Where were you when the towers fell?

[Pug]

http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m ... ppened.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was in Asuncion, Paraguay leading a conference at a resort hotel. A colleague called my hotel room to tell me that a plane had struck the first tower. The twenty some odd men attending the conference gathered in the conference room to watch the news --- and we stayed there watching the horror play out in total disbelief. Contact with our families (scattered across the US and Latin America at the time) was impossible, and we were soon (w/in 24 hours) sequestered in the hotel by US Special Forces and the Paraguayan Military, and stayed there for more nearly two weeks. Needless to say, the conference no longer mattered. And it was on that day that my oldest (who is currently at Airborne & Ranger School at Ft. Benning, GA) committed to a military career. I (we) will never forget...

[AEA]

I was in Business Class flying from New Zealand to SF & on to Canada. We had just passed Hawaii on the way to SF. Pilot turned around while I was asleep and when he started down I woke up and looked out the window.

I said to myself, this does not look like SF!
Ended up staying 3 or 4 days in Hawaii and then 2 days in SF hotels till I could get on a plane to Canada.

[RottenApple]

I was at work (Allied Riser Communications) talking to a client who's offices were in the North Tower. The line went dead and it was awhile before I new what had happened. A few days later he called me back just to let me know that he was fine. It turned out that his car wouldn't start and so he was running very, very late. He was only a few miles away when the first plane struck and never made it into work that day.

[Heartland Patriot]

I was a maintainer in the USAF and we were prepping our aircraft for a major practice operation and review where "the brass" comes in and sees how the unit performs in a given scenario. The unit leadership had set up a "nerve center" in a conference room for the duration of this event. As an engine mechanic friend and I walked by the conference room, we heard someone say "Wow, an airliner just ran into a skyscraper in New York"...a bunch of people, irrespective of ranks, gathered into the conference room, and watched the news replay video of the first tragic strike. For a very short while, no one knew what to think. But, our leadership knew it was going to be bad, and as military folks we knew anything could be asked of us at that point. Despite what had been planned (which was called off, of course), pretty much every mechanic available hit the flightline en mass and by the end of the shift, EVERY aircraft except one that was torn apart for an indepth scheduled inspection, was prepped and ready to launch...considering the nature of our aircraft at that base and all, it was almost miraculous to see what we thought was our normally tight unit come together even tighter to accomplish so much in such a short period. Later came all the other thoughts, emotions, all that stuff...but at that moment, all I saw was an intense focus the way I've never seen before or since...

[Pawpaw]

I was in the Kona Kai Motel in Dumas, TX.

There is more to the story, but I'll wait for the laughter to die down.

[Dave2]

I was asleep until after the first plane hit. My Dad woke me up because he thought I might want to watch the news. I <I>think</I> I saw the second plane hit live, but it might've been one of the first loops. IIRC, it was a Tuesday because that was one of my homework days that semester, and I didn't get a single bit of it done that day.

[Oldgringo]

On that day, I was the PM of a $105MM barracks construction project on Ft. Bragg, NC. The army post and nearby Pope AFB went on high alert and lockdown. I decided that I had been "on the road" long enough and began the trip back to the Pineywoods a couple of days later. It was weird passing Hartsfield Field in Atlanta, Birmingham Airport, etc., and not an airplane in the sky. For that matter, there weren't many vehicles on the road either.

My first job after university (Univ Tenn, '67) was as a Product Development Engr. for the steel company that provided the steel joists for the floor systems in the WTC's. I had been up in the first tower when it was only 15 stories above grade and saw the 6 floors of undergound steel. I couldn't believe the first reports of "tower collapse". Later that evening, I saw the collapse from within on TV.

I also saw the news reports of various muslims in the near east laughing, dancing and warbleing at news of the deaths of the infidels in America. I didn't like them well before 9/11 and I like them a lot less now. That's all I'm going to say about that.

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

In class. As soon as we heard about we went to the church to pray. The rest of the day was spent watching the news channels.

[RoyGBiv]

I was in San Jose, CA that day. I turned on the TV after my shower and watched the second tower fall. I thought it was a movie until I switched channels and realized it wasn't. I wasn't quite sure yet what was happening, but the reality was beginning to sink in when my cell phone rang. My manager calling me from his meeting in London. "What's going on there", he asked. "The Twin Towers are GONE", I said. "What?" "The twin towers, I just watched the second one fall. They're both gone."

I have friends and family in NY. One a firefighter, two others commodities traders working in the World Financial Center. Several other friends working further up town. Panic. I called home (NC) to make sure my family was ok, then I started making phone calls to NY but was unable to reach anyone (fast busy). I finished getting dressed and went in to the office.

The mood was somber. I had several meetings scheduled that day and others through the week. Mostly with people from out of town. People who were in SJ at my request, rather than at home with their families. I remember feeling a bit guilty, but was too worried about my friends to feel too bad. As we went through the day we were interrupted steadily by cell phones, all good news thankfully.

My two college roommates were both heading to work at the WFC at the time of the first attack. One was on a subway train from Hoboken (NJ) to the WTC station when the first plane hit the towers. The train was stopped in the tunnel under the Hudson River, then sent back to New Jersey where my friend watched the rest of the tragedy unfold from the pier just across the river from the WTC. An uninterrupted view. I'm not sure he's ever completely recovered.

I stayed in SJ and finished my meetings, as much as I could anyways. Realizing that getting a flight out of SJ or SFO would be futile for a while I started driving home on Saturday morning. I figured I'd catch I-40 at Barstow and head East to home. I drove 17 hours that first day and made it to Albuquerque, NM. Miraculously, my wife got me scheduled on a flight the next morning from ABQ to RDU via ATL. I slept 3 hours in the airport hotel then made my way over to check in. I still remember the eerie feeling I had getting on an airplane that day. Could it happen again? Today? Certainly not with a box cutter. Flying had changed forever.

I made it home Sunday afternoon, after an uneventful flight. I fell asleep in my kids bed that night.

I'll never forget watching those horrible scenes of people jumping from the upper floors of the towers. It's a forever memory for me, as clear as the early moon landings and the births of my children. I'll remember always my father on the outside WTC observation deck, clinging to the wall (he had a fear of heights but took me up there anyway) while I enjoyed the view from the top. The several times I took friends from out of town to the same observation deck. Gone.

Never forget.



" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[philip964]

I was in the car when the radio reported that a small plane had hit the world trade center. I thought "oh fog again".

I then went into a meeting with attorneys about what was to me a frivolous lawsuit involving concrete splatter on a car.

As each new person came in they brought more news. A second plane, the Pentagon, then the shock of the second building coming down, All I could think of was the firefighters. Then the first building. I expected the death toll to reach 40,000 people.

It was so hard to pay attention and seem sympathetic to his attorney as he showed the photos of the globs of concrete on the car.

The irony of it all overwhelmed me.

[C-dub]

At work in my lab. The reality of what happened didn't hit me until I got home later and saw the news and the video of the towers collapsing. I don't know very many people up there, but I did have a friend that worked in one of the towers. I was a mess until I could get her on the phone. When she finally answered, people had been calling her all day, all the emotions flooded me and I could barely speak. She had left that job sometime in 2000 when she became pregnant. She was at home that day with her infant son.

My wife was 6 months pregnant and at work in her lab.

[stroo]

I watched the Towers fall on TV at work. I had been at an awards ceremony in March on the next to the top floor of one of the Towers. Plus I had a couple employees and my boss working at a building nearby that kept showing up in the TV coverage. I called them to make sure they were safe. I was also scheduled to fly to NY the next day. Needless to say that trip was cancelled when the aircraft were grounded. I remember watching plane after plane land at DFW from my office and none taking off. And then there were none. A day I will never forget.

[AJMag]

Roanoke TX, standing in a scissor lift with my best friend building the rack system of a new general motors wharehouse being constructed. Didn't quite believe our boss when he told us, it wasn't the most reputable guys we'd ever worked for. Went on lunch not too long after, lived a few minutes away so we went to my house, watched the news and almost threw up lunch.

[The Annoyed Man]

I was on the way to work, in Pasadena California, waiting at a stop light before getting onto the freeway. I had Hugh Hewitt's morning radio talk show on, and he was talking about one of the towers having collapsed. That got my attention. He was talking about airplanes having flown into the towers, that they were burning, and that people were jumping to their deaths, and that one of the towers was already collapsed. At first, I thought it was some kind of a "war of the worlds" radio drama he was doing, but that only lasted for a half a minute, and then I realized that he as describing actual events. I was pretty upset about it. And then while I was listening, the second tower came down.

When I got to work, somebody dragged a TV into the office and we watched the coverage. The owner then asked me gather the employees together and give a brief message from scripture and to lead them in prayer.

Edited to add: A friend of mine, Bob, who had been a member of our adult Sunday school class, had moved with his family back east, and was at work on the 34th floor of the World Financial Tower across the street from the WTC. When the first plane hit, his building shook, and initially everyone thought they were having an earthquake. Knowing that he was from California and used to quakes, his coworkers asked him what to do. So he led the evacuation down the stairs to the street level. Bob said that as he walked out to the sidewalk, there was a film crew on the street, filming the burning tower. He then heard the second jet coming in, and he looked up just in time to watch the second plane hit the other tower. At first, he thought that the film crew was part of a movie production, but when he saw the size of the explosion and the force of the impact into the building, he realized that it was real. He began to run away from the WTC, and when he turned to look back, he saw the falling bodies of people who had jumped. Then the first tower came down, and he ran for the ferry boats to try and get across the river. The big ferry boats were already jammed, and he couldn't get on board, so he found a yacht owner who was ferrying people across the river, and he got a ride to the Jersey side, where he eventually got a ride home. But when he was crossing the river, he turned to look, and saw the second tower come down too.

Somewhere, I have a copy of his letter describing the whole ordeal. It is pretty dramatic.