9/11/01--Where were you when you heard the news?

I went down to Ground Zero three months afterward, and people were treating it like Disney, taking pictures left and right. It's a burial site for a couple thousand people; to me, that was wrong.

 

Wicked's post made me think: In the hours and days after 9/11, a shop opened near there where people could bring their photos of anything involving the WTC, before or after. They were all put on display, and they eventually made a book of it. I purchased the book (proceeds went to the Children's Aid Society: http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/).

You can see the pics at www.hereisnewyork.org. You can also order the book if you want to. It's huge (10 pounds) but amazing.

The photos are breathtaking, both in capturing its majesty beforehand and the shock and terror after.

 

I was at home (West Coast), sitting at the table prepping for work, getting ready for an overseas trip on the 14th. I had the radio on, and here comes the news about the first plane hitting the tower. I turned on the TV, and immediately I saw a picture of the plane hitting the tower. There was talk of a small plane accident; nope, no way, I thought. I've never been sorrier to be right.

Needless to say, my trip did not materialize as planned, and when I did make it on October 14th, everything had changed.

Yesterday was a very unpleasant anniversary, made moreso by the fact that the Vietnam Memorial Wall was defaced, which I just learned yesterday. My classmates and friends didn't deserve that. I'm still bummed.

 

Actually, MSNBC was reairing NBC's Today Show coverage from that morning.

 

Glad to see someone did something good.

Fenian's photo also was very good. It's a shame it had to be taken down in the boots purge.

 

I was in the middle of about a 120-mile drive through some very lovely, rolling countryside, listening to events on the radio. Called my wife who was at home getting ready for work and told her to turn on the TV. I can still remember hearing her gasp when the second plane hit.

The rest of that drive, and the return drive home that evening, was very Twilight-Zonish. It's hard to explain the incongruity of how beautiful and peaceful it looked out the window, compared to horror and tragedy that was going on elsewhere; knowing that the world would never be the same, but not knowing how it was going to change.

 

I was sleeping. Didn't get word until my brother called me. I'm actually glad I didn't see any of it live.

I think I let out a bunch of holy shits and so forth when I first did turn on the TV. And then rambled nonsense for the next few hours.

I went to work later that day. Took some pictures for news' side. Actually did a high school football feature that day which had nothing to do with 9/11.

Since I was relatively near the sight of the United 93 crash and a big air force base, I think I witnessed a fly by by some military fighter jets at around 1 a.m. while driving home. I certainly could be wrong about that, but with flight traffic grounded I have no idea what else it could have been.

 

Eagle, how much of that did your wife actually witness from her office? Did she see the second plane hit and/or the towers topple or did she immediately get out of there?
Man, it's one thing to see it TV, whether live or taped, but to see it out your own window? She must have some vivid (and horrible) memories.

 

Check out the link I posted above, if you want to. There are photos of people looking out their windows, on the phone, as it happens.

 

Not to mention, doing such work when everyone undoubtedly wants to just watch the coverage on TV in disbelief.

 

Walking down the hill from apartment on St. Marks Place, Staten Island. Headed to the ferry terminal. Saw smoke coming from the tower and paused. I did not have to work until 2 p.m. that day. Went home, turned on the news and saw the second plane hit.

I packed an overnight bag, brought my portable AM and FM and WorldBand radio, brought an extra cell phone battery and a charger and picked up a bottle of water and walked back to the ferry terminal. No dice. Talked to a cop I'd always seen there and he let me get aboard an outbound boat and got off in Manhattan. Caught a ride with a group of police cadets to the WTC and then walked up to my office in midtown. Spent four days at work, sleeping in a room that my company had booked.

Exhausted, emotional, thankful to be alive and after I found my best friend who worked there was OK, exceedingly relieved.