I was on a semi vacation from work. Had booked a hotel room in Bossier City Louisiana while I visited a few casinos in the area back in my wilder days.
I woke up to the various news channels, as I always did...and watched the attacks play out live.
Sometime during the morning, the hotel maid came to clean the room and I let her in and we both watched for about 15 minutes...astounded at what had happened.
I remember the U.S. air space being closed...and sometime thereafter hearing a jet fly over my hotel room. Maybe a half hour or hour after....not sure of the time frame...President Bush made comments from Barksdale Air Force Base.
A little while later, it hit me that the jet I heard flying over earlier had to have been Air Force One.
Such a surreal day.
Where were you?

Was at work with a manufacturing company. At the time I worked in IT and setup a live TV feed in the lunch room so workers could see what was happening and being said. Then the second plane hit... couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Was very grateful my prodigal stepson had returned home the day before...

Those words.....a moment I think we can all say we really knew what was happening then.
Thanks for sharing 2email.

U.S. Army 1st Cav, training.

G.C.

Btw, do you remember how you got the news? The reason I ask is that I remember a Marine Corps documentary type show on Discovery several years later. It was about a tank school and, with cameras running, the instructors pulled the students aside and explained what was going on.

I'm retiring for the evening....I've seen similar threads like this throughout the years all over the internet and I find it fascinating.

I look forward to reading any and all responses from all over the world on your experiences.

Good night all

#NeverForget

I'm not a hero. I followed orders and did my job to the best of my abilities.

My bad....I probably wasn't clear....Just was a thank you for contributing to this thread....hero or not

Similar, no cameras, got to the t.v. between strikes, no explantation no words no gasps nothing until afternoon. It wasn't silence the sound was on but nobody talked. A few people would leave or enter the room you just felt it. Even those heavy full leather basic issue boots made no sound. After a lunch nobody wanted to eat we went back to the b's on lockdown until further notice. Complete literal lockdown. Further notice was dinner, breakfast, lunch. For two days they'd come by and see if anybody was ill or had family in N.Y. drop off toiletries if anyone needed them.

Np. This changed everybodys lives and we need to realize it. The documentaries are hard to watch for many people but it's something we need to do. Not only to honor the fallen but to understand our world and our current situation in regards to this event and others. Some people get choked up or feel the need to turn away, but as long as you turn away history is going to keep repeating itself. 15 years, almost 4 full presidential terms and we are still... engaging. 5 w's are what it's going to take to cure this, not M.D.'s.

Lived in the Bahamas at the time!
Slept late,but my TV was on!
When I woke up,I thought I had entered the Twilight-Zone!
When I was fully awake,for a moment I thought some Idiot had repeated Orson Welles' Stunt,but it didn't take long to realize that this time it was real!

I got up for work that day I was working the second shift and on Cnn I saw the planes hit the towers and I thought it was a movie review because I was still half asleep but later I realized what was going on and went from sadness to anger.Those horrible events that transpired that day changed my views on the world and watching all those heroes that paid with their lives was also a lesson on how people step up when evil knocks on the door. God Bless all the victims and survivors as well.

Here in the Netherlands ... I was in a shop in town and heard something about it on the news. I was shocked and rushed home on my bicycle, switched on the telly and saw the second plane hit.
Got on the phone with my husband, telling him about what was going on and what I was watching on telly. Even though I'm not American, but Dutch, I was deeply shocked and upset. Even now brings tears to my eyes, quite sure I cried then too. Black day in history.

Well, now thanks to the patriot act passed 45 days after 9/11/01 we get to hear the two way pager messages sent and recieved during the attack itself. DURING the attack, yes, it's not a typo.

Watch the damn documentaries. 15 Septembers later on the history channel.

Think about how long it takes to draft, edit, finalize, present, argue, litigate, vote and pass such a bill into law as the patriot act. 45 days, passed into law. We know for a fact that congress was quite busy doing other things during this time, but 45 calendar days puts this in November of 2001. So it's being utilized in a very specific time and place before the legislation has even been proposed, let alone the extensive process necessary to take an unthough idea from bill draft to passed law. Nevermind that there is no system in place to do this.

Don't take my word for it, watch it, dvr, pay attention and see and hear it for yourself.
Wouldn't congress need to vote in another committee to fund the bill's resources? Wouldn't it take time to set that up? Even IF it didn't, even if the bill and the equipment was just rolled out once the bill was passed, say into the first week of December since 45 calendar days puts the bill's passage around thanksgiving, how could they possibly use the equipment to capture the text messages from the day that prompted the proposal of the damn bill?

I was in the process of moving. I feel asleep on the sofa. And woke to hearing  a neighbor, a Vietnam veteran, saying "Wake up soldier, put your boots on, we are at war".

I will never forget his voice, the seriousness in his tone, the stone look on his face, his whole demeanor changed.

 And so did mine..... forever.




Still have boots.
#NeverForget

I was on my way to work in the car, listening to it on the radio.

Couldn't believe my ears and drove back home instead of work to watch the news live on the TV.

Was home on leave, TV on and doing stuff, I thought 'why are they showing a movie like this at this time of day' it was about 1pm here, give or take.

Found it hard to believe, bless them all and thier families.

I was on my way to work when the first announcement came across... just a few minutes from work.. Had to pull over for just a few to get my bearings about me of what they were saying.. Then drove the rest of the way.. As soon as I got to work I turned on the tv and was glued to it the rest of the morning.. Not believing what had just happened...

I live a short distance from the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth back then it was known as Carswell Airforce Base. I remember for several days on end you could hear the planes starting up ect at times it rattled my windows due to so many of them starting up...

To this day when I hear those planes start up like that it is normally cause something is going on..

9/11 is a day that is etched within my mind and one day I will never forget

Great posts folks. One of those days in life we can remember exactly what we were doing.
And non-Americans, especially love hearing those stories

Keep em coming.