So where were you on 911?

[LS short box]

I was at a trade show in Vegas.
No one was much interested in packaging machines after the planes hit.

[Stocker]

Gettin' ready to go to work. Could not believe what I was seeing. I remember initial reports that a small plane had hit one of the towers. Then the awful truth slowly rolled out.
I went to work stunned at what was happening, that we were under attack and would likely be drawn into war soon.

[farmall]

I was driving to work in my 69 International .75 ton 4X4 with an AM radio tuned to a classic country station out of Prineville with no DJ.
I got to work and they had a TV on a roll around cart set up watching the aftermath.
The GM was a dickcabeza and told everyone to get to work.

[Ironhorse]

I was at work and had just walked into the break room for a cup of coffee as everyone was talking about "an airplane just flew into one of the towers at the Trade Center". Within the next few minutes we watched as the second airplane made a sweeping turn and struck the second tower. We had all witnessed our own "Pearl Harbor" moment of our lifetime.

Steeveedee, totally understand about the "war effort help" statement. I was working Flight Line Transportation for Boeing Aircraft Co. at the time on the flight line and we were in the midst of doing maintenance work of the Presidential 747, Air Force One. It was not due back to Andrews AFB for another 6 weeks of normal maintenance time. It was immediately decided that if no safety of flight items needed attention a return to Andrews AFB was ordered and it left within 36 hours back to Andrews. First time I ever moved AF-1 under armed Air Force Security with locked and loaded M-16s along with armed Boeing Security. Some tense times with the unknown factor looming large.

[Steeveedee]

I was driving the carpool south to my defense job. I worked in missile defense systems at the time. Pretty sure you would know the attitude we had a work, but we workers couldn't launch those missiles. It was a dirty underhanded deed, and...well, I'll leave it at that, Dale's corner is beckoning. I can say that some of what I worked on helped with the war effort.

[1970 CST Short Wide]

I was on a 6 am Flight out of Oakland Ca to Wyoming. We had just leveled off when the Pilot came on and told us what was happening. His next words were “Were going down NOW”. We landed in Vegas and were ushered off the plane. The Crew was gone as they pushed the plane back from the Tarmac. I looked around and saw the Giant Screen TV just as the 2nd Plane hit. People were panicking and some Crying. I called my Wife to let her know I was OK and would try and come home. I had all my Equipment with me and was able to get that as they unloaded the plane. I went to see about a rental car because they said Planes were restricted. I asked the lady at the counter about what should we do, Her answer was “ I don’t know Sir, We’ve never been at War Before”. I lucked out and got a rental car, A Jeep Wagoner I didn’t want to drive back to the Bay Area alone so I raised my hand and loudly said “ I have a car and I’m going to Oakland and have room for 3. Two Ladies grabbed my arm along with another Guy standing next to me. So myself and 3 Strangers drove back to the Bay Area. I dropped the Ladies off in Pleasanton and the Guy in Livermore then drove home. I couldn’t get my car because they wouldn’t let anyone near the Airport. Hertz was Cool and said to keep the car until I can get into the airport to return it, think it was ~4 days AND they didn’t charge me
9/11. A Day I will Never Forget

[Boog]

I was busy going in and out of the office checking loads off and getting our semi trucks headed down the highway. I kept a radio on in the office daily so that's where I caught the news of the 1st plane attack. When the 2nd plane hit the towers I knew it was no accident. I gathered the crew around to fill them in on what had happened. At that point we didn't know what might happen next so I made sure every employee knew what was going on. As I moved about town I noticed it was much like a Sunday morning, quiet and all. Eerie it was.

[Palf70Step]

AT work, actually sitting in a classs that I was learning how to teach for the new folks coming into the Air Force.

[GOPAPA]

Being on the far side of the United States at Astoria Oregon and driving to work some 50 miles with no radio on.. I didnt know what happened until getting to work . We were building a new grade school and so we voted to stay or go home and a couple did go home but the rest of us stayed and were caught up all day long about what happened and was happening.. I called my wife at her work and they were staying at work also .. Her and I both were kept up with the news all day.

[70STOVEBOLT]

I was at work and the phones stopped ringing, it was weird. Then someone said "turn on the tv" and we figured out why.

[old Rusty C10]

i lived in NYC and was on a roof resealing a flat rubber roof 7 miles as the bird flies from the WTC I saw both planes hit and i saw both towers come down. There was a thin layer of dust on my truck from the cloud that flew over Brooklyn I have a sheet of paper from a book that blew across into the yard all burned around the edges. I knew some guys in the press back then a few miles away there were literally body fragments in yards. Another friend worked in 7WTC as a a security guard. She literally saw some jumping from the towers. It was a day the country needs to remember forever .

[biketopia]

I was leaving gym class and headed to spanish my freshman year of high school in Fairfax, VA. Just miles from the Pentagon and many of the 4000+ students and staff had family or loved ones that worked there. We convinced the Spanish teacher to turn on the TV, she was a stubborn old broad that was convinced the one strike was an accident. We watched the second plane hit, the towers fall on, and learned of flight 93 in that class. The rest of our classes went on, but we just watched the news. Marked deputies came and stood watch around the school and helped kids get in touch with their parents if needed. My dad worked engineering for Verizon and in their office building in Falls Church they could see the smoke from the pentagon. He was sent over to help coordinate restoration efforts there, said it was a wild scene with smells he wont forget. He also went to ground zero for a month in October of 01 to help with the communication restoration efforts there. He doesn't talk about it much but I know it's something that lives with him. Being in high school at the time, many of my friends that eventually enlisted did so because of that event.

[57taskforce]

Originally Posted by biketopia

I was leaving gym class and headed to spanish my freshman year of high school in Fairfax, VA. Just miles from the Pentagon and many of the 4000+ students and staff had family or loved ones that worked there. We convinced the Spanish teacher to turn on the TV, she was a stubborn old broad that was convinced the one strike was an accident. We watched the second plane hit, the towers fall on, and learned of flight 93 in that class. The rest of our classes went on, but we just watched the news. Marked deputies came and stood watch around the school and helped kids get in touch with their parents if needed. My dad worked engineering for Verizon and in their office building in Falls Church they could see the smoke from the pentagon. He was sent over to help coordinate restoration efforts there, said it was a wild scene with smells he wont forget. He also went to ground zero for a month in October of 01 to help with the communication restoration efforts there. He doesn't talk about it much but I know it's something that lives with him. Being in high school at the time, many of my friends that eventually enlisted did so because of that event.

My dad was (still does) at work at Dulles when that plane took off. I was 30-40 miles west in Purcellville. I was in 7th grade science class. I’ll never forget how crazy it was in school, a lot of us got checked out early by parents, we had officers in the schools as well. Everything was on lockdown except for parents to get their kids. The TVs were on everywhere. Like I’m sure it was for you, being so close to DC there was fears that we as kids could somehow be in harms way as all the details slowly emerged and we got a handle on the situation. My kids didn’t even hear anything about it at school yesterday. My wife and I had to talk to them and remind them what happened like we do every year. Such a sad, sad memory.

I left Va to get away from all the Washington suburb growth. But it is still very much home to me.