Where Were You On 9/11?

[Art at ISP]

I was at ISP about to board a B-1900 for Boston. I was meeting up with a number of colleagues in Boston, then heading to STL and MEM. I was talking to the gate agent who was a friend of mine, and she showed me the computer display which said a small plane had hit the towers. They had just begun to board when we were called back and they were told to suspend all boarding.

I went with the crew and agents to the TV at the next gate and we watched in horror as we all began to realize what had happened. The agent friend called her husband who was a cop in Suffolk, and they had not heard anything yet.

After about 40 minutes, after the second plane hit, I got in my car and drove home-it was surreal. I could see the smoke from the LIE in mid-Suffolk. I started calling friends who were still firefighters (I hung up my helmet and turnout gear in '94). I got home and watched the collapse of the second tower on TV--it was surreal....

I spent the next few days watching coverage, tracking my colleagues as they tried to get home from wherever they were, and trying to make sure no one close to me had been lost--unfortunately I lost two friends that day--a fellow firefighter with whom I grew up, and Officer George Howard of the PAPD--who was an instructor at the Fire Service Academy and with whom I had taught a truck course to my probies when I was a Captain...and it was his mom who was with W when he made his state of the union......and I believe she gave him her son's badge...

I will never forget.......

[Ari707]

At work at 42St and 5th Ave, My wife just dropped off our 1 1/2 yr old daughter at daycare on 16th and 6th and was on the corner and saw the first plane hit and called me, and was on the phone with me when the second one hit, then got into a cab a went to work on 42nd st. Once we realized we met up walked down to 16th st, got there as they were about to feed my daughter lunch, We stocked up on water and food and then walked over the 59th St Bridge, then found a bus that was going to run down Queens Blvd, took it and got off in front of out building went in and watched the news for the rest of the day.

[kc2aqg]

I was a senior in high school on Long Island. I was in economics class when the first plane hit. The dean of the program came in to talk to our teacher and I overheard their conversation near the door - it was about a half hour before any formal announcement. At first everyone thought it was a small plane and people weren't too worked up until the second one hit and the details started coming in that they were large jetliners. Being the aviation buff, a lot of people were asking me questions and I remember having no clear answers to give them. School went on somewhat normally if I recall correctly with teachers trying to give lectures etc. until my last period around 2PM when I finally made it to a classroom with live TV, which is when I saw the first images of what actually happened. I don't think I'll ever forget what it felt like to see those horrific images for the first time.

Being not too far from the city, we knew families that lost loved ones in the towers or who were rescuers that went in to help get people out and never made it out themselves. We watched the news for days on end waiting to see if there would be any survivors after the collapse and watching the 7 World Trade building collapse later that day. Truly tragic and life altering.

My family and I drove across the Verrazano the Friday after 9/11 on the way to PA - there was still an enormous cloud over downtown 3 days later. It was so heartbreaking to see that skyline without the towers - it will just never be the same...

[eric8669]

That day I was suppose to report to work at 12 noon at Hofstra. I never made it in that day. I remember my boss insisting I come in and there was no way I was leaving my house. I was glued to the TV the entire day. My Dad had been working in the city that day and had to walk across the 59th st bridge to get home.

I took this picture in late August of 2001. I remember that I had just returned from Florida and by accident had bought some b&w film and didn't really know what to do with it at the time. I ended up taking a whole role of Sunset shots from Long Beach. who knew that this would be the last image I would have of the World Trade Center.

[727C47]

terminal C EWR,looked up just after the North Tower got hit,it all went downhill from there,horrible,horrible,day.