Do you remember where you were, and/or what you were doing on that day? What went through you mind, and how did the news of this attack affect you?
I do remember where I was on that fateful day. My wife and I were living in Southern California at the time. A few days before 9/11, she and her sister went out of town, and visited their brother, in order to lend a helping hand at his restaurant.
On 9/11, bright and early, I decided to call my wife, and to see how she were doing. My brother-in law’s wife, who always answered the phone in a very sweet manner, sounded quite distressed and very agitated. She asked whether or not I had watched the early news on TV. I told her hat I had not, and asked what was so important. She urged me to turn on my set, and to watch the horror that was unfolding in NY. I did as she asked, and could not believe the horrendous images being splashed all over the news. I could not believe my eyes. My NY was under attack. How could this be? Was the entire state under attack? I thought about my family, and wondered if they were safe, and out of harm’s way. What could I do? I became very angry, and wanted to go after those who had done this. At that moment, I began to pray for my family’s safety.
Attempts to contact them were to no avail, as telecommunication was down. I was finally able to make contact that evening. Thank God all were safe and sound. But, what about the families of those who had perished? My heart went out to them. Their lives would be disrupted forever. I began to pray for them, and asked God to see them through this nightmare.
As an Army Veteran, I felt the need to do something, but what? As I sat there, numb, and in disbelief, I kept asking myself, “Who in their right mind would be compelled to commit such an atrocity!” But then, my mind raced back to the early 90s, and the attempt by terrorists to bring down the Twin Towers. Well, they were successful this time around.
Every 9/11, I sit at the computer, in an attempt to write about this infamous day, but have not been able to focus, as I try to erase the images of what I witnessed that day, on the news. This is the first time how ever, that I have been able to write about this infamous day, when our country was being attacked.
I’m from Brooklyn, and was able to witness the completion of the Twin Towers. They sat on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. They were quite visible from our building, which was located near the Navy Yard. What an awesome sight they were. Every time we visited the city, (Manhattan) we would see these enormous, majestic buildings, as we crossed the bridge. Sadly, they are gone forever. Whenever I see pictures of the NY skyline, I always say, “No more twin towers.”
It took me a while, but I was finally able to forgive the evil individuals, who caused so much suffering.
Life goes on, and the perpetrators of this horrific attack, are no longer around. In spite of what they did, I do pray for their families, in the hopes that they will find the truth, and do repent. Am I wrong? I venture to say, NO! God loves these people too, so who am I to wish them eternal doom? What is your take?
My Take On It. 
I was writing a technical article for the financial industry. My husband called and told me to turn the TV on. We live just above Albany, NY and have many friends who live in NYC. Luckily, none that we knew were harmed, but they lost many of their friends.
One of our closest friends owns a business that did ongoing work at the Trade Center from before it was opened. The crew scheduled to work there on Sept 11 stopped at another building for quick maintenance before heading to the towers. But for the grace of God they were supposed to be at the top of the towers.
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Thank you for your comments. I lost 52 business associates who were working above the 80h floor. The rest survived, because they worked on the 30th floor. I almost lost my cousin. A sad day indeed.Blessings.
Johnny
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Was planning to relocate from Los Angeles and considering the East Coast. I was remembering the excitement and high energy of NYC and the beauty of autumn in Upstate New York where I lived with my family when I was a little girl. Wasn’t sure when I wanted to visit, maybe in September sometime, but knew I wanted to stay a month to travel around staying with friends as I explored the East Coast. Ultimately, I made my reservation the first week of September to return the first week of October 4th and booked my flight on United Airlines. It turns out my timing was perfect.
Early morning on September 11, 2001, my friend I was visiting in Lebanon, New Hampshire drove me to the bus station in White River Junction, Vermont to catch a bus to Connecticut to visit more friends. Thought about taking a train to NYC to visit some friends there and do a little more sightseeing. But, decided to check out Sandy Hook, Connecticut first as a possible place to live.
The bus to Connecticut was traveling in the beautiful quiet countryside and I sitting in the first seat and had a panoramic view. I always love to see everything. We were having trouble climbing the hills and our driver told us that we’d have to change buses. Transmission trouble he told us. The engine sounded as if it were laboring trying to get up even the tiniest hill. It was somewhat stressful for me thinking we might breakdown in the rural area, seemingly far from everything. Then what would we do? The driver received a phone call and his jovial mood changed to one more somber. He made the announcement that we would be changing buses in Keene, New Hampshire and we would get a new driver. That’s strange. Why? We made it to Keene. I was relieved, and pulled up to what seemed to me a sort of makeshift bus station. I was first out and a woman met me at the stairs and said, it’s horrible what happened. I told her it’s okay we’re getting a new bus, now. Then she blurted out that an airplane just crashed into the World Trade Center in NYC and people were trapped.
From that point nothing was normal that day. We got a new bus and driver and were dropped off at the trains and bus station in Hartford, Connecticut and remained there for hours. Learned that another plane had crashed into the other twin tower and another into the Pentagon. There that it was a terrorist attack. What was happening? No televisions were on at the station, but I gathered information from people here and there. Didn’t know where to sit or stand, inside or outside. Nowhere felt safe anymore. I decided to stay outside so I could see what was going on in case I had to make a run for it—when or where to I didn’t know.
A very short well-dressed man in a suite and expensive leather shoes argued with one of the bus drivers milling around. He wanted the driver to take him to NYC because he had to get there now. The all said “No” and he became agitated and even louder. A young man talking on the public telephone abruptly let it fall out of his hand and it swung back and forth. Not long after that a dark four-door sedan pulled up in front of where many of us were standing and four casual dressed men simultaneously jumped out of the car with cell phone to their mouths. The looked like they just arrived from Hawaii in their flowered shirts, Bermuda’s and sandals. But, we all knew they were with the FBI. The agents spread around all of us and wondered if anyone saw who was talking on the phone he pointed to not far away. I said that I saw him and gave a description and answered whatever else I was asked me. That just heightened our tension more. It was a bizarre scene with all this activity going on waiting and wondering would we be hurt, too. We didn’t know and where we’d run to protect ourselves?
Many taxi cab drivers were parked, maybe 300 feet from where we all were. I heard they were asking for hundreds of dollars to take people where they wanted to go. Literally all transportation was shut down. Nothing was moving at that station. I’d wondered if the well-dressed man hired one of the cabbies to take him to NYC, because he looked like he could pay whatever they were asking. Whether he would or not was the question. As for me, it was obvious no buses were running today, so I called my friends in Sandy Hook and they picked me up. Ended up staying longer in Sandy Hook because transportation was at a standstill. I was able to finally relax a little but knew all of our lives in the United States would never be the same again.
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Wow. What a roller coaster ride! God had His hand upon you that day. Sadly, our lives have not been the same since that infamous date. Every time we drove the freeways in California, people were quite aware of their surroundings, as if looking out for each other. It was some experience. Unfortunately, this phenomenon waned during the ensuing months, and it was business as usual. I do continue to be alert, and still look after my neighbors. Love you sis. Blessings.
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So sorry dear Johnny about your losses. How did you survive emotionally? Thank you for sharing your story. Take good care of you. I shared my story, too. Lots of love to you and your beautiful wife, your little sister, Kitty
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I have always depended on y Lord. That’s how I survive emotionally. Thank you for your comments, little sister. Love you.
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I forgot to mention that my nephew works at the Pentagon. It took a full day before we learned that he was okay.
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Johnny, I am so glad that your family were safe. Thank you for sharing your 9/11 story with us and your personal experience. My prayers go out to all the families who are still suffering from the immense loss. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have lived in NY and to see the Twin Towers there one day and then the next, completely gone. The world has never been the same since. All blessings to you.
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America’s make up changed on that awful day. It has not been the same. We used to live our lives in such innocence, and now, we have to be on the lookout at all times. One never knows who is lurking around the corner. Thank you. Blessings. Johnny
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I will never forget that day or the moment. I was at work as an office assistant for an environmental firm in Florida. I had lived in Florida most of my life. I was 21 years old and a full-time college student. I was sitting at my desk, organizing my filing for the day and working on a spreadsheet when a colleague of mine walked up and said, “Have you heard? The Twin Towers were hit by an airplane.” My first thought was, “What are the Twin Towers?” I had been born in Ithaca New York but never lived there. I had family that lived in the state. I’m ashamed to say I had no idea what the Towers were or even where they were. I was that sheltered, that naive, and yes, that clueless.
I went to a conference room and watched the live coverage. I’d never seen the towers before, but I prayed for safety for those inside, then wept like a child when the towers fell, knowing that anyone inside was dead. It was the most tragic, horrifying, heartbreaking thing I’d ever seen. That day, the day the towers fell, created a wound in my soul that will never heal. It’s been twelve years but every year, I still weep for that lost innocence, not only of my own but our country.
I weep for the lost lives, and the senselessness and brutality. I weep that such evil can exist in the world and be twisted and justified through the guise of religion and spirituality. The 9/11 terrorists expected their attack would hurt us and it did. Ultimately, it would do so much more than hurt us.
It would unite us, as a nation, as a people, forever and become another part of our heritage as Americans. It would unite us with other countries who understood our pain and suffering, who saw in us what could happen to them and sought to prevent a similar tragedy from ever happening.
The day the towers fell forever changed the world, just not in the way the 9/11 terrorists expected. Instead of being afraid, America and her allies stood strong. We’ve shone a light into the darkness and refused to fear it. And I, for one, am proud of that. Yes, we still mourn. We always will. But so too do we celebrate. We celebrate life, strength, perseverance, determination, justice and most of all, freedom. We honor those we’ve lost. These are the same things America has always and always will stand for. Proudly.
I too, have never been able to write about that day. As a professional writer myself, I’ve tried but words often fail to express such a deep level of loss. Every year I try and every year, I know I will not succeed. You simply cannot put such a thing into words. But that doesn’t mean I won’t continue to try every year.
Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts. God bless you and your family.
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You shared your memories and feelings well. I vividly recall that morning when I saw on the television news prior to leaving for work that something had happened but initially there was a bit of confusion as to what had happened. As I drove to work I continued to listen to my radio as more news came in. Since I had a television at my office, I turned it on and kept up with the news there and on the radio. Hardly any calls came in to my office that day and there was hardly any work on a day that was at the start of our busy season.
In the days and months that followed I felt outrage toward the evil men who had done this and a patriotic fervor and support for our country.
Now, since that event, I have been unemployed for the past nearly 5 years and unable to find a suitable replacement job leaving me to take early retirement. Our country is under the rule of a regime that no longer has the same values as I do and now I’m beginning to have doubts about the rule of all our preceding years. Our nations leaders keep taking on losing wars in the tradition of Viet Nam and refusing to give our military the free rein to win wars. We have become sympathetic toward Islamic causes and continue to try to destroy anything to do with Christianity.
I don’t have have many good feelings about the American government though there are still some good souls there trying to fight for the American people. But over all I think there is a desire in those in power to invalidate the real power of the U.S. in the world and make our nation the champion of causes that will eventually put an end to America as we have known it.
Sorry, but though I love what this country has stood for in past days, I’m not sure I like how we show ourselves to the world and the direction we’re taking.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
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I am so sorry for everyone that you lost. To this day it is still very eye opening to me that we can not take one moment for granted. When I was a kids terrorist was not in our vocabulary. Now even children know the meaning. I do not know God’s reason for what happens in our world, but I know that one day I will. Hugs to you and thank you for sharing with me
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My son worked at the World Trade Center. I got a phone call from friends of ours and told me to turn on the TV. I was frantic. I called my son’s home and his wife said he had left for work. I called his office and he had not arrived yet and the secretary started screaming as the bombs were hitting. I finally got a hold of my son and he was traveling into NYC and he was in the Lincoln Tunnel. I told him to turn around and go home. He had no idea what was going on. He was able to go home and was safe. That morning God was watching out for my son as he got up late for work. Unfortunately the Upper floor where his business was and all his friends were gone. He had to start over and yes it was hard but he is alive. My son and I were the fortunate ones. I also knew many of the people that didn’t make it.
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I recall I was teaching that day. After school, my son was terrified that something was going to happen to him, to us, etc. It was a tough day.
I cannot imagine forgiving these people. It has made me a bit prejudiced.
I feel for you.
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I am glad that your family was safe on that horrific day. I was at work sitting at my desk, looking at the Philadelphia skyline. A co-worker said that the twin towers had been attacked by terrorist. It was the most unproductive, and saddest day of my career. I cannot forgive the people responsible for the attack. I will leave that to God.
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I did not have any relatives or friends who lost loved ones or friends on 9/11. However the pain and anguish
I felt were debilitating. I could not work, nor could anyone around me in our office. I have not reached a point to forgive those 19 terrorists, or the regime that helped pull it off. In fact, I just realized I have not even considered the question. I need to pray about that. Thank you for posting such a gripping and thought provoking account of that fateful day that changed America forever. God bless.
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Thank you, Steven. It took me a while to forgive those perpetrators. I needed to move on. Sadly, my brother lost a close friend, and my cousin and my nephew, lost their best friends also. There are those who feel that we should not remember this infamous date. I beg to differ. We should never forget, and must continue to be alert. I’ll pray for you. Blessings.
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Thank you. No, I won’t ever forget that day either. To me, it’s a day, like President Rosevent said, “that will live in infamy.” I don’t want to forget. Thanks again, and God bless.
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