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Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning? (9/11)

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by AlamoCity, Sep 11, 2016.

  1. AlamoCity

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    Haven't seen a thread, but it's that time of year, and it's been 15 years (many of y'all won't remember) since the U.S. was attacked on September 11, 2001. The world has changed so much, and yet so much remains the same. Anything you want to say, feel free.



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    The title of the thread is from a song Alan Jackson wrote that I remember hearing growing up and is the only song I've ever cried to, even if not religious.

    [YOUTUBE]fvj6zdWLUuk[/YOUTUBE]
     
  2. killswitch0029

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    In school during 4th grade. I must have been at gym or some other special because I remember my teacher picking up me and the rest of my class and bringing us to one of the 5th grade teachers that had a TV in her room.
     
  3. bookreader

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    I was only 8 months old so I don't remember anything. Then later on in life, I started learning about what happened.
     
  4. ChameleonSoul

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    I remember seeing it for the first time in my kindergarten classroom. My teachers and two teacher assistants were in the room watching the news while us students were getting ready for class. When the second plane flew into the other tower, the teachers immediately realized what was going on, turned off the television and immediately started classes like nothing had happened. The few students (including myself) who saw what happened either had a look of fear and panic or were talking about how awesome that explosion was (which it turns out they had no idea how many people died because of that).
     
  5. Kodo

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    I was three years old and in Russia at the time.
     
  6. 108

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    9th grade band class
     
  7. kibou97

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    I was almost 4 years old in Pre-school (It's before normal school for those not in America, basically gives a foundation and structure to help kids adjust before actual school starts but isn't mandatory). I can't remember a single thing from that day but apparently my mom and all of her coworkers were huddled around a tiny tv just watching it all unfold before they were told to leave early so she picked me up early. My mom actually has a newspaper printed later in the day on 9/11 with it headlining. Part of me wishes I could remember but from how fearful everyone who was older described how they felt, I'm also kind of glad I don't remember.
     
  8. LaEsmeralda

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    I was about 9 or 10 - I remember my parents watching the live reports but I didn't really pay attention. It was only the next day when our school addressed it in our morning assembly that it really registered.
     
  9. JonSomebody

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    I was at work and when the news broke...the building that I worked in went into an uproar and the company sent everyone home. Unfortunately, I caught the transit and it wasn't running properly and when it finally showed up...it was almost two hours late. From the last rapid stop...instead of catching the community circulator that I usually catch the remaining way home...it did not come at all and I had to wind up walking from the rapid station all the way home.
     
  10. LaEsmeralda

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    Were you in NYC, JonSomebody?
     
  11. ABeautifulMind

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    9th grade english when I first heard the news... At 14 I was one of the only kids that seemed concerned.... All the other kids were joking about how cool it is we get to go to war... I was like... wtf? you think its cool? Anyone who was smart enough to understand what had happened knew just how much our world changed for the worse, and yet most of my classmates were joking and cutting up...

    Here we are 15 years later, 4 wars, trillions in debt, more terrorists and more terrorist threats than I think the world has ever seen.... I hope our country gets on the right track soon... I still cant believe we had a chance to have a man as great as Bernie fucking Sanders, and the DNC let crooked $Clinton steal it... sorry, dont mean to go off topic, but come on... We could have had Bernie... makes me want to cry... Now I have to vote for Jill Stein realizing she most likely wont win, but hoping she gets enough vote to achieve federal recognition, so that next election they get federal funding and hopefully a spot on the debate stage....
     
  12. Reciprocal

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    I was a foetus when 9/11 happened. I always find it fascinating how adults always seem to know where they were during 9/11.
     
  13. QueerTransEnby

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    I wrote out a big long post on my FB, but I would have to redact a lot of names to post it here.

    I was a senior in high school. Here's the abridged and edited version:



    "As I am sitting here at my desk on 9/11/16, I hear a plane overhead and my mind flashes back to the night of September 11, 2001. I remember the eerie quiet of that night. All planes grounded for days and days. Yet the fear remained that if I did hear a plane, we were in deep trouble.

    It's amazing how my mind replays that day over and over again and rewinds much like a VCR popular in that time period. Many of the details still crystal clear. Let's rewind some more to the beginning of that day in my life.

    That morning, as a senior in high school, I sat in my 1st hour Bible class. He was talking about how God uses suffering for his will and purpose. Around 9:00 AM give or take a minute, our chaplain came in our room and said, "A terrible accident has happened. A plane has hit the World Trade Center, and it is burning. Pray." I went to 2nd hour speech class concerned but hadn't seen the pictures yet or anything, so it wasn't a life changing event. Then at about 9:30 when I was in speech class with two other students(it was a small class), our chaplain walked in and said another plane had hit the WTC. I knew right then we were in the throes of a terrorist attack. Third hour came just after 10:00 AM, and I didn't have to move because my English class was in the same room with this same teacher. She was insistent that we take a stupid literature quiz. That was the last thing on my mind...."What happens next?" I thought as all of the [school name redacted]TV's were being wheeled in to each class room from ye old library. Needless to say, I didn't do very well on that quiz as I was petrified watching the replay of the towers falling and the Pentagon being hit. We were all in shock. My thoughts were..."What country is doing this? What do they want? Is Boston next? Is Philly next? What about us here[in Detroit]? We aren't that far from the east coast. Are we next?"

    Before the noon hour, several parents came in and got their small children as well as some middle schoolers. Being in a small K-12 school allowed me to see how everyone reacted. Many of the little kids were not told specifics of the attacks and didn't understand what was happening. I didn't want to go home that day though. I needed to be with others so we could all be supportive of each other.

    That's what I remember most about 9-11. We were so united; there was no Republican vs. Democrats as we see today some 15 years ago, there wasn't partisan banter. Instead, the vast majority of us were praying that George W Bush would have the strength to hold our nation together and rebuild our resolve as well as our cities.

    If America could get back to "united we stand, divided we fall", our nation would be the better for it. But alas, we are left hearing political debates mired in divisiveness, that it seems more like animals fighting in a zoo."
     
    #13 QueerTransEnby, Sep 11, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2016
  14. I'm_Danni_x

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    I was also a foetus when 9/11 happened.
     
  15. photoguy93

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    This has been a very interesting experience, looking back on it.

    I was in 3rd grade and I was getting ready to get on the bus when they announced it on the radio. To be honest, I paid no attention. I had no clue what a terrorist attack was. Then, they showed the video during school and it all started coming together. When I got home that night, I watched the news and couldn't imagine what was happening.

    What I do remember is how our nation came together. We were one. We supported one another. It was incredibly devastating, but there was this weird sense of respect for one another - don't know how to describe it.

    Looking back, I see how fucked up our country is now. Sorry to say, but things are so different. It's incredibly sad and I hope we can find our way again.
     
  16. angeluscrzy

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    I worked at a little self serve gas station sitting at the register in the little kiosk. The manager is in the small office across the parking lot and calls over to say "We're under attack!". My only response was to look around the parking lot and ask "Where???".
    I heard the radio mention it rt after that.
     
    #16 angeluscrzy, Sep 11, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2016
  17. ScatteredEarth

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    I was a kindergartener at the time but I remember my parents being worried because my uncle was there at the time, apparently quite close by
     
  18. BenFreeman

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    I dont live there...
    I was ill in bed...I turned on the TV...CNN was on... initially I thought it was a movie...
    only much later when the meds wore off did I realize
     
  19. Anthemic

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    I was 10 years old, in 5th grade class. I was sitting in my desk, when the teacher turned on the TV. Next thing I know, there's teachers running up and down the halls. My teacher had just spoken to one of the teachers, and then changed the channel. I look at the TV and see a building on fire. A few minutes later (around 8:00), I see an airplane fly into the second building; this was live. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was horrified, not only because of the events, but because my mother (who works for a high-government facility) was on a business trip in Quantico. I was so scared that she was on one of those planes. Thankfully, she was not. She was originally supposed to board a bigger plane, but they changed plans and boarded a smaller plane. It gives me such dread to imagine what would have happened had she boarded the original plane. I always wonder if it would have been one of the planes that crashed. I hate the thought.

    I now have what is called "Survivor Guilt". I wasn't even there, but I feel so guilty that I am alive. I think it stems from my OCD. Seeing all those people jumping from the buildings and running from the crash... I just feel awful. I even feel bad that my mother was spared. I am so grateful that she is alive, but I feel bad because I take so many things for granted, when I should be living my life to the fullest.

    I now believe that my mother has a sixth sense. When her plane was flying over the Potomac River (the river in Washington, D.C.) she felt this huge sense of dread come over her. She couldn't explain it, and she couldn't tell anyone because, well, she was on an airplane and they would have suspected her of being crazy. Little did she know, a few hours later, 9/11 terrorist attacks would occur.
     
  20. Robert

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    Dont remember