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#1657 | Wednesday, September 4th 2002
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I was at my desk atwhen a co-worker called me to tell me the news. At the time, she had just heard about one of the towers. I immediately got on the internet and tried to find something out. There were no televisions in our office, so we had to rely on radios. I think many of us (including myself) were in shock and didn't believe what was happening. For one, we weren't getting all of the facts and would hear bits and pieces. It wasn't until after arriving home, that I turned on the television and found out how serious it was. I cried for the children that lost parents that day. I cried for those siblings that lost the other. I cried for days and wondered when I listened to 'God Bless the USA' in my car, doesn't anyone else feel this way? Though my tears stopped, September 11, 2001 will be a day never forgotten. God Bless!
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Christina | 31 | Texas
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#1536 | Monday, August 12th 2002
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I was on my way to work on Route 22 in Union, NJ when the news of the first plane crash was announced. There is a part of route 22 where you come around a slight curve, and the WTC is there, right in front of you. You can't see any other NYC buildings from this vantage point. The towers were the only buildings high enough. As I came around the bend, I saw the smoke coming from the first tower. The second had yet to be hit. I had almost reached work when I heard of the second impact. There was a tremendous gasp from the people at the radio station, and many couldn't believe what they had just seen. There was speculation that it was a piece of the first plane.
Once I reached work, radios were on, and speculation was rampant. By this time, I had been told that it was a second plane. When the first tower collapsed, I went in and told my boss, who was in an open door meeting. I didn't know what else to say, or even if I should have been in there. We all just stood there in stunned silence for a while.
That afternoon, as I left work, the smell of sulfer, or something similar was everywhere. I could see the enormous cloud of dust that stretched in the distance to the east. The same smell was around for the next two or three days.
When I got home that night, my wife was in tears. She had watched the scene with many of her co-workers on a tv where she works. She watched the second plane hit the tower. I hugged my children and felt like I never wanted to let them go. I wanted to protect them from the evil that had occored, but felt I was powerless to do so. I felt helpless.
The next day, I went along that same route, only there were no towers off in the distance. My heart sank. A few days later, I spoke with my next door neighboor, who had been part of the recovery effort the first two days. He told of how disorganized and disheartend everyone was the first night. How he would go up to the firemen on the site, and they would not know what to do because all of their leaders were missing. But that by the next day, there was organization, and a sense of optimism around the site. He talked of being part of a line that was removing buckets of debris, and that often there were body parts in the buckets. It was sickening to hear, and yet I knew I needed to hear it, and wanted the world to hear it, so that we never forget what happened.
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Tom | 31 | New Jersey
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#1460 | Wednesday, July 10th 2002
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On September 11th 2001,
I was at work. I heard the radio
announcer state that a plane had crashed into the world trade center. I said out loud, "now that is NOT funny".
I thought someone was playing a sick joke. As soon as I said that, the dj said "this is not a joke". Then my mother called from her work. She said
"have you seen tv, did you hear what happen at the world trade center?"
I immediately turned the tv on. Everyone was mesmerized and in shock by what was transpiring. Everything was happening so quickly. I called my dad and brother to make sure they were ok.
I gave them updates on what was happening. It was so chaotic. I couldn't believe my eyes/ears. I knew our lives had changed forever. One woman in the office said "we are going to WAR". It was such a beautiful day weather wise. Who knew what a horrible day it was going to turn out ot be!
I was glued to the tv until 2am the next morning. I felt so helpless. What
could I do to help? My heart was just aching!
Karyn
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Karyn | 31 | Rhode Island
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#1425 | Saturday, June 29th 2002
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We were in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. That morning I'd been standing in the altar room of a thousand-year-old temple on a hill which was hit by an illegal US bomb back in the 70's.
We drove back into town past the killing fields of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime -- a regime which was directly and indirectly supported by the United States and the UN. Tens of thousands of people had been killed in the lush green fields around us. One by one, by hand, by their fellow citizens. All up, more than a million were slaughtered. Everyone we met in the entire country had lost family and friends.
When we reached town we went out for dinner at a hotel, and got back at 9pm, just in time to flip on a TV and see the second plane go into the tower. Initially I though it was a movie. From there we just watched it all unfold - it wasn't on CNN or BBC because the reception wasn't that great, it was on some financial channel so the stock tickers kept crawling across the bottom of the screen until they realised there wasn't going to be any more share trading that day.
I was wondering what had happened to friends who worked on Wall St (later I found they were OK although one had been standing on top of the Trade Centre the day before) and remembered that one of them had mentioned he could see the mirror ball in the ballroom of the WTC from his apartment across the bridge.
As we travelled through the rest of that amazing country in the following days, the people were all very interested in what was going on in New York and Washington, and it was definitely the topic of conversation - but nobody seemed very surprised.
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Julian | 31 | Australia
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#1414 | Saturday, June 22nd 2002
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i was organising my father in laws funeral, who had died on september 9th 2001 and who we buried on september 12th...not a very good week..
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jo | 31 | Australia
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