We were in Interlocken, Switzerland having lunch when the waiter came to our table to tell us what he heard on the news.

We were off to Lucerne for the night and couldn't wait to get to a tv to see the news. We got the message even if it wasn't in English.

The next morning the plaza was full of American flags draped in black.

It took us four days to get out of Frankfurt to Newark. Upon landing we could still see the smoke from the site. Things were very quiet on the airplane!

Do we have to face something similar from ISIS? 

I had dropped my son off at school and was home getting ready to leave for class in Huntsville. I was watching the Today show when the second plane hit. I called my dad at work to let him know. I stayed glued to the tv in shock. I picked my son up early from school to have him close.
I remember the confusion, the fear, the speculation. 9/11 is my generation's Kennedy assassination. 

In Cincinnati on the phone with my business partner.
My dh was picking up a co-worker from the airport- that poor man had flown from Newark and was at the gate next to United Flight 93- he was really shaken up.
School was released early and my kids got pretty upset when fighter jets from Wright Patterson AFB took to the skies. They were escorting Air Force 1. My sister worked in Dayton and saw Air Force 1 flying over her store- I belie it had stopped at Wright Patt before heading home. Poor dh and his co worker travelled that entire week- business still had to be conducted and his co worker couldn't get back to Newark. It's interesting to read everyone's stories. 9/11 makes the 3rd time in my life where time stopped and everyone remembers exactly what they were doing at the moment- President Kennedy's assassination, the space shuttle blowing up and 9/11. 

Sitting on the metro bus, hearing a woman on the phone crying, thinking her life had perhaps fallen apart. Feeling sorry for her but had no idea.

Walked into the office, somber looks everywhere, quiet whispers. Was brought into a conference room and the situation was discussed.

Tried to find something I could do, because I worked at a place that was involved in a way.

An hour later most of us were told to leave, that Houston was under threat for a strike. There was an event at IAH that I believe is still not publicly known.

I don't know what it was like for those that lived through the JFK assassination, pearl harbor, or other traumatic national events. But I do know that I was changed.

My naivety stripped away. Lost a part of myself in the shock of it all. Wanted vengeance and wanted us to unleash hell. But in the end, it doesn't heal wounds nor bring any kind of peace. It never does. 

The ghettos of Cabrillo Heights military housing.
Took me hours to get into work - snipers everywhere, extensive vehicle searches.
I was the NAVCOMTELSTA SD plant property manager so was sent home for a few weeks. 

On a plane from Houston to San Francisco 

We lived outside of Boston at the time. I was at home, pregnant with my 3rd child, and my husband had just dropped off our oldest at school. We had the Today show on and the first plane had just hit....they didn't know if it was a small plane or what had happened and while they were speculating, you saw the second plane hit, live on tv! It was surreal.

We found out later that the husband of one my husband's friends was on the first plane. That really made it personal. It was a horrible time. Very scary and not sure if Boston would be targeted. I will never forget that day. 

I was watching Good Morning America. They cut a live picture of the towers. Saw the second plane hit. I instantly knew that this would change our freedom and our way of life. Forever.

I called a friend that had recently toured the World Trade center and told him what was happening and that one of the buildings had completely come down. He couldn't comprehend what I was telling him and got angry at me for even suggesting that it was even possible.

The remember going outside. There were no clouds, or planes in the sky and it was eerily quiet. I thought to myself how in the world could this happen on such a beautiful day. 

At Kingwood College in nursing class. The instructors turned on the TV so we could all watch it together. We were sent home to be with our families. 

On a plane from Houston to San Francisco?

That would be unnerving. How did you get back?

Took my boss 4 days to return from LA. 

Working at Enron. 

I was at home, had one dropped off at MDO, a baby at home and pregnant with number three. I don't remember exactly how I learned the news. It may have been a call from DH or news from a neighbor. I turned on the tv right away and saw the second tower hit and was numb. I remember just sitting on the couch watching all day thinking what kind of world am I bringing another kid into? I watched for days hopping someone would be pulled out alive. Just reading this thread brings back strong feelings and tears. 

I was at work. Right behind IAH. Got breaking news emails and turned to the internet. Went outside and saw airplane stacked over IAH waiting to land due to the ground stop. Unreal. 

Configuring a group of Dell Optiplex servers for a new Novell install. 

We were living overseas. 

i was working at the Marriott. Someone came upstairs to my office and said something about a plane going into the first tower. so i went downstairs to the break room...everyone was standing around watching TV as i was watching TV, the second plane hit the second tower so i was able to see that part live.... i couldn't believe it. everyone was sent home that day. 

I was getting ready for work and had the Today show on. My friend/co-worker called me after the first plane hit. We hung up, and I watched the second plane hit. My friend called back immediately, and I remember answering the phone with "What the f---?" as I numbly stumbled backwards to sit on couch. I knew I had to get to work fast, and on the way heard the news about the other planes on the radio. It was such a surreal day, especially working in a newsroom. We watched the towers collapse on a tiny TV in the newsroom.

The craziest thing was talking to our Congressmen and Senators who were all in Washington, and just hearing these very well spoken men at a total loss for words and so emotional.

I used a quote lead with the word "bastards" in it that day. I think it is the only quote lead I have ever written, and it came from our local Congressman, but it summed up the situation perfectly. 

At work in a law firm in downtown Houston - we got released a little later than most businesses - downtown was like a ghost town - something out of a movie - hardly any traffic - not many people around - paper flying in the wind. . . weird - all I wanted to do was get home and be with my family "in case" this was "it". . .

To this day, I have to leave the room when they show footage of the events on TV. . . I just cannot watch it. . .

I was a child when Kennedy was assassinated. That was very traumatic at the time. Several years ago, we visited the 6th Street Museum in Dallas - people crying like babies -- and that was a half century ago! 

picking a jury for a trial 

I was sitting in a classroom about to start my "Sociology of Religion" class (taught by a former nun - great class!)when word came via text message to a classmate, and a message from my mother that we were under attack.

the class was immediately adjourned and we went down the University Center at U.H to watch the TV. 

Working as a teacher in Nacogdoches. 3rd graders, we showed them tv and talked to them what was going on. None of them had ever seen skyscrapers. We took out encyclopedia, and the picture in encyclopedia for NYC was the exact same shot that was being shown on TV, minus the towers. Surreal is right. 

Working on the 14th floor, in the Williams Tower. As soon as the second plane hit, we were told to leave the tower as safely and quickly as possible. It was a mass exodus but very quiet. 

Sitting at work, trucking manager.. watching my 2 inch portable for weather and traffic updates as usual, then they broke with the news of the first plane hitting... Everyone in my office (about 20 of us) all crowded around my little tv in shock.

I remember no phones rang no one did anything for about an hour or more. When I got off work that day at noon i drove straight home. Pulled my sons out of school and sat at the tv in tears. I was off the next several days. I worked right off the houston ship channel, we were all afraid we were the next target 

undefined 

I was on my hands and knees putting sealer on the grout in our kitchen. The news was on the television. I watched for a minute and then called my parents. They were sitting at the kitchen table in Oklahoma and didn't have a clue it was going on. I lived in OKC when the Murrah building was blown up and I kept thinking what will be next. 

I was getting ready for work, watching the news when I saw the plane fly behind Jane Pauly (I think) and crash in to the tower- I didn't believe what i thought I saw- 

On my way to work, running late, listening to 104 KRBE Maria Todd. Her voice sounded astonished & serious. She's one of my favs so I could hear the seriousness in her voice. As soon as I got into the office I turned on my little 5" tv and saw tower #1 fall. Everybody went home a few hours after it all happened, shock & awe everywhere. I went to the school to pick my kids up. My son didn't really understand it, he was in elementary, he is now my Sailor. The sight of those folks jumping to their deaths still bothers me to this day. Father Mychal Judge giving last rights and then being killed himself. The fire fighters carrying his lifeless body and placing it on the alter of a church. 

It really felt like time stood still that one day. 

It really felt like time stood still that one day.

It really did. 

My second week of college, headed to class when I saw the small TV in the lobby. Watched the 2nd plane hit :( 

That would be unnerving. How did you get back?

Took my boss 4 days to return from LA.

I was stuck out there until Sunday. Took the first flight out on that day. 

We were inbound to Charlotte, NC landed and went into the crew room. There was only one other captain in there at the time and he was talking to his wife on the phone. He said to me "Cathy said a plane hit the WTC, turn on the TV" I did just in time to see the second plane hit. Then at the next departure is when they started closing down airspace. I would not learn of the Pentagon or Shanksville until I got home. 

I was about 8 months pregnant and standing at the stove cooking breakfast for my 2 yr. old son. I had the Today show on and Matt Lauer was reporting and he didn't really know what was going on. I saw the smoke coming from the buildings and I remember wondering if this was real. I couldn't believe my eyes. I think I must have sat there for half hour in disbelief. It was such a sad day. 

I tell the story here every year where I was.

working in a hospital in upstate NY and having to deal with the fall out from it. 

Senior in high school. Headed to a class when things started happening. We were all herded into random classrooms to watch the news. I saw the second plane hit and the buildings fall. I didn't believe it at first. I checked myself out early and went home to be with my family. 

8th grade...Riverwood middle school.

I had just left my locker walking to class and a girl was frantically crying...walked into class and it was on the TV...my whole class saw the second impact live. 

it was so surreal- 

I was flying commercial at the time and as we were taxiing out for take-off from Orlando to Minneapolis / St. Paul, we were contacted by Ground Control that our Flight Plan had been cancelled and we were instructed to return to the Gate.

There was no explanation from ATC as to why our flight had been cancelled and it wasn't until we got into the crew room, did we learn what happened. 

I was jumpseating on Continental from BOS to IAH and I guess our plane left just after the first plane that hit the WTC. Having just finished a trip group that got in late, I was sleeping in coach on an MD-80 when a flight attendant woke me and asked me to come to the back. I was in uniform, so she obviously knew I was a captain, and I was afraid I was snoring too loud or something like that. She told me that a small plane had hit the WTC, and the word was it was an American Eagle flight. She said the crew and myself were on high alert for anything suspicious on board any plane and to be alert for anything. Then we heard another plane had hit the other TWC tower, and my adrenaline really kicked in.

The captain came on and announced we were landing at GSO. That was all he said, and so I had to go back to my seat and think of some lie I could tell as to the reason for landing at GSO. I could not tell the other passengers the real reason since the captain had not made an announcement, so I had to keep to the lie until we landed when he told the reason for our short trip.

Once we got to the gate, I made an announcement that I was renting a car and who wanted a ride. I got the last available car and drove from GSO to Houston. I was so pumped up, I did most of the driving, and only took a break when we got to Louisiana. I finally got to see the TV at that point.

I was one of the first flights back into LGA when they allowed flights again. The WTC was still burning with the smoke drifting all the way past the GW bridge. My F/O took pictures of the site, and we had been discussing his possible enlisting as a pilot in the USAF. Needless to say, I urged him to join and avenge the horror we saw. I was bitterly disappointed I could not do so. 

GSO is that Greenville/Spartanburg airport?