Where were u 9/11/01?

Nurses General Nursing

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They only reason I'm starting this thread is b/c where I was on this date will forever be memoriable to my nursing career. Just 1 or 2 phrases to tell where u were at the time of the attacks....

I was in Fall semester Nursing School, senior year....1st days on the floor of our Psyc Rotation....all the TVs on the unit were on. It was a very interesting place to be during such a time.

I was 3 days post partum in a hospital in downtown Austin, Texas. My newborn was in the NICU, and I was pretty freaked out. My doctor had just come in the room for rounds as the second plane hit. I will never forget.

Specializes in Acute rehab/geriatrics/cardiac rehab.

I live in the suburbs of D.C. On 9/11/01 I was a homemaker and full time mom to my five kids. I was cleaning up after getting them off to school and preparing to head to my Anatomy and Physiology Class which I was taking as a prerequisite to a nursing program. My husband came in from the night shift at work and said a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. We turned on the TV and caught the coverage before the second plane struck. We watched in horror as the towers fell and the following news reports. When I called the school I was attending there was a message that it was closed "Due to our national emergency".

Then they started to report that an explosion or something was happening at the Pentagon in nearby Virginia. I called my mom and sister who were both working at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington D.C. I had called earlier and asked my mom if she knew what was happening in New York and then I called back to report about the Pentagon. I remember being very worried about them and telling my mother to get out of the Ronald Reagan building. As I was talking to my mom she said the computers screens had suddenly gone our in her office and that she was getting out of the building. I later discovered that my mom and sister rushed from the Ronald Reagan building with others into the streets of downtown Washington D.C. My mom managed to flag down a taxi with other people and he took them over the South Capitol Street bridge into Maryland. She and other people begged the taxi cab driver not to go back back over the bridge into the city since everyone was worried about another attack.

In the midst of all this I had called a fellow mom from the children's bus stop to let her know that something was happening at the Pentagon and she became upset. I had not realized her husband was working as a contractor there. She could not reach him at first. He managed to make it out alive, though his office was extremely close to where the plane struck.

We could hear military planes flying overhead near our homes in this area in suburban Maryland. It was a scary sound. The schools were released early. My youngest was a school patrol and came home telling of children upset on the school bus. Many parents in the area (Maryland, D.C., Virginia) had already rushed to the schools and pulled their children out of class. When our children came home they told of children crying in the classroom. One of my children reported a child's father worked at the Pentagon and the child was crying in class.

That evening a meeting was called at our church. Our usually lively church was very somber. Some individuals in our large church work for the government in nearby D.C. and in Virginia. While at church we were told that the President was about to address the nation and his message was broadcast on a big screen....

All I remember thinking was how could people be so cruel as to do this to fellow human beings.....

Specializes in ED.

I'm sorry, as this is not going to be completely short.

I was pregnant significantly with twins and had a 9 month old and had taken off of work that day (hated my job). We were watching teletubbies when I got a call from my BIL (NYC Police Officer) that the trade center was bombed again or something and to call his parents to let them know he was ok.

I turned on the news and found the Pentagon up in smoke so I thought it was a joke or some kind of a practice run of something, because no way could both New York and Washington DC be under attack (I was living just outside of DC).

I tryed to hurry and call his parents or some relative that could get the word out but all the lines were down. As I try and try to call out I watch the towers fall one by one crying and praying he wasn't in one of them.

The rest of the day was spent trying to keep myself busy, every once and a while trying to get a call out to New York. Thankfully that night his family called us saying he was ok. Days later they found the remains of his partner.

Specializes in OB/peds (after gen surgery for 3 yrs).

I was at work, as Health Manager in a preschool. We had no tv's and not many radios, but got info from the Internet. My place was designated the "official" city daycare/preschool....we would take any child whose parents were unable to get home to pick them up. We had all kinds of plans, cots, blankets, food. We have 1200 of our own children. By 7 pm that evening all of the children in the whole city were picked up. We are 25 miles from Ground Zero. Several of our parents worked in the WTC. All survived. Thank God.

Specializes in Geriatrics, MS, ICU.

I was sitting in a nursing class when the first plane hit...My cell phone rang...LOUDLY!!! My professor was not pleased but when I saw it was my brother I became concerned and put my phone away...A few minutes later the phone rang again, this time one of my cousins...about 4 other phones rang in the class...The professor became angry and wanted to know "What the Hell is going on?!?!" Well, all of our families were calling with the news. I am originally from right outside Manhattan...My brother could see everything from his back deck as it was happening...My cousins were both on their way into the city when it happened...

When my one cousin called he was crying because he knew so many people that worked in the towers and he just witnessed the most horrifying thing in his life. He re-enlisted that week and spent 3 years trying to fight this horrible unwanted war. He just returned home in August.

It drove me crazy not being in my home town with the people I love...some of my family were involved in the search, and then the clean up...It was one of the saddest days I have ever experienced.

Came off of a 12 hour shift in ICU. Almost ready to close my eyes when I heard a news report on the radio. Got back up and turned on the T.V. At first I had the impression that it was a small cesna plane, and even though it looked bad, that people were going to escape this. But then, the other plane. No matter how many times I see this replayed, its just impossible to except. I was in New York City last month, that city is and will always be amazing.

Specializes in Critical Care.

I was dropping my last kiddo off at school listening to the top of the hour news broadcast on the radio and it was reporting that a (commuter?) plane had (accidentally?) crashed into the WTC. Before the top of the hour broadcast was over, they switched to continuous coverage because a second plane had hit the other tower. At that point, any doubt about the 'accidental' nature of event had been eliminated.

I drove back home, saw it on TV, and stayed tune. The only time I left the TV that day was to go gas up my cars, and make sure my pantry was full, and to pick up kids from school.

My first initiation into politics was the failed 'Desert One' Embassy hostage rescue in 1980. THAT day, 4/25/80, in my 5th grader mind, I thought the world was coming to an end. I've paid attn to politics ever since. Strangely, I didn't feel the same about 9/11. It didn't make me scared, just mad.

I was sad and aghast, but more so, I was angry. Very angry. It's hard to pray when you can't keep a thought for the merciless and very drawn out and painful deaths of a number of so-called "people" out of your prayers.

I still feel the same way. 9/11 saddens me. But, it angers me more. NOTHING in my life has led to so much desire to kill people. It runs counter to my elemental belief system. Nevertheless, my thought processes about 9/11 still turn to the following thought: no remorse.

John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961: "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

~faith,

Timothy.

Specializes in Not specified.

I was on 7th Ave and 10th street in Greenwich Village watching everything happen in person, a little over mile away. You cannot imagine all of the people crying in the streets, perfect strangers hugging and holding each other.

Specializes in Critical Care.

moved by poster to another thread more on point.

~faith,

Timothy.

I was working as a secretary in a grain elevator when the news came over the radio. I'm from a very small community and the elevator was one of the gathering places - kind of like the beauty parlor for farmers. We had a room full that day - all in disbelief. The elevator closed down 2 months later and I received a grant to go to nursing school. Can't believe it's been 5 years. Still feels so personal.

I was an agency nurse and was in an all-day orientation at a hospital I had never worked in before. There were about 15 of us in the class. We found out bits and pieces of what had happened during breaks. And when one of the girls came back from break and announced that one of the towers had collapsed and was gone, we just couldn't believe it. I remember asking, "Gone? What do you mean it's gone? The World Trade Center? What???" After orientation, I couldn't get home fast enough to watch the news.

I was in my apartment typing of notes that morning as I had a presentation to do that afternoon. ...........................................

No one will ever forget my day of 9/11 I sure wont and tragically that is one of my lifes realities. G*d I wish it wasn't.

Marc

Marc,

Thanks for posting that, it was great to read your thoughts about that tragic day. I arrived on scene about a week later. While there I had a chance to talk to many cops and firefighters who were present at the WTC on 9/11 and their stories give me goose bumps to this day. I was humbled to be in their presence.

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