9/11/01

As I reflect on that day, I still think back in disbelief.

I was just beginning my school day, going over the morning work on the board with my class.  A friend, who had a prep period first, burst into my classroom and blurted out, "They blew up the World Trade Center and they're evacuating the White House."  I was in disbelief.  Then, I turned on my cell phone, and it rang a few minutes later.  It was my ex, we had just broken up.  He was in Washington on business, when all federal employees were evacuated.  He had taken the train from Philly, but couldn't get back that way because the train lines were stopped.  So, he was riding back with coworkers.  He asked me to call our kids to let them know he was okay, and on his way home.  He could see the Pentagon burning from the office he was in.  During my prep period I learned that the mayor of Philadelphia asked schools to close early, and businesses to send employees home.  Since Philly was right between New York, and D.C. it made sense.  Parents started coming to school to pick up their kids almost immediately.  Some even just coming directly to the classroom.  It was chaos.  When I got home, I watched TV in disbelief.  

Living there is a memorial back home for people that lived in our community who were lost in that attack.

RIP all who perished that day.  And the first responders who have died as a result of illnesses from that attack.

I was home and was cleaning the living room with the news channel on and the news guy said one of the towers had been hit by a plane and they showed it and right there while they were filming the first hit, the second plane came into view and the news guy said, Oh my God, another plane is headed for the....then he said, no...and I watched it hit, just like so many others did that day.  I watched the news for a month straight in disbelief and I was relieved that the attack on our soil this time was done by international terrorists and not domestic terrorists like the men who attacked the federal building in Oklahoma City.  

RIP for all those that perished on 9/11, and for those men, women, and children in Iraq who were innocent of having anything to do with 9/11 but whose country was invaded and whose people were killed all in the name of oil. 

amen on what you said about Iraq and oil. 

I was living and working in France on September 11th.

I was at work when colleagues reported that a small plane had hit the World Trade Center.  I tried to access the internet for information but it was jammed already.  Called a fellow American working in Ireland and he added a colleague from the Netherlands who was watching TV.  Herrod reported that it was a jet and while talking to us reported the first collapse.

I was frantic for information but unable to get any through the internet.  Finally went home and watched BBC World and CNN World most of the night and phoned American friends working in Europe.  I learned that Flight 93 had been piloted by a coworker's brother our my former workplace.

The next day at work all of my French colleagues approached me offering condolences in the form of a hug which is not the French way but the American way.  

The days following I received emails from Corporate talking about keeping a low profile and not displaying the American flag at my home.  I did go to a French florist and get a red,white and blue ribbon to pin on my lapel.  One French colleague gave me an American flag to put in my office.

Several of us in France had to drive to a meeting in the Netherlands.  It was the day that Europe lowered their flags in mourning for everyone who had died on 9/11.  Most of the buildings in France, Belgium and the Netherlands were plastered with American flags which made me proud.  Everyone paused on the autoroute and got out of their cars for a moment of silence at noon.

As a former military child who had lived in Europe during the Cold War I worried about my evacuation plan how would I get back to the US if flights were still grounded.  I worried about another World War.  My Dutch colleague said not to worry he'd give me a home and put me on a Dutch freighter if necessary.

French security immediately after 9/11 was incredible.  They cordoned off schools and would not let vehicles within a certain distance.  The military began patrolling the trains, airports and metro system.  I felt very safe in France while I lived there and even safer after 9/11 however I still wanted to come home.  

I had already elected to retire from my job due to a special offer.  They had extended me for six months and were actually asking me to move to the Netherlands and work another two years.  After 9/11 I said I wanted to return to the US and officially retire on December 31.

It was a horrible event in my lifetime similar to what my parents had experienced on Pearl Harbor day.  I think about all of the people who perished on that day and all the responders who have died since due to their unselfish willingness to try to help victims.  May you all rest in peace.

Thanks for the memories. I moved to CT in 1998 and moved back to FL in 2003. My daughter Lisa lived in Jersey City and worked one block away from the Twin Towers.  She had 2 roommates. The huge apartment building she lived in was built right along the Hudson River. To the back of the building was the Holland Tunnel to NYC. She took the Path Train to work every day. Her Path stop was under WTC1.

While I and my co-workers watched the horror via live TV, I tried to call my daughter.  None of the cells into NYC were working. Oh, how I cried.

It was about 3 hours later that I heard from her. Everyone in my family was a wreck. She was on her way to work that day, she wsa late for work, on her way to the Path Train in Jersey City when she heard the loudest bang ever. She thought it was a construction accident.

It was the first plane hitting WTC1. She turned around and a crowd had gathered at a fence at the water's edge. She and others watched in horror as the day's events unfolded. She stated that no one moved, no one spoke. They were all in shock. She took pictures of what unfolded that day.

Her company lost clients that day who had worked in the towers. Her friends were in the City and watched the horrors. I remember having to get out. Just get out instead of sitting at my job trying to work. Everyone I met, I went to a supermarket, was crying or had been crying.

The economy in the Northeast pretty much died after the horrors of 9/11. Since I worked for a corporate relocation company at the time, the business suffered. So many business in Battery City in NYC were ruined. The economy of the area just stopped dead. It stayed that way and I was laid off from my job right before Christmas 2002. I then decided to move back to FL again. It was a very difficult decision. But I did move back.

May God bless the souls of all who perished on that day. Also all of the first responders who have since died from 9/11 related cancers and other illnesses. You are much heroes as those who died on that horrific day. May all your souls rest in eternal peace.

I was at a training at a local hotel when the news broke. Coincidentially, we had a panel of housing specialists from the Northeast, and one of the men on the panel had just introduced himself. He was from NYC. He turned white as a sheet when the announcement was made. I returned to work and prayed with my co-workers until we were sent home. We watched TV the rest of the day...still it is surreal to me.

Arlene, I don't know how I would have handled one of my children being there. The horror was bad enough, bu****ching the survivors and others posting pictures of their missing loved ones on telephone poles and any free public space or carrying around picture frames was just heart wrenching!

It makes me incredibly sad how our country has divided since then. The solidarity and pride we demonstrated and felt as Americans after 9/11 was so comforting after the devastation. I really don't understand how we have come to where we are today after grieving and coming together as a nation back then. I don't know where we are headed...

I was listening to the radio as I got ready for work and the interruption of the regular program got my full attention. I ran to my daughter in the living room and told her to switch to the news, that something big was happening. Then we saw it all unfold before our eyes...the second plane was so shocking. 

We are in California, far away from where it was happening but I can just tell you that as a country we were United. Daughter was afraid to go to school but she did. I worked in an elementary school and it was as if all of the teachers and staff were in slow motion. When we left to go home every car had an American flag on the antenna. 

My daughter and I talk about this experience every year at this time...it is burned into our brains, the sadness, the fear and shock, and the feelings of communion with our friends and neighbors. I am proud of how the people that were the most affected came together to help each other. 

The one thing that has had a lasting negative affect to me is how the war in the Middle East accelerated and I'm afraid that has hurt our unity as Americans...the polarization of right and left is much stronger now. I think the media and politics have hurt our country in so many ways. That is the most sad legacy of 9/11, that something that unified the country in many ways also tore it to pieces in the following years. It might never recover...

Julia

It's a day we will never forget.  Was explaining last night to my 20 year old daughter what happened that day - what I was doing, asking her what she remembered.  I was living in upstate NY and called my family in Oregon to reassure them we were ok and far away from NYC.  We couldn't get in touch with family either in NYC for several days.  Praying today for everyone involved with rescue, those who lost their lives and loved ones that day.  Such brave souls.