9/11 - Where Were You?

[Marmite59]

It will be 15 years ago on Sunday.

I was working in Canary Wharf; we were told that planes were on their way to London to attack! It was an awful and crazy day. It was before the advent of social media and the main information outlet was 24 hour news which was in its infancy.

Personally (not politically) it meant a lot to me. I've visited NYC loads of times and have family there. We visited a few weeks after (pre booked) and it was mournful to the point of elegiac. There was also a nationalist spirit which the 30 something me found distasteful but now I understand it better. I have family members who lost friends and some saw it first hand. I've taken my family to see the 9/11 Memorial and it is heartbreakingly sad yet - to me - a symbol of New Yorkers' unbroken spirit and incredible resolve.

So what are your memories? Have they faded? Where were you and what did it mean to you?

Yes that makes absolute sense Bertie. There were many lessons learned but think the unthinkable was one of them.

The towers were designed to withstand the impact of the largest aircraft on the day when it was built in the 70's. I guess planes have got bigger with larger fuel tanks since then and the tower could not withstand modern day planes. I think the first tower to fall did partially collapse to the side. You can see the top of the tower falling to the side still in one piece. The second tower to collapse just sort of crumbled on itself.

I was 32weeks pregnant with dc2 and couldn't sleep due to horrendous heartburn. It was around 1am (New Zealand) so decided to get up and have a warm milo drink and watch a bit of television in the lounge in the hope I'd fall asleep..... I never got around to making my Milo, I was so shocked and upset by what i was seeing that I went and woke DH up. We both sat holing hands in utter shock for ages. For once I was so relieved when dc1 woke up at 5am so I could give her the biggest hug and shower her in kisses telling her how much we loved her. The whole time thinking of all thone who would be going to bed that night without a kiss and cuddle from their mummy/daddy/husband/wife etc.

I was on a train in London, on my way home from college, my Nan called me panicking, saying America was being attacked and London was next and she was screaming at me to get off the train and come home, really distressed. I didn't really get her fear at the time, but when I look back, it must have been horrendous. When I got in we sat and watched the news in stunned silence for hours on end.

I was working behind the bar. We had the news on anyway. The manager from the pub next door came running in full of the drama. It was one thing I remember years later. He was a quiet and standoffish bloke. Very terse and rude. But so animated and chatty that day. We were watching and saw the second plane go in. After the screaming from customers the silence was deafening. Seeing those people plummeting to their deaths haunted my dreams for months. I watched the 102 minutes documentary last night and I had to switch off when it showed that poor person jumping.

I had got back from New York two days before, after having done Camp America, and was at my holiday job in a cafe. One of the customers told us and I thought they meant a small plane. It was only when I got home that I realised. Had left friends in New York who had planned to visit the twin towers in the next couple of days. Sent them a frantic email. They'd been on there way when the planes hit. Had photos of the planes hitting. Pretty terrifying

I was camping in Duinrell in Holland with my now xh and children. We'd gone by train to Amsterdam for the day, we were satisfied in Dam Square when loads of police arrived and cleared people. I thought it was odd but knew nothing until we got back to the campsite that evening.

I was at work ... on the phone to Virgin, booking our holiday to Florida!

I was at work, a colleague quite calmly said that a plane had hit the WTC, she was watching BBC news on the work internet, I think she thought it was a small private plane and pilot error so didn't take a lot of notice then the second one hit, we were all horrified then as it all unfolded.

I was at university and met my sister in the city centre afterwards. She said a plane had flown into the world trade centre and it had collapsed. I'm afraid to say I laughed and said that was ridiculous. Had no idea what the WTC was. Thought it was just a small light aircraft. Until we got home and put the news on. I agree with the pre / post 9/11 world. It really did change the world.

Thank you, Janus and KSS.

I used to work for a government department and was sent on a fire safety course run by the guy who did all the technical safety for the film, Towering Inferno. He told us that people are like sheep and will tend to sit and ignore the most obvious danger signs until ONE person moves - then most will follow.

With this in mind, he told us to never ignore your gut and that if something feels wrong, do whatever you need to do to get to safety, whether that's hiding or running or anything you think you can do to get safe. If someone tells you to stay where you are and you think they're wrong, make an excuse and go.

I got caught in the top floor of a department store when a bomb alert went off (during the times when the IRA was active). I knew where the stairs were (always check out your exits), and got out super quick. It was a hoax, but the terror I felt was real.

A year to the day before 9/11 I visited my cousin at the WTC. I was taken right up to the top on the outside of the tower that didn't have the antennae. It was public access via a stairs on the floor at the top that tourists would visit. Not advertised, but if you found the stairs, you weren't stopped going up.

It was one of the most incredible things I've ever done. It truly was like standing at the top of the world. It was a glorious morning, much like 9/11, and we could see for miles. I stayed up there for ages, just drinking it all in.

I could never understand why people weren't directed up there for helicopter rescue - or at least I don't think they were. I'm sure a lot could have been rescued from here. It breaks my heart to think of the people higher up than the crash site could possibly have lived if they'd got up there. Their fear and desperation must have been awful.

I watch the documentaries every year even though it makes me feel physically sick. I'm one of those people that things like this don't seem real, even years down the line. I also suffer with anxiety and, much to my shame, have allowed my fear of these incidents impact my life quite badly. I must just be one of those people who don't handle stress like this well, though, as I've been diagnosed with PTSD after a physical attack. The bravery shown by the Services everywhere is something I admire greatly, but something I could never do now.

I was driving home from work when I heard. We could see Canary Wharf from my flat, and spent all evening looking at it waiting for it to be hit.

The next day, at work- I was a newly qualified primary school teacher- I had to answer the questions of my class about why people jumped. They were 7. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do as a teacher.

I was in work, taking a statement from someone.
He had the TV on and we just sat in silence watching it in disbelief.
I eventually managed to get the stamen done but it was very hard to concentrate.
I was terrifie that it would be the start of world war 3

I had a scan that day as I was pg with my first dc.

I flicked on the news after the first plane hit. Shouted up to DP about it then showered. After I came out of the bathroom watched whilst 2nd plane hit the tower.
I watched transfixed for hours then walked to the hospital. Stopped on the way to look in a tv shop window (remember them?!) with others to watch some more.

I don't actually remember the scan.
The state of shock everyone was in was, I think, inconceivable to my DC generation. It resonated for so long. I was screamed at at work a few days later for being Muslim and called a terrorist. It was unreal. Everyone knew someone affected it seemed. (My boss' friend worked there.)

I could never understand why people weren't directed up there for helicopter rescue - or at least I don't think they were. I'm sure a lot could have been rescued from here

The helicopters couldn't rescue because of all the smoke and there was some theory that the doors to the roof were locked as the footage from at least one helicopter there are no people. Of course that could be because of the smoke - not an easy (or maybe not even a possible) thing to get through.

I just had my second baby and was looking at flats to rent in Germany where we lived.
On the radio in the car there was news of a plane that had crashed and when I came into the living room there was the footage live on TV, we were watching with horror and utter disbelief when the first tower collapsed.

I remember thinking into what world have I brought another child.

It was the day I decided never to set foot in a plane again. I was fearful before but that day just finished me off.

Three years later we moved to London and somehow I have often been in central London on the 11th of September. As I was yesterday, travelling on the tube. It is still on my mind and DH who works at Canary Wharf is always on my mind on that day, same as 7/7, if it's a workday.

The pictures and flyers posted every where, anyone who had lost someone put up a flyer hoping against hope their loved one would show up, the whole city was covered in them. Heart breaking.

I wondered about helicopters as well - but you can see from the amount of smoke that a landing would have been impossible.

Thanks Sashh. I knew there was smoke, inside and out, but thought some on the higher floors could have got out before the smoke got too bad.

I don't want to imagine the panic to get to that door and find it locked.

I'm the same Mellifera. Haven't been on a plane since. I also live under a flight path. I'd been fearful of this since Lockerbie, and I'd often thought of moving, but it seems whatever I do I get anxiety over, so what would be the point.

I was on a late shift on the ward. Relatives were coming in and telling us what was going on. Didn't realise the extent of it till I got home and watched the tv though.

I was in court finalising a long and difficult divorce!
My solicitor broke the news and I was able to watch the TV coverage shortly afterwards when i got home.

I was working at a National Emergency Centre, not directly affected, on a Govt Nuclear site.

Needless to say I won't be forgetting 9/11 soon. When I left that workplace in 2007 we still had mirror checks under the cars every day

The other not very nice thought about there being nobody on the roof was that a steel building plus burning jet fuel may well have turned the upper floors into an instant furnace.

I think it is possible that the doors were locked since they weren't yet open to the public but I don't know.

I was 14 and I hot home from school to find my mum with the 24 hours news channel on which we never watched. I couldn't take in what I was seeing really.o had s friend with me too and we all just stared at the TV in silence for ages. The next day I was helping with a organising a sort of festival in our town which was to celebrate peace one day. We were all utterly depressed but agreed we needed to do it more than ever.