Do you remember where you were on 9/11/01?

[LaLaLand]

What were you doing/where were you when you heard about or saw what was happening?

[montblanc]

no i was only 2 :worry:

i’m pretty sure my parents do though

[user104658]

In maths when we heard about it (I was 16), at home watching it on the news by the time the first tower fell. Chilling.

[Smithy]

Yeah, in Gran Canaria, laying on a sun lounger playing on me gameboy

[Underscore]

appaz i was in my cot my mum said

[RileyH]

I wasn't even 1

[Elliot]

Being a 1 year old

[Tony Montana]

I was only 6 at the time

[LaLaLand]

Oh wow I feel old! I was 11, first week of high school.

[thisisdanny]

I remember crying my eyes out because an episode of Captain Scarlet was cancelled because of news coverage... obvs I was only little so I didn't understand but I cried A LOT

EDIT: "Digitally remastered, the series resurfaced on BBC Two in the autumn of 2001.[10] On this occasion, the episode schedule needed to be re-arranged at short notice to avoid offence in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.[63] The second episode, "Winged Assassin", in which the Mysterons destroy and reconstruct a plane to assassinate a world leader, and the third, "Big Ben Strikes Again", in which London comes under threat from an atomic device, were held back and replaced with the fourth episode, "Manhunt", due to parallels between the plotlines and events in the real world.[106] In the week after the attacks, the Captain Scarlet section on the Carlton website was also temporarily removed.[106]"

[Northern Monkey]

Yeah at work.My supervisor told me about it and i was like “meh”.Then when i got home and saw it i was in total shock.

[Ant.]

Guessin i was ****ting in a diaper at home

[armand.kay]

non of y'all were in theatres watching glitter hugh?

[LaLaLand]

I didn't even put an answer to my own question oop.

Well, It was the first week of secondary school, possibly even first day with it being a Tuesday (Mondays after holidays are usually "Staff Training"). Anyway, my school photos from my last year in primary school had arrived majorly late during the Summer so we all had to go back to our old school which is in my village to pick them up after the holidays.

I did so with a friend on the 11th straight off the school bus home, got there and was just catching up with some teachers who were asking how "big school" is etc and then a different teacher came in and said "just heard on the radio there's some sort of plane crash in New York it sounded like", and we didn't think anything of it.

Cut to me walking into my house about 15 mins later and my Mam on the edge of her seat, mouth open watching the live coverage. Absolutely horrifying.

[Shaun]

I'd also just started secondary school, think I went in for the Friday/Thursday the week before as like a sort-of induction, so it wasn't completely new.

I remember it was hometime and I was walking through the corridor of classrooms and seeing students and teachers all huddled around the televisions... I didn't stop to wonder why, really, just wanted to go home. Then found out what had happened on the radio on the drive home, and I think as I got in the first tower was just about to fall. I don't remember feeling as engrossed in what was happening as we all do now whenever something's a breaking story and it's so easily accessible on our phones etc., I think I only watched an hour or so at most... but in hindsight I think it'll never be surpassed as the most chilling "visual" experience of my lifetime. I hope not, anyway.

[Headie]

Too young to remember it myself, would've only been two.

But whenever I think about 9/11 I always think about a woman who was participating in Big Brother US at the time and had made it to the final week, only for the crash to happen just before she left the house/was reunited with her family and had to be told by producers that her cousin had been killed :(

I saw someone tweet a clip of it today and it always gets me

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[Glenn.]

I was a couple of days into Year 7. I remember coming home and starting science homework in a fresh new notebook. I looked up at the telly and watched live as the second plane hit.

[Macie Lightfoot]

I was in third grade. I grew up in north/central NJ so I'm about 50 minutes away from NYC. Our school didn't tell us anything because we were only in elementary school, but the biggest memory was just kid after kid getting called down for an early dismissal all throughout the day, like about half of the class in total. We had no clue what was going on so we all thought it was like a game and we were trying to predict who would get picked up next. I can't even imagine trying to be a teacher on that day, but I do take a little bit of comfort in knowing that we were all so innocent and it was probably a bit heartwarming to our teacher that we were so unaware of what was going on.

I was in after care (at another elementary school in town, third grade was weird for me) because both of my parents worked and I was an only child so I loved hanging out with my friends because when I got home from school each day it was just me and my parents. It was so empty that day and none of my good friends were there or they were picked up pretty early and I just remember that it was suuuuuuch a boring day and I wished that my parents picked me up earlier. I'm glad they didn't, though, they didn't want me to be scared or upset or worried so they just wanted to treat it like a normal day.

The whole thing is still so surreal and crazy. Every TV channel was the news for what felt like an eternity. The whole country stopped and was on a hiatus, you couldn't escape the news even as a kid. I was a huge reality TV buff back then and 9/11 affected everything. Survivor was going to have a season in Jordan but then that had to get scrapped, the first season of The Amazing Race had to get pushed back a few weeks and the second season of the Mole was put on hiatus for nearly a year I think, and then the second season of Big Brother was wrapping up but had to be put on pause for a good week. We had three episodes a week but then went nearly a week without an episode. It was especially somber with Monica's cousin Tamitha, like Hayden said, who was never accounted for. She reportedly was on the ground floor ready to exit but then went back upstairs to grab her purse, likely unaware that the second tower was going to be hit as well.

And that's not even to mention all the huge changes in airport security, friends of mine who had parents working in NYC and were counting their blessings that their moms and dads made it home alive and well, and just feeling like we lost our safe space. Everyone was on high alert and vulnerable and we didn't feel like we were immune from anything anymore. I can't even describe it properly, it's like how the kids in school now were born in 2001 or later and they don't know what life was like before 9/11. To them it's just another day. It can't be said enough how much life in America changed that day.

[JerseyWins]

Yeah I remember clearly it was in 3rd grade. Living in NJ (close to New York, not far from the other side of the Hudson river), we could see the Twin Towers from one side of the school. I think classes one at a time were going into the classroom that could see the Towers from what I can remember but I never got a good look at the window. I remember kids were leaving throughout the day, and my parents came to pick me up before most of the others did so I didn't want to leave and I ended up staying. By the afternoon it was just a few other people in class with me and we just kinda had a free day playing board games and stuff all day.

[JerseyWins]

Too young to remember it myself, would've only been two.

But whenever I think about 9/11 I always think about a woman who was participating in Big Brother US at the time and had made it to the final week, only for the crash to happen just before she left the house/was reunited with her family and had to be told by producers that her cousin had been killed :(

I saw someone tweet a clip of it today and it always gets me

1039553951991881728
It was especially somber with Monica's cousin Tamitha, like Hayden said, who was never accounted for. She reportedly was on the ground floor ready to exit but then went back upstairs to grab her purse, likely unaware that the second tower was going to be hit as well.
Omg that's awful :( </3

[jaxie]

I had been helping out at the primary school, listening to readers. I got in close to noon and put the kettle on, turned on the TV for a bit of background while I had lunch. There was a smoking building and they were talking about a plane hitting it. I thought what a terrible accident, how on Earth did it happen in the middle of a city and then watched in absolute horror as a second plane disintegrated as it flew into the building live. It was shocking to watch, I don't think I'll ever forget that moment.

[Ammi]

I was in third grade. I grew up in north/central NJ so I'm about 50 minutes away from NYC. Our school didn't tell us anything because we were only in elementary school, but the biggest memory was just kid after kid getting called down for an early dismissal all throughout the day, like about half of the class in total. We had no clue what was going on so we all thought it was like a game and we were trying to predict who would get picked up next. I can't even imagine trying to be a teacher on that day, but I do take a little bit of comfort in knowing that we were all so innocent and it was probably a bit heartwarming to our teacher that we were so unaware of what was going on.

I was in after care (at another elementary school in town, third grade was weird for me) because both of my parents worked and I was an only child so I loved hanging out with my friends because when I got home from school each day it was just me and my parents. It was so empty that day and none of my good friends were there or they were picked up pretty early and I just remember that it was suuuuuuch a boring day and I wished that my parents picked me up earlier. I'm glad they didn't, though, they didn't want me to be scared or upset or worried so they just wanted to treat it like a normal day.

The whole thing is still so surreal and crazy. Every TV channel was the news for what felt like an eternity. The whole country stopped and was on a hiatus, you couldn't escape the news even as a kid. I was a huge reality TV buff back then and 9/11 affected everything. Survivor was going to have a season in Jordan but then that had to get scrapped, the first season of The Amazing Race had to get pushed back a few weeks and the second season of the Mole was put on hiatus for nearly a year I think, and then the second season of Big Brother was wrapping up but had to be put on pause for a good week. We had three episodes a week but then went nearly a week without an episode. It was especially somber with Monica's cousin Tamitha, like Hayden said, who was never accounted for. She reportedly was on the ground floor ready to exit but then went back upstairs to grab her purse, likely unaware that the second tower was going to be hit as well.

And that's not even to mention all the huge changes in airport security, friends of mine who had parents working in NYC and were counting their blessings that their moms and dads made it home alive and well, and just feeling like we lost our safe space. Everyone was on high alert and vulnerable and we didn't feel like we were immune from anything anymore. I can't even describe it properly, it's like how the kids in school now were born in 2001 or later and they don't know what life was like before 9/11. To them it's just another day. It can't be said enough how much life in America changed that day.

...yeah it wasn't just in the day, Macie...obviously outside of a school and its protection was the reality that couldn’t be cushioned from completely because it impacted the whole world with shock and sadness...it was also in the aftermath of things like observing silences etc...what would be the best for the very young children while they were at school ...to observe or not to observe and carry on with their school days in ‘normality’...to discuss in assemblies or not to discuss etc...hard decisions to make, you know...

[AnnieK]

I was in work. One of our candidates rang and said a plane had flown into one of the Towers. We thought it was one of those pleasure flight planes and thought it was an awful accident, then the radio just stopped mid song, the news came on and the whole thing unfolded. I went home and watched the whole thing unfold on sky news in horror.

[Crimson Dynamo]

working for an American nascent tech company in London. Got the news early that a light aircraft had hit, got online (most main news sites crashed) via guardian then we all headed to boardroom and watched it all, several folk had friends and or relatives in the Towers so it was pretty grim..

[user104658]

A very disturbing thought I've just had;

if it happened today, most people wouldn't be particularly shocked.

[Strictly Jake]

I was 11 I was in primary school. Im pretty sure the teachers hadnt learned of the news at that point. I didnt seem to remember there being and odd atmosphere or anything among them. Then again I was 11 so probably didnt take notice. Also its not something primary school teachers would probably talk to their class about. Although I think we did have someone talking about it to us the next day not sure. Anyway the point I did learn about it was in the car when my mum was on her way to pick my sisters up as it was all over the radio, didnt really understand what it was about though. It hit me when i got home and watched on the news a plane hitting a big building. Thats all it was to me at the time as I was young didnt even know what the twin towers were or what terrorism was but I knew it was very bad even at that age and it did upset me to see people crying about what happened. When I was about 13, two years later thats probably the first time I realised just how evil the situation was and the true devastation of what did happen

[Strictly Jake]

A very disturbing thought I've just had;

if it happened today, most people wouldn't be particularly shocked.

Oh my word your actually very correct. Man thats so upsetting!

[hijaxers]

I was sat in front of tv having my hair bleached watching all the live reports , it was so awful i think we we all silent in disbelief , as we were watching a 'friend' arrived and his reaction was unreal (i'm not going to say what he said or how he reacted as it would stir up a real hornets nest in here)

I never spoke to him again.

Those images always bring back the feeling of emptiness it left us all with that day.

[Cal.]

Too young to remember it but I was in Fuerteventura and my mam said it was really scary coming home through the airports afterwards

[Nicky91]

i was 9 back then, and i can only remember we heard it before i went to school


since i was so young i didn't really know what was going on, until my mom explained it better to me, and we were all shocked in our family


so yeah yesterday i had my few moments of silence to remember the victims of this awful tragedy

[user104658]

I was sat in front of tv having my hair bleached watching all the live reports , it was so awful i think we we all silent in disbelief , as we were watching a 'friend' arrived and his reaction was unreal (i'm not going to say what he said or how he reacted as it would stir up a real hornets nest in here)

I never spoke to him again.

Those images always bring back the feeling of emptiness it left us all with that day.

Oh the kid who came into my maths class announcing that it had happened was laughing and saying "yaaasss I hate Americans". But, to be fair, I don't think anyone realised the scale of what had happened at that point (both towers were still standing and the second hadn't been hit)... I doubt he was still laughing about it after that. Although, he wasn't bothered that at the very least a plane full of people / a few floors of the building had been destroyed :think:.

[Nicky91]

and also i saw on Nat Geo, that there was this Pakistani kid, who was in school one week before 9/11 and he saw the twin towers, and he told his teacher, next week they will be gone

i had chills over my body when i heard that from just a kid


idk if anyone else had seen that documentary inside 9/11 on Nat Geo

[Strictly Jake]

Been watching footage back of it. A cnn clip on YouTube which starts near where the second plane hit. Took a couple of mins to realise that a plane had hit they thought the explosion was from the first plane still. Then when they realised it was plane they were discussing what kind of plane it was and took quite a while discussing if it was a navigation system gone wrong. Whether the twin towers or planes had some kind of malfunctioning problem making planes crash into the towers. They had an expert tell them that it wasnt anywhere near a flight path and was a very clear day so pilots wouldn't have needed navigational help. Took quite a while to identify it was a deliberate attack. Shows how times have changed really people were pretty innocent to terrosim it was hard to identify. Now terrorism is at the forefront of people's minds in these kind of situations. If it happened today they would have identified what happened straight away

I then went on to watch a bit later when people were jumping and then the first tower fell then the next. I still am in disbelief at the whole situation. Im sure everyone thought the world would never regain normality after that which it hasnt. We just carry on our daily routines but we should never forget

[Nicky91]

Been watching footage back of it. A cnn clip on YouTube which starts near where the second plane hit. Took a couple of mins to realise that a plane had hit they thought the explosion was from the first plane still. Then when they realised it was plane they were discussing what kind of plane it was and took quite a while discussing if it was a navigation system gone wrong. Whether the twin towers or planes had some kind of malfunctioning problem making planes crash into the towers. They had an expert tell them that it wasnt anywhere near a flight path and was a very clear day so pilots wouldn't have needed navigational help. Took quite a while to identify it was a deliberate attack. Shows how times have changed really people were pretty innocent to terrosim it was hard to identify. Now terrorism is at the forefront of people's minds in these kind of situations. If it happened today they would have identified what happened straight away

I then went on to watch a bit later when people were jumping and then the first tower fell then the next. I still am in disbelief at the whole situation. Im sure everyone thought the world would never regain normality after that which it hasnt. We just carry on our daily routines but we should never forget

yes i agree, but also when you look at airport CCTV footage, which was shown at Inside 9/11, knives were visible on the scan from the Luggage but they were allowed to go through customs without problems


and also this attack was planned 10 years before, by a man with nickname of KSM and his nephew and a friend of his nephew

Police in the phillippines had actually discovered the 9/11 plans when smoke alarm went off in the terrorists their apartment, but they did nothing with this information


you can really see how clumsy authorities were back then and how it has improved now, also being more difficult to get into the cockpit of an airplane


it was a preventable tragedy sadly, every expert on that show Inside 9/11 agrees with that


so yeah Jakey we should never forget this had happened, also to prevent this from happening again

[Crimson Dynamo]

i remember flying not too long after the incident and it was not nice

[AnnieK]

i remember flying not too long after the incident and it was not nice

My brother had just started on long haul flights and was in LA when it happened. He was grounded for days and then said when they did fly back it was the weirdest flight ever - every passenger was silent for virtually the whole journey (obviously he was locked in the flight deck but the cabin crew told the pilots)

[Amy Jade]

Probably watching disney channel

But I have a vivid memory of being in primary school and they showed a video about it in remembrance in assembly and loads of parents kicked off about it

[Livia]

I was 21, and strangely... knew more then than I do now. How'd that work...?

[Niamh.]

Yes, I was in the car with my brother on the way back to work after lunch, i remember them calling out a plane had hit one of the Towers and thinking ****, then a few minutes later them saying a second plane had hit the other tower and I though ah this is a joke or something. Scary

[Livia]

I remember hearing that the World Trade Centre had been hit and I was worried for a friend of mine who was temping in the World Trade Centre in London. I thought I'd have probably heard it from where I lived... so I switched on the TV... it was hard to believe what was happening and the scale of it.

[LaLaLand]

I highly recommend that people watch “9/11: 102 Minutes That Changed America”.

Probably the most terrifying thing I have ever seen. It’s 102 minutes of amateur footage from people with cameras in and around the WTC, across NYC, over the river etc and it starts with the first plane hitting the first tower and ends after both towers have collapsed. It doesn’t miss a second f time in those 102 minutes and when you’re watching it you’re just in total disbelief that this actually happened.

It’s like the most terrifying horror movie you’ve ever seen.

[hijaxers]

I highly recommend that people watch “9/11: 102 Minutes that’s changed America”. Probably the most terrifying thing I have ever seen. It’s 102 minutes of amateur footage from people with camera in and around the WTC, across NYC, over the river etc and it starts with the first plane hitting the first tower and ends after both towers have collapsed. It doesn’t miss a second f time in those 102 minutes and when you’re watching it you’re just in total disbelief that this actually happened. It’s like the most terrifying horror movie you’ve ever seen.

Yes i've watched more than once the reality of what was happening down on the streets was horrifying .

[LaLaLand]

18 years ago today. :sad:

[Moniqua]

ah was FOOKIN nawt born

[LaLaLand]

ah was FOOKIN nawt born

Lucky you in some ways, it was absolutely terrible. 11 year old me watched on in horror on live TV as 2000+ people died. Horrific.

[Calderyon]

Saw it happen live on TV.

[Nicky91]

jpCa7Ay596M

beautiful piece of music, perfect to remember this horrible day for america

[Kazanne]

I was at home with my friend having a cuppa,we saw the first plane go in and I thought it was an accident,then the second went through, I knew then it was a terrorist attack and it all seemed very surreal ,as I saw the lady of the family I worked as a nanny for in NY on TV ,she worked at St Vincents hospital and she was in the street just looking at the carnage,it was then on TV all day and most of the coming weeks,very sad day and a turning point in the world I think.

[Beso]

At work..

I remember The 7 July 2005 and have a better story for that.

[Dogeatdog]

I was 7 at the time and remember coming home from school and seeing it on TV. I always remember this time pretty well since my Nan was in a coma when this happened and she sadly passed on later in the month.

[Eddie.]

I highly recommend that people watch “9/11: 102 Minutes That Changed America”.

Probably the most terrifying thing I have ever seen. It’s 102 minutes of amateur footage from people with cameras in and around the WTC, across NYC, over the river etc and it starts with the first plane hitting the first tower and ends after both towers have collapsed. It doesn’t miss a second f time in those 102 minutes and when you’re watching it you’re just in total disbelief that this actually happened.

It’s like the most terrifying horror movie you’ve ever seen.

This documentary always tears me up yet I always watch it, I was too young to remember what happened on that day so watching it makes me feel that an event like this really happened.

A sad day in history and the people who LOST and GAVE their lives should be remembered. (except for the terrorists of course.)

Also Happy 18th Anniversary to Mariah Carey's Glitter Soundtrack which was unfortunately released on this horrible day.

[JerseyWins]

Sitting in school in 3rd grade. Almost 2 decades ago now... crazy! :(

[Nicky91]

i was 9 back then, and i can only remember we heard it before i went to school


since i was so young i didn't really know what was going on, until my mom explained it better to me, and we were all shocked in our family


so yeah yesterday i had my few moments of silence to remember the victims of this awful tragedy

i remember bit more now, my mom drove me to school, heard about one plane's impact into world trade center, but saw the second plane's impact live on tv

i of course at that time didn't know what was going on, or what those buildings were for the USA bc of my young age

but now when i watch documentaries about 9/11 it is very awful, and to see it could've been easily prevented makes it even more sad

[Kizzy]

Yes I was just getting dressed and my now ex rung me from work which he never did. We had been falling out so was surprised he rang, He said in a very serious voice have you got the tv on? I replied no, why? And from then was glued to the TV, trying to make sense of any of it... horrible day I will never forget.

[joeysteele]

Was at school.

Very sad day.

[Josy]

Just off a nightshift

[BigSister]

At school and then I came home and my mum came home from work and she was trying to contact my grandma uncle auntie and cousins who were flying to Florida eventually we got in contact they were diverted to Canada but because it was before the days of good mobile phones it took us 24 hours before we knew they were ok. It doesn't compare to the horrible events of that day but I always remember that because it haooened on the same day

[Marsh.]

In school.

[LaLaLand]

Bumping this as it’ll be 20 years since in a few days.

Can’t believe it.

[Alf]

In bed. I was on the old rock n roll at the time.

It was the strangest thing, I woke up and thought to myself that somethings not right, like something had happened, I went down stairs and on the TV there was coverage and reports of the first plane crash, as I was watching that the second plane came into view and smashed into the other building. It was jaw dropping.

[user104658]

I was still in Maths, just like in 2018. Weird coincidence.

[bots]

I was at work, everyone was just stunned, we all went home as soon as it happened.


20 years on, and the environment is totally different. For months over this winter, the USA had more covid deaths every day than died in total in 9/11 .

20 years on and 10's of thousands have died in Afghanistan as a direct result of that event. It blows my mind

[Crimson Dynamo]

I remember thinking "all that work we have put in on the Continental Airways account is about to be for nowt" and I was right as it was all pulled.

[user104658]

I was at work, everyone was just stunned, we all went home as soon as it happened.


20 years on, and the environment is totally different. For months over this winter, the USA had more covid deaths every day than died in total in 9/11 .

20 years on and 10's of thousands have died in Afghanistan as a direct result of that event. It blows my mind

It's different really, I think people would still be just as stunned if similar happened tomorrow... it's just a more visceral scene than the "faceless stats" of daily covid deaths.