Your 9/11 Story.

[oitnb]

In honor of those who were lost on 9/11, and those who lost there lives fighting for what happened, I'm making this thread for all of us to share our stories of 9/11 and how it affected us. Our stories.

 

I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, sitting in my classroom. My teacher comes in with a tv, crying. She turns it on and there is news footage of two burning buildings. I went to a Christian school, so all she said was "pray for these people, children." I started crying, because I thought it was footage of the downtown area of my city and I was worried my parents were hurt.

 

My mother pulls up, and I run to her. I was so relieved. I asked her if my dad was okay. "Yes hunny, New York got attacked, not ohio. Your dad is on his way home from work now." I don't remember much after that, except for lots of love and hugs from every family member and friend I came into contact with. We truly learned life is short, and to tell your loved ones you love them whenever you can.

[TheD87]

I was in 7th grade. Our school decided they weren't going to tell us what happened. A bunch of kids got pulled out of school that day so rumors started getting thrown around about what happened. A good friend of mine said at lunchtime "I heard a kid made a hit list, and that the kids on the list are getting taken out of school". A kid sitting a table away from us misheard him and thought my friend said he made a hit list, and my friend got called to the principals office and had his locker searched. It would have been a lot better IMO if they told us what happened.

[oitnb]

I was in 7th grade. Our school decided they weren't going to tell us what happened. A bunch of kids got pulled out of school that day so rumors started getting thrown around about what happened. A good friend of mine said at lunchtime "I heard a kid made a hit list, and that the kids on the list are getting taken out of school". A kid sitting a table away from us misheard him and thought my friend said he made a hit list, and my friend got called to the principals office and had his locker searched. It would have been a lot better IMO if they told us what happened.

 

My school told us, because they wanted everyone praying for them, even the children. Everyone in my school was quiet, heads down, praying that day. It was eerie.

[Seraphim]

I am not American but I was watching it on TV. I had the day off from work. Not for that reason but it was my regular day off. I was 34. And my son was almost 4 years old. For years he remembered seeing a " big boom." But now he has no personal memories of it.

I was very sad and felt so sorry for those people and their families. My brother lost one of his personal friends in the twin towers.

[oitnb]

I am not American but I was watching it on TV. I had the day off from work. Not for that reason but it was my regular day off. I was 34. And my son was almost 4 years old. For years he remembered seeing a " big boom." But now he has no personal memories of it.

I was very sad and felt so sorry for those people and their families. My brother lost one of his personal friends in the twin towers.

 

I have horrible long-term memory, but I remember most of that day so clearly. I'm sorry for your brothers loss. One of my friends lost her father, he worked in the towers. I almost lost my cousin, she was going to go on a family trip with her grandmother to New York and was going to go see the towers. Her flight got canceled. I thank God for that on this day.

[tmp110314]

I was in my office in downtown Albany, NY near the state capitol building and just under where the planes turned south to follow the Hudson River to NYC. We had a TV on in our conference room where we monitored the weather and news channels regularly and someone was in there taking a break when the news of the first plane that hit the tower was broadcast.

 

He came running out to all of the managers to assemble in the conference room and that it was an emergency. We all stood there stunned at what was going on. It's happened on American soil and the victims that lost their lives and those that were exposed to all of the fallout from the buildings that will experience future issues. Needless to say about the shock to the families of the victims.

 

As things developed, the city broadcast an alert and most of our staff was sent home. All of the managers stayed and we manned phones with our offices in NYC and started coordinating some relief efforts. We discovered that a lot of our staff did not go home. They remained at their desks, some sobbing and others awaiting word on what they could do to help.

 

A horrible day in our history.

[Seraphim]

I'm sorry for your losses too ,it was a sad day for sure.

[oitnb]

A horrible day indeed. I truly wish I was old enough to help with relief efforts when it happened.

[Cheetarah]

I have a friend who does canine search and rescue. He went to Ground Zero for a few days. I remember talking to him once and he said they had to keep burying each other in shallow rubble because some of the particularly trained dogs had started to get discouraged with no live finds. He said it was the most grave experience he has had yet in SAR.

[oitnb]

I have a friend who does canine search and rescue. He went to Ground Zero for a few days. I remember talking to him once and he said they had to keep burying each other in shallow rubble because some of the particularly trained dogs had started to get discouraged with no live finds. He said it was the most grave experience he has had yet in SAR.

 

Oh wow. That's so sad. Wasn't the last live survivor found a woman? I remember she was found some time after it happened, and everyone was happy.

[Perplexingana]

I just got to into my first period high school class that morning and I was informed upon entering with the news footage. It is something I hope never happens again. The lives lost will never be given true justice and that is a sad fact. I am thankful for the firefighters who worked so hard to save the lives of those people involved in the attacks. I could never understand how challenging that was. It's been 12 years and not a day goes by that I don't remember these events. I want to thank the op for posting this thread. My heart is with the families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy. I will always be proud to be an American citizen.

[oitnb]

I just got to into my first period high school class that morning and I was informed upon entering with the news footage. It is something I hope never happens again. The lives lost will never be given true justice and that is a sad fact. I am thankful for the firefighters who worked so hard to save the lives of those people involved in the attacks. I could never understand how challenging that was. It's been 12 years and not a day goes by that I don't remember these events. I want to thank the op for posting this thread. My heart is with the families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy. I will always be proud to be an American citizen.

 

I have strong feelings about our government, but regardless I honor those lost, and those who worked to repair this horrible act. They are the true heroes.

[greywolf]

I lived in a different country, and didn't own a TV or internet, so I actually didn't learn about it until the next day when I went to school and the flag was at half mast during flag ceremony.

[ParisPaulette]

My sister and her family were living in Manhattan at the time. I walked into my workplace early that morning to find everyone glued to the TV in the break room, then watched in horror as the news footage captured the second plane hitting the towers while I remembered my sister telling me she walked with my niece past the Twin Towers every morning on their way to her daughter's school. I don't remember much after that although my coworkers later told me I was screaming and trying to call every number I had on the internal phone at my office desk. Suddenly my cell phone rang and it was my sister who had just enough time to tell me, "We're all okay, we're alive" before the line went dead. It was nearly two weeks before I could reach anyone there by phone although she sent postcards periodically with brief "We're alive, we're helping where we can, love" messages scribbled on the back. I still have those postcards as a reminder of that time and how incredibly grateful I was that on that morning her daughter had had an earache and they didn't go out for that morning walk to school. Also that my brother-in-law had just turned down a job offer in the Twin Towers for another position closer to their house.

 

I visited them six months later and what has always stuck with me is how much everyone I met there in that city refused to be beaten or broken by the incident. Instead they all wanted to tell their story of that day, how they helped or were helped or the loved ones they lost and how they were honoring them. I still tear up just thinking about it all, because it's the thing that taught me the human spirit truly can't be broken. To everyone who lost someone that day I send my deepest love and wishes for a future where we never see another day like 9/11 again.

[oitnb]

In times of crisis the true, purest form of our human spirit is shown. It's bittersweet. I'm so happy your sister and brother in law made it out okay.

[shellyf62]

I live in Australia, so it was night time for us. My Son & I had watched a DVD, and he turned it off & switched on the TV. There was footage of the first plane hitting the tower. I stupidly said to him "wow, that looks so real, what movie is this"....he turned around with a look of horror on his face & said "this is no movie".

I watched it for a few minutes, then rang my Mum & Sister & told them to turn on the tv.

I knew at that moment that our world would never ever be the same again.

I was temping at the time so had no work that week, so literally sat glued to the tv for days. I think I just couldnt grasp the magnitude of what had happened.

It still upsets me today when I watch a documentary about it.

[oitnb]

I live in Australia, so it was night time for us. My Son & I had watched a DVD, and he turned it off & switched on the TV. There was footage of the first plane hitting the tower. I stupidly said to him "wow, that looks so real, what movie is this"....he turned around with a look of horror on his face & said "this is no movie".

I watched it for a few minutes, then rang my Mum & Sister & told them to turn on the tv.

I knew at that moment that our world would never ever be the same again.

I was temping at the time so had no work that week, so literally sat glued to the tv for days. I think I just couldnt grasp the magnitude of what had happened.

It still upsets me today when I watch a documentary about it.

 

I would like to thank all of you, who Even live in other countries, for realizing how tragic this event was.

[shellyf62]

It wasn't just an event that happened in America to Americans, it affected every single one of us, and will do for many many years to come.

[superfan]

I am not an American, but I remember it clear as day as well. I was 19 and sitting in my high school Geography class (in the Province I live in, there used to be a grade 13 if you planned to go to University). Another teacher opened the door and wheeled a television into the room and turned it on just as the second plane hit. They took us all to the library and we spent the bulk of the day watching the news and trying to make sense of it.

[annie24]

I was 21. When I woke up that morning, the first plane hit, and on the news they said it was some kind of accident. I went to the gym, and as I was walking out after finishing my workout, I saw the footage of the second plane hitting. I was in shock for weeks. It didn't make any sense. I lived by an airport, and it was so quiet. All the planes were grounded for 3 days.

 

I had actually considered flying to the east coast to visit my friend in Boston. I wound up not going on that trip but I wondered if I would have been on that Boston plane.

[Wizardwoman]

I was in 5th grade. I saw it on the TV that morning getting ready for school. I remember just being like holy cow what is going on. I remember kids at school saying the white house was bombed and all this crazy stuff. I had a cousin who died in the world trade center. I never had met him though but I still think about it. My thoughts and prayers go out to the ones who lost their loved ones.

[greywolf]

I would like to thank all of you, who Even live in other countries, for realizing how tragic this event was.

 

I lived in a country where terrorism happens fairly often and it's not shocking to us, but even for us, we were thinking, "It can happen in American too?"

[Snny]

My dad was one of the 9/11 firefighters who responded to the Pentagon. Him and other fire rescue crew were pulling bodies out of the Pentagon AND Potomac River. He was gone for a week in NYC to assist with searches and attend 27 FDNY funerals- most of the wives of the deceased firefighters were pregnant. One FDNY captain was contemplating on suicide because he lost his entire battalion at the WTC that my dad had to talk him out of. The whole experience emotionally messed him up. Even to this day, my dad has some PTSD.

 

I was in high school when it happened. I remember hearing the principal announce TWICE over the intercom about the incident taking place. I was living near DC at the time. My school was evacuated with local police patrolling the area. I tried waiting up for my friend to walk home home with during the evacuation, but was told by school security to GO HOME IMMEDIATELY. I remember seeing news media helicopters and the Black Hawks flying overhead to the scene as I was leaving school. I've later learned that a few of my classmates had parents who worked in the Pentagon, and one of their mom was killed.

 

Because of 9/11, DC became a "No-Fly Zone." I remember a couple of times hearing the Black Hawks passing my school in the middle of the school day because some idiot pilot wanted to fly their private plane around DC. We were TENSED thinking another terrorist attack was happening.

[kz91]

I was ten years old when this happened, I can't remember anything at the time. As I grew up I realised what it was.

 

It's awful, just awful. So many lost their lives, because of other people. People lost their families, I can't imagine what they must be going through, may god bless your soul and help you through your tough times.

 

To those who lost their lives on 9/11, RIP.