#1613 | Wednesday, August 28th, 2002
I remember exactly where I was when the first plane hit the WTC. I was in my car on my way to work. I cross a mountain every day on my way to work and I was exactly on the very top of the mountain when it was mentioned on the radio that the WTC had been hit. I never will forget what I felt at that moment. At first I thought we had just lost another airliner to a mysterious crash like so many airliners in the past. But something felt different. Before I knew all the details, something just seemed different. I got to work and then heard about the second plane. That is when I realized this was unlike anything else I have ever experienced. We were under attack. It was a strange eerie feeling at work. I work for an Internet Provider and we have to keep our part of the Internet running 24/7. We kept doing our jobs, but we knew that we had an even greater responsibility now. To keep vigilant and defend our country as well. When I got home from work that day, I noticed things were really really quiet. And it was very scarey not seeing any planes in the skies. I don't think I slept that night, wondering what would happen next. I also felt a lot of anger that someone would terrorize the USA that way. I still feel that anger towards the terrorists. They are responsible for this. I am glad that a lot of Americans feel anger towards these terrorists that commited such an evil act. And I am also glad that there are Americans that are willing to stand up and defend this country. We have a good start on the war on terrorism but it is far from over. I hope people don't forget that. I also hope they don't forget our service men and women in the armed forces that are defending our right to freedom. It's definitely good to be an American and to feel proud of our freedoms and to stand up and fight for them.
Jason | 25 | Alabama

#1614 | Wednesday, August 28th, 2002
I was at home asleep that morning with my six week old son, in our Brooklyn apartment. I had the phone unplugged so the baby wouldn't be woken by the ringing. At 10:30 I woke up and plugged the phone back in as usual. A minute later a friend called me and said she had bad news. First she asked me if my husband was at work. I said yes, he had gone in early. I had been up that morning to kiss him goodbye, we hugged and were looking forward to a romantic evening together. Then my friend told me the Towers had been bombed and everyone was dead, which is what she thought at the time. I just started screaming, "WHAT? WHAT?" becuase my husband was working on the 56th Floor of the Trade Towers. I ran up to my upstairs neighbor, pounding on the door screaming. She was watching the television and I stared at the screen but I couldn't focus on the screen and I couldn't understand what was happening. My neighbor asked me where the baby was, I had just left him in his bassinet. I had to get the baby and nurse him. I sat down and kept telling myself that my husband was fine and I had to calm down so that I could nurse my baby. Another friend called and told me that not everyone was dead and she was confident that my husband had been safely evacuated, so then I just kept telling myself that he was fine. I kept telling everyone who was with me that my husband was fine because I had to believe it to stay calm. I didn't know what to do. Then at 11:30 my husband called me from a stranger's cell phone. He was at the South Street Seaport. He had tried to call me as soon as he got out of the building but all the phones were dead. He told me he had hoped I had slept through the whole thing and that he would be able to reach me before anyone else did, to spare me the worry. He also gave me the names and contact numbers for several strangers, and asked me to call their families to let them know they were ok. I did that and then I tried to call relatives to let them know he was alive but I couldn't get through to anybody. So I went online and started sending out emails saying "Mark is Alive" and I emailed friends in other states and asked them to call our relatives for me, since the NY lines were jammed. Meanwhile I was still waiting for my husband to come home. At 1:30 the doorbell rang and it was him. Of course he didn't have his keys anymore, but he was fine. I couldn't believe it. Then I went up the street to ring a friend's doorbell even though I knew really he wouldn't be there, because he was too high up in the tower to have had time to get down. We sat around after that, we didn't know what to do. We didn't know if anything else would happen. Then at about 10:30 pm we realized a lot of smoky air was coming into our apartment, so we packed up our car and left for Westchester. It was very eerie, because no one was on the street and there were very few cars. Jay Street was closed and police and bomb squad people were standing around. There were even police guarding the bank. Luckily a cop told us how to go around the detour and we were able to get on the highway and take the BQE to the Triboro Bridge, and get to Westchester, where we felt a lot safer.
Kristina | 29 | Virginia

#1615 | Thursday, August 29th, 2002
I was in my car with my husband and son, we were on our way to work and school. My mother called to tell me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I was shocked but thought that there must have been a major mechanical breakdown. Then my mom gasped and said "Oh, my God. Was that what I thought?..another plane ran into the other tower." I felt a sensation, like electricity, travel down my spine. Each muscle tensed and I straightened in my seat. I whispered "Oh my God, we are at war." My husband was startled and I began to relay the information to him. As if in a fog, I told my mom "I love you" and ended our phone conversation. We continued on as if it were a normal day...dropped my son off at school, dropped my husband off at work and went to my office. It was anything but a normal day. I couldn't concentrate and I quickly learned that no one else could either. I work in our state capital for a government office. Everyone was tense and after about two hours, we received orders to begin evacuation of our buildings. Slowly I made my way to pick up my son and then my husband. We went to my uncle's home because it is close to where we work. We stayed with him, watching TV until late that night. The saddness was almost overwhelming. I cried...we all cried. I trembled, afraid for all of the people in the planes, in the buildings, in the United States, U.S. citizens traveling abroad, and for my sona and all of the children growing up now. On a spring trip to Chicago, my son, then only 4 years old, would not go to the top of the Sears tower and cried that bad guy would fly a plane into it. I haven't lost that fear and that sorrow.
Everywhere I went after 9-11 felt like a ghost town. Although people were carrying on with their lives, they barely spoke to one snother and when they did speak, it was in a whisper. The grief was immense and the helplessness drained everyone. I wanted to go to New York, or Washington D.C., or Pennsylvania. I felt helpless and I wanted to help in any way that I could. I needed so badly to work up a sweat trying to help, as if the physical labor would help relieve the feelings of despair, helplessness and loss. Although I did not personally know anyone who lived through or parished in this tragedy. I felt connected to them. They were doing what I do everyday. Arriving at work, beginning their day, learning of the new projects that would start today and finishing up the projects left from yesterday.
My family and I all cry periodically, sometimes the pain feels just as real as it did then. Again, I find myself needing to connect with those souls that were lost, saved, escaped and witnessed this horrible event. I feel that I really missed getting to know some very special people.
Tammy | 32 | Illinois

#1616 | Thursday, August 29th, 2002
britney spears was doing a promotional tour of sydney, which is where i live. i was with my friend carla all day, sitting outside her hotel, waiting for her to come out. we went to a nearby gift-shop to buy an ice-cream and picked up a newspaper, which had the headline and picture of the world trade center.

i wasn't aware of the extent of the damage, so it didn't affect me that much.

we stayed the night at the hotel and every tv channel had live news coverage.

it didn't really hit me, until i read an article in 'rolling stone' about the families of people lost during the attack.

and that made it real to me.
knowing that the people i love, could be living just any other normal day & never be returned to me.

i'm now trying not to say goodbye to anyone, whilst being upset with them
and i tell my friends&family that i love them on a regular basis.

i'm also scared.
i'm scared that there are actually people out there, that are capable of causing such terror and destruction.
cath | 19 | Australia

#1617 | Thursday, August 29th, 2002
hi my name is luke im 14 years old and live in mansfield, england, europe. i remember that on 11th september 2001 i got home from school (and no-one was in at this point) turned the television on as normal and the news was on every single channel! there was reports coming through that a plane had crashed into the wtc. there was another plane heading towards washington dc and another towards camp david and another to pensylvania. i was tottaly and utterly gobsmacked flabergasted words just cant describe it i felt sick inside and so sadend by the tragic events and i just wanted to help but i couldnt. just one question on this touching subject WHY?
luke | 14 | United Kingdom

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