Where were you when 9/11 happened?

[Hive King 2,001]

Something doesn't have to personally effect me for it to be a big deal. Thousands died in the biggest terrorist attack in the nation's history. That's a huge deal. It changed America (and subsequently the world) forever.

My parents kind of predicted it, ironically. My dad was from Colombia, during the era of the drug cartels. Of course when he came here, the sentiment on Colombia was "How come they just can't get rid of the bombs?"

 

So he brought a balloon with him to class and randomly popped it in his speech on terrorism to demonstrate how easily a terror attack could happen and what Colombia lived with. Of course, the class was unimpressed, thinking it could never happen

[HereComesTom 2,267]

I was in high school, too.  The first time I heard of it was in a room with no windows and one door---it felt like a trap, that room, and I heard from someone that someone flew a plane into the World Trade tower.  I didn't quite believe him when I first heard it, and figured it's hundreds of miles away, so it shouldn't affect me.

 

...Boy, was I wrong.  It changed America forever, and for the rest of that day, no matter what our class was supposed to be doing, no matter what period, all we did was watch footage of the towers collapsing or planes flying into them, watching in silence.

[BayoUni2847 528]

I was in school when it happened, and I don't think I knew it until I got home and seen it on the TV.

 

I don't exactly remember the reaction that my seven year old self had on this devastation.

[Nulln 755]

Something doesn't have to personally effect me for it to be a big deal. Thousands died in the biggest terrorist attack in the nation's history. That's a huge deal. It changed America (and subsequently the world) forever.

Eh, that's hard for me to understand.  It didn't affect me and it still doesn't.  I know the schools were all over that like syrup on a pancake because they knew that they were in a time that would go down in history.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

I was in first grade at PS 247 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. The shades were drawn, everyone was sat in a circle, and announcements came for children being picked up by their parents in the main office. The teacher told us it was a "problem in New York City".

 

I usually went home for lunch because I lived three blocks away from the school, so I didn't get a call. My mother picked me up, we went home, and we put it on channel 2, WCBS, right to the two towers burning on screen. We just sat and watched, and I didn't go back to school that day.

 

My father was up there as a first responder and spent many days afterwards working recovery there.

 

Now I realize many years later, and I'm glad I was that young at that time, as I wasn't fully emotionally aware of it. I probably would have been completely emotionally distraught by it had I been as old as I am now, but now I have a greater understanding as to the emotional gravitas that day had for so many.

[Adash 193]

I was 3, do I don't remember what I was doing at the time. I was probably in preschool or something.

[Will Guide 21,360]

I was in middle school and all I can remember about that morning was that I was grounded from screen time except my parents only allowed me to watch the news channel talking about it, DESPITE the fact that I was at an age where news channels bore me and half of the time the words I hear around me don't sound like they're worth my attention.   

[N.W. 3,619]

I was getting ready for pre-school I think. I only remember seeing the smoke pouring from the towers on the television. I vaguely remember my mom trying to explain it as "bad people" or something, trying to shield me in some sense, at least till I was older.  

[None 189]

I was four and school got let out early.

 

IDK why, I was living in Germany at the time. Those silly Germans, always panicking.

[Lost Profile 644]

I was just a little changeling back then... I was in a Starbucks waiting for coffee, then all of a sudden they stopped selling it... A bunch of people asked why and the answer was "Someone just blew up the trade towers"

I went home right away after hearing the news

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

I was only 4 and a half years old at the time. I was still in preschool and I was living in California way past New York. I don't remember hearing about it around the time it happened but I did remember hearing about it a couple years after 9/11. Nobody I knew was affected by the attacks,

[Celtore 2,770]

Grade 3 math class. It was a hard class... The only thing I really remember the principal broadcasting a message over the PA about what was going on and to pray for them (it was a pretty religious school.) I was too young to understand back then and school went on regardless.

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

Whelp, I'm 28, so I was in high school at the time.  I was probably playing video games.  Probably FFVIII or something.  As I never watched the news or read the paper in those days, I had no idea that anything happened until the next day at school.  A friend of mine came running up to me and said, "We're at war!"  And I was like, "Oh, is that gang that hangs out near us at lunch throwing food at us again?"

Edited September 12, 2014 by Justin_Case001

[GGG 176]

at the world trade center

[Cirrus. 1,089]

I was 13 and in middle school (8th grade at the time) in algebra class. The news was on in all the classrooms for the rest of the day. I remember one of my teachers at the time telling us that this is going to change the world forever. At the time I didn't really understand the whole extent of what was happening. I just knew some buildings got crashed into.

 

As I was writing this I realized this happened HALF my life ago! Honestly it FEELS like it was more like 7 years ago.

It's just weird how time starts to fly as you get older...and I'm 26...

Edited September 12, 2014 by steve88

[QuasarBeam 135]

I was living in Tulsa at the time and the tv was on in my 5th grade class.  Both of the towers had been hit and everyone looked on in awe.  I remember feeling small and bewildered for the first time in my life as we watched the live feed of the first tower collapse.  Noone said a word.  A few years back the OKC bombing had occurred in our area, so terrorist attacks weren't exactly new to us, but seeing those people running from that massive ash cloud and hearing the pandamonium on the reporter's mic.... I will never forget that.  There was a girl in my class that started crying and we later found out that one of her parents worked in the WTC.  They hadn't gone to work yet thank goodness.

My dad had traveled to our new home in North Carolina a few days before and was starting his first day at work that morning and I remember there was a lot of panic thinking that he might be in danger since that area had a nuclear reactor nearby.  I know it is cheezy to say something like this, but I think this event had a huge impact on my life and probably everyone else who was old enough to experience it.  Before this attack, we lived in a cozy little bubble where we were the invincible leaders of the world.  That morning made me realize at a young age that the world is a dangerous place, we are vulnerable,  and there is raw hatred in the world that hides behind the mask of religion.

[Simon 4,557]

 

Something doesn't have to personally effect me for it to be a big deal. Thousands died in the biggest terrorist attack in the nation's history. That's a huge deal. It changed America (and subsequently the world) forever.

 

 

I absolutely agree with this.  I'll explain how I feel on this subject by telling my own story about what I was, as well as trying to explain how it effected me.

 

I was living on the west coast, so it happened at roughly 5:45 a.m. for me.  At that time I was in third grade and I was an altar server (I was raised catholic) so I used to go to 6:30 mass before school a lot to help out at the morning daily mass with my mom.  I remember we went that morning and right before we went into mass, my aunt called us and told us a plane crashed into the world trade center.  At the time neither of us really understood what she was talking about or the magnitude of what was going on.  Then in mass they also mentioned it and said a prayer for them, but again they didn't really know all the details at that point, so we still didn't understand the magnitude.  The one thing they did mention though was that there were 2 plane crashes into the world trade center, and that's when we realized something wasn't right.

 

Normally I just went straight to school after mass, but when we ended up going home for a little bit this time to see what was going on, and that's when we found out about everything... the terrorists, the pentagon, flight 93... the news reports during that hour or two from about 6:45 pacific when I got home to 8:30 pacific when I went to school was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. We did nothing but watch the news and it seemed like every couple of minutes there was some other piece of horrible news whether it was another plane crash, one of the building collapses or something else.  It was the first time in my life I had ever experienced the country being attacked... that was the day I learned what a terrorist was, that was the day I learned where the middle-east was, that was the day I first heard about al-Qaeda...

 

And really I think that's why 9/11 impacted so many people in my age group so strongly.  In a lot of ways, my age group was hit the strongest, besides the people directly affected by the attacks and subsequent wars.  Younger kids didn't understand what was going on, adults and older kids did understand and many had experienced wars and other things effecting the country on this level before, so they were prepared for it.  But the people who were 8-13 were between the two groups... we had the ability to fully understand what was going on and sort of understood on our own, but we'd never been exposed to any of this before, so it shaped how we viewed the world in a dramatic way.  There's really no way to put it into words what I was feeling, but learning about all these truly frightening concepts like terrorism and mass murder at the same time you were seeing the events unfold on television was truly one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.  True, I didn't lose any close family members in the attack, but I can't begin to put into words how much it changed how I viewed the world.

[MasterNeutral1 32]

At my grandparents house watching TV and then that stuff came on. Really freaked me out and I was only 5 all the TVs in the place changed to the news.

[Fluttershyfan94 5,742]

I was in school, remember seeing it on the tv. They showed it in school and we were sent home I think. Remember seeing it on the tv at home as well.

[Magic Note 2,748]

My memory's a bit hazy on what exactly happened that day, but the tragedy has nonetheless affected me. I don't remember what class I was in, but it was 1st period, (it's been over a decade and some years) but the teacher told the class that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. I was immediately thinking "Well, this can't be any good..." and I was right. Due to it being a half-day in school, school was open until 10:30 AM. When I got home, my mom told me that another plane flew into the Pentagon. I don't exactly remember what went on during the day for me but I do remember the attacks.

[碇 シンジン 27,431]

I saw it on tv but my parents didnt tell me what was going on.

[Sugar Pea 2,682]

^{I was 2 years old, and my brother was a month old. We were being baby-sat, my mom witnessed the events in a bank and watched the (I think) the first plane crash into one of the towers. When mom and dad went home not even 5 minutes later, and turned on the TV, the second plane hit the towers. It was so nuts, she told me that every one was quiet, crying, in shock...my history teacher told us everyone was in fear that night, sine they didn't know who their enemy was, they didn't know what just happened, scared the terrorists were going to come. Everyone was in hysterics, i'm sure.}

Edited September 12, 2014 by teacup-bunnies23

[The Crimson Cross 7,532]

I'm pretty sure I might've been sleeping in my bed, quite warm and cozy.

I am sure I didn't even realise exactly the extent of what it was until around 6 years later though!

Man, that was quite a long time ago, wasn't it?

[Sugar Pea 2,682]

I'm pretty sure I might've been sleeping in my bed, quite warm and cozy.

I am sure I didn't even realise exactly the extent of what it was until around 6 years later though!

Man, that was quite a long time ago, wasn't it?

It's kinda eerie, knowing that while you were sleeping comfortably in bed, thousands of people were dying...I found this a scary thought, that I may have been playing or eating cereal happily while this was happening. Creepy, but it's not my fault...if I were fully aware, I would've sat and watched.

[deletedaccount2 203]

I was 2 months old. I had turned 2 months on the 4th of September. I can't remember anything.

 

My dad said that he was driving to work when he had heard it on the radio, and he thought it was fake. My mum and dad were both shocked in terror, while I was blissfully ignorant.