9/11 5 Years Later. What Were You Doing When It Began

[Beowulf]

I was laying in my bed relaxing when my son came in from the other room.
"Dad, a plane crashed into the WTC."
Naturally, I turned it on figuring it was an accident. But, as I watched with my wife and son, the other plane hit. I turned to her and said, "that was no accident."
Then, as we watched, we heard about the 3rd plane hitting the Pentagon and the 4th crashing in Pennsylvania.

Yes, I remember it well.....and I haven't forgotten either like so many Liberals have.

[Eagle1]

i was at school. had just gotten out of second hour when word spread in the hallway that America was under attack. I didnt believe it, there was no way that any foreign power could do someting to us. I heard little more throughout the day (as the bastards in the school administration ordered teachers not to interrupt class by turning on tvs). In one class i had the teacher knew that we had a right and a duty to know what was going on. We watched the towers fall.
I didnt know what to think when i got home and had time to absorb all the information we had at the time. I was still in a sort of shock. I didnt know anyone that had died, and wasnt close to anyone who did. But it was more than a criminal act, i knew that this was an assault on America. And when someone attacks America it is an attack on us all.
The anger had set in and i pray that it doesnt leave until all who wish us dead are killed.

[Lubbock]

I was on my way into work when the first plane hit. At the time, I worked for a large law firm here in town (ten attorneys).


I’m an early bird, up before five every morning, and it was my practice to get to work anywhere from forty five minutes to an hour early every day. I liked that quiet time in the office, before the day started. It liked to get into the office early and make the coffee, fill all of the paper carriers on the copy and fax machines, sort and deliver the overnight faxs to the various attorney offices, sort the phone messages and deliver them, etc.


One of the attorneys is also an early bird, and he and I usually hit the back door at about the same time every morning. I had just made my walk through the office, turning on all of the lights, and was walking up the front hallway, headed to the kitchen, when Larry came in through the door.


"Quick, turn on the television", he said. "A plane just hit the World Trade Center."


He and I both made a beeline for the kitchen. We stood and watched for a few minutes, just mystified that a pilot could get that far off course and fly a plane into a skyscraper.


Larry grabbed a cup of coffee and went on to his office, and I went on to my next task.


In a few minutes, Larry came barrelling up the hallway. "Another plane just hit the other tower," he yelled. "That was no accident."


I dropped whatever I was doing and followed him back to the kitchen, to the television. I don’t think either of us moved for what seemed like hours, but could only have been a matter of minutes.


Employees and attorneys started drifting in to work; some knew about the attacks, some didn’t learn until after they were at the office.


And then a plane hit the Pentagon. And then a field in Pennsylvania.


I don’t think anyone thought of War or America Under Attack until after the Pentagon was hit.


We had two depositions scheduled for that day, on two different cases, which meant that we had visiting attorneys as well as their clients and our clients, so we had people coming and going from 8:30 on that morning.


For the rest of the day, not much work was done. Employees and attorneys, as well as clients, were in and out of the kitchen all day long, just standing and watching. No one could stay at their desks. No one could conduct business.


I remember standing at the kitchen counter, making a fresh pot of coffee. One of the attorneys walked up to the sink and turned the water on, then just stood there. I looked at him and called his name. He looked at me for a second or two, like he was in another world, then said, "It’s like I can’t remember what I’m supposed to be doing."

I remember that no one talked very much.


I remember how very little the phones rang that day. I don’t think the receptionist took a dozen phone calls from open to close.


I remember someone asked if we should start trying to get a blood drive together because a lot of blood would be needed in New York and Washington, and someone answered, there wouldn’t be a need, because there wouldn’t be any survivors.


I remember that someone came in at just before noon and said that our skies were full of military planes. A lot of us went outside to look. That was one of the most frightening things about the day. Someone guessed that the planes were flying cover because of the Pantex plant up near Amarillo. We learned later that Pantex was the reason for the planes; they were coming out of Cannon Air Force Base at Clovis, and Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma.


My attorney was out of town that day. I didn’t hear from him until about three that afternoon, and when he called, I knew from the tone of his voice that he didn’t know anything at all about the attacks. I couldn’t believe that anyone had been so out of contact all day long, but knowing my boss, it wasn’t unreasonable. I remember I could hardly talk for crying when I had to tell him about what was happening in America.


I remember leaving work that evening, and how quiet and calm the traffic was. No one was rushing, cutting in and out of traffic, and everyone being courteous. A rarity in Lubbock.


I remember that evening the phone calls from friends and to friends around the U. S. Everyone was reaching out, wanting to hear familiar voices, reassuring each other that everything was going to be okay.

I remember two emotions: anger and fear.


Five years later, the anger remains, but I’m not afraid any more. I’m aware that we can get hit again at any time, and the next attacks could be worse than those of five years ago, but somehow, I’m not afraid right now.


Just still very angry.

[Maggie_T]

I was at work, at a Maine hospital. As with all news, I found out on Freeconservatives (at that particular place I was working, people were not so anal retentive about employees using the internet ... just as long as you did not spend the whole day at it). At first, people did not know what do make of it. We all thought it was an accident.

Shortly after, news came it was a terrorist attack. I was dumbfounded. I was still pretty much a newcommer in the USA (I didn't even have my citizenship yet). I had never been in a place where a terrorist attack was perpetrated. I calle Jim at his office. I never heard my husband so somber. He confirmed it was a terrorist attack.

Well, needless to say, the whole place was in an uproar the whole day. TV monitors were on at the cafeteria and you couldn't squeeze a kid in the room. Problem was, in a hospital, regardless what happens in the rest of the country, people cannot remain stuck to the TV all day, for obvious reasons. I was a just a secretary and my boss was sort of notorious for MIA more often than not. I remember I was in shock all day. I had the radio on and I kept sneaking down to the cafeteria to watch the news. In spite of the great number of people at the cafeteria, you could barely hear a sound, apart form that coming from the TV monitors.

When the first tower came down, I cried. I don't usually cry in public. I'm one of those people who prefer to keep her tears in check (not always successfully), but that time, I just could not help it. And I was not the only one.

Well, the rest is history, pardon the trite phrase. :(

[Patriot Heart]

We were in this house, barely moved in.........heard about both towers, numbly tried to drive the 45 minutes to the kids' piano lessons..........then heard Bryant Gumbel on the radio saying the Pentagon had been hit..........I was very afraid. I had wondered for years why our country had not taken a big hit, now it had happened. I knew that my husband (reservist) would likely be deployed very soon and I would be alone in this little town with no relatives in the state and not even unpacked. He ended up leaving Oct 28 for about 10 months.

[Charity]

I had just woke up and went in to make coffee. I turned on the tv and saw what looked like the world coming to an end. I have never been the same since.

[PrezLeefun]

On Septemeber 11th I was at school in the Bronx NYC.
One of the nuns pulled me out of class to tell me there had been an accident but my mother was ok. My mom had gone downtown that day for a job interview at a ministry center. She stayed that day and prayed with what would be her future co workers.
When I finally got home the first person I saw was my cousin Nicole who ran up and hugged me. To this day that is will probably be the most comforting moment I have ever had with another person.

Now I am still sad over it. Although I lost no one from my family I still mourn the losses of all those people. I think we learned alot from that day. The most important lesson we learned was to value eachother.

[Peachdiane]

I was in Atlanta at the time. Someone yelled that the WTC had been hit. Now I'd mentioned on a Netscape bb YEARS ago that it would happen because of the '93 bombing and they would keep at it... and I was hoping this wasn't the case, and that this was an accident. I think deep down I knew better, and found a TV to watch the horror.... and thought of ways to explain to my kids later. I sure wasn't going to sugarcoat it.

Too many Americans are living like 9/11 never happened. Liberals WANTS us to forget. Then they say, "What the hell? Where did you get THAT fact?" Then they complain they are sick of 9/11 and the media keeps bringing it up. I say, they are SELFISH. Nearly 3,000 people were MURDERED that day They were our friends, out moms, dads, siblings, husbands, wives, and children and you are "sick" of hearing about it? Damn you lefties... if I was one of the murdered I wouldn't want people saying they are sick of 9/11.

Remember that day and remember it well. Remember the soldiers fighting around the world to make sure it doesn't happen again. Never forget and always fight for our freedoms. Evil will triumph when the good people do nothing....

[RayChuang]

I had just logged onto the Internet at 5:55 am PDT that morning and entered Airliners.net's discussion forum in the Civil Aviation section when a message thread there mentioned an airplane had impacted one of the World Trade Center towers. I knew immediately something serious was up and turned on the TV to the Fox News Channel just in time to watch the first replay of the second WTC tower impact. Needless to say, I was glued to the Fox News Channel well into that night--I didn't turn off the TV and go to sleep until nearly midnight....

[Naturalized-Texan]

I was out jogging and as soon as I got home and opened the door, my wife informed me that a plane had crashed into the WTC and that second plane had just then crashed into the other WTC tower. The first word out of my mouth was, "terrorists!"

[Kathy29]

On September 10, 2001 just before I shut the computer down for the night, I was on line in a discussion group, a person had started a topic about a dreadful feeling that they had and couldn't shake. I posted saying that I too had a dreadful feeling that involved illegal aliens. I called them lethal aliens. It was an awful feeling of foreboding and I almost felt relieved to find out that someone else also had that feeling.

It was very early in California when the first plane hit the WTC. I was watching tv when there was a break and breaking news was released. At first I thought it was an accident, the same as everyone else. I saw the second plane hit and called my partner who was then visiting his mother in Florida. He was also watching. The first thing out of my mouth was "This can be laid directly at the feet of the government's immigration policies". I don't know why I said that immediately but I knew that it wasn't any American who did it and I knew that whoever did it was here illegally and I was right.

[Peachdiane]

Yeah in my mind they were illegal but didn't they enter with US Visas?

[PrezLeefun]

Yeah in my mind they were illegal but didn't they enter with US Visas?
Yes I beleive the majority of them were legally here.

It's scary when you get that feeling of doom.

[Kathy29]

They entered with visas then promptly ignored them like so many do. The fact that many came with student visas and never showed up for classes or contacted the school was never investigated. By the time 911 happened they were all here illegally.

[Peachdiane]

Thanks for clearing that up Kathy!!

[queue]

I had spent the previous weekend in the NYC area working on a customer's computer system. I had a scheduled flight home in the afternoon. I had finished early and was on my way to Laguardia airport to see about getting an earlier flight home when I saw smoke coming out of one of the World Trade Center towers. The radio station that I had on was reporting a fire in one of the towers but did not know how it started. When I turned in my rental car, I was told that a plane had hit one of the towers but nothing else. On the bus ride to the terminal, I was told that all flights had been grounded. I was at the airport when I learned that large passenger jets had hit each tower, the Pentagon, and crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

[Gonzo67]

I was working for TNT Logistics, at the BMW Plant in Spartanburg. I worked from about 7:30pm, until about 5:00am every day. I got home that morning, and it was a "typical day". I was in the process of building a computer for one of my buddies. I had just got the last of the items I needed for it the previous night just before work, so it was all laying on my desk waiting for me to get home.

I normally turn on CNN in the morning, catch some of the headlines, then flip around to find something stupid that will put me to sleep. That day, I left CNN on, and started building the system. I normally can't stand to have CNN on because the anchors annoying voices keep me awake. I don't know why I left it on that day, I probably figured I didn't want anything on that would distract me while I was building a system.

They started breaking in with the attack, and at the first crash, I just sat there dumbfounded, staring at the TV. Then the second plane hit, and I knew it was not an accident. Then the other 2 planes, and I just remember steadily getting more and more pissed. Listening to Bush's announcements, and just hoping that the people behind the attacks were caught and butchered.

I don't remember doing it, but apparently I continued building the system never taking my eyes off the television. The computer didn't exactly work, and a few things I did wrong needed to be fixed, but somehow I got the whole system built never even looking at it.

I didn't get any sleep that day at all. Went into work that night, tired as hell, could barely function, but I went through the motions anyway.

Up until that day, I thought of myself as a moderately tolerant person. I had no problem wit people from other countries. I was never "suspicious" of middle eastern people over here working, I didn't "hate" anyone one based simply on their nationality. That changed for me that day. And it's still with me now. The terrorists attacked us, and they converted me at the same time. Not the way they WANTED to convert any of us. The had the opposite effect on me. Before, I would walk down the street, and see an Arab American, and not have a single negative thought about them. Today, I walk into a gas station, see one sitting behind the counter, and I spit on the floor and walk out, looking for a gas station that doesn't have one of them working there. I'm not polite to them, I don't want any of them here, and I do not feel the least bit bad about letting them know.

And for me, that will never change.

[Peachdiane]

911 photo essay (http://www.america911.com/911-pictures.html)

[Conserv_Atticus]

I was waking up to go to school when i flipped on FOX news to see that one of the WTC buildings was on fire. I rushed into my parents room and told them to turn on the tv. And thats when the second plane went into the other building. I told my mom i didn't want to go to school that day, not because i was afraid but because i was pissed. I only got more aggrivated through out the day because of the ignorance of my classmates. After hearing that the pentagon was hit, one student said "pfft what the **** should i care if the pentagon got hit... they missed the white house." That set me off. I didn't say anything too him, but when we got out of class i tripped him and pushed his ass into the bushes and called him an idiot. By the time i got home i didn't know what else had happened because like someone else said the administration told the teachers to not turn on the tv's. Which i think is completely retarded. Because just GUESS what i was learning about in histroy when all of this was going on... EXACTLY! ISLAM AND MUHOMMED THE CAMEL RAPING FAG!!! I'm never gonna forget that day.

[Marcster]

My wife worked at home with me back then. We planned to spend the morning painting the molding around the outside of the front door, instead of "working". I had just finished wiping it down and have a few brushstrokes on it when the phone rang.

It was my MIL telling Ann to turn the TV on. When she asked why my MIL just said to turn it on. We saw the second plane hit to tower. Then watched the Pentagon... Then Shanksville. I remember wondering when it was going to stop... We were just glued to the TV till the afternoon... I did return to painting the molding, it kept my mind off things for a while.

We watched the news non-stop for about 4-5 days. I remember that everything was preempted by the news for a few days. Even HGTV and CMT.

Eventually, my wife made me put regular TV on again, it was too depressing for her.

I also remember how beautiful of a day it was, tragedy aside... A Tuesday in late Summer, with the brightest blue sky, warm but not too hot, all that stuff. That stands out for me.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/Marcster2005/People/1.jpg

[Lubbock]

One of the things that amazed me most in the days following the attacks was how quickly and how well cities and towns, large and small, across the nation, responded to the threat.

For all of the failings that led up to September 11th, for all the failings that allowed the hijackers to board the planes, after the initial attacks, the nation responded well.

Imagine what an enormous task it was just to ground every plane at every airport --large and small-- in every city across the nation.

I think about how quickly the military scrambled the jets out of Cannon and Altus to fly cover out here in this part of the country. Someone somewhere had to know that Pantex was vulnerable to attack --and why, and took measures to see that an attack didn't happen.

Our Federal Building was immediately sealed off, the streets blocked, and guards posted. Anybody with one eye and half sense ought to know that a Federal Building in Lubbock, Texas wouldn't be a target for terrorists . . . but heck, just a few years prior everyone knew that the Federal Building in Oklahoma City wasn't a target, either.

I know what measures for security took place here in my little corner of the world, and I know that those same measures were taking place across the country in one form or another.

Something was working.

No one knew whether the threat was still out there, more attacks to come, but everyone was taking steps to make sure their little corner of the world was being protected.

For all of the security failings --and there are many-- since September 11, 2001, something is working, because we have not had another attack. There must be a few million people across the nation, in large cities and small towns, who are tasked with keeping us free from another attack, and something is working.

I take heart in that.

As disheartening as it is to know that the Muslims are still trying to bring America to Her knees, something is working. We are still being protected. I'm not sure that Law enforcement --local, state and federal, is being given the tools they need to fight the threat, but somehow, they are shouldering on and keeping us safe.

I take heart in that.

[Kathy29]

I went to work. One of my secretaries was muslim, here only a couple of years from Pakistan. She is an American through and through, since the day she got off the plane. Maybe before she got off the plane. There are people like that, born Americans, just born that way.

I turned on the televison set in the office and we watched the coverage all day, business was crap anyway, no one came in. A fireman stopped by to tell us that the firestation was going to have a candelight vigil that night starting at sundown. I said I would go, my secretary said she would go.

There were quite a few people there, cars would honk at us as they went by and stopped at the stop sign. Some didn't. When a car drove by and wouldn't honk, some of the people in the vigil ran out into the street to pound on the hoods until they honked. My secretary was the first out in the street. She pounded the hardest and screamed the loudest. She told everyone "I'm an American from Pakistan".

She wanted to be an American so badly (she is now), she shared in our grief completely and sincerely. I told her that I would make her an American for this one day. She and I stood with all these people watching and I told her to put her right hand over her heart and repeat after me. Together we said the Pledge of Allegiance. She, for the first time in her life. Tears were streaming down her face she was sobbing so hard, she could hardly get the words out but she said them and said them loudly with all those people watching. By the time she finished everyone had joined her. It remains the most touching poignant memories of the day, of my life.

I drove her home. The next day I found out that she had walked back to that firestation to continue her vigil, holding her candles in a little paper cup with the rest until well after midnight.

I still see that secretary fairly often. We have remained friends. Recently she stopped by to tell me that she was going away on vacation. I asked if she was going back to Pakistan to see family and friends. She said "No. I'm an American. I'm going to the Grand Canyon. I don't ever want to see Pakistan again."

She is the same secretary that was horrified at the anti American vomit being spewed out of her mosque. She tried a few other mosques, but encountered the same so she quit going all together.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

:unsmile: I was at work at Permian High School in Odessa, TX. I had first period conference, so I was isolated in a portable classroom when the first plane hit. The only reason I left my room was to take some assignments to the office, for a student about to be placed in in-school suspension. As I walked down the hall, I thought that the principal must be absent, because I saw a couple of teachers letting their class watch TV. As I neared the office, I saw the head janitor in a conference room watching TV, & I saw what looked like a grass fire in Washington, DC. I still don't know what it was I was looking at, but I shrugged that off. Still, as I walked around, I saw others watching TV, & eventually passed a sciënce room, in which other teachers on conference, as well as the principal, were watching TV. One of the teachers was crying. That's when I looked at the TV more closely, & saw the burning towers. I went back to my room, to tell my wife to turn on the TV, but she already knew.

:unsmile: I had an easy lesson that day. I went ahead & taught, telling the kids that as soon as they finished the easy assignment I had for them, we could watch TV.

:moo: In second period, we tried to connect the TV to the cable service, somebody handed me the wrong cord, & I had two male connections. When some kids didn't understand why that wouldn't work, I had to explain to them what a *ahem* male-female connection is. And in third period, I was a bit naughty, sneaking up behind a football player who was watching TV, & popping a potato chip bag. You should have seen him jump! Sorry, but I couldn't resist.

:unsmile: That evening, I waited in a long line to get gasoline, because everyone was afraid gasoline prices would rise, or there would soon be a shortage.

[UnkHiram]

I was driving to work when the first plane hit the North Tower, I remember the announcer (Hal Jay on WBAP) broke the story but the AP did not have all the facts straight, a few minutes later when the second plane hit I think we all understood what was happening. I drove over to my Dad's house and watched the TV for a few hours, we saw the towers fall and heard the news of the Pentagon attack and the crash in PA from Fox.

[USPatriot8320]

I was at my mothers. She woke me up to tell me a plane had hit the WTC and that she thought it was an attack. I told her it was probably an aviation accident and not to be concerned. I sat on the couch watching fox news, drinking my coffee, when the second plane hit. I dropped the coffee cup and it broke, mom came running in from the kitchen, "What happened, what happened?" "Another plane just hit the WTC" That's when every one started to panic, within 5 minutes my cell phone was going off, "Have you gotten ahold of your grandfather, we can't get through!" My family and i tried for hours to get ahold of him but it was impossible. As the day went on and the attacks got larger in scale, many of my friends and family called me, every one was scared and panicking, not knowing what to think and do. why they called me, I have no idea. Being scared myself, I called my "grandmother" who is deeply religious and asked if this was it. Was this the event the bible was speaking about? She had no answer and we prayed together on the phone. As more and more reports came in that a plane was rushing north from Binghamton and "heading" to the nuclear plants, I decided I wanted to go home. If I was going to die, I atleast wanted to be home and comfortable when it happened. I remember that drive very well. Passing schools where cars were lined up around the block, scared parents running in. It was chaos. The highway was a different story, only emergency and military very few other cars, it was very calming actually as I made my way north. Once I entered the city where we live, very very few people were out, the only cars you could see were the ones headin towards the nuke plant. I finally arrived home, I didn't turn on the tv, I put on some classical music and poured a glass of wine and just sat there in my dining room when the tears started to come. The last thing I remember was my family showing up, my father, 2 uncles and my sister, there were grabbing their handhats and tools and I said where are you going? My father looked at me and said, We put them up, we'll clean them up, we have work to do!

I must add. The fear is no longer there. I will never fear those monsters again. I have no sympathy for what happens to those people that attacked us. Every year it's the same emotions; great sadness and anger. We will never forget this day, September 11th is burned into all of our minds and peace will only come when the terrorists feel and experience the same things we did that day.

Final thought:
One of the saddest parts of that day was looking into my little sisters eyes and knowing the world I grew up in, is a world she'll never know.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

For the first time in all of my married life, we were going on vacation -- a REAL vacation. We were supposed to be going on a trip to Washington, D.C. for a week ... I was SO looking forward to seeing the Smithsonian (I am the only museum lover in my family), and going by (we knew we couldn't get in) the Pentagon, where my Uncle had worked (he was a Lt.Colonel for the Army). At practically the last minute, my mother changed our plans (as is her right, as she was paying for the whole trip), and decided we would go on a driving trip up through Tennessee (because SHE wanted to go to The Grand Ole Opry) and the mountains winding our way back down through Georgia (my husband's favorite location, :smirky: ).

We were in a Gatlinburg hotel room, actually we had adjoining rooms, the girls (my mom, my daughter and myself) in one room, the boys (my Bubba and son) in the other. We had woken up and opened the adjoining door between our rooms. My husband had come over to our side to see what the plan of the day was, but my son stayed in the other room to watch cartoons. Soon he came running in telling us a plane hit a big building and it was on every tv station.

We quickly turned on the television just in time to watch the second plane fly into the other tower. We all sat hard on the bed, and my mom and I began to cry. It took us what seemed like a lifetime to finally get ready, because we were glued to the telly. We went down to the lobby, they were STILL serving the Continental Breakfast. We grabbed a bagel and toast and sat down before a massive telly to watch the coverage relay that a plane had hit the Pentagon, and then another went down in PA.

When we did go out for some light window shopping, people were talking all over the place. At one store we heard a rumor that gas prices had escalated by exorbitant amounts -- up to $7.00/gall in Florida. We decided we needed to get in touch with people from back home to verify this, and if true, we were going straight home. It wasn't true ... so we decided to finish out our trip, however we did go home early.

That'll teach us to go on vacation, http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/images/icons/sad00000.gif. Needless to say, we've not been on another since.

[Federal Farmer]

I was at work speaking with someone on the phone about a charge to my credit card for a purchase I had cancelled. Suddenly he blurted that someone had just walked into the store and told him that a plane had hit the WTC. I asked if he knew what kind of plane whether civilian or military and he said he didn't know any details. We both said something about hoping it was an accident and agreed to take care of the credit card problem later; after, I walked back to my cubicle area and said what I'd heard and everyone was already aware of the first plane hitting WTC 1 and were on the Internet looking for information.

A couple of minutes later the second impact occurred, on WTC 2, and then we knew. By the time the Pentagon was hit everyone was walking about looking shell-shocked and wondering aloud what the President and military were doing because we expected many more hits, and who knew where and on what.

Many of us gathered in the cafeteria where TV monitors were tuned into different networks and watched as the three buildings burned and smoked. There wasn't much conversation; some sat and others stood watching the monitors, knowing too well what had just occurred on our home soil. Then we watched as WTC 2 collapsed.

A little while after GM announced that they were closing down all facilities and we were to leave. As I left the Tech Center, surreal was all that came to mind, not only about what I'd seen on the TV monitor, but also the scene outside the Tech Center as we all quietly went to our cars and left; all the while guards stopped incoming traffic, and motorcycle mounted police raced down the main boulevard, going who knew where, and for what. By this time, one could imagine too much. All the while the sky was blue, and the sun shined.

I arrived home only to watch replays of WTC 1 collapsing. I called my folks, siblings, and aunt so they'd know I was home from work; they knew why. The rest of the day, all evening, and into the morning hours I sat and watched the Fox News Channel and the images of New York, D.C., and Pennsylvania, one moment filled with rage, the next numbed into silence. The only consolation I could find was that I knew President Bush would act.

[Teenager]

I was playing practicing piano. My mom came in and told me. We ended up watching the news for next few days...

[Wyatt_Junker]

9/11 5 Years Later. What Were You Doing When It Began

I was jumping on my trampoline listening to Dokken when all of a sudden I had a sudden urge to take a wizz.

So I got out of the gravity defying device and sprayed a yeller line of hot wee wee on a very active ant hill.

My wife ran out and said AMERICA WAS ATTACKED!

I looked at her dumbly.

She said that terrorists had hit the WTC and that the head of the Statue of Liberty was sheared off and floating in the water and that Disneyland was engulfed in flames!

I walked slowly over to my outdoor fridge and grabbed a cold one, popped it open and sat down on a stump.

How could those bastards do this? I thought to myself.

Slowly I arose, turned off the tunes and walked into the house.

On the TV was this frantic bitch named Ashley Bamfield or some such shit. Short hair, cat eye lenses. She seemed like a glorywhore kunt. She had all the magnificent ambition of a corporate ladder humping titan in fake spray-on tan. She pissed me off almost as much as the planes. Were those plastic tears real? They looked more like melting Barbie doll flesh caught in the rays of a microwave.

My first thoughts were my parents. They were in the air like right then flying home from NY.

Then one of the buildings started falling down. It was real creepy. I don't remember much after that. I put down the beer. It was too early for that. I needed my wits about me.

Instead I grabbed a cola and held it up to the TV and watched the repeated explosion through the red haze of the bottle as I turned it around in my hands.

Then, it was survival mode. I got out all my Y2K shit.

Then, my next thought was ARE THEY GOING TO TAMPER WITH THE WATER SUPPLY? I ran to the car, hopped in and headed over to Raley's.

I put like 20 of those big Arrowhead waters into two carts, pulling them with both hands behind me. I was surprised that no one else was doing this. This seemed like a no-brainer to me. Get WATER... LOTS. OF. WATER.

Anyway, when I got up to the line and started putting my water on the belt for the checker to scan 'em she said, 'only one please'.

I'm like 'wha the fuk?' Then I ask her 'Are you rationing water already?'

She gave me a dumb stare.

'No' she said. 'Its only necessary to put one water up here to scan and I can count the rest without you lifting them all up here on the counter.'

'Ohhhhh.' I said. Whew. I thought I was in deep. Gotta have water when crap like this goes down.

Then, I went home. Unloaded water. And strangely enough, went to work. We already had enough food and I wanted to make sure my work was alright. We closed shop and I went back home.

(Pssst. Everything was accurate here 'cept the trampoline and Dokken. That was used for dramatic effect.)

[Republican_Legion]

I was getting ready for school and my parents said a plane hit a big building in NY. I came in to watch while I was puting on my shoes. I thought it was a terrorist attack right away since I didnt believe someone would crash into a big building like that if it was an accident. The second plane confirmed it to my dad who was a skeptic.

After learning it was the work of Islamic Extremists I felt like going to Afghanistan and killing all them diaperheads:shoot: .

[TechnoPrincess]

I was lying on the couch because I was home sick. I was watching GMA on TV waiting for my boss to get into her office so I could call and tell her I wasn't going to be in. They announced the first plane had hit and a few seconds later they cut to video that someone had captured of the first plane hitting. They kept talking about how it had to be an accident and something about the sun reflecting off of the towers blinding the pilots. They mentioned they were trying to get someone from the airport on the phone to see if they could get more information. They kept a camera on the burning tower when all of a sudden the second plane hit. I just started crying...it was obvious what was happening. I don't think I stopped crying for 3-4 days.

[DeclinetoState]

I was going to work as a student teacher but didn't realize something was wrong till I turned on my car radio. It took awhile of hearing reports about "Tray Towers" and/or "Trade Towers" to realize that the targets of the attacks were the World Trade Center towers. Just as I got to school, I heard the announcement that the second tower had fallen.

:flame:

[markus3622]

My story - I was in France as part of a group of international students (Americans, Spanish, Mexicans, Germans, Brits, Chinese, etc). We'd finished our french lessons for the day, and were walking back to our accommodation, when a guy was watching TV by the door, and told us two planes had hit the WTC. We watched as the towers fell.

My overriding memory was the international unity as we all gathered around the TV screen.

[routerider]

I arrived at work around 8:45 or 9 if I remember right. I saw a bunch of people huddled around a TV [never saw a tv in the office before] and they had these looks in their eyes, I knew something bad happened.

I then proceeded to see this tower on fire...but oddly I thought "ah it's a fire, they'll put it out at some point in the day, hope there aren't too many casualties." Then the ****er dropped. I was absolutely beside myself.

[Trevelyan]

I was in English class doing busy work our teacher gave us so she did not have to teach us that day.

[The_Elucidator]

I got to work early that day as I had just been transfered from McChord AFB to the AF Recruiting Sq in SW PA. It was my first full week on the job and the folks were already scrambling because September is the end of the fiscal year and the Sq was busy making goal for the month and for the year. Around 9:00 my wife called me and said that a plane had hit the WTC and to log onto FOX to find out more as she was getting ready to go to work. Just as we were about to hang up she yelled that another one just hit the other building. My SQ CC yelled out the door...Staff meeting NOW! I ran to lock all the doors in the building and set up the TV in the conference room so we could watch what was going on. After the Staff meeting we had to conduct a person by person recall of all our folks to send them home from the recruiting office until we contacted them again. After making 100% contact we were given permission to go home for the day and remain on stand-by until the next morning. When I left work I went straight to school and picked up all my kiddos (along with just about every other parent in Pittsburgh) and we all just sat and cried and then we prayed in our living room. It was a day that will burn in me until the day that I die.

[gnome]

I was visiting a close friend in Richmond, Virginia. When the first plane hit I was in the middle of walking my friend's 9-year old daughter to school. After coming home, I heard a discussion on the radio that was on (at that point it was still being speculated as some kind of accident)... and I didn't catch the scale of the matter... some plane, some building... interesting, but I went to take a nap instead of paying attention at the time. I wish I'd been awake more enough to realize I should have continued listening.

The next thing I remember was my friend returning home with her kids and waking me up to turn on the TV... after some hasty descriptions of what was going on, we tuned in to see one tower already collapsed and the other smoking. I saw the second tower collapse live.

My first thought was to realize, horrified, that there could be tens of thousands dead. I was also trying to internalize the fact that America was under direct attack, and wondering how many hits we were going to take. I wondered if the attackers had national backing and if we were thus going to war.

That evening about ten of us (friends, family) crowded around a small TV to listen to the President's speech. It was a scene that I envisioned duplicated all over the country, and reminded me of the Apollo landing in that respect.

The next day my friend's mother distributed to us some American flag pins that had spent some time (illegally) in Saudi Arabia when her late husband was there around the time of the first Gulf War. The entire day was surreal, and I felt more connected to other Americans than ever before.

There has been a lot of partisan divisiveness since then... but there was before, too. I still believe that at times of great strife we will come together as a country as quickly as we did then.

[Wyatt_Junker]

What the slams didn't factor into their little end game was that us corn-fed boys were raised on THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6h8-cA1uV4) and THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzU6vQNJ-bM) and that we are the American Remnant that will do THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFAQiRPONfw) to THEM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTTP61_9Acc).

And that the real American Remnant, not THEM (http://www.infowars.com/headline_photos/April/bush_clinton.jpg) or THEM (http://www.shieldsnet.org/images/strange/teddy_bear_ted_kennedy_small.jpg) or IT (http://www.mytakeonthings.com/images/pelosi.jpg), but US (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI1X8tsTSiQ) are what's between that thin political layer (http://www.alarmingnews.com/archives/Reid%20boycott.jpg) and REALITY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK4s9gwgUvs).

And further, what the slamo-scrotes don't get is that 9/11 was a huge mistake because it awoke that corn-fed remnant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSsN7RuJbFY). And trust me, you don't want to piss off the remnant because they are the America of FOOTBALL (http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/OPAT/Big%20Hit.jpg), OWLS (http://www.dirttrackfury.net/0319C-12A%20Hooters.jpg) and CORN NUTS (http://www.walgreens.com/dbimagecache/238831.jpg).

And when we get pissed...

Good night (http://www.hwadvocacy.com/update/images/down_4_count.jpg) & good luck (http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-03-Sun-2004/photos/fighttown3.jpg) Van Gogh because when you tap into America's pissedoff'd-ness (http://www.fraserhooper.com/images/print/scream.jpg) & we give you that funny little stare (http://www.sentimentosdilacerados.blogger.com.br/charles%20manson.jpg) all bets are off! You're talking about the WEST (http://hollywoodprop.com/Clint.jpg) fer kerying out loud! We are the world's worse nightmare (http://www.cinemafusion.com/images/uploads/michaelmyers.jpg). Take away our Cheetohs, take away our remote and you wake up the beast! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUlaybbhfuI) We would be the abusive, alcoholic father you wished you never had! You're talking about 900,000 notched out Japs stone cold before we Enola Gayed their ass! And that's just because we liked it! (http://flakmag.com/misc/images/lifecer.jpg) The kind of slaughter that makes Colonel Sanders look like a PETA exec.

9/11 was the worse thing AlQaeda could have ever done. America is a political paper tiger. In name only. But underneath all those polyester layers of DC, America is probably the most menacing sonofabitch this globe has ever seen.

[Bluemoon_Rising]

I was at a Christian halfway house, supported and run by my church's prison outreach ministry. We link up with offenders on the inside who have accepted Christ as their savior and continue to mentor them upon their release. We stick with them until they can stand on their own two. We help them hook up with a local church, a job and a home -- a real home with a mortgage, not an apartment -- before we cut 'em loose. That was the first change I pushed through when I became chairman of the ministry: work toward a mortgage or you don't sign up with us. As a result, we reduced our client load by about 30%.

We want the real deal or nothing at all.

BTW, We work closely with Ohio's state parole bureau. Pray for us. Though our recidivism rate is now less than 3% against the general 30%, we're constantly battling leftists birdbrains hollering about separation of church and state . . . even though our communal operation, which has grown to fourteen congregations, doesn't accept governmental funding.

I was leading a Bible study at the time. The company I work for -- privately owned by an orthodox Jewish family and a contributor to the ministry -- gives me two paid days off a month to work with these men. One of our guys who had just returned from a job interview rushed into the facility's common room where we were gathered and shouted the news. We turned on the TV just minutes after the second plane struck the other tower.

After that, of course, there was no longer any doubt as to what kind of situation we where up against . . . a monstrous, premeditated attack against this nation.

Fifteen men, some of the most formally hardened ex-cons you could imagine, stood with their mouths agape and tears of grief and anger streaming down their faces -- utterly broken and unashamed.

I was blubbering like a baby for the first time in years. And though I will never forget what I saw on that TV screen, especially the collapse of those towers, what I will always remember most of all about that day -- and marvel at -- is the unfathomable depths of God's love and mercy and power of transformation.

In fact, I am rebuked at this moment, so much so that I ask the members of this board to forgive me, for recently, most especially since 9/11, I have expressed myself with the sort of language and anger that is more fitting of the crusty old soldier I used be than that of the soldier of Christ that I have been called to be since the day of my conversion.

Make no mistake about, I will not hesitate to call it as the Lord has taught to see it, but I will call it with the words and the temperament that He would use and not my own. God knows that my temperament, my natural inclinations, are not pretty.

9/11 and my anger thereof are the primary reasons I stepped back from this board for awhile. I should have stayed away longer.

Thank you, Beowulf, for reminding me why I should have stayed away until I was ready to deal with the issues of the day as Christ would have me deal with them.

[routerider]

LOL!!!! That Muslim rave party vid was just hysterical.

[Wyatt_Junker]

LOL!!!! That Muslim rave party vid was just hysterical.

ba lalala da dee

ba la da da daaa

[Wyatt_Junker]

What the slams didn't factor into their little end game was that us corn-fed boys were raised on THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6h8-cA1uV4) and THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzU6vQNJ-bM) and that we are the American Remnant that will do THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFAQiRPONfw) to THEM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTTP61_9Acc).

And that the real American Remnant, not THEM (http://www.infowars.com/headline_photos/April/bush_clinton.jpg) or THEM (http://www.shieldsnet.org/images/strange/teddy_bear_ted_kennedy_small.jpg) or IT (http://www.mytakeonthings.com/images/pelosi.jpg), but US (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI1X8tsTSiQ) are what's between that thin political layer (http://www.alarmingnews.com/archives/Reid%20boycott.jpg) and REALITY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK4s9gwgUvs).

And further, what the slamo-scrotes don't get is that 9/11 was a huge mistake because it awoke that corn-fed remnant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSsN7RuJbFY). And trust me, you don't want to piss off the remnant because they are the America of FOOTBALL (http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/OPAT/Big%20Hit.jpg), OWLS (http://www.dirttrackfury.net/0319C-12A%20Hooters.jpg) and CORN NUTS (http://www.walgreens.com/dbimagecache/238831.jpg).

And when we get pissed...

Good night (http://www.hwadvocacy.com/update/images/down_4_count.jpg) & good luck (http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-03-Sun-2004/photos/fighttown3.jpg) Van Gogh because when you tap into America's pissedoff'd-ness (http://www.fraserhooper.com/images/print/scream.jpg) & we give you that funny little stare (http://www.sentimentosdilacerados.blogger.com.br/charles%20manson.jpg) all bets are off! You're talking about the WEST (http://hollywoodprop.com/Clint.jpg) fer kerying out loud! We are the world's worse nightmare (http://www.cinemafusion.com/images/uploads/michaelmyers.jpg). Take away our Cheetohs, take away our remote and you wake up the beast! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUlaybbhfuI) We would be the abusive, alcoholic father you wished you never had! You're talking about 900,000 notched out Japs stone cold before we Enola Gayed their ass! And that's just because we liked it! (http://flakmag.com/misc/images/lifecer.jpg) The kind of slaughter that makes Colonel Sanders look like a PETA exec.

9/11 was the worse thing AlQaeda could have ever done. America is a political paper tiger. In name only. But underneath all those polyester layers of DC, America is probably the most menacing sonofabitch this globe has ever seen.


Geesh, I did a lot of work on those links. Let's bump it. It some good shit in there. Some real nuggets (http://leovilletownsquare.com/incoming/684839-chicken-mcnugget.jpg) fo sho.

[routerider]

ba lalala da dee

ba la da da daaa


Dude it's like someone took his head off and replaced it with John Holmess' johnson. He ripped off the cotton condom and just starts SPANKIN IT (http://www.lactoso.com/blog/blogfiles/monkeyspank.jpg)!!!

[Wyatt_Junker]

...ooh yeah...

I like me a good monkey.