Where were you?

[Thecat23]

Sorry if this has been posted with other 9/11 threads but i remember exactly where i was.. driving down Minto street when it came on the radio a light aircraft had hit the top of the twin towers.

By the time i got home the second plane was about to hit and then i saw it wasn't a light aircraft, it was a passenger jet. I stood in shock thinking either world war 3 was just round the corner or this day will change they way we live forever. It has!

Such a shame to lose your life going about your everyday business. Plus the NYFD & NYFD showed extreme courage to try and save those trapped.

The word Hero gets branded about so often now but eveyone who went in to save them truely were.

R.I.P to all that died that day.

[Wembley67]

IN the food court @ the Gyle. My mate phoned me to say he has heard a plane has crashed into WTC, hadn't heard anything about it at the time.

We finished our meals and went downstairs to find a large crowd gathered round a electrical shop (no longer there) watching everything unfolding on the tv....the next thing that happened I'll never forget (outwith 9/11), the shop manager actually changes the channel on the tv to something else and says that unless we are going to buy something we cannot stand in the shop as we are preventing access - what a complete tube.

Spent the rest of the day watching everything happening and like yourself thinking WWIII is on the way along with getting extremely para about flying to athens the next day.

[CB_NO3]

I was at school, but after PE I went home because I had enough for the day, I turned on the TV and BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV and Channel 4 where all broadcasting the news.

[Sir David Gray]

I was in 2nd year at high school. It was the first period after lunch that it happened. The teacher was putting a video on for us to watch and whilst she put the TV on, the BBC news briefly came up on the screen. We all saw that it was something major that had happened but the teacher didn't keep it on long enough for me to really know what had happened.

It was only when I came home a couple of hours later that I saw what exactly had happened.

It's a day that I will never forget for as long as I live.

[Pedantic_Hibee]

At work when I heard.

Finished at 4, stopped off at the shops and bought a massive amount of munchies and spent the next 10 hours in bed watching it all unfold. Awful, awful, awful.

[Gatecrasher]

finished doing business management at school when the teacher told us, not knowing what the WTC was i just went on my normal day, it wasnt untill i got home from muckin wi the pals and see the news i realised what happened,

[blaikie]

I was in P5 at School, Walked home not knowing a thing. Remember my mum told me about planes hitting buildings in America. I never thought any more of it. I remember switching on the television to watch CBBC. But instead Breaking news updates from the BBC were being shown. I can always remember sitting there glued to the television for most of the night.

[Onceinawhile]

sitting in chemistry when one of the wifies who helped store the chemicals etc... came in to tell us that the first plane had "taken the roof of the wtc". This greatly confused me as I thought the WTC was a shopping centre, and that they had literally taken the roof off. Obviously found the truth out when I got home.

*can anyone remember what those people were called?

[cabbageandribs1875]

out with my family celebrating my birthday, then went for a pint with my auld man and bro in-law and watched the first tower collapse on the tellybox, then spent the rest of the day watching it all unfold, totally gobsmacked :agree:

[hibsdaft]

i was working in a pub on Leith Walk when i got a call from my manager saying "have you seen whats happened in America"? this was before either tower had collapsed and i turned on the telly and realised immediately that whatever it was that was unfolding was massive, and must have been on purpose. this was unlike anything anything in my lifetime, like something from an over-the-top film.

we spoke for a bit before i carried on working, keeping it on the TV. i was in a bit of a daze serving, and i kept saying **** this is crazy but most of the punters were totally disinterested asking me why i had it on !!

after about 45 mins, the towers had both collapsed and gradually more folk were drawn in by what was happening and started to go quiet, turned round to watch it etc until the whole pub was basically sat round in silence watching it an hour later.

i finished my shift around six and bumped into a mate on the bus. we went up town and had a pub meal in the grassmarket where we continued to watch it.

lots of emotions on that day, won't ever forget it either. as the poster above said, "totally gobsmacked":agree:

[GC]

I was in work, took a phone call from home and since we never had a TV in the office and digital news was not what it was it was a case of getting second hand information, I remember at one point the office was full of rumours that there were at least eight attacks happening over America.

I got home around half five and watched the rest in complete shock.

[Sylar]

At the time, I was living just above Boston, but on the day of September 11th, I was visiting friends in New Jersey. The night before, we had planned a day out in New York, as I'd never been into the Big Apple before. We had tickets for a Rutgers game in the evening, so we planned to leave early (also to beat rush hour) and be back in time for the evening kick off. We arrived in Manhattan around 7.15am, and first decided to pop into a cafe (just off Broadway) and have some breakfast. Once we finished (about an hour later, maybe slightly less), we made our way to Battery Park and looked over a map, planning our day. We decided we would wander up Broadway, making our way to the Financial Centre, and hopefully get to the WTC at some point.

We'd been sitting in the park for a short period of time when we heard a crunching noise, followed by a loud explosion - we immediately turned and looked to the vicinity of the park, which is circled by a busy freeway, thinking there had been a large crash. It didn't take very long to follow the aghast expressions and fingers to gaze upwards at the North WTC, which was aflame, with smoke billowing out of that hole. It was horrifying - initially, we, like the media outlets, didn't know what had happened and assumed it was a simple tragic accident (although I do remember wondering how anything could fail to miss the Towers, as it was such a clear day). We stood listening as siren after siren raced towards the area. Then, the most horrifying experience of the day. The sound of a speeding jet, at first a faint hum, drew closer and closer, passing overhead Battery Park - It didn't quite compute what was happening at this stage - We watched as the jet tilted on its edge and ploughed directly into the South Tower.

By this point, panic was well and truly the main-staying emotion, followed immediately by fear and hysteria. The park had become populated with journalists and a large police presence - they wasted no time in evacuating the park, sending us in an Easterly direction, away from the Towers. As we walked away, we started meeting others who had been closer, and they described a scene of absolute horror, telling us about those who chose to jump. We had reached a bridge (I'm sure it was the Brooklyn, although I wasn't 100% registering where I was at this point) and the sound of a dull roar was growing louder. The screams told us what was happening before I turned around. I didn't see the South Tower fall - it was consumed by a cloud of smoke and dust. By this point, we were ushered across the bridge, and we hadn't reached the other side before the second Tower fell.

Some of the things I saw that day are scarred into my mind, and it's not something I (or my family) will talk about. This time of the year though, the plethora of documentaries and widespread imagery is a beacon of recall I'd rather do without. I always feel cursed having witnessed such an act of evil in close proximity, but I can only begin to imagine how much worse it must have been for families and friends who knew someone involved at the epicentre of the tragedy.

I'll mourn the event, as I do every year, but I will avoid the news and coverage of the event. Postings like this (and the others from this thread) are therapeutic though, and (perversely I guess), I look forward to reading a few more.

[Sylar]

sitting in chemistry when one of the wifies who helped store the chemicals etc... came in to tell us that the first plane had "taken the roof of the wtc". This greatly confused me as I thought the WTC was a shopping centre, and that they had literally taken the roof off. Obviously found the truth out when I got home.

*can anyone remember what those people were called?

Technicians?

[Sir David Gray]

I had originally posted this on the PM thread, and was disinclined to share on a more public arena, but most on here don't know me personally, and those who do have probably heard this anyway:

At the time, I was living in Rhode Island, but on the day of September 11th, I was visiting friends in New Jersey. The night before, we had planned a day out in New York, as I'd never been into the Big Apple before. We had tickets for a Rutgers game in the evening, so we planned to leave early (also to beat rush hour) and be back in time for the evening kick off. We arrived in Manhattan around 7.15am, and first decided to pop into a cafe (just off Broadway) and have some breakfast. Once we finished (about an hour later, maybe slightly less), we made our way to Battery Park and looked over a map, planning our day. We decided we would wander up Broadway, making our way to the Financial Centre, and hopefully get to the WTC at some point.

We'd been sitting in the park for a short period of time when we heard a crunching noise, followed by a loud explosion - we immediately turned and looked to the vicinity of the park, which is circled by a busy freeway, thinking there had been a large crash. It didn't take very long to follow the aghast expressions and fingers to gaze upwards at the North WTC, which was aflame, with smoke billowing out of that hole. It was horrifying - initially, we, like the media outlets, didn't know what had happened and assumed it was a simple tragic accident (although I do remember wondering how anything could fail to miss the Towers, as it was such a clear day). We stood listening as siren after siren raced towards the area. Then, the most horrifying experience of the day. The sound of a speeding jet, at first a faint hum, drew closer and closer, passing overhead Battery Park - It didn't quite compute what was happening at this stage - We watched as the jet tilted on its edge and ploughed directly into the South Tower.

By this point, panic was well and truly the main-staying emotion, followed immediately by fear and hysteria. The park had become populated with journalists and a large police presence - they wasted no time in evacuating the park, sending us in an Easterly direction, away from the Towers. As we walked away, we started meeting others who had been closer, and they described a scene of absolute horror, telling us about those who chose to jump. We had reached a bridge (I'm sure it was the Brooklyn, although I wasn't 100% registering where I was at this point) and the sound of a dull roar was growing louder. The screams told us what was happening before I turned around. I didn't see the South Tower fall - it was consumed by a cloud of smoke and dust. By this point, we were ushered across the bridge, and we hadn't reached the other side before the second Tower fell.

Some of the things I saw that day are scarred into my mind, and it's not something I (or my family) will talk about. This time of the year though, the plethora of documentaries and widespread imagery is a beacon of recall I'd rather do without. I always feel cursed having witnessed such an act of evil in close proximity, but I can only begin to imagine how much worse it must have been for families and friends who knew someone involved at the epicentre of the tragedy.

I'll mourn the event, as I do every year, but I will avoid the news and coverage of the event. Postings like this (and the others from this thread) are therapeutic though, and (perversely I guess), I look forward to reading a few more.

Thank you for posting that.

Like you, I cannot imagine how it must have felt to have been a family member or friend of someone who was either on one of the hijacked planes or inside one of the WTC buildings. I don't suppose there's a word to accurately describe it, really.

It must also have been a terrifying experience for people like yourself who were close by at the time.

[steakbake]

I was working in the parliament at the time. bbc news was on all the time in the office and i'd just come back from lunch. one of my colleagues said that they'd just reported that a small plane had just hit the world trade centre. i went back to my desk, thinking that it had been some kind of tragic accident. everyone was talking about it, so i went back through to see what was going on and that was shortly after the 2nd plane hit. obviously, the rest of the afternoon was a write-off as far as work went. people were glued to it.

[Dibben]

Thank you for posting that.

Like you, I cannot imagine how it must have felt to have been a family member or friend of someone who was either on one of the hijacked planes or inside one of the WTC buildings. I don't suppose there's a word to accurately describe it, really.

It must also have been a terrifying experience for people like yourself who were close by at the time.

I was training in a new job, when we heard just before a tea break that a plane had hit the WTC - after that, like the rest of the planet, we were glued to the TV...

BH.

[Steve-O]

Scottish Gas at Granton, the old building that is no longer there, ironically.

[Ritchie]

i was in the 6th year common room on my own (skiving biology) watching telly when the news flash came on..... seems a long time ago now.

[Benny Brazil]

In a meeting at work, one of the PA's came in and switched on the TV in the conference room and we stayed their for the next hour or so watching the news, shocked and stunned and unable to say much - one of our colleagues at the meeting was over from the US giving us a presentation on some mindless topic - I can't remember what now - and he was in tears at what was unfolding.

A day that changed our world forever.

[Peevemor]

We'd been for lunch at a Turkish restaurant in, I think, Frederick Street (it was crap) and we're walking back to the office at Canonmills when a pal who lived across the road shouted us across. We stayed in his living room for an hour or so watching the news coverage and I only left because I had a meeting.

I honestly do remember it like it was yesterday.

[Gus]

I was recovering from a knee operation the day before. Eating my lunch watching Crossroads,when they interupted it half way through with a newsflash about the first plane, showing a live feed & then all of a sudden the 2nd plane hit. I couldn't beleive what i was seeing infront of me.

I jumped up, much to my left knee's horror, before hitting the deck again & raced to the phone to call my folks

Horrible day which will live long in the memories

[Peevemor]

sitting in chemistry when one of the wifies who helped store the chemicals etc... came in to tell us that the first plane had "taken the roof of the wtc". This greatly confused me as I thought the WTC was a shopping centre, and that they had literally taken the roof off. Obviously found the truth out when I got home.

*can anyone remember what those people were called?

Iraqies? :cb

[Woody1985]

I think I was skiving school because I remember watching it in my livingroom. It may have been after school but I don't recall any chat at school etc which is why I think I was off.

As people have said, just watching it thinking what a bunch of pussies the people were who did it.

I remeber 7/7 more, probably because it was more recent. I was sitting at work when someone had mentioned an attack on London.

Pretty much spent the rest of the day on BBC and watching my worried boss who had just been down to London visiting a friend. His friend travelled on one of the lines attacked everyday so until he got a call to say he was fine it was quite surreal and very quiet.

[hibee_girl]

I was off school with a throat infection and was watching crap daytime tv when the newsflash came up saying there had been a plane crash into the first building. Remember watching the 2nd plane hit the other tower.

I spent most of the afternoon on the phone to my Mum at her work updating her with what was going on.

[JE89]

I was playing football and smashed a greenhouse so had to go home, my mum was watching the news but I didn't really understand what was going on.

[steakbake]

Iraqies? :cb

Iraqistanis. :agree: