Where Were You On Sept 11?

[Watcher74]

I was in Norfolk, Virginia. Within hours, my ship(US Navy Cruiser) was heading North to the scene of the crime. I was on the bow of my ship in flak jacket, helmet, my fingers wrapped around the trigger of a .50 caliber machine gun. My ship had orders to shoot anything it saw out of the sky, no questions asked.

I spent 4 days off the coast of NYC watching it smoke. And spent the next 7 months sitting off the coast of Pakistan. Chasing down suspected Al Queda sympathizers and burning their ships.

 

[Leopardess]

Well watcher's account is much more eventful than mine. I was sitting in a statistics class when we found out. Some kid just said some plane hit the World Trade Center, but we weren't sure if it actually happened or not. It wasn't until I left after that class (I did not have classes after that one) and went home and turned on the TV until I actually knew what happened. I had to go to work that night, although most businesses closed that night - small town - but we had a little TV on and were glued to it.

 

[aquariumfishguy]

I was jet skiing on a very nice lake when that happened... it was a personal day I needed to take off at the time, and went to reflect on the lake. I didn't hear about what actually happened until turning on the tv around 2:30 in the afternoon - I had come in for a lunch break. Boy, did I do some reflecting that day!

 

[kees&fish]

I had just dropped my boys off at school, run to the post office and headed back to school for mass that morning when we heard about the first plane. No one seemed unduly concerned at that point. After mass, I was in the 3rd grade classroom when I was pulled out by the 2nd grade teacher who had on the radio. At that moment, I felt safe as we were in a catholic school. But I did call my parents as I couldn't remember if my dad was in NY or not on business. He had just gotten back the day before!

 

[Dragon Queen]

I was a home getting ready for work and when I got to work we spent a few hours waiting to hear from a coworkers daughter who lived in NY.

 

[Max]

I was out cold on an operating table in Oak Ridge TN. I had minor surgery scheduled for the morning and woke up in a shelter in the hospital. It was sort of an intersting day being under sedation I wasn't really sure exactly what the nurse and a friend of mine were telling me so it didn't sink in until a little later.
You haven't lived though until you wake up in a hospital and then get whisked away on a manditory evacuation. There were half traks and security everywhere, they evacuated a large portion of Oak Ridge and they have these little posts that popp up in the roads in the event of a nuclear emergency ,"we have the only civilian hospital in the country with a full decontamination unit."
It was such a sad day too bad we can't seem to find Osama no matter where we look :huh:

 

[nursie]

Watcher74..your account gives a whole new meaning to your screen name. i remember that they flew the president out west that day with a fighter escort. We could see the trails in the sky over Peoria.
As I said earlier we had band practice that night, and one of the kids spotted an airplane up in the sky and came over to me concerned(that's what band parents are there for) We have a power plant nearby and we'd heard they had fighter planes up doing survelance over the area.

 

[Lila]

I was at home, talking to my mom on the phone. My SIL called me and told me about the first plane. I clicked back to my mom and told her as I switched on the TV.

They kept saying it was an accident. When the second plane hit, I said, 'This isn't an accident.' I just wanted to go get my two oldest from school and hold them close to me.

I called my husband while he was in school. He didn't believe me at first. Then one of his classmates grabbed their radio from their car and they found it. He said the room was dead silent.

When the Pentagon was hit, the shock was worse. I kept thinking 'We're being attacked! On our own soil!'.

 

[Dangerdoll]

I was at work too..... I sit in a big room with about 8 work stations and we always play the radio..... when they aired that the first tower had been hit, we were all like.... "wow..... that's weird.... wonder how that happened," we thought it was a small plane, then we heard another plane hit and like some posts.... silence... we couldn't even speak... then to hear about the Pentagon... and the PA flight.... I was scared shirtless (for respect of the board) that day..... I remember not wanting to be anywhere except close tight with my family..... the thought of how that fear was is still so real today. It's something because a friend of mine had just asked me about the American flag that still flaps at my front door. Some peopel still fly them, but not nearly as much as they used to...... he asked if I was going to take it down..... I told him no, I might think about it after our last soldier comes home but probably not then either. After 9-11, I have a whole different perspective and respect for that flag.

 

[OrionGirl]

They were announcing that the first plane had hit when I started on my drive to work, then added that the second one hit before I made it here. We have a few TV's in the building, and they were all running CNN all day. It was pretty surreal--we were still working, but people came down the halls with updates. The building my Mom works at in Denver was evacuated, as were most tall buildings. Up here, we don't have any building much over 6 stories, but I guess most downtown buildings were also evacuated, just in case.

I remember the hardest part was not being able to get in touch with my boyfriend (now my husband). The base was pretty well locked down, and the phone lines were all busy.