Thank you for sharing your experience… I think we’ll all remember this day as if it was just yesterday. And I believe that’s a good thing, if only to honor all the lives lost senselessly.
I was at work. I was doing an in-room treatment, and the patient had her tv on CBS, with some daytime show about to begin. They broke in with a news special report, with Dan Rather reporting a plane had hit the WTC. As we both watched, and trying to figure out how this could’ve happened, the second plane hit. Then the Pentagon. It then was obvious what was happening, and awaited word of what became of the fourth flight. It was all so surreal. Then, right there on live tv, one tower fell, then the other. Still can’t believe it really happened. Some days later, as we began to get names of those on planes, it turned out one of my high school classmates, his partner, and their adopted child were on that first plane. Just so senseless.
Oh my… I didn’t know anyone that was killed or wounded in these events, this didn’t happen in my country, but it still is one of the most shocking days of my life. I can’t imagine how devestating it was for the American people… Like you, I still have trouble believing I witnessed it ”live” through my TV screen…
I was in 4th grade, three months before immigrated to the US. I unfortunate didn’t know about it until my mom urgently called to tell me she’s okay. There wasn’t any media coverage unless my aunt and uncle didn’t watch the news.
At work.
One of my first jobs out of school and I was in finance! I always remember my boss Barbara would receive phone-calls from her mum about mundane domestic issues, which were often quite funny. When Barbara’s phone rang, she would roll her eyes and laugh and say, “it’s me mam again!”
That afternoon (around 2pm-ish) she picked up the phone and it was obvious her mum was very distressed. Barbara tried to calm her mum down, and I could hear her saying, “are you sure mum? Are you not watching a film or something? It was probably an accident.”
I was looking at my boss and I watched her face turn white – and I heard her say, “OMG – a second plane – that’s not an accident.”
Within minutes, there were TVs rolled in and plugged in (I don’t know where these TVs came from – we must have had them for training videos?) and everyone stopped work and was glued to the screen. Complete disbelief. We could not do anything. We could not work. It was hard to watch the news. Every now and then a phone would ring and some plonker was chasing up a late payment. It was just surreal.
I had friends in Brooklyn who were watching from across the river, and soon they were faced with the situation of hundreds of people pouring across the bridge. They were trying to comfort them and provide them with something to drink or eat, and letting them talk and cry. Some of my friends told me about people who were in absolute shock, shaking and crying. Some of them needed medical attention and they had no idea where they were going to sleep that night. So they set up a temporary camp in their Brooklyn offices. People brought down food and clothes, blankets and sleeping bags. They did what they could. It was an awful awful awful day. Everyone was moved to try to do something to those who were most shaken by what they had seen and experienced that day.
I think that a lot of us had a similar experience… Watching the news all day, not able to do anything else, but wait. Here in Eastern Canada, what made things especially eerie was when they grounded all the planes on their way to the US on Canadian ground. Hundreds of planes just filled every airport’s tarmac.
I have seen footage of the people fleeing New York city through Brooklyn’s bridge… It was unbelievable. I am glad that people like your friends welcomed them with open arms. Just shows that when a disaster strikes, it usually brings the best in people.
I was in class, teaching. We heard about what was happening and watched the second tower fall on the classroom tv. My students were terrified that Toronto might be next.
I was at work at a counseling center. The sectretary put the news on when she got to work, and I heard her scream. I ran out to the lobby to help…and watched a plane crash into the second tower…then one hit the pentagon where two of my brother-in-laws, my father-in-law and two cousins were working. I watched in horror as my eldest brother-in-law ran out of a door carrying a young woman across his shoulder…blood dripping from his arm. Then a tower fell…I frantically began calling my cousin Janie, who was a vogue editor and working in the second tower….I never got through to her……then the second tower fell. My father-in-law died that day trying to help people escape the fire that was burning in the daycare at pentagon. My cousin Janie died when the tower collapsed. Joe, my eldest brother-in-law had his arm amputated from the schrapnal. It is never far frommy mind.
I was at home about to take an afternoon nap after a long day at school when I saw the first images on TV. Like millions of other people, we thought these were scenes from a movie. My entire family remained glued to the TV until midnight my time. The last image I remember of the day was the reporter saying that couple of buildings near the WTCs could also collapse.
Cyranny's Cove 
Working at a nuclear power plant. I wrote about it today on my blog https://gardensandmore.wordpress.com/2021/09/11/september-11-2001-where-were-you/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing your experience… I think we’ll all remember this day as if it was just yesterday. And I believe that’s a good thing, if only to honor all the lives lost senselessly.
LikeLike
I was at work. I was doing an in-room treatment, and the patient had her tv on CBS, with some daytime show about to begin. They broke in with a news special report, with Dan Rather reporting a plane had hit the WTC. As we both watched, and trying to figure out how this could’ve happened, the second plane hit. Then the Pentagon. It then was obvious what was happening, and awaited word of what became of the fourth flight. It was all so surreal. Then, right there on live tv, one tower fell, then the other. Still can’t believe it really happened. Some days later, as we began to get names of those on planes, it turned out one of my high school classmates, his partner, and their adopted child were on that first plane. Just so senseless.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my… I didn’t know anyone that was killed or wounded in these events, this didn’t happen in my country, but it still is one of the most shocking days of my life. I can’t imagine how devestating it was for the American people… Like you, I still have trouble believing I witnessed it ”live” through my TV screen…
LikeLiked by 2 people
I didn’t realize there were children on the planes. They aren’t mentioned, much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was an infant, just a couple of months old.
LikeLike
Oh Yes, I think I read about that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was in 4th grade, three months before immigrated to the US. I unfortunate didn’t know about it until my mom urgently called to tell me she’s okay. There wasn’t any media coverage unless my aunt and uncle didn’t watch the news.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So your mother was already in the States when it happened? It must have been quite stressful being so far from some of your family while they abroad…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, she came to the US 3 years before I did. So we were separated for 3 years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
At work.
One of my first jobs out of school and I was in finance! I always remember my boss Barbara would receive phone-calls from her mum about mundane domestic issues, which were often quite funny. When Barbara’s phone rang, she would roll her eyes and laugh and say, “it’s me mam again!”
That afternoon (around 2pm-ish) she picked up the phone and it was obvious her mum was very distressed. Barbara tried to calm her mum down, and I could hear her saying, “are you sure mum? Are you not watching a film or something? It was probably an accident.”
I was looking at my boss and I watched her face turn white – and I heard her say, “OMG – a second plane – that’s not an accident.”
Within minutes, there were TVs rolled in and plugged in (I don’t know where these TVs came from – we must have had them for training videos?) and everyone stopped work and was glued to the screen. Complete disbelief. We could not do anything. We could not work. It was hard to watch the news. Every now and then a phone would ring and some plonker was chasing up a late payment. It was just surreal.
I had friends in Brooklyn who were watching from across the river, and soon they were faced with the situation of hundreds of people pouring across the bridge. They were trying to comfort them and provide them with something to drink or eat, and letting them talk and cry. Some of my friends told me about people who were in absolute shock, shaking and crying. Some of them needed medical attention and they had no idea where they were going to sleep that night. So they set up a temporary camp in their Brooklyn offices. People brought down food and clothes, blankets and sleeping bags. They did what they could. It was an awful awful awful day. Everyone was moved to try to do something to those who were most shaken by what they had seen and experienced that day.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I think that a lot of us had a similar experience… Watching the news all day, not able to do anything else, but wait. Here in Eastern Canada, what made things especially eerie was when they grounded all the planes on their way to the US on Canadian ground. Hundreds of planes just filled every airport’s tarmac.
I have seen footage of the people fleeing New York city through Brooklyn’s bridge… It was unbelievable. I am glad that people like your friends welcomed them with open arms. Just shows that when a disaster strikes, it usually brings the best in people.
Thank you for sharing your memories 🙂 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
At home, getting ready for work
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not quite business as usual, right?
LikeLiked by 1 person
At work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad I was home when we learnt about what was happening… I wonder how I could have concentrated on the job to do!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That workday was pretty much shot for all of us.
LikeLike
At work. NYC requested a fire truck and support from Upstate New York. It was a fluke that the truck didn’t start that morning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! What a fluke, indeed. Who knows what would have happened otherwise… I’d rather not think about it.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
LikeLike
I was in class, teaching. We heard about what was happening and watched the second tower fall on the classroom tv. My students were terrified that Toronto might be next.
LikeLike
I was at work at a counseling center. The sectretary put the news on when she got to work, and I heard her scream. I ran out to the lobby to help…and watched a plane crash into the second tower…then one hit the pentagon where two of my brother-in-laws, my father-in-law and two cousins were working. I watched in horror as my eldest brother-in-law ran out of a door carrying a young woman across his shoulder…blood dripping from his arm. Then a tower fell…I frantically began calling my cousin Janie, who was a vogue editor and working in the second tower….I never got through to her……then the second tower fell. My father-in-law died that day trying to help people escape the fire that was burning in the daycare at pentagon. My cousin Janie died when the tower collapsed. Joe, my eldest brother-in-law had his arm amputated from the schrapnal. It is never far frommy mind.
LikeLike
So very sorry for your losses! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was at home with my 2year old and 7 months pregnant, telling my baby to stay inside that the world had gone MAD!
LikeLike
I was at home about to take an afternoon nap after a long day at school when I saw the first images on TV. Like millions of other people, we thought these were scenes from a movie. My entire family remained glued to the TV until midnight my time. The last image I remember of the day was the reporter saying that couple of buildings near the WTCs could also collapse.
LikeLike