I was in 5th Grade at the time and a teacher knocked on the door and my teacher stepped out for a moment and came in crying and said a plane crashed into the twin towers. Later when I got home I watched it on tv and didnt really understand what had happened until the towers collapse and I was numb.
I know this will not happen again.Every person on that plane would die to stop them before they would let it happen again.
[quote]Big_Boss wrote:
I took me a few days to realize that shit really happened…finally sunk in when I just happen to see footage of people jumping from building.[/quote]
There’s an image that won’t leave me any time soon.
[quote]RSGZ wrote:
Agree with Rainjack here - all you conspiracy fuckers keep your shit out of here.[/quote]
x2
[quote]rainjack wrote:
If I remember correctly, rrjc5488 lost his dad to the terrorists.
His story will make you cry.[/quote]
Fucking terrorists.
I was living at home, in the basement getting in a workout before going to my crappy job. I heard about the first plane on the radio, so I went upstairs and told my dad, and he flipped over to CNN and we watched the second plane hit. I remember saying something stupid like “the fire came out the other side.”
So we watched for a while, then my dad went to take a piss and said, “you watch, they’re going to hit the pentagon next.” A few seconds later they showed the pentagon on fire.
I remember that they kept showing it over and over and I didn’t want to watch anymore but couldn’t turn it off.
I was at work trying to get ahead of the day so I could get off early to go and celebrate my birthday. I didn’t and have never since.
I did have a moment of silence on one knee for all the fire fighters that ran to their deaths inorder to save others. A very powerful day in so many ways.
The number of heros that died on 9/11 will never truly be known. There is however a very special place in my heart for all of them.
I will never forget nor shall I ever forgive.
I was a 10th grader sitting in English class. It was on this day seven years ago that I knew I wanted to be a US Marine and shoot motherfuckers in the face.
I have been reading this thread throughout the day and what really strikes me is the number of posters who were kids and young teenagers on that day. It’s so hard to believer that 7 years have passed by. I think that we all lost our innocence in a way on 9/11.
Most of us grew up in a time that the thought of an invading force striking North America was a far fetched idea. The world has changed so much, and it saddens me that my daughter will not have the same innocence that I had growing up, in regards to world issues and conflicts.
On that day I was at work, and although we had heard about the first plane, the news reports seemed like it was an accident. Soon after our initial speculations, my boss came running in and told us the United States is under attack. It was a numbing and horrible feeling to hear those words.
My work at the time was right beside the Montreal International Aeroport, and we all stepped outside into the sunshine and watched plane after plane come in and land as the skies were cleared.
None of us could comprehend how on this beautiful sunny day that such a terrible and dark event could be taking place just south of us.
My entire life was in a free fall at that time, 2 days before I had left my husband and moved into an apartment. Every anniversary of 9/11 puts me into a very pensive mood and I take stock of all the people in my life who I love and remember not to take them for granted, they could be gone in an instant, out of a clear blue sky.
I also think a lot about the heros on flight 93 and the civilians and EMCs and police and firefighters who lost their lives on that day. We must never forget them, and keep up the fight in Afghanistan to rid the world of the maniacs responsible for those deaths.
I was at work when I heard about the towers. We turned on the TVs and watched. We were told we could go home to be with our families.
I knew my friend Erin was in New York and I was terrified for her. She was okay but she had made plans that morning to have breakfast in the Windows of the World restaurant. She was late but her cousin was already in the Tower waiting for her when the planes hit and he died.
So terrible.
[quote]Mod Jump’N Jack wrote:
kellerdp wrote:
I just think that it is as important to remember the events that lead or may have lead up to 9/11, as it is to remember 9/11.
This is not the correct thread for that. If that’s your intention, you need to start a new thread in the Politics and World Issues forum.
Further off-topic posts in this thread are unnecessary and won’t be permitted.[/quote]
Im late on this and not the fisrt but Thanks Jack
I was 14 when it happened. Was home from school sick. Mom thought I was faking, so she was making me watch the news hoping I’d say I wanted to go to school.
The broadcast was cut and they started saying a small plane hit the building and they didn’t know what exactly was happening. We thought a Cessna has crashed into it or something.
Then all this live footage starts, and the buildings smoking like crazy, people are running and screaming.
Then the second plane comes. I will never forget that. The reporters standing there talking, and then people start screaming and pointing, and they turn to the camera towards the sky, and you see this massive plane ram the second building. So horrible.
We keep watching, and people are running, cops and firefighters are pushing against people so they can go into the towers, people were jumping out of windows. I remember one firefighter was crushed under a person who jumped out a window. That really killed me to see.
No one was actually thinking the towers were going to collapse. People were running to the roof hoping for rescue choppers to start picking them up. Phone calls from people inside the buildings talking about how they’re making it down to the ground, what it looked like.
I remember one caller saying ‘hold on’, and running back to grab an old person who could barely walk down the steps. He carried her down like 12 floors, and they both made it out okay, he was talking on his cell phone the whole time. By that point I was really crying, it’s so awesome that there are people out there who still care about others even in the most hellish situation.
Then, suddenly, boom, there’s a cascade of ash, and the towers fall. The camera for one feed was knocked over, CNN switched to a different one, and it was pointed up. Ash was floating everywhere, like black snow, and everyone was just standing, staring, completely dumbfounded at the empty space where the buildings were. It instantly went from chaotic screaming to complete silence.
I don’t think anyone really comprehended for a second, it was like watching a doomsday movie. I remember going outside, and everything was quiet. I’ve never heard such silence. Almost all the cars were pulled off the road, people either listening to the radio or cramming into gas stations and pubs to see the TVs.
My best friend from middle school-high school decided he wanted to join the Army on that day. He enlisted right after high school. Went through bootcamp, then got sent to afghanistan. Died three months later while fighting in a surprise attack.
9/11 changed everything for this generation.
I was stationed in England. I started working for the Dept of Defense on Sept 10th, 2001. My trainer asked me if I learned “by seeing, or by doing.” I said, “by doing.” So she put me in a room with 44 binders of info, and wished me luck.
I came to work Sept 11th, and it was around 1:30 pm for us when the first plane hit. My supervisor called me into the break room. Like many others, I couldn’t believe the stupidity of what I thought was some stupid pilot. HUGE mistake, right?!
I saw the 2nd plane hit, and my USMC training kicked in. My guts went cold, and shivers ran down my spine. I heard my hollow voice say, “Somebody doesn’t like us.” The Base BIG VOICE came on around 3:00 telling us to evacuate.
My house was off-base, in Bury St Edmunds. It’s a small county in Suffolk, England. Wonderful people… not normally very demonstrative about flag-waving (unless England is in the soccer finals!)
We were ordered to stay home, not leave the house unless absolutely necessary, not allowed to fly a US flag from our window, our cars, etc. Nothing to show that we were American. (But I drove a left-hand drive car, with American military license plates. So… uh… how tough is it to spot the American?!)
The British population was amazing. Thousands of roses appeared along the lines of our front gates. Flags - US and UK were flown from every window and doorway. They left food on our doorstep. Words pretty much fail me at their solidarity and willingness to show their condolences, friendship, and respect.
It was either 3 or 4 days later that they allowed us to return to the base. Until that point, the gates were Locked. Total lock down.
This is a base that can neither confirm nor deny the presense of certain weapons. But the British press reports when the missiles are being moved to the base, what route will be taken, etc. So my base was pretty high-level.
When we returned, it was a War Zone. Hairs stood up on my arms and neck as .50 cal machine guns were locked on target - me. My car. Crosshairs on my head. Every day for quite a while. We were treated like the enemy until proven otherwise.
I wanted my Marines around me. I didn’t want the USAF - with all due respect! I missed my Corps. We trained for those things.
Deepfelt sorrow, thanks, and respect to all of you.
Renee
I was in 7th grade Texas History class @ 11 o’clock AM before I heard ANYTHING about any planes crashing into the WTC and even then the details were vague. Not one teacher was allowed to turn on the TV or tell students, and it held for a long time.
It wasn’t until my final class of the day before football practice that my English teacher told us what happened. Basically she said something like “the Principal can fuck off, y’all need to know” (I’m paraphrasing) and turned on the TV that every room in the building has in the wall.
I still can’t believe they wouldn’t tell us for so long.
When I got to the locker room most kids had no idea what I was talking about when I said we had been attacked by terrorists. The receivers coach actually told me to shut my mouth about it, kids were getting annoying and asking him too many damn questions.
And “We don’t have time for shit gossip, there’s nothing we can do, we gotta prepare for ________ so forget it and stay focused” (I went a very very very serious football program, comical at times.)
Maybe because we were all the way in Texas and I didn’t know anyone who knew anyone there, I never cried about it. Once I was picked up from practice my mother told me what had happened, I was more mad at the fuckers who did it.
Like others said, I wanted to shoot the motherfucker in the face who did it. As I grew, my anger has never subsided, only my initial intentions.
But today, while watching the History Channel’s bone chilling minute-to-minute actual footage of how it unfolded from civilian cameras, for the first time, I cried. The footage of people leaping from windows was just so eerie.
They also played several conversations with people trapped in the upper floors. They weren’t discouraging them from jumping… so fucked up…
So my heart goes out to anyone who lost anyone on that day, now that I’m older and understand how much that day impacted us, I actually mean it.
By the time I get to work and turn on my radio, call is for everyone to report to the conference room. When I get there, everyone is staring at the big screen. By that time, the second tower had been hit. The first image I see is two people leaping to certain death. My anger flares…I want to find the enemy and personally put a bullet in their face. Honcho looks at all of us: “Get your shit ready, looks like all of us are going to New York”…and I did.
I still want to bring lead justice to such cowardly scum…
I was at school in Canada (ironically) and the chancellor opened our chapel with the announcement of what was happening. I don’t remember anything else that day except for watching the TV footage over and over with everyone else. I was only 30 miles from the US border but I felt horribly far from home. I also felt like something really foundational had just been lost.
I appreciate everyone’s posts here. It’s a time worth remembering, both heroism and tragedy, for if we forget it will be repeated.
Late, but for what it’s worth, I was in Eighth grade when it happened, and my school decided to NOT tell us about it all day, so the first time I heard about it was when my sister and friend picked me up from school. I get in the car and the first thing I hear is “World War III.” Imagine my surprise.
Here’s a great video on the tragedy of 9/11, with a song created to commemorate the event. I’ll warn you though, it shows a brief clip of a jumper, so if you don’t think you can take it, don’t watch this video.
I was in my 5th grade social studies class. Even as kids we could appreciate the gravity of the situation. We turned on the tv to the news, and watched in silence. Even now i remember how surreal it all felt.
I didn’t think much of it at the time, until a few years later when I realised how grave the situation was. Hell, I had never even heard of the twin towers.
I didn’t find out until I arrived at work, as I was driving in when it happened and I never listen to the radio, just my cds. Everyone was numb as managers rolled out TVs. Nothing got done that day.
My wife is Russian, and at that time she hadn’t come over to the US, yet. I had emailed her about it and she had replied that when the news reached St Petersburg, people were crying in the streets. This affected the whole world.
