re: Where were you and what were you doing.

I was in 7th grade, coming in from football practice (living in South Texas at the time and we practiced in the morning because of the heat) to pre-algebra class. Teacher had the TV on because the first plane had hit. We all watched live as the second plane hit. None of our teachers really taught much that day because of the shock.

Third grade. Second period. The asked us to stand and recite the pledge of allegiance. Then we were sent home.

I was driving on interstate loop NW of Atlanta on my way to the former Fort McClellan to work for the week. Kept looking over my shoulder to if any high rise buildings were going to be hit.

The following day I was called by the FAA to send them a resume'. One week later I was in Atlantic City for screening and the following week I was in Artesia, NM enrolled in the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

By Christmas I reported to my Field Office in Atlanta as a Air Marshal.

For the next 5 years I sat next to you in First Class with long hair and a gun. Lied to you for the entire flight... 5 flights a day for 12 hours. No overtime.

Worst job ever, but important at the time. Took a 50% pay cut to serve Lady Liberty (on that 2nd of 3 times serving her).

Jogging around Memorial Park in Houston when the 1st plane hit. A woman I never met jogging the other direction stops me with a panicked look on her face. She had ear bud and was listening to the news, and told me a plane just hit the World Trade Center.

I finished my run and got back to my apartment, flipped on the TV just in time to witness the second plane hitting the second tower.

All I can say is there are countries in this world that should thank God I was not the President that day. I would’ve turned several countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, 3,000 degrees that day.

I was in 8th grade homeroom. They wheeled in a tv so we could watch the news, seems bizarre in a world of instant news of global tragedy at all times.

We saw the 2nd plane hit live. We saw people jump off roofs and out windows. We saw the towers collapse, but it never registered to me until several years later that there were a thousand people in the buildings at the time that were crushed to death when that happened. We saw people around the world burning American flags and celebrating.

We had gym 2nd period, there were 30 of us 13 year old boys in the changing room. It was electric...everyone was pissed off and hyper. I remember a guy jumping on a bench and screaming "We're gonna whip some motherfricking Palestinian (aforementioned flag burners) arse!". He and several other friends of mine served in Iraq and Afghanistan 5 years later and came back broken, battered, and felt betrayed by America. Many are now socialists who have ceased to see America as a force for good.

Thank you for asking; I haven't taken the time to relive the memories and grieve the world we lost in a long time.

I was flying from Houston to OKC on business. Given the time of the flight I quickly nodded off. In fact, I was fast asleep when the 1st plane hit WTC North Tower @ 7:46am. I was awakened when I felt the plane make a noticeable "lunge" and soon realized that we were making descent. When we touched down, I recall many persons were saying that there was a plane that crashed into a building in New York. I thought it might be some small private plane.

What I later found to be quite eerie was passing by the Murrah building memorial on the way to my meeting.

The meeting that I attended was in a conference room that had a large TV. At one point we were asked to stop the meeting and turn on the news. To everyone's horror we all realized what really was happening and witnessed both towers eventually crumble. Seeing the Pentagon burning and the remains of the plane crash in Shanksville were devastating. Needless to say, the meeting ended.

All flights were cancelled, so I and two work colleagues were fortunate to have use of a company vehicle. I eventually made it back to Houston just before 1am.

I will NEVER forget that day, and am grateful to God that I'm alive today. I could have very well been on 1 of those 4 planes that were hijacked, rather than the 1 that I was on at the very same time.

I was 7 months pregnant in kitchen baking muffins for Mom's Morning Out. My 18 month was sitting in family room watching Bob the Builder.

My husband called and asked if I was watching the news, I walked back to our bedroom, turned on the TV right as 2nd plane hit the tower. I couldn't speak for a minute or 2, I was in shock.

Spent the rest of the day watching our world change forever!

Task Force Med Eagle
Eagle Base, Bosnia-Herzegovina, SFOR 9
Never Forget

My Boss and I were in Quebec City at a Communications Trade Show. I was in the Hotel room working on my expense report. We had a lunch meeting scheduled at 12 and decided to not go on the floor. Phone rang and he asked "Are you watching TV?" "No" "Turn it on" We met in the Executive Floor lobby to watch on the Big Screen TV. The second plane hit, I got up and went down to the basement to Hertz. That was less than 2 minutes from the hit we watched. Hertz teletype machines were humming when I walked in ...."Are you an American?" "Yes I am." "We can't rent you a car. Just came in on the teletype." Always have a sense of humor, I asked "Am I a hostage of Quebec now?"

We could not get through to our offices in Clearwater, Fl. Tried for an hour then gave up. at 11:15 my bosses phone rang, He answered a few questions then handed me the phone ..."Right now you are far more important than I am" Ron was on the phone "I have messages for you out of Washington. Your daughter and Grandkids were the last ones off of Andrews. They are in Maryland right now." "It's not far enough.And Marc?" "Marc is still in the White House." My Son in Law was the senior officer of the US Marines in the White House that day. "Ron, you were a Navy Fighter Pilot, what chance does a squad of Marines with pop guns have against a passenger jet at 250 knots?" "None" "Why are they still there?"

Our Rep took us across the border to pick up a car in Burlington .....little two lane highway out of Quebec. Then we drove home to Tampa Bay. To arrive in the middle of a tropical storm. 75 MPH winds and rain horizontal.

What was weird ....A week before, I was in Montreal. Clearing customs to the US, I was detained in immigration for two hours. The case I had with printed circuit boards and a Generator Protection relay brought a lot of interest by United, One FBI Agent, Customs and Airport Security. That Saturday I was with Dad at their pool in Clearwater for a Birthday Party. "How did you know it was the FBI?" "Here, he gave me his card." "Any idea on what's going on?" "There was a report of increased internet traffic the week before. Something has them spooked."

Actually, I was home and on my commuter. I went to a football forum and I saw comments about Muslims and terrorists. I quickly turned on the TV and they had images of smoke coming from the tower and of the plane striking the tower.