I was sitting in my 9th grade science class when my teacher told us that a plane had hit one of the towers. She kinda said it nonchalantly like it wasnt a big deal, but as the day went on everyone found out a bit more of what transpired and it wasnt just an accident like some first thought.

Heard the big boom from my school because were near the pentagon.

I was on top of one of my airplanes doing some scheduled maintenance. One of the guys came out and said a plane just hit the WTC. I was puzzled but not knowing the weather and the whole story (first plane by the way)I thought it' might have been foggy and a plane strayed off course and into the building. In WWII a B-24iirc crashed into the Empire state building in that kind of weather. But then they told me know weather was perfect for flying. About five minutes later I was sent home to begin crew rest and be on alert. Two days later on the 13th I had to fly down to Puerto Rico and pic up an E2 squadron and bring them up to Norfolk so they could use the planes for extra radar coverage off the coast. It was very eery with out alot of radio chatter. We flew within visual range of NYC and man what a gut wrenching feeling it put in all of us. The city was still clouded in smoke.

http://www.company71.org/wtc.htm

I was at work listening to it all on the radio.
I wasn't able to watch any of it as it unfolded. We were told that we were more than welcome to leave for the day, I stayed but if anything in Texas came under attack I was going to go home.
I went home from lunch and that's when I saw what happened on the TV. I was not prepared to see what I saw.

My hero's are the passengers and crew on Flight 93.

I bought my current home computer a couple of months later. As I was looking around I noticed that some of the factory installed programs were installed on the morning of 9/11/01. The last program installed on that day was installed at 8:45am, the same time the first plane hit the tower. The next activity shown is 9/12/01.

I was @ work, before any of my college classes, and my boss said something like a plane hit the towers. I started watching it on the news, and thought that well, it had to be a little prop job or something, to not have knocked the tower down. Then of course came the second one, and the pentagon. Then we all knew that it was no small plane, and no accident. It was very disturbing b/c I went to classes later that day, at Emporia State, and there were quite a few people of Arab decent cheering around the campus, and laughing at it. I remember just wanting to beat the S**T out of those people. Here we are, giving them a college education, and they are happy about something bad hapening to our country! If they didn't like it here, why the hell were they here?

I was on my way home from work when the first plane hit so I didn't know about it until actually getting home, turning on the tv and seeing this bizarre story about a plane crashing into the tower. Then the second plane hit, and the pentagon plane hit, and I just sat there in awe of how messed up the whole situation was.

I distinctly remember thinking "Sh*t - is this how the end begins?" and being genuinely freaked out.

I was driving my girlfriend (future wife) to college with me. They broke in on the radio and said the first plane had hit. Like Hercman, we didn't think much of it.

About halfway thought my engineering class another kid came in and said the second tower had been hit. We all left class and went to the student union building and watched it all unfold on CNN for the next 7 hours or so.

I was assigned to Special Ops, tagging bad aircraft parts for turn-in, looked up, saw the 1st plane hit. My reaction: "Retarded pilot. Oh, well, the buildings are tall, it was bound to happen." Kept watching, saw the second one hit. We were all silent. I was the first one to speak, my words were "Guys, we're goin to war." Went outside, called my friends and family in or around large cities, and told them to stay the hell away, and that I may not be available for awhile.

"I distinctly remember thinking "Sh*t - is this how the end begins?" and being genuinely freaked out."


Me too. I was at work. (Children's museum)
when the first plane hit, I was aksed to setup the auditorium with a lcd projection screen so the patrons of the place could sit and watch.

It was a very somber day and I personally thought there was going to be much more than just what happened.

I seriously considered re-enlisting in the weeks that followed (had been out of the military for 10 years at that point), but my family would have no part of it, they knew this time when we went over it was not going to be as "fun" as the first time (when I went)


I find it very hard to believe we have not caught the sob responsible for this yet or turned their country into a sheet of glass...

On my way to work, listening to New York radio station K-Rock. I got the news about both planes hitting from Stern/BaBaBooey unfortunately.

At work, they set up a TV and I watched the towers collapse.

I had just gotten back to North Carolina from a deployment exercise in 29 Palms California on the morning of. They told us we had the day off, so when the news came through my Marines and I were still sleeping. The Marine that was on Barracks duty woke me up and told me not to unpack anything and to go back to my squadron for a gear inspection. I woke all my Marines up and we headed down there in a hurry. The whole unit was ready to go in a matter of hours. They told us that we were going to NYC to help with the rescue effort. Nothing came of it. There were already too many people there. For the next week or so the base was in complete lock down, no one in or out. All the gates were heavily guarded. It was total chaos for the next few weeks.

I was helping out at an open house for my High school I was in 9th grade, from the class room i was in i saw the WTC and after watching the frie fo the first plane hit, I saw the second. It was the worst.

I was ready to go to work when the images of the tower in flames got the news, the journalist was confused I remember him saying: "...what is this a trailer of a new movie?..." then by his earphones someone told him that it was serious and it was real then the second plane hit the other tower...i went to work then the whole company was at a classroom watching news and we all saw the towers going down...everything was so quiet at the office.

I was in 8th grade, first period, and i didnt believe what was happening... just a scared little kid

i was in my umm 7th grade german class when my assistant princpal came running in and said turn on the TV a plane just hit the WTC, so im wating the Tv and i saw the second plaen hit, i was like "What teh F*%$" and that got me a detention, then when i got home i watched teh towers fall.

I was in a Bible Study class at my a private junior high in 7th grade when my teacher told us that the towers were hit...and he siad you will never forget where you were when you were told this...

We got off school early cause my school was in downtown Dallas and me and my brother came home and watched it on the news...

I was just in science class, 7th grade. I didn't really understand at the time what was happening, or why... course I guess no one really did. My teacher was flipping her lid because she had friends in the DC area, and she couldn't get ahold of them. Later that day, I went to visit my mom at the hospital (she had surgery the day before this) and we sat and watched the news and talked about it for hours.

It's hard to believe today marks 5 years. Seems not that long ago. Alot has changed...

May we always remember... the lost heroes of the NYPD and FDNY.

was in 6th grade listening it to it on the radio, at first i didnt believe it, not everyday a plane goes into a building but as the day grew i got tired of it cuz it was on every tv channel lol i was in the 6th grade so i didnt think much of it

i was sitting in my 11th grade U.S. history Class working on a project about the things that shaped our country into what it is today when a teachers aid ran in and told her to turn on the T.V. and put it on the News. Right as it came on they were playing the first video footage of the first plane hitting and someone in the class said "wow whats so important about a plane crash" and i responded "that was no accident the sky is to clear and that plane was flown with a purpose." I have been around planes all my life my dad is an Air Traffic controller and i remember that day most because i did not see my dad for 4 days after that happened he lived at the airport sleeping in the break room and constantly working. And i also cannot believe we have not found Osama yet its been five freaking years and still not any closer people say he is dead from either a stray bomb or what ever his medical condition was but no hes not dead in fact i think he is somewhere here in the United States living up the good life. And until we strengthen our borders against all invaders including illegal immigrants we will always have that back door avalible to terrorist who want to come in and attack our people.

When you are hiding out in an area as large as those mountains and full of caves and a network of people in the thousands and a country that makes it very hard on the effort (pakistan)who support you it's very easy to stay unfound.

Would like to remind yall about Geronimo, Vitorio, Chavez y Chavez, and the list goes on. The U.S. Cavalry had the Southeast Arizona mountains COVERED. The Chiricua(sp?) Mountains have very few caves, yet the Apaches and Mexicans eluded the Army for quite a few years. If you get the chance, check out the Chiricua MOuntain Range, Pichacho Peak, and the Dragoons in Southeast Arizona, there's a LOT of history out there, and helps you understand why it's so hard now to hunt someone in a labyrinth of caves, mountain ranges, and countries.

At home, when the towers fell, I was mobilized as search and rescue. We staged and flew to toronto. We launched after receiving approval from NY state and while over lake ontario we were cancelled as it was no longer a search and rescue effort. It became a body removal. The impact of that really caught our team. We had hoped we could lend a hand. Our primarly role was to repatriat injured Canadians as well as assist with medevac of injured americans. Although we never made it to ground zero we were proud to have been called upon.
A day Ill never forget..especially when the AWACs over NY was tracking us as a possible target...thank god fo transponders....

Are you serious?

Yeah, not sure i buy that one... we're talkin a guy with a $50 million bounty on his head.

seems to me that a $50 million bounty wouldnt be all that advantagous. Sure the money may entice some, but not many are gonna go hunting for him and most that know where he isnt arent gonna say a word. Plus, what makes an individual think that they have a better chance at finding him than the US military?

I remember 911 very well I was hauling a load from Houston to Toronto and got stuck at the border for 19hrs ,it was a very intense experience and the day I decided to retire from trucking within a year I had sold my 3 rigs and moved on to other buisness ventures ,the border officials were very professional in a very bad situation I must say but I did feel sorry for the many drivers of the wrong skin colour they were all givin a very difficult time and forced to have there load examined ,now I can understand this but at the time frustrations were maxed and the line was endless,so just from my own experience its not a day I'll ever forget.Chico.

I had just been up to visit my wife-to-be (at that time) the three days previous to 9/11...we had lunch at a place on Staten Island called the Cargo Cafe, which is right on Richmond Terrace overlooking the harbor. It had been a lovely day and we had commented on how she needed to come down to the new promenade adjacent to the new SI Yanks ballfield and shoot some pics of the Manhattan skyline. I had written her a poem about our day together after I had reached my place in VA. The next day I reported to work for the 8-4 shift when I got the news...I tried frantically to reach her by phone but it took over two hours to get through. Her step brother wasgoing into Manhattan that morning to look for work but had overslept and missed the ferry. she went down to pick him up at the ferry terminal only to see the towers smoking like chimneys...she made it down to pick her brother up and shot some photos from the harbors edge...she stood there weeping through her camera lens as she watched the towers collapse with a cracking sound that haunts her to this day. I was able to get up to see her about a week later and we went over to ground zero together...no pictures or film will ever match the sights and smells I experienced that day. If this is what it feels like to cross an urban battlefield then I salute our military with more verve than ever. sadly, one of her daughter's best friends father was a member of FDNY Rescue5...one of the first units at the scene...they were very close with his family and he was like a second dad to her...all eleven members of Rescue5 were lost at WTC that morning...I can only say how thankful I am to have had the chance to have seen the towers in person in all their splendor and beauty before this horrible event...it will forever be part of my personal past.

i was sitting in class as a freshman in high school.

thunderbat your signature pic is sweet!