What were you doing when you learned of the tragedy of September 11th?

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   Tracy Lynn Conwayposted 13 years ago

   I was living in Queens, NYC and was feeding my 1 month old baby and watching the news when I first saw footage of the fire in one of towers. So much has changed since then.

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      Nick Lucasposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I hate to say it but I was sleeping as I was attending night college and a friend called and told me we were being attacked and I shrugged it off and went back to sleep.  Then later when I woke and watched the news I realized how serious it was and felt very bad for all the people killed and for their families.  Even then I didnt realize how serious it would be and how it would forever change our nation and world.

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      Cogersonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I was getting ready to go to work.....I got a 1 pm to 11 pm shift...so by the time I got home....I was exhausted from trying to follow the news and still work.  I worked in a grocery store near a navy base...so we got lots of business that day as the panick spread.

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2. 83

   Rafiniposted 13 years ago

   I was in my car driving to work.
   
   The dj was relaying the news about the first tower when he was handed a 'breaking news' report of the second tower being hit.  My immediate reaction was -  what?  does somebody want to go to war? 
   
   It was strange when I got to work and nobody else had heard it yet...I wasn't in a good place at the time (mentally, emotionally, psychologically) and thought that maybe, just maybe I'd misheard the dj since nothing was circulating through the company.  About an hour later everyone had heard the news.

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3. 81

   lovemychrisposted 13 years ago

   Was cleaning a hotel room with the tv on, and they broke in with the news.
   Next day, there were burnt out candles everywhere outside around the  hotel...the people staying there must have had a vigil or something the night before..It was beautiful and haunting.
   
   
   and that Enya song....they should not have done that.
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUy-018sVyY
   
   while people were jumping. Emotional manipulation!

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4. 84

   rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

   There was a thread last year where many of us posted our memories and thoughts.
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/53206?p … ost1217005
   
   I played this song today in memory of all those who lost their lives.
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5FyRZbq … r_embedded

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   Paul Wingertposted 13 years ago

   I was just waking up (3hr time difference between New York and Washington State) and saw it when I logged on to the internet. Then I flipped on the TV in time to see the towers fall. After the shock sided, my though was that if newly elected Bush was any kind of leader, he'll be declaring war on who's responsible. Well he did and I still support his decision to invade Afganistan and start slaughtering Al Quada. As far as invading Irag, that was f**ked up.

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   Edwin Clarkposted 13 years ago

   I live in NYC, just a 20 minute walk to ground zero. I was in my living room watching television. Although I did not hear an explosion my lighting fixtures shook for a second. I looked outside my window and saw people standing still, staring and pointing somewhere. Moments later the news came on and well that's when...

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   Stacie Lposted 13 years ago

   I was living on Long Island -50 miles a way and switched on the tv just as the planes hit..can't watch any video today on it still

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   wordscribe43posted 13 years ago

   I was on my way to find out the gender(s) of my unborn twins.  It was going to be such an exciting day.... until we turned on the radio.  We couldn't figure out what was going on, were they referring to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing?  We kept telling ourselves that must be what that was all about.  Then we got to the hospital and every TV was surrounded by people and sadness.  Slowly we pieced together what was happening.  It was early here, so it was still unfolding in NY.  It was a memorable day, no doubt... just not the kind of memories we were hoping for.  A celebration of new life for us, but totally overshadowed by the tragedy of so many.

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9. 81

   classicalgeekposted 13 years ago

   I was getting dressed to go to my job. My parents were visiting me, and we had a strategy session about possible local targets to avoid in case there was more coming. Of course I had previously lived in places with almost weekly bomb threats and had been evacuated from one building or another many times, so I suppose that is the reason that it did not affect me as strongly as most people.
   
   I had an overseas guest staying with me who had left on 9/9, and my first thought was, "I'm glad she is safely back home!"

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    Brenda Durhamposted 13 years ago

    I was getting ready for work when the News showed the hit to the first tower,  and on my way to work during the second one.  Wrote a hub about it last year;  still stands.   This year I started to write a hub about it, but dunno if I'll go through with it yet...
    
    It occurs to me, after seeing this thread, that I've never heard Obama say where he was on that day.  It would've been natural (if he were as deeply affected by the terrorist attack as most Americans were) for him to have told his personal story by now.    Anyone ever hear it?
    According to "the internet", he issued this statement on his Senate website, I guess, in 2001 after the towers were hit.   Notice his admonishment (already!) about prejudice and his assessment that POVERTY and such makes terrorists of children!   I see his ego, audacity, and making excuses for people who hate America knew no boundaries even then.
    
    
    
    
    
    1.  State Senator Barack Obama, September 19th 2001:
    
    
    
    "Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we as a nation draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy. Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction.
    
    
    
    "We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.
    
    
    
    "We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe-children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and within our own shores."
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    I'm inclined to imagine he was somewhere under the vengeful tutelage of "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright that morning, perhaps gloating that America's "chickens...had come home to roost."

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       John Holdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       On the contrary, I read nothing vengeful or gloating in that. I read a well balanced reaction, one unfortunately not too typical.
       
       Or does your religion not go in for understanding Brenda?

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    Holmes221bposted 13 years ago

    I was at work, in the office, where I worked as a Community Journalist for a local newspaper.  The manager had gone online, and read the news that the World Trade Center has been attacked.  This was after both buildings had collapsed.  I remember thinking it was Russia which had attacked the USA and was terrified that we were on the brink of a nuclear war.  I think my mind was still stuck in the Cold War at that time.  I had to wait until I got home that night before I turned on the TV and saw the New York skyline covered in smoke.  It is almost unbelievable that it was ten years ago, because it still seems very recent.

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       John Holdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I first heard about it on the radio and assumed at first that it was a light aircraft.
       
       When I realised the magnitude of the event I cried for you, America.

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12. 0

    Longhunterposted 13 years ago

    I had the day off and was packing, preparing to move out as part of my divorce. I flipped on the TV and saw where the first plane had hit the WTC tower. Having been to the WTC before, I knew the plane was not a sightseeing plane. The buildings were huge and the hole stretched almost all the way across.
    
    Bryant Gumble was speaking when the second plane struck the second tower. I turned to my soon-to-be ex-wife and said, "We're under attack."
    
    We discussed whether or not to take our son to school or keep him home. Deciding to keep his day as normal as possible, I took him. When I got home, his mother was gone to work and I spent the morning glued to the TV, watching the horrible events of that day.

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    Hollie Thomasposted 13 years ago

    I was at work and had walked into the report centre, where clients waited. Everyone was just fixated on the TV, I actually thought when I looked at the screen that somebody was playing a tasteless action- thriller type movie, until someone pointed out that it was actually happening in New York, real time.

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    EmpressFelicityposted 13 years ago

    It was 2.00 pm and I'd just come home from the part time tutoring job I was doing then. My neighbour stopped me in the street, just as I was about to open my front door. "Did you hear what's just happened in New York?" she said. "They've flown two planes into the World Trade Centre!" I went straight indoors, switched on the TV and sure enough...
    
    You're right Holmes, it seems hard to believe that it was ten years ago.

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    livelongerposted 13 years ago

    I was coming out of an early-afternoon class (I was in the Netherlands at the time). Everyone in the computer cluster was talking animatedly about something and watching/reading on the computers. Some were laughing and saying stuff like "look at it come in...bam!". I couldn't get decent access to even read anything except to some Polish sites so I read those and headed home in a daze.
    
    At my apartment building, the elevator wasn't working. Some Dutch guy joked, "Did a plane hit the elevator, too?" I glowered at him but said nothing.
    
    Spent the rest of the evening trying to get as much information about what happened, and to try to get a hold of my family back home. It was a miserable day.

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       Castlepalomaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I was trying to get across at the border to do a job in the USA, then watch two planes crushed two whole huge towers down and asked people around me, how can two planes without nuclear bombs blow up two buildings.
       
       About two days delay; I then watched Bush blew off friendship and trading with Canada and join their best friend and war buddies, England. Then knew we were in for a hell of a ride with the Religious imperialist Wars.
       
       The greatest shock and awe for me, is standing by while one million Iraqi’s get killed on their soil, while no Iraqi had killed not one American on American soil.
       
       A crime beyond words and which harmed USA and their Global relationship

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    jcmayer777posted 13 years ago

    I was at work.  I worked at a call center for a magazine sales company as a floor supervisor.  They had a breakroom and the call center pretty much died that night - almost no inbound calls.  Still, we weren't allowed to leave the floor to find out what was going on, even in shifts, since the boss felt it was unproductive.

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    SomewayOuttaHereposted 13 years ago

    ...good question...
    
    ...i had just risen from sleep - early morning..time difference...turned the news on as usual and then turned the tv on because of what i was hearing....watched...and then couldn't believe what i was watching...very surreal...then tower 2 was hit...more shock, etc. and kept watching with disbelief
    
    ... i was on one of the first airplanes in the air in NA (Canadian west coast) after the devastation...lots of tight security...lots of guns - not the usual security - airport security was 'heavy duty'...dogs, etc.....it was kinda scary actually at the airport at that time and I was shipping my bicycle too  ....i was flying to a city (across Canada) to begin a fundraising 'bicycle ride' in memory of Meagan who died of ovarian cancer in 2000.....the bike ride was 750 km (not a lengthy ride, but far enough and spreading the word about ovarian cancer)...i've written about Meagan......i completed the ride in her memory...i focused on the ride only...after the ride for her, i flew home and then read the papers, watched the news again....and again...and again....with memories of her at my side...

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    habeeposted 13 years ago

    I was teaching a Brit lit class, and a fellow teacher came in and told me about the first plane. We thought it might have been an accident. Then he came back and told me about the second plane. The entire high school watched the news for the rest of the day. The students were really scared.

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    fratjoe18posted 13 years ago

    I was in Art class in High School in West Virginia. I remember my teacher turned on the TV for the morning announcements and she was turning the channels and came across the news of the world trade towers had been hit.

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