Where were you 9/11/2001?

[paulpablo]

I was in a bass guitar lesson, when I heard a plane hit some tower it was through someone in the room getting a text message about it.  I just pictured a little plane going into some clock tower or something but when I got home later I realized how serious it was.

[Rev. Rye]

I was only 6 years old, but I lived in Brooklyn at the time. My mom worked a few blocks away from the towers, and my cousin was FDNY; his body was never recovered.

Despite my proximity to the event, and how it affected my family, I have virtually no memory of

it. It's possible my brain blocked it out to avoid trauma, which is apparently a thing. Sometimes I wish I remembered, because the memories of my cousin seem to have been blocked out with it.

Yeah, I have much of my childhood blocked out anyway, particularly the stuff involving school. It was that bad. I still remember a couple things, and I’m not sure if I should want to remember more or if I should remember less.

[Shell B]

I was with my mother. She called me into the living room to see the news that a plane had hit the World Trade Centers. We were sort of half chuckling (obviously horrified for the people involved as well) at how stupid you would have to be to fly into a building when the second one hit. We watched it happen live. The anchor talking didn't know it happened while we watched. There was a second of confusion about the footage, but only a second. My mother and I immediately knew it was on purpose once we realized it wasn't some trick of the eye or replayed footage or whatever our brains were trying to process it as. I went to work later that day, but all the cooks just sat at the bar watching the news. No one really came in except our regulars. Our train stations were filled with cars of people who were coming back for them for a little while afterward.

I was also with my mother when the Boston Marathon bombing happened, come to think of it.

[Aegon]

I was only 6 years old, but I lived in Brooklyn at the time. My mom worked a few blocks away from the towers, and my cousin was FDNY; his body was never recovered.

Despite my proximity to the event, and how it affected my family, I have virtually no memory of it. It's possible my brain blocked it out to avoid trauma, which is apparently a thing. Sometimes I wish I remembered, because the memories of my cousin seem to have been blocked out with it.

Shit.

My condolences to you and your family.

Every New Yorker has a similar story. My friend who lived around the corner from me's dad died. Another friend's sister died. Everybody knew somebody who was hurt or killed... or at the very least directly involved.

[Brian37]

I was with my mother. She called me into the living room to see the news that a plane had hit the World Trade Centers. We were sort of half chuckling (obviously horrified for the people involved as well) at how stupid you would have to be to fly into a building when the second one hit. We watched it happen live. The anchor talking didn't know it happened while we watched. There was a second of confusion about the footage, but only a second. My mother and I immediately knew it was on purpose once we realized it wasn't some trick of the eye or replayed footage or whatever our brains were trying to process it as. I went to work later that day, but all the cooks just sat at the bar watching the news. No one really came in except our regulars. Our train stations were filled with cars of people who were coming back for them for a little while afterward.

I was also with my mother when the Boston Marathon bombing happened, come to think of it.

I don't know who had the worse sudden realization, you or me. 

I woke up completely after the fact. That still scared the shit out of me. Most who saw the first plane hit thought it was an accident. But obviously everyone who saw the second plane hit had no question.

[The Valkyrie]

I woke up to the news that the first plane had struck as I listened to it on the radio.

It was early for me but I always wake up early.

When the news came on about the second plane I knew it had to be deliberate and rushed downstairs to watch the news on Sky TV.

I had to go to school that day but most people weren’t interested in classes.

[zebo-the-fat]

I was on my way to repair a printer near Liverpool England, I heard on the radio that a plain had crashed into the towers, I thought it was someting small like a Cessna, it was only when I got home and saw it on tv that I realised what had really happened.

[arewethereyet]

I think a lot of people heard about the first plane hitting and thought it must have been a small plane that went off course. When the second plane hit - the realization that something was very wrong set in.

I was at work and listening to the radio. We didn't have a TV at the office and footage was slower to make it to the Internet than it would be today.

When the other crashes occurred there was the worry as to what might be other targets. Being surrounded by military installations the people around me were pretty concerned that something may happen closer to home.

[Vince]

I was working my first job after college on the 24th floor of a building in Ft Worth. Someone told us to go into the break room and watch the TV. We saw the second plane hit. Not long after that my asshole boss told us to go back to work. Me being there only 8 month out of college I did but some people just left to go home, I did feel uneasy being in the 24th floor. My wife was due in October with my first child and I remember our conversation that night about what the world was going to be like for her as an adult, she is almost 18 now so I guess we know. I also remember how eerie it was to only see the military planes in the air the next day. The next weeks were uneasy not knowing what was about to happen.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Our veterans' group met that night at a bar near Purdue. There were various plans put forward, growing bolder and more insane as the evening progressed.