Where were you on 9/11?

[joe.pistell]

9/11/2001. A day that burns in everyone's memory.

We lost nearly 3,000 that day 9 years ago and and triple that in the Afgan and Iraq wars that followed. We all know where we were and what we were doing, down to the minute.

Where were you?

 

[joe.pistell]

I worked for Verizon, was in a sales meeting, I remember saying to myself "this changes everything... prepare myself for change, financial and security". Verizon has corp offices very very close to the WTC, we all watched in silence and awe, then calls went out to family, much sobbing was heard.

One memory that stuck was how empty the skies were for days and days. The skies were empty and I looked here and there for a rogue plane on another mission of death.

 

[whitlock]

I guess for my generation this is the where were you when "we landed on the moon", "JFK was assassinated", JR got shot?

I was in the hospital with meningitis and was to out of it to realize what was going on. I have a vague recollection of nurses talking about it and having it on my tv.

My father was in the Pentagon at the time and when they evacuated he tells how his heart completely sank as he saw the building engulfed in smoke. DC was on lockdown at that point and he couldn't get up to the hospital where I was.

Being from Northern NJ I have many friends that were in the twin towers and surrounding buildings. Hearing their stories is chilling.

We must never forget.

 

[MullerToyota]

I was still in college. My dad called me and woke me up with the news. I drove up to my fraternity and everyone was just sitting around the TV watching in silence. A lot of my fraternity brothers were from NY and NJ and had family that worked in or around the towers. It was crazy, not a lot of calls were able to get through and there was a lot of confusion. It was probably one of the most lucid moments of my life.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I was working for Sharrett Volkswagen/Mazda. I walked up to the upstairs customer lounge. The room was empty but the TV happen to be on. As I was pouring a cup of coffee and I kept hearing the news reporter in the background talking about an airplane flying low towards NYC. I turned around, sat down and didn't leave the chair for over 2 hours. Devastating.

 

[Alex Snyder]

Jeff - our 9/11 stories are almost identical....

I was working at Checkered Flag VW on the early crew that day when a customer came running into the showroom telling all of us to gather around the TV. I think the entire store was in the customer lounge for most of the morning.

The real question is: how long after hearing the news did it take before you realized what had happened?

For me, it was so unthinkable that it took at least 30 minutes of watching things to start to fathom it.

 

[Matt DoCampo]

I was actually starting my senior year of high school. We heard and felt the initial impact. Then watched from the basketball courts as the buildings fell. It was very surreal growing up in Northern New Jersey to have the skyline augmented in such a way.