re: 9/11 Memorial Thread - Always Remember!

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IonaTiger

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ive read your post before i believe. so crazy


I was a sophomore in high school in BR sitting in Chemistry class. Our teacher told us what had happened. I rememember TVs were pulled in classes all over for the rest of the day, will never forget that feeling. couldnt imagine living in that area at the time.

7th grade Science class. Religion teacher comes in crying and tells our science teacher in the hall. They told us a plane struck the tower, but didn't give us any info the rest of the day. I didn't fully comprehend until much later. Regardless of politics, race or religion; we were all Americans that day. Will NEVER forget

God Bless America

I remember my mom picking my siblings and I up from school, crying the whole time. She waited until we got home, and then she and my dad explained what had happened.

We spent the next months making hundreds of these American flag pins to sell at our soccer games and at school to donate to the memorial funds, etc. It was small, but my nine year old self felt proud to do my part as an American.

I was in 9th grade. I had a class in the only classroom that had cable television. Watched the second tower get hit. The girl in front of me, who has been a close friend since kindergarten, turned around and asked what just happened. I said "I think we're being attacked."

It was surreal, because we were the only students in the entire school that really knew something serious was going on after first period.

I remember by mid afternoon there were rumors about lines at the gas stations.

I remember football practice being canceled.

I remember conversations with friends about it while we were waiting for our parents to pick us up.

I remember the fear for our country I had when I went to bed that night, which was something I never had known.

Went to the museum/memorial last month. Powerful stuff but I recommend it if you're ever up there.

I was home with my 3-month old baby. I'd been up earlier with my husband, but went back to sleep after he went to work. He called me around 8:30 CT and said, "Are you watching TV?" I asked him what channel and he said "ANY channel!" Turned on the TV and watched the replays and chaotic speculations by the media. Then the plane hit the Pentagon. As I watched the towers burning, I had a feeling they were going to collapse. I watched people walking away from them and turning back to look and I was like, "Go, faster, get as far away as you can!"

I remember calling my mom crying, trying to tell her what was going on. Just a bunch of blubber came out of my mouth about towers burning and falling down. I remember holding my little girl tight, rocking her like I could protect her from the world but knowing that I couldn't.

We (me and the baby) flew up to Connecticut a month later to visit family. It was surreal walking through airports where there were soldiers with machine guns; not something you saw before 9/11.

That morning I can remember being in social studies class and our student teacher coming in crying. Everybody was fumbling for something to say when we finally saw what was happening on tv. I can vividly remember that the normal routine of classes was completely scrapped. My dad picked me up early and I can remember watching the news that entire evening.

For months afterward, I can remember whenever a plane was heard. Everyone would just lookup for a long period of time.

Sidenote: I can remember we were supposed to play Parkview Baptist in our first JV game that evening [the game was canceled]. My JV football coach actually left our team midway through the season to go fight in Afghanistan. My teammates & I never got official word. But, we believe he died there.

Eery stuff I remember from that day and the night before

1. The night before rushing to catch my plane in Atlanta to get home. The rent a cop airport security guards were yucking it up amongst themselves and did not even look at me, or the X-ray machine. I remember thinking at the time that someone could get a duffel bag full of guns/knives/explosives past those idiots.

2. Driving to the office the next morning and hearing a radio DJ talking about a plane hitting the WTC. I assumed it was a small plane and then he said another jetliner had also just hit the WTC, and he was speculating maybe there was something wrong with air traffic control. I remember realizing then it wasn't an accident, and thinking how DJs are some of the dumbest people on the planet.

3.There was only one TV in the office in one of the other lawyer's office. The entire office staff was crammed in their watching the news.

4. The dead silence in that office when the first tower came down.

5. Half trying to work after that. Every client I tried to call in a tall building anywhere had outgoing voicemails saying their office was closed and their building had been evacuted. Every voice on those outgoing voicemails was full of fear and sadness.

6. Hearing on the radio in my office while still futilely trying to work the first reports of a plane hitting the Pentagon. I remember thinking how crazy the rumors get in such situations. Then finding out it wasn't a rumor.

7. The front page of ESPN.com simply having a picture of the burning towers and a headline "Attack on America."

8. The local FBI office did not have their own building at the time, and was on the 3rd floor of our building. People thought any symbol or division of our government was a potential target. They were roaming the lobby in tactical gear with assault rifles and had snipers in cars in the big parking lot across the street. I came back from lunch as the poor FedEx man pulled up in front of the building in his big Oklahoma City'ish box truck trying to do his daily routine and he had 4 FBI agents jump out in the street pointing guns at his face yelling at him not to stop and to keep moving. Pretty sure he crapped himself.

I went home mid afternoon because there was no way to get any work done.

I have no words for this thread, but Jon Stewart handled everything beautifully, humanly, sincerely and wonderfully.