Where were you?

[christiana]

On 9/11/01 I was in CA, visiting my son and his family in Pacific Grove. As is my custom I was up early reading the bible. I was nearing end of the current read-through in the NIV and had just read Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." I dropped down to read the footnote and read: 'The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. God is the beginning and the end. He sovereignly rules over all human history. ' Just as I'd finished underlining those awesome words my daughter in law ran into the room, turned on the TV and told me to look! As I watched the plane hit the buildings of the World Trade Center I called to my daughter in law to come see what I had just underlined! Such an awesome moment of His reassurance that He indeed is in charge of all that happens in His world! I felt comforted and knew that He had it all in control; no need for me to feel shattered but a time to pray for all concerned that they might come to know Him and to know HIs peace! The passage is dated 'Tuesday, 9-11-01, a day that I felt His presence so closely!

 

[AV1611]

I had finished my economics lesson at college and had walked home. I arrived sorted myself out and put on the news to find a BBC special programme about what was going on. One plane had already crashed and I saw live on TV the second one smash into the towers and the towers crash. It was like I was watching a film....

I will not forget that day, same when I was told Princess Diana had died.

 

[jaybird0827]

It was an exceptionally beautiful day in central Pennsylvania, unusual for our area. The sky was a deep blue and the air was pleasantly cool with the first hint of fall. I had walked to work that morning and remember the fresh exhiliration. I was at work and had taken a break just to step outside and enjoy a few more minutes of it.

I went back to my desk and was working on a project when the admin assistance announced that a plane had crashed into the WTC. I'm like, that had to be an accident, probably a small plane off course. I went back to my work. When she announced the 2nd incident I was like "War!".

That was enough to ruin what had started out as a perfectly gorgeous day. Then the other reports came in. It was like shock. I was not very productive the rest of that day.

 

[MrMerlin777]

I was in Okinawa at the time riding out a typhoon. I was locked down in my house on Kedena Air Base.

 

[lololong]

I was at home with my girls when my husband called me from work and told me to turn on the tv. I remember telling him that I did not want to watch tv. He said "turn it on". I did. It was after the first plane hit and before the second one hit. When I saw the second plane in the tower, I knew what was happening. It was not an accident.
It was a terrible day with terrible pictures forever in my mind.
I am so glad that God is in control. How do people do with such a tragedy when they do not have God to rely on or to give them assurance?

 

[Davidius]

I was a sophomore in high school and was walking into my Computer Applications classroom where the teacher had turned on the news after the first plane hit. We saw the second fly into the towers live.

 

[SEAGOON]

I had finished seminary, and we were in the process of preparing to move down from Philadelphia to Ft. Bragg and start planting a church. I was feeding our daughter breakfast in our basement apartment (we'd been flooded out of our home that year) when a member of our church called and said "TURN ON YOUR TV!" The first video feeds of the first crash were just coming in and they were saying "a small plane" had crashed. I remember saying "My eye, that was no small plane." And then the second plane hit the other tower and my wife and I both immediately thought Islamic terrorists (today we use the word Jihadis to correctly identify the nature of the conflict.) I spent the rest of the day tracking down friends and relatives who worked in NYC. By God's grace, my wife was working out of King of Prussia and not scheduled to visit the Sun Microsystems Office in the Twin Towers.

 

[Me Died Blue]

At my high school, we were about 10-15 minutes into our second-period class when our teacher got a call on his cell phone informing him of what was happening. The first-period class we had just gotten out of before hearing the news? "Current Events."

 

[No Longer A Libertine]

I heard whispers of the first palne crash at the end of first period shop class, I was a senior in high school, by the time I hit the hall to change classes there was hysteria in the corridors.

Teachers wore grave faces, I rushed to my second period class, our teacher who was a football coach put on the TV, the second plane crashed into the towers within seconds of turning on the television.

The towers fell soon after, horrified and shocked, I recollect the principal coming on the intercom and asking for prayer and reflection and then led the school in a pledge of alligance.

 

[Tim]

I saw the second tower topple live on TV just before I left for work on the West Coast (Vancouver, BC).

The only other events for which I remember my location were the death of Princess Diana and the OJ Simpson verdict.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

I posted about my experiences at Washington, DC and the Pentagon on that day at my blog.

 

[turmeric]

I wish I could get hold of the Tabletalk devotional for that day, it was eerie. They were going through the book of Judges and had gotten to the part where the people of Shechem were burned in a tower. No joke, there was lots of mail about that one.

The radio station I listened to at the time woke me up with Charles Colson imploring us to urge our congressmen to act on a bill coming up that day about possible action in Sudan to end the genocide there. I have a feeling that debate never happened, at least not that day.

On Sunday the 9th, we had just had the grand opening for our newest rapid-transit line out to the airport. As I rode rapid-transit to work an announcement came that no planes were flying today, and I thought, there must be terrorists at the airport or something. I didn't hear the details till I got to work.

 

[Ivan]

May God have mercy on this Nation who has forgotten the Lord.

May God revive the Church from her slumber that we would be salt and light with a zeal unmatched in our previous years.

Amen, Josh!

I was working at the YMCA in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on that day. In the Fitness Center there are six TVs for those doing cardio. Our attention was directed to the TVs after the report of the first plane hit the first Tower. There was much discussion about what could have happened. Many of us were having a difficult time believing it was a "small" plane and that it was an accident.

As we were watching live the second plane came in and hit the second Tower. Many of us watched long enough to see the Towers fall to the ground. Some were wondering if the second Tower would fall or not. Most of us believed it would and, of course, it did. How surreal is all was.

I witnessed many emotions expressed that day. Fear and hate were the most predominant. Hopefully we have learned something in the last six years. More than anything else I learned that my only hope is in Christ.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Alan Jackson, Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning):

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9PwWkV4HQ4"]YouTube - Alan Jackson - Where Were You (Live Video)[/ame]

 

[Calvibaptist]

We started our church on September 10, 2000. On Sunday, September 10, 2001, we celebrated the 1 year anniversary of our church. That Tuesday morning, I was in the church office with the associate Pastor. My wife called and told us that a small plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. We quickly hooked a hanger up to our TV set in time to see the second plane hit the tower and sat stunned as we watched the events unfold.

Working just outside of the National Security Agency, we quickly wondered who we knew that was at the Pentagon, the White House and NSA. We were slightly worried all day that we might be the next target.

That night was our normal prayer meeting night. We held a special time of prayer for our nation, our leaders, and our churches, that we might hold out the light of the gospel during this time.

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

I was waking up and my mom told me what was going on so I tuned into the television. I didn't know what to think about what was going on. I felt removed from the situation. I watched the Shuttle blow up live and it seemed surreal also. It takes me a few days before I start taking things in unless I am on sight involved.

 

[SemperWife]

On 9/11/01 I was in CA, visiting my son and his family in Pacific Grove. As is my custom I was up early reading the bible. I was nearing end of the current read-through in the NIV and had just read Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." I dropped down to read the footnote and read: 'The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. God is the beginning and the end. He sovereignly rules over all human history. '...

I was at home, in bed as it was early in CA, and was awakened by a phone call. Some friends, who did not have a TV, asked if they could come over and watch the news on our TV set. I was surprised and immediately turned my TV to see the 2nd plane hit not long after.

We also found out we were pregnant with our first child, James, right around this time. Talk about beginnings and ends. Our son was just beginning his life as so many others had just lost theirs.

I remember hearing interviews with many of the widows of 9/11. The one that touched me the most was one of a woman who found out after 9/11 that she was pregnant with her first child. It was a boy and she named him after her husband. It just brought me to tears. Why was my husband spared? He didn't work in New York, nor the Pentagon and was not on the Pennsylvania plane. Why did God choose to bless me with a husband and father that could see and be with his child? I don't know His Holy will in all these matters. I just know that 9/11 and its aftermath made me overwhelmed with gratitude for the husband I had and child I was about to have.

Even now, as I reflect on 9/11, it reminds me of what a truly amazing God we serve. He "rules over history" and in the smallest details of our lives. He brings life from death. He is the Father of the father-less. He truly is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving!

 

[toddpedlar]

I was at work in a lab at Cornell University, and one of the technicians came from office to office telling people that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. I didn't think much of it - was assuming it was a small private prop plane that someone had been unable to control and died in a crash on the side. Curiosity got the better of me, so I hit cnn.com, and saw the gruesome truth - still only one plane at the time, but then got a live radio stream online, and heard the rest. There was absolutely no work done that day...

 

[Herald]

I was on a sales call in Easton, Maryland. My customer's wife worked in the Pentagon. He received a phone call and said, "I have to go." He bolted out of the building without a word. In the customer waiting room they had the television turned to CNN. I immediately left Easton and headed for home. I called my pastor (Calvibaptist) and he told me they were reporting it was terrorists. I had to drive over the Bay Bridge (3.5 mile span) which crosses the Chesapeake Bay. I thought to myself, "This would make a perfect target." I arrived home safely and spent most of that day with my family.

Two days later we were on a train to Orlando for a scheduled vacation. By God's providence we had already booked passage on the auto train months before the attack. Since the airlines were grounded train or car was the only way to get to Florida. We decided to go on the vacation after a family meeting. Disney was eerie that week. Hardly anyone was there. We had the parks all to ourself. It was a bit depressing but we knew we did the right thing by not changing our plans and giving into the terrorists. As we left our house for the Auto Train in Northern Virginia, we drove right by the Pentagon. We saw the huge American flag and smoke still billowing from the gaping hole.

At the time I worked for Aramark. Two Aramark executives were on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. The Windows on the World restaurant on top of the Trade Centers was run by Aramark. Over a dozen associates died that day.

Those are my recollections.

 

[NaphtaliPress]

I was picking up my car at the dealership garage. They had a tv on in the waiting room which I didn't notice going in but after paying the bill I sensed something was wrong. Saw the replay of the first plane and the second hit and everyone seemed to know what was going on. The dealership was surreal; no one said anything; I don't remember any comments or any words anyone said. I left and on the way home and nearly home I heard on the radio Jennings say 'what just happened'; he did understand that the first tower was gone. I got home and turned on the tv and saw the second tower fall. I was glued to the tv the rest of the day; I think the rest of the week.

 

[jfschultz]

I had just parked at work after an early morning men's Bible Study. One of my co-workers had parked farther out and was walking in. She told me about a couple of small planes hitting the World Trade Center. Not much later, we saw security locking the un-manned automatic entry gates for FedEx Express' World Headquarters. We spent much of the day in a conference room with the TV on.

 

[ReformedWretch]

I was in a staff meeting, the TV was on without sound waiting for the supervisor to start the meeting. We could all see the image of tower one smoking and someone said a plane had crashed into the building. We all assumed it was an accident and began the meeting. Shortly after one of the cooks (not in the meeting) ran into the room and shouted "Turn on the TV! Planes are crashing into buildings and falling out of the sky! It's like the end of the freaking world!"

We were all shocked and turned on the TV watching as a group (over 70 of us) what was happening. We all left about an hour later to call loved ones, talk privately, pray, etc.

 

[SRoper]

I was at a job fair on campus, totally oblivious about what happened except hearing something about a plane crash. I came back to my room and my roommate told me what happened. I thought he was using hyperbole when he said the towers collapsed.

 

[Kevin]

I was at work. I walked out on the sales floor (a large LBM company, think Lowes or Home Depo) And all of the floor staff were gathered around the supervisors desks. Someone said to me "Hey, aren't you an American? (I'm not, but people stll think that) Your country is being attacked"

I went home and turned on the TV (we still had cable) and watched CNN. After about 20 min my wife yelled out "JOSH IS THERE" Her nephew was in NYC to filim a TV commercial for a drink company that marketed to young people who were involved in sports. Her sister had called to tell her about the big trip only 2 days before. Part of the "star treatment" was a tour of the towers.

Long story short he had been there the day before and was trapped in his hotel room with his dad for several days before he could leave. It took us days to find all of this out of course, so we were left to fear the worst. All phone lines and cell lines were shut down "for our protection" so we did not know what was wrong with the cell phone we kept calling.

BTW several planes were re-routed here and several thousand people were stranded in Moncton. They were put up in an emergency shelter at the local hockey arena. Within hours all of those stranded were taken to local homes and put up by local residents.

 

[tellville]

I was in Quebec City attending the Universite Laval. After I finished my morning classes my then girlfriend came up to me and said "Mark, somebody blew up the Sears Tower in New York!". One thing came immediately to mind: Something is obviously being lost in the translation. So we went to the nearest mall in the area of St. Foy and found some TV's playing the CBC and the SRC. At that time they had Osama's face on the tv and were playing a recording of him along with video of the towers being hit by planes and going down. I then thought to myself "this is the first time where something didn't make any sense at all due to the language barrier and then made even less sense once the language barrier was gone!". It was all very creepy and life-sucking.