9/11 20 years on where were you can you remember it happening

[TheCatsHaveEyes]

Just read an article about 9/11 cannot believe it will be 20 years since it happened next month. Still remember it like yesterday.
It really was my generation's JFK moment I think.
I was working at Fenwicks part time student. My friend came over to relive me so I could go on break and told me about a plane flying into one of the twin towers. I assumed she meant a light air craft so as I wandered into the staff room I was shocked to see the type of plane crashing into building and gasped as did everyone else already watching in the room. Only then did someone say that was a second plane.
After work me and all my family watched sky news on a loop it was horrendous those poor souls what they went through. The world seemed so terrifying suddenly.

I was in the shower before going for a smear test, or possibly a coil fitting. Dh came and got me out the shower and I stood dripping water wrapped in a towel and watching. I don’t think I understood what had happened and thought it had been small planes. I told the nurse at my appt about it and she hadn’t heard anything…I’m sure I told her it was a small plane!

Listening to the car radio on the way back home when a tower collapsed.

One thing, we didn’t have smart phones back then so while I was sat at the doctors couldn’t keep up with what was happening. Which would seem so odd now.

I was at work & another staff member's husband rang up to tell her, I rang my parents who had no idea what had happened.

Just started to pay a mortgage so yep, 5 years to go

Yes I remember it clearly. I was on honeymoon, in an airport and someone with poor English told us the world trade centre "fell down" we thought he must be mistaken or using wrong words. Then saw the footage of the planes hitting on the big TVs but with no commentary so had no idea what was going on. We then went to a very remote place for a week with no newspapers TV internet so it all seemed unreal until we got back and we heard all the details and aftermath.

I was staying with my recently widowed Grandma and helping her decorate the house ready to sell. My Dad was painting in the bathroom while DH (then bf) and I wallpapered the front room with Neighbours on in the background. I'd planned a trip to Alton Towers the next day and some shopping for university supplies as I was due to move out of home 2 weeks later. My Dad shouted through that he'd heard the breaking news on the radio and the television switched to a live bulletin as he called through.

We went for a walk that afternoon and the town was deserted, all shops closed and the electric shops like Curry's just had rolling news on the television with the odd person standing and watching in silence. The only shop still open was a bookshop and we stood next to the history shelves wondering how the day would change the course of history and how we would talk about it with our children. 20yrs later and I still don't quite know how to describe it to my 14 and 9yr old dc.

I have a terrible memory. Seriously it’s awful

But I can still remember being on my way home in the car with my mum after shopping at Morrison’s, and the radio was playing this. We were both absolutely silent, went in, stuffed the frozen and chilled stuff away, and sat and watched the tv

I live near an RAF base and listening to all their planes scrambling shortly after the second plane hit (and realising that it wasn’t an awful accident after all) was very scary thinking the UK was next.

I had nightmares that night that I was falling. They didn’t have chance to do much censoring of the footage as it was happening on Sky news.

I was at work and colleague and I setting up the pub ready to open, manager came running downstairs and told us to change the TV to news channel from the usual music channel we had on.
We all stood there watching as the second plane hit and customers gathered chairs around the TV as they came in one by one, I remember the shocked silence as the first tower fell until someone whispered "Oh my God, those poor people".
I worked on the outskirts of London at the time and after my shift everything seemed so quiet and subdued compared to normal.

Has anyone else watched the documentary film the two French brothers did? That famous shot of the firebrigade checking a ?drain in the street as the first plane flew over them and hit? They were filming a rookie and were in the ‘right place at the right time’. Its both amazing and harrowing footage as they actually followed the firefighters from that station into the first tower and were there and filming when the second tower collapsed.

I had just returned from New York, the day before. I'd spent my last day there at the WTC, by chance. Ate in Windows on the World restaurant.

I was at my desk just after lunch time & a work friend rang me to ask if I'd been in WTC the day before. I said I had & then he said 'you might have been one of the last people to visit, a plane has just crashed in to it'.

I remember thinking what an odd over-dramatic thing to say, from someone not usually like that! Then found a TV in our boardroom & watched the 2nd tower being struck, and then seeing the 1st tower collapse ... I remember the utter shock.

Then I remembered my dad was still in NY so had a slightly nervous time until I found out he'd left NY about that time, one of the last trains to get out of NY, to travel to a work meeting.

Walking home that evening was surreal. It did feel like the end of the world, as others have said. Utter silence, no-one talking. Complete shock.

I will never forget the horror of seeing images of people at windows, stuck, then jumping out.

In Ireland we had a National day of mourning and masses were held everywhere. My dad was still in the States,, in Connecticut, but said everything had continued as normal there, meetings etc. No one was even talking about it. I suspect due to complete shock and possible fear about what it might mean.

I was staying in a hostel in Washington DC, our plan for that day was to get the greyhound bus to New York as we were due to fly home on the 13th. We packed our stuff, got in the lift and were chatting about our travel plans when some bloke in the lift started shouting at us 'you ain't going to New York today!!!'
We thought he was a bit crazy until the lift doors opened at the ground floor and reception was in total chaos!
We spent most of the day wandering round with nowhere to go, getting moved on by various police / military people as most of DC was evacuated. It wasn't until later that day that someone from the hostel wheeled out a TV and about a hundred of us gathered round to see what had happened.
We saw the smoke from the Pentagon and knew something had happened in New York too but it was many hours later when we realised that the towers had fallen.

I was working in a small finance company in London which was partners with one in the US in the world trade centre. In my part of the office there were 4 of us, 2 were Americans who had just joined from the world trade centre in June. Our partner firm all got out but both of them lost a few friends in their 20s.

I'd been visiting my mum for the day. We'd had a wander around town before I got my train back to London. We'd walked past the Sony shop and made comments about the people who were watching a film on the TVs in the shop window.

My boyfriend at the time rang me as I was boarding the train and told me what had happened and that I might not make it back into London. The 3 hour train journey took about 5 hours as they held us outside kings cross for ages. Then boyfriend and I sat up watching the news for hours.

I worked at a crown court, someone came into our office and said a plane had hit the towers, as legged it into the Jury room where they had TVs and saw the second plane hit.

I remember us all standing watching in silence in total disbelief

I was working in the City; we got wind of it from colleagues in NY. I was getting live updates via BBC news but after a while the bandwidth couldn’t cope. A friend worked for Morgan Stanley in NY and I had a horrible panic trying to get hold of him but he checked in eventually and it transpired that he worked in the Brooklyn office.

We lost many clients and contacts who were at a conference on the top floors. I worked at another company later that had a plaque on the wall - they lost an entire team who were at that conference.

We were eventually sent home because of the rumours about the City being next. I sat at home watching the TV until they showed people jumping, and then it just felt horribly voyeuristic so I switched it off.

I don’t think the horror of what happened that day will ever leave me.

I was working at a northern University. Someone heard about it and we tuned a tv on. We had a large group of academics in New York for a meeting and also a professors secretary had son that worked actually in the second tower. It was so awful to watch. We mostly went home , but had to turn the TV off. The children were horrified, as were we.
I spent forever on the phone getting people home via Canada, Spain and all over Europe.

@Loubiemoo

Has anyone else watched the documentary film the two French brothers did? That famous shot of the firebrigade checking a ?drain in the street as the first plane flew over them and hit? They were filming a rookie and were in the ‘right place at the right time’. Its both amazing and harrowing footage as they actually followed the firefighters from that station into the first tower and were there and filming when the second tower collapsed.

Yes it's really eerie, I'd forgotten about it.

We watched that documentary at uni as part of an American lit module. Heartbreaking but brilliant piece of film.

I was working as office staff at a girls Islamic school, first job handling reception stuff and answering calls. Hadn't seen or heard the news but received a very violent and threatening phone call. The head called the local police number for advice and it was then we realised what was happening in America.
The police sent a community officer around but were pretty certain someone had found the school online and just tried to take out their anger on the first Islamicly related thing they could.

We were on holiday and knew nothing about it til we were in the taxi going home from gatwick and the taxi driver told us

We couldn’t figure out why the queues were so massive

We were in Pakistan, TV access was limited but we heard about it on the radio and in newspapers, I was only 12 so I didn’t really understand the significance, especially as we hadn’t ‘seen’ it.

We were due to fly home about two weeks later, it ended up taking longer as a lot of flights from Pakistan to Europe were cancelled, including ours. My Grandma was very nervous about us flying as it was still early so lots of people were choosing not to fly.

I was working abroad.

Caught it on Spanish channels and watched in disbelief.

Realised this would have an effect because I worked in travel industry.

Next thing we know we are taking diverted planes into the airport and having to find hotels for guests.

They all managed to get out the next day for their flights (mostly Mexico)

My fil was a security officer at a leasure centre and used to bus it to work everyday. So he'd left home before the first attack happened and walked some distance to the bus stop.
The bus driver stopped and verbally abused him then drove off. Fil, a little shocked but mostly bemused, waited for the next bus. He only found out what had happened once he got to work and explained to the manager why he was late.

I was working in my dads shop, didn't know anything about it until his business partner mentioned it. At the end of my shift I went home and turned the TV on. I was 29.