Community Chat

[esmeraldagooch]

We have been attacked twice on September 11th.  Lets hope they don't make it three.

[Jordan2]

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@MacDUFF wrote:

I'll never forget.

Where were you when you heard?

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I'll never forget where I was. My mother and father were at the ophthalmologist I came home from food shopping. I put the TV on and had nothing ( I didn't have  cable then). I was thinking what did my mother do to the set?  All the antennas were on the top of the Twin Towers. Luckily my local CBS had another antenna maybe at the Empire State Building. I could only watch channel 2. I called my mother to tell her what was going on and she relayed it to the doctor's staff. I was her and the staff's lifeline. 

[Puppy Lips]

I will never forget that day either.  My husband and I were on our way to drop our 3 year old son off at day care and we heard it on the radio.  We drove right to a nearby Target and went in to watch on the Televisions that were on display being sold.  We were the only ones watching.  Even the young man working in the department was oblivious as to what was going on.  When we picked up our son later in the day, there had been some concern because something had happened or could have happened at the Cleveland, Ohio, airport too -- don't remember exactly what -- and we were south of the airport.

[MadameQueen]

I was at my desk, 4 blocks away.  I am so thankful I started at 8:30 a.m. or I would have been getting off the train at WTC (as I did for 20 years) when the first plane hit.  I felt it but did not see it first hand.  My coworkers were coming in covered with debri.  The company where I worked owned the building so we did not have to go out on the street while the buildings were falling.  I know people who were forced to leave.  Two people from my job were in a breakfast meeting at Windows on the World and lost there lives.  I got home at 5:30 that day.  I will always be thankful to NY Waterway for evacuating us and the people in Jersey City who took care of us. I was out of work for 27 days.  

[151949]

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@Puppy Lips wrote:

I will never forget that day either.  My husband and I were on our way to drop our 3 year old son off at day care and we heard it on the radio.  We drove right to a nearby Target and went in to watch on the Televisions that were on display being sold.  We were the only ones watching.  Even the young man working in the department was oblivious as to what was going on.  When we picked up our son later in the day, there had been some concern because something had happened or could have happened at the Cleveland, Ohio, airport too -- don't remember exactly what -- and we were south of the airport.

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My DH had driven up to Cleveland to meet some new employees and then they all flew from there. Of course he was fine but it was very nerve racking for me. Their flight was grounded in Ft Wayne, In. and they were fortunate to find a car to rent so they drove back to Cleveland and DH drove home the next day. He worked from his home office for the next couple weeks which was fine with me. I think he was feeling a little antsy about travel and hotels for a while. I did not know where he was until he got to his hotel  because the cell phones were down. He said they announced on the plane they were going to have to land in Ft Wayne because our country was under attack from the air and all commercial flights were grounded immediately.  He said he was half expecting to see fighter jets chasing them to the airport.

[151949]

We lived 3 miles from the closest air force base to Shanksville so almost immediately we were seeing Blackhawk helicopters with soldiers hanging out the doors holding guns flying very low over our house. Really just over the treetops. It was quite eerie to look up and see them - dozens of them - going right over us like that. We saw fighter jets all day long too but they were high in the sky. 

[twinsister]

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@MacDUFF wrote:

I'll never forget.

Where were you when you heard?

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I was at work - my building was across the street from the WTC. The sound of the first plane hitting the tower was something I can't even describe.  We all looked up at each other saying " what was that?".  There was a lot of construction in lower Manhattan, so we thought maybe a crane had fallen. A few co-workers ran to the windows and were yelling that the tower was on fire.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing - debris falling, people hanging out the windows above the fire and people injured laying on the ground below. There is an image I will never forget - a man in a gray suit that had jumped from above the 100th floor. For weeks later when I closed my eyes I kept seeing him fall.  When the second plane hit we were ordered to evacuate.  It was total chaos  when we got outside.  People were screaming and crying. The landing gear from one of the planes was in front of my building. FBI agents were telling us to walk north towards uptown.  We were frozen in fear - just standing in front of the building. The sounds of sirens was deafening.  I remember seeing multiple fire engines racing past us to the towers and looking at all those firemen, not knowing that most of them would not survive.  I, along with some coworkers walked home over the Brooklyn Bridge.  We were on the bridge when the towers collapsed and the bridge actually shook. It looked like it was snowing grit.  I was wearing a black sweater and it turned white from all the dust swirling around.  It took me 4 1/2 hours to walk home to Brooklyn.  My building suffered a lot of damage and we were relocated to midtown for 6 months while repairs were made.  

[Vivian]

Twinsister, that is chilling to read. My daughter worked a few blocks away and also saw everything. Until we were able to get through to her, and to my brother, who also worked downtown, our family was in a panic.

I was at work at the university where I'd gone to school and then worked for a long time. My assistant's mother called to tell us a plane had hit the WTC. We thought it was a freak accident, until we went over to the campus store, where they had a large screen TV. We saw the whole thing unfold. It was horrendous. Then I thought about my daughter and my brother. I spent the next several hours trying to get through to them.

My daughter finally got through to me. She and her co-workers made their way, walking up to Grand Central Station. She got on a train to Connecticut where she saw people covered in dust. At each train station there was an ambulance to pick up the injured. My daughter returned to work for a few weeks and then left NYC for good. She just couldn't work there anymore after that experience. My brother was OK. He continues to work in Manhattan but is counting the days until retirement. 

[J Town Girl]

I live on the West Coast so I was just getting ready for work.  I flipped the TV on to watch the news and saw the first tower burning.  I somehow thought that I had tuned into some sort of movie.  It just seemed so unreal.  

I remember driving to work in shock.   I worked in a small veterinary hospital and there was only one other employee there when I arrived.   We both just looked at each other and said what is going on.  

As we listened to the radio and heard about the other plane going down in western PA and then the attack on the Pentagon.  I really felt like the world was collapsing all around us.  I don't know how we ever got anything accomplished that day.  No one's heart was into working but still life had to go on.    

I just couldn't wait for the workday to end so that I could get home to my husband.  More that day than ever I really wanted to feel safe and secure in my home with my DH and my pets.  

September 11, 2001 and being in junior high school and sitting in math class when we received the news from our principal that President Kennedy had been assassinated are two moments forever etched into my memory.

[Stray]

I was working uptown in NYC.  I was watching the TV and it was unrealistic.  We kept our employees at work until we received word it was safe in the streets.  I saw tanks and militia and couldn't believe our Country was under attack.  Some of our employees had relatives who worked at the WTC and they were anxiously waiting for them....we stayed outside and gave water and snacks to people working their way uptown from the WTC....some needed minor first aid and we helped them.  NYC went into lockdown and I could not leave until the next day.  I traveled to the GW bridge but it was closed the next day as well.  I asked one of the policeman if they needed help with survivors at Columbia Presbyterian, as I was a nurse and I couldn't get home....he said there were no survivors taken there and arranged for me to get in the first bus going over the bridge to NJ.  I remember his kindness.  Our office was closed 9/12 and I returned to work 9/13 and was anxious going through the tunnel and traffic horrendous.  I learned that two co workers spouses were missing, one a fireman and a young woman who previously worked for me was also among the missing.  Later I learned a friend, a fireman, was missing  as well.  I worked at the respite at the WTC through our volunteer program at work until it closed.  I saw the devastation first hand but also witnessed the strength of the human spirit and help from volunteers from around the world.  I saw strong fireman collapse with grief as they found remains and it was difficult and sad but everyday, I would read the list of recovered victims and hope my friend would be recovered but he never was; he left 5 children.  My co workers fireman husband was recovered and I attended his funeral; he left 2 young children...the other co worker was from China and had no family in the U.S.; her husband was never recovered and she returned home. And, the young woman  who worked for me was a single mother of a 2 year old daughter and never recovered; she was an only child herself and her mom could never get past her death; her child is being raised by her aunt.  I go to the ceremony yearly.   It was the worst day of my life.