Do you remember where you were that day

[Lovingthesunshine88]

Do you remember where you were that day 18 years ago? 9/11

I was 13 and had just started high school i was doing swimming when PE teacher got called out, when she came back in she told us to get changed and make our way home if possible and said the world was under attack by terrorists.

Obviously this was scary to hear at 13 i hadn't heard of terrorism. I remember getting home and my mum watching it on TV in utter shock. I was such a sad day and still makes me feel sad 18 years on thinking of all those innocent people losing their lives

Honestly, I grew up knowing about terrorism from my dad's jobs so it's always been something I'm aware of. I do wonder if I had been a bit older and aware of my own mortality how much more fucked up jt would have made me feel. I

I was getting ready for work in Vancouver. I heard the CBC news report immediately on turning on my car and radio. It was terrifying. I carried on to work. We were all worried we were next. I remember the silence following as all the planes were grounded.

@tryingtobebetterallthetime I remember looking up at the sky and thinking how empty it was and the maps of the flight paths etc.

I was 4 months pregnant with my dd and my ds was nearly 3 and fast asleep in his cot I remember my dm running through my front door shouting to me "wheres ds godmother" as that was the day they had planned to do the sights there, we just sat glued to the TV with tears, running down our faces until my ds woke up. It took days for us to find out that ds godmother had changed plans and gone the day before

I worked in the PR department of a global company, who had an office in NY. The media were immediately on us, looking for a local angle to exploit - it was my first experience of real crisis media relations. In the evening I went on a date with a guy I had been seeing, and my work phone went non-stop. He and I spent the night together for the first time that night, and it felt super emotional.

Worked in TV at the time so watched it all unfold on the news channels.
Remember the realisation that hit you like a ton of bricks when the second plane hit, when you realised it was deliberate, rather than an accident. Absolutely chilling.
The way I felt about life changed that day.

The baby we had with us at the time, goes to university next week

My baby was new too and goes to university tomorrow. I was breast feeding him with the TV on so saw the second plane live. I called my DH who hadn't heard and he told everyone in the office.

I was transfixed by the news and late for my six week check for my baby - I tried to explain to the doctor (who was a cow at the best of times) but she hadn't heard about it and thought I was being daft.

So sorry for those that lost people . I shall never forget that day.

I'd been at the gym at lunchtime and walked back into the office to see colleagues sitting around the meeting table, shocked. There were no televisions so I kept updating the news sites on my computer. Someone went and broke out the hospitality wine because it was the only alcohol and we were so shocked. A colleague was due to fly into NYC the following week and her married name was an Iraqi one. I really don't remember anything else about that day at all but the moment of finding out was so shocking I can see a clear picture in my head. I was in the reserves at the time too so there were thoughts about what was happening next. I'd grown up in the Middle East at the time of the PLO, the Arab-Israeli War, and the Lebanese Civil War so I was thinking about all that too and wondering how everything was going to change.

My first week at secondary school, coming home and not really knowing or understanding what had happened

It was my 16th birthday. I was at school they made the decision to not tell us. I found out on the way home from school I had no comprehension what any of it meant until I got home and saw the news very sad day.

I was at work at a local newspaper. The Picture Editor had caught a glimpse of the TV in the Editor's office just after the first plane hit and came running back into the newsroom to change the channel on the tv. We all watched in horror as the second plane hit. It was the only time I ever remember the newsroom being completely silent.

NY, we planned to go to the towers shopping that morning. Luckily we didn’t

At a Matron conference in Leeds. Started to hear reports and couldn't concentrate on the conference. There seemed to be other priorities.

I was too young to remember but my parents grandparents aunts uncles all remember where they were the second they found out, it's chilling really can't imagine how it must have felt ❤️❤️

I was at work in a department store. We all noticed how empty the shop was. A colleague was walking round looking frightened and said to go and look at the TV department. I could not believe was I was seeing on all the TV's. It looked like a film, not real .
We were all silent

I do recall where I was. I was in lower Manhattan, at work, about 2 miles north of the WTC. I watched the second plane hit and both towers fall from a conference room. It was, of course, awful and frightening. Everyone assumed that there would be further attacks of some sort even after they shut down air traffic - bombings in the subways, etc. They shut the subways down completely for the rest of the day and stopped cars and trucks from entering the city. 5th avenue became a pedestrian mall, which was helpful as I had to walk the several miles to Grand Central Terminal to get the train home.

The fires burned for 100 days and the smell of burnt flesh was almost overwhelming for the first few weeks depending on how the wind was blowing. Handmade "Missing" posters went up all over the city as people looked for loved ones who never made it out of the buildings. Phone service was out for weeks as the main telephone exchange for lower Manhattan was right across the street from the WTC and badly damaged in the attack. They strung replace phone cables in the street by the curbs for weeks trying to get the service back. We kept internet access so I was at least able to email DH to let him know I was okay.

Nobody panicked, there was no looting or mass exodus from the city. Rudy Giuliani, who was mayor at that time, was magnificent. Everyone did their bloody job and we got through it. New York is that kind of city.

I was at work in NatWest and one of our regular customers came in and told us about it.
When they first started telling us it sounded like a terrible joke and I wondered what on earth the punchline was going to be be!

The manager went and found a radio and put it on for us to listen. I was in shock as had not long moved from nyc to the uk.

I spent the evening watching the news and getting in touch with friends over there to check they were ok.

I was at university and went to meet my sister in the city centre. She said the world trade centre had collapsed. I laughed and said a sky scraper can't just collapse. (Had no idea what or where the WTC was)

Meant to say that as senior hospital managers we started to discuss if there would be further uk attacks and if we should cancel plans and get ready to increase hospital staffing.

@MissConductUS

It's the mix of horror and heroism isn't it? New York can be rightfully proud of itself and its sons and daughters for how it responded and survived through such an evil, awful act.

I was teaching an English group in the school library. One of the office ladies rushed in and said put on the TV. We did and then just stood and watched everything unfold. I couldn’t believe when the second plane hit, it seemed like something from a film and in fact, a number of the kids I had with me (Year 9 students) thought it was an action film.

The next day I was late for school as I couldn’t drag myself away from the TV watching reports on it. All of my lessons were dominated with discussing the events, everyone trying to make sense of it and not being able to.

I was 15 at the time. Our head of year came in and announced it. We weren’t sent home from school early.

@MissConductUS reading that was so chilling made my hairs stand up on end

At work, no radio or TV. One of the secretaries (she had a reputation for overstatement) came to our section bleating about fires in NY. We dismissed her and carried on with our working day. I don't recall anything else but I must have gone home to watch the news.

@MissConductUS reading that was so chilling made my hairs stand up on end

Me too. . . that was incredibly, starkly, evocative.