Sleeping on the couch in front of my TV. My mom came and woke me up, screaming about something. She turned on the news channel and, needless to say, I was shocked. I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV and was super paranoid for some reason.

I was sitting in English class (7th grade) when we heard the announcement. We all thought it was some stupid accident.

But when we turned on the TV, the second plane hit. Live.

Scary stuff.

I was asleep, started around 6:00 am California time. My dad woke me up and told me what happened, so we watched the news. I didn't go to class that day. Stayed home and watched the news.

I totally understand what you're saying, but talking about where you were when you heard the news is just one way for people to sort of come together in remembrance. Everyone is affected differently by it, depending on their closeness with those actually involved, but everyone remembers that guttural shock when they first heard. It is in no way supposed to detract from remembering the people who lost their lives.

For me, I had just finished an exam and was walking home, when I stopped off at a friends to say hi. She grew up in New York, moved here when she was 11, and opened the door in understandable distress. It completely didn't register when she told me what had happened. I think I simply said 'oh.' We then sat down and watched the news whilst her mum phoned transatlantic to check up on family, and that's when it really sank in.

I was in High School. I lived near an Air Force base by cocoa beach. I was in my DCT class when someone told us to put on the tv.

I remember being confused. They had said the Twin Towers were hit, and then they were saying the Pentagon got hit. We were all confused, not knowing what had been hit.

Then I switched to my Home Ec class. I remember calling my mom to tell her the news which she had already heard. Turns out my dad's cousin was working in the Pentagon on the side that was hit. Luckily he was in the lower basement. Earlier he had been upstairs talking to supervisors (this he told us in person when we threw a promotion party for him later) and he lost a lot of coworkers and friends.

Then I was in Home Ec and we all couldnt stop watching the tv in there. Noone was doing anything in class. We were glued to the sets and worried that they might come and hit us since we are near the air force base. There were rumors and down by Embry Riddle (another college) prob. 40 minutes away people were being arrested for being in association with all of it.

It was a tense time, and having friends in NY as well I was worried. It was a sombering time.

I remember paying tribute in church. They held a mass for those who were killed including firefighters. And there was a moment of silence and candle's were lit. I remember my family didn't have candles because so many people showed up to the late night mass that there werent enough candles to go around, and I remember this lady in our row handing us hers and another man as well. And they helped us light the candle.

I cried, it was just kind of touching seeing how in such a tragedy people were coming together all over. The stories of people helping each other in the buildings, the firefighters, peoples simple acts of kindness.

At the time (later that day after first getting the news) I remember I had to go to work (I was working at a clothing store), and I had been unable to stop watching the news. Well I had to leave for work and I remember driving and as I left my neighborhood I saw an american flag someone had lowered to half mast out of respect and I just burst into tears. I made it to work and couldnt help crying. My boss (whom which I did not get along with) was really kind and told me I could take a moment since it was something so devastating. I remember this single customer in the store coming over to me and offering me words of comfort. Just extremely kind. and sharing how shocking it was for her as well.

I just remember even then, a complete stranger, who at any other time probably would have kept upon their way, but at that time was so kind. It brought people closer together. It was a sad event, but it was amazing seeing everyone come together.

Right now Sept 11th I think will be remembered in another way. Currently Hurricane Ivan has gone up to a category 5 and is at this very moment on top of the island of Jamaica. My prayers go out to them and I hope they are all safe. And I'm praying for the people of Bermuda as well who have had substantial damage from when it passed them.

My prayers are for those who have fallen, those affected by 9-11 and the families and the current families in peril from what will be a new memory on 9-11 as Jamaica is taking on a category 5 Hurricane. Lets pray they are safe. And also that those lost from that day are always remembered.

Laura

I was in my AP Calc class when our AP Gov't teacher came in and told us (he was a friend of our calc teacher).

I was watching the late news on TV and playing AC. They were just about to swing it over to Sports Tonight when some 'live breaking news for New York' came in. Stayed up till about 6am that night watching it.

I was in english class. The teacher left the room briefly and spoke to another teacher. She then told us there was an attack at the World Trade Center. I, and apparently a few others thought it was a shooting of some kind, all she told us was that it wasn't. She might have mentioned a plane, i forget. School officials apparently felt it was best not to inform us, for fear of panic. Rumors were passed around, some teachers let kids listen to the news on the radio.

I heard the towers fell, but I didn't believe it. I had heard in a History Channel documentary about the towers before the attacks that it was designed to withstand the impact of a 747.

My dad worked in one of the higher floors in Tower 2. The company he worked for had recently gone out of business. I think it was the first time I really started to believe that everything happens for a reason.

My senior year of High School.
Well, I was in the band room, hanging out before class which I had band in the first period. My band teacher came in and told everyone to quiet down a bit as he went to turn on the TV. My fiancee (who was my girlfriend at the time) was sitting next to me. I saw the smoke pouring out of the first tower and I saw the plane hit the second. I said " WTF?!" in front of my band teacher, who could understand my concern. I had just been to New York that past Thanksgiving and had stood ON TOP of the tourist WTC building. I have pictures from on top of it. To see all that reduced to rubble right before my eyes seemed surreal. We didn't do anything in class except watch the news for the rest of the week really. The thing that burned into my mind (and I'm tearing up as I type this) is those little blurs I saw falling from the buildings. Then I realized those were people. Seeing that literally made me cry my eyes out for quite some time and I've never really gotten over it. I was 212 lbs and Captain of our wrestling team. So, if that tells you how close this hit for someone who had nobody in New York, imagine for the people who lost family, friends and such.

I am proud to say though, that some of our local firefighters did go to New York and volunteer to help with rescue work.

My prayers go out to the families and friends of those who lost somebody during this day 3 years ago.

Getting dressed to go to school. Haha, man that was ages ago.

Lieing in bed at 6:30am. Heard the DJ talking about a plane hitting the WTC. Thought he was joking. Realized he wasn't. Ran downstairs to turn on the tv. Stared blankly for a few moments, then ran upstairs to see if my dad had heard yet. He had, so we watched it together for a few minutes before I had to get ready for work. I believe before I left for work both towers collapsed and I posted one of many 'holy f**king s**t' posts on the forums here. It was very distressing.

I was at school, my friend told me and I didn't believe him. Thought he was making it all up

Watching Dragonball from TV. There was some paperwork too, and I played JK later that night (few hours after the incident, that was actually when I realized it's scale and so on).

Wolvie for some people, like me, it helps to talk about it.
I tried to hold it all in but that just made it worse . But right now I personally can't talk about it, I'm just not ready yet.

Sitting on the couch happy because it was my birthday, when it came on tv. Saddest birthday ever.

Oh BTW, happy birthday since today is 9/11.

i was eating breakfast when the planes hit, in the car on the way to school when the pentagon was hit, and in science class when the towers fell. My science teacher forgot himself and crossed himself in the middle of class.

I first heard during my first period AP College English. The teacher just left for a few minutes and then the librarian came in and told us. Later that day, I was driving along, just listening to music and the news, and I decided to drive down the highway that runs by Ouffut AFB, which is the head of StratCom and all that. So as I'm driving along, what flies over my head but Air Force One. That was a crazy day.

I was sitting on the couch watching the news. I was about to leave for school. We watched the news in every class that day.

I was sick, sleeping, when my mom woke me up after the first plane hit. She said I probably would want to watch the news, and she was right. I'll die happy if I never see something so horrific, on such a grand scale again.

I woke up @ 6:15 AM to get ready for work and I was hearing something on the radio that sounded very seriously. Of course @ 6:15 AM I'm no where near conscious enough to comprehend English. So I'm driving to work and listening to the radio (same station) and I hear mentions of "terrorist attacks" and that the World Trade Center was on fire.

Oddly I suffered my own trauma. Making a left hand turn into the driveway into work, I hear a screeching sound. I glance at rear-view mirror to see a car skidding right for me. WHAM! I got rear-ended something good. Ended up like $3K worth of damage to my car. Oh and it was a hit and run.

I was in typing class at school, our principle made an announcement over the PA system. We watched some news in later classes. I didn't realize how brutal the attack was until much later in the day.

then talk about it if you need to, thats not what i meant. i just think its so odd that youd talk about what you were doing, rather than how youf eel about the event. i hate to point it out, but very few of you ended your posts with anything that indicated how you felt about teh event. it was just what youw ere doing at that time, im just failing to make the connection thats all.

In response Wolvie I was basically going on the old 'Where were you when JFK was shot?' principle - we know how most people feel about 9/11 I guess in a way this thread just symbolises how we were all going about our daily business and then an event (for some of us a long, long way across the globe and for others close to home) makes us drop everything. The link I'm trying to get here is the enormity of it all and how that is so great that we can remember exactly what was going on when we heard the news.

There's another place, if not time, for how we feel, but rest assured I daresay it's not that different to three years ago.

my freshman year...I was in US Gov't when someone ran in and told the substitute and he turned on the tv. In my next class (english), The Colonal (another sub- famous for telling war stories during class), was listening to the radio. By lunchtime, everyone was calling home because a lot of people in my area have government jobs.

My school sucked (I was in elementary school) out teacher was so cool for letting us watch the news, but then they made an announcement that all teachers had to turn off all T.V.


What a bunch of ****tards

Damn terrorists... did more damage than we thought!

My mum found out after my aunt, who works night shifts, phoned my mum and basicly said "have you heard, have you heard" and told her to turn on the tv.

I was woken up in the morning by the tv and my door was open. I asked my mum to turn it down. as it was a school day, she told me to get up. she then asked me if I had knew about the twin towers (as in what they were). After I said I knew, she told me that they were not there any more, I got up pretty quickly and got dressed and just spent the entire time watching the news on one of the two tvs in the house hooked up to an aeriel. I continued to watch it at home after school.

Recently, my mum was surprised at the fect that she did not read about it on the net just before going to bed. on the night of the 11th (asustralian eaxtern time).

I was in the cafeteria talking to some friends, and somebody came in and said, " A plane hit the WTC" We were under the impression that he meant a small plane, and I though to myself, How in the hell could you miss not seeing the towers? It was a few minutes later we heard that a second plan hit. Then it sunk it in. After school, I went up the hill to where I worked at the grade school. It was a surreal experience, seeing all these kids playing, without a care in the world. They had not been told, and even if they had, most wouldn't have understood it. I'll never forget it.

Every one was at school or at home getting ready for it.