9 years

Me too. Was a 737-300 FO enroute ABE to MCO and less than a month from getting married.

Will never forget that day or the week that followed.
 
I was in grad school, taking an anatomy final exam...in downtown Chicago. It was a very strange mood in the city. Many people thought other high-rise buildings would also be targeted. Our school was in the shadow of the Hancock Building and all classes were cancelled for the remainder of the day (many businesses closed as well). Most students gathered at various friend's rooms and watched the news/ events unfold with the rest of the world. :(

Never forgotten!
 
I was a freshmen in high school. 9/11 is still a very vivid day for me and always will be. RIP to the victims of that horrific day.
 
I was in high school. I first found out what was happening at swim practice. I first thought was it was General Aviation related. It wasn't long after that that I saw the first videos. It's truly a day I won't ever forget.
 
My FB status: "‎9 years ago today I lost everything. But in losing "everything", I found so much I never knew I didn't have! One word: Forward. Don't dwell in the past and the what ifs. Keep moving.. forward."

Forward.

My 9/11 story is somewhere here. If you really want to read it, do a search for previous years' 9/11 memorial threads, it's there somewhere.
 
I was a freshman in HS just starting to figure out how I could break into the aviation field. I even remember the class room I was in, they turned the TV on and I saw the second plane hit. Truly something I will never forget! And we will never forget!
 
I was a freshman in college at Jacksonville University. My first training flight had taken place the morning before (9/10/01...still an eerie feeling to this day).

I have friends that were on their first training flights that very morning.

I was sitting in Private Pilot Ground when one of our professors, a retired Navy A-4 pilot, came in and said through tears "Y'all go watch the news, call your family and remember where you were on this day."
 
I wrote this on the fifth anniversary:

I was sleeping when the alarm clock went off. My local morning DJ who is usually funny says ".... this will be like asking 'Where were you when Kennedy was assassinated?'"

Odd... I hit the alarm shutoff, roll out of bed and head to the computer, my normal source of news.

CNN, down. Google, down. Yahoo, down....

very VERY odd.

www.fark.com, of all places, is up...

As it loads my blood runs cold, as I slept the world has fallen apart around me. Four airplanes? The world trade center? The Pentagon? All aircraft grounded? What the hell is going on here?

I look at the clock, 9:30am pacific time.

I wake my roommate because we have class together at 10:00 and I wake my fiancee and tell her what's going on... she doesn't say much.

What do we do? stay home? go to class? We decide we can't do much by staying at home except watch the horror over and over again so we head for class. We need contact, confirmation that we aren't dreaming. Once we get there the instructor gives a short speech which I can't remember, and sends us home. The campus is being evacuated.

I drive to the airport, I sit, I watch.

Nothing happens. No one moves. It's like a moment frozen in time.

I call my mom and dad and tell them I love them.

My house sits on a 4 mile final for 30 at SJC. A few days later when the first airplane flew over the sound was deafening.... it was amazing how fast I had gotten used to not hearing the steady stream of airplanes, though it's a sound I love.
 
I was a freshmen in high school. 9/11 is still a very vivid day for me and always will be. RIP to the victims of that horrific day.

My freshman year too. My dad was on his way back from GDL as a 727-200 Captain when they shut the NAS down. We couldn't get a hold of him until much much later in the day, although Delta advised us around noon (I think) that all aircraft, aircrew and passengers were present and accounted for.

I think a lot of us did a lot of growing up that day — it is, to me, a reminder that what we do is very special and to cherish our liberties.

The local airport was silent, and I still remember the ATIS advertising the ground stop.
 
I was working on my farm in Ontario, Canada. I had a radio in my shop. At first I thought I was listening to a movie trailer and then I realised it was actually happening. Ran to the house and switched on the TV - wife and I watched in stunned disbelief. When the second plane hit I began to cry. I knew the world had changed forever.

I had never even thought of being a pilot at that point - flying didn't come along until '03 for me.

I still remember how quiet it was for days afterward - we were used to seeing and hearing planes flying overhead as they flew North before turning East to cross the Atlantic - that deathly silence was the worst thing I ever heard.

Bp244
 
My FB status: "‎9 years ago today I lost everything. But in losing "everything", I found so much I never knew I didn't have! One word: Forward. Don't dwell in the past and the what ifs. Keep moving.. forward."

Forward.

My 9/11 story is somewhere here. If you really want to read it, do a search for previous years' 9/11 memorial threads, it's there somewhere.

Absolutely agree!

We should always honor the memories of those who died on 9/11/01. However, that doesn't mean that we should shut down our lives each and every year, walking around somber and sad. No, we need to do the complete opposite: Live our lives. I'm certain those terrorist bastards absolutely love that we sit here and sulk each and every 9/11; after all, we're doing their jobs for them.

Get out there today and have a BBQ, go hang out with friends, hell, throw a party. Honor the victims by celebrating their memories, not sitting in front of the TV watching hours and hours of 9/11 footage, or typing out sad posts on the internet about where you were. Like MQAAord said: Move forward.
 
I was in 6th grade living in the Philippines. I was on the phone with my dad who was in Los Angeles. We were both watching CNN and saw the 2nd plane hit and at the same time, being 3000 miles apart, uttered "oh, shoot " at the same time.
 
I was in my second year of High School. What I remember most during that day was that when I woke up that morning, I heard a radio DJ say that that day would be Emergency Awareness day. He went on to say that in case of medical emergencies that seniors are urged to call 911.

Later on that day, right after the principal made the announcement that the WTC had been hit, I recalled that radio program and couldn't shake off the irony.
 
I was in 5th grade on 9/11. IIRC, I learned that one of the students at my elementary school died in the collapse of the WTC.
 
There Are No Words

there are no words there is no song
there is no balm that can heal these wounds that will last a lifetime long
and when the stars have burned to dust
hand in hand we still will stand because we must

in one single hour in one single day
we were changed forever something taken away
and there is no fire that can melt this heavy stone
that can bring back the voices or the spirits of our own

all the brothers all the lovers all the friends that are gone
all the chairs that will be empty in the lives that will go on
can we ever forgive though we never will forget
can we believe in the milk of human goodness yet

we were forged in freedom we were born in liberty
we came here to stop the twisted arrows cast by tyranny
and we won't bow down we are strong of heart
we are a chain together that won't be pulled apart


 
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