9/11 - Where Were You?

I had been out all night with some buddies celebrating my 42th birthday at a strip club. I had fallen asleep on my sofa with the tv on and woke up to the news flash of the planes. I thought it was just a bad dream. I still wish it was.

We were on a long drawn out hostage situation. We had to kill the guy. By the time I was released from the scene, the attack was 10 hours old and I found out my two older brothers were killed in the attack. Went back in four days later. NEVER FORGET, NEVER FORGIVE

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That is awful, Idaho. I am 16 years late in my condolences, but consider them immediate.

Had my siblings been killed in such a horrific fashion by these scumbag losers, I canā€™t imagine how Iā€™d react. I hope I never have to find out.

I was studying for Pre-high school school exams (equivalent) at the time. I saw it on the news that night. The significance of what had happened didnā€™t hit for me for years afterwards (I was 9 at the time)

I was in the car wash when the first plane hit. Wife called and told me, I figured a commuter plane lost control and banged of the side of one of the towers. When I reattached my antenna and turned on the radio, then I got the picture as I drove frantic to work so I could get to my computer and find out more info.

9/11 wounded me for life. Emotionally. I didnā€™t lose anybody, had no personal effect, but it got to me. I love the U.S. more than I should. I have traveled a good part of the world and I love the U.S. most of all. My history dictates I should have grown up in Cuba. By a lucky stroke and some ballsy moves by my parents I ended up here. Thank God!

I hate the memorial ponds, I hate the gardens and I hate Freedom Tower. We should have rebuilt the towers as they were with and extra ten stories. To me thatā€™s the middle finger I wanted to send to the world.

For those that hate us, well that was their finest hour. They got us good. A part of me will never recover. The world changed after that, for the worse. That carefree globe-trotter that I was will never be possible again, not like it was. And for those too young to know the world before 9/11, it was something. We had problems of course, but the feel and atmosphere, the vibe was totally different. You young guys may never know a world without threat. For that small window in the '90s after the USSR fell, we had it. Should have known it wouldnā€™t last.

I had just finished arvo shift here and had just walked in home just before midnight, (Australia) and a mate was coming around with some weed when I turned on the TV and sat stunned watching the awful shit going on, the first plane had just hit. I sat there until about 6am, wondering what the hell is going on in the world!

At home in Edison, NJ. My consulting gig at Fleet Trading was cut in May, so I was out of work at the time.

I was listening to 660 AM out of NYC, turned on the TV after the first attack.

Was on the phone with my best friend out there who was working in the NY Life building when the first tower collapsed.

I interviewed at Cantor Fitzgerald the last week of August for a new job,

9/11/2001 was also my oldest sonā€™s 10th birthday.

Heā€™s now a sniper in Special Forces.

I was in a 5th grade class, didnā€™t find out til after school was out that day. My school did a very good job of keeping quiet about it

I was at work at Pearson Airport, Toronto essentially.

I was office staff at a company that ran food services in major airports, and started noticing people walking in saying stuff like, ā€œGod, did you hear what happened?ā€.

One of our food outlets had a large screen television and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority ordered us to shut it off because there were throngs of freaked out travellers watching it and they wanted to prevent a panic.

I was here in Taiwan and since Taiwan is 12 hours ahead the terrible events happened at night here and I was walking and drinking beer and got back to my place at about 11 PM, so it was 11 AM in New York and my roommates asked me as soon as I walked in if Iā€™d heard the news and I could hear that it was serious from their voices.

I remember CNN on the TV and the smoke was beige or sandy colored, because the towers had collapsed but they hadnā€™t started replaying the video of the second plane hitting or the collapsing towers yet, they were staying ā€œliveā€

I donā€™t actually remember the actual moment my roommates told me the towers were gone but I do recall my words: ā€œTheyā€™re fucking GONE?!ā€

I was in the Officers Mess in a miitary base somewhere in Asia. One by one the higher ranking officers trickled in over the hours since that was one of the few places with a TV there. Most were pissed and hurling expletives including the Commander. This fellow was a very highly educated high flyer who had attained the rank of general at the age of 36. This was not the way I had ever seen him behave. We stayed past midnight.

You guys need to remember that although the rest of the world really does occasionally get offended by certain things the USA does, those that value things like freedom feel that punch in the gut when shit like this happens to you. Some have, in the words of Geoffrey Robertson, lived without it long enough to fully appreciate it(or something like that).

Younger guys, please donā€™t become fucking socialists.

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I was on the trading floor. The currencies had opened but not the S&Ps. When the first plane hit the market tanked but nearly made it all the way back when we all, like TBolt, saw the second plane hit. One of my closest friends was on the phone with his customer whose office was in the WTC when the plane hit and heard all the screaming. The currencies and interest rates were closed within 45 minutes or so and the equities didnā€™t open again until Friday, iirc. I spent the rest of the day in a bar watching coverage.

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Love it. Thank him for me. And thanks to all of you who serve or served. I know itā€™s a pithy thing to just say thanks, but thatā€™s all I got from here.

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