#1984 | Tuesday, September 10th 2002
I was at work for Liberty Mutual, one company involved in ensuring the safety of workers involved in the World Trade Center cleanup after Sept 11th. My co-workers and I spent much of the day trying to find out what was going on. With the flood of users trying to access various online news sites, we were unable to reach any sites. We felt lost and confused with no information, and a lot of fear.


A friend worked at a radio station, and he was feeding us information from the AP newswire, but there was so little to learn, and so much left unknown. What little we learned shocked and scared us - we didn't know what was happening next and where. We are in a town north of Boston where there is a nuclear power plant and nuclear submarines - in the uncertainty of what was happening that day, we wondered if we could be targets. We feared for friends and family and anyone we knew who couldn't be accounted for.


The images and information that finally got to us via the internet, mass e-mail chains, television news programs, and even just the faces and sites around us were stunning and heart wrenching.


That night, like many Americans, helpless to find any other way to express my feelings about the day, I hung a large American flag in my front window. For weeks, candles were lit each night in front of that flag - reflections of my hope and prayers for those survivors we were sure would be found. The flag and those candles are still there, and will remain. They will be lit again tomorrow night and those feelings that had subsided will come back. It's a grief unlike any other because it is shared by millions.

Paige | 26 | New Hampshire

#1699 | Friday, September 6th 2002
I was at school the day of the attacks. Like most of the country, many of us were in complete shock. It was all we could do to go to whatever classes were that morning. There were many vigils and class discussions for the next several weeks. Personally, I was scared, partly for my family, partly for my friends. I was scared for one friend in particular. He's in the National Guard and I still hope that he has not been sent over.
Noelle | 21 | New Hampshire

#1593 | Saturday, August 24th 2002
On September 11, 2001 I was at work. I work at a small market and on Tuesdays freight is delivered. As we put away the stock we always listen to the radio. We were putting away frozen goods when I noticed that I didn't hear the usual oldies music. I was the fist to pick up on this becasue my co-workers tend to block out the radio while working. I said, " What's with the talking? Where's the music? What are they talking about?" Someone immediately went to turn up the volume. It was then that we all heard what was happening. At that time the details were still very sketchy. The first plane had just hit, and noone was able to comprehend exactly what was happening. As we tried to continue working, our focus was mainly on the radio. Then we heard about the 2nd plane. Noone could believe it...we were in awe and grief stricken with the thought of all the casualties. "Those poor people", was muttered over and over by those around me. We stayed so attentive to the radio...informing others of what we heard as soon as there was new information. Unsure of what was to happen next, we felt so insecure just wondering what was happening to us Americans and our beloved USA. As soon as we could, we were all heading to the phone to call our friends and loved ones to find out if they had heard the news. Some couldn't handle the news. A lot of our "regular" shoppers came in just to "get away". Co-workers who weren't even scheduled to work came in. We're all so close ... I guess being together helped eveyone cope and try to understand.
As long as I live I shall never forget that horrible morning. My heart and prayers go out to all those who lost their lives or lost loved ones as a result of the destruction of the towers. God Bless us all.

Jennifer | 28 | New Hampshire

#813 | Sunday, March 3rd 2002
I was in cafe study, which ends at 9:55 am. Right before the bell rang, one of the administators came onto the intercom and said that he wanted to inform everyone that there had been two plane crashes-one into the WTC and one into the Pentagon, and he would update everyone with more information as soon as possible. As I was walking through the halls to my next class, I heard both teachers and students joking and saying, "Why would I care about a plane crash?" "What do these plane crashes have to do with me?" I couldn't believe that even teachers were so quick to jump to conclusions about the events before hearing anything. My first reaction was that plane crashes are extremely rare in the United States for one, and the fact that they had to do with these landmarks was a little strange. On my way to half study at around 10:50 am, I walked by a classroom with a tv on and I stopped in to watch as there was footage of one of the Twin Towers collapsing. All I could do was watch in awe, wondering what happened, how it happened, and why it happened.
Greg | 17 | New Hampshire

#740 | Thursday, February 7th 2002
September 11th, 2001 held such a strange conjunction of events for me. First of all, it was my birthday. Second, I was ill and took the day off from work. Third, it was a day that I found out about some relatively invasive physical therapy that I was going to have to endure. It's so funny the way life's annoyances and seemingly significant problems can be brushed to the side and forgotten in a moment. I had called in to my office to let them know I wouldn't be in and the secretary asked me if I had turned on CNN. I hadn't, so I walked in to the living room and tuned in with the rest of the country. It felt like I was watching a movie - I absolutely could not believe what I was seeing. I tuned in just in time to see the second tower collapse. I didn't know what to say. I just looked over at my girlfriend and started to feel the tears well up in my eyes. Celebrating my birthday will never feel quite the same again.
James | 22 | New Hampshire

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