We weren’t around when Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy were shot, but we grew up hearing stories about where our parents and teachers were at the moment they found out about those tragedies. September 11, 2001 was definitely the “where were you” moment of our generation. Here’s our story, and we hope you’ll share yours in the comments.
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Emily:
In the fall of 2001, I was newly-married, newly-graduated from college, and unemployed. We had spent the night of September 10 in the emergency room, discovering that Andy had a hernia and needed surgery. Recovering from that eventful night, I slept late on September 11 and woke up in time to go to my mid-morning dentist appointment. I called my grandma to tell her the news about Andy, and she told me a plane had hit the World Trade Center, but no one was sure if it was an accident or what. I listened to the radio on my way to the dentist office and it was on during my appointment, and I remember thinking how strange it was to be doing something as mundane as having my teeth cleaned when something so dramatic was going on in NYC. After my appointment, I went back to our apartment and turned on the television. I remember talking to friends and family members on the phone and over IM, and as my friend Jana and I sat on the phone in complete silence, we decided she should come over to watch the coverage with me. We went to the McDonald’s drive thru to get lunch, and by that time, the hysteria was starting to set in. The drive thru worker told us to fill up our gas tanks in case we had to go anywhere. Where we would go in order to be safer than small town Ohio is beyond me, and I can’t even remember if we heeded her advice. Anyway, I remember seeing the barn and the cornfield across the street against the bluest sky, and wondering how something so awful could happen on what should have been such a perfect day.
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Jenny:
I was at work that morning. Twenty-four years old, and still innocent, really, in a way that hardly seems possible. I worked in a building that was part of a State University, right next to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. We heard some loud planes taking off. I remarked to my boss how loud they were. Just then one of my fellow co-workers came in and told us a plane had hit the World Trade Center, he had been in his car and heard it on the radio. Immediately after someone from the building’s main office told us to come to the office and watch tv. “What happened?” I asked dumbly. By this time the first tower had fallen. I looked at the smoky ruins, the vehicles covered with ash, and one of the ladies in the office told me again, that a plane had crashed into each tower. That it was a terrorist attack. I stared at her, confused beyond belief. “Did they let the people off the plane first?” I asked. She looked at me and just sadly shook her head. Then it HIT me. I asked that question, maybe the dumbest question EVER, I don’t know, but it made sense to me, because I couldn’t comprehend. I couldn’t comprehend. And it breaks my heart that now I do.
They sent us home, because we worked in a government building, and we were non-essential employees. I curled up on the couch and watched TV. That’s really all I remember, until about 5:30. Bobby was home already, and a loud boom shook our house. Our windows rattled, and we ran outside. There were people outside, yelling, I heard one lady yell for her kids to get in the basement. Bobby and I started talking about whether to get the heck out of dodge. We talked about going to his dad’s cabin north of town, where it would be safer. Then, finally, the news reported that the sonic boom had been from jets taking off at the Air Force Base, to accompany Air Force One as it carried the President back to Washington.
The next day, I cried when I had to get out of bed. I didn’t want to go to work, didn’t want to leave my house. I was so scared. And changed.
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Our hearts are truly with our country today, and with all those who were touched directly by tragedy on that day.
I have chills!
I was at work and heard on the radio what happened. I go into tell a few girls in a nearby office and they didn’t believe me. I was in disbelief and didn’t understand the magnitude of it all. I didn’t know it was a terrorist attack at that time and one of the ladies said “Andrea, this is serious” and it was then that I realized that something bad just happened.
I remember being home that night, and cars were lined up for miles in front of our house to get to the nearest gas station. It was crazy, the horns were honking, people were yelling and I just looked at my son, just 2 at the time, thinking what world will we have to raise him in.
I was in a staff meeting at the MS Society. The phone kept ringing, but we always let it go to voicemail during staff meetings. When the meeting ended around 9:15, our boss’s husband finally got through and told us to turn on the TV. We spent the rest of the morning huddled around a tiny TV in our program director’s office. Knowing how many people worked in those buildings, we thought it was possible there might be 50,000 dead. I just stood there and cried.
I can’t forget all the rumors that flew the rest of the day — the White House was hit, the Pentagon was on fire, the Capitol was hit, the Statue of Liberty was hit, Wright-Patt AFB in our backyard was next. We didn’t know what to believe and what not to. But when we heard about a plane crashing in a field in Pennsylvania, we knew that, as bad as that was, those people on that plane had helped us all avoid something much worse.
My friend Colleen lost her fiance in one of the towers. Thinking about her today . . .
I was 11 when Kennedy died, 16 when MLK, RFK and George Wallace were shot, and 49 when Islamic Terrorists attacked the United States of America. Reaction to the first four tragedies was tempered by innocence and then adolescencent indifference, the last with shock and depression which turned to outrage.
Though I’ve never been “a flag waver”, to this day the National Anthem and “America The Beautiful” choke me up. I hope they always will.
UP
I was 16 and in my first hour chemistry class in High School. And I remember thinking it was an accident and couldn’t figure out how a pilot couldn’t see the buildings and would just crash into them. Terrorism was never even a thought. I barely knew the word or thought it would apply to my own country, terrorists were people in far off lands…
How the times have changed…
I was in 10th grade and in my ecology class. We had no idea what had happened b/c my teacher never had the tv on. After class my best friend came up to me and told me what was going on. I had really no idea what she was talking about. As I walked to my next class the school was a buzz. Once I got to the room and looked at the tv I did as everyone else had done.. I put my books down and just stood there watching the tv. Finally the let us go home. I live in TN and we were afraid of Oak Ridge being attacked. After I got home my mother and I just watched the tv and cried together. I was scared the rest of the day and the next.
Ugh. You girls are making me cry this morning. Then again, I’m in a bad mood in the first place and memories of this day always break heart.
Jenny, you said it so perfectly – we couldn’t comprehend then. And now we do.
I was driving to work – a temp job at an alternative newspaper. When I heard about it, I wasn’t even concerned. I didn’t understand that it was A BIG DEAL. Once I realized it, I was frozen.
I only worked at that place for a week, but I don’t drive by that building or see their paper in the stands without remembering that day 8 years ago.
(I meant that memories of this day break MY heart.)
I was at work that day. We pulled a tv from the conference room and watched it unfold live.
Even though I’m in VA and miles away from any of the sites, for a long time I would be nervous anytime I heard a low flying plane.
I was waiting tables back then, I was 22. I had set my alarm clock radio to wake me up so I had time to do some things prior to going into work at 11a.m. My radio turned on and I remember hearing the DJ announce that a plane had hit the WTC. At that point it was still believed to have been a small plane. I turned on the Today Show and started watching the coverage. Within minutes I witnessed the 2nd tower being hit LIVE on tv. It was surreal and I couldn’t pull myself away from the news. I was in shock. I had just been in NYC a few months prior, so the what ifs began. I went in to work as usual and the tragedy is all anyone could talk about. Every tv in the restaurant was tuned to the news. The devestating pictures and frantic people, I remember that clearly. I saw when both towers crumbled, the ash, the smoke.
It’s a day I will NEVER forget.
My heart is with all those who were directly effected by the attacks on America 8 years ago, and with all the heroes who fight for our freedom every day.
I was working at Kettering Youth Services. My boss was in her office and came out in tears. She got a phone call from a family member telling her she got a phone call from another family member that was on 1 of the planes. We quickly turned on the news. We didn’t know what to think. It just didn’t seam real. Later that night we were at home and heard that boom (the same one Jenny was talking about) It scared us to death we went outside to see what was going on. It was crazy.
It was insane how people were lining up for gas miles down the road. The fear to our nation that this brought was crazy. But it was all to amazing how patriotic and proud that we all were American came from this. Flags flying high and proud.
bob and i lived in seattle at the time. i remember being off work that day, watching the event unfold on television. then spent the rest of the time worried because of similar threats made on other cities, like ‘SEATTLE’
after that happened, i remember all the American flags people put up (iN SEATTLE) everywhere. I remember thinking when i was young, i had been in one of the towers looking down.
It’s a bit vague after all these years. I tend to block things anyway. I very clearly remember being in my room turning on the TV and seeing the first plane coverage. I yelled to Dh cause boy, that was horrible and weird and we had once had a small plane hit a building here in Indianapolis so it had reminded me of that. (That one was an accident of course.) When the second one hit…I just will never forget the gasp, shock and the little click in my brain when I figured out what was going on.
I was at church at a womens Bible study. I saw on the news about the first plane, but didn’t think anything about it. I assumed it was an accident, and I was running late. After the second plane hit, one of the ministers at church came in and told us that our country was under attack. We were all confused, and all we could do was hold hands and pray. We cut the study short that day, and the drive home took so much longer than usual… or at least it seemed to.
I remember the boom!! Jenny do you remember the house I grew up was only a couple of miles from the Air Force Base. Jeremy and I were at my parents home when that boom went off and it shook the house! Of course we freaked out slightly being so close to the base!!
It will definitely always haunt this generation won’t it?
I still have the flag in my car window that was given out after wards. It isn’t coming down until every Military man and woman comes home!! Because of them we are still here – safe and comfortable!
I was at work and 23 years old. When the first plane hit, my office-mate’s DH called and told us. I turned on the radio and began to listen to the news. After the second plane hit, I went downstairs and turned on television in the conference area. I was speechless. My mind just could not fathom how that had happened. We worked the whole day, or tried to. I rolled the TV cart into the lunchroom that day, and it is hasn’t left that spot since. The drive home that night took forever. I was on route 4 very close to WPAFB when the sonic boom happened. For a moment, I thought, WPAFB just got hit. I’m going to be dead in seconds. Terrorism was now real to me….Not just something that happened in other parts of the world.
I was at work at a bank when I heard the news. I listened to it on my headphones and cried all day. I just couldn’t understand, it was too much to deal with. Life was nicer when we were innocent!
I was in Guatemala, at a language school. One of the instructors passed me on my way to class and told me that a plane had crashed. For days, my classmates and I were glued to the television in the director’s office – it was the only one with an english language channel. We couldn’t believe it was happening.
God Bless our troops, those who lost their lives and those who still fight every day to make sure we are able to pick up the pieces and go on with our lives a little bit different then it was 8 years ago…My dad, who was turning 60 a couple weeks later and was retired out of the military, was ready to re-up…I hate the fact that one day we are going to have to explain to our children what happened on that bright sunny morning on 9/11….
I remember being in class for 9/11 … and just staring at the television in horror. The entire school stopped everything and watched this most of the day, then teachers attempted to resume things but everyone kept drifting back to the television and couldn’t concentrate. This for sure, was a JFK “I remember when” moment for our generation.
Emily, I am your sister Anna’s niece. Or I guess, her husband’s niece really. My Grandmother pointed me in the direction of your blog when she realized I had re-opened mine and am currently working on getting it how I want it. I’ve added your site to my blog roll, I’ve edited here and there every day but I’m a busy bee lately. I look forward to going through more of your posts in my free time. 🙂
I was at work, with my grandmother just a mile from the Pentagon, she felt the blast. My sister in law lost many friends as she live in Boston. It was indeed such a sad day in her life, but last night, she had a miracle. Her first baby that she tried for, for so many years.
I live in So Cal:
My phone was ringing very early in the AM, I was kind of bothered because I run a very tight ship in the morning getting everybody off to school and myself ready for work (I work from home).
I was my husband telling me about the three planes, I really was not understanding him, then he said:
Greg (his cousin) is at the Pentagon
Paul (his cousin) is at the WTC
John (his uncle) is at the WTC
Still numb I took the kids to school, then I noticed I live in a town where most of the FBI,Cops and Firefighters for LA or most of So Cal lives. When we walked into school, I noticed how many parents where gone, grandparents and neighbors where bringing the kids to school. For days these parents where on duty.
When I got home I got the first call Greg worked in the wing that was hit, but had taken the morning off to pick his Dad up from the Airport.
Paul, got out but saw both planes hit. He does not talk about it to this day.
John who gave walking tours of the WTC, had taken the day off. However he did not have a cell phone, and the phones where jammed for hours so we did not learn about him for almost 24 hours.
Then the news came, one of my co-workers husband was on the plane the hit the Pentagon.
All of this still breaks my heart.
I was a flight attendant at the time so my day went like this…. I talked to my best friend who was a flight attendant for American at the time on our cell fones driving to Boston at 5am. Got to work signed in and TOOK OFF on my way to florida. Alittle over halfway to florida, the pilot calls all the flight attendants into the cockpit and shows us a message that was sent to us. It said land IMMEDIATELY in Charlottsville, nothing else and we couldn’t get any more answers and no other info except landing info. We were all confused and had no info to give to all the passengers, just that we had to land and we would update them as soon as we knew anything. Upon landing the passengers started receiving messages from family and friends but no one could make outgoing calls. Then we deplaned to the tvs in the concourse showing what had happened. I had to wait in line for 3 hours to use the pay fone since we could not get a dial tone on my cell or anyone else either. I called my best friends mom to see if she had heard from her. Luckily she had and she was ok. I asked her mom to call my my since the line was so long I didn’t want to tie it up any longer and tell my mom that I was ok!! My fiance was home very sick with leukemia so I didn’t think he would even know what was going on so I didn’t call him, but his family from Puerto Rico had called him to see if I was ok so he was worried as well, but I worked for Delta so he figured I was ok. (He died Jan 2, 2002) I was in Charrlotsville for 5 days before I was able to find a car to rent to drive home to Boston!! Later I found out we took off inbetween the two jets that crashed out of Boston. Life is a crazy thing!!
Jenny,
I was a student at that same “state university” on 9/11. We had all moved in on Sunday, classes were to start Wednesday, and everyone in the dorms were getting used to college life, buying books, meeting new people, and then heard that a plane had hit. My first day of college was cancelled as anyone who could leave was asked to leave the campus amid the uncertainty. I remember walking on campus that afternoon, hearing the sonic boom, and everyone ducking, fearing the worst.
My memories are bittersweet–I remember the sense of community, felt the patriotism of everyone, and our unity as a country. It’s sad that it took such a horrific event to draw us together.
My heart goes out to anyone directly affected by the attack.
I was falling asleep during the prayer before class when someone came in late and said that a plane had hit the world trade center. I thought “what kind of idiot didn’t see the building?” Later, the whole college was called to the chapel, where the college president spoke. I was happy to be in Wilmore, as it felt like the safest place in the world.