do you want to share your 911 stories?

Posted: 9/10/06 at 4:11pm

i am interested in everyones 911 stories, if anyone cares to share.

eta: ok, i'll post mine, but i hope others will share theirs as well.

@ that time i was working in the internal art department for american express. our studios were in midtown, but that morning we were supposed to have a meeting with the account exectives @ the american express headquarters @ WTC. i was on the 1/9 train & it suddenly stopped & all the lights went off between 23rd & 18th st. when i close my eyss, i can still see everyones faces on the train. they made an announcement, "DUE TO AN INCIDENT @ THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ALL TRAINS ARE OUT OF SERVICE". an MTA worker led us out of the train & to the 18th st platform. as soon as we started ccoming up the stairs we heard all kinds of crazy sirens & the second plane hit right as we got to the sidewalk. we didnt see it but we heard it. we didnt know what was going on. people were running in the streets saying we were being bombed. i remember a guy running in a suit screaming "ITS THE ARABS! ITS THE ARABS!" & it seemed like he was trying to get together a posse or something. i was just stonefaced & started walking back uptown to home. i remember people were all lined up @ the ATMs withdrawing all their cash & people were trying to buy al the water in the grocery stores. i didnt know what to do, or really what was happening, no one had any phone service. when i got to times square i saw there were crowds of people around the ABC building, reading the news on the newsticker (i dont know what its called). that was when i first read that it was airplanes & that they had also hit the pentagon. i stayed calm & walked the rest of the way home.
you could smell the burning for weeks afterwards & even with my windows closed everything in my apartment was all covered in ash. & this is all the way uptown on 112th st.

in many ways, i am still stuck in that day. american express used it as an excuse to liquidate their internal art dept, so we all lost our jobs...i didnt find another job for a whole year. i'll never make as much money again as i did from 97-01.

that was also the end of going out & having fun for me; from the time i was 17 til then, i had been a party person, loved to go out dancing, loved to dress up & have fun, be social, flirt, etc. after that, it all just seemed stupid & pointless & ive never got back into it.

another thing is, i used to love to wear bright colors...since that day, i havent. since then, i just wanna dress as inconspicuously as possible. i used to love attention & now i just want to be invisible.

it all makes me sick.
especially coz i know we wont ever get the whole story of what happened in my lifetime.
Updated On: 9/10/06 at 04:11 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 4:29pm

My school is about 30 miles east of Manhattan but has a clear view of the famous skyline. On 9/11/01, I was free during the first period and spent the time decorating my classroom for the new year. I used a small ladder to put up posters of Mets and Yankee players between the huge windows which looked out to the skyline. I noticed horrible black smoke coming from the area of the WTC. Putting on the radio, I learned that a plane had "accidentally" crashed into the towers. As my classes came in, we spent the day watching the events unfurl before our eyes and listening to the reports on WINS Radio. We saw the second attack and the buildings crumble. Other teachers brought their classes into my room because of the view.

The drive home was another nightmare. The Belt Parkway and the Southern State Parkways had all but one lane closed headed east because emergency vehicles were using the other lanes to get into the city. I remember the grey sky and the horrible smell in the air. (Was it burning flesh?) It was in the car that I was able to use my cellphone and get through to my sister in New Jersey and learn that she and her husband were safe--as were my cousins who worked in the area of the WTC. I also remember the constant clanging of bells during the drive home which took twice its normal time.

Getting home I turned on the computer and DID have an internet connection. I found about 6 e-mails from my friends in Europe who knew I lived in New York but had no idea how close I was to the catastrophe. They all assured me that I was in their prayers and the owners of the hotel in Lourdes, where I stay every summer said, "Today we are ALL New Yorkers".

It wasn't until we returned to school several days later that a student pointed out one of the posters I put up that fateful morning was of Derrick Jeter--standing in front of the World Trade Center.

Posted: 9/10/06 at 4:36pm

thank you for sharing, Dollypop.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 4:45pm

Here's what I remember.

I was in third grade at the time, probably around 8 or 9 years old. I think it was about the third day of school as well.

As I was getting dressed and ready for school, the phone rang. Usually, I pick up the phone, but I let my mom answer it. When she picked it up, she mouthed to me that it was one of her co-workers. I remember her speech being very quick and frantic.

And I specifically remember her saying, "Our headquarters are being attacked!"

After she hung up, she turned on my TV and changed the channel to CNN. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I didn't know what it was exactly, but I still couldn't believe it. It almost looked like a movie. But once I saw the ticker at the bottom, I knew it was real.

I was a tad frightened as I sat down to eat my Cocoa Pebbles. I really kind of blocked the sound from my mind and just watched the chaos unfold on the screen.

At school, everything seemed pretty normal for the most part. Everyone was playing and talking together.

When our teacher brought us inside, we quickly took roll and did the pledge, as usual. After that, she sat us down on the "story carpet", and told us, "A bomb just fell on the World Trade Center." No one spoke a word. You could have probably heard a pin drop, even on the soft carpet.

Now, obviously, that news of the "bomb" wasn't true. But some of us knew what it was. We began to ask questions about the situation, such as the typical, "Why did they do this?"

A little bit later, our teacher told us some kids died during this, many who were our age or a little older. It was then when I began to fully understand what was going on.

That night, I watched the news all night and talked about the day with my mom. My grandma was also devestated as well, as she is a New York native.

I remember seeing all of the patriotic commercials a few days after it happened. (ETA:) Also, at school, we had a coin drive for the schools in NY who were affected by 9/11 and wrote letters to the kids at those schools as well.

I'm still in shock of what happened on 9/11, even to this day.

Updated On: 9/10/06 at 04:45 PM

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 4:55pm

I just remembering being pissed because I was one of two kids who's parents didn't come to pick them up

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 5:07pm

I was in my study skills class *11th grade* A teacher, Mr. Spinelli, walked in and called my teacher Mrs. McGowen out into the hallway. A minute later she walked into the room and continued teaching. In my school it was normal for that to happen so we thought nothing of it. When the bell rang, it was break. A Student, Hannah, walked passed me and told me a plane hit the twin towers. All I said was "huh?" She said it again and I had no clue what it meant so I said "Ok." I thought she was making a joke or something because we never got along. As break went on, I was hearing random things about terrorism. I then went to my next class where my teacher told us we were going to the gym to find something out. We walked down to the gym with the whole school. There was a TV and everyone became quiet which was a very odd thing for my school. We all realized the terror that had happened. Some of the faces on students, I never thought I would ever see in my lifetime. Through the next hour, buses came to pick up the students to take them home because it was unsure if anything else would happen, especially in a big city like Philadelphia. I got home safely and watched the horror on T.V., I absolutely couldn't even fathom the happenings. Although it was very upsetting, I couldn't go away from the T.V. I watched replay after replay after replay. To this day I don't know what stuck me to that T.V. to watch the horror over and over again. Even days and weeks after, I was glued to that T.V. And, the uncertainty of something happening at any given moment frightened me so much more and the warnings on T.V. made it worse, yet, I never left the T.V. set. The families devestated by this will always be in my heart. The firemen, policemen will always be remembered. Those who risked their lives and even died for others. The horrible memory of seeing it actually happen like people jumping from windows on the 100th floor. The aftermath of burnt buildings, dead bodies, alive bodies waiting to be found, and so much more. The babies that will never have a full family. The shadows that will always lurk behind ground zero.

Posted: 9/10/06 at 5:23pm

i am glad to read everyones stories.
in the city, it was considered "bad manners" to even acknowledge that it happened, or that you were feeling any effects, unless you were actually *in* one of the buildings.

(that was in the days when were told to "just go out & shop" and "dont worry about the air")

but ive noticed that if you can break that wall & let people feel comfortable, everyone has a really incredible tale to tell.

[jerseyboyslover]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 5:26pm

I rememeber sitting in my living room with my mom dad and and my sister came running in saying that we were being attacked, we didnt belive her, so we turned on the radio and about that time the second plane hit and we knew that we were under attack.

I still remember what I felt like that day, I walked around all day in a daze, didnt want to go any where or do anything just wanted to stay home with family.

I didnt lose in anyone in the attacks but I hurt for the people who did, I dont know if there will ever be another day in my life were I will hurt has much as I did that day.

God be with all of you who lost friends or family.

[Dancinqueen123]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 5:28pm

I was in seventh grade and I was in my Language Arts class. Our principal came over the announcement system and said, "Teachers, would you please turn your T.V.'s to channel 3. I think this will be a good learning opportunity for the students." Our teacher turned on the T.V. and I couldn't believe what I saw. All I knew was that the planes hit the towers. I didn't know what towers they were or where it was either(I live in Chicago). We weren't allowed to go outside that day When I got home from school that day, I just sat around with my family and stared at the T.V. We didn't really say anything, we just kind of sat there. It was the moment in my life when I realized that my family was so important to me. I knew that a bunch of people had died and I wondered what would I do if I lost someone in my family. I will never forget.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 5:37pm

I was watching T.V. before I went to work. I was flipping through the channels when I stumbled upon the news images. The first plane had hit and the focus was one of the smoking towers, while newscasters commented. I didn't really think much of it; it appeared to be just an unfortunate accident. Suddenly, the second plane hit and I was, like, "WTF?" Then I had to work and it was there that I learned we'd been attacked. At my job we had a TV in the rec room and people were crowding around it in disbelief. Needless to say, that was the topic of conversation that day.

Updated On: 9/10/06 at 05:37 PM

[Holliwoodblonde]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 5:37pm

It was the first week of middle school (7th grade) for me, and I were in Italian class when they made an announcement over the loud-speaker which basically said, "This is your principal, I'm sorry to inform you that a plane has flown into the twin towers." There's a part of me that's still angry that they told us that way, we were 12-13 years old.

So anyway, we all started laughing because how the heck do you crash into the twin towers? My teacher was incredibly somber and asked us if any of us had parents or family who worked in the area and if we wanted to go to the office and call them. At that point we didn't understand the enormity of what had happened. Soon parents started pulling kids out and words like "terrorism" began being thrown around. In 5th period social studies my teacher sat in the front and began to explain what had happened and what that meant for us and the world. This one kid said that he thought it was someone named "Osama Bin Laden." By 7th period home and careers everyone thought they were going to bomb the school etc. The school was about half empty at that point. Girls were hysterically crying in the hallways, it was terrible. In chorus I realized that my father worked for the government and that his office was in queens and everything just fell apart around me. I called my mother sobbing and she told me that he was fine but probably wouldn't be home on time. I was so scared that I went and picked up my little sister from school and walked her home and then sat in the living room with my neighbors watching TV.

For weeks afterwards we would see cars on the Southern State and LIE that had white ash on them. Flags went up everywhere, people were so incredibly nice to everyone, I think it showed a lot about New York's and our country's character.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 5:49pm

I think this is a good thread to have and I think there should be one started each year.

I just want to link this one from last year for those who care to read.



Last year 9/11 thread

Updated On: 9/10/06 at 05:49 PM

Posted: 9/10/06 at 5:59pm

thanks for that link, sweetQ

[jerseyboyslover]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:00pm

Thanks for the link, I just saw flight 93 the tv movie, I couldn't make it all the way to the end, I am just not ready to see a movie of it.

[ponine24601]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:02pm

I remember this day as if it was yesterday. It was one of my first days of 6th grade, and basically the entire catastrophe started as a rumor going around the school. Kids were saying that a plane crashed into the Trade Center, and that the hijackers were still alive..etc. The principal then came over the loud speaker, and informed the students and faculty that planes had hit the World Trade Center, and not to worry. I remember immediately thinking of my dad and my uncle and starting to cry hysterically. My dad had an appointment in Tower 1 that day at 9:00am. My uncle was an NYC firefighter who was called in to try to help evacuate the area. In school, kids were being pulled out of classes here and there, and basically I think there were about 5 kids left (including myself) in my class. The teachers did not say another word about the event except words of comfort. We don't have televisions in our schools either, so we were unable to watch the events unfold.

After school, I went home and that's when I really learned what had occurred. My mom told me that she had spoken to my dad, and that he was fine, but she hadn't heard anything about my uncle. My sister came home, and she, my mom, and I were glued to the television and the phone for the rest of the day. My father was lucky, and was able to get home (we live about an hour away from NYC) at around 6 o'clock. By that time, we still hadn't heard anything about my uncle. My family went down to my aunt's house to try to comfort her and help her find out some information. We slept at her house, and I remember hearing a knock on the door at about 12:30am. Everyone rushed down the stairs and opened the door. Two firemen, who were close friends of my uncle, stood there, blank faced, heads down. They told us that my uncle's body had been found, but that he didn't make it. I remember my aunt falling to the floor crying and screaming, and me just watching not knowing what to do or what to say. There were just so many emotions going through my body that it was hard to cry, or hard to even move. I remember everyone in the house just standing there crying silently. That's a moment and a feeling I can never forget.

My uncle was such a good man. He always thought of others before himself, and would never turn down an opportunity to help the community. He always had a smile on his face, and was always able to make the worst situations seem a lot brighter. He saved a bunch of lives that day (our family received letters from those he helped out of the towers). I just wish he could've saved his own.

Updated On: 9/10/06 at 06:02 PM

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:05pm

I was getting ready to leave for San Jose . California for the Jewish holidays . My first choice for a flight was on 9/11 . It was American airlines fight leaving from Hartford at 8:30 am stopping at JFK and then on to the coast. They didn't have any seats available so I had to chose 9/12. Had a gotten the date I wanted, I would have been on the approach to NY at the time of the bombing. Needless to say, I was grounded for a few days, and was on the first flight out of Hartford on American.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:11pm

Ponine, your story is extremely touching. My condolences to your family.

[ponine24601]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:13pm

Thank you very much.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:23pm

I agree with DP- your story is truly touching and my condolences to your family. It really sounds like your uncle was a wonderful person who lived his life for others.

[AElizabeth]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:26pm

I was still in high school on 9/11. Most of my family was in the northeast, but that year I was not.

We were not supposed to leave school or go to make phone calls, so I waited until our lunch and stood in a line for a pay phone. I had no change, but my father in Connecticut had a home buisness with an 800 number, so I called him. His buisness was an adventure travel agency, which he had founded and built since his early twenties. My father had been everywhere. I will always associate him with travel: with the Himalayas and Tokyo and London. It was who he was. I was immensely, immensely blessed in that I didn't lose any of my loved ones in these attatcks. But I called my father, who was watching the TV, and I can remember my head resting on the cinder blocks and my eyes closed and him saying "Elizabeth, I just watched that second plane fly into my life." He was right. The buisness never recovered. And as grateful as I am for our physical lives, I think I will always hear him saying that. It took a part of him away.

I had to wait until I got home to call my best friend, who lived in the East Village. I didn't realize how afraid I was until I heard her voice. I sat out on our steps and cried while she spoke , but she didn't say very much. She said "everything is quiet down here. Everyone is inside. It feels like a different place." She sounded small to me, and out of place. She didn't know what to say to me.

I know they are both very simple and very personal, but those are the two stories I most associate with 9/11, I guess because they represent what it meant most for me: that two of the people I love the most lost their places and their footings in the world, and I couldn't really help that. I associate it with helplessness. I couldn't help *anyone*. I know I am blessed that I didn't lose anyone's life, but that is what stays with me. The feeling that while I kept everything I had, it was different than it was the night before. Some of it has never stopped being different.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:29pm

It was my 17th birthday. I got up and got ready like usual, and got to school around 7 AM mountain time. By that time, the news hadn't yet reached Colorado. I talked to friends and got wished a happy birthday, and one friend gave me flowers.
I was blissfully unaware of what was going on until my first class. I remember hearing vague murmers about something going on in New York, and one girl said "My dad was supposed to fly out of New York this morning." We had a sub that day, and she said something like "By now, you've probably heard that a plane has hit the World Trade Center." I was dumbfounded. At the class' insistence, she turned on CNN, by which time both the towers had been hit and were smoking. We had some fluff assignment to do, and I actually did it, probably out of nerves than anything else. When I was done, I looked up and there was only one tower left. I remember saying something like "Where is the other one? There's two." When I got to my next class, the TV was already on. I think we had a test scheduled for that day, but it was obviously pushed back. I saw the second tower fall live.
The rest of the day continued pretty much in that vein. We didn't do anything but watch the news for the rest of the school day. When I got home, I suddenly remembered "Oh yeah, it's my birthday" because there was a cake and gifts waiting for me. I was not in a celebratory mood at all.
Everything was going fine until I opened my gifts. I opened one box and pushed back the tissue paper to see the World Trade Center staring up at me on a shirt. There was a line of juniors' t-shirts that had parts of the NYC skyline on them, and by a bizarre coincidence, I got that one. We all just looked at it in silence for a while, and I said "Um...I think I'll move on to the next one."

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:42pm

im so sorry, ponine24601

Dollypop's candleight vigil thread reminded me of this...
i just remembered a funny part of it all.
(i mean, not that there is anything funny, but, looking back, this is funny)

my friends Maki & Reiko had flown in from tokyo the weekend before; they were going to guest dj @ Windows On The World on Sept 12th...@ that time, DJ Lucien hosted a lounge music night every wednesday night & i was a regular, that was my big fun social scene....
so anyways, i wasnt able to get through to them til the 12th, & their english is verrrry limited...& they didnt understand what had happened...or that Windows On The World was actually *IN* the WTC!
so i had to explain to them, in english & my verrrrry limited japanese

"your...dj gig...is...canceled"
"eh?"
"dj gig...is...canceled"
"eh?"
"its not there anymore!!"

when i finally was able to meet up with them, it was the evening of the candlelight vigil...all the waiters & waitresses from the restaurants were coming out to the sidewalk holding candles...

...& Maki turns to me, & says, with a hopeful smile "Oh! Is somebody's birthday?"

[Marlene]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:42pm

7th grade. I didn't have a real clue what was going on until I got home. The school administration nonchalantly attempted to pretend that nothing was wrong, but it just got oddly suspicious when parents were calling to bring their children home every 5 minutes. The assistant principal came into the classroom duing science, asking if anyone's parent's worked in the WTC or Empire State building.

I remember some this kid sitting up on the radiator to see the towers, but he was promptly told to get off or else face the reprecussions...by that time, I presume the towers were no longer standing and he reported seeing smoke. We didn't have to get changed for gym that day...and just had to sit around. It was a strange day...especially since the impact of 9/11 did not dawn on me until that afternoon and the following morning where I got to see that footage over and over again.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 7:09pm

I was in San Diego and I was in either 5th or 6th grade. I remeber my alarmclock went off at 6:14 and something was wierd. Jeff and Jer (the morning show who I listened to every morning) wasn't on, instead it was some lady who was talking, but being too tired to understand what she was saying, I thought that I had moved the station on the radio in my sleep. I turned on some other station, got dressed, washed up and went downstairs. My mom was watching it on TV, and she said to me "the World Trade Center is gone" At the time I only knew the World Trade Center as the Twin Towers, so I said "Can't they just rebuild them? Where are they anyways?" My mom said "New York". I thought she was talking about some building in downtown San Diego. My carpool came and picked us up and the boy in my carpool said "My dad says this is going to be the talk of the century" I still had no clue what was going on. When I got to school a girl named Mady came up to me and told me the Twin Towers had been hit. I didn't belive her and ran into the room to ask Mrs. Statman (my teacher). She didn't know either. It was my classes day to raise the flag, and it was my classes turn to do it. So I walked down to the Parking Lot, and I raised the flag. My teacher turned to the fellow teacher and asked if we should only raise it half-way. They told us yes. The day went on as normal except for classes. My english teacher didn't come because her brother worked across the street from the WTC and she didn't know if he was all right (He was). In class we didn't learn, we watched on the white board (the computers were connected to an overhead projector, which would project onto the whiteboard what was on the computer) the buildings collapse. I went home and my mom hugged both me and my brother tighter than she ever had. She had a snack on the table, and for some reason that day I was more hungry then normal. I ate a whole bowl of nuts and then went upstairs to sit and watch the news with my mom. I was still to young to really understand what happened. Then I remeber my dad came home (he is a rabbi) and he told us that all day he had been on the phone with congragents who had relatives in NY. That night when I went to sleep, I covered my head with my covers because I was scared a plane would fly into my house. (In the following days, we learned that some of the reltives of the congragents had died. I went to their memorial services.)


Edit: I also remember from the classroom calling a classmate named Leal who was in New York. He had gone and visited the WTC a half hour before the first attack. He also video taped from his uncle's apartment the second tower being hit by a plane.

There was also a girl who's dad was five minutes late to his flight, and missed it. It was the flight that flew into the Pentagon. Updated On: 9/10/06 at 07:09 PM

[ponine24601]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 7:17pm

Oh man.

These are very interesting to read. Thanks for sharing everyone.