History: Where were you on 9/11?

11 Sep 201214 comments

(c) 2001 The Record, (Bergen County, NJ).

September 11, 2001. Where were you when you first heard about the attack on the World Trade Center?

Like many of us who know exactly when they first heard about world-changing events - the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and 9/11 - these events are imprinted forever in my memory.

The deaths of almost 3,000 people – from all walks of life, nationalities, religions, occupations and the lasting impact on surviving family members and friends – will never be forgotten.

A memorial planned for the site will include portraits of the victims, hear oral histories of the tragedy and view artifacts.

Where was I when I heard about the events in New York City?

We were among a large group of people who had just returned to a friend’s home after her father’s funeral. The teenagers came running out of a bedroom, shouting at their father to turn on the television – something had happened in New York.

We watched as the plane hit the second tower. The entire room of visitors sat glued to that screen all day, almost without speaking.

At first, I thought we were watching a movie with some great special effects and I couldn’t comprehend the events on the screen. We learned all too soon that the events were real and happening as we watched.

After a few minutes, we all began calling family and friends who lived in the city, trying to find out where they were and if they were safe. Obviously, phone lines were jammed with people around the world trying to do the same thing at the same time. It took hours to get through.

The stories are many, the loss tragic, the first responders – many of whom perished themselves – brave, and the stories of heroism among survivors well-documented.

We will never forget where we were on that fateful day.

Where were you? How did you learn about the attack? Share your comments below.

Posted by Schelly on September 11th, 2012 - 09:42

Tagged as: 9/11, New York, september 11th

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glynis pearce
September 11th, 2012 - 20:02
i was in rock ferry working
robert paul goodchild
September 11th, 2012 - 20:11
although living in the uk isnt quite the same as in new york.i was at work in the middle of a field erecting a newt fence on a proposed building site near Newbury..My wife rang me with the terrible news and we were all shocked at the terrible news ...god bless them all and the survivors as well
Ted Holmes
September 11th, 2012 - 21:45
My wife and I had been on a walking tour in Paris. We passed the U.S. embassy on the way back to our hotel and noticed unusual activity. Entering the hotel lobby, we heard a radio giving the news in French. We asked the desk clerk what was happening. He responded in English, "World Trade Center. Poof. No more." We rushed to our room and turned on CNN. The next morning at breakfast, many French people came to our table to express sympathy, and we were touched to find hundreds of bouquets of flowers lining the street in front of the U.S. embassy and an armored vehicle sitting among them. Tours of the Opera House were cancelled that day, allegedly because of threats to the nearby American Express office.
Martha
September 11th, 2012 - 21:57
I was at home getting ready to go to my computer class at the college when my husband called and told me to turn on the TV, at first I thought it was a horor movie or joke then I realized it was for real I just stode there with tears in my eyes, when I got to class know one else had heard the news yet as we sat at our computers that is all any of us did for over an hour was watch what was unfolding after class was over we all went home they had cancaled classes for the rest of the day.
Arthur
September 11th, 2012 - 22:35
I was driving a bus..
Joshy George
September 12th, 2012 - 12:39
I was at home and one of my friend called from Delhi and told me that there was a terrorist attack on US. May God bless the world
ina henderson
September 12th, 2012 - 13:38
remember this nx time firefighters need 2 go on strike, we all take it 4 granted don,t we? they faced the biggest,worse challenge no1 shud av 2 @ yeh, they were scared brave men lik any other, yet went in 2 save others. lost many of own 2, let,s hope may never av 2 ever do summat on same scale gen,lik many will alwys b scarred by wot saw, endured, many of us avn,t clue bout, jus think on this nx time may crib bout something wud rather not do, no choice in at times. theyr,e only human 2, giv em a break, they reached their breaking point that day.@ let,s not 4 get their families 2 who were affected badly. work colleagues lost,when just simply doing their job quite simply wud tested any1 facing this.
Ronny
September 12th, 2012 - 16:09
V tu dobu jsem byl na nákupu a při prohlížení elektroniky si všiml, že na všech zapnutých televizorech běží útok na dvojčata. V první moment jsem měl za to, že jde o nějakou ukázku akčního filmu. Bohužel, šlo o opravdové útoky.
Ronny
Candace
September 12th, 2012 - 18:28
I was at home waiting for an inspector to inspect the house as it was for sale. I remember that my daughter-in-law and granddaughter came to the house to stay as it was a frightening day. We were all so upset and heartbroken just like most people. Shocking, as it was hard to believe that the US was attacked within our borders. I remember the real estate agent for the buyers had come to be present at the inspection. When I answered the door to her I asked her how she was feeling. Her comment to me was "I hope it brings them to their knees." I to this day have no idea what she meant, US? Terrorists? What? I ordered her off my porch and told her she could wait in her car for the inspector. I will never forget the hurt I felt for our country when she spoke to me. To this day I pray that I misunderstood her.
Derry
September 13th, 2012 - 00:41
I was on a United Airline Flight from Toronto to Chicago for a Printing show at the McCormick Centre. We were the last plane to land and new something was wrong when we went through the airport. Got in a cab and that's when we found out the horrible tragedy. We were supposed to be a one night stay and home the next day but one of the printing companies in Canada sent down a bus to get us and we arrived back in Canada on the Thursday.
Betty Hough
September 13th, 2012 - 03:13
I was choosing a buriel site for my husband who died the on monday the 10. He had retired from US Airways. The day of the viewing the Pittsburgh airport was closed. We were an airline family and this effected us all. We still are an airline family and things have really changed.
Ray Malenfant – Marydel, DE
September 13th, 2012 - 04:04
I was in a conference at a hotel about 2 miles away from the Pentagon. My friend had gone out to use the restroom and saw the first tower buring on the TV at the bar as he passed by. He came back into the meeting and told me I might want to look at what was happening. As we walked out to the TV, the second plane was just shown live piling into the second tower. I remember saying clearly to me the both towers were going to collapse, to which my friend said I was crazy. Unfortunately I was right. It kills me to watch the replays of the day since it feels like I was the only one who thought that, and seeing them sending more people into the buildings really hurt. We watched for a bit and we both felt the ground shake twice but at the time had no idea that the Pentagon was also hit and we had felt the concussion. We told the moderator and that crazy person running the meeting wanted to keep it going. I told him we were leaving NOW. Turned out that we could not return home to DE since all the bridges were shut down around D.C. so we had only the option of going south where there were no bridges, which we did and stayed at my friends house. We were able to return to DE the next day. Very scary day.
Peter Egon Okrutay
September 14th, 2012 - 02:47
I was sitting at home watching TV when it came on as happening news, the saddest thing that I have witnessed.
Phil Hellier
September 17th, 2012 - 18:41
I was at work in Glastonbury fitting a kitchen, everybody stopped what they were doing and were listening to the radio in disbelief, on the drive home I was still listening with tears in my eyes.