Where were You twelve years ago, when you heard....

ambro51 · September 10, 2013 10:39PM

...what happened. Has that moment frozen in your memory? ...I was a machine operator in a trade bindery feeding unfolded Christmas cards into an Escomat, a complicated large system of belts and guides which spit folded cards out at about 50000 per hour. It was hard work. We had a radio going and the news came in at break time. Details were yet unknown, Stan the plant manager said that a bomber hit a skyscraper when he was a kid....and off a few of us went to Wawa for coffee and soft pretzels. That was the morning the World Changed.

bosco5041 · September 10, 2013 10:56PM

I was operating a finish facer mach. on airplane bearing and just happen to call my wife on break and she told me that something very bad had just happened ( actually was happening at the time). In a matter of just a few minutes the whole plant knew about it.

BillJones · September 10, 2013 11:04PM

I was at home, and my in-laws were visiting. My wife was working at the John the Han-rooster (Stupid censor!) Tower in Boston at the time. They were holding meeting on the top floor, and when word came of the attack they were instructed to evacuate the building in an orderly manner. Since the Han-rooster (Stupid censor!) Tower is a Boston landmark, no one knew if it might become a target.

Stupid censor - It was okay for John Han-rooster to sign his name boldly on the Declaration of Independence, but you can't post his name here!

AnkurJ · September 10, 2013 11:16PM

In my college dorm in Philadelphia.
Scary and sad day.

Unknown · September 10, 2013 11:19PM

This content has been removed.

Weiss · September 10, 2013 11:19PM

Sitting in this chair, typing on a computer, surfing the internet. Mom called and told me to turn on the TV. I did, watched for a few minutes, then went to donate blood for the first time in my life. I was one of the first ones there--we all seemed to have the same idea.

Bin Laden is gone now. And I've given over 9 gallons of blood since then.

Spoiler alert: Good always wins in the end.

And to keep this coin related:

Here's about where we were at that time:
http://web.archive.org/web/20011204212803/http://forums.collectors.com/categories.cfm?catid=9

epcjimi1 · September 10, 2013 11:25PM

<< <i>.That was the morning the World Changed. >>

Now, 12 years later, it's surreal to me how much life has changed.

A guy at work said a plane had hit the WTC, we turned on the tube and watched the coverage all day. Didn't do any work. By the time the attacks stopped, my perspective on the world "evolved".

messydesk · September 10, 2013 11:25PM

I was at work going about my daily business and a colleage popped into my cube to tell me about the first plane. Later when he told me about the 2nd plane, it was effectively the end of productivity for the day. Our VP watched the 2nd plane hit while he was on a flight into Newark. He was immediately diverted to Philadelphia and had to rent a car to drive back to Chicago.

Goldbully · September 10, 2013 11:27PM

Here's about where we were at that time
Link Here

nibanny · September 10, 2013 11:45PM

<< <i>
Bin Laden is gone now. And I've given over 9 gallons of blood since then.

Spoiler alert: Good always wins in the end.
>>

Weiss,

I have been a blood donor for over 10 years. I found out this morning I am not able to donate in the US because I lived in Europe after 1980 (mad cow).
I can't donate either in Italy because I live in the US (apparently there is something endemic in the US that is not good in Italy).
While I understand these situations 8and appreciated keeping everybody as safe as possible), I am so pissed I can't give my blood to the people in need!

Back to the OP.
It was a little after 9am. I was working in Italy and a friend in NY sent me an email right after the first plane hit the WTC.
He thought he was an accident and asked me, ironically, to send my colleague to check if our merchandise was on the plane.
My boss told me that a small plane may have hit the antenna on top of the WTC, no big deal.
Then I opened CNN.com...
You know the rest.

RB1026 · September 10, 2013 11:49PM

I was at home getting ready to head to my office. My (now ex-) wife called to tell me a plane had hit the WTC. I turned on the TV and was watching live just as the 2nd jet hit. Then reports later of the Pentagon and PA jets. Shock, anxiety, numbness. Disbelief. A tragic and horrible day we will never forget.........

12 years later we now know what a heroic and brave day it also was. So many people, in so many ways, were courageous heroes on that day and in the weeks, months, & years to follow. Victims, survivors, firemen, police, and all first-responders, friends & family, and so on. Those at the epicenter and those across the country who donated blood, supplies, etc.

As Americans are so adept at doing, we draw strength from tragedy and push on. We clean up. We come together. We rebuild. We seek justice for those responsible and we try to heal and make the best of our situation. Once again, we have succeeded at overcoming a blow from those who hate us. Once again, the American spirit refuses to be weakened. Scarred? Yes, absolutely and forever. Beaten? NEVER.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you and any/all affected in any way by 9/11 on this day, especially to the family and friends of the victims. May God comfort and protect us all and may we never have to endure such a tragedy again.

libertydude · September 10, 2013 11:56PM

Was at girlfriend's (now wife) house. Her roommate called us to the TV. Stood there in disbelief and confusion. Was so hard to sit at work for the next week. Felt so pointless.

I never would've imagined fear stemming from that day would cost us our rights... errrr, temporary privileges.

oldsubguru · September 10, 2013 11:58PM

Jeanie (my wife) and I were working for the State of Florida as game wardens at Fort Drum conservation area checking in hunters for hog hunts. We had our RV down there (Fort Drum is out in the middle of nowhere) and Jeanie was watching the TV during a break time. She called me in and said that one of the World Center towers had been hit by plane. As my eyes focused on the TV, I saw the second plane hit the other tower.

I had no doubt in my mind that this was a terrorist act so I walked back into the area (about two miles) to tell the hunters what had happened. Co-indecently, this was the first time that I saw a live and very well coyote in Florida.

I'll never forget that day or the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. When we were notified of that assassination, the details were very sketchy for we were high up in the north Atlantic on board a Polaris submarine. To make matters even more hair raising, an hour after the news broke concerning President Kennedy, we had a battle station missile initiated.

BJ Neff

Swampboy · September 10, 2013 11:59PM

I was in the air heading to Florida to see my sick father.
The captain came on the intercom to say we were heading back; "Something happened in N.Y and we've been ordered to return by the FAA," he announced.

ahopewell55 · September 11, 2013 12:10AM

I was teaching in Newark, NJ. Someone said that a plane crashed into one of the world trade center towers. We could see the towers clearly from the third floor of the building. It was a clear view straight across the meadowlands. Then I saw clouds of smoke coming from the base of the first tower. We thought that there was an explosion. We didn't realize that the tower was collapsing in on itself. It was shocking to see it disappear so quickly. On the way home that afternoon, I could see dozens of emergency and fire fighting vehicles heading towards the city along Rt.78. A girlfriend had a place on the water in Monmouth County, for months afterward we could smell the charred embers from the fire. To see it disappear so quickly was something I'll never forget.

rhedden · September 11, 2013 12:12AM

I was in a federal institution in the DC area running for my car before anything else could happen. At this time, the plane that had left Pittsburgh (which crashed in the cornfield) had not been located yet. Not a good feeling.

s4ny · September 11, 2013 12:15AM

I was in Manhattan, about 4 miles north of the WTC. I was watching CNBC and saw the first plane hit
the North Tower. The commentators (Maria B?) thought it was a small, private plane. When the second
plane hit the South Tower that changed.

I went to the store and bought water and other supplies. The store was almost empty, but when
I went back at 11 AM, it was picked clean.

I lived on Second Ave and the streets were closed. There were thousands of people walking up
the avenue, just trying to move north and away from the ruins. The wind blew from west to east,
so I never smelled any of the smoke. I could see the black smoke blowing towards Brooklyn.

Later, I will always remember 2 things. It was a beautiful, sunny day and around 6-8 PM I never saw
so many people eating ice cream. Like, 3000 people died what were they dieting for?
Around midnight hundreds of trucks with heavy construction equipment were moving down Second Ave
towards the WTC site. They were escorted by at least 30 Yonkers NY police cars. People
on the street cheered.

golden · September 11, 2013 12:16AM

I was on a break at work watching TV and saw the second plane hit the tower. Never forget!

coinrollhunter · September 11, 2013 12:18AM

<< <i>I was on a break at work watching TV and saw the second plane hit the tower. Never forget! >>

Do you know what motivated those thugs to kill all of those people?

kranky · September 11, 2013 12:19AM

At an all-day company management meeting held at a hotel with about 100 people there. Meeting was adjourned for a 10 minute break, and the way to the restrooms were through the bar which is where almost everyone headed. TVs in the bar were showing the first tower burning. Just then the second one got hit. Everyone was glued to the TVs. After about 15 more minutes, the execs herded everyone back to the meeting room but it was obvious everyone's mind was on the situation in NYC, so they sent everyone back to the office... most people just went home.

ricko · September 11, 2013 12:20AM

I was at my desk at work with the radio on. The talk show host was interrupted and was told a plane hit the WTC... he then speculated it may have been a Piper Cub or small private craft..... minutes later chaos ensued on that station and live feeds were started from major stations. Speculation in the building ran wild.... not much work got done that day. RickO

Boosibri · September 11, 2013 12:25AM

I was in college at Michgan State and heard about it while walking to class. I recall the professor in a Spanish class told us to "focus on learning Spanish" and that this was "just a distraction". I believe the majority of us just walked out.

BryceM · September 11, 2013 12:27AM

I was in the Orthopedic Department in the hosptial at Dartmouth watching it on the big TV. Even clear up in New Hampshire we started gearing up to receive casualties. After a while it became apparent there was no need.

What a senseless act.

jmj3esq · September 11, 2013 12:31AM

I was preparing to step out the door the door for my Business Organizations class in law school. I will never forget that morning.

291fifth · September 11, 2013 12:33AM

I was on my way to the post office to mail a package when radio reports of a commuter plane hitting the World Trade Center came in. After mailing the package I again listened to the radio and the story now said that two planes had hit the World Trade Center.

I returned home and turned on the TV. Matt Lauer was reporting on the event with the burning towers in the background. Shortly thereafter the first tower to fall went down.

TPRC · September 11, 2013 12:39AM

I was in a meeting with the government in Washington D.C., on I street, NW, a couple of blocks from the White House. When the Pentagon was hit, we didn't hear it but smoke was billowing from, what looked like from our perspective, the White House. The meeting was abruptly adjourned and there was no sense going anywhere because Washington D.C. was gridlocked. So we went up to the maintenance room on the top floor of the building to watch janitor's TV with him on the unfolding coverage.

BustHalfBrian · September 11, 2013 12:57AM

I was only 5-years-old, but I vaguely remember being sent home from school and my dad was in tears because he had a colleague working at or near the Pentagon.

numisma · September 11, 2013 1:00AM

I was in a hotel lobby watching TV. I had arranged/hosted a seminar at the hotel conference center to demo finite element analysis and CFD software. We had representatives from several local companies (West Michigan) and some from Detroit in the meeting. I noticed people watching TV in the lobby and nobody was talking. Something seemed odd and eerie, so I excused myself from the meeting to investigate.

I was standing next to a guy watching the news and one of the towers was smoking. All of a sudden the second plane hit. We looked at each other and I asked, "can this really be happening?" I went back to the meeting and pulled the plug. Told everyone that it was cancelled and they should go home immediately.

DennisH · September 11, 2013 1:10AM

This thread has what to do with coins, and is not in violation of posting rule #6 how?

crazyhounddog · September 11, 2013 1:12AM

On my way to work when I herd what some crazy IDIOT did....Horrible!!!!!

CoinJunkie · September 11, 2013 1:19AM

I live in the SF Bay Area and was working in SF at the time. I decided to check Yahoo Finance
before I left for work, saw the averages unchanged with the explanation "Trading has been
suspended at the NYSE due to the collapse of the WTC". My first thought was, "Wow, how
could buildings like that just collapse?" I quickly turned on the TV and found out. After my wife
and I caught up on the news, I decided to go into work. I remember driving across the Bay
Bridge and literally only seeing a few dozen other cars toward the end of "rush hour".

guitarwes · September 11, 2013 1:27AM

Had just walked in to my 1st day of clinic at a Private Imaging Facility of my senior year of Rad Tech school. Went into the break room to get some coffee and saw the smoke coming from the top of the 1st tower. The initial reports were some plane must have been flying too low and hit the tower. I told the Radiologist about it (who happens to be a small plane pilot himself) and he said he had just heard. While I continued to watch, I saw the other plane hit the second tower on live TV. I couldn't beleive it and knew exactly what it was. My heart sunk. A swarm of emotions (some I can still feel to this day) and a sense of helplessness came over me......and I was 1200+ miles away but it seemed as if it was happening to every living breathing american in this entire country, which it was.

The entire day was filled with people calling loved ones all over the country. There was a eerie aura in the air all day and alot of confusion about everything, trying to get the facts from mixed reports on the news. A day I never wish to relive. I can't imagine what the folks of NYC went thru.

njcoincrank · September 11, 2013 1:29AM

I was on my way to the train station, going into NYC for a Stacks sale. I didn't go. Instead went to a friends office and watched it live as the day unfolded.

njcc

TwoSides2aCoin · September 11, 2013 1:32AM

Was getting ready to install a metal roof on a steep pitched place. Ended up not working that day and I agree with Dennis.

CoinRaritiesOnline · September 11, 2013 1:34AM

I was at work in my office in my former life.

My wife called and told me a plane had hit the WTC. At first we thought it was merely an accident, a view which changed when she called me back a few minutes later.

At that point, we set a TV up in the office and everyone stood out in the lobby and watched the news in silence.

CaptHenway · September 11, 2013 1:41AM

Was on a commuter train approaching downtown Chicago listening to an AM radio on headphones. My first thought was that it was a kamikaze attack. Soon after we went into the tunnel and I lost reception.

Got to the coin shop and watched TV there, wondering if the Sears Tower was going to be next. Around Noon the city ordered everybody downtown to go home, just in case.

Pistareen · September 11, 2013 1:42AM

I was sitting in my car, left blinker blinking, about to turn into the Wolfeboro office of Bowers and Merena to start my workday, when someone on the radio mentioned a plane hitting the WTC. A few years earlier, that was my twice-daily subway stop when I worked at 25 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. Had I chosen a different career path, I probably would have been pulling into the bottom of the WTC about that time. I didn't, and I was never so glad to live in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire with the family-like atmosphere of that workplace.

keyman64 · September 11, 2013 1:46AM

Eating breakfast and watching the Today Show...I saw the second plane hit live on TV. AT that point, along with just about everyone else, I knew it was a terrorist attack.

Coinsponge · September 11, 2013 1:48AM

I remember being on my computer and hearing of a plane hitting and thinking some idiot in a Cesna but soon after found out how much worse it was. What motivated? Hate has to be the answer.

derryb · September 11, 2013 1:57AM

I was at work, watching it unfold on a large TV screen. Word of the first plane hit the news and then it was all eyes on the news. My employment was at a US nuclear weapons storage facility/submarine base. you can imagine the activity that took place there as the uncertainty progressed throughout the day. Security on getting into work since then was never the same.

OKbustchaser · September 11, 2013 2:01AM

In DC at a friend's house recovering from her retirement party the night before. She was planning on returning to the Pentagon that afternoon to clear her office.

pmac · September 11, 2013 2:07AM

I was working as an contractor electrician at Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston. Heard about the first tower being struck and blamed it on pilot error. A little while later it became obvious terrorism was involved and worried about other strikes. I figured there would be many injuries involved and that BIDMC would be very busy. As it was, there were few injuries as compared to deaths. Maybe a little outcome of this disaster helped in the hospitals in the area being ready for the Boston Marathon bombings. Amazing what a few deranged individuals can do to so many.

Bayard1908 · September 11, 2013 2:14AM

I lived in California at the time. I was in the gym locker room, getting dressed after taking a shower. The TV was on in the locker room, showing the first building with a plane hole in it. I was talking to two other guys about how it was such a clear day that it couldn't have been an accident. Right about then the second plane, obviously a commercial jetliner, slammed into the other building.

I got dressed and went to my office. I had a tiny portable TV and watched both buildings collapse. My biggest fear at the time was that this was merely some kind of feint or distraction for a massive attack from China.

OldEastside · September 11, 2013 2:16AM

I was actually getting my first submission ready for the PCGS/Teletrade deal
and I had the computer on and had AOL and there was a stream of the Towers
on the screen and I really did'nt pay much attention to it and my sister in law
called me and said get up here quick and I asked what was wrong and she said
she was stuck in her backyard her battery went dead (She's a Quadriplegic)
so off I went and got to Thousand Oaks from Simi in record time and got her into
her backup chair and dragged her main chair out of the yard (which had been recently
rototilled) and pluged it in and caught the first tower collapsing on her TV and I
remember I was just kinda stunned and thinking MY GOD theres gonna be alot of
little girls and boys who just lost there parents, I was very stunned and sad for a
few days.

Steve

DarkStar · September 11, 2013 2:34AM

On the phone with a counterparty in the South Tower. They were on the 31st floor and all got out.

raja · September 11, 2013 2:53AM

In San Diego at that time. Getting my daughter ready for school. She was kept home of course, but I had a meeting at work and
had to go. But no work was actually done as we all went to a TV and watched in disbelief. Same as when Challenger exploded.
I-5 was deserted on the way back ...
- raja

L1ncolnF4n · September 11, 2013 3:03AM

I was in 6th grade. I remember my teacher getting a phone call and then going and turning on the TV. My class sat watching the TV not entirely sure what the significance was at the time. We were let out of school after about 30 minutes. My first thoughts were for family I had in NYC, thankfully my mom had already gotten a hold of them and they were all safe.

fiveNdime · September 11, 2013 3:04AM

i had just woken up and turned on the AM news and before the coffe was ready, the second plane hit.
completely shocked. i don't think we moved from our seat for the next 3 hours.
my work has never been the same since.

i had an eerie feeling walking in to work today.

my GF at the time was in a fender bender the week before(Ca.) with a guy from NY. we never heard anything again.

a friend in NJ worked across the bay and saw it all from her window.

my son was born 10mos later.

Twobitcollector · September 11, 2013 3:28AM

I was in North Conway NH

Pokermandude · September 11, 2013 3:42AM

I was in my second week of university, riding the train to school. In my half-asleep state I overheard two men talking about something seemingly important/serious, but didn't catch what it was. I walked into one of the school buildings and there were people standing around like zombies watching the tvs in a leisure area. I look up at one of them and watched for while, and saw the second plane hit.

crypto79 · September 11, 2013 3:55AM

I was living in Amman Jordan with the US military, I was eating an early dinner in the hotel we were based out of after a long day out when I saw that one plane had hit. Not thinking much of it I went down to my room and took a long shower to wash the desert off and heard people slamming on my room's door. My buddies came in turning on the TV showing both that both towers had fallen and the pentagon had been hit. We were also told over there that the state department was hit and another plane was heading for the white house or capital among several other things that proved not true. Crazy indeed, got put on lock down awaiting orders with a communications black out almost immediately. Went on quite the ride over the next year.

Where were You twelve years ago, when you heard....

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