I remember I was in the 5th grade and my mom came and picked me up from school early. I remember they came over the announcements saying that we weren't allowed outside and I thought that was weird because it was one of the nicest days. So, where were you and what were you doing?
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I was in heading into McComas for a workout. Eight years later, off to Afghanistan for the first time.
AP History class. I remember they made the first announcement, but I don't recall what it was. Our teacher left the room for a moment and came back looking obviously upset, but she couldn't tell us anything. There was another announcement for anyone with family working in D.C. (I was in Manassas, so tons of people there commuted) to come down to the guidance office, but they wouldn't say anything else. Naturally, in a high school, that sent the rumor mill flying. Teachers were not allowed to turn on TVs with students present. I had zero news until my final class in a computer lab, where the teacher allowed us to go online and read the news rather than do work.
No way, you're from Manassas? I am, too. Born and raised, 18 years
No kidding. I wasn't born there, but my family moved there in '89 when I was 3. Which HS did you attend? I was at OP.
Jefferson in Alexandria, but my base school (that my sister attended) was Stonewall Jackson. I went to Stonewall Middle.
Awesome! People who realize I'm not swearing when I say I'm from Fauquier County
Ha, that brings back memories of district orchestra competitions. That was our favorite thing to say back and forth to each other to piss off everyone around us. "Faquier County!" "No, Faquier County!!"
Local Fauquierian here.
Go Fauq yourself
Us Manassholes always had a special place in our hearts for you Fauqers because if you closed school for bad weather, we knew that PWC was going to do the same. You guys set a good standard!
There were multiple days where we were the only county in Virginia without school because of the 4 rednecks living in the hills in the north of the county.
At Urbana, we alway used to get a kick out of saying 'FaqYour area swim team'. But you guys had Kenny Flory, who pounded us into the ground. We'd win the meet because we had more people, but that kid was sick.
Crazy. I knew a few people that followed a similar path. One of my really good friends went to TJ.
9th grade art class. We just thought it was an accident at the time (only the first plane had hit), so we were watching the news (because, I mean, art class... nbd). So we saw the second plane hit in real time. Watched up through the first tower coming down. Nobody believed me at lunch. I was too young to really appreciate the magnitude of what I was seeing at the time, but I'll definitely never forget the minute I saw that second plane come in and sort of turn/roll to make sure it hit the second tower and we realized that this wasn't just some crazy accident.
i worked nights back then. my mom called me in a panic saying "they're bombing the pentagon and those tall buildings in new york!" i asked her who was bombing the pentagon and new york. she said they didnt know. as mrs bch and myself watched the towers fall all i could think was, "all those people" and "we're gonna be in a war."
i just remember it was such a lovely day weather wise. it was surreal.
I remember thinking the same thing as you, OP. It was so creepy....
My parents kinda kept me and my brothers in the dark about it to keep us from freaking out. Needless to say, we found out anyway.
I remember nothing about being in school that day, I didn't know anything was out of the ordinary (probably just wasn't paying attention) until I got home and my mom was waiting for me after I got off the bus-which she never did. First words out of her mouth were "Something bad happened today." When she told me I couldn't process it. Couldn't process what was on TV either. Later on I was just sitting outside in my backyard and the kids next door who were younger than me (I was 10) started going "you be the plane, I'll be the building" and one flew her arms into the other's chest. Every time that memory pops up it makes me sick. We had an assignment the next day in school to draw or write or describe what we'd seen and how we dealt with it.
I was 42 at the time. I couldn't "process it" either. I work from home and watched every minute of CNN's coverage. I actually hung up on my boss , when I saw the 1st video of the 2nd tower being hit. To this day, it still seems like it was all a bad dream.
In 4th grade, and kids just started being being picked up early left and right. Finally after noon we convinced a teacher to tell us what was going on. I remember on my way home, my dad pointed out the absence of jet trails in the cloudless, bluebird sky. Like others have said, a perfectly fine day marred by the heinous actions of a few. Seeing recollection of the weather, of all things, 12 years later, makes me think God just wanted to remind everyone that there are always good and beautiful things in the world.
I was in 6th grade. I was living in MST so most people had already seen the news before they got to school. I found out listening to a group of friends talk about it. In my first class, they had the news on for a little while and there was a student-led prayer over the PA system. I remember another teacher came into the room at one point and told my teacher that the first tower had collapsed. I don't remember anything else about school that day. I only remember finding out before school and seeing the news in first period.
4th Grade Music class. I remember they wouldn't let us outside that day because they "saw a bear," which is fairly common where I'm from. Smart thinking on their part. I never really learned what happened until that afternoon and the next day.
Yeah we also had a weird excuse, something like "It might rain". It was just so strange because it was the perfect day out.
It may be hard to believe, but I had woken from a dream that morning, where I was on a plane that was in the process of being hijacked. One of the passenger's stated something about being on the phone with someone who said a plane had flown into the Twin Towers. Realizing that something similar was probably the purpose of the plane being hijacked, we fought the hijackers and ended up crashing. That, being a crazy ass nightmare, I woke up and just started going through my morning process.
A few minutes later, my roommate was like "Dude! A plane flew into the World Trade Center!" Of course, I thought I was still dreaming at that point, because, when you have a dream about something like that, and then it happens, what would you think? I slapped myself a couple times to wake up. Of course, I didn't...and turned on the TV. Watched as the second plane hit the other tower, and learned of the plane hitting the Pentagon, glad my father didn't work there anymore (selfish, right?), and then learned of Flight 93.
I just remember not going to class that day, and just sitting in front of the TV with friends watching the news coverage ALL DAY! And trying to help others who had family in DC calm.
I remember many students at VT being in a panic and going home for a while. But I'll always wonder how I could dream of that, and have it be on the day it happened.
In class in Hancock hall. The teacher never came. Took the BT back to Sturbridge Square and my neighbor was on her wireless phone, comes outside to tell me and a buddy what madness happened. Spent the next few hrs slackjawed in front of the TV.
Working in Downtown DC with Mentally Ill adults. Imagine dealing with paranoid people on that day, who all thought Armageddon had arrived. Tough day all around. Most office buildings were cleared and people just kinda roamed the streets. No Metro. Bridges to VA were shut down. People in DC were the nicest they have ever been that day.
God bless the USA. All day, everyday...
So true. My father was in D.C. that day. He commuted using the VRE into Union Station. When they shut down, he joined up with a group of people trying to figure out how to get back to Manassas. Someone came by in a pickup truck and said he was going that way - hop in the back. Took about 6 or so people (slowly) out of the city sitting in the back of his truck. If not for the kindness of strangers on that day, I'm not sure how he would have gotten home.
Do you remember, were the bridges open?
I don't know firsthand, but from what my dad tells me (and from what I seem to remember on TV that day), more people were simply walking out of the city across the bridges. Vehicle traffic was at a complete standstill, so most just gave up and hoofed it to mass transit stations outside the city since some were still running in certain areas.
I remember it well. DC government said to evacuate. VA government closed the bridges.
One thing about 9/11, it convinced emergency operations people to talk to each other.
I had just finished an 8:00 AM class. I walked into Thomas and caught CNN out of the corner of my eye. The lounge had a huge projection TV in it. I remember seeing smoke, and a lot red on the screen, but headed to the stairs anyways. I got back into my room, and turned on my computer to do some coding. Then I put on CNN.
The second plane hit, and like everyone else I was thrust into a surreal whirlwind of uncertainty. However, America is still here today, and it will be here tomorrow.
From past threads, I know a lot of members of the site have served, or are serving overseas. I want to thank y'all for your service. I assumed we have public servants here too. I drove by a firehouse and 2 firemen and 1 fire woman were sitting out front in their gear. I had a moment when I thought to myself, "They just bide their (free) time (it was a volunteer station) until they get a call to run into a building on fire. Thank you for your service too.
I was sleeping. We had just finished the first night of a three day night shoot to hone our skills of death and destruction in limited visability. I was living in the barracks at the time since I was single, and had very little rank and had only been in the Army for about two years. At the time I was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in Savannah, GA. If I may let me describe how our barracks were set up. They were not of the open bay style (See first 30 minutes of Full Metal Jacket), they were more like a hotel with no room service. It was 3 floors, each platoon had a floor and since I was in 2nd Platoon we had the 2nd floor. It had a long hallway with rooms on both sides, 2 men to a room. The room consisted of bunk beds, 2 wall lockers (think Armoire, but not as nice) 2, 3 drawer chest of drawers, a sink with a mirror attached to the painted cinder block wall. Anything else in the room you had to supply yourself such as T.V's, couch, radio etc, etc. The bathroom with shower connected 2 rooms so 4 men shared 1 toilet, 1 shower, and 1 huge closet to stow your gear. My roomate who did not participate with us in the night fires busted in and said "Dude, check this shit out". I had only been asleep for a few hours and was in no mood for games so I appropiately threw some obsenities and threats at him and rolled over. He then retaliated with a class of cold water and turned our T.V on. I saw the first tower burning and immediately thought how effing dumb could 1 pilot be? Then it happened, the 2nd plane. Immediately on impact something changed...my blood matched the temperture of those buildings and you could feel the wind being sucked out of our barracks. Many of you may not know the History of American Rangers but we've been fighting since the 1600's (Google Rogers Rangers, Francis Marion, Mosby's Rangers for Pre WWII) Immediately we knew the balloon was about to go up (Slang for War). At or around that time our Platoon Sergeant yelled down the hallway "Get your Bags in the hallway, recall all off post personel!" At the time we were on what is known as Ranger Ready Force 1 or RRF1. We were on a 1 hour recall and were expected to be able to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours. We stayed on this status for 4 months until it rotated to 1 of the other 2 Ranger Battalions. So what he meant was get your pre packed, go to war bags in the hallway and prep to move to the Airfield. Obviously a precaution since no official word had come down yet. After that we put men on the roof to be on lookout for other planes and watched the news like everyone else. A little over 2 months later I watched, mad as hell I might add as 3rd Ranger Battalion jumped into Afghanistan. They got the nod since Al Qaeda was linked to the OCT 3rd battle in Somalia which 3rd BN participated in, made famous by the book and movie "Black Hawk Down". I was mad because I wanted to go first, we all did! We're not war mongers but we wanted to be tested, we wanted to do our jobs. Imagine going to med school, knock out your internship then there were no more patients...ever. We left in December 2001 and the rest you might say is history.
Thank you for your service.
Thank you for your service
Ranger Hokie you are a mans man. Heres to you and all other current & former members of the military and law enforcement.
Speaking of you and my cousin and everyone else, Army Rangers are badasses
Rangers lead the way! Hooah!
I was coming in for breakfast at Owens, sat down with my food, and thought i was watching some sort of spoof, until I realized it wasnt a spoof...............
I was in Honors Linear Algebra class in McBryde at 8 AM (probably my worst mistake ever). For some reason we were watching TV before the instructor came in, and once class time hit, she had us turn it off. Little did we know that something big was gonna happen minutes later.
I got back to Pritchard after class and was unwinding before my EF class and my friend at JHU IMed me and said the Pentagon was on fire. So I turned the TV on to the news and saw the WTC burning. The rest, as you say, is history. Dr. Griffin canceled class once we got there (he had the TV on too), and I walked back across the Drillfield with one of my classmates who was from the DC area... naturally, she was distraught. It was the most surreal day.
That, combined with the death of one of my favorite singers and the murder of a classmate of mine back at home pretty much made the start of my Tech career less than positive, to say the least.
8th Grade Civics and Economics class. We had a substitute teacher because the real teach was on Maternity Leave. She wouldn't turn on the TV for "Channel1". She knew something was up and we started to get the sense that something was happening but she was getting agitated with us for trying to find out what was going on. Finally a couple of teachers popped their heads in the door and told her to turn on the TV. I'm pretty sure we were sent home early. I just remember walking inside and seeing my sister in tears on the couch and watching the news (something I very rarely saw as she was 8 years older than me). Left an impression.
I was sitting in the Emergency Room as I was seeing a patient that had had a heart attack and I had been called in to get him into the hospital, etc. I had just come from the patient's room and was calling another doc when I came around the corner into the central staff area and ALL of the ER staff were standing in the area looking at the old tube TV mounted in one of the corners and it was silent. I told the doc I was on the phone with-'I think we're being attacked.'
I finished up there and drove back to my office listening to the radio but nobody knew crap. The rest of the day was crazy with patients bringing in news, trying to sneak a peek at the TV in the waiting room in between people....just a weird day.
One of my partner's sister was in the city and he got a call from her saying she was ok, but was watching the smoke go up and was scared, etc.
I just remember being stunned, numb, then sad, then pissed. I'm still pissed.
I was in 7th Grade, I believe I was in History class at the time. Since I was living in NOVA, all the schools basically went into news shutdown. We could kinda sense the teachers were disturbed, but not knowing why. I realized something was up when my dad picked me up from school, since my dad at this time worked in DC, and it seemed weird that he would be home already. I then remember my mom frantically trying to get in touch with her oldest sister whose family lives in NYC.
I was only 11 years old at the time, but I remember seeing kids get pulled out of school left and right. My family spent the whole afternoon and evening trying to get in contact with my best friend's family because his father was a pilot for American Airlines. It was frightening, but I didn't quite understand it all. My parents sheltered my sister and I from it so we didn't see the footage other than the towers collapsing. I had neighbors who were supposed to be in the spot they hit on the Pentagon but were running late that day. It wasn't until I went to NYC and saw Ground Zero and later after I went through the 9/11 exhibit at I think the Smithsonian American History museum that I understood the full magnitude of it. My father-in-law still recounts how he was up by where they currently have the Air Force Memorial (the 3 curved metal beams shooting upward) and saw the plane hit. Some images and memories will always remain burned into our mind.
It was 11th grade and I was in Algebra, class was getting ready to end when the student aid for the next class came in and said a plane went off course and hit the first tower. We watched everything else unfold live on TV in the rest of my classes that day. We were an hour from DC so when the Pentagon was hit, lots of kids pulled out their "illegal" cell phones and passed them around for the kids whose parents worked in DC, so they could call and check on them. I was so thankful that the teachers and the school let us watch TV all day, no work was going to get done anyway.
I walked into Computer Science for Engineers in Norris for, I think, my 9:05-9:55 and one of the TVs in the room was on, showing smoke coming up from a world trade center building. I asked if there was a fire in the building and someone said something about a plane. Professor entered, turned off the TV, and taught the class. Went home after that and the rest of my classes were cancelled. At one point, my roommate had gotten about 10 calls while the four of us were sitting in front of the TV, watching the news, and another roommate said something along the lines of, "Man, your cell phone is blowing up like world trade". I think it was in a rap song and became a phrase, but the room went silent as he rethought it. "I think I'll stop using that phrase now," he said
I was taking an SAT prep test in the library at Kecoughtan High school. We were sent home. My friend and I picked up Burger King and watched the news all day.
Sitting in my barracks room in Fort Eustis Virginia with my retirement papers in and 3 months to go. Turned on the TV after getting back from PT and was watching the replay of the 1st hit when everyone was wondering what really happened. All of a sudden the cameras caught the 2nd plane barreling into the building. I was an MP so we immediately went into full combat mode and locked the base down. My wife was working in Crystal City as a defense contractor and was at work when the plane hit there. Since a lot of her work meant she was at the pentagon I was in panic mode trying to contact her (the cell phone lines were down). My son was 3 months old....man crazy times. I could not leave to check on them because I had a job to do and I was going out of my mind until I finally talked to her.
Just got off of 3rd shift and was going to bed. Turned on the T.V. to catch a bit of the Today show. I watched from about 5 minutes before the second plane hit until I had to go back to work that evening. That was a messed up week.
This is a good post. We should never, ever move on from that day. We should always take time to remember 9/11, and just what the stakes are.
Thank you military, and thank you first responders.
I'll always remember that week.
The day before, I finally got rid of my retainer, and watched VMI play W&M the previous Saturday.
Heading into English class. Actually learned of the attack on the Pentagon first, through a classmate "Sarah" (who recently married a Hokie that she dated since our Freshman year of hs). HCPS had just recently issued out iBooks to students, and for the rest of the week we were pretty much glued to them and the class TVs. Some classmates' parents were in the DC area, and they went home early. I remember soon, pretty much everyone changed their iBook's theme to something patriotic by the end of the week. So too was a meme of a mock Weather Channel forecast of Afghanistan: being bombed into the Stone Age.
That Friday, we left school to Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful." Before then, that song always reminded me of the 4th of July night game in The Sandlot. Now it reminds me of that horrific week.
You went to HCPS too? What schools?
Tuckahoe Elementary, Middle, and Freeman High. You?
Jackson Davis elementary, Byrd Middle, and then Godwin High.
Wow, we were practically neighbors (and definitely rivals) back in the day!
Was in homeroom before the bell rang for 1st period in my senior year of high school.
In middle school. I remember being in class and my teacher going in and out of class. Only other thing that comes to mind is being in P.E. and watching the news.
I was a Sophomore at VT and living in Hunter's Ridge. I didn't have class that morning so I was still sleeping, so my mom called me frantically after the first plane hit to tell me "We're under attack." I was half asleep and had no clue what she was talking about, but my roommates were starting to wake up to similar calls from their families and we all turned on the TV just as the second plane hit. I remember that about ten of my friends ended up congregating in my apartment throughout the day watching the news in disbelief. For not being much of a smoker, I swear I must have chain smoked two packs of cigarettes that day. Fortunately I didn't have any family in DC or NYC to worry about, but watching the images from that day are permanently scarred into my brain.
I just woke up and was getting ready for class that morning.
The next day (I think- it might have been that day, but I'm mostly sure it was the next day), W&M sent an email to the students with a list of campus events/memorials going on that day and over the next few days. The problem is they accidentally sent the rough draft to the student body, and the subject of the rough draft was, in all caps, "DRAFT NOTICE". It caused a mild panic.
I was nine years out of VT and at work in Union, NJ (where i still work) when we started getting the news about what was happening. I work for a small family architecture firm where the office is attached to the boss's house. We went inside the house and watched on the TV as the second plane hit. My boss said 'that's it - everybody go home' as he thought something bigger like bombings or more planes might be about to happen (Union is only about 10 miles from NYC as the crow flies). I live about 40 min south from work, so I take the Garden State Parkway south to the NJ Turnpike south listening to the radio coverage, and there's a pretty high overpass where the two connect and you were able to just catch a glimpse of the towers. As I came over the overpass i realized that one of the towers was gone, and it was moments later they said on the radio the the first tower had collapsed. It was surreal driving the next 25-30 miles on the Turnpike south and seeing almost no traffic except emergency & governrment type vehicles heading north all with their emergency lights blazing. I found out later that week that one of my high school classmates died in the collapse. Thankfully, he was the only person I knew that died.
I was in a computer lab at New River Community College when one of the interpreters came in and told she heard a plane hit the Pentagon. My jaws came unhinged because I couldn't understand why the Air Force didn't shoot it down.
I remember reading or hearing that if a plane gets within 1/3 of a mile of the White House, they will shoot it down.
Then my next thought was, "How in the hell did the FBI and CIA missed this?"
The lab professor turned on the projection and we watched both towers come down. We were stunned. The professor was a former Air Force colonel.
I remember just feeling overwhelmed with anger and sadness.
Those are the two events that are forever branded in my mind: 9/11/01 and 4/16/07. Never Forget.
To our soldiers, thank you. To our first responders, thank you.
I was living in California at the time and I remember my radio coming on to wake me up before school. Just as it came on I heard the announcer say "it has been confirmed that a second plane has hit the second tower." I didn't really have a grasp of mortality at this point in my life...I thought of war as a video game I played on a computer and old WWII movies I'd watch with my friends. I went downstairs and my entire family was sitting in the living room eating breakfast and getting ready for school. I casually mentioned what I heard and my parents immediately started turning on the radio and checking the news; they had not heard.
Later that week there was a foggy morning. Being in California, a lot of our school infastructure was outdoors. I remember everyone being outside before classes and there was a lawnmower trimming the athletic fields. We could not see much due to the fog and as the mower got closer to the buildings people started freaking out. Everyone thought it was a plane about to hit us.
I consider 09/11/01 the day I lost my innocence. I was just old enough to begin understanding the world but still young enough to be a child.
8th grade in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, about an hour away from where Flight 93 crashed. I saw a plane fly over head that day (that wasn't normal), and I still wonder if I saw Flight 93.
My whole extended family lives in Somerset County. Even though I knew that Flight 93 had gone down in an empty field, I was still worried sick until I was able to talk to my grandma that afternoon.
I had just gotten home from my 8AM class and walked into my bedroom when I saw on Yahoo news that a plane had hit the WTC. I didn't think much of it, figuring it was a small plane that had strayed off course. A minute later a friend sent me a message on AIM that I had to turn on the news immediately because crazy shit was happening. I ran downstairs and yelled for my roommate to come down just as the second plane hit.
I was in 4th grade. They wouldn't let us outside for recess and wouldn't tell us what happened. Eventually the principal took all the 4th and 5th graders and told us what happened. He said not to tell the kids younger than us what happened. There are two days every year that I will never forget. 9/11 and 4/16.
I do remember that my area was slightly concerned as I live in VA Beach and it was talked about whether they would target Oceana
I was at my first job after graduation, Enterprise RAC, in Petersburg. Got to hear bits and pieces of info but we didn't have a TV in the office. Found myself sitting in one of the rental cars listening to the play-by-play on NPR. I knew it was deep shit when the F-16s kept flying over the Richmond area a couple of hundred feet off the ground.
Crazy day. Bad Day. I am proud of the way the country came together.
To be honest, I think this thread is a microcosm of what 9/11 did. Here we all are, sharing stories from 12 years ago and we all remember exactly where we were. It was a moment, frozen, that reminded us of what we have in common. Hell, I just learned on this thread that some of my VT alums on here were from Manassas, where I'm from. Beyond the obvious tragedy (note that I didn't know anyone personally victimized), the legacy that I recognize is that our commonalities outweigh our differences, and if September 11th is like this year every year, I'm better off for it. Thanks everyone.
I remember leaving an early class in Hutcheson and starting to walk around the Drillfield to go to my house on Harding Ave. I'm typically lost in my own head, especially early in the morning, so it's crazy to me that I even remember overhearing a couple guys walking by talking about the structural integrity of the subway system and even crazier that the memory stuck with me. As I rounded Squires and headed up College Ave a girl hastily pulled her car over bawling hysterically. I got home & turned on the tv. Unless football is on, I typically ignore television, but I don't think I moved the rest of the day.
12 years ago today, I was in history class, in Alexandria. I remember our assistant principal making the round to inform our teacher of something, clearly making him distraught, but he handled it well and proceeded to teach class as :"normal." I remember us thinking that there was some sort of teacher in-round that made him uncomfortable,but nothing of note. Boy were we wrong. Cell phones especially in K-12 were around but not nearly as widespread as today. By the end of the period rumors began to spread of rumors that were bigger than what we could process. First the WTC and then the pentagon. My mother would always inform me of her schedule for the day and I remember instantly realizing, after I made sense of what was going on, that she was going to do a briefing at the Pentagon that day. It was tense for a moment but I got in contact with her and found out that she had went to get a physical at the time of impact with the Pentagon. I remember that feeling of relief, as well as the feeling of confusion as to how we could be "touched." That was the day that I realized the great U.S of A was as human as any other. To this day, I feel as though many have not kept this in perspective. As I post on a webspace dedicated to sports, I must do my part to bring into perspective that we are just as vulnerable and clueless as our counterparts in other countries, we feel we are distanced from. The world is a small place and getting smaller. I feel sometimes we are shielded from that. With that said, God Bless America and I love this place more than I can express & GO HOKIES. Thanks for all that made it possible to post that, NEVER FORGET
In the break room at the Richmond FBI Field Office, watching the big screen, realizing that my friends and I had a lot of work to do, and that the world would never be the same.
I was in my office in Squires (I'm old dammit). My boss came and got me and we went downstairs to watch the TVs because something was up. Students and faculty alike scared, mesmerized. Another indelible mark left on me on how isolated that little Blue Ridge college town was, yet so cognitive of the events that happened that day.
I was on walk with my mom (skipped school that day, can't remember why) and we came home and then turned on the TV and saw what was happening.
I was in my 6th grade math class. One of the lights on the ceiling, I shit you not, started to short out and actually caught on fire right around the time the planes were hitting the buildings. We didnt think much of the lights cuz no one would tell us anything either. They even made an announcement about it at the end of the day and all the kids were confused as hell. It wasn't until years later that I realized the lights catching on fire happened right around the same time as the planes hitting, and since then I've always thought it was some kind of sign to what was happening
I was in one of my senior years at VT. Sitting in Furnishings for Interiors class, didn't know anything happened until I was on my way to my apartment and got a call from my mom. She worked at the defense supply center in Richmond and said she was fine. I had no clue what happened. Couldn't believe what she was telling me and it didn't sit in until I was home watching everything unfold. Spent the whole time glued to the TV.
Crazy to think of the key events I saw in college. I remember being addicted to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan when it started (endless hours of coverage). Remember columbine, and some others. Really bonds you to the Burg more.
Was in my office in the 1st floor McBryde ... then watched the coverage in one of the classrooms. But those things don't really stick with me.
The two things I'll never forget about that day:
First: How perfect of the weather was in Blacksburg that day. When I walked with my coworkers to lunch across the upper quad, then down Alumni Mall, I was struck how such a beautiful day could be so shitty.
Second: How absolutely quiet Hokie House during lunch. The place was jammed, but all eyes and ears were on the TVs.
I think its interesting how perfect the weather was EVERYWHERE that day. And likewise, how weird it was the excuses we got as to why we couldn't go outside.
I was in 7th grade History class. I went to a small school and the third grade teacher came up to our classroom and told our teacher what had happened. The rest of the day was kind of a blur.
I guess I should share my experience too... I was in 6th grade, beginning of middle school. I remember my principal coming over the intercom and saying something terrible had happened and we would have a moment of silence. I heard some rumors throughout the day, but the decision was made to go about the school day as normal.
Only other thing I remember is walking in the front door after school and my little brother and mom sitting in front of the tv. I walked in like any other day not knowing what happened. Honestly I respect that principal to death, but I hold it against him to this day for sheltering us from it. It still feels like a dream to me. I wasn't there and to this day when I watch the videos of what happened, it doesn't seem real. It's like watching videos of the A bomb hitting Japan. We all know it happened, but a video just doesn't show the raw emotion of it.
In one way I feel lucky that I didn't experience the raw emotions of the day, but on the other hand I missed a pivotal moment in history. But that's my story, and I'm glad we get to look forward to Saturdays full of Hokie football more often than recollect on days like this.
I was 15 years old in 9th grade English class, at Auburn High School, in Riner Va. It was. Perfect day it was outside and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until we went into the classroom. Our teacher had the tv on and it was on the news channel with the first tower sitting there smoking. Headlines read plane crashes into World Trade Center. I thought nothing of it, I mean it's a tall building and maybe the pilot just steered a little to low and had an accident. Then I saw the second plane kamikaze in to the second tower and I was like holy cow, something isn't right. Seeing those people burning alive and jumping out of those high stories angered me. I was also saddened by what I saw as a senseless attack on innocent people. Then the other stories came following in the pentagon, the plane crash in Pennsylvania... It all didn't make sense, but what did make sense is going and finding the people who did it and making them wish they had never tried it on the greatest nation on this planet. 7 years later one tour in Iraq, one to Haiti and currently on my second tour in Afghanistan. They can never take our spirit and our pride away from us no matter how hard they try. Go Hokies and God Bless America!!!!!!! Proud infedel!
I remember getting to my office and sitting down in the bright sunshine, and it was so quiet, I fell asleep for about 15 minutes. It was a perfect day outside, not a cloud in the sky. Moved around, got a cup of coffee to wake up a bit, sat down to do some work. Normally, I'm getting a few calls in the morning, but that morning the phones were silent. A guy that I worked with called me and told me that "They've bombed the World Trade Center". This made no sense to me. Who were "They" and why would anyone bomb the WTC? I was able to pull up some news sites, and the radio filled in the gaps in the online stories. I remember the internet being so busy that I had a hard time pulling up some of the sites due to the traffic. Tried making a few phone calls, but the lines were too busy. Had a hard time trying to figure out how to explain all this to my kids, who were 8 and 6 at the time. I remember how eerie it was to not see or hear a plane anywhere in the sky (my house is downrange of Dulles; the planes are usually 20-25K high, but it's like a freeway above me.) I remember the overwhelming sadness for all of the families. It was indeed a sobering day. That day changed us all.
I was 8 years old, 3rd grade class in Brunswick Acres Elementary in central NJ. I was a little young so things are a bit vague, but all I remember was that kids kept getting called out of class to go home...first 1 then another and before I knew it 75% of the class had gone home. We had heard about a plane crash in NY, but being 8 I really didn't think anything of it. After school I was glued to the tv, really unable to comprehend what I was seeing. Hard to believe it was 12 years ago.
8th grade English class at blacksburg middle school. They brought us all into one class and sat us down and told us what happened. I literally couldn't believe that it was happening. As a kid america still had that air of untouchability to it. I honestly didn't even think it was real
I live in New England, and like many of you I remember what a beautiful morning it was walking into work. The air was so fresh, and it felt good to be alive. I was preparing for an executive strategy meeting when my boss, the company president, came in to tell me that a plane had hit the WTC. At that point, we thought it was an accident. Moments later he returned to tell us about the second plane, and then we knew it was no accident. We gathered in a conference room to watch the Towers fall and hear the reports from the Pentagon and Shanksville. We tried to carry on with the strategy session, but how could you plan the future when the world was clearly turning upside down? One of my colleagues in the meeting had traveled from England, and we had a great deal of difficulty getting him home. We finally had him driven to Montreal that Friday as planes were barely flying again. We had employees stranded all over the U.S. One salesman was in Chicago for a trade show and found a rental car to carpool back to Massachusetts in. For months afterwards, rental cars were in the wrong locations because of the multitude of one way rentals. One of my Darden classmates perished in the South Tower. He was a smart, fun guy and much beloved by his family and community. It may have been 12 years ago, but the mix of anguish and anger from that day is amazingly still raw.
I know this is late, but it just popped up in "active discussions" list...
I was sitting in class in Navy Nuclear Power School, NNPTC, Goose Creek, SC. We were preparing for a big electrical theory exam the next day (I remember it being a Tuesday, and I was 21, a little over a year in the Navy). One of the other students came in and said a "bi-plane" had hit the World Trade center, he heard it on the radio in the advisor's office. If you could have a "class clown" in Nuclear Power School, he was it, so we didn't necessarily believe him. A few minutes later we heard the tone on the PA that indicated the CO was about to speak. He announced both crashes, and then later when each building collapsed and the Pentagon was hit. We asked, but our schedule was very rigid and we still had to push through with exam study.
For the next week, morning, lunch break and evening, I was glued to CNN and Fox News. I remember my family getting calls asking "When is Travis deploying?", but as we were just over half way through our nuclear propulsion training pipeline, I wasn't going anywhere at least for another 6 months. As it turns out, I ended up being assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt (aircraft carrier) the following spring, just AFTER she returned from the "Iron Man" cruise...the longest any ship had spent at sea without pulling into port (159 straight days), as a result of 9/11 and Operation Enduring Freedom.
That Friday after 9/11, my friend and I decided going to a local H.S. Football game would help get things back to normal. We went to a game at Fort Dorchester (which is in North Charleston), I don't remember who they were playing. In a moment similar to some of the other stories in this thread, at one point during the game, the lights were accidentally shut off, and about that exact moment an airplane flew over head in the night sky. Needless to say this was kind of eerie and a little frightening.
The other thing that stood out to me from that night was how the announcer asked for a moment of silence in memory of the events from earlier in the week, but the student section at the end of the home bleachers kept on babbling right through it...not a clue what was going on (or didn't care). I was more than a little angry. I can understand now thinking back; being from Strasburg, VA, we were accustomed to winning back then and I grew up paying attention at football games. For many of those kids at Ft. Dorc. that day, it was probably just a social gathering and they really weren't paying attention.
Just heard this on Mike and Mike this morning:
Josh Morgan, our former WR and 6th round draft pick, was having a hard time getting in touch with his mother yesterday, who works on that floor at Navy Yard. His...I think...godmother also works in the next building. He eventually got in touch with her, and she is ok.
She also worked in the Pentagon and was there on 9/11.
He was also at Virginia Tech on 4/16.
This guy has seen more worry than I think I will in my entire lifetime. Let's hear it for his family and hope that this is the last time they have to go through something like this.
Bumping this thread because it is 11 Sep. Maybe some of the new people can offer their stories and perspectives.
I was a platoon leader protecting a city of 100,000 muslims in Kosovo along the Serbian border. We were coming off city watch about the time the first building was hit so all hell was breaking loose in the mess hall, which had some of the only live TVs. We were put in a two day communication blackout with back home for security precautions, but the city of Gnjilane showed their support of the work we did for them and the effect this event had by holding a candlelight vigil for three straight nights in their city square. I still have framed copies of some of the foreign newspapers and magazines with images from the tragic events. The two things that will always stick with me will be having to take weapons away from a couple of my soldiers and get them on an airplane home because they had lost loved ones in NYC, and not knowing that my father was safe during the communication blackout. He was due to be in one of the first rooms destroyed at the Pentagon but it turned out he was late to the meeting because my sister missed her bus to school.
Wow. No words.
I was a stashed ensign at Tech, messing around on the computer and The Gunney came in and said "Come check this out sir". Walked into our conference room right as the second tower got hit. Couple years later I was in Iraq and unfortunatley lost a lot of good brothers in arms (and still continue to do so today). My best friend (who is a heesl fan but I can forgive that) is army SF and still over there fighting the good fight. Thank you to all of you who have served, are still serving and may serve someday in the future. This is a war that our kids and grandkids will likely be fighting unfortunately. Still hard to believe this series of events happended and that it was 13 years ago...
I was working for a French company in Charlotte, NC. We all got together in the conference room to watch CNN from a computer. We had people traveling all over the world and it was a LONG time before they opened up the airways again and we got everyone home safely.
Sincere condolences to all those who lost loved ones that day.
I was driving down Patrick Henry back to my Pheasant Run apartment when I heard the news on 92.3. Then proceeded down to Squires where we watched the TV coverage as the towers fell. It was a surreal day.
It was my senior year at Tech. Just walked back into my dorm on Upper Quad (I was a cadet) and one of the freshman came out in the hall and said a plane had just crashed into one of the WTC buildings. I thought at the time that it was some little cesna or something. Turned on the news and saw the giant hole in the building and thought it had to be something bigger. Saw the second plane approach, and thought hey there's another one, just then the explosion in the second tower. My roomate walked in and I told him what had happened. We just stood there and watched and then they reported that the Pentagon had been hit. Looked at each other said "We're going to war." First deployment for me wasn't until 2004 to Iraq then a couple later to Afghanistan. 2010 was my last deployment there. What a frustrating place. But that's another rant altogether.
I was in 9th grade and like many on here I thought the first plane was a mistake. After the second plane hit, classes were basically done as each room had the announcement TVs tuned to the news. I remember a senior on our cross country team had gone to boot camp that summer as part of one of the military programs that will pay for your college when you join up. His dad showed up at that day to see him, when I saw them hugging in the lobby it hit me that we were going to go to war over this.
I grew up in Dayton, OH home to Wright-Patterson AFB. There had been some talk about Air Force One landing there as they were moving the President. I remember seeing a 747 type plane flying overhead and thinking that was it since all flights had been grounded. A minute or two later there was an incredibly loud boom, like a combination of the crack of fireworks but as loud and deep as Skipper. Another moment and two F-16s cracked the sky moving fast after it. That sonic boom was terrifying on that particular day as nobody knew what it was for a couple of minutes. I never found out what went on, though I am pretty sure that was not AF1.
I was in the Navy and I was on a training flight in a P-3 Orion at NAS Jacksonville Florida. When the first tower was hit we were told to land and we had to stay on the flight line. We had no idea what was going on. Maintenance radio'd out to us to tell us what happened.
I was skimming the internet in my office cubicle, and actually caught a Yahoo clip of the first plane hitting the first WTC tower. The clip froze halfway through. I didn't know it then, but the entire internet seemingly crashed. I then left for my 9:30 meeting at a state government office. Oddly, I had no trouble getting a parking space, and my meeting was thankfully cut short. i didn't even have to pay parking fee, as for some reason the attendant was gone and the gates were open and the parking garage was extremely empty.
I remember returning to the office shortly before 10:00 and asking people if anyone knew what happened in NYC. We decided to cut on a TV just as the second tower was hit. Needless to say, we got nothing else done at work that day.
It was all quite surreal. One of my co-workers' dad had an office in one of the towers. She didn't find out until the next day that he was alive and had been out of town that day.
I was alive when JFK was assassinated. When Martin Luthur King, Jr was assassinated. When Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. When the children in OKC were murdered in the Murrah building bombing. When 9/11 became a tragic day and not just code for emergency. And when a madman slaughtered 32 noble Hokies on April 16th, 2007. I don't forget them. I don't only remember them on their anniversaries. I grieve for them and pray and work for a better world.
Sydney, Australia. I was in Grad School and had just gotten home after working in design studio. I had just finished making some seriously good pasta with garlic bread and sat down to watch some tv. Turned it on and flipped one channel and it immediately switched over to live broadcast from NYC. I saw every moment from that point and knew that my uncle worked a block away, and a fellow Hokie who I graduated with who also worked nearby. Fortunately, both were out of town at the time. My department head at my school was great and excused me for as long as I needed and gave me full credit on my mid-term project. I still finished it and delivered it but the gesture was very kind.
Not to be "that guy" but it was 13 years ago. But anyways, I was also in 5th grade just sitting there in my classroom. Not knowing what happen at the time of the attacks, one by one, my classmates would be called to the office and left early to go home with their parents. I had no clue at the time why everybody was leaving.
This is a revived thread from a year ago that HokiEE brought back, that's all.
Ah, nice catch not by me, turkey leg for you!
Driving over the bridge to French60's old high school to teach Drivers ED.
On vacation at Emerald Isle, NC. The mood of the vacation definitely changed for the remainder of the week.
I was in Richmond VA, at Benedictine High School, 12th grade, we had block classes that day. So French class was over and hour and a half and the teacher would let us watch sports center for last 10 minutes. We turned on TV And maybe two minutes later the second plane hit. I looked at my friend and said we are going to war, he was in Air Guard. My parents were in Navy Reserves and my dad was full time Lt. At Chesterfield Sherriff Office. A few guys had parents working in DC and NYC and a few with active duty parents. They were all taken out and moved to library. For some reason we still had football pratice that afternoon, we were going to play a team in Nassau county that Friday, obviously that game was cancelled. But we watched several planes being met by ANG planes over our complex in Western Henrico. 9/11 was a big factor in me leaving the Law Enforcement side and going into the fire Department. I wanted to be a all hands responder for Homeland Security. To this day I still get something in my eyes when I watch my brothers walking towards the tower even after the first had collapsed.
Please make sure all flags are at half mast today. Went early to work to make sure ours was. Left for lunch and noticed a lot all the way up. If we don't pay tribute and reflect then we are allowing America to go the direction they want. No matter what you believe today is a day to remember the resolve of the American people to look terrorism in the face, flip it the bird, and move forward as a society stronger then before.
6th grade at Williamsburg Middle School in Arlington. My dad is a retired Marine and worked at the Pentagon in 2001. Turns out he was traveling that day and was at home packing when the plane hit (I didn't know this at the time). I'm pretty sure school was let out early and I when I got home I saw him on the couch watching the news. That's probably the biggest feeling of relief I've ever had.
I was 8 years old and in 3rd grade at High Point Elementary in Bristol. It was picture day. I remember being outside at recess and my mom coming to pick me up along with many other parents. I didn't know what had happened until we got home. Although I was young, I can still remember everything about that day and how tragic it truly was. I'll never forget.
I was in 5th grade in private school at the time. Naturally, they didn't turn on any TV's, but for the second half of the day we were all put in one room and the teachers were running in and out looking distraught. I was checked out around 1:00 because I had a dentist appointment. My mom was listening to talk radio in the car when she picked my brother and me up from school, which I remember being really weird. We got done with the dentist and went straight home and ordered pizza because both my parents (and kids) were glued to the TV for the rest of the day.
I was in McBryde 100 taking ACIS 1504 with Dr. Hicks. One of his aides ran up to the front and whispered in his ear. He told the aide to go back to the A/V room and switch it from his slides to CNN. Everyone was confused when it switched on. I, like many that morning in the lecture hall, thought it was a movie.
I was doing electrical work in what used to be Johnson & Johnson off of Hershberger Road in Roanoke. I was on my first break of the day sitting in my car listening to the radio. They cut in with the story of the first plane hitting. I was like damn, what a horrible accident. Then minutes later they said the second one hit. I knew something was seriously wrong and rushed back into the building. They had a meeting room with a tv. We stayed glued to it the rest of the day and didn't work at all. The building was also directly across I-581 from Roanoke Airport. It was so eerie how silent everything was once they shutdown all air traffic. There was also virtually no traffic at all on 581.
A year later I was at Ft. Benning in basic training.
9th grade. Was getting my braces pulled off right when it happened. Should've been a good day.
I remember back at school that day my Spanish teacher announcing plans for a planned trip to Spain that summer. Stupid. Needless to say a lot of parents were pretty pissed about a teacher announcing a possible international trip on the same day as a massive terrorist attack.
In 2nd grade, I remember walking in the room being incredibly excited because there was a tv in the room, and naturally that meant Bill Nye. Apparently my teacher was watching the news beforehand and as soon as the tv was turned on the second tower had just been hit. That's the first time I remember a teacher audibly cursing in the classroom.
I was working in the field in Iron Gate, Va. As my co-worker and I worked in the field, we weren't sure what was going on. We started wondering if somebody was re-creating the "War of the worlds" radio type broadcast because it sure didn't make sense at the time.
I was a 16 year old junior in high school and found out in US History class. The thing I remember most from the day is the seriousness of it not really hitting me until I got home and my mom was sitting in the living room floor crying while she watched the news. I guess it wasn't really clicking in my head that between the towers,the Pentagon, and the four planes, thousands of people had been murdered. Before then I think I was kind of viewing everything like I would have viewed a far away natural disaster like a tornado or an earthquake.