I know where I was on this day, and the memories are still quite strong. I know whether you're devout, or one of little faith, that all of us will be saying a special prayer today.
I was in college @ IUSB. I didn't know it had happened until I walked out of the computer lab and there was a group of at least 30 just standing and staring at the monitor on the wall. You could have heard a pin drop. Classes were cancelled and I went to my girlfriend's (now wife and mother of my child). I remember the streets seemed real quiet and everyone had a concerned look on their face.
The biggest scare locally was gas suddenly jumped to $2 a gallon and cars were lined up at every station for blocks just to fill.
Funny thing, if there was $2 a gallon of gas today, there would be a line blocks long but for different reasons.
I was out running around working that day. I don't remember where I was but when I got home around 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon and my power was out. I remember it was a nice September day..sunny and warm. My neighbors across the road were sitting on their porch listen to a radio and he told me "They are saying an airplane crashed into the World Trade Center or something." It was a strange feeling to have the power out at my house and talk of terrorism in NY. I remember feeling somewhat scared and disconnected. Later in the day when the power came back on I remember seeing all the horrible news in living color.
It is hard to imagine that 7 years has pasted already.
Cy
I was sitting in a Holiday Inn lobby in Oklahoma City having continental breakfast and watched the second plane hit live. I distinctly remember the sound of a glass crashing down to the lobby floor as if it was scripted in a movie.
I didnt even have to wait for the recall. I was running about 110 mph up the toll road to Tulsa to report in to the base. I was security forces back then. Not surprisingly I didnt see a single law enforcement vehicle on the toll road the entire way. I doubt I would have gotten a ticket.
As in shock as we all were it was like instinct took over. This was what we had trained for, for a long time. I was boots on the ground within 72 hours.
As selfish as it probably sounds, I have 9/11 to thank for alot of things about my life that turned out good. Not the least of which is my relocation to Michigan and meeting the woman I love with all my heart - my wife. Next down the list is getting back into tournament fishing and enjoying the great outdoors that is Michigan.
B
I was working 2nd shift then and was about to get a quick nap in before I had to go to work. I had been out taking kids to school and for some reason I turned on the TV just as the special report came on the TV about the first plane hitting the WTC. It was almost surreal to be watching and see the second plane make impact live on the air. We had been working 6 and 7 days a week all summer and within a week, we were cut back and not even getting 40 hours. The biggest reason being we shipped a lot of our parts to Oakville, Canada and there was a big slowdown in getting trucks in and out of Canada, or across any border for that matter. Our business has never been the same since. That was also, I believe, the turning point to what our economy has become.
i was working at the Delphi Automotive Testing in lafayette indiana while going to purdue. We tested/debugged car radios so we heard it on the radio news. Right across the hall was the C-Span archives and they had 4 TVs in a window display with all the cspan feeds playing 24-7. We watched everything as it happened from there.
My parents were flying the night before from somewhere... forget where... but were coming through NY and i hadn't heard back from them yet. They were gone for their 25th wedding aniversary - today (9/11) was their 32nd. Everything was fine but still.
I was in Keokuk, Iowa (population 13,000) at work. Once word got out in the plant, the production lines went down for the rest of the day. Local gas stations had cars lined up for miles.
The National guard was stationed at the dam in Keokuk (pool 19). They shut the bridge down for a period of time and I believe they even shut the locks down for a couple of days.
Even in a small town thousands of miles away, daily life was greatly altered for those humbling days.
I was teaching my second grade Physical Science class. The announcement came over the PA of what had happened. It was after the first plane hit. Then they turned on each of the classroom monitors and we had the broad cast live.
We saw the second one hit as well.
Scary scary stuff. Everybody trying to figure out what it meant.
To me, it's like when Kennedy was shot, and Alan Shepard was launched into space. When John Glen orbited the Earth 3 times. Like the first time I saw a color television, a microwave, and a calculator. Vivid memories that stand out.....
Guess I'm just gettin old.
I was at the hospital with the rest of the family saying goodbye to my dad. He had been sick for awhile and was beyond recovery. We decided as a family to take him off of life support that afternoon. He passed away less than 2 days later. That was the worst week of the worst month of my life.
We sat as a family and watched as the horror, and the heroism, of that day unfolded. We described the events to my dad because we did not want him to feel left out. We had no way of knowing if he could hear us or understand what we were saying. We just felt like it was the right thing to do.
We also talked about the good times we had shared together and that, I think, made the events of the day a little more bearable.
Willie
I put up my day on my blog today at teardropbass.com. There is also a link to a very nice 9/11 tribute.
My buddy Don was in Canada caribou hunting and they had their gear down on the beach waiting for the plane that never came because of the no fly decree that came down. They had no way of knowing what was going on because at the same time there was a radio blackout. Next day and the next day no plane and no explanation via the radio. Finally in broken English (French speaking area) they heard something about the United States being under attack. Shortly after that they finally made contact and were picked up. They were out of food and thinking all kinds of wild thoughts about what might be happening. Scarey time.
I was at the fire station that day. Most of the guys ( nine on duty) were sitting at the kitchen table having coffee when the news broke. We also watched the second plane hit live. All the televisions in the station had on one station or another that was covering the disaster.
It seemed like every time you turned around there was another unthinkable thing reported. Pentagon on fire etc. After seeing the second tower fall, I began to think of the firefighters and the courage they had to go into a situation like that. I was hoping if I were in that situation I would be as brave. I then walked to the bedroom, sat on my bed, said a prayer for all that perished in the tower colapses, and began to cry.
I was at work. Our CFO came in saying a plane had crashed into the WTC. None of us could believe it. Then one of the corporates came in and said the tower had collapsed. We thought it had to be wild rumor based on confusion and shock.
After we found a TV to watch the horror was that it was all true.
Someone I know was involved in the emergency response. He was there shortly after the towers collapsed and in the other building that collapsed a few days later the day before that one collapsed. They wisely ordered everyone out after determining the building was in dangerous shape and there was nothing more that could be done.
Originally, he said he was there a day or more after the attack, but it turned he was not allowed to give out certain details at the time. He later sent me a CD of pictures from the immediate aftermath that are shocking and disturbing. I watched it one time. And never again. I don't even know where it is now. I'll never forget.
I was at work and just got finished burning a shape out of 14" thick steel. its very loud cutting through metal, especially something that thick, so i couldnt hear my radio until the piece was finished. it was probably 30 seconds after i finished that part that and i was listening to the howard stern morning show back when it was free on 97.1 fm. i will never forget when they interupted his story with the news and he announced it. at first, i didnt believe it. it sounded like it was scripted. it actually reminded me of the "war of the worlds" radio broadcast from back in the day. i somehow ended up with a cassette of that whole ordeal. I remember my dad telling me that people were committing suicide after hearing that on the radio becuase they were so scared of being attacked by hidious aliens. anyway, i thought it was something along the lines of a radio hoax. initially, they didnt know it was terroists. i dont think anyone did really. a plane crashed into the trade center. they were speculating on how it could have happened. obviously, myself and everyone in our shop were circled around my radio. at that point it was just a plane crash. after a couple minutes of the howard stern crew talking about what had happened, the other plane hit and the tone of everyones voices quickly changed. it had now become evident that the first crash was no accident and that our country was under attack. it was complete pandimonium coming over the airwaves. I guess the radio show was done in a building not far from the WTC and was also a very large buiding. Many of the cast members left immediatly, but sterny duke stayed on the air to relay news and instructions to the rest of the world for quite a while.
Man i was freaked. I still to this day think about that morning a lot. how in an instant, a tragedy turned into a catastrophy. thinking first it was just a plane crash and later learning it was a terrorist attack. The instant change in Howard Sterns voice after the second plane hit will haunt me for the rest of my days.
I will never forget it. My thoughts and prayers still go out to all who lost thier lives that day, and those who risked their lives helping others.
McCarter himself :-\'