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I was in the military when 9/11 occurred. I was on my sixth year of service in the Navy, and I was away for training.
I was coming out of the shower after PT. I glanced at the TV just in time to see the second plane hit the tower. My first thought was, "Is this a movie?" Then, I saw the word "Terrorism" flash across the screen. I stood there in shock (I am trained for this, and I never thought it would happen on American soil). I called my mother to let her know that I was okay and headed in to work.
A few months afterwards, if I went anywhere in uniform, I was thanked, saluted, given things for free, etc. It was embarrassing ("just doing my job, ma'am") and sad at the same time. Sad because it took such a tragedy to get some appreciation (my police and firefighter friends felt the same).
I would like to think that for one day we can focus on the survivors and the innocent victims who lost their lives.
Last edited by Ibginnie; 09-11-2012 at 10:20 AM..
Reason: deleted quoted post
I was in gym class and hated gym. The first thing I heard was that school would be cut short, and having no idea why, I was happy to get out of gym. But then we were pulled together for an assembly and told about the events. Being in DC and having friends whose parents worked in the Pentagon, kids were crying and it was just an overall very emotional time. Then my dad came to pick me up from school, and our god-family happened to be in town staying with us. That's when I got a better idea of the attacks that happened. My grandma called to tell us our great uncle was on the third floor of the WTC Towers when the attacks happened, but that he was able to run down the 3 flights of stairs in time and get far enough away from the building in time to be okay. I remember everyone was so united after 9/11 and for about 10 days the right and left were actually completely united. It's sad that it took such a tragedy to bring us together, but hopefully even CD can at least show their respect for this one by not seeing it in red and blue. People's lives were taken, endangered, and forever affected. I remember when all these musicians came out to write songs in honor of the people who died and their families and all the firefighters and police who saved so many lives.
I was in gym class and hated gym. The first thing I heard was that school would be cut short, and having no idea why, I was happy to get out of gym. But then we were pulled together for an assembly and told about the events. Being in DC and having friends whose parents worked in the Pentagon, kids were crying and it was just an overall very emotional time. Then my dad came to pick me up from school, and our god-family happened to be in town staying with us. That's when I got a better idea of the attacks that happened. My grandma called to tell us our great uncle was on the third floor of the WTC Towers when the attacks happened, but that he was able to run down the 3 flights of stairs in time and get far enough away from the building in time to be okay. I remember everyone was so united after 9/11 and for about 10 days the right and left were actually completely united. It's sad that it took such a tragedy to bring us together, but hopefully even CD can at least show their respect for this one by not seeing it in red and blue. People's lives were taken, endangered, and forever affected. I remember when all these musicians came out to write songs in honor of the people who died and their families and all the firefighters and police who saved so many lives.
Thanks for sharing. We certainly were united that day. It seems like ever since.... well... you know.... not so much. Glad to hear your great uncle made it the hell out of there.
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i was 12 ... and i went to school and no one was down stairs (school was upstairs) and someone came got me and said "a plane went into the WTC" and i was like "huh?" , i went up stairs and i was watching on tv and there was one plane in the tower and as i watch a couple seconds later another one went it and i was SHOCKED and completely confused... i never knew about terrorism until that day.
Yes, what a tragedy 911 was for us. I can't imagine what it's like to be in Iraq and have 911 be a daily occurrence. So sad for all the innocent involved. Makes you realize how little we appreciate others lives. What a shame.
So much tragedy came out of 911, to this day innocent people are still dying because of it. Terror is just another name for never ending war. War on Terror will never end.
If only we could get over our need to kill others in the name of God and money. So sad it still happens. So sad indeed.
I remember getting a call that morning from a friend in DC ...."can you believe it?" the voice said ... I said, what in the world are you talking about? "Turn on the TV". and so I did ... and 10 minutes later the "2nd plane" hit. And I recall my immediate reaction was "those F'ing Arabs" ... no lie .. that was the guttural response. And then the commentary and speculation hit high gear ... Osama Bin Laden .... Osama Bin Laden .... Osama Bin Laden ... every channel, and every station and every news anchor .... they could have been singing in a freaking choir.
Then, I watched the two building collapse ... straight down ... and my next reaction was ... hmmm ... wait a damned minute here. Something isn't right here. And then I started carefully listening to the news ... switching from one channel to the next ... intently focusing on everything being said ... then the pentagon ... then the crashed plane in Shanksville. And that's when I realized that we were being manipulated, downloaded and programmed like children in a Sunday School class. It was too orchestrated ... to uniform .. too consistent. Every TV news anchor just reached the exact same "speculation" ? Every news station just happened to have a "terrorism expert" intimately familiar with Osama Bin Laden, in-studio within 10 minutes of the 2nd plane strike? How was that even possible? It was like the same movie being broadcast on every channel ... IMMEDIATELY ... in real time .... and they were all saying the same exact things ... same buzz words ... same speculations ... same conclusions ... long before enough information was available to even begin forming these "conclusions and speculations", let alone have EVERYONE drawing the same ones.
Wow - most of you guys are kids. My wife worked one block from the WTC. Many of my friends worked IN the WTC. I had been to the WTC the day before and went back in the evening after the attack. Somewhere I still have some pictures I took from Jersey City the next day, after they had reopened the GWB and we were able to leave Manhattan (and be allowed to come back into Manhattan). For days, the city smelled and you couldn't help but think that what you were smelling (and breathing) were burning corpses. I kept wondering how many of my friends had died - but they all survived.
My wife came home, too - it took her forever to walk from the WTC to our apartment.
I had taken my husband to work that morning, we were a one car family at the time and once home I got online and was chatting with some friends while the TV was on "above" the computer.
I could see the screen if I raised my head from the keyboard. The friend I was chatting with was a very early riser from CA. Another friend was in NJ just across the river and could see the skyline from her house. Since the TV station antenna she was watching was on top of the WTC, she soon lost that picture.
I called my husband who worked at Fermi (a nuclear power plant) and asked if they had heard the news...this was after the second plane hit...which I had watched in open mouthed horror as it happened. He said they were in lockdown...wasn't sure when he would be able to get home. And he had gone in unprepared for lockdown. He never did that again...he always kept a minimum amount of stuff in his office in case he ever got locked in again without warning. He did get home late that evening...one of the other engineers brought him home as I was no longer allowed on the site due to heightened security.
I can remember not turning the TV off for days. My daughter was sent home from school early that day, she was a Junior that year so she understood what was happening...as much as any of us ever did.
While I also did not know anyone personally who died that day or was at Ground Zero, I do remember that day vividly as much as others in previous generations remember where they were during their pivotal event (Pearl Harbor).
NEVER FORGET.
Liz
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Terror is just another name for never ending war. War on Terror will never end. 
