9/11

[Casey_03]

What were you doing when you found out that the planes hit the twin towers?

I realize that for some people, this thread might be a trigger. But I think it can also be useful. I didn't lose anyone that day, but the events of that day are still so fresh in my mind, 15 years later.

I was in high school then. I remember I was walking through the hallway and a friend passing me shouted, "Hey, did you hear? A plane just flew into the World Trade Center." And I laughed, because for some reason, it didn't click that people had been injured and it was a terrorist attack. I thought it was some just some silly incident and a plane had accidentally knicked the building. It didn't even cross my mind that thousands were dead and it was an intentional attack.

But soon the entire city seemed to fall silent as the news came out and the realization of what this all meant sunk in. In my area on the south side of Chicago, some kids from high school started throwing rocks at people resembling Muslims driving by. They were trying to stop cars and pull "Muslims" out (I'm not even sure the people they were targeting were Muslims, hence the quotation marks there). Another guy from my high school planted himself in the middle of a busy street in a U.S. Army uniform, calling on young men to enlist to go kill whoever was responsible.

Protests went on through the night and a bunch of people banded together and tried to burn down a mosque.

Riot police came out. There was absolute chaos. I filmed all of this, and it was a stunning scene. But I lost the footage. It was remarkable how people's shock quickly turned into rage that they were so eager to direct towards someone, anyone they could find.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I was 20, watching a friend's baby and was inside of my own horror as the President was in our city speaking at a middle school and in my younger adult years I didnt get how the world worked and that he was swooped up faster than I could panic.

It was so sad and weird and kind of stupid as I was getting me and the baby ready for like a bomb or something. And I watched the tv, balled up with the baby and was just in a panic.

Ive never spoke about that and dont know why im typing it now. I feel its rather disrespectful of those that died and are directly impacted to say I went through anything other than a panic attack.

 

[ms spock]

I was in a cafe writing. I wrote about that in the other 9/11 thread. I was thinking if we could get everyone to join up - like the 50% of Syrians who have had to flee their homes in the last few years - if we could join up all the people who have suffered from terrorism in their countries around the world - it would be a powerful thing to do. There was a big attack on Muslims and a few thousand of them died in the weeks after 9/11 but there was little media coverage for them in Australia. If somehow we could join people up then it could really help us all to live together. If we could commit to our common humanity it could help us all work together. If Americans could all work together to somehow to stop the attacks of Americans on Americans that would be good as well. It seems that everyone doesn't connect up so much and this leaves spaces where terrible things can happen. 1 in 3 women will live with domestic violence in their lifetimes - if we could connect Australians up better perhaps we could make a difference. Days like this make me think of how we could make our respective worlds a better place.

 

[Sideways]

I came home from a late shift and turned the tv on after the first tower was struck. I remember the room, where I dumped my shoes, what I'd fixed to eat. Even though they kept replaying the live coverage, it took a long while for it to sink in that what I was watching was real. I sat on the couch just staring at the screen in shock. The one thought that went over and over in my head was "Why do we do this to each other?"

I'd spent some time living in Indonesia, 3rd largest country in the world, predominantly muslim, but poles apart from what I was watching on tv. It breaks my heart. Every now and again I find myself driving past a mosque, and I still think how incredibly brave a person must be to walk into that building in peace, intending only to worship the same God, knowing the building must look like a beacon of terror to so many. Peace is humanity's most noble goal.

Thoughts are with those who were directly effected by this day.

 

[Killashandra]

I was up late watching TV, when the breaking new came up on the screen, we watched in awe and terror and compassion as we witnessed the carnage erupting, I remember watching as the second plane hit and thinking, why has no one said anything about this yet.. it was live coverage... what stands out for me and the moment I was engulfed with emotions was seeing the people jump to thier deaths, the absolute horror they must have felt still tears me up. .. such a terrible waste of life.

 

[Anrish]

I have to admit that I don't remember. I didn't realize what happened - it took days or weeks until I understood what happened there. I was 14 and I was so stuck in my mind because of my bad school conditions, self harm etc...that I just didn't notice.

I know that my mother and sister were watchting TV and I think it was the news about the crash...but it was even too much for me to stay in the same room with them back then. So, it just passed by without me realizing what happened.

 

[watundah]

I was walking into work and the coworker down the hall had a Tv in his office and he called me in to watch the news. Very scary listening to fighter jets flying above all night that night.

 

[scout86]

It was primary election day where I was living and I was getting ready to go down to the town hall to work as an election judge. I always had the news on the TV while I ate breakfast and got ready to go out to do chores. They interrupted programing with the news of the first plane hitting the first tower. I was watching the coverage, thinking 'that doesn't look like a small plane to me' when the second plane flew in from off screen and hit the second tower. (No way was that a small plane!) I had to go do chores and, when I came back in, it was in time to see footage of the scene at the Pentagon.

We had a small, black & white TV that I took along down to the town hall. The other election judges agreed, so I brought it in and we watched the news all day. And talked about what might be going on and what it might mean. Normally, there's a small turn out for early fall primary elections in an off year like that. We may have set a local record that day. And most of the people who came in to vote mentioned that they felt like they should do something, and voting was one of the things that came to mind. It turned into kind of a rolling township get together as people came and went. Watched the news and talked. At the end of the day, a couple of us had to run the ballots into the county seat to drop them off at the court house. There were long lines at the gas stations from people deciding to fill their tanks, 'just in case' although I'm not sure they had any idea 'in case of what'.

A friend of mine was working at the National Guard armory in Waco TX. He said it was a weird day there as well. The phones started to ring and they were told to lock the doors. Same deal there. No one knew what was going on or what it meant, but they wanted to be prepared.

 

[Gs172003]

I have answered this too. I was working as a waitress. This is the shortened version. I watched the whole thing unfold and was in shock. I told all the guests what was going on because back the the only TV was in the back of the restaurant. By the time the plane crashed, the restaurant was empty.

 

[NaeNae75]

I had just dropped my oldest off at Kindergarten and was with my younger son. I was terrified. I grew up in a war minded military family.
As soon as I found out about the Pentagon, I picked my son up from school. I was convinced of the possibility of all out war. My thoughts were, "if we are all going to die, we'll all be together. I'll be damned if my son is separated from me."
His teacher thought I was exaggerating because she hadn't seen anything yet. I already was diagnosed with PTSD, and the event sent me into major anxiety mode.

 

[trying2movefwd]

I was in a private college chapel service..i heard the news, but thought the University President was speaking hypothetically. I was in denial. I finally realized just how real and scary things were after the chapel service as we were glued to the televisions at lunch time. I had a friend from New York with me, frantic as she couldn't reach her folks for days. A very scary time indeed! We all thought perhaps colleges and universities would be "next".

 

[BlueOrange]

I was lying on the sofa feeling tired, with my daughter lying on my chest. We were watching Cartoon Network, and there was some text on the bottom of the screen about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. Early the next morning, I switched to a news channel and then couldn't take my eyes off the screen for the next 2 hours. I was afraid that the USA would go to war, and that things would get out of control.

I cry writing this reply, not because the towers fell, but because I haven't seen my daughter in years.