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Where were you? - September 11th, 2001

IrishWandering

I'm doing a project on public reaction to 9/11 in the immediate aftermath and during the attacks and I was interested in knowing where people were on 9/11, how they found out about the events unfolding and their initial feelings.
I was personally out and about in Dublin city centre when the first plane hit the North Tower and found out pretty quickly, many people had radios on and all the televisions in every bar, shop, cafe and restuarant were tuned to the news. I felt disbelief, sadness and pure shock.
Please be respectful and only reply if you are actually interested in helping out.

Cheers!

(I probably could have found a better topic to put this post in but whatever)

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delly

I had met a friend in the marble arch pub on the davitt road. I was then driving along the Grand Canal towards town when the news of the first plane came on the radio. Like others here, I instantly had an image of a cessna. I distinctly remember while on the canal, by being passed by a vip dignitary cavalcade, along with the army outriders.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon in the ucd student union shop installing a till system, whilst listening to the news over the radio. So many people came in and out and were clearly upset, including a few American students or interns who were hysterical.

Tombi!

IrishWandering wrote: »

]
(I probably could have found a better topic to put this post in but whatever)

mod: no, not "whatever", AH isn't the place for your survey.

Tombi!

mod: reopened after discussion with the OP over PM.

mynamejeff

was doing after doing exams in collage , i was loitering around the computer labs got a txt from a mate who was on the beer in the hurlers bar in limerick and the websites started going nuts .

Legged it back to the gaff to watch it on tv with a slab of Carlsberg. was genuinely scared for my sister who i though was in Manhattan at the time luckily she wasn't.

Sent a runner to Tesco for booze and had the mother and father of all sessions that night. it was weird like an end of the world party. i was living in a student gaff with 8 strangers at the start of a new year. very surreal experience

Fr_Dougal

Jet fuel does not burn hot enough to melt steel beams.

IrishWandering

Mince Pie wrote: »

Was living in an apartment on Leeson St and had just gotten back from the shop buying a newspaper and some milk. Weird that I remember that so clearly. I was on a day off work. So was just gonna sit and do the crossword with a cuppa.
Put on the telly and news was on with the first plane after hitting. Remember sitting there thinking jaysis that's just mental. Then watched as the second one hit live.

Then it hit. This is not normal.

Speculation on the news channels then came hurtling through. I'd never even heard of Osama Bin Laden.
Then Pentagon happened. Some friends called round. Had to ask them to leave cos I ended up having a bit of a panic attack thinking we're all f*cked! Never been so afraid. What would the repercusions be considering George Dubya was in charge at the time.
I still get those chills when I see footage.
The world changed that day.

Like yourself, I can remember Sept 11th and the following days with great detail, the images I saw on the news that horrible day will be etched into my mind until the day I die.

IrishWandering

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Jet fuel does not burn hot enough to melt steel beams.

You are very right! One problemo with your conspiretard theory though. Structural steel loses over half of it's strength at 1500 degrees Fahrenheit and the fires in the towers burned at 1850 degrees Fahrenheit. Please take your irrelevant opinion elsewhere!

ScrubsfanChris

Visiting my grandmothers grave on her anniversary.
Heard about it on the radio in the car while heading home. Remember asking my mum what the pentagon was? I was 10

[Deleted User]

I lost my uncle on that fateful day. He was on Flight 11, the first one that hit the North Tower. It wasn't until a good bit later that the footage of that one came out. The second one was the one seen live around the world. My uncle was a passionate man and I'll never forget his last words. ''Allah Akbar''

denis160

We had just got home from our honeymoon & went to bed for an hour, woke up to the news on tv, I remember been totally shocked at the images & not really understanding what was going on.

[Deleted User]

I was 11, just as the school day ended the teacher told us something bad had happened in America, that a plane had flown into the world trade centre, but I didn't know what that was. Then when I got in the car my dad described it and said to wait and see it on tv when you get home, which was unusual because he normally didn't talk much when me and siblings got picked up. We watched events unfold on cnn and rte when we got home.

I remember thinking that it must be a huge news story but at that age I kind of thought that it was just "news" and so didn't *really* matter to me. I also remember thinking it was hypocritical of people to care so deeply about *americans* dying on the news but not doing all they could to save "starving Africans" who were much more numerous and who never got to enjoy the luxurious living standards the Americans who died got to enjoy - pretty confused thinking on my part! My instant reaction was that the attacks were the rich countries about to be punished by the poor countries for getting to live "good lives" while they all had to suffer in poverty ... or something. Honestly aged 11 I was angry that the news cared so deeply about "only" 3000 rich Americans dying while millions starved every year with little coverage. I can see now that my thinking lacked perspective to say the least.

I remember feeling anxious for a while afterwards that ww3 might start. it all seemed very ominous, that whole time.

Also, at that age witnessing the people jumping from the buildings and being made to imagine being trapped inside as they went up in flames was a bit disturbing

richy

Sitting in my sitting room aged 12 I think. Was in sixth class. Was sick from school and I remember watching it with my dad and his work friend who were on their lunch break. Was watching it on SkyNews and I think I saw the 2nd plane live or maybe on a slight delay.

Probably the first news story I remember besides the Timothy McVeigh trial. I remember we were prepearing for entrance exams for secondary school and our teacher had us all write a story with the writing prompt being about 9/11. It started "it was a cool, crisp morning with an aroma of coffee in the air". Used that probably till 3rd or 5th year in all my essays.

It could be because as I get older and have a fear of mortality, but I used to love flying, planes and skyscrapers and now looking down from heights and flying are my biggest fears. I feel like it could be from that event but could just be general anxiety.

Laois_Man

I did a summer job that year which I had finished the previous Friday which involved cold calling into companies in the US. mostly along the Eastern seaboard, mostly in WTC. I found it eerie that many of the people who I'd spent the Summer talking to, were probably killed in the attack.

That day I was outside painting, with no radio or anything. Didn't know anything was happening until around 4:20.

For OP: An interesting insight. One of the AH threads from the day as the events were unfolding

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=30985

Fr_Dougal

IrishWandering wrote: »

You are very right! One problemo with your conspiretard theory though. Structural steel loses over half of it's strength at 1500 degrees Fahrenheit and the fires in the towers burned at 1850 degrees Fahrenheit. Please take your irrelevant opinion elsewhere!

You're wrong.

I stated facts, not opinion.

When is the assignment due anyhow?

TMJM96

I was 5 at the time and only started Primary School that year. I can only remember being sat at home with my family (I think my older sister who was in secondary at the time was sent home, but not too sure). I just remember sitting down staring at the TV not really understanding it but realising how serious it was. We had family who were on holidays in NYC at that time and more family who lived on the East Coast so my parents were obviously very upset (luckily all were okay!)

It's just weird that 9/11 is essentially one of my first memories (other than first day at pre school and primary school that was only a few weeks before)

Lonestar1

We were due to fly back from Miami (Via Gatwick and onto Dublin) on Sept.11th, we had gone down for brekkie in our hotel and,on our way back to the room to get our bags and stuff and check out, we happened to glance at the telly in the lobby, at first we thought, (like a lot of other posters) that a small plane (Cessna type?) had hit the WTC, But when we realised the enormity of what was going on, we immediately went to reception to check out and get the flock outta there. Most of the Americans were very concerned stating, "My God they have bombed the pentagon" Fair play to the receptionist, he told us we would be better off staying put, as all flights were grounded and our hotel (at the airport) would fill up pretty quick with stranded passengers, it took us a full week to get a flight back home, we had to go to the airport everyday to check on availability of flights,

FrKurtFahrt

I got a call from a friend who was in the pub and he encouraged me to come on down as the craic was 90 - a few lads had bumped into each other, and things developed. I 'excused' myself from work, and (not having a bob) drove to the nearest bank to drain the machine of what I could. I heard the news on the car radio, an urgency that was palpable, and raced into the pub to get them to turn on the TV, if only to confirm what I'm sure I'd misunderstood. As a few of us stood in utter shock watching the second plane hit, a prick walked out of the back bar and demanded that we turn off the TV as he needed someone to play pool with.

It was everything that people here have said, and more - unreal, surreal, shocking, mind-boggling, stunning, jaw-dropping, unbelievable, ..... words fail. I had an overwhelming realization, there and then, even as I watched it happen, that the world was now a very different and worse place.

nullzero

Week before I started college, at home after a busy morning, my grandmother(who died two years later) was watching TV and called me into the sitting room when the news broke of the first plane hitting. We watched the second plane hit live, I remember her blessing herself and saying prayers. It was a really surreal moment, I remember meeting friends that evening and none of us knowing what to make of it. It was so all pervasive in terms of media coverage for such a long time, I remember Princess Diana dying and the huge media reaction being all pervasive in 97 but 9-11 was just leagues ahead in terms of constant media coverage, the moment you turned on a TV you were back in the thick of it for quite some time afterwards, it really was the JFK moment of our generation with all the media outlets to cover it. It really was a frightening experience to watch unfold live on TV. I was at ground zero two years ago and I had mostly forgotten about so much of the day itself, being there brought it back vividly. It didn't impact my life in any personal way but it definitely scarred most people in society psychologically.

IrishWandering

Laois_Man wrote: »

I did a summer job that year which I had finished the previous Friday which involved cold calling into companies in the US. mostly along the Eastern seaboard, mostly in WTC. I found it eerie that many of the people who I'd spent the Summer talking to, were probably killed in the attack.

That day I was outside painting, with no radio or anything. Didn't know anything was happening until around 4:20.

For OP: An interesting insight. One of the AH threads from the day as the events were unfolding

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=30985

Thank you for sharing that link, going to take a look at it now. I didn't even know boards had been around that long ago!

byte

I was at work (electrical retailer) when it all unfolded. So there was plenty of TV's showing the events.

I realised things were bad when all the channels were showing the situation unfolding. I vaguely remember that TV3 were rebroadcasting footage from MSNBC. Another, maybe RTÉ, were rebroadcasting Fox News.

The Royal Scam

I was working in a clean room in a multinational in Newbridge. I swiped into the cleanroom more or less the time the first plane hit just after lunch. I was repairing a 1 tonnes scale in there on my own with no phone or computer for about 4 hrs and when I came out the world had changed so much.

Giacomo McGubbin

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Jet fuel does not burn hot enough to melt steel beams.

really ? So why do all structural steel beams in buildings in Ireland have to be cased on concrete or treated with fire retardant coating in order to provide a mere half hour ordinary fire resistance ? jet fuel my ass. Any fire over half an hour makes structural steel unsafe.

ongarboy

I was working for an IFSC company in Dublin that also had offices in the World Trade Centre so we were naturally concerned for those colleagues along with all other potential casualties (2 colleagues died - the offices were below the crash impact floors so it could have been much worse for our office). I remember not much work being done for the rest of the day once the news started unfolding and I just kept refreshing Sky News on my work PC internet and groups of us would hover around various PCs as some significant update was announced (eg the towers crumbling). My colleagues in our London office were all sent home as there were rumours floating around that key European financial hubs were also going to be attacked. All our other staff in the other US cities were sent home. I worried for my brother and sister both living in Chicago at the time should that city also have been targeted. There was such fear and uncertainty I remember as we gradually then heard about the Pentagon and then the crash in Pennsylvania. I seriously wondered was this the start of WW3?

It resonated as well because the previous September in 2000, I visited the Twin Towers as that was where half price Broadway tickets used to be sold for same day performances. My sister took a great photo of me with the two towers soaring above me which I framed.

I also bought the next day's Irish Times and Irish Independent as I just knew this would be my generation's JFK assassination moment (both papers are yellowing in the attic somewhere - I must have a look for them).

May we never relive such mass terror again...although the events in Nice, Paris and Brussels are sombre reminders of the terror that is still out there.

Outlaw Pete

Don't answer him, folks. This thread has CIA written all over it.

Trebor176

I was in school. Our English teacher walked in to class fashionably late, and told us that The Twin Towers had been hit. He was the sort of person who often joked, so at first we didn't believe him. It was only as the day went on, the reality began to set in.

I had been doing after school study, and the teacher supervising in the school hall spent the time with an earphone in, and kept the whole hall updated as to what was happening.

My mother had been at home doing ironing when things were unfolding. She was glued to Sky News, and was in disbelief as to what was happening. I can't remember where the rest of the family were at the time.

But certainly, it will be a day where everybody will know what they were and what they were doing when they recall the events of that day for years to come.

padd b1975

byte wrote: »

I was at work (electrical retailer) when it all unfolded. So there was plenty of TV's showing the events.

I realised things were bad when all the channels were showing the situation unfolding. I vaguely remember that TV3 were rebroadcasting footage from MSNBC. Another, maybe RTÉ, were rebroadcasting Fox News.

RTE took the CNN feed if I recall correctly.
Obviously all TV and radio stations gave it blanket coverage, except for one of the last pirate radio stations in Dublin called KICFM (keep it country), they were still steadfastly churning out the hits!

housetypeb

I was working on a new building (for Navillus ,an irish firm, kerry brothers made good,shout out to fellow Navillus'ist)not far from the twin towers, when word spread through the building that a plane had hit one of the towers,the lads on the 14th floor said it had passed over their heads very low, got a call from my then girlfriend-later wife- asking me was I okay and maybe I should come home. When word came through that a second plane had hit soon after most of us wandered to the the corner of the block where you could see both towers on fire down the street.
The sidewalks were thronged with people but everybody seemed to be on their cell phones and not talking to each other, went back to the building where word was that everybody was to go home for the day until the situation was clearer,soon there was no more mobile coverage.
Got a spin from one of the engineers out of Manhattan to Woodside,Long Island, remember seeing the towers with smoke rising off of them as we drove over the bridge along with hordes of people streaming over the bridge as the subways were shut down or too risky.
Got a yellow cab from Woodside out to West Hemstead, traffic was getting heavy now as they were closing down the approaches to the city, but as we were going away from the city it was still clear but the off ramps were beginning to be closed off
I often wonder how the taxi driver made it back to woodside that day,I don't think she did.
Arrived home about 11 ,where my future wife came running out of the house with our 6 month old daughter,hugged me,hugged the taxi driver for getting me home safely and I gave her(the taxi driver)$150 dollars for an $80 fare.
We spent the rest of the day huddled up on the couch watching the news.

RayM

Trebor176 wrote: »

My mother had been at home doing ironing when things were unfolding.

Always a good idea to unfold things before ironing them.

I was at home channel-hopping and Sky News mentioned that reports were coming in of an aircraft colliding with one of the towers. I just assumed that someone had a mishap in a Cessna or something and didn't think any more of it. Sky moved onto some other story and then returned to it a few minutes later with live footage of the burning north tower. It all just seemed like a horrible accident. And then there was a moment of weird confusion when the second plane hit the south tower. It took a few seconds to realise that they weren't just replaying footage of the first tower being hit. And then another few seconds to realise that it wasn't an accident.

All very exciting, even if it did result in BBC1 replacing Diagnosis Murder with the news.

KungPao

Was at home messing in the pc, playing ms flight sim funny enough. Sister came in and said mad **** was happening in New York. Spent the rest of the day glued to the news.

Twas a mad day in fairness.

candy-gal1

In school, 14, 2nd year, Irish class was the last class of the day as far as i remember but didnt hear anything of it till my dad picked me up after school and told me.