September 11, 2010
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When The Towers Fell
I turned on the TV and found out that the first tower was hit on 9/11.
I took my wife to school and we heard about the second plane hitting the other tower.
I did get back home and watched the towers collapse on live TV.
Did you see the towers collapse on live TV?
Comments (116)
I did.
yes
No, I was in gym class.
Yup, I was in school and all classes came to a halt and we directed our attention to the tv.
Yep.
No.
Yes, it seemed like the world was very warped when I watched that. My son was home sick that day, so we saw it all live on TV. It was surreal, and horrifying.
the second one when the plane thinger hit it or what not
I thought you were visiting the World Trade Center that day?
No, I was in school, and it was 5th grade so I guess they didn’t want us to see it but they sent us home early. But my mom wouldn’t turn on the TV. I think I finally saw it all about a month later.
I was in Hokkaido….had just started my first day there….when I heard. I watched the attacks on the Towers on replay at the church I’d later work in, and had a sick feeling in my gut…
no; I was in school(HS freshman), and our high school(thankfully) did not televise this for the students, though the other HS in the district did. I know people who lost loved ones in the attack. a lot of people in our community commuted to NY to work in the financial district, so it definitely left its mark on our town/area. I still can hardly look at pictures/video of the attack.
I’m from Queens. I’m right across from the city & I saw it live on TV. I was home that day because I was transferring schools a few days late & I had to wait for the TB shot results. School was canceled in NY the next day….
Saw it on T.V when I was skipping from school..
Yeah I did. I was in technology class.
Almost. I thought it was an accident
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1940s/a/empirecrash.htm
Then I heard about the second plane. Strangely I thought of Bin Laden.
I was at school early for a US history study group and our teacher had the news on when it happened.
No. I don’t think so.
No. When I got the news, I was listening to a comedic radio show and the on air personalities were very serious. I knew something bad had happened. But I was young. It was when I got older that I realized what happened. What really happened.
actually yes, i was getting ready for school at the time. all day we watched it on tvs in every classroom.
xo
I did. I was only 12. The images still terrify me.
Yes, after we heard of the initial plane we found a tv in the office and watched, it was awful
I remember that day- it’s something I could never forget in my lifetime. I remember waking up and turning on the news, I was getting ready for work, 20 years old and 4 months pregnant. I saw the second plane hit the tower, and then watched both towers fall to the ground. I cried– it seemed so unbelievable that it was happening, here, right in front of my eyes and thousands of people were dying. It was definitely a scary time.
My parents did but I was at work.
Yeah I did.
The local reporter thought it had been hit again or something when the smoke increased, but I knew it was falling. But I didn’t think of the people there, I don’t think I could have.
I was sleeping off a night of drinking
no it was one of the few times i didn’t turn on the tv while getting ready for work… i got in my car to leave and as I backed out and listened to the radio, I heard the news- and I stopped right in the middle of the parking lot… listened to NPR the rest of the day at work… it is still so fresh in my mind yet so surreal at the same time
those events inspired my husband to serve with the Army from 2004 to 2010
I was in third grade and I arrived at school kind of late that day. My school was on the lower east side of Manhattan, so I could see the towers well from there, but it was far enough away so that nobody in the vicinity could get physically affected. When my parents dropped me off in front of the school, I noticed that smoke was coming out of the towers. A moment later, I saw the first one collapse. I went into the school and hurried into my classroom, just when they were about to head outside for phys ed. And somewhere during phys ed, a whole bunch of us saw the second one collapse. Back then I was too young to understand and feel for all the people who died, but it still made me sad. I remember the towers being the very first things I marveled at when I went to Manhattan for the first time. =/
My dad woke me up early that morning for school when the first plane hit. I went into the living room and was watching The Today Show (though, they were of course covering the Towers live) when the second plane hit. I remember the announcer saying, “Oh my god, another plane just hit!” I was only 13, but I will always remember that day.
nooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I was at school..but our teacher told us what had happened. Even though the principal didn’t want them telling us.
:/
Yeah, I was at home.
Yes.
Yes, I was numb and watching in disbelief. Like a zombie, I set off to go to work. Nobody could focus on work, so we were sent home again.
No I was in school and our principal wanted us to go on as if it was a normal day.
I can’t remember why I was home that day…I worked at a job but something had kept me home. As usual I was on the computer that is in the same room as the television. I happened to be talking to India at the time. My fingers started flying over the keyboard. I don’t know how they went that fast. I type fast anyway but that morning I don’t think they would have been anything but a blurr. Less than 20 minutes had passed when India news picked it up but they thought there was only a loss of 2 or 3 people. Imagine the shock when I told them 2 or 3 Thousand people. My friend that I most often talked to there was at home at the time…they called him because I was so upset and he rushed to work so we could talk. I did not know anyone that worked in the towers, I knew everyone there.
Later that evening I went to the bedroom, I had more or less thrown some clothes that I had worn to a festival the weekend before in a basket to be washed. My t-shirt still had “pixie dust” on it. It had been so fun, several of my friends had been entertaining there that night. I think that was the first time I really KNEW what had happened. I picked up the t-shirt and carried into the living room with me where my husband was watching the reruns, of the reruns of the attack. I held out my shirt and said “The world will never again be as we knew it last weekend. One week later to the day, I had my first heart attack and bypass surgery. I can’t help but feel the two were connected.
Yes I did. And sadly, I was sitting next to a friend whose mother worked in the towers. Just made an entry about it if you’d like to read it.
Sadly Yes.
I watched it on the Today Show while I was making lunches for my family at the time…and they did not beleive that we were under attack…smile
i was actually in history class. we saw the second plane hit, but i don’t think we watched them fall. i watched the replays on the news when I came home from school that day. i was only 11, so i couldn’t comprehend it as much as i would had i been older.
No, I was in a portable with no working intercom for my first period class that day. The main office made an announcement sometime during that period that the US was under attack, so when our class was finished and I walked into the main building, people were panicking and I had no idea what was going on until I ran into some friends.
I was in the fourth grade when my brother made me change channels to the news… I honestly didn’t think too much of it… until my dad drove me to school, and the principal/staff were trying to keep everyone from entering the school. Then my cousins, sister, parents.. everyone had to stay in our house and watch the footage. It was pretty sad to watch.
Yes, I was in 5th grade and we had the tv turned on to the news. I remember my teacher’s reaction when the second tower fell, but I didn’t realize why it fell. I kind of thought it was all an accident.
No but I saw the replay a few hours later. I was in class when the planes hit and didn’t realize how bad the damage was.
Yes, I was watching pretty much from the beginning.
I did. I was in grade five, and everyone at school was talking about it, but it didn’t really make sense. Then when I got home my parents were watching on TV.
we were told to go home so we hung out at a park by my friends house when my friend came running to us to look at the tv! we’re being attacked : shit was bonkers.
No, but I think my brother watched them collapse live in Manhattan – I can’t even imagine. I was in north Jersey, so I only saw the smoke… I can’t believe it was nearly a decade ago now.
yes. One of them. They brought the tv out at work as people were coming into work.
yes i was in my highschool history class.
Yes.
Nope, I was talking a state standardized test and they kept us all on lockdown so we didn’t have to retake it because of protocol violations.
Being in the United Kingdom, the college I attended was close due to fire in the boiler room sometime overnight on the Sunday 9th September going into Monday 10th September.
Yes I saw it on television. on the day I was flicking through the digital tv channels we had I think I was going to watch cartoon network or some classic television programes I grew up with. For the rest of the afternoon our time in the United Kingdom I watched.
Yep. I was in the 5th grade and we still spent the better part of the morning watching the towers fall in class.
Yes I was at Bible college and for a brief moment we though this was the start of the end times.
Yes
Nope, I didn’t even know what the twin towers were until that day.
either you are one sick bastard or I completely misunderstood the question. Why is it that you sit around reminiscing about watching a live snuff film of several thousand people?
No. I was only 8 when it happened, and I had absolutely no concept of the severity or horrible importance of what was happening. I knew it was bad, because both my parents were watching the TV and crying. I saw video footage of the first tower in smoke after it was hit, but to me…it wasn’t any different than a movie. It wasn’t until about 5 years later when I decided to look up videos and stories about it online that it hit me just how awful that was.
I saw them collapse from a couple of blocks as I waited, thinking I was going to go back into 3 World Financial Center and back to work as soon at the fires were put out. Actually I couldn’t see the South Tower from that vantage point. I heard a loud rumbling followed by stories-high plumes of smoke billowing up between the buildings and coming in my direction. I started yelling at people around me that we were still not safe where we were and to start heading further up the Hudson Riverbank. I thought another plane had somehow hit the ground in the area. I didn’t know it was the South Tower that had collapsed until from West Street I watched the North Tower collapse. That’s when I saw there was no South Tower anymore either.
Yeah we were just about to go and eat out. We switched the TV on and the footage was showing.
Yes
Unfortunately yes.
I was five. I had no idea what was happening, but yes, I saw it on live TV.
Yes. It was with sadness and disbelief when I saw the destruction crumble to the ground.
I did. I was with my parents at their house. It was the only time I have ever seen my father cry. Both my parents saw (although I did not because I had stepped out of the room) people jumping out the windows of the towers in attempts to save themselves. I was silent throughout it all but I will never forget my father openly crying and my mother’s moans of disbelief. I was 31 years old and an adult myself, but seeing my parents’ reaction just made everything even more horrifying and surreal.
Yes and i thought it was fake at first
Yeah, I think so.
i was 12 living in hawaii at the time. Not only did i not understand what was going on, it actually all happened while we slept. All i remember is i didnt have school that day.
We watched british CNN for two weeks from Germany!!! Watched it live and nothing else for two weeks. We cried and prayed over it too.
Yes. My wife cried. My date in history was December 7, 1941. The towers was this generations date in history.
Yes. Heard about the first, and then actually watched the second. I was 9, I still remember it very vividly, and probably always will.
I did. It’s still fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday.
I did! I was supposed to be on that plane; me and my brother! i will be telling MY stroy later on today….It was a scary and AWFUL thing
Live TV? I was always under the impression that TV suffers a delay of at least seconds. We seriously jeopardize our powers to experience true in-the-moment synchronicity if we forget that TV is not quite “live” .
Yes. We stopped working at school and just focused on the television for the rest of the day.. and the next day as well.
i saw the second plane hit and both towers collapse from my rooftop. i lived in NYC that year
no i was in 5th grade and was at school on lockdown, and they didn’t let any of the kids watch any tv which i think was a good thing. i was one of the few kids that didn’t get called out early by their parents.
I was driving into work at the time. We saw in the office a tape-delay of the towers falling & people jumping to their deaths.
yes. i didnt have a first hour at school, so i was screwing around getting stoned and doing my hair. [yes, i got high before school] my parents asked me if i wanted to go on to school after we saw what happened… i knew i had friends who had family there, so i went for them.
no, i was in first grade. my mom did at work.
Yes, we heard over the intercom at school that something was going on and all the classes turned our in-room tvs to the news. I remember watching it in at least two of my classes that day, English and gifted.
yeah, i was homeschooled and we were watching the TV
I was on my way to work. I heard on the radio about the first tower and then the second. I heard about the Pentagon when I arrived at work and of course, when the towers fell, we were hearing about it on the radio. I watched videos of it when I got home.
I did.
I wasn’t at school that day cause I was sick. Being the only Muslim in my class made for some pretty harsh remarks when I was back at school.
No. My siblings and I were doing school and my Dad called my Mom and told her to turn on the tv. (I’m homeschooled) We saw it replayed, but not live.
@galadrielspitcher - Hey, me too! Well, I don’t think I saw it live, but I saw it when they replayed it
8th grade. we weren’t allowed to see it but a bunch of the teachers banned together and put it on anyway, risking their jobs to show the students history in the making. We got out early that day and my mom wouldn’t let us see it. My sister was at college in Reading, PA and according to my dad he had a job to work on the section of the pentagon that was hit. He was suppose to be there that day but something happened with the clearance and luckily he was running late and just hitting the road when it happened. I don’t know the full story but thats all my parents would say on that subject matter.
Yup. I watched every single minuet on TV that day, from the second tower being hit…..
i was in 3rd grade and they ended school early. a boy in my class named victor got suspended because he was running around the halls screaming “it’s World War 3! we’re going to die!”
I was masturbating,
No, I didn’t see the Towers collapse, but I did see a replay of the first plane hitting, when we were being dismissed from school [middle school]. (Someone) was talking about how cool it was…
I didn’t see the first tower when it was hit on TV but I did see the 2nd one, and both of them collapsing.
yep i was in science class.
yeah. i was at home, getting ready for work, when it all happened on tv. then i had to go to work, and everyone that came in was somber as hell and upset.
I used to sleep with a small radio next to me all the time, and I awoke early in the morning to hear that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York. I got out of bed and turned on the TV, and watched the whole thing go down live. It was so surreal, like a nightmare…felt like the world was ending. I guess, as we knew it, the world did end for us.
Our TV didn’t work at the time, so we listened to the news over the radio. I probably saw video of the towers falling, but I don’t remember.
Yes I did…I was at home.
You’re a smart guy, Dan. At first I thought your post was shallow. But I see from the comments it was simple and pure and gave people a chance to think and reflect and share. Thank you.
To answer: “Yes, and then some.” I know some Xangans are tired of hearing the stories. And some Xangans think it’s time to “move on.” It took me a long time to begin to be able to tell my story (many years). TV played a surreal role — a window south in a north-facing apartment. Here is a little of my story: http://nyfemme.xanga.com/732758487/my-91110/
I re-watched the footage. It was playing over & over again… for a few days.
I was having knee surgery when it collaspe. I went into surgery knowing about the second tower being hit! *sighs*
I was scared!
I was home, living on my own for the first time 8 months pregnant, living with my ex husband. I was so scared, I watched the whole thing.
Yeah. We were all in highschool and homeschooled at the time. Watched the second tower get hit before they both fell.
I’m an EMT now and can’t even imagine what the truly heroic EMT/Firefighters of FDNY experienced there.
Guys, if you think about it, hug a firefighter this week.
No. I was a day shy of eleven and in school.
Yes. We watched it in my homeroom…
Not live. I was 8 months pregnant and in the Dr.’s office.
Nope, I was sitting in my third grade classroom. I did see replays that day, though.
not live no, and no puns either please…
No, I was at work. I found out when my brother told me when I got home at like 3:30pm. He asked if I had heard about the Trade Towers and the Pentagon getting attacked. I was like no the pentagon got attacked? He couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard on the radio on the way home, but I hadn’t listened to the radio just a tape. I saw video of it all afternoon and evening.
Recently I got to read a slight different story of it in the book The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland. It allows you to live the experience of 9/11 through people from some of the planes that were diverted away from the U.S.
the day prior at work we had been discussing what an attack on america would look like. stating that new york and washington DC would be prime targets. i commented that being full of politicians and criminals that it wouldnt be much of a loss, in the sort of off the cuff nonchalante way people say things when they don’t actually think they could ever happen. i woke up the next morning, flipped on the TV and from my bed watched the attacks. i wasnt certain what was happening at first, then i saw the second plane hit. that’s the day i learned to really watch what kind of things i say. from that day on i never wished someone dead unless i actually meant it.
It’s one of those things. One of those things where every one in the nation will know exactally where they were the day the towers fell. Even if it wasn’t all that important to you, I bet you you’d know.
I saw the second one.
yeah i did… we watched it 1st hour and then second, and then third, till we went home that half day… i was in the 7th grade…
Actually, yes. I was a senior in high school, and in math class. My principal came in, as his office was next door, and told us the news after the first tower fell. My teacher thought he was joking, and tried to turn it into an equation, of how that could even be remotely possible. He made us turn on the television. About ten minutes later the second tower fell. My dad works in a government office. It was on lockdown and everyone was freaking out. It kind of pissed him off. He pulled me out of school that day, because he didn’t want us kids being around so much hysteria. He was right. For the next two weeks, we had class with CNN playing in the background, just in case something else happened. I decided after that that I didn’t want to be a journalist, as all they do is fearmonger. I was right.
In my history class in school, we hooked up to local news and watched live as they came down…
yes I was at home watching it.
Yeah.