In memory......9/11

I was in Oklahoma working on my flight training. I was working on my Commercial SEL. I was supposed to do a night cross country that day. I got a call from my instructor saying that my flight was canceled, and that all the planes had been grounded due to a terrorist attack. That's when I turned on the TV and saw what was going on. Shocked and horrified does not even begin to describe what I felt.
 
I was about to start my CFI Initial. I was going to be a CFI for about 6 months and then go to the airlines. Plans changed. Went to Spain for OEF. Went to Cyprus for OIF. Did some flying, but my dwindling military career suddenly took off. :(
 
I was 20 years old when it happened. I had only been living in San Diego for a year and I was living with my brother at the time. I was awaken by him at 6:00am or so. All he did was tell me to come to the living room to watch the news. My brother's mother-in-law was there visiting from Israel and she immediately thought it was Osama Bin Laden. That was the first time I had ever heard of him. I remember looking outside from our apartment at Interstate 15 to see that traffic was at a standstill... I'm assuming people were slowed down because of the tragic news they heard on the radio.

After 9/11, the entire country unfortunately turned into a culture of fear. We will never be the same again.
 
I was a sophmore in high school. Everyone in my house had left for work and I was going to school by myself. I didn't turn on the TV or radio and went to school as normal. As soon as I walked into first-period Biology, the TV was on and people were talking about it.

I remember the most, since I lived only 3 miles from Sea-Tac, the eerie sound of silence. I was so used to a jet taking off or landing every 3 minutes there. It was just weird. Every once in a while there was an F-18 or a C-130 flying around but it was just strange for a few days.
 
Senior year of High School for me. Friend of mine walked up and told me 'somebody's flying airplanes into buildings in NYC'... I called him an idiot and went to class, where CNN was on. I remember being so angry I was thinking about joining the military, the parents were very adamant on college however.

RIP and prayers for the families still dealing with this horrible act.
 
It was my junior year of college woke up and turn on the TV. Saw the first building then saw the second hit. I had a 9AM class and went expecting to talk about what was happening, it was a psych class. The teacher taught the entire class and a friend walked in late and told me the towers were gone! The teach did a small speech at the end of the class about what had happened. I didn't go to any classes later that day. I saw my wife walking around campus, she wasn't my wife at that point, and knew that she had friends in the DC area. Asked if everybody was ok and she said yes.

My college was under the approach path to STL and was so depressed that why I went to college just got grounded. I remember the days afterward where everybody slowed down and actually cared to get to their destination SAFELY.

In the days, weeks, and months afterward I remember flying and the radio being strangely quiet. Everybody returned to life and we sped up. Never Forget the fallen, Never Forget their sacrifice, Never Forget your freedom comes for a price.

To those who know somebody lost, to their families, friends, loved ones. I will never forget. I promise.
 
I was sitting at my desk (I was a commodities trader in my former life) on the 24th floor of an office building in downtown Nashville. The first AP blip came across my trading computer and I alerted the other guys around my desk. We didn't have a TV but we had the internet. Not long after that trading ceased and our boss sent us home to be with family. That night my then girlfriend (now wife) and I went up to a prominent hill in the area which overlooked the city. I remember looking up and commenting on the fact that not a single airplane light could be seen in the sky. It became very real at that moment.

On that day I was yet to fly as a student pilot. I think something about that event pushed me to pursue my dream which I started 6 months later. Everyone told me I was crazy and that 911 had killed the profession. I started anyway...so far so good.
 
I was 11 years old at the time. I remember that morning while going to school trying to think of a way to convince my parents to go see Air Force One at SRQ. I was too young at the time to comprehend the events of that day, it was simply too much. I would later do my flight training at the same school, and likely in the same aircraft that Muhamed Atta and the rest of the hijackers did theirs.

The hijackers lived in the same town I grew up in and I have driven past the house they rented more times than I can count. It angers me so much that these men lived amongst us so casually planning the attacks.

I don't really like talking about 9/11 because these men used aviation, something I love, as a weapon and a means to create the most horrific day in American history. It is a fact that I would rather forget.

I cannot even begin to contemplate what those involved went though that day. To start a day like any other and have it end in the way it did on 9/11, I simply cannot fathom. I prey for those who were lost, and who have lost on this day 8 years ago. May we never forget the loss of so many lives, the heroism, and the sacrifices made on that day.
 
I was 31 living in L.A. when it happened. I woke up an noticed a couple messages on my cell phone but didn't check right away. I was listening to Howard Stern on my way in to work and he was describing people running through the streets. At first I thought it was a gag but after finally listening to my voicemail realized what was going on. Needless to say when I got in to the office everyone had radios and TVs on. It's still surreal to me.
 
While surfing JC this morning, I noticed one JC'er just couldn't resist starting his own thread resurrecting the 9/11 conspiracy theory. Kudos to 2 mods who quickly responded and deleted it.

I'm reading where everyone was that day, I'm fascinated by everyone's recollections. I was 43 at the time and had just dropped my kids off at school. They were in 5th and 3rd grades respectfully. It's all pretty much a blur, but I remember driving to their school to get them and seeing the confusion and fear in their little faces when looking at all the parents who arrived in tears. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to explain what happened without traumatizing them? Probably the hardest thing I had to face with them. (Their grandmother--my mom--passed away 4 years ago, but she was terminally ill, so explaining that she died was emotional, but not shocking to them.)
When they returned to school, they were encouraged to draw pictures and I still have them saved. One of my twins, who was a 3rd grader, drew something that still gives me the creeps. It's of 2 tall buildings, a plane with faces in the windows with fire all around.

My sister in law, who worked on the 104th floor of the North Tower was running late that morning, so escaped death. She lost many friends and coworkers and has never really been the same.
 
I remember I woke up and turned on the TV and it took so long for it to sink in.
Mega kudos to mods for crushing conspiracy theory threads. Truthers are mentally ill.
 
I cant think of any other day where I can remember exactly where and what I was doing at one given moment. September 11th is still so vivid. RIP and never forget.
 
I was in third grade, and they didn't tell us what had happened. I remember watching the news at like 2pm when I got home, but I didn't understand the significance of what had happened.
 
Qgar said:
While surfing JC this morning, I noticed one JC'er just couldn't resist starting his own thread resurrecting the 9/11 conspiracy theory. Kudos to 2 mods who quickly responded and deleted it.

I'm reading where everyone was that day, I'm fascinated by everyone's recollections. I was 43 at the time and had just dropped my kids off at school. They were in 5th and 3rd grades respectfully. It's all pretty much a blur, but I remember driving to their school to get them and seeing the confusion and fear in their little faces when looking at all the parents who arrived in tears. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to explain what happened without traumatizing them? Probably the hardest thing I had to face with them. (Their grandmother--my mom--passed away 4 years ago, but she was terminally ill, so explaining that she died was emotional, but not shocking to them.)
When they returned to school, they were encouraged to draw pictures and I still have them saved. The one 3rd grader, Toni Ann, drew still gives me the creeps. It's of 2 tall buildings, a plane with faces in the windows with fire all around.

My sister in law, who worked on the 104th floor of the North Tower was running late that morning, so escaped death. She lost many friends and coworkers and has never really been the same.
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Reading that just gave me chills. :eek:

I was in downtown Chicago (Northwestern Med school--in the shadow of the Hancock Building). I was in the middle of an anatomy exam and didn't learn about the events unfolding until I was finished and headed into the student lounge where many classmates had gathered to around the TV. The second tower had collapsed shortly before I made it to the lounge; I asked a fellow student what was going on....and was in disbelief w/ the response I received. Once all had finished the exam, all remaining classes were cancelled and we were cut loose to watch in horror w/ the rest of the country.

Like CAV, it was not too long after this I actually learned to fly. And, a couple years later, decided it was the path I was meant to pursue. I left my previous career behind and haven't looked back since. Most people, esp. my family, thought I had lost my marbles to leave the medical field to pursue a career in the airlines......heh, they might have been on to something. :insane:
 
Qgar - Kudos to you for starting this thread... I find it fascinating how one day changed so many lives and how many different perspectives of this there are.
 
Alinator said:
I was working my way through college as a landscaper and was fertilizing a large church compound when this happened. I was living in Chicago and listening to a guy named Mancow on the radio. He was known for being a bit of a shock jock and pulling large-scale pranks in the Chicagoland area.

When I heard it on his show, I was EXTREMELY UPSET at him,I remember thinking, "you b-stard, you DO NOT joke about things like that!". I subsequently turned to AM radio and shortly thereafter confirmed it was not a joke. After maybe 10 minutes a bunch of cars started pulling up to the church, it was parents taking thier children out of the school that was there. Very surreal to me when it happened, and a horrible day which I will never forget.

Rest in peace to all the men and women who lost their lives.
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The weird thing is, that I could actually picture Mancow joking about something like that...

I was just leaving to 5th grade when it started showing up on TV. Of course my parents still made me go to school. :mad:
 
I was a junior FO at Gulfstream at the time, but working part time as a CPT instructor in the training department. That day was one of my days in the training department, but I didn't have to show until around noon, so I slept in.

I woke up just after the first plane hit, and walked into my small apartment living room and flipped on the TV. It was on MSNBC, but I didn't even notice what was going on and I walked into my kitchen to throw some poptarts into the toaster. I was hearing bits and pieces of something about a building on fire while I waited for the toaster, but I didn't think much of it. When I walked back into the living room and saw what was going on on TV, the reporter was talking about how they thought it was a small plane that hit by accident. Only a minute or two later, I watched as the second plane slammed into the tower, and it became abundantly clear that this was no accident. I got dressed and drove to the training center as quickly as I could. We didn't do any training that day, but I was glad to sit there and watch TV with my fellow pilots rather than sitting at my small apartment alone and watching it all unfold.

The craziest thing was laying in my bed for the next few nights, unable to get any sleep, and hearing military fighter aircraft flying over occasionally, but nothing else.

That day is still crystal clear in my mind. Feels like just yesterday, even though it's been so long now.
 
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