[kiwi1209]

We arrived here last week and I passed a 9.11 memorial off of the roadway in Westport. Today, I visited because it was a nice day. It is so beautiful. I took a short time to read each name, and I'm surprised how many in Connecticut were affected. Lots from CT were young as well (under 25). How has this changed this state, negatives and if anything positive came of this? Where were you in CT when the news broke that such a catastrophic event was happening so close to home?

I was in Auckland and my sister called us (she lives in London). It was the middle of the night but immediately I turned on the tele. and realised what was happening. We watched the breaking news all night, wept and were heartbroken!

Where were you and how did it affect your loved ones and friends?

[JayCT]

9/11 effected many more in CT than are even listed at the memorial. My friend died there but because his residence was listed elsewhere, he was not considered a CT resident. He left a lot of family and friends here who are still stunned by the event. Just writing this is hard. Jay

[ct1010]

I was still living in NYC. I lived in the West Village, about a mile from the site.

I was at work uptown and managed to get a cab to take me to Chelsea. Cabbie dropped me off and I went to St. Vincent's Hospital on 12th Street to donate blood. There were lines of people wrapped around the building and extending into the streets. I found a staff member and she told me to come back; they had so many blood donors and no current need for all that blood.

I walked home and like everyone else, was in a daze. For the next few weeks, you needed to show proof of residence to the cops at the 14th Street barricade if you wanted to get down there. It smelled something awful for weeks. It was horrific.

I am grateful that I lost no one close to me, though I knew a few people who perished (mostly people from college and friends of friends).

My husband was a medical resident at the time and they asked him to stay on (he was on call the night before) and so he did. All the doctors, nurses and staff were waiting for patients, but very few showed up.

I will never, ever forget the horror, loss and devastation, though I really did feel that we--as NYers--did come together as a community during that time and people were more considerate, caring and compassionate as a result.

[JViello]

Please don't take this the wrong way...I just don't want to rehash that day. It was bad...really bad.

Having to make a phone call to my friend's (Who worked across the street from the towers) wife who was clueless as to the event as he text'd me information running for his life I will never forget...and many other details I will never forget. I just want talk about the details as little as possible.

Thanks for understanding.

[MikefromCT]

I was in Cali w/my best friend on vacation. We were staying at a villa with family members who lived there. I got woken up by my uncle and spent the next 3 hours glued to the TV. Long story short, we ended up driving cross country to get home. It was a great experience but it came at the expense of a national tragedy. I really didn't feel safe until I got home. When I did get home, it was right in time for the first home baseball game in New York since before the attacks, at Shea Stadium. It was impossible not to be moved, regardless of where you lived.

I was working at a news station at the time, and what happened over the next few weeks drove everyone crazy - the actual incident, the anthrax scares, that second plane that crashed in Rockaway, Queens about 2 months later. It was hell.

I went to Manhattan about 6 weeks after 9/11 to spend the day with friends. New York City at that time was a very unsettling place to be. At Grand Central there was a huge mural in one of the aisles, full of photos of people still missing at Ground Zero, with phone #s for next of kin if anyone was found. In some cases, some people were found alive (as indicated on the attachment next to the photo). It was surreal. Just walking around Central Park - there was a certain quietness to being there, and not just because it's a park. I can't explain, just eerie.

Nobody from my town was killed on 9/11, thankfully. There are 2 overpass bridges that are named for a pair of FDNY members who had immediate family members who transplated from New York to West Hartford. We were lucky. But Connecticut got hit hard - especially Farifield County, since it's right outside the city and alot of investors were working there. Overall a total of 152 people from this state died that day. Horrible.

[Rich Lee]

That was my second day at my new job where televisions were in each manager's office. It was totally surreal experiencing something so traumatic with virtual strangers.

I will never forget watching the news that evening where a young guy from Oxford was being interviewed after getting off the train. He was still in shock as he retold the events from his perspective. The ones who died weren't the only victims that day.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

I will never forget watching the news that evening where a young guy from Oxford was being interviewed after getting off the train. He was still in shock as he retold the events from his perspective. The ones who died weren't the only victims that day.

I remember this interview on WTNH that night - he couldn't stand still for the duration of the interview, as if he had to keep running. It was so intense - everything was so surreal.

I was a sophomore in college doing group work for an internship in Manhattan. We didn't see much, thankfully, and our professor told us to come home not knowing exactly what was going on (this was before the second plane hit, we weren't at work for more than 10 minutes). Listening to what was going on on the radio (all of the music stations began broadcasting Peter Jennings on ABC News), it was horrifying. It was the first time that I felt unsafe in my own country. I was overwhelmed, along with the other people in my group. We were only 19.

The scary part was not being able to get in touch with friends and family. We all know people who work in the city, and people who fly often. Phones were down because everyone in the area was trying to call loved ones. Who knew what was going on elsewhere?

I also remember the amount of cars left in the station lots. And the New Yorkers who just hopped on the train to CT with nowhere to go, and hung out there for hours.

To the OP - It was emotionally draining for pretty much everyone here in CT. Life was disrupted (as it was around the country). There are so many people still dealing with this, even if they don't talk about it in their daily lives. The "Where were you on 9/11" question, while not inappropriate, is still a difficult and awkward question to many in CT, and especially NYC/NJ. I know when I'm asked that question it brings back some crazy memories. It's still hard to fathom.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by JViello

Please don't take this the wrong way...I just don't want to rehash that day. It was bad...really bad.

Having to make a phone call to my friend's (Who worked across the street from the towers) wife who was clueless as to the event as he text'd me information running for his life I will never forget...and many other details I will never forget. I just want talk about the details as little as possible.

Thanks for understanding.

I understand. I called my friend's mother hoping that he was traveling that week as he often did. He was not. He was there. I did not know what to say. I called my family to tell them to get to her immediately since she was alone. One of the worst days of my life. I hope your friend was okay. Jay

[Uconn97]

I posted the below a while back. the thread was "what was it like to board a plane after 9/11". Like others have said, its something i try not to think about. being from CT is seems that everyone knew someone who was impacted by those days events. It was a horrible time and it took me some time to get over it.

I was in eurpoe at the time and was able to get a flight on 9/15 just a few days after. I was told to arrive at Lisbon airport 3 hours ahead of time. The scene at the airport was surreal. Cars were everywhere dropping people off. Chaos of people coming and going, saying goodbyes, crying, trying to figure out where to go. No one was allowed into the terminals unless they had a passport and their ticket. To enter I had to show both and go past 2 armed guards. There were armed guards stationed at every entrance. Once inside you were asked what airline and literally escorted by either a staff member or guard to your line where you waited to check in. I actually expected more screening, but I passed security pretty fast. then it was just waiting to board.

Once on board, there was definite tension in the air. People were nervous and many had been stranded since the attacks. I was a nervous mess until the plane took off, but eventually calmed down. I met an awesome couple (I was traveling alone) from Texas who were the nicest people and I talked to them a bit. The next part is still hard for me. As we approached newark (I had a window seat), I could see smoke rising up into the sky and I still remember that feeling that I knew what I was looking at, but my mind wasn't grasping at it and I was thinking, no, that can't be it. There is no way that its still smoldering 4 days later. But sadly it was. As things came closer and clearer as we made our approach the airplane was completely quiet as people were trying to look out the windows. I could hear a few people crying and I started to well up (at this point I had a friend who I knew was missing down there, but there had been no official confirmation of his death. A memorial service was held a few weeks later). The woman from texas put her hand on my leg and said "it didn't seem real until now, I just can't believe it". We landed and I remember the captain coming on with his speech about the time, temperature and then he said "to all of you here for a visit, welcome to the U.S. and to all of you who are americans, weclome home". People started to yell and clap and it was a good feeling at that point to finally be home. Fast forward to getting off the plane, the staff at newark kept telling people to keep moving, no one was allowed to stop. When we reached the point where we had to go through customs, there is a large wall of windows that overlooks the skyline to manhattan and I was appauled that people were stopping to snap pictures. I could see the smoke from there and I couldn't imagine why people wanted pictures. Staff were literally knocking cameras down away from the windows telling people no pictures and keep moving. My last memory of this time is driving under the GW bridge, under a huge american flag and being able to see the smoke still rising in the distance. It was that mix of feelings of being glad to be home and on the ground and sadness of all the horrible things that had happened and all the people who died. These images I'll always remember.

[bluetruckguy]

I was in bridgeport, ct

I went to visit with friends who'd never been to nyc on sunday.. after i saw them off on sunday.. i was still at home tuesday morning when the radio stopped playing music and had flash news.. i was the first on in my whole bldg to hear the news and call and tell most of them in my bldg to watch the news..

dont remind me of that time.. i had lot of folks in my school (universtiy of bridgeport) who had gotten jobs there.. my prof had 2 sons who worked there.. well..