Where Were You...9/11

middleagednurse · Sep 12, 2018

I thought it was the end of the world. I was terrified.

ThatJessyChick · Sep 12, 2018

I was in highschool biology class, when a student came in and whispered something to the teacher. The teacher's eyes welled up with tears and she stopped in the middle of a lecture to turn on the news. She shushed us and told us what happened, and also told us her brother worked at the WTC. Thankfully the next day she let us know her brother was safe.

DextersDisciple, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2018

I was in fifth grade at school when i noticed a total of 3 kids had been taken out of school early that day. I asked why But didn't get an answer. When school was dismissed I wanted

My friend To come over and play. Her mom immediately said no she has to go home without a reason. I went home and my mom turned on the news and calmly called friends/family in shock. My mom was never quiet about anything so I knew it was serious.

K9lover, ASN, RN · Sep 13, 2018

I am a Californian, it was a day off so I would usually be asleep @ 0600 AM & my husband woke me up. I have never been to the East coast and had just thought of the Twin Towers as a couple of big buildings in NY city. I did not see the 1st tower but did see the 2nd tower go down, it really didn't hit me at 1st but as it unfolded I just was stunned at the carnage and loss of so much life.

Ellekat2 · Sep 13, 2018

I was working as an acute dialysis nurse in a medium-sized town in Kansas. We had already had a gas explosion under the downtown that year and had controlled fires burning in various areas in town. We also had a number of Hepatitis A cases from several restaurants in town. Our dialysis patients did not often watch TV, but we had a younger man who said, "There's something going on in New York, turn on the TV". So we watched the unfolding of events that seemed so far away at that time. Gas was up to $5.00 a gallon by the time I left work. The State Fair was the following week. There was almost no one at the fair. Bad for the vendors there, but great for those of us who had scheduled a few days off during the week to enjoy the fair.

This was a terrible event, but our proximity to Oklahoma City and to various far-right groups like the Posse Comitatus in our state gave the bombing of OKCity the sense of a more "real" threat. The New York event seemed surreal at the time. Many I know were affected in some way and it has made me realize since just how small the world really is.

nursesunny, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Sep 13, 2018

I was a 1st Lt in the USAF going to my new squadron for my first official day after my initial basic officer training. My radio alarm clock went off and they were broadcasting about the first tower, the second hadn't been hit yet. I sat on my couch preparing to start a career I would literally risk my life for and watched as the second plane hit and thought. Day 1 and already in the midst of a new war. I wasn't a nurse then...it was surreal.

tinyRN72, BSN · Sep 13, 2018

It was a rainy day here in Florida. My children were at school. I was folding laundry on my bed. Whatever was on the TV at the time was interrupted to report that the first plane had hit the first tower. I just froze, right there, with a pair of half-folded socks in my hand. I was aware of the fact that my jaw was wide open.

At first, I thought it was an accident, but soon when the other plane was reported as being taken hostage, then crashed, and then the 3rd plane hit the 2nd tower it was very clear that this was no accident. I didn't move for hours, watching with tears rolling down my face, in shock that this was actually happening in our country.

Finally, I realized that I had to set that pair of socks down and go my kids from school. They were really mad at me because so many other kids got picked up, but I didn't get them out of school early. Later that day, I found out that one of my high school classmates was on Flight 11.

Bklyn_RN · Sep 13, 2018

I was just telling my son about that day for the umpteenth time. He was 2 years old and I had started nursing school the previous week. I was late for class, as usual, and had kept the radio/TV off to calm my nerves about being that late. I dropped him off to daycare and was perturbed that they had taken forever to come to the door. I handed him to them in a huff and sped off.

As I drove to class I saw some cars had pulled over on the opposite side of the highway at an area with a view to Manhattan. I thought that was curious but nothing else. When I arrived at school, classmates were streaming out of class and said that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought it was a small plane and had to have been an accident.

All the professors were huddled in the main office. This was before cell phones were the norm. Shortly thereafter it was announced that classes were canceled. I rushed back to my car, turned on the radio and became transfixed. I made a beeline back to my son's daycare to collect him, because I felt like the world was ending. As I was driving back on that same highway, there were even more cars parked at the spot with the view to Manhattan. I was still on that highway when the radio announcer became hysterical and was crying on air. The first tower was collapsing. I drove even faster to get to my son's daycare. Turns out the reason they'd taken forever to answer the door when I dropped him off, was because no one heard the bell, they were all glued to the TV. Unbeknownst to me, it had already started. But I was in my bubble with no knowledge of the cataclysm that was unfolding in my beloved city.

bluenurse85 · Sep 13, 2018

I was asleep that day after a night shift. For some reason, I woke up about an hour early & couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up, decided to watch Oprah & have some coffee before I started getting ready for work. When I turned on the TV, I saw some of the news coverage & initially thought it was some kind of publicity for a movie or something. After a few minutes of this, I called my parents & they told me about the planes crashing, etc.

After that, upsetting as it was, it was hard to stop watching the news coverage. I went to work that night & it was all anybody talked about. The next morning, I came home & turned on my television the minute I got into the door. I remember watching the same things over & over that day, horrified, but not able to stop.

Hard to believe it's been this long. Seems like it just happened.

Solange90 · Sep 13, 2018

It was a terrible day.

NutmeggeRN, BSN · Sep 13, 2018

Ugh...

Guests · Sep 13, 2018

I was in NYC on the UES (81st and 1st). I had just graduated from NYU and was studying to take the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Boards and turned on the TV just after the first tower was hit. I spent the entire day glued to the TV. NYC was eerily quiet the next several days. It was absolutely gorgeous weather for days. I remember on about day 3 after, the wind shifted and the smoke began blowing uptown. I could smell smoke and jet fuel for DAYS afterwards and I will never get that smell out of my mind. There was very little traffic, no overhead noise and people in general were just walking around d in a daze. One of the most profound memories was walking down to Union Square (14th street) where they had set up a place for people to try and find lost and missing loved ones. There were thousands of photographs plastered all over the place, literally thousands- all loved ones who were still missing since the attacks. I remember walking through those photographs and seeing names and telephone numbers to call with any information and just breaking down crying. I went down to Ground Zero a few weeks later just to see firsthand the devastation and also pay respects and say a prayer for those lost. I left NYC and moved to DC (my hometown) a month later. I remember the shock seeing the Pentagon in person when I arrived in DC. I will never forget.