then that I've convinced myself I remember it from that day.