So, what were you doing Sept 11, 2001?

[Kitty Whiskers]

It was probably one of the most defining "where were you moments" in recent history, so where were YOU nine years ago?





It was about 10pm my time, I was on the phone to my best friend describing what had happened on The Bill that night (it was the episode Beech murdered the ginger-haired DS) when suddenly my friend said "Turn over to Channel 10 news". I just managed to say "Well, there's no way THAT was an accident" when the second plane flew in and hit the World Trade Centre.

[wadsy]

I was at home watching a film. I forget which one but the news came on by teletext on the screen & I thought



it was part of the film!

[GoggleboxUK]

I was working in my video store and a customer told me what had happened. I put the news on the big screen and saw the 2nd plane hit the tower shortly after.



There ended up being about 20 people in the store and we all watched the horrifying events unfold.







I also remember what I was doing when John McCarthy got released from his capture. That was an altogether more pleasant experience.

[faginsgirl]

At home, and actually had the news on LIVE. When I saw the first plane go in to the tower I thought it was an awful accident. The second time believe it or not I still thought it was an accident as I thought the 2nd plane had perhaps tried to avoid the 1st and had also lost control. A bit like when those two planes in Tennerife collided in mid air. Then when the news came that they had hit the petagon of course I realised what had happened.



xx

[batman]

I was at work in a forensic secure unit. I went into the empty smoking room (which were still allowed in those days) to turn the TV off and saw it on the news. I watched it for a few minutes and thought it was a terrible accident, I switched the TV off and carried on working. I didn't know what had happened until Mrs Bat phoned me a bit later, just after the second plane had hit the towers. She watched it all on live TV.

[Arfur Teacake]

When I first saw the pictures there was a little smoke coming out one of the towers and we all assumed (including the newscasters) that a light plane like a Cesna had crashed into the building. It was then we saw the large Boeing go into the building. It was like a knife into butter- Very strange - as I always assumed a large plane would start to break up before it could get into a building like that. It went in so smoothly I half expected it to come out the otherside.







I have always wondered if it had actually happened anywhere else but America if it would have had the same lasting inpact?



If the IRA had blown up Canary Wharf for example or middle east terrorists had flown into the Eiffel Tower, I think there would have been sympathy for a week or two then the world would have moved on? The general world consensus (especially in America) being that our security was no good and as old imperialist countries we had it coming.

[Steve Crook]

name='Arfur Teacake' timestamp='1284211927' post='473187']

I have always wondered if it had actually happened anywhere else but America if it would have had the same lasting inpact?



If the IRA had blown up Canary Wharf for example or middle east terrorists had flown into the Eiffel Tower, I think there would have been sympathy for a week or two then the world would have moved on? The general world consensus (especially in America) being that our security was no good and as old imperialist countries we had it coming.

Err, the IRA did blow up Canary Wharf. Not the actual Canary Wharf Tower but they set off a half tonne bomb in a lorry parked by South Quay station on the Docklands Light Railway. That was in February 1996.



But they always gave a warning and the bombers didn't commit suicide in the process.



The attack on the twin towers had many aspects that made it unusual and extraordinary. It was the first time that commercial planes had been hijacked and used in that way. All previous hijacks had been attempts at ransom or bribery (getting compatriots released). It was the first attack in the west where the attackers had committed suicide. There was no warning given, the attackers set out to kill as many people as possible.



Then add to that the way that the attack actually made the towers collapse. I don't think anyone could have foreseen that. They only collapsed because of a combination of events and the slightly shoddy way that they were built. If a series of planes had flown into almost any other building then it wouldn't have collapsed like that.



This attack was also the first serious attack on American soil. When I contacted American friends to make sure that they were OK I said "It's harsh, but welcome to the real world"



Steve

[Ray]

I was working at Anglian Windows in Canterbury and was just confirming an appointment with a customer when she said, "I have just seen a plane fly into the World Trade Centre".



I whispered to a colleague, "I've got a right one here, she is probably watching a film and thinks it is real".



Shortly afterwards our boss came in and told us what had happened, and told us all to go home.



I was so sure that this event would escalate to World War 3, that I decided to retire six months early. I really didn't expect to enjoy nine years of reirement.

[Kitty Whiskers]

name='Arfur Teacake' timestamp='1284211927' post='473187']



I have always wondered if it had actually happened anywhere else but America if it would have had the same lasting inpact?



If the IRA had blown up Canary Wharf for example or middle east terrorists had flown into the Eiffel Tower, I think there would have been sympathy for a week or two then the world would have moved on? The general world consensus (especially in America) being that our security was no good and as old imperialist countries we had it coming.

I think the sheer numbers lost plus fact the whole thing was telecast live around the world added to the horror of it. Most terrorist acts we see the aftermath, but in this case we were all watching it as it happened.

[zettel45]

I was playing online poker at my sister's house in Northamptonshire. She put her head round the door and said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. "Oh, right," I said and carried on playing. I couldn't quite remember what the WTC looked like or where it was and, besides, I was "stuck" (ie, losing) in my game. Packed in a while later and went down just in time to see the second tower collapse.

[didi-5]

I was off work and staying with my parents. I was doing some work in the office on the computer when my dad shouted up that the World Trade Center was on fire. So I went down to watch the news. I saw the second plane go in. I saw people jumping from both towers. I saw the tower collapse. It was like watching a film. Hard to process what I was seeing.

[GRAEME]

Walking around Coventry city centre with my 4 month old daughter in a baby-sling. I joined a crowd outside Radio rentals watching the TVs. They said a plane had hit one of the towers - and I guessed it would be a light jet or something, and on the screen that's what it looked like. A jumbo jet looked like a toy next to that building. I couldn't believe it when they said it was a big one. And there were others out of control contact!



For a while I was rather scared; new dad - what was going to happen next? I kept looking at the sky.

[torinfan]

I was still at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, CT when I was to have a calculus lab that morning, only to discover it was cancelled. I returned to my car in the parking lot and as I was walking, I saw these Black Hawks above me. It was a very bizarre feeling, as if we were being invaded. When I got home my mom was watching the news on tv and I turned so white - it was just too horrible to mention something like this could happen less than 100 miles away from me. Later on that week the campus held a vigil, and it hit home: one of the students lost a family member in NYC on Sept 11, 2001. Very tragic, very terrible.

[Marky B]

I was in my bedroom about to compile a quiz when a news flash was announced on Radio 2. All it said,that there had been reports of an aircraft crashing into one one of the twin towers at the World Trade Centre. At first,I thought it might have been a light aircraft getting lost in fog,but then I heard it was an airliner,however still thinking it was an accident in fog. Then when I heard another aircraft went in,I thought to myself "This is no accident."



As the day unfolded,it became clear what was going on and the USA was under attack. Their Pearl harbour Day had reprised itself.



Admiral Yamamoto's words after the Japanese attack were portentous again:"I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant with a terrible resolve."



11 September 2001 has become a "before and after" date,as it became pivotal in all our lives and tightened tensions in the Middle East.



However,let us spare a thought for those people who got up that Tuesday morning with no intention of killing anyone.

Rest In Peace - All of you.

Mark

[wellendcanons]

I was at work and we were just handing out the afternoon cups of tea to the old folks, when one of our staff looking after the dementia group in the opposite wing of the building came and told us to put the TV on as America's twin towers had been hit! They had just caught it on the news. Well.... I always said they had more time to watch TV down there!



By this time the second plane had already hit the world trade centre. I remember the staff member who informed us saying that America wouldn't take this lying down and really fearing what was going to happen next......



wec

[luthien]

I had gone to work,an afternoon shift in the local Hospital.

As we 'hit the wards' around two-ish,after a staff meeting &

briefing,one patient,watching TV said 'A plane has crashed

into the WTC'.I assumed a light aircraft,a terrible but

relatively 'minor' incident.TV's were on in all the wards

back then,and of course when the second plane struck,we all

watched in horror;then the news of the third plane came in,

as it headed for it's destination.That live news coverage

stayed with the events all that afternoon.We saw the towers

collapse,the Pentagon damage,the downed plane that had been

Flight 93.The terrible images stayed with us,long after the

event.I think they always will.

[frame69]

I was in a Newquay travel agents trying to book a short trip to Holland. I left when the assistant asked me to come back later as she was having problems with the system. She phoned me shortly after to tell me why

I then went to a bar to have a beer and watch it on the screens. The main reason I was in Newquay was to get my son a birthday present for the next day,quite a few of my family members have birthdays one day after or before a significant day.

Regards,Frame.

[Sgt Sunshine]

I was out at work that afternoon and happened to be at a large Council Refuse Tip. Round about 2 ish I ended up in the Green Recycling Garden rubbish part of the tip, and someone had left their car radio on while they were emptying their vehicle. All I remember hearing was something about a "plane on fire"...but as it was some distance away heard no more...

That was the first day of my new Company Car and having a "Man's Brain" had not yet got the radio working...

When I got home I put the TV on to see the aftermath...I remember staying with it for hours..could'nt tear myself away...

[TimR]

name='Steve Crook' timestamp='1284212761' post='473195']...When I contacted American friends to make sure that they were OK I said "It's harsh, but welcome to the real world"



Steve

Americans were well acquainted with the real world for a couple of centuries before that.

[TimR]

I was in a seminar at work. A colleague stopped the class and made the announcement. It seemed literally incredible. At that time only the first tower had been hit. I spent the day wondering if my brother and pregnant sister-in-law were alive in Manhattan. It took several hours to locate them. My brother worked in midtown but was always running down to the WTC area. Then we were all back and forth on the phone. NYC was the city where mots of my ancestors had come. I was born there. My mother was broken hearted. The rest of the day was just quiet. The streets were empty. There was very little traffic for days after that. It seems as if more than nine years have passed.