On 9/11 I stayed home sick. My sister called me about 9:00 and asked me if I was watching TV. To my horror I turned on the TV and watched as the world suddenly changed. My parents were on an airplane coming back from Australia, and I spent most of the morning tracking them and where they might land-which eventually was in Hawaii. Knowing your family is on a plane and the world is under attack is the most frightening feeling in the world. My heart goes out every year for all those who lost friends and family on those flights. I had many acquaintenances who had friends and family on 9/11 flights that crashed-as I lived in the bay area at the time and some of the passengers were from San Francisco. That day changed our world forever

On the day of September 11, 2001, my husband woke me up around 6 am and told me that an airplane had flown into 1st World Trade Center. I couldn’t believe what he was saying was true until we turned on the television. Both my husband and I saw 1st World Trade Center is full of smoke with giant hole on the top of the building. We were shocked when we both saw a second airplane flown into 2nd World Trade Center. I was so numbed that I couldn’t cry until we saw both World Trade Center’s started to disappear. I cried uncontrollably for about a week and then I was angry for a long time. I still cry occasionally about September 11th. I became more aware of who to trust in our country and refused to fly until the year of 2005. I am still paranoid about flying because I look for something unusual about the person. I guess I will never feel safe after September 11th. My heart goes out to those who lose their love one. They are still in my prayer.

I was getting ready for work. We lived in CA and I always listened to the radio as I was getting ready in the morning. I listened to the dj's on the morning show announce the first plane crashing into the WTC. At first everyone thought it was just some sort of horrible accident. Then the second plane hit. I woke my husband up and we turned on the TV. We both had to go to work that day...it was surreal. I remember carrying a radio with me all day and sitting in a conference room watching the TV. My sister in law and brother lived on the East Coast. She was attending NYU and was in Manhattan that day. I spoke with my brother at one point that day and his voice was as broken and lost as I've ever heard. He couldn't find my sister in law. Or reach her on her cell. We were lucky...she was far enough away and was safe. It is so strange, still and still hard to believe that it happened at all. I will never forget.

I worked nights -- been to bed just a few hours when my daughter called. Mom, turn on the TV -- what? -- turn on the TV. I turned on the TV and thought she had me watching a bad movie...then I realized, it wasn't a movie, it was real. I was stunned...could not believe could not comprehend what I was watching. It changed me....

I fell out of bed that morning after a few hours of sleep. I had worked the graveyard shift the night before and was actually coming home at about the same time the first plane hit, but I didn't know about it until later when I went downstairs to see what my mom was doing, because she wasn't responding to my calls. She was sitting on the couch, riveted, watching TV. I couldn't understand what the deal was and why she wasn't talking until I actually started listening too. I think it was very difficult for me to process exactly what I was seeing on the news... partly because of my lack of sleep, and also because I was young. I had just graduated high school that year, and was getting ready to leave for college. Up to that point, the world had revolved around me, so to speak. My problems, my stresses, my choices and issues...
I cried for the dead and their families, I cried for this country and the rest of the world.

Everyone says that the world changed that day, but to me, suddenly, it just was. I realized, however painfully and regrettably, that there was more to my world than the little things. I grew up that day.

I was pregnant with my son and up watching the news. I remember telling my husband as he got ready for work that a plane had hit a building in New York. As we watched the second plane hit, we at first we thought it was a replay of the first one. It took us only a couple of seconds to realize what had happened. By this time, our daughters were up getting ready for school. I remember trying hard to answer their questions...and praying for my son who had yet to come into this world. I couldn't imagine what kind of world he was entering into. I was worried about my Aunt who worked at a high level post in the governement, and worked at the Pentagon at times. Before they closed the airspace, I looked out our window across the valley and saw a small plane...I remember ducking down. It seemed like a nightmare that wouldn't stop.

My phone rang waking me from a deep sleep. It was my Father calling from Michigan. I was half awake and could hardly say hello when he just started yelling "Turn on the TV, New York is under attack!"
Barely comprehending this I turned on the TV to find a gaping hole in the North Tower and my jaw just dropped. My first [naive] thought was "man, that's going to take a year to fix that building." As I barely got my brain around this horiffic event, I watched on live TV as many people in the world did, as the second plane slammed into the South Tower. This was just beyond belief. I was totally stunned. I could then hear my Father yelling on the other end and realized my hand had sort of fallen down with the receiver in it. After a minute, we stopped talking over each other's voices and both realized I had just been to the Towers a couple months previous. We were then treated via live TV to the shock of seeing the jumpers sailing through air hoping for a quicker, less painful end. Thankfully most networks stopped airing this footage as the day went on. Shortly after, we all know what happened next which is imprinted in our minds for the rest of our lives. I remember having to then get ready for work and as I was driving across I-90 in traffic thinking this looks like any other day, but it wasn't.

My mom, sister, grandma, and I had just awakened from our first night on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, for a girls' vacation. I turned on the tv to watch the news and wait for everyone to get up, and to my horror, I kept seeing planes flying into the World Trade Center. I thought at first that it was a joke or a movie or something. It seemed so unreal! Then, as I realized what had happened, I called my husband, back in the contintnental U.S. to let him know that I was okay. That was one of the strangest vacations of my life - full of beautiful scenery and fun times, but overshadowed by that horrible event. We spent the week in Hawaii grateful to be alive and together.

I had just gotten laid off from my job about 2 weeks before hand so I was home sleeping. I got a call at around 7am or so with a friend telling me that a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center. Since I was in such a deep sleep before the phone rang, I said thanks for calling and rolled over and went back to sleep. It took me about 10 minutes or so to roll over grab the remote to turn on the news. At that point I was pretty much glued to the TV and trying to get through to my parents by phone who were living about an hour away from NYC at the time for the remainder of the day.

I was in Las Vegas, NV that day at my sisters house. I was asleep when my sister came bursting into the room saying, "were going to war". I got up and watched the TV and saw the footage. It was horrible. I work as a firefighter and when I saw the buildings collapse I knew there would be firefighters and police in there. I heard they evacuated almost 15,000 people that day before the towers fell. I wanted to get back home and go to work. I wanted to help. Later on that day, while trying to find a way back to Washington, we drove down near the Las Vegas Strip, and I have never seen Las Vegas Blvd look so empty. It was like a ghost town. People were really scared. - Never Forget, Always Remember. - 3 4 3 - - 09/11/01 - Now Im just really angry that Bin Laden is still around and making videos. We missed an opportunity that day to unite our country and work for the greater good of everyone. To continue to the show the world that our country was built on compassion and humanity. I hope people will agree to disagree and again unite, to transform our country back to the place where so many had believed in before.

I was at the University of Washington Hospital with my older (32 yr old) son. He was going to have surgery - to find out if he had cancer. My younger (29 yr old) son was in the middle of a fight for his life. He had cancer. The pre-op nurse came in to greet us and commented about what a morning it had been. We knew nothing, because the first plane had hit as we were pulling in to the underground parking and had just turned off the car's radio. That was quite a day. Praying for both my boys' lives and America's too. Both boys are still alive. Only the younger one had to battle the cancer. The older one has a pre-cnacerous condition that they watch.

I was at my apartment in Washington, DC across the street from the State Department. I'd slept late and my mom's call to turn on the TV woke me up. I thought she was joking. I remember walking outside to 23rd street and seeing the street flooded with cars - a mass exodus of people trying to leave the city. Nobody could move - it was total gridlock. That day was the first time I'd ever prayed.

I had just stepped out of the shower and was looking at the TV when I saw Tower one on fire...just as it caught my eye the other plane was coming in. I knew immediately what was going on. I woke my husband up and told him that New York was under attack and he was shocked...I was shocked.
We went to work and were surprized to find that the security level had not been raised yet. I went straight up to the lounge where everyone was watching the TV. I noticed a buckling in one of the towers and made the comment that it was going to go down. About 2 minutes after my comment, it did. I think the word I would use was numbness at first...then grief and fear set in a few days later. We had our eyes glued to the television for days afterwards. Hoping and praying for just one more person to come out of the rubble alive.

My family is in New Jersey and my brother (a NJ State Trooper who lost several friends in the Port Authority) was at Liberty Park where everyone was waiting to go in for search and rescue. He said it was a carnage no one could ever forget. Little pieces and parts of human beings that were found were treated with respect and dignity.
He said that everyone would go completely silent when they found human remains. I will never forget the things he told me. I will always have a special pride for him because he was there...he was a first hand witness of what hatred in this world can do.

6 years ago, this country and most of the world was united by this tragedy. The ONLY good that came out of it I think.

Now we are so divided and the world that once mourned with us, hates us.

On the morning of Sept. 11th, I always got up and flipped the news on while I got ready for work. As I was getting ready, I saw the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower not realizing that the 1st tower had already been hit. My first thoughts were that the plane had hit the building accidently but as I continued watching, I realized that it wasn't an accident but done on purpose. As I watched in horror, I called my sister and told asked her if she was watching the news and she had said no she wasn't but I told her to turn on her TV and watch. I told her that a plane had just hit one of the towers in NYC. when she saw what was happening, she was in shock also. I believe this will be one of the things that will remain with me for the rest of my life.

I watched CNN live in the waiting area of the United Terminal at SeaTac waiting to board my flight to the East Coast.

The airport was still confused when the first plane hit - but I had such anxiety watching it on CNN that I called my director to say I was sick and couldn't make the trip.

He had jumped on the flight just before me and ended up being diverted to Portland.

Terrifying.

It was about 7:00 in the morning and my dad had walked my bedroom to wake my sister and I up for school. He turned on the lights and said "Wake up girls, a plain crashed into a builing." Now my dad is very sarcastic, so I thought that he was just saying that to get us out of bed, so I didn't think twice about it. So I was completly taken aback when I found out it was true.

I worked nights at NAS Whidbey and as usual every morning I'd wake up for about 2 hours and surf the web. I saw the Yahoo alert in bold red letters at 5:49 saying that an airliner had slammed into the World Trade Center. I woke the wife, thinking it had been some horrible accident and she came out just as the second plane hit. We were watching NBC.

I didn't know my older Brother Steven was working with his construction company down there until he sent an e-mail that night. He and his crew didn't leave ground zero till March 2002.

I will never forget and I will never forgive these Islamo-monkies for the murdery they caused. I hope they all rot in hell.

I was standing behind the Maintenance Control counter at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia about to close up shop for the night after a spectacular performance by my Navy Squadron's aircraft. We were going to get to go home way early that evening because the aircraft were back, armed, fueled and UP for the next day's sorties.
We ended up huddled around the radios in the maintenance vehicles and in the shops listening to the initial reports, inventorying and issueing the Chemical Warfare equipment and trucking the Day Shift's issue over to them.
Knowing where we were in Saudi and where the hi-jackers came from, it was a long long drive back to the barracks at the end of the day. I always half expected an RPG to come out of a date-palm grove.