9/11 Stories

[Rose]

I still remember walking through the streets of the City that horrible day. The worst was the bone chilling silence of everyone and everything. It was almost as if the very streets I walked on were wallowing in a deep, dark sorrow. I was 11 at the time. My mom and dad worked at the site for months... they are in the news business. My mom rushed down to the site to cover a story, and as the cameras were rolling, building #7 collapsed behind her. I was only 11, but as I watched my mom on TV 100 feet in front of a collapsing building... damn, that sticks with you. But there was a silver lining to it all. The unity amond NYC residents, the friends my parents made down at the site... There really is a silver lining to everything.

Tell your 9/11 story.

[Onkel Neal]

Good thread, Rose.

I was in the trading room, working, glanced up and saw the CNN monitor. Saw a burning building...the WTC. The first reports were a small plane hit it. How? It was easy to see it was a clear day.... then the 2nd plane hit.

An awful day.

[TteFAboB]

I was playing Anarchy Online and saw it on TV just like Neal.

When the second plane crashed I took a few seconds to realize what had just happened. Perhaps a TV helicopter was caught in a gust of wind? No, the fireball made it clear, a large plane had just crashed on the second tower. The host didn't knew what to say. He hesitated, remained silent.

Later, still live, I saw people jumping out of the windows to their certain death. By now players in the game started talking about it. And it was then, like today, that I discovered the most important fact to be remembered from 9/11:

A number of people far larger than one could possibly imagine or deem reasonable celebrated 9/11. And to this day, defend the attack.

This is where you draw the line and take sides.

[Syxx_Killer]

It was my senior year in high school. I was at the local area tech center for the half a day (either that or take regular classes in the morning :p). I was working on the computer when I heard someone mention a plane hitting the trade center. I thought maybe it was a Cessna or something. Well, they turned on a TV and by the time I saw it, the first tower was burning. I think I saw the second plane hit. I know I saw both towers come down. I had turned to the girl sitting next to me and said, "What's next, the White House?" I then followed up by saying, "This is like Pearl Harbor." When the towers were smoldering, a friend from a neighboring class walked by and asked, "What movie are you watching?" I then said that it wasn't a movie. The whole thing seemed surreal. I was sure hard to get anything done that day. When we got back to the school for the afternoon classes, all we did that day was watch the TV. Everyone was glued to it. On that day I still remember what I was wearing - a yellow shirt and black pants. Oddly enough, that is what I have on today. I didn't even realise it until, when watching the news, they started talking about when the first plane hit.

[The Avon Lady]

Was at work in Jerusalem and someone said put on the TV. This was around 4PM local time.

When we saw the 2nd plane strike, everyone knew that Muslims were behind it.

It has made an emotional impact on my husband and myself to this day.

We personally know of no one who was lost. At most we know a good friend who had just stepped out of the subway station across the street and saw the world rushing northward.

I lost much sleep after that. I was traumatized by the footage and photos I had seen.

For the last 5 years, I've watched the world react, including people's writings on forums - Subsim's as well. Most of the world still doesn't seem to know what hit them, literally.

Never forget. Never forgive.

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9776/ribbonyp6.gif

[The Avon Lady]

But there was a silver lining to it all. The unity amond NYC residents, the friends my parents made down at the site... There really is a silver lining to everything.
I was born and raised in NYC. Since 2001, we have traveled with our children to NY and I was shocked by a friendliness and politeness of complete strangers on the street, in buses and subways, that I almost never witnessed growing up there.

If you would have told me this (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13452608/from/ET/) 6 years ago, I would have paid for your cab to Bellevue.

[Sea Demon]

I had just come off of 2 weeks of straight work. And I had the day off. I was planning to take the boat out and go fishing that afternoon. I was asleep. It was around 6 A.M. when my wife came into the room to tell me that the the first tower had been hit. At first I thought she was joking, and I was tired so I rolled over and went back to sleep. After a little while she came back and told me that the second tower was hit and the Pentagon too. This time I thought I better get up and see what was going on. Suffice it to say, I was speechless as I watched the news until around 1:30 in the afternoon. And no I didn't go fishing. Not a good day for me.

[Phantom II]

I was sleeping (it was night time in New Zealand) then my dad got a call from one of our friends in South Africa who heard it over the radio, so my dad woke us all, I remember my mum rushing into my room, saying "America is being attacked". At that point I just felt a massive chill down my spine. So we all went and watched CNN, not long after we started watching, we saw the second plane hitting one of the towers. The whole thing was quite frightening.

-Phantom

[JSLTIGER]

I was in 10th grade at the time, and was at my high school just outside of Philadelphia, PA. We went out for a fire drill at about 8:47, about a minute before the first plane hit the towers. We went back inside about 9AM, and proceeded to go on to our first period class, mine happening to be History. We went to the computer lab to work on an assignment on Teddy Roosevelt. After about 10 minutes, I remember hearing the New E-mail tone on my teacher's Outlook, and I recall him telling us "OK...I want you to stop what you're doing and try to log on any news site that you can. The World Trade Center is being attacked." Naturally, I thought he was joking. I tried to get onto cnn.com, and failed miserably, as the page was overrun and wouldn't load. Then one of my classmates called out that he had gotten onto a site, and we all crowded around the computer. We saw an image of the towers on fire, and I continued to think that it was a hoax until I saw the URL of "www.foxnews.com." We went back to the classroom, and turned on the TV and proceeded to watch the first tower collapse about two minutes later. The second tower also fell during that period, and I recall looking at my watch and noting that it was 10:29AM. We continued to watch on and off for the remainder of the day, nothing really got accomplished as we were all fixated on the TV.

I can't believe its been five years already...time goes by so quickly...

[Camaero]

I was sleeping and was awoken by my dad just after the towers fell. I stayed home from school that day. (I think I was sick) I was sleepy and groggy but I will never forget his words and I will never forget how I felt and still feel. He said: "Jason, turn your TV on, we have just been hit." I was fixed to the TV the next few days. Watching the towers fall over and over again. It can still bring me to the edge of tears when I really think back on that day. At the time I was 13 and didn't even know the muslims were sore at us. After that I wanted nothing but to join the military as soon as I was old enough and to strike back hard. Those plans are still in motion. I fully agree with Avon about the fact that most Americans still don't understand fully what happend on that day and what we are still up against.

[The Avon Lady]

Only slightly OT news item: big Al-Qaeda fish caught today (http://billroggio.com/archives/2006/09/gulbuddin_hekmatyar.php).

Plenty more in the sea, however.

[Pioneer]

It was almost 11pm in Brisbane Australia. I was on the phone to Germany as I was scheduled to fly out the following week. We were talking about NYC as I had made reservations at The Restaurant at the Top of The World. The person at the other end of the phone said "Hey, just heard, a plane has crashed into a building in New York."
My response: "You know, that's been an accident waiting to happen for a long time. Those planes fly in real close to the buildings on the approach to the airport, and New York sometimes has a wicked fog."
I looked at the clock and thought that in late summer the fog shouldn't be around at almost 9am in the morning.
I clicked the internet to get the CNN website, to no avail.
I said to the caller that I was heading to bed and fell asleep for about 10 hours. A buddy of mine called me at about 9am.
"So I guess you won't be going to NYC now?"
"Huh?"
"You haven't heard - go look at the TV."
"Which channel?"
"All of them."

Couple of months later when I went to NYC and met outgoing Mayor Rudy Gullianni(sp?) and we brieflly spoke. When I asked him what he would miss the most about not being the mayor he said "Sleep. I haven't had a good nights sleep since 9/11."

[Immacolata]

Was idling chatting in IRC instead of doing my job at the computer. Suddenly someone writes that a plane crashed into the WTC. It is on CNN. I turned on, and yeah, so it was. I turned my back to the tv and chatted on, speculating about why, then the speaker on tv got excited and the second plane crashed into the WTC. Untill then I believed it was an accident. I did think terrorism, but nah, unlikely. When the 2nd plane hit, I knew it couldn't be anything but terrorism.

I distinctly remember someone writing about how this would affect the whole world, kind of like kicking to a hornets nest full of abrams tanks or something. And the comment from another chatter was "Poor world".

How right he or she was.

[joea]

I was working at a private langauge school at the time as well as studying. I had a class with a bunch of guys from Reuters (believe it or not) during the attack. When I got back to my apartment is when a friend phoned me to tell me about the attack, I saw the towers collapse live.

Of course I tried to phone my sis and brother in law (she was working in MidTown Manhattan at the time) and could not get through for hours. I finally got through and talked to my brother in law, they had been married since the start of 2001, who let me know everyone was ok, my sis had to walk across a bridge to get back to Queens. Then phoned my parents in Canada to let them know everyone was ok.

The most chilling thing for me was when I went out to meet some friends to watch the news together that night, I saw a fellow I guess of North African descent. I was parking my bike to go into my friend's apartment while he was getting ready to go out on his scooter. He then said something (in French) about "well done in the USA, Allah akbar" then drove off. Just a guy who was sharply dressed to boot. I heard second hand sentiments like that even from others Latin Americans and in front of me by a guy from Geneva I felt like killing. This type of hate is more than anything else what led me to reject conspiracy theories.

[Konovalov]

Only slightly OT news item: big Al-Qaeda fish caught today (http://billroggio.com/archives/2006/09/gulbuddin_hekmatyar.php).

Plenty more in the sea, however.

He wasn't an Al-Qaeda figure per se. He has been one of the most vicious murdering warlords in Afghan history and that is saying something. It's good news but as you say there are plenty more.

Back on topic. I was at home (Sydney, Australia) watching the late night news on tv at 10:30pm. It was about two thirds of the way into the news I think when a report came thru saying that a light plane had crashed into the WTC. From that moment I remained glued to the tv screen as the shocking events unfolded. I didn't sleep at all that night and turning up at work the next morning was a strange experience.

[Fish]

Was at work in Jerusalem and someone said put on the TV. This was around 4PM local time.

When we saw the 2nd plane strike, everyone knew that Muslims were behind it.

It has made an emotional impact on my husband and myself to this day.

We personally know of no one who was lost. At most we know a good friend who had just stepped out of the subway station across the street and saw the world rushing northward.

I lost much sleep after that. I was traumatized by the footage and photos I had seen.

For the last 5 years, I've watched the world react, including people's writings on forums - Subsim's as well. Most of the world still doesn't seem to know what hit them, literally.

Never forget. Never forgive.

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9776/ribbonyp6.gif

Can you explain: Never forgive, to me?
Sounds to me as a eye for a eye, outcome, endless sorrow.

[The Avon Lady]

Can you explain: Never forgive, to me?
Sounds to me as a eye for a eye, outcome, endless sorrow.
Sounds to me how to potentially prevent it from happening again in the future.

[Perilscope]

At that time I was working for a company (self-employed now) on a third floor on Jean-Talon street here in Montreal, and I was a cigarette smoker (no more).

So that day, I was on the third floor of a building doing my data entries on the PC, when all of a sudden the boss runs towards us screaming out of is lungs "Les Etas-Unis sont sous attaque!" French for "The United-States is under attack!", he said that about tree of for times with a very nervous voice, very nervous since the person who told him about the attack via phone was two buildings away from the world trade center, supposedly that guy on the phone was crying screaming and so on...

Meanwhile some workers and the boss started to talk about the event, I asked him to go outside for a smoke! He answers with a slight stuttering "ok, ok va, va fumer", so permission granted I took the elevator down to go smoke the cigarette that I really needed.

While going down I was thinking what was happening down there, speaking of New York, since no images was available I could only imagine the so-called attack on the US. Anyway once down and out the front doors, I see my wife and two other girls smoking a cigarette as well (my wife worked in the same building).

So we started to smoke together and talk about the event and what possibly could be happening, while all of a sudden we see this freaking Jeep Cherokee with loud weird music passing by, it was unmistakably occupied by two Arabs, they were all cheering, laughing, clapping and so on... I was so mad because I knew they were pleased of the event...

So that day I will never forget 9/11, but also that dark blue Jeep Cherokee. I just wish I had a moment with those two scrawny little sh*ts...:dead:

[SkvyWvr]

I was working in Maine on an IT project when the CEO came in and told me of a small plane hitting the WTC. I thought the damage would be light because of the mild damage that WWII bomber did to the Empire State building in the late 40's. I tuned one of the servers to an internet site and realized what was happening when the 2nd plane hit. Shortly after that the CEO shutdown all 4 offices. He told me we should all be home with our families. By the time I got home both towers had fallen. I grew up in Brooklyn, near the harbor and watched those towers being built. Like the Empire State building I thought they would be around long after I, my kid and my grand kids were gone.

I agree with Avon; Never Forget, Never Forgive.

[Skybird]

I was at work that day. During a brake in the afternoon I walked in the city centre and saw the pictures on TV in other store's windows, the towers yet had not collapsed. Couldn't judge if it was accident or attack, but was assuming the latter. Later I heared the tone and what bystanders were saying. I felt calm, but knew that now the "better new world order" that had been expected and proclaimed after the end of the cold war, irreversible had gone down the drain. Telephoned my father and told him to keep my mother away from the TV for the next two days (she was suffering from reactive depressions). with a ticking brain, what consequences this would mean, I went back to work and told my colleagues who so far had not heared the news, then was sent home for that day for we had too little work only. They looked at me in disbelief and thought I was exaggerating, or plaiyng them some sick kind of joke.

Met a neighbour close by my house, an older, extroverted lady, who even became angry that I still was calm and accepted what had happened as a reality :doh: . She always said "I can'T believe it, it can't be real", and was almost hysteric, in a milder way, and when I told her it had happend for real, it messed up her day completely. Some people are strange people.

For the rest of the day and into the night I did the usual things I do at home, but the TV was constantly running in the background. When seeing the first time how the towers collapsed, I thought "Die werden jetzt ganz schön loslegen." ("This will get them really starting for sure"). That there would be an American reaction was clear to me. But different than many Germans who feared a amok-going shooting-from-the-hip-festival, I expected a planned, prepared, icy-cold, but very massive reaction with some delay, and that it would be a military response, and I hoped they would listen to their military leaders, not to Rumsfeld or Bush. Concerning the latter things, I stand corrected today, unfortunately.

[Oberon]

I was at school during my final year of A levels, I was sitting upstairs on one of the computers checking the BBC website when it mentioned about a plane crashing into the WTC, I dismissed it as a little Cessna or something and carried on the day. Later that afternoon on the way back from school, I switched on my walkman radio and started listening to the news with my mate...at one point during the broadcast they mentioned commercial airliner jets and I turned to my mate and said:
"Did they just say Commercial jets?!"
to which he replied
"Sounds like it."
And my stomach just turned to ice...it was at that point I realised that something bigger than one looney with a Cessna was going on, something much bigger. I walked back from the bus to my house, still listening to the broadcast, at this time news was just coming in about Flight 93, and my sense of horror just kept growing. I walked in through the door at home and went straight to the living room, Mum was on the phone and my stepdad was sitting across from her and I just said:
"Put on the telly...something big is happening."

[Fish]

Can you explain: Never forgive, to me?
Sounds to me as a eye for a eye, outcome, endless sorrow.
Sounds to me how to potentially prevent it from happening again in the future.

Ok, I can go with that.

[SubSerpent]

I was in the Navy, stationed at Naval Station Norfolk. We all watched it happen on the TV as our jaws hit the floor. It was a truely horrific day! After that they put us at "Delta" and we weren't leavin the base. All ships in port prepared for the worst. They sent F-18s over from just down the road from the Oceana Naval Air Station to protect the fleet. I remember going outside and seeing all the fighter planes patrolling around. It was intense since everyone suspected that Norfolk was sure to be next or even Washington.

Then reports came in the Pentagon got hit and that nearly flipped me out. It was like we were getting our asses kicked by enemy ghosts or something. Where were they? I remember we all felt helpless and confused.

A total shame that all of this was conducted and masterminded by one of the sickest men the world has ever known, living on the other side of the world in a desert with camels. Simply amazing and incredible that our government was powerless to stop it that day and how it was all pulled off without being caught by airport security.

BTW, did they ever put together enough evidence that the people who crashed into a field in PA., had put up a fight with the terrorist onboard? If they did, then those Americans onboard that plane deserve the Congressional Medal of Honor, IMHO!!! They may have saved thousands of lives by losing their own if that was the case!

[Dowly]

At that time I still had my 486 PC and if I remember right, I was playing the Wolfpack or something like that. My parents were away atm so I didn´t have a clue about what had happened. Then I received a text message from a friend: "Can you believe this? World War III is coming.". I still didnt have clue on what he meant. It was when I was on my way for a smoke and walked past the living room I noticed the news broadcast on TV.

[scandium]

I had just gotten home from my first class of the semester, a 4th year sociology seminar on Globalization that had started at 9:30 but ended early, as most first classes of the semester do, and I remember - ironically - that I happened to be wearing a t-shirt with "Challenge Authority" on the front of it along with the Anarchist symbol (a souvenier from a trip to Berkley earlier that year). My phone rang and it was a friend of mine whose first words out of his mouth were "they're bombing NYC". I had no idea what he was talking about, who "they" were (since the US wasn't at war with anyone) and thought he was pulling my leg.

He was so persistent that I gave up and turned on the TV. As I am in a timezone farther east than NYC it must have only been around 9:30 AM there by that point; both towers were on fire but had not yet collapsed. The anchors were trying to puzzle out what was happening while continually rerunning the footage of the 2nd airliner striking one of the towers, and I watched both collapse live on CNN.

I skipped my other class I had that day, and spent the rest of the day glued to the TV the same as I suspect most others had. My gut reaction when flight 93 went down was that it was shot down.

If someone had told me that day that the whole thing had been masterminded by a guy in a cave in Afghanistan I would have thought them mental. I still don't know what to make of the whole thing, but reject any high level conspiracy theories because something of that magnitude could not be kept quiet for so long. Yet I remain skeptical of the official version of events, though there are no alternative versions that I've been sold on; yet the enormity of the intelligence and security failures involved, the slow and inept response, all combine to make me wonder just how so many people could have screwed up so spectacularly. And I really don't understand how Bush, whose watch this catastrophe occured on, managed to emerge as the hero figure that he did. Though I'll grant that he gave a very moving and stellar speech on the ruins of the WTC a few days later - the highpoint of his presidency.

[Iceman]

Still hard to talk about...

Wife woke me up...was my day off and told me about the crash to one of the trade center towers.....flipped on news...stayed glued....at first thought accident until second hit.Called good friend to verify I wasn't dreaming or something...nope.Cried and got down on my kness and prayed when saw the horror of them falling and knowing people had just perished...but Knew All victums were immediatly caught up to heaven.Pretty much sat in silence much of the day until the evening and was outside and it was a clear as crystal Arizona evening and not one plane in the sky except 2 Jet fighters patroling the night sky all night...doing circles around our whole valley.And the feeling of the calm before the storm...when we as Americans get our second wind and began to kick some ass! I am thankful for everything pres Bush has done with NO regrets...I feel 100% percent safer knowing he put those dirt bags on the run and anyone else who had the same ideas.We cannot be timid and must use our power to dis-arm ALL who would attempt such things in the future...what will cost be if we don't?Bin Laden may not be dead or caught but at least he is not as comfortable as he used to be ....and you know...his day will come for this Evil deed he has done.

P.S. Piss Off Scandlous.

[Eichenlaub]

I remember being at the university of Nijmegen for the day, although I cannot remember whether I was there to study or to follow a class.

Somwhere in the afternoon, probably around 15:00 hours, I was sitting in the computer room when a group of fellow historians-to-be entered and babbled about a plane in the WTC. We all crowded (about 4-5 of us) around a single computer and tried to find reels of the events in New york. We saw it, were awed and dismayed. We spoke about it loudly (which is not allowed), making rough guesstimates of the maximum possible number of casualties. Other people looked up at us but apparently we were amongst the few who really knew of the attack. Some must have been annoyed at our callous noise-making, but they learned our reasons when they got home later on. As we sat there, our eyes wide open, I was the first to mention Osama Ben Laden as a suspect, but we really weren't occupied with the perpetrators yet. The misery overwhelmed us all.
Didn't grasp it at first, but then I heard from the staff of the computer room that another plane was being monitored and possibly to be shot down by fighter jets. That's when I left the university and went home. I tried to do the normal routines and succeeded rather well since I had not been able to learn everything yet. That evening, at the karatedo training, my instructor spent a few moments on the attacks, asking the youngest participants (10-11 years) whether they had understood what was going on and whether they had heard of it at school. I remember everybody having their versions of the possible casualty rates, and what this would do to the world. All agreed that it would no longer be the same and I knew back then that I would always have some sharp memories of that day.

The strongest memories I have though, are really of the 12th. I woke up and turned the tv on. Eventually I got out to buy a newspaper (which I almost never do). The day was spent completely engrossed in watching tv and reading that paper. I was completely lost, unable to function properly. I distinctly remember shedding lots of tears back then, and whenever I invoke those memories, I find that a few well up in my eyes even now.

Having spent a day in solitude and sympathy, I got back into a normal routine the next day. When extraordinary disasters hit me, I usually grieve for a full day, as I for instance did when Dutch public figures Pim Fortuyn (06-05-02) and Theo van Gogh (02-11-04) were assassinated.
People were somewhat embarrassed to go back to work and tend to their own lives from 12 September onwards, but really, what else were we to do?

It's already been five years now and how everything has -or hasn't- changed since 11-9-01. It's just unfathomable at times.

Nowadays I cannot fully believe the official story, though I've not been reeled in by any specific conspiracy theory yet. 'Loose Change' was aired here last Sunday and I saw most of it. As a historian I know how evidence can so easily be tempered with, especially eyewitness testimonies, therefore I hesitate to accept any of all those theories without further evidence. Checking it for myself is impossible though.

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

[Rose]

These stories are all great. Thanks for sharing guys (and girl). Were there any other New Yorkers there that day besides me? I seem to remember another New Yorker here at Subsim... Where is he?

[AG124]

It seems like ages ago, but I too can remember that day. I was still in my last year of high school and was just getting home for lunch (I think my last class had been Advanced Placement European History). When I came in through the door, my parents were in the living room watching the television and dinner was sitting uncooked in the kitchen (I don't even remember what it was). My dad told me that the World Trade Centre had been hit by aircraft and that thousands of people has been killed - I was stunned beyond belief and thought at first it had been only one plane and was an acident. Dad then told me that no, it had ben two planes and that it was terrorists. I couldn't even eat any dinner - I just sat in the living room and watched the TV throughout my entire lunch break. I don't remember either of the towers actually collapsing - I think that happened after Iwent back to school. I could see the bodies falling or jumping occasionally from the towers, although not very often - that was the worst part and it visibly upset other members of my family as well. I myself was completely stunned throughout the whole thing - not only by the scale of the death and destruction which was unfolding before my eyes but also because I was sure that society would change dramatically and not for the better. Luckly, western society has not become a police state or anything, and I don't think that it will now but such thoughts are understandable in a moment of crises. This is not the thread for such talk, however.

Anyway, I still had to go back to school that afternoon - I had never wanted to stay home from school so badly in my life but off I went. At school, there a nervous atmosphere amongst the student who had heard, but there were many who hadn't. I told some of my classmates - some looked shocked, some of the stupider ones seemed to think it was all a big joke. I don't think any of them really grasped what they heard. I still remember the reaction from my home-room teacher Mr. Greenland. I forget exactly what I told him, but it was something along the lines of "Terrorists just crashed four planes into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon and killed thousands of people." He looked at me very calmly and said "Oh Yeah?" He was never one to get excited about anything though.:roll: Not like my AP History teacher. He was more excited then I had ever seen him, although it wasn't a joyful excitement. He actually came and found me (I was his best student at the time) and said something along the lines of that we were living through a very important time in history, and that my generation was going to see huge changes - then he ran off to get back to the teacher's lounge which had a big-screen TV to which students like me had no access. The next day, he spoke in sombre tones aboutthe tradgedy that had happened, as well as discussing the historical significance - he also believed that George Bush was going to handle the situation very well and be remembered as one of the USA's greatest presidents although hehad never liked Bush.

That night I watched the events continuously without end until into the night - I remember Tower 7 collapsing earlier in the evening but it wasn't a good shot. What I also remember were the many shots of cheering muslm crowds burning US flags and celebrating all those deaths - I won't post what I thought (and think) of them because it wouldn't be politically correct to say the least. I heard many other vicious anti-muslim comments that day as well, although I won't go into further detail. Although we were Canadians, there was a sense of injustice, outrage, and sorrow anyway - I don't think that many civilized people could not feel that way over something such as this. No one I knew heard anything about al Quada or Osama bin Laden but it seems that there were rumours that they were muslims from Pakistan. I don't recall anyone locally celebrating the events, although one or two people at school said that the US had deserved it. I strongly disagree.:nope: I do recall hoping that the United states would find out which country had done this (in my mind at the time, some government somewhere was at least partially responsible) and crush them into rubble. I do think a little more rationally now, but I definitely agreed with (and still agree with) the war in Afghanistan.

After that time, people seemed to feel more sympathy for the US, even after the invasion of Iraq which not everyone agreed with (although actually, my home province of Newfoundland at least intially had an unusually high support rate for the war - 82% I think). Even to this day I can see many US flags flying alongside Canadian, Newfoundland, and [rare] British ones - they can now be bought at many stores, unlike before 9/11. "United We Stand" stickers became popular on car windows as well - they depicted a US flag and and Canadian one together. I have not seen as many of those since the Iraq war, but I think most people in this province and across Canada still would look down upon this cowardly and cruel act.

Anyway, I'll shut up now and let someone else post.

[Rose]

I remember Tower 7 collapsing earlier in the evening but it wasn't a good shot.

My mom is the one who did produced that shot.

[AG124]

Well, it was good considering the circumstances. Didn't mean to be rude or anything.

[Rose]

No no no I wasn't saying that :D . I was just making a reference to a comment I made in my initial post. Namely that my mom was down at the site doing live shots for months, and that was one of them. It's just cool for me that someone in Canada saw it... not "cool" under those circumstances of course. I wasn't implying that you were being rude at all, sorry if it came off that way.

[Yahoshua]

I was in HS at the time and I was walking to Math class. When I got in the room (it was room #10) Mr. Baker (yeah I still remember his name....strange) was on his laptop looking at the screen. He clicked on it continually, completely ignoring me which was unusual for him.

When I walked around to the side of his desk to see what he was looking at, he simply said "The WTC was attacked." He then shut the laptop, and he began, and finished class as normal.

The thoughts that ran through my head during that class are forgotten now, but my mind was moving at the speed of thought.

The whole school knew what had happened in the span of a half-hour. School ended as usual and when I arrived home I read up everything on the internet as I could. My first impression (after being told of us being attacked) was that we had failed ourselves and repeated history (Pearl Harbor). My next thought was who could've done this? I spent the next several hours watching as the second plane hit the the towers, watching the people jump, and watching the towers collapse. I don't remember how my other family members reacted.

I wasn't afraid of being attacked. I reasoned that the Japanese attacked all at once, and if this truly were a repeat of Pearl Harbor, then it would only happen once. And perhaps I was right. I then heard that the Pentagon was hit. I had passed by the Pentagon only a few months before during the Washington D.C. trip my class went on. When I re-digested my thoughts they came off as strange and foreign to me (btw I think WAY too much about little things).

When I had eventually learned that most of the hijackers were Arabs (and Saudi at that), I immediatly connected them with Islam. That the mentality of Islam is domination (I had purchased a 1992 printing of a translated Q'uran for a research project at school). My next thought was that we were at war, just like after Pearl Harbor. But when it dawned on me how may arabs there were in general population compared to the rest of the world, I realized that the war after Pearl Harbor would be insignificant in comparison.

[AG124]

No no no I wasn't saying that :D . I was just making a reference to a comment I made in my initial post. Namely that my mom was down at the site doing live shots for months, and that was one of them. It's just cool for me that someone in Canada saw it... not "cool" under those circumstances of course. I wasn't implying that you were being rude at all, sorry if it came off that way.
:up: Just making sure I didn't offend anyone myself, that's all.

[Fish]

I remember being at the university of Nijmegen for the day, although I cannot remember whether I was there to study or to follow a class.

Somwhere in the afternoon, probably around 15:00 hours, I was sitting in the computer room when a group of fellow historians-to-be entered and babbled about a plane in the WTC. We all crowded (about 4-5 of us) around a single computer and tried to find reels of the events in New york. We saw it, were awed and dismayed. We spoke about it loudly (which is not allowed), making rough guesstimates of the maximum possible number of casualties. Other people looked up at us but apparently we were amongst the few who really knew of the attack. Some must have been annoyed at our callous noise-making, but they learned our reasons when they got home later on. As we sat there, our eyes wide open, I was the first to mention Osama Ben Laden as a suspect, but we really weren't occupied with the perpetrators yet. The misery overwhelmed us all.
Didn't grasp it at first, but then I heard from the staff of the computer room that another plane was being monitored and possibly to be shot down by fighter jets. That's when I left the university and went home. I tried to do the normal routines and succeeded rather well since I had not been able to learn everything yet. That evening, at the karatedo training, my instructor spent a few moments on the attacks, asking the youngest participants (10-11 years) whether they had understood what was going on and whether they had heard of it at school. I remember everybody having their versions of the possible casualty rates, and what this would do to the world. All agreed that it would no longer be the same and I knew back then that I would always have some sharp memories of that day.

The strongest memories I have though, are really of the 12th. I woke up and turned the tv on. Eventually I got out to buy a newspaper (which I almost never do). The day was spent completely engrossed in watching tv and reading that paper. I was completely lost, unable to function properly. I distinctly remember shedding lots of tears back then, and whenever I invoke those memories, I find that a few well up in my eyes even now.

Having spent a day in solitude and sympathy, I got back into a normal routine the next day. When extraordinary disasters hit me, I usually grieve for a full day, as I for instance did when Dutch public figures Pim Fortuyn (06-05-02) and Theo van Gogh (02-11-04) were assassinated.
People were somewhat embarrassed to go back to work and tend to their own lives from 12 September onwards, but really, what else were we to do?

It's already been five years now and how everything has -or hasn't- changed since 11-9-01. It's just unfathomable at times.

Nowadays I cannot fully believe the official story, though I've not been reeled in by any specific conspiracy theory yet. 'Loose Change' was aired here last Sunday and I saw most of it. As a historian I know how evidence can so easily be tempered with, especially eyewitness testimonies, therefore I hesitate to accept any of all those theories without further evidence. Checking it for myself is impossible though.

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

He Eichenlaub what study did you do in Nijmegen, my oldest son studied there at the time, tandheelkunde.

PS: ahh.. I see, history.

[Eichenlaub]

Hi Fish,

History it is indeed! I must say though, tandheelkunde sure is a better bet financially!:cool: :o

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

[Fish]

Hi Fish,

History it is indeed! I must say though, tandheelkunde sure is a better bet financially!:cool: :o

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

Indeed. :yep:

[Wim Libaers]

I was reading a forum on the PC. News about the incident came more or less at the same time on that forum and from my dad who was watching it on TV (probably heard it on the radio first). Then the second plane came, then there was a report about the pentagon being under attack by one or more helicopters (leter replaced by another plane) and the crashed one.

I don't remember much specific things about what I was doing, and I can't say I was really shocked either. Interested and curious about the future, expecting some military action, but I don't remember feeling much. Perhaps I'm very insensitive, perhaps other people are overly sensitive, I don't know.

[Rose]

perhaps other people are overly sensitive, I don't know.

I'm not sure feeling extreme emotion after watching 3000 people die is overly sensetive.