it was a crystal blue morning....

[RICHARD]

I was in bed and hit the button to get a few minutes of radio time.

I usually listened to Howard Stern and he was going on about about a plane and the WTC.

I jumped out of bed to go to my mom's house and watched one of the towers fall.

After I spoke to my mom, I went to work, looking for airplanes all the way there.

[catland]

We were having breakfast at a small restaurant north of Crater Lake. Being after Labor Day, we were the only two customers in the place. The day before, September 10th, we had taken the hike down the trail at Crater Lake to go on the boat tour on the lake from inside the extinct volcano. One of the boat tour guides mentioned that the walls of the caldera were taller than the tallest buildings in New York City.

The waiter at the restaurant told us - he said that a plane had hit the building. We both thought that some idiot in a 2-seater Cessna was to blame, so we kept eating our breakfast. We had to fetch our own coffee refill because he was in the other room. It was only when we paid our bill and looked at the TV that the horrible reality started to sink in. We went back to our motel room to pack, and that was when the first tower fell. I remember the newscaster saying "the building is gone", and the other newsperson asked for clarification - "do you mean the side of the building?" - and the first person said - "no, the building" - and that is when I realized that I had just watched thousands of people die.

It was a beautiful September day - just like today.

[Karen]

I was at work, and my boss had a small TV in his office. One of my coworkers came in the room, and told me a plane had hit the World Trade Tower in NYC, and to come see the TV, then we were watching, stunned, as the second plane hit, live. Not long afterwards, we heard about the other planes, and suddenly there were screams of anguish from the business below ours: the proprietor's boyfriend was on one of the flights from Boston that hit the WTC.

As LH has said, I called him, they hadn't had the news on.

The rest of the day was odd, and the skies overhead were utterly silent, for once, only broken by the occasional scream of fighter jets patrolling the airspace.

And that evening had already been scheduled the calling hours for a dear woman from our church who had succumbed to breast cancer, at far too young an age.

[finn's mom]

I was asleep in bed when the first plane hit and my brother woke me up and we watched the second plane hit together. It was surreal and it took me awhile to really grasp that it was actually happening. I worked really close to the DFW airport at the time and it was a strange strange day when I did go into work later that afternoon. I worked with a man whose mother worked at the Trade Center, I don't think I ever found out if she was there when the planes hit.

[RICHARD]

I slept with the TV on for days afterwards.

Like Karen said, the skies were so quiet. There are three airports within 8 miles of my house, and there is ALWAYS some kind of plane traffic moving around.

The sound of fighter jets did make me stop and look up, strange to hear war planes buzzing overhead.

[blue]

The first plane hit either before or on my way to work. Didnt have a radio in my Samurai, it was stolen a few days before. First thing I heard when I got to work was some jackhole flew a plane ito the WTC. We all thought it was a small plane like a 2 seater Cessna, my brother in Chicago thought the same thing. Heard the news about the second plane live while driving to the job site. I was wiring by myself so I kept the radio tuned to the AM news all day and kept the radio close. The plumbing crew a few sites down were just sitting on buckets in the garage around their radio.

Im glad I only listened to the radio all day, my brother sat glued infront of the cable news all day.

The local station played parts of Bush's speech today, that brought on an 8 year old flashback.

Obama's sauce was weak with his speech today.

[kuhio98]

It was very early in the morning here in Alaska. I was scheduled to fly to work that day. After watching the coverage, it became evident that no planes would be flying that day -- or for quite some time.

I was home safe and sound with my loved ones, but I ached for those who didn't know where their family members were.

When air travel was available and I flew back to work, a monument wall with photos of the heros on United Flight 93 were posted. We stood there and read the bios. We even memorized the names. Sadly, I realize that I have forgotten most of them. But, I will never forget Todd Beamer's cry of "Let's roll!" Their efforts saved untold lives in Washington DC.

http://www.unitedheroes.com/whotheywere.html

[DJFyrewolf36]

I was still in school...I remember waking up for class and my mom telling me to look at the news. I ended up seeing the second plane hit the WTC. I remeber gaining a lot more respect for one of the Sacremento morning radio shows for the excellent coverage they did. I drove about 40 miles one way to the school and was impressed at the respect the radio people showed, and the respect of the people that called in.
At the school, classes were for the most part canceled. I sat in the business media classroom and watched the news. Im shocked as much at the whole thing now as I was 8 years ago.

[sirrahbed]

I had left at dawn that morning on a bus tour into Amish country (thus no electricity, no media) so was totally unaware of any of the events of the day until the bus was returning us to town near dusk that evening - we noticed lines at gas stations and a sudden increase in traffic. I could feel an ominous dread and gooseflesh rose on my skin. The friend I was touring with turned on her cell phone for the first time that day and checked in to her work (she is a banker) and had a message that told her she must attend to business ASAP. A few minutes later we had to take a detour to get back to where our bus left because the airforce base where we live near had been closed to traffic. I then knew something potentially global in scope had occurred...My husband picked me up and told me about what all had happened on the ride home. He had spent the day glued to the television. I had to view everything many hours later but the shock is still easy to recall. Because September 11 is also the birthdate of my first son 31 years ago - his birthday has a different *feel* to it now. Part of me secretly wishes I could permanently return to Amish country....

[Medusa]

I had my house cleaning business at that time and I was cleaning a client's house when her doorbell rang. I never answered doors or phones while working but this person was persistent, going from front to side to back door repeatedly and I finally answered and said "The lady of the house isn't at home". He said in an agitated voice "We're under attack! Can I come in and watch the TV?" I said "No, you cannot". Then he said "Well then turn on the TV if you don't believe me!" He didn't mention the Twin Towers but he did say "I'm their mailman" but he wasn't in uniform so, frankly, I thought he was a nut. I immediately called my client at work to tell her about this guy and she said "Mary, I know you don't turn on the TV or radio while you work but turn it on now. We are under attack" and she explained what happened. I had a tough time finishing my work that day.

[kitten645]

I had flown from Milan to SF via JFK on a red eye hours before the attack happened. I'm a native NYer and lamented not being able to spend a few days there. I got home in the wee hours so I called and left a voicemail for my boss that I would be in late to get some sleep. I got a couple of hours sleep and turned on the TV. It took me quite a while to wrap my head around what was happening. It seemed utterly IMPOSSIBLE that FOUR jets where hijacked and two crashed into MY CITY? When I finally realized, I called my family to let them know I was home and safe.
I got a chance to go to NY at the end of Oct that same year. We went down to ground zero on our way to the airport to go home. I had a friend that lived the American dream. He immigrated from Italy and worked at my favorite restaurant as a bus boy. Every year we'd make our annual business trip to NY and dine there. We watched him work his way up to maitre'd then he disappeared. We were told he had opened a restaurant of his own but no details. As we walked around the area around ground zero, we saw a restaurant called Rocko's...my friends name! Could it be? It was closed and still had inches of soot and dust on everything. We peered thru the window and who did we see? ROCKO! He opened the door for us and poured us some wine and told us how lucky he was to be alive and his place standing..dirty but standing. He was prouder than ever to be an American. It gave me renewed hope that there is goodness in this world.

[smokey the elder]

I remember being in front of my building at work talking with someone and seeing a plane fly by. We're not too far from the White Plains airport, but it was going south.

I went inside and someone said an airplane had hit the WTC. Thinking of the plane that had hit the Empire State Building a long time ago in the fog, I said, "In this weather?" Then a few minutes later the second plane hit. My SO worked late so was in bed; I called and left a message on the answering machine that he said later was so garbled...he said all he could make out was "terrorist attack", "WTC" and "We're probably at war with someone right now".

I think the plane that flew over was the one that hit the North Tower; the flight path shown later was consistent with that. I always wonder if it would have been worth the effort to call someone, but I wasn't aware at the time that that was an unusual flight path.

[RICHARD]

I think the plane that flew over was the one that hit the North Tower; the flight path shown later was consistent with that. I always wonder if it would have been worth the effort to call someone, but I wasn't aware at the time that that was an unusual flight path.

Wow, that is really crazy.

Because I am an airplane freak, any irregular plane noise makes me run out of the house and look. Years ago I was in my house and I heard a large jet passing very low over the airport that is two blocks away.

Turns out that he had mistaken the small AP for Burbank/Bob Hope AP -which is about 4-5 miles away and almost oriented in the same way.

The plane that hit the ESB was a military bomber, I remember reading about it in a book...

I can't help but think about where the idea of crashing planes into building came from. Dale Brown and Tom Clancy both wrote books with plots involving nut cases doing the same.

I cringe when I think about how many other literary 'twists' people will think about and use in a terrorist attack.

[cassiesmom]

I'd started a new job the previous week. I was getting ready to go for training at the home of a telecommuter co-worker. First day at her house and I was nervous because I'd never met her and the managers told me that her Great Dane was a big softie, not to worry. I just remember Katie Couric on the Today Show saying it was very unclear what a commercial airliner was doing so close to the NYC skyscrapers (that was after the first one hit, and if I remember correctly, they thought it was some sort of pilot error). One of the part-time pastors at my church was on the Boston to L.A. plane, so there was a prayer service at church the very next evening.

The fire station by my work has rows and rows of small American flags on their front lawn.