Where were you?

[KCDevin]

where were you?
I'd like to know where everyone was at 7:45 CST (the north tower was hit at 8:46 EST)...
I was in school, school started at 7:15 and class didn't end from 7:20 to 8:05... Then, 5 minutes later we were at health (we didn't have PE on wednesdays for health) and my class was close, so it only took me about 3-4 minutes to get to class... What I saw horrified me... Everyone by that time knew it wasn't an acccident. Then, as 3 teachers were watching, the pentagon was hit, the teachers gasped, and I thought omg what have they done, this is war, and as I thought that, our health teacher repeated the same thing, "This is war", she said it about 3 more times that 45mins, which seemed forever.
45 mins later we were at Science, we had a sub that day and of course, everyone was watching. We just saw the flames, shortly after class started, they collapsed... At first I thought they could stand, but then they fell, before that, I had this image of a massive memorial there, with construction on the top of the two towers, all the hope was gone...
I had known what they were, but to me, they were just a couple of massive skyscrapers in NYC and I took them for granted... Not today, nor any other day after that...
9/11 was the birth of my love for skyscrapers, it also increased the great patriotism I already had, as it did everyone else. I didn't want my brother going to Afghanistan, he didn't go... Luckily, cause our grandfather started dying in December... Later in March, on the 11th to be exact (at around 4:30) he died... I had to spend a couple weeks from school, he was my closest relative from my parents and brother... A few months later, after I came home from church camp, I had a new CD Drive, and my mom had found this cool site called "Skyscraperpage" thus my interest really began. Later I found this site from some of our forumers there. I regret I don't have the love and respect for skyscrapers as I did 2 years ago...
I had begun to view them as skyscrapers and focusing on the rebuilding, I didn't focus so much on the events, or the people... That has ended now...
A month before 9/11, I had a dream... It was of 9/11... I took it as just a dream, until I had a dream in October going back to Ground Zero... Then almost the first tears I shed since the attack occured... I realised, if I had listened to the dreams, I still could not have done anything...

What I would like to know... Is where were you on 9/11 at 7:45?

[StL_Dan]

I was just starting to get into my groove at work, here in downtown KC.

My wife called me with the news, so I turned on my Sony Watchman that I keep at my desk year round to view breaking news and March Madness.

A feeling of chaos swept over me as I watched the first tower burn and then the airplane strike the second tower.

As all of this happened, vivid memories of walking the streets of lower Manhattan on a teen trip in 1986 were coming back to me. I remembered what it was like staring up at those two buildings wondering just how it was that man can engineer such architecture.

I also thought back to when my parents and I vacationed in Chicago when I was about 12 or 13. My lasting memory is leaning over the rail of the observation deck in the Sears Tower, forehead touching the glass, looking down at the Chicago River.

At the moment the first tower collapsed, I could somewhat identify with the terror one might have felt as he or she were trying to evacuate such a tall structure just prior to the implosion.

I praise God that those towers evacuated as many people as they did resulting in a death toll that was much smaller than what could have been.

[KCPowercat]

At work, had some desktop alert thing on my computer that alerted me a plane hit the World Trade Center...thinking it was a small plane (the thing went off a lot), I dismissed it. 2 minutes later somebody came in and said the same thing, we flipped on the TV and did nothing else the entire day. We were watching Fox 4 and they were talking about some "local angle" when the first tower collapsed and I was like "I think it's falling"......

messed up for sure.....

[QueSi2Opie]

I had the week off from work. I was sleepin' when I got a call from my wife. She was panicking sayin' that, "Everybody at work is sayin' that we're under attack and the WTC, Empire State, our Capitol, White House and Pentagon are all being hit by planes!" I jumped out of bed and turned on the television. I watched the Twin Towers both in flames while a smaller picture in the corner showed the Pentagon. A rock was in my throat, my stomach turned while I listened carefully. I then told my wife that, "Only the WTC and Pentagon have been hit by planes." She said, "Rumors are flying all over work, so I don't know for sure what's been crashed into."

Then I called my parents and was on the phone with my dad as we watched people jump from the towers. Minutes later the first tower came crashing down. I felt unsafe for the first time in my life and couldn't believe somebody would crash commercial airlines full of people into these significant buildings that represent one of the greatest cities in the world.

Before the towers came down I could remember thinking to myself, "I wonder how many months it will take to patch up the holes in the towers once the fire is out." Those first few minutes of sitting on the floor with my face glued to the television, feelings of fear, sickness, sadness, anger, and even disappointment because the WTCs were gone forever had all gone through my body. I wanted the United States to nuke the entire Middle East! We need the world to know not to ever f$%ck with us again!

Fortunately, we don't act off sudden impulses.

[DanCa]

I was in the shower when I heard. I had the radio on, as usual, and heard something about a plane flying into one of the Twin Towers. It was just the DJs talking about it. My first thought was that some little plane flew into one of the twin highrises in Century City (here in the LA area). I really didn't think much of it. I got out of the shower and was getting ready when I realized they were talking about THE twin towers. It sounded a little more serious. I ran into the living room and turned on the TV. Shortly after the 2nd plane hit the other tower. That's when I knew this was no accident.

I remember thinking, "They're going to have to tear these things down", but I didn't expect them to fall. I then walked the dog and left for work. I called my mom in KC and woke her up while I was on the freeway. She turned on the TV and was shocked. Then she said something like, "Oh my God! It came down!". I asked her what she meant and she said an entire tower came crashing down to the ground.

When I got to work, one tower was left standing. People were crying and watching a TV in a conference room. No one said it, but we were glued to the set waiting for the 2nd tower to collapse. After the 2nd collapse, I went home and watched the news until I was mentally exhausted.

[Brooksider]

I can't believe I still get a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes when I see the 9-11 images on TV. I guess that will never go away.

[Rooster_Ties]

I was on the 19th floor (the top floor) of the BMA Tower in a meeting that lasted all morning. (I used to work for Butler Manufacturing.) Up there, you normally don't ever have much contact with the outside world, and none of us heard about the World Trade Center until well after the 2nd plane hit. I think it was nearly 9:30am (Central) which would have been 10:30am (Eastern) before we took a break long enough for somebody to go to a lower floor (for no particular reason), only to find out what all had happened.

I don't think either WTC Tower had fallen yet, but I'm sure both planes had hit by the time any of us heard the news.

If we hadn't taken a long enough break during the meeting, we might have been up there (and unaware of events) until probably 11am (Central).

Come to think of it, the Pentagon had already been hit too by the time we heard.

[KCDowntown]

I used to work at home, and was still asleep. I got a call from my sister saying that a plane had crashed into the WTC. I hadn't been watching for long when the second plane hit. Then came the Pentagon, and the wondering of how many planes were out there. I just wanted it to stop.

One enduring image that I have from that day is the circular plane contrails to the west of the city of all the planes in a holding pattern. You could see a bunch at different elevations, and they formed a cylinder.

I went to Garrett's to buy a soda. They had little flags by the reigster. I bought one and has been in my apt window ever since.

KCDowntown

[bahua]

I was at work, dealing with the network outage it caused. At the exact moment it happened, I was at work, trying to look busy.

[KC0KEK]

I was in the air on the way to San Diego when the attacks started. We made a scheduled stop in Denver to take on more passengers but wound up being grounded there. It took me almost a week to get back to KC.

[GuyInLenexa]

I was at the doctors office, watching GMA. They were showing the fire from the roof of their studio in Midtown Manhattan. I saw the second plane fly in.
It is the most terrible thing I have ever remembered.
By the time I was out of the doctors visit, the first tower fell. By the time I got back to Sprint, the second fell.
I remember all the con trails making u-turns in the sky.

LG