9/11

[sage]

Been watching the documentaries that were aired last month. 

What are people's memories and thoughts about what was one of the most momentous days in our lifetime

[Cisse]

I watched it live after the first plane had hit the tower. I saw the second plane and after I heard that Pentagon was hit too I thought this could start the biggest war in my life time. I can still recall the sound of the alarms that I could hear from the alarms of firemen that were not moving anymore. That hurt me the most for some reason. 

Also it made me feel empty every time I heard a jumper hit the ground when they were filming from the first tower. Those are sounds that still sometimes return.

Years later I saw a police captain telling how he had attended over 50 burials in a year after the attack. I don't know how someone can endure over 50 burials in a year when they personally knew the victims.

[sage]

2 hours ago, Cisse said:

I watched it live after the first plane had hit the tower. I saw the second plane and after I heard that Pentagon was hit too I thought this could start the biggest war in my life time. I can still recall the sound of the alarms that I could hear from the alarms of firemen that were not moving anymore. That hurt me the most for some reason. 

Also it made me feel empty every time I heard a jumper hit the ground when they were filming from the first tower. Those are sounds that still sometimes return.

Years later I saw a police captain telling how he had attended over 50 burials in a year after the attack. I don't know how someone can endure over 50 burials in a year when they personally knew the victims.

Well it wasn't the biggest war of your lifetime but it was probably the longest one. 

[Angry Ram]

Lifetime defining event.  Watched the whole thing absolutely shocked.

Even took a call in the afternoon from a customer who wanted to send a poxy dress to NY.. Most put out when I told her you ain’t got a chance.. 

[EtoileSportiveDeDerby]

Was at work abroad and the guy who told me at the office had a strong German accent, i made him repeat a few times as I simply thought this cant be true, i am not understanding this right. Pure evil.

[Pearl Ram]

I just sat watching it in disbelief. I never thought we’d witness an atrocity to top Lockerbie, seeing the picture of the cockpit of PanAm 103 lying on its side for the first time will stay with me forever, as will seeing the second plane hit the tower. 

Hope none of us will see the like of that day again. 

[RebelScum]

I was in the Army at the time, I had gone home at noon-ish to change for a log-run ?. Got a phone call from a mate saying put your tv on.

This was a time when "Breaking News" scrolling across the screen meant something... and I watched the scene of the first aircraft in the Twin Towers just in disbelief that such an 'accident' has happened.

And then, almost in slow-motion the second aircraft went in... I remember thinking 'we're under attack - I'm in work for the next 20 years'

After said log-run I asked the QSMI where the 'Third Plane' was, he said it's landed, I said 'thank f@ck, where?' he replied 'on the Pentagon!

[1of4]

I was at home that day listening to the radio, when the presenter announced there were reports coming in of a plane hitting the twin towers. I turned on the tv expecting to see pictures of something like a small single engine plane hitting one of the tower. What I was to witness throughout the day was mind-numbing. 

 Visited the twin towers memorial during a trip to New York a few years ago. Still can't comprehend some of the events that took place that day and what the survivors experienced.

 I've never wanted to see those awful events again so I've had no desire to watch any of the documentaries made about that day.

[ramit]

i saw the second plane..

Edited October 8, 2021 by ramit

[sage]

I was at work in an office and one of the managers had a little TV in her office, when the first plane hit, she told us and I kept nipping in her office every 20 mind. 

I remember a workmate saying '2 things are certain, 1 that's Bin Laden and 2 America will invade someone'

My biggest memory is going home on the train and me and my mate were the only 2 people talking about it. People had no clue it had happened. Hardly any mobile phones then and certainly no smartphones. 

[Stagtime]

I can remember watching it with my son and after hearing about the firies running into the destruction to try and save lives he decided he wanted to become a fireman. Fast forward 10 years and he became the youngest captain in modern history for Qld fire & rescue. He has marched with the New York’s firies a couple of times to commemorate 9/11. He was part of International Rescue and flew into Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake to help with the recovery and retrieval process.

Here’s a shot of his tattoo to commemorate Christchurch 2011.

[GboroRam]

I was driving home from work and listening to the radio. Obviously something serious was happening, but it was audio from ground zero, commentary light (they were obviously stunned and lost for words). 

My son was 5 days old, I remember watching the footage with the crib next to the TV. 

[Grumpy Git]

I remember the precise stretch of road I was driving along when the first report came over the radio news.

I too had a mental image of a small propeller job wedged into the side of the tower before the real carnage was known.

[EtoileSportiveDeDerby]

As well as remembering exactly where i was i remember watching it in a hotel room after work and thinking how can anyone think of something so big, so horredous, so evil, this was on another scale

[uttoxram75]

I watched the lot from the first minute they went live, just happened to have the TV on, I had just got up and was not due in work until late shift.

The feeling of watching the 2nd plane go into the tower live was unreal. Some of the footage of that day ive never seen since, I suppose it was too horrific and has been censored.

Watching people jump from 90 floors was what kept me awake at nights for weeks after.

[Shipley Ram]

My housemate called me at work, but her description didn't do it justice. I told soem people in the office but struggled to get the magnitude of events across.Smartphones would have really changed the immediate reaction to it.

Sorry for bringing comedy into a serious thread but it's good commedy.

 

[Mucker1884]

I picked Muckerette up from work, and immediately “shushed” her as the radio gave me my first hint of what was happening.  (I knew nothing of it whilst at work myself). 
She uttered something about a plane crash. I uttered something about World War 3!

She then “Shushed”!

And pretty much “shushed” we remained for the rest of the evening, tuned into the tv news!

Took some sinking in, in all honesty.  You just don’t jump from skyscraper windows!  Ridiculous!  Unfathomable!  Crazy!  Yet here they were, doing just that, before the cameras had time to turn away out of respect!  It was a very quiet evening in our house!  “Dumbstruck” I think they call it!

?

[Eddie]

I was in Dublin, thinking "this is going to make getting home awkward on Friday".

 

[Stive Pesley]

Remember someone at work getting a text saying a plan had crashed into the WTC. We all immediately thought "oh no what a horrific accident" - it wasn't until the 2nd plane hit that we realised it was deliberate

Weirdly I had been in NYC, visiting the WTC on September 11 2000, exactly a year before

[Mostyn6]

I was working at Ryder Systemcare in Sinfin. I was trying to find a lost purple Laura Ashley sofa when a lad in the warehouse told me a helicopter had crashed into a tower in New York! I wandered to the canteen to look at the TV just as a plane hit the tower! It was possibly the most surreal thing I’d ever seen! My brain couldn’t process what was happening. I remember going home later and had Sky news on all night, it was just astounding. Don’t think I said anything except blasphemies all night. “Oh god”, “jesus” etc

I never found the purple Laura Ashley sofa either as it was in a workmate’s living room as I found out a few years later.