Where Were You On 9/11?

[Ptarmigan]

Where were you on 9/11?

[HURAKAN]

9th grade, science class going to PE. The science teacher had the TV on and we were watching the "accident" that had occurred. At the moment it was believed to be an accident. Then when I was in PE, someone came out and called everyone inside the school because the USA was being attacked. Parents started taking their kids out of school but I stayed until it was time to go home. I believe there were no classes that day after the attacks were known because everyone was on high alert. Very sad day.

Time flies.

[Cryomaniac]

I was 15 and in a biology class, supposedly learning about teeth. Our teacher told us what had happened, and let us talk about it a bit before trying to get on with the lesson. Not surprisingly not much work got done. I remember one guy shouting out "I bet it was the f-ing Arabs" and only being told to calm down by the teacher, which was when I knew it was pretty serious.

[vbhoutex]

When I heard about it I was on my way to work. I stayed in touch with several different people the rest of the day via internet. I also called my wife and told her it looked like we were under attack. I called my Mom in Florida too and told her what I saw and thought. Since she was a mile from the gates at Eglin AFB she knew that they were already on lock down etc. I could go on and on, but besides realizing that the US really was vulnerable to attack one other thing that hit me real hard was the fact that in a way this was a repeat of history. Our children were losing the innocence of not being at war and all that goes with it. That really hit me hard. As for many, this is one of those events in your life that you mark and never forget. It is right up there with JFK's assassination and the Challenger and Columbia tragedies. My flag is flying today. Is yours?

[CajunMama]

I was in my car on the way to work. I remember the dj thought it was just an accident at that time.

[breeze]

I was at work in a meeting and could tell that something was going on by the serious looks
and whispering of the administrative personnel, but I thought it was something related to
the hospital. It was on the tv in our department when I came out of the meeting - we were
just glued to the tv in shock and disbelief.

[Gustywind]

I was listening the radio then suddently the reports said that they have a special update...and then i heard that US was experiencing the nasty should i say mad assaults of Al Quaida and co.

I have a special thoughts for you my friends.

Regards
Gustywind

[O Town]

I was dropping off my then 4 YO twins to daycare and they had it on the t.v. there. Only one building had been flown into at the time, I guess it happened when I was on my way there, and no one was sure yet what or why it had happened. I came home and was glued to the t.v. for the next 3days.

[StormingB81]

I was at Marine Corps boot camp! You know what was on my mind when they told us what happend!!!

[george_r_1961]

Was at my previous job as a cook in an Italian restaurant. One of the owners came running in yelling that NYC was under attack and to turn on the TV. By this time both towers had been hit.

Then we heard the Pentagon had been hit.

Our usual lunch crowd of shipyard workers and police officers didnt materialize that day. A little before 6 the owner told us to clean up as quickly as possible and go home.

[Ptarmigan]

I woke up that morning and a friend told me two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center and one of them collapsed. I had class that day. Afterwards, I was glued to the TV for the next 5 days.

[RL3AO]

6th grade. First heard about it in social studies. The first tower had collapsed already. Then someone at the top decided kids in middle school shouldn't watch it and teachers wouldn't mention it the rest of the day. I didn't find about the pentagon until after school.

[srainhoutx]

I was having coffee in the Lower Keys near Boca Chica NAS watching CNN. Called family in Houston and watched the second plane hit. I knew what fate was ahead for the firefighters, and still sends chills in my viens. The sound of F-16's scrambling and later silence of all air traffic stopped in a "tourist area" was deafening. I flew to the West Coast 8 days later on 777 from MIA to LAX with 48 passengers.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

We had just gotten out of bed and for some reason turned the t.v. on right away that morning. My husband yelled at me to come look......the one tower had been hit and while we were watching the 2nd plane slammed into the other one.

I remember watching with total horror/disbelief when they collapsed. I had that morning off and I remember phoning my father. He, of course, was also shocked and then he informed me how many people could have been trapped in the buildings......thankfully they were hit too early in the day and he was wrong (sadly the loss of life was still too high).

I live on the unpopulated prairies and there is a Canadian Air Force training base nearby (home of the Canadian Snowbirds). Strange as it may sound we have more jets (albeit smaller ones) taking off and landing there then the major airports in Toronto/Montreal/etc. What still sticks in my mind was the unimaginable silence when all the jets were grounded.

I also remember the reports of how many Americans became guests of Canada when the planes they were on were grounded on Canadian soil (mainly the Maritimes, but also Alberta and Vancouver). The people of the Maritimes/Newfoundland especially really rose to the occasion by opening their homes and making their guests darkest hours more bearable (there was a sudden influx 10s of thousands of frightened and angry passengers when flights over the U.S. and Canada were banned ......populations of some of those communities doubled or tripled in a very, very, very short time). When the planes were allowed to continue on it was quite an uplifting scene seeing how close so many had become.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

One of the few "feel good" stories I remember coming out of the horror of 9/11

Gander area ambivalent about 9/11 anniversary
Last Updated: Monday, September 11, 2006 | 9:09 AM NT
CBC News

Five years after the Sept. 11 attacks shut down U.S. airspace and sent thousands of unexpected visitors to central Newfoundland, residents in the Gander area have mixed feelings about celebrating the anniversary.

While hundreds of homes in the Gander area took in stranded travellers in the wake of the co-ordinated attacks, community leaders say they struggle with the need to keep the occasion solemn, and the feeling that one of the most important events in the area's history should somehow be recognized.

"I don't know if we should celebrate. It's not something that you celebrate," said Lloyd Noseworthy, mayor of Gambo, a community about 45 kilometres away from Gander.

"But we certainly should probably honour it, you know — give it some sort of distinction."

On Sept. 11, 2001, dozens of flights were quickly directed to 15 Canadian airports, most of them in Atlantic Canada, when authorities shut down airspace.


Of the 40,000 international travellers that were diverted to Canadian airports, about 6,600 of them landed at Gander, a town of about 9,500 residents.

On the first anniversary, the event was marked solemnly, with then prime minister Jean Chrétien leading a delegation to Gander.

Since then, local communities have marked the anniversary in a low-key way.

In fact, no official activities were planned for Gander this year until the town learned that David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, was visiting this week. An ecumenical service is planned for Wednesday.

"Most people said: 'I did it. I did it out of the goodness of my heart. I did it to volunteer, to make those people comfortable. I've done my job, they're gone now — that's all. I'm here if you need me again,' " said Gander Mayor Claude Elliott.

Though not a large town, Gander has an airport that large cities would envy. It was built during the Second World War, and — until the advent of jet engines — was a fuelling stop for countless flights.

With enough tarmac to accommodate the 39 jets that landed, Gander's crew had to hustle as the horror of the day's events unfolded.

"We literally had to drain the sky in a short time," Gander air traffic controller Don O'Brien recalled Monday.

"We did our part … [but] we really didn't know how much more of this evil was going to unfold," O'Brien told CBC News. "It was unprecedented, and it probably will never happen again — hopefully not."

To accommodate the passengers, Gander called upon schools, churches, homeowners and especially neighbouring communities to provide shelter for its unexpected visitors.

Over the week that followed — until airspace was reopened and travellers could rebook new flights — friendships were forged that became the stuff of legend.

In Lewisporte, for instance, a fund created by Ohio native Shirley Brooks-Jones has provided scholarships for graduating high school students.

"Each year, I just have to come back to Lewisporte because had it not been for the people of Newfoundland, I don't know what we would have done," said Brooks-Jones, who has raised more than $800,000 in cash and pledges.

"The people there are such wonderful, kind people. I don't ever want to forget them."

Jim DeFede, a Miami-based author, wrote the bestseller The Day The World Came To Town about Gander's Sept. 11 experiences.

"It's a sad anniversary but it doesn't necessarily have to be a completely sad anniversary, when you keep in mind all the wonderful things that happened because of 9/11 and surrounding 9/11," DeFede said.

"It's a mixed-feeling day."

Appleton, a village of about 575 residents near Gander, will mark the Sept. 11 anniversary this year with a quiet service at a peace park that was built in part with donations from grateful passengers.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-l ... r-911.html

[DanKellFla]

I was at my desk at work. At that time, I was working on Large Military Engines. The facility was locked down by 10 or so. If you weren't at work by then, you were taking the day off. We had a super fast internet connection for the time, and I remember that CNN.com had a very simple message about the attacks and that the servers had crashed. We got updates from friends who were at home.

My parents ended up in Gander for a few days. They said everybody was wonderful.

[Dionne]

I was en route to JFK with an intermediate stop in Chicago. We landed in Covington, Kentucky. I have flown a lot over the years. Our descent into CVG was rapid, the pilots took us down fast. The only announcement was that the FAA had instructed us to land immediately.

I never did make it to NYC on that particular work trip. Ended up renting a car and driving home.

When working in the NY metro area I attend church at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs. We lost 8 people from our congregation that worked in the towers.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

Dionne said: The only announcement was that the FAA had instructed us to land immediately.

I'm positive that's why so many that landed in Newfoundland were so upset (some also had to stay on the planes for an awful long time.

I'm at work and I see, at the library's website, one book is available to rent (I'll be checking it out today):

The day the world came to town : 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland /
by DeFede, Jim.
Regan Books, c2002.
Subjects September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001.

Air travel -- Newfoundland and Labrador -- Gander.

Aeronautics, Commercial -- Newfoundland and Labrador -- Gander -- Passenger traffic.

Gander (Nfld.) -- History -- 21st century.

ISBN: 0060513608

Description: x, 244 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.

Edition: 1st ed.

No. of Holds: 0
Location Collection Call No. Status
Moose Jaw Public Library ADULT NONFICTION 971.8 Def checked In

[southerngale]

I was at my sister's house. She saw it and then came and told me a plane had hit the WTC. Only one had hit at that point. We watched the other one hit on live TV. I remember Jon Scot on Fox News saying Osama bin laden's name a few seconds after the second plane hit. That day was such a surreal, creepy feeling that will never be matched. I will never feel the kind of shock that I felt that day. Just naive, I guess. We were emotional wrecks. I didn't record any of it and later bought a video on Ebay of the breaking news and first 2 hours of coverage on Fox News. We watched it yesterday, along with some of the coverage on the news yesterday... it was very emotional. I cried several times throughout the day.

God bless our men and women out there fighting for our freedom!

[lester]

I was at home (school was closed for a different reason) when my step-sister woke me up and told me to turn on the TV and..there it was