Where Were You on 9/11

[ICL]

I was working ‘nights’ at the hospital, so was at home asleep when it was all unfolding. My wife woke me up early, saying there was something I should see on the news. I sat in front of the telly in a very befuddled state, wondering why she wanted me to watch this ‘disaster movie’.

[Vegas Claret]

I was working but looking forward to a trip to Amsterdam on the 12th and then the planes hit. Needless to say my trip got cancelled as airspace was shut down. I sat up all night watching the news, one of the only times in my life I genuinely thought 'holy ^h%t'

[Vino blanco]

I was at the Torremolinos Aqua Park with my wife and daughter and many of the Spanish visitors were on their phones and I gathered from them there had been some kind of terrorist attack in New York. We left the park and on the way home we stopped to eat at an bar which had English tv, it was only then we realised the scale of the attck, needless to say we stayed glued to our tv for the rest of the day.

[1989_claret]

In a History lesson when the deputy head walked in and turned the TV on as the second plane hit.

[daveyclaret]

I was working in Duri, Sumatra, Indonesia, as a Contractor to American Oil Company, Caltex (Chevron & Texaco), working on the Duri onshore oilfield. I clearly remember watching the news in the Surya Hotel where I was staying and seeing film of the plane hit the Twin Tower and later seeing the sickening sight of people jumping from the burning Tower.

There were many Americans in Duri who worked as staff for Caltex and those that I worked with the atmosphere at work the day after the attack was sombre and angry with discussion and viewpoints of the various forms of retaliatory action that the USA should mete out for retribution when the perpetrators of the attack were known.

[alwaysaclaret]

Holed up at home recovering from my acl operation, so watched it all unfold on sky news.

[rufus lumley]

Hilton Hotel in Bloxwich Walsall.

[AfloatinClaret]

Building Trevelyan House (YHA Headquarters) in Matlock

[Inchy]

I was at secondary school

They didn’t tell us what was going on and it was the days before mobile phones so none of the kids knew. Remember going into form class at the end of the day and the form teacher made us do the Lord’s Prayer (which was standard at the end of the day) and then the prayer for the dead, which was not normal. We all thought a teacher must of died.

Got home and walk into the front room where my grandad always sat. He was in tears. I asked what’s wrong and he said “theres going to be another war”. He fought in WW2

Spent the rest of the evening watching the events unfold

[Rodneyyouplonker]

Playing Championship Manager, some things never change

[Rileybobs]

It was my second day of sixth form college. I remember finishing, going home and switching on the tv to watch the usual late afternoon rubbish and all the tv channels had been taken over with live coverage of the atrocities. I must have been about to start my first part time job as my dad got home from work at about 5 and we went to open my first bank account at Barclays in Rawtenstall. Always an easy one to remember on finance applications etc. when asked how long I’ve held my current bank account.

I vividly remember the following morning whilst waiting for the teacher, our class was discussing the previous days events and a couple of idiots made distasteful jokes, only for an American lad who no-one knew (therefore didn’t know his nationality) to turn around and make a dry comment joining in with the joke. Fair to say that shut the lads up.

[yTib]

tallent engineering, newton aycliffe.

barbaric.

[Paul Waine]

9/11 picked up my young son from primary school - one of the other Dads at the school gate said something had happened in New York. Got home and put the tv on a few moments before the 2nd plane went into the South Tower.

In 1993 I spent 6 months working in Lower Manhattan, my apartment was in the shadows of the twin towers. My short walk to work was through one of the towers and across the footbridge that was shown in some of the 9/11 photos. While in NY I'd been at a number of business meetings in the twin towers and I'd attended a conference in Windows on the World, at the top of the North Tower.

On 9/11 I watched tv as though I was watching events in my own backyard. A very good friend of mine was over in NY that week. His office was in WTC7 - the third tower to fall. I called his wife to check if he was safe. She had no news. Later I learnt that he'd evacuated through the chaos on the streets - leaving his passport and other possessions behind. It was a few days before he got back to London. He didn't say much about that day.

Of course, I thought about the people I knew in New York, those who worked in the twin towers and those who worked in other offices nearby and whose commutes would take them via the subway and ferry transport hub at the base of the WTC.

I now know that Risk Waters Group, a firm I've been involved with for getting on 3 decades, was holding a conference in Windows on the World on 9/11. They were a small firm: 16 members of their team and 71 conference delegates died.

My thoughts go to all those impacted by the events of 9/11.

[CaptJohn]

Playing golf in the Emirates. We were just on the 18th and the Steward came out and told us that there was a big news story breaking in the US. We rushed into the clubhouse in time to see the 2nd plane hit live. We all sat in silence watching the news, basically dumbstruck.

[LoveCurryPies]

When we watched the news, the reporters were saying 50,000 worked in each building and there was a similar figure for visitors each day.

It looked like tens of thousands were dead. Eventually we heard only 2,900+ had died. It really could have been far more tragic.

Let’s hope we never see anything like that again.

[Woodleyclaret]

At the Crab and Lobster in Camberley having an after work drink
The Aussies with me were there usual boisterous selves and someone started yelling at us to shut up and come and watch the news
Definitely a memory that will stay for ever in the where were you life moments

[Taffy on the wing]

Picasso museum in Barcelona.......it was a bugger getting back to the States afterwards.

[Froobs]

Spain

[Loyalclaret]

Kos, on holiday as a 16year old, we sat with many other guest watching it in the hotel bar. My mother reminded me today we must not have had TVs in our room, so everyone was in there.

Watching a documentary the other - it's harrowing. Visiting the museum underneath the site in NY on a guided tour was one of 'best' days we had in the city.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Working in Manchester at NatWest bank in the admin department inputting data into a computer all day very exciting work! My vivid memory is you could listen to your Walkman as you worked and I always had radio 5 on but for some reason that day id forgotten it so I had listen to the reports being relayed by my colleague on the next desk.

[Aclaret]

Driving through Newcastle to a job....had a bump in the van but the other fella said it doesn't matter....ww3 has just started !

[Dyched]

Playing football outside the house as it was school holidays. Mum called me in “A plane has crashed into the WTC”. I hadn’t a c lue what that was until she said “Twin Towers”. Glued to the tv for the rest of the day/week.

Since I’ve visited New York City 5 or 6 times. Visited ground zero on most occasions. The museum there is surreal. Haunting at times.

One thing that ****** me off on every occasion is bellends with selfie sticks sitting on the memorial where each tower stood. Also tour guides wondering about trying to sell you tours.

The skyline still doesn’t look right without them.

[jedi_master]

I was at Todmorden High School.

A mate of mine Lee offered me a lift home at 3 as his Gran was picking me up, so I got in. I remember very clearly his Gran turning around to us both as we got in the car and saying “someone’s crashed planes into skyscrapers in New York”. I would have been 14 at the time, and had just come back from the States the month prior (albeit California), but obviously had no idea of what it meant/how big a deal it was.

Got into my house (both my parents were working till 5/6pm so was just me), and I vaguely remember putting something like Nickelodeon on and it actually advising me to turn to Sky News. The only time that had happened before was when Diana died so I knew it had to be a big deal. Turned channel and watched entranced the entire day and stayed up well past my bedtime watching it with my Mum and Dad. My parents were really shaken by it - they had been to New York in 1999 and ate at the ‘Windows on the World’ restaurant at the top of the Towers when they went. I remember staring at a framed photo of them that day that was hung up of them in that restaurant just realising how many lives must be lost.

It is an event I think about a lot, and an event I find myself consuming a huge amount of content about (documentaries etc). Undoubtedly the biggest singular event that has happened in my lifetime as a 34 year old, and I imagine that’s the same for many. My Wife’s Uncle was there (lived in New York for 20 odd years before moving back in 2018) and he struggles to talk about the day.

[DCWat]

Remember this from Terry, Lampard and others, the following day!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 558855.stm

[ksrclaret]

Remember this from Terry, Lampard and others, the following day!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 558855.stm

Frank Sinclair!

[Bin Ont Turf]

Walking my dog to my Grandma's house in Brierfield.

What a waste it was considering what happened after and the many more thousands who have died after for nothing.

History tells us, you don't change Afghanistan (or Pakistan).

George W Bellend and Tony Liar, well done, I hope you have nightmares.

[WiscoClaret]

In my 4th grade classroom. They evacuated us immediately because a plane had came down not too many miles away from where my family lived in Pennsylvania.

I’ll never forget the tv coming on and all the buses rushing to pick us all up. Our teachers were weeping. My parents were very very worried. My dad, who at the time (and he still does...) worked for the federal government had to go in for a 20+ hour shift on high alert.

[superdimitri]

This board currently has over a dozen threads on lyrics, music, films, celebrities and tv programmes.
Meanwhile, we are still in a pandemic, we have tax rises of over 10%, we pull out of Afghanistan and not one single mention of any of them.
Other forums cover these topics, why not us?

Basically, the forum is boring.

Anyway, I was in Roquetas de Mar in a bar watching it on tv thinking that it was a movie preview.

Personally I find this forum a welcome break from the usual drizzle you mention in the latter parts of your post. Football should have nothing to do with any of that and it should have no place to be discussed here imo.

Not sure if they're still in effect, but it was added to the rules that political topics were banned from being discussed. It caused more trouble than it was worth with posters arguing etc

[Srg1882]

In the army.....on exercise on SPTA. Exercise was halted as soon as we heard what was happening. We were then taken straight back to camp and put on the highest alert state as the UK was expecting an attack at the same time. A day that changed the world forever and because of that too many of my brothers lost their lives in Afghanistan. Gone but never forgotten

[Claretitus]

It was the old September holidays, I had taken my 8yr old daughter and her friend to the coast for the day. They had just come off the trampolines at St.Anne’s, and we were in the car going to the Pleasure Beach at Blackpool. It all unfolded on the car radio, the horror of the planes crashing, financial instability, and talk of the internet going down etc. Absolutely unbelievable events, I shudder still every year on Sep 11.

[Pearcey]

In the Bamboo Bar in Bangkok with a mate on our first night of a backpacking holiday. Didn’t realise the full extent until we got back to our room. We were both on a Jaguar Sqn in the RAF and were thinking we might get called back. Fortunately we didn’t but the way the RAF operated changed after that day.

[Jakubclaret]

Walking my dog to my Grandma's house in Brierfield.

What a waste it was considering what happened after and the many more thousands who have died after for nothing.

History tells us, you don't change Afghanistan (or Pakistan).

George W Bellend and Tony Liar, well done, I hope you have nightmares.

WMD was more Blair & Iraq if recall at the time, but I agree with “you don’t change Afghanistan” the soviets against the mujahideens should have indicated it wouldn’t work apart from finding bin laden & enacting revenge it was all a complete waste of time, resources & sadly people dying.

[ŽižkovClaret]

Was in Debenhams getting a new shirt for a new job the day after at an insurance place. I saw the 2nd plane hit live in the media dept where i liked to go to check out the tellys on the top floor.

Then i went to work doing telesales for MBNA credit cards with, and i wish i was making it up, "the chance to win flights to New York".

We had 2 visitors from MBNA who quickly left for their hotels to check on colleagues by phone

I suggested they may wish to change the campaign, they disagreed, so i walked out after 10 minutes.

I'd like to think i would still have done it had i not got the new job starting the day after.....

[4:20]

I woke up on my mate's settee and happened to be looking directly at the telly as I opened my eyes just a few seconds before the 2nd plane hit. My mate was sat in his chair and I mumbled to him through a hangover "What film's this?".

"It's not a film, it's in America"

I will never forget that brief exchange, my hangover disappeared instantly from the shock and I bolted up straight as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on me.