'Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning That September Day?'

Robert Mayer (Editor) August 22, 2011 at 06:39 pm

My wife and I were about to leave for our daughter Rianne's one-year-old checkup at our pediatrician's office. Michelle told me a plane had hit the World Trade Center. While I thought it was odd, I didn't think too much about it, But, as I put on my shoes to leave, the second plane hit the second tower. My heart jumped and I knew something was wrong. We went to the appointment and by the time we goth there they told us the Pentagon had been hit and another plane crashed. We really didn't know what to think. I sat in the house on a beautiful day and watched CNN in horror. I watched it all night as well. The next day was the golf tournament we run with more than 170 players scheduled to come and play and people were calling to ask if we were still having it. I dind't know what else to do so I said "yes." I didn't sleep that night. I couldn't stop watching the news and wondering if I knew anybody in those buildings or on the ground. I thought about how the world had changed for my one-year old daughter. I waited and worried and I still worry if it will happen again.

Maura Liegeot August 23, 2011 at 05:12 am

I was working at the American Red Cross-someone hurried in from the parking lot and said a plane had hit one of the towers and it was on fire. I was worried - I had relatives who worked in both the north and south tower. Were they all right? Nurses brought the television into the hall shortly after that and a large crowd gathered with tears in their eyes and gasps of distress. We watched the tragic scenario - the second plane hitting, the pentagon being hit, the constant barrage of updates and live footage. This went on all day, we all took turns watching and then going back to our desks and then watching. Later I found out my two relatives were safe. But they had lost colleagues and friends by the score that day. I still get a chill just thinking about the horror that took place that day.

Cynthia Kobus August 23, 2011 at 11:52 am

I was teaching at Hartford Public High School. Phones were ringing off the hook, parents were demanding to take their kids home, everyone was a little confused. The rest of the school day was very tense due to the number of Muslim students enrolled. It was not an easy day for them at all. Most were picked up quickly, but many were harassed and threatened... Truly and ugly scene. I remember on my way home stopping at a close friends house to help them pack up a trailer to go to Maine and just standing on the top of their big hill noticing the blue sky. Never once had I looked up from that place and not seen airplanes. I remember that it was one of the nicest days of the year and there I was taking in the beautiful blue silence while I knew so many were suffering, scared and mourning. I felt so helpless in that moment...

Dee May August 23, 2011 at 02:30 pm

It will be a day I never forget because I was feeding my newborn baby, Trevor, and I was home on Maturnity/Personal leave from American Airlines as a Flight Attendant. My eyes were glued to the television as everything was happening and also my phone must of rang at least 80 times with friends and family calling to see if I was home or back to work on a trip. Deep in my mind I knew something was definitely wrong because it was a beautiful day and planes just do not fly into buildings - being a flight attendant I just knew. Needless to say I had attended many memorial services due to the fact I had flown with many of the flight crew that were killed during this horrific incident. These were some of my close friends as well as my co-workers. It will be something I will never forget the rest of my life. Dee Morin May

Mark Caliandri August 24, 2011 at 04:38 pm

I remember walking into work from the parking lot thinking it was an absolutely beautiful day. How incredibly ironic that thought was about to become though. About a 1/2 hour later, a coworker had received a call from a relative in NY telling her that a plane had hit one of the Towers. We thought it was some sort of accident as we prepared for a department meeting. Right before the meeting, we heard about the second plane. At that point, we knew the first one wasn't an accident. None of us could really pay attention during the meeting as we were all wondering what was going on. By the time we got out, we were astonished to see a crowd watching a TV that had been brought out where everyone was watching what was happening. That's when we were told that the towers had collapsed and that 2 other planes had crashed (one into the Pentagon the other somewhere in PA). My first thought was who from my family and friends are in the areas that were hit and are they ok. I was fortunate as everyone I knew ended up being ok (some of their friends and colleagues, however, were not). As the details from the PA plane came out and that there were signs the passengers had fought back, they likely saved a lot of lives at the ultimate expense of their own. In that moment of realization, I remember feeling that whoever it was that was doing this was not going to beat us as we still have people that are willing to do whatever it takes, regardless of the cost, to save lives.

mike veneziano August 27, 2011 at 06:12 am

A day I will never forget. I worked one block from the trade center and was stuck in an elevator during the bombing in 1993.
On September 11th, for no particular reason I decided to work from home. I was at a bank when I first saw the news. The news was reporting that a small plane had flown into the trade center. As I was driving home I heard on the radio a second plane had hit. I remember rushing home to my wife and 1 year old son and then running to my older son's school. When I got there it was a madhouse. Parents were running through the halls crying looking for their children. I remember standing on our terrace in Queens and looking at a mushrooom shaped cloud of debris in an otherwise blue sky. I could hear jets flying over head but never actually saw one. As my family got into the car and headed to my in- laws in Long Island I remember how the Long Island Expressway was almost totally empty with the exception of emergency responders headed west on 495 into the city. ( police and fireman, the true hero's rushing in at a time when everyone else was trying to get out) A few days after, we returned home. I remember the eary feeling of driving into the city ( unable to look downtown as I crossed the 59th street bridge) to pick up my sister who lived in NYC and stayed in the city to help out at ground zero. And of course I will never forget the two friends who were having breakfeast at "windows of the world" that tragic day.