12 years ago today (and 1 year ago today)

[Jason]

Where were you?

 

I was living in southern PA and working in Rockville MD, basically a DC suburb.  I had just finished taking water samples for a validation I was doing.  I turned on the radio expecting to listen to Dr. Laura when they were talking about a plane that had crashed into the tower.  I thought it was a small private plane.  I was listening live when the second plane hit.  That whole day was surreal.  I remember telling a coworker I felt like I was in a Bruce Willis movie.

Being so close to DC, there were always planes flying overhead.  It was eerie not to hear them.

A week later to the day I was on a plane flying to Massachusetts for a project because the woman who was supposed to be on that flight was now afraid to fly.  This was before they re-routed planes and we flew directly over NYC.  Smoke was still rising from Ground Zero.

Never Forget.

Let's not forget 1 year ago today as well.  Benghazi.

[gatorclaws]

I was in high school, I think I was in study hall at the time when someone came in and turned on the TV's without saying anything. The rest of the day was a mix of some teachers trying to continue teaching with others just letting us watch the news. I remember a lot of discussions wondering how it would impact us, would we go to war, would there be a draft, etc.

[Go Skins]

I was working in Herndon, VA (very close to Dulles Airport) and had just got to work and people were saying something happened and to try and get on the news sites.

 

A few hours later, everyone was sent home.  I lived in Arlington, VA at the time, had driven by the Pentagon hundreds of times.  To see a "hole" was unreal. Planes fly very close to the Pentagon because of where National Airport is. 

[-GoBengals-]

i was sleeping, cause my life was awesome then, and my wife (g/f at the time) calls me, all hysterical i can hear her stepdad in the background yelling that we were under attack, so i am picturing world war 3 happening in the country and saw the first building smoking, then i saw the second plane come in and hit as well. it was nuts..

 

i was only 20 so it didnt have that huge of an impact at the time. but the aftermath of finding out we knew some people that were there and didnt make it was nuts..

[Bengals1181]

I was asleep.  I had worked until 7am and had to be at work again at 11am.  Woke up around 10:30 I think, and spent pretty much the entire time at work watching the news.

[BengalRep85-9]

I was a sophomore in high school. It was towards the end of gym class when my teacher announces they "They're bombing New York." That's all he said. Got my first glimpse of the towers as I peaked in a room with a tv on while I was walking to lunch a few minutes later.

 

I will never forget the image I saw of the towers burning.

 

I was actually in New York staying at a hotel in lower manhattan the weekend before it all happened. I remember being able to walk to the back of the hotel and seeing a clear view of the towers so close to me since the whole back was windows. I later found out that the hotel parking lot was used for central command. Surreal. I was so close to actually being there when it happened. We left on the sunday before it all went down

 

Always remember as we were leaving the bell boy said make sure you all come back and see us now, my moms boyfriend at the time said oh we definitely will.  Funny feeling knowing there's a pretty decent chance that bell boy may not have survived..

[Bengals1181]

I don't have an issue with it, but I'm surprised my daughter's first grade class learned about 9/11 today.  Most of it seems to have gone over her head.  She mentioned towers, a plane and people hurt, but the magnitude of it went way over her head.

[esjbh2]

I remember I was getting a late start on my day in Cincy.  Saw some preliminary stuff on TV while still at home.  At that time it was early enough that they were still thinking it was maybe just an accident and just the one plane.  By the time I got to work all that had changed rapidly with all four planes, obviously premeditated, who could be responsible, etc.  Nothing got done that whole week, especially early in the week.  Very emotional process.  The Boston Marathon Bombings brought back some of those same emotions and memories.

 

As Jason said, it was really eery during the no-fly period too.

 

At the time I was flying to Detroit weekly and had the routine down to a science...very efficient...timing was predictable and check-in/security/etc was very minimal...flying was great even for destinations that were drivable.  Of course that all changed forever.

[oldschooler]

http://youtu.be/gPHnadJ-0hE

 

 

I was laid off of work  and sitting in my living room in Ohio watching TV. I just sat there watching.

I don't think I moved for hours. Just kept watching. That's all I remember. Just sitting there numb,

not moving, watching. 

[Ben]

i was in a computer lab by myself doing some testing and had no idea what was going on.  Came out after both planes had hit, but before the towers fell.

 

I still remember my apartment rattling from the sonic booms of planes being scrambled from wright patt.

[Rumble In the Jungle]

I was living in Greensboro N.C. My dad woke me up to a phone call telling me we're under attack and I was like Ryan thinking it's WW3. I turned the TV on then 30 minutes later I watched the first building collapse then I watched the second. It was nuts. Oh, and I saw the second plane hit the second building. 

[CincyInDC]

On September 21st I was driving home from Bernheim Forest (the same place where I was on September 11th) and listened to Bush address a joint session of Congress, and I knew something was fishy when he said this:

 

 

Now, this war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.

 

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations secret even in success.

 

I thought to myself, "this means never ending war."  Fuck yeah. 

 

Here's the transcript of the entire speech.

[Tigris]

Sophomore in history class. I didn't even care at the time. I was stoked about having the rest of the day easy. Stupid kid, I know.