Where Were You...9/11

I was stationed on the USS SoandSo. We were in the middle of a deployment, back in port for a week of maintenance. I was in the engine control room helping a buddy troubleshoot a circuit when he came up because someone had told him something was going on. We went back to his space forward on the ship to turn on the tv and watch the news. I remember feeling like crying.

There was a general recall for ships' personnel in port and they all got underway, except us. We weren't going anywhere due to the cofferdam against us and were the only ship left in the basin. I remember being selfishly worried because I had rented a car for a few days and I didn't know if I would be able to get it back to the rental agency. I remember standing watch on the 02 level port side with M16, locked, loaded and slung around my shoulder.

Eventually they decided that we didn't need as many bodies onboard for the extra watches and half of us were sent on liberty. I went over to a friends house and a shipmate's wife helped me drop off the car and gave me a ride back. I still lived on the ship at that time so when I was dropped off at the main gate (because no civilians were being allowed in) I walked to the ship through an eerily silent base.

Nothing was ever the same after that. What a waste of life from the attack. What a waste after.

September 11, 2001 I was in Mrs. Carcuff's third grade class. A teacher was hysterically crying going from room to room telling the teachers to turn the tvs on. I sat with my fellow 8yr old classmates watching as the towers fell and people jumped from windows. Something that a 8yr old should never see. The teachers gathered in the hallways and kids started getting pulled out of class, I eventually was one of them. My mom is already an anxious mess but this was a level I had never seen. She literally thought that a war was starting here in America. I was so terrified and yet had almost no understanding of what was happening. It was the first time I saw true evil, it was the day that my innocents started to disappear. I remember my family all gathering and just being silent, felt that everyone was silent for weeks. I didn't go back to school for a few days. Even when I went back a lot of kids didn't come back till the following week. The adults around me talked about how our lives were never going to be the same. We were eventually going to be the generation fighting this war, they were right.

I still breaks my heart and I cry every time I think about it.

I was in my senior year of high school, first-aid class when the teacher turned on the TV and was explaining what had happened. I have to admit that I didn't know what the WTCs were or their significance, and also believed it to be an accidental crash at first. Once the second plane hit and we all realized how serious this was, some of the girls with boyfriends who were 18y/o or older became upset at the possibility that this was war and the draft would be reinstated. I don't remember many students being picked up early, but I do remember my mother being glued to the TV when I got home, and my dad wasn't able to come home from his job at the airport until the next day. It is still crazy to me that this was 17yrs ago and that some people don't remember it happening. I imagine it was like that for those who were around for Pearl Harbor or the JFK assassination. I will never forget.

I was working nights on the medical floor. At 5 a.m. (local Alaska time), a nurse rushed to the nurses station and then to a private room that was empty and just a few steps from the nurses station. The TV was turned on and kept on. We were glued and left for brief times to pass a med or hang an IV, but always returning. As the morning rolled on, and doctors who came in early to make rounds, also were now gathering in the room. It was just so sad and eerie watching it live as it happened and not knowing what was going to happen next.

Not knowing anyone in NYC or even in the area, it didn't affect me or my family intimately like it did to so many others. But locally, with the flights frozen, there was a huge concern as many people were out hunting for winter's meat and had no idea what was going on. (Due to no radio or TV reception out in the bush.) After 4 days of a no-fly period, Alaska did get FAA approval for one day or so to bring the hunters home.

I just started my sophomore year in high school. I was lying in bed listening to the radio before getting up to go to school and the announcement came on the radio.

I had worked the night before and was home watching whatever I was watching on TV before going to bed when the live news report broke in after the first plane hit. At that point everybody thought it was some kind of a tragic accident. I watched the second plane hit live and the realization that this was done purposefully hit everyone. I woke up my husband and we watched the TV coverage all day. I can't tell you now how many hours I was awake but it had to be better than 36-40 before I finally went to bed.

I was working the med cart. I was the Unit Manager but I often got pulled when calloouts occurred. So I had just pulled into one of the dayrooms to finish up the med pass. Everyone was glued to the TV where Tower 1 was smoking at the time. But I saw the second plane hit TT 2.

I don't remember much else of the blur.

I was working the night shift at UCSF. I remember it all so clearly even though it all happened so long ago. Almost twenty years can you believe?

I went into a patients room at 5.55 am to get a set of VS. She had the television on and I wasn't paying much attention to it. I asked the patient what movie she was watching and she said "Oh that's not a movie sweetie a plane crashed into the trade center in New York. So shocking those poor people there. They will get them out best they can". I just said oh gosh, that looks pretty high up but like you said im sure they will get it under control.

I wrapped up in the room and the patients TV room was just a few steps down the hall from her room. I turned the television on and no more than maybe thirty seconds later I saw the second plane go in live and the news anchor saying "That looks like a second plane". I watched for less than a minute after that and rushed to the nurses station. Guys the trade centers in New York, it's all over the news planes have flown into them. Terrorist attack. Has to be. We where all so shocked. Their faces when I told them especially Tracy, a true New Yorker! I didn't see anymore news coverage until around 8.45am west coast time when I got home by which time the towers had collapsed and of course the other attacks had happened.

Going home that morning San Francisco was like a ghost town. Very surreal. I woke my roomies up who where off that day straight away. Guys get up, there's been a big terrorist attack. They flew planes into the trade centers in New York. They have totally collapsed. And I was saying this loud and serious! They hit the Pentagon. Shock!!

I will never ever forget how that night shift ended or that day!

Never forget!

High school sophomore year. I had just finished my first class of the day (health/gym class combo) and on my way to my second class (algebra). I remember seeing a lady run into a room saying she knew someone in NYC. I didn't think much of it at the time. It was in algebra that the teacher turned the TV on and that's when we found out about the attacks. Of course administration went around to turn off the tv's but shortly after the math teacher next door came in and said the one tower fell. After that it was over. Parents started pulling kids from class and the rest of the day was useless. Football practice was cancelled. I remember watching the TV all day and night. Seems like it was just yesterday, that's how clear it is.

I was working nights/sleeping days. My husband wisely let me get my full day's sleep.

I'm not American but I had American neighbours at the time who are still very close friends.

I had been out shopping with one of them, said my goodbyes and went home (afternoon Paris time). No sooner am I in the door and the neigbour I've just left is on the phone screaming "Turn on your TV set!" All channels had those horrible images of the twin towers falling. I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV.

One of those horrible world events that everybody remembers, and hopefully, unites us.

I was on the Navajo reservation with 2 code talkers for patients. We held hands most of the day and talked about how war is so terrible and how it makes your spirit sick. I loved those men.