I was just arriving to work and parking. All news was coming via radio. Had heard that a plane had hit the towers in New York. I thought, wow, something terrible must have happened to the plane or pilot. Thinking it was a small, private plane and some sort of accident. Just as I was opening the door, it was announced that a second plane had hit. At that time, the image for me was still, small planes but that something intentional was happening. Not until I was in the office, where everyone had internet going, did I find out that these "airplanes" were commercial, passenger airplanes. It took a bit longer to learn they were hijacked and that one plane destined for the west coast was missing and unaccounted for.

Finally that night I turned the tv off. It was a formative event for my impression of media. There was no new news or information coming, just the same thing repeated over and over and over. Then days of no flying and wondering how we, the USA, would respond and what that might mean.

I had just sent my daughter off to school and thought I would turn on Good Morning America and to be honest when it first came on I thought they were knocking down some building but the more I watched I realized something bad was happening. So I was glued to the t.v. all day and even called into work because I was so upset and could not pull myself away from watching it.
My husband was working up in Madison by the capital and trying to call him over and over and nothing was going through. When he finally got home he told me they were in a PDQ store close to the caital and everything surrounding the capital was on a lockdown and nobody was allowed to go anywhere until they received a "go ahead". By that time it was too late to do any kind of work. He remembered the ladies who worked at the PDQ was giving them free drinks and a free sandwich for lunch since the ATM machine was also not working during that time.
After a couple days when our minds settled down we got to thinking about being at the McDonalds on Center Ave. and remembering parking next to this car and looking over at this guy (whom you could tell was not from America..if you get my hint) and he wasn't eating but sitting there sweating so bad that you could actually see the sweat dripping off his face and yes to us he looked like he was super nervous about something or scared but we just went back to eating and ignored him. We realized it was the day before 9/11 and I know I have always wondered if somehow this guy knew something. Guess I will never know.

I was in San Raphael CA, driving south on highway 101 when the first plane struck, I was moving very slowly across the Golden Gate bridge when the second plane struck. This was my daily route on the way to the United Airlines repair depot in San Francisco, where I worked as an instructor for the company. Listening to the radio, I had a sense for what was happening right away and feared for my coworkers, who ultimately perished, not to mention some instant personal fear about being in a major city, sitting on one of the world’s most notable landmarks.
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It was one of the most terrible days of our lives, as we sat in the training center watching the video replay of the attacks and waiting for detailed information about our friends and coworkers on the flights. The emotions we shared that morning and afternoon, I can’t describe.
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My wife, who was working at a magazine in SF had just returned from doing interviews with businessmen at the towers a few days before the event.
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So I guess I can say that I did experience “terror” on, and after that day. This in no way is a credit to the attackers. Their miserable situation and hardened hearts gained no benefit from my reaction. I hope this last statement is not hubris.

I was a freshman in college. It was the first week of school and the attack was the first thing I saw on TV in the student lounge area that morning. Back then, everyone had phones but no Twitter and Facebook (otherwise, I would have known about it sooner.) I remember feeling very sad, worried and fearful. Initially, I thought it was some kind of joke. Classes were immediately cancelled. It was hard for me to grasp. I was dating an airman at the time and knew exactly what that moment meant ... he was off to war. It was a moment I'll never forget.

I remember our sons were at the table eating cereal before school. Our daughter who was just over 2 months old was in my arms. My husband and I were watching the Today Show and seeing the scenes of the first plane after it had already hit the tower. We both sat there and could not believe a plane crashed into one of the towers, that it must have been a feel accident. Then while watching we saw the second tower get hit, and we both looked at eachother and said "this is no freak accident." My eyes welled up in tears and we just stared in disbelief as we watched the towers burn. When the first tower went to the ground I just covered my mouth and all I could say is "oh my God!" and could not believe what was happening. We were going to be in a dear friend's wedding that coming Saturday, who was active duty Navy, and other members of the wedding party were active duty as well. One member of the wedding party was coming from New York, and worked across the street from the towers drove to be here in time. I would never in my dreams would have thought I would have to explain to my 7 what was happening and what terrorists were. I remember him asking me why do they hate us mom? With tears in my eyes I remember saying I don't know, but to say a prayer for all those people, and pray to keep the rest of our country safe. I did not send him to school that day, but my husband and I stayed home with them together as a family because with all that was going on and fear of more to come we just wanted to be together, for that was a huge wake up call for us on how precious our family is.

I was teaching when my buddy Psychology teacher from across the hall came over and said, "Quick...turn our your tv." My entire class sat in silence as things got worse. I am quite sure they will never forget where they were at this time. I know I never will.

I was at work and my boss made us turn the T.V. and radio off. It was right after the towers got hit. It was great not knowing what was happening. He said "Their isn't anything we can do about it". What a nice guy.

I was sitting in my 6th grade class starting to learn about the middle east when our janitor walked in with a TV and said that a plane had just hit one of the twin towers. For the next few hours we watched the news, I remember all the questions we were asking and asking if we were going to war. And being worried that our teachers that had been in the military would have to go to war. I remember my parents talking about how high gas prices got just that night and seeing that in California it got all the way up to $8 a gallon. I also remember a few days after that the whole middle school made a poster to send to New York. It was a tragic day for everyone.

I was at work when a co-worker's husband called with the news. We turned the TV on in the conference room and we were all sitting around the table when one of the engineers said "My brother is in that building". We all had tears running down our faces. I remember uttering "My God, we are at war". Another co-worker's husband was a pilot and she was frantically trying to get hold of him. My niece's husband was a navy pilot and he was in Virginia with their baby while she was here visiting her father in the hospital. Her husband obviously was called to immediate duty and had no one to leave the baby with and she couldn't get home. Another pilot's wife helped out and we drove my niece back to Virginia the next day.

I was in 8th grade at the time. It was first hour and I think our teacher got a call to turn on the TV. I watched in shock. My teacher was frantically trying to call her husband and I was beginning to worry about planes hitting Chicago or other places. It was difficult to wrap my mind around what was happening. Classes resumed slowly through the day, but 8th grade seems to be a pivotal point in a person's life...growing up and seeing adult problems. This shaped the future for many of us.

The poor souls falling from those burning towers-it was surreal.

Thank you Smith Barney for not hiring me. Otherwise I would have been in the south tower that day.
The best job I never got.

I was at work and walked by tv when they were speaking of the first hit of tower while a plane went threw the other. Never get the pic from the news magazine out of my mind of the people jumping from the towers. RIP and sorry for all the families this has affected.

I was a freshman at UW Madison. When I got to my first class of the day and there was some talk about planes being hijacked, but no one really knew anything specific. When I walked into the very large lecture hall for my next class it was completely dark and they were playing CNN on the floor to ceiling screen. The first tower had just fallen and we sat in the dark watching the horror unfold. I'm not even sure at that time we fully understood the implications of what we were seeing and the way everything was about to change.

We switched the big screen TVs at work (used for network monitoring) to CNN and NBC. The company I worked for had it's world HQ near Ground Zero in NY. After 9/11, they decided to outsource all IT worldwide to IBM and I lost my job a few months later. Took a month or so to find a new one, in Wisconsin.

I was working at home waiting for a Fed Ex from my office. It wasn't coming & wasn't coming so finally I called my office and my co-worker asked me if I knew what was going on? That's when she told me. I remember driving into Milwaukee shortly after that to conduct some business & driving past General Mitchell with not a plane in sight not only that day but day after day.

I was working for Spacesaver. Installing a system at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic,CN. At break time, I drove up to the gas station to get a snack, and the guy had the TV on watching the news. I drove back to tell the folks the news, but was hastily greeted by the project director. He said they were closing down the town, hence the job site. Apparently they are located close to both a submarine base and submarine manufacturer. So we put our gear away, sent the crew home, and headed back to our hotel to wait it out and watch the news. The Kicker for me was....It was my weekend to come home, and I was scheduled to play in the band for a friends wedding. of Course that Friday, I couldnt catch my plane cuz they weren't flying yet. I was fortunate to get the LAST rental car at the local airport. (piece of crap Hyundai, no cruise control). I left friday evening, drove straight through, and made it back to wisconsin just a few hours before show time.

It was the 2nd day of pre K. I had just dropped my daughter off and got in the car to head to the buffalo farm to give a tour. WJVL came on and said if you want more news coverage turn to our sister station WCLO...I knew there was something big happening then. I tuned in to hear about the first tower being struck. I continued to head to the farm, where a tv was set up in the gift shop area. We tuned in to see all the rest unfold. After the 2nd tower was hit my gut reaction was do I go get kiddo from school? Will it upset her if I get her so soon, Is she safer there?What else is going on that we don't know about? Many many questions and feelings ran through my head. When they announced they were closing all air traffic EVERYWHERE I started to shake...this meant it was a much more intense situation, more was sure to happen. The farm is near the airport and were seeing several planes make landings,watching each plane come in low gave us a queasy, uneasy feeling. We watched several military jets headed east, the speed at which they were moving was unbelievable.
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At that point the towers had fallen and we were all in utter shock. The pentagon being hit was hard for me as my brother in law had been working there. Then with news that one last plane was still in the air and unaccounted for, we all held our breath, praying that it would landed safely. Sadly when the report came out that it crashed we all lost it, tears flowing & lots of hugs to go around. Remeber I was giving a tour to a bus tour group so there were many of us all gathered around.Then I noticed it was just about time to go and get the kiddo, I was shaking driving to pick her up. I got her and just hugged the dickens out of her...went home and was glued to CNN for the next several weeks. That is where I was on 9/11