I turned on the news this morning and was hit in the face by the pain and grief we all faced seven years ago today from the 9/11 tragedies. Even though years have passed, it's still so unbelieveable. I'll never forget that day.
We were living in California. My son Andrew was four months old and September 11th was the day we were planning to move into a new house. We were having trouble finding people to help us move because it was a week day. Early that morning, I remember staring in shock and horror at the TV at the footage of the planes crashing into the WTC towers. A few hours later, we drove our U-Haul truck to the new house to begin the labor of moving furniture. Slowly friends and relatives began to show up to help us because their places of employment were closing. I remember rummaging in our new garage through items that were left from the previous owners. It was there that I found an old, tattered American flag. I placed it into the holder on the front of the house and stood there crying, staring at the symbol of our wounded country.
----Angela
My parents were flying over to Europe for the very first time to see my sister in Holland. They flew right out of the JFK airport and were actually in the air when the attacks happened. My hubby and I were in the Azores, Islands on an US Air Force base in Portugal watching helplessly as the world stopped. I remember that first day, and over and over news kept repeating, "As of right now, we do not know if the airplanes were heading to Europe or to the West Coast. We do know they were full of fuel and obviously heading long distances." Never had an eight hour flight lasted so long for me. When I heard my Mom and Daddy's voices on the phone I cried like I have never cried before. A week later we flew to Holland and met them there. Life was too short to worry about saving the money for something more practical.
In Holland and in Germany the grounds of US Embassy's were littered with thousands upon thousands of floral bouquets and prayers and notes. At least waist high. It was the coolest thing I think I have ever seen. We were heroes everywhere we went. People wanted to know how we felt and everyone told us how much they loved Americans and were praying for them. But most of them where just as scared and as shaken up as we were. I can't begin to tell you how many Europeans said to me these exact words. "Wow! If it can happen to America, no one is safe." And then right after, this sentence or something similar always followed: "You will do something to protect us, won't you?"
Jenni James --Military Wife
It was a regular morning in the office when a customer called to tell us that a plane had hit the world trade center. I assumed it had been a tragic accident. A few minutes later they called back to say that the other tower had been hit by a plane. I remember holding the phone in disbelief. My secretary went home and brought back a TV so that we could see for ourselves what was happening in NY and Washington. I was shocked and hurt and in a way, I still am seven years later. It was one of those events that you never forget, like when John Kennedy was assasinated.
---Susie
I was at work and watched in horror as the whole thing unfolded on national TV. I remember having an overwhelming feeling of wanting to go get the kids and my husband, Rob and get in our house. It was an awful day. It didn’t seem real. It seemed like we were watching a movie (a horrible one).
---Kelly
I was living on the west coast at the time in a forestry cabin that had noTV and no internet access. I didn't know about the attacks until I got into work. I walked in all happy and chipper and looked around to seeeveryone's sad faces. They thought I was horrible for being in a good moodbut then they realized that I didn't even know yet. I just remember feelingso disconnected from the world because I couldn't turn on the TV or mycomputer and find out what was happening. My husband was away at the timeso I just went home and held my dog and cried.I've since moved back east...closer to home and family.
--Jenn
I was living in Germany on September 11, 2001. It was the middle of the afternoon (they're six hours ahead) and I was standing in the lobby of the lecture hall at the George C. Marshall Center looking at the TV screen puzzled at the sight of one of the twin towers with smoke pouring out of it. The TV's didn't have the sound on so we weren't sure what was happening. The sound was switched on and the reporter said they thought a small plane had just struck one of the towers. In the next moment we saw the second airliner hit the tower - everyone gasped. There was a second TV carrying a different network and as we glaced at that TV we saw that the Pentagon had smoke pouring out of it and the newscaster stated that an airliner crashed into the Pentagon and that the U.S. was under terrorist attack. It was the most horrifying thing I'd ever witnessed and I immediately started crying. Within moments, cell phones and pagers started buzzing and ringing as co-workers and families called to give word of the news. In the days following, there was a tremendous outpouring of support and love from the German community, as well as from the students at the Marshall Center. While it was very difficult to be away from home when this happened, I was comforted by the overwhelming show of compassion by the local people.
--Catherine
It was about 6:30 in the morning and my 8-month old baby had just woken up. I staggered to the couch with sleep still in my eyes and feeding my baby boy when I turned on the TV to see the horrifying news. At first my thought was, how strange that a plane could "accidently" fly into such a tall building. And then as I kept watching and saw that another plane hit the second tower I knew that this was no accident. I sat there stunned all morning holding my baby boy and wondering what his future would entail. Were we being attacked? Was life as we know it coming to an end? Will my baby grow up to be a man, or is this it? Are we safe? I feared for the lives of the people in the towers. I feared for the lives of the rescuers. Then I watched as another plane went down at the Pentagon. It was horrifying. When the towers finally came crashing down I cried. Just sat there holding my little 8-month old son and cried. What has this world come to I wondered. Who would do such a thing?
--Danielle
My husband Jim called at 6:30 am, waking me up to say turn on the TV. He was already at work at Franklin Templeton in San Mateo, CA. We stayed on the phone while I turned on the TV just in time to watch the 2nd plane crash into WTC. It was terrifying and completely surreal to watch it replayed over and over again like a movie scene. Jim's company had offices in one of the towers and he spent a week there once a year or so. He had some San Mateo colleagues there for training. We weren't sure what would happen. At the same time I had 3 kids who needed to get up and going for school. Lindsay had just started 6th grade, Connor 4th and Jameson 1st.At 7:30 am I got a call from my good friend Laura Yorke. She was panicked because she had been in an airplane with her husband flying home from Toronto when their plane was turned around. They had landed but didn't know what was going on and she couldn't get her mother to answer the phone while she was caring for her 3 boys. I told her what I had seen on TV about WTC and the Pentagon and how all flights were told to land. At that point the media wasn't sure what was happening either.Watching the WTC crumbled was heartwrenching. I knew there still had to be hundreds of people in the buildings who were losing their lives at that moment. The buildings had been on fire and smoking for the entire time so how could anyone above impact survive?It was odd dropping off my kids at the school parking lots where the teachers and staff were trying to carry on a normal day for our children all the while not knowing if what would be next. I actually went and worked out at the gym and watched the TV the entire time while talking to my friends there. Then I made several trips to the elementary school to bring the latest news during the day.Jim called several times reporting of his co-workers who we guessed had been caught in the collapse of the buildings. It turned out that a friend from Danville had been killed, leaving behind a wife and 4 children. Also, Tom Burnett, one of the heros on Flight 93 was from San Ramon so that story dominated our local news.It was a very difficult day and time spent explaining to and reassuring my children about what they saw and heard. Never in my lifetime had I feared being attacked until that morning.
--Penny
I was home with my 3 month old baby, sleeping next to me in her bassinet (we had been up many times during the night, so we were both sleeping). My husband called me from work and told me to turn on the T.V, because two planes had hit the World Trade Center. I watched the rest of the day with horror and greif as the events unfolded.
--Laurie
I was at work at about 5:30am. I was listening to KGO 810 radio in the office when about 8:45am, they broke into the news and announced that a small plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. The initial reaction by the newscasters was of confusion and a bit understated. Afterall, it was a 'small plane'.
Soon thereafter, the 2nd plane hit the other World Trade Center Tower. I then knew something was not right. We had offices in the World Trade Center through an acquisition made in April 2001. I called the head of our facilities team and he was already watching the events being broadcast on local TV.
My company lost approximately 90 employees in 9/11. What I do remember most is a good friend of mine was having breakfast in a restaurant across from WTC, with fellow employees and they would all be heading into our offices in the WTC shortly thereafter. They were fortunate to become part of the mass scene that was running away from WTC, in the dust and smoke and debris. He eventually made it back home to the Bay Area in a rented car along with a several other employees. But for an extra cup of coffee, he, along with the others, might have been one of the names read in today's ceremony.
I had just been in our office in the WTC the prior week. If you have never visited Ground Zero, you'll never gain the proper perspective of the events that occurred on 9/11. I believe the memorial currently under construction will properly remember those who perished that day.
---Jim
I was in family and consumer science class doing a teacher observation. My ass't principal called me on the class phone and informed that a plane had hit the World Trade. Center. My first thought was a small. Single engine plane accidentally hit the WTC. Then he told me it was a jet. I went ack to my office to watch the news. By that time the second plane had hit. I remember feeling stunned that something like that could happen in the USA. I made an announcement to the students and teachers concerning the events. There was a strange empty feeling throughtout the school. Students questioning and discussing the possible consequences. There was a great deal of conversation among students and teachers.I tried to imagine the feelings of those on the planes and those in the buildings as well as their families. The preciousness of life became a reality and how suddenly it could be taken away. The immensity of the loss of life was mind boggling.
--Tryon
I was at home with my first child, who was exactly a month old. We had a bigscreen tv in our living room (not that we could afford it) and my friendphoned me to say "turn on the tv". I sat on the couch for hours, justholding my son, watching. Crying when the towers fell. Hoping it somehowwasn't real, hoping that it wasn't true that there were people in that building.
--Heather
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