re: What were you doing on 9/11?

For some reason I was off work and had taken my grandmother to the doctors office. I saw it on the TV there and started calling people to find out WTF

I don’t want to think about this bit here goes. I worked for Rice University and I watched it all unfold live on tv and remember the people jumping from the windows.

It took many years for me of get over it. I went to ground zero to visit the memorial and just balled my eyes out.

I was working for the .gov then. We were on a training rotation and were due at Camp Shelby later that day to do some stuff with 20 SFG. I was on my morning run and wearing a FM WalkMan. I was about a mile and a half into the run when the DJ came on and just said a plane hit the WTC. I assumed some stupid arse sight seers in a Cessna has fricked up. I kept running. They came on a bit later and said the second plane had hit. I immediately turned and hauled arse back to my place. I walked in to my pager and cell phone going nuts. Was told to be ready to roll in 5 mins and jumped in the shower for about 30 seconds, stepped out and saw the first tower fall live on TV. Was on the phone with work and remember I said “OK, now I am fricking pissed off.” That was over a live conference line in DC. We saddled up and ended up at Barksdale AFB that afternoon when Bush came in to give his famous speech. What was surreal was all the people running around with small arms, I kept thinking that they couldn’t shoot a plane down and there wasn’t any known other threat. I was a bit worried about getting shot by some scared 21 year old Airman who had never had a live weapon off the range before. People were really losing their minds. When the shite hit the fan a FedEx truck had been at the base gates. When he saw people loading guns he hauled arse leaving a hand truck with a stack of boxes by the gate. USAF EOD countercharged the boxes and blew paperwork all over the place. Then a bunch of enlisted guys had to run around and pick it all up because they weren’t sure if any of it was sensitive. Bunch of other weird shite that day generally caused by rumors flying all over the place.

As it turned out, I was back in Bossier City the night that we retaliated by starting the bombing campaign. The B-52’s were all taking off and, although I wasn’t briefed on where they were going, I knew somebody was about to get their shite pushed in.

I had closed the bar the night before, so as per usual, I crashed at my girlfriend's apt. I probably had half a rip on from work and just passed out in bed. She woke me up to tell me a plane just flew into one of the towers as she was leaving for class. I assumed she meant a cessna or something small. I was my usual hungover self, so it took me a while to come to and discover exactly what transpired.

I dont remember exactly if I had to work that night again, or the next day, but I know we were open, and just stood at the bar watching TV for hours. We had virtually no customers for days. One of my employees up and enlisted the next week.

I was in college. The thing I remember most is everyone being SUPER nice to each other. Strangers on the street- overwhelming kindness.

ETA: Oh and I was in History class in college, as it was happening, and the dumb arse professor wouldn't put the tv on so we could see what the hell was going on. Literal history in the making and the old man wouldn't budge from his daily lesson.

In a plane...had I left BTR 15 mins later we would have never taken off...it was a bitch getting home with no rental cars to be found anywhere...people just kept them to drive home. They never told us what was happening on the flight...but landing it was obvious DFW was a ghost town. Kind of felt like that "left behind" novel. Drove back to Baton Rouge and barely saw a soul on the Interstate the entire trip.

I was in East Laville dorm. I woke up and saw it on my boxy arse tv. I remember waking up my roommate and we went down to the lobby. That was when I saw the second plane hit. Very surreal moment that I will never forget.

elementary school

Freshman year of college. I had 7:30am class on Tuesdays.

Never forget, right when I arrive an Indian student told me a plane flew into the World Trade Center. I thought he meant a rogue crop duster or something.

Teacher tried to have class as usual, but we were having none of it. Got her to turn the TV on and we watched the second plane hit.

Went immediately home and stayed in front of the TV for damn near 16 hours straight.

Being on campus felt like I was in a movie twice in my life. The day after 9/11 (first semester) and the first day back from Katrina (last semester). Was like everyone was in a fog.