Where were you on 9/11/01?

In the morning of 9/11/01, I was attending Italian classes in Costa Rica. A few months later, I was to travel to Milan and have first hand experience of "the First World".

I could hardly believe what I heard, someone said that a plane crashed in NY. I went home and watched everything on CNN. It was a shocking day. Although something didn't felt quite right, I went with the official story.

I was never really interested in politics, although my social studies teacher from high school did managed to instill a healthy critical sentiment against US propaganda. The teacher used to say that from all the things he made us memorize (geography, science, etc.), if we could at least retain a critical attitude, then his job was accomplished.

Never forgot him nor that day when he said it, nor the mocking stories he used to share which depicted us as "America's Back Yard" quite well. Some years later, I learned that he was fired from that high school.

I took an interest in politics when I discovered the SOTT page in late 2003/early 2004. I found it shocking, fascinating, jaw dropping, interesting... quite a mix of feelings. I went to the very first SOTT page ever published and started scanning the news from that day forwards. I have scanned every single SOTT edition since it was founded until today, with a special attention to editorial comments.

My former brother-in-law's best friend died on 9/11, he was attending a business meeting in the second tower. As the English say, he was quite a nice chap. I was disappointed to see how the subject was "forbidden" in the family to avoid further pain. Further pain? I don't know. Wouldn't you want to know the truth?

Pretty sad.
 
I was in Manhattan that day, my first day back at an office job I had left to pursue other things for a year. After leaving the subway train I heard someone say "terrorism" and walked outside the subway station to learn that the WTC had been hit with a plane as people were discussing it in Union Square. I walked a block westward to my office on 5th Avenue to see that directly south, only a few miles away, a gaping hole and smoke rising from point of impact. People were standing, staring and gaping at the site on the sidewalks around me.

My first thought was Osama bin Laden did it! I wondered how many people had been hurt or killed by the impact and remembered the first attempt at toppling the WTC back in 93' that was made by detonating bombs in the garage. Since that time I had already given thought to the fact that there were people crazy enough to try such a horrific thing and here 'they' were trying it again.

After staring at the site for a few moments longer, and taking the situation in, I called the office to say that I would not be coming in and then touched base with my mother and sister. I decided that what I wanted to do was to go up town to the apartment of a guy I worked for making industrial videos, borrow his camera, and just go downtown and film. A friend of mine worked for what was then NY Downtown Beekman Hospital (only a few blocks away from ground zero) as an administrator. I thought I might stop by and ask if he needed help there.

When I got to the apartment, the guy I worked for was on the phone with his girlfriend and the TV was on. I watched. One of the towers had already collapsed. Collapsed?? And then the news announcer warned the viewers and said something like: "if you have any children watching you may want to take them away from the TV" and the second of the two towers collapsed. I was a little dumbfounded by this because the damage I had seen earlier didn't seem capable of such a thing. It looked like a controlled demolition which I had seen before on TV programs and not a month earlier with my own eyes when two gas holding structures were demolished in Queens.

So I got the camera and proceeded to go downtown with it. Occasionally someone walking towards me in the uptown direction could be seen, covered from head to toe with ash. Returning to Union Square I saw that people were convened around a parked car which had a radio set to the loudest volume, so that everyone could hear. "The mood in Washington is somber, there are murmurings that we can hear from government employees - this will not stand".

I continued my trek downtown by foot for some reason, I think maybe the trains had stopped running. I noticed a young hasidic man at a telephone booth crying. I also recognized a famous comedian on the street speaking on his cell phone. He was probably discussing what had happened with someone too and I thought that this event would touch everyone. It was the worst catastrophe that many would ever know. Further downtown I stopped at a kiosk for a drink and got into conversation with the woman working there. She told me how worried she was about her boyfriend who had a plumbing job in that area and she had not yet heard from him to know whether or not he was ok.

This reminded me of the fact that I had a job with the industrial video guys at the WTC towers the very next day! How very weird. I then thought to touch base with the 2nd partner of that business and we discussed the disaster. He suggested that I do not go to ground zero as the asbestos in the air would be harmful. And so, only a couple of miles or so away at this point I turned back and met two friends. When we got together, we watched TV for a while and then decided we'd stop by and give blood at a local hospital. There were hundreds of people lined up around the hospital to do the same, so we went to another nearby hospital and they said that they didn't need any or weren't taking any. On the street at the emergency room entrance stood doctors and nurses waiting for the wounded. While we stood close by deciding what to do next, we didn't see a single person brought in for treatment. Whoever could be treated and helped was sent to the hospital my friend worked at, as I would learn later.
 
I was at my old job leaving early at about 3 pm because my nephews were vising. Just before I left my office room a colleague mentioned that a plane flew in a building. I thought this strange but that I will see this in news in the evening. When came home the TV was on and showing again and again the video with the planes flying into WTC. My sister in law had called my family and told them to switch on TV because of this. My attention was divided between TV and my nephews. I was quite stunned about this attack. Back then I bought the official story.

When US went to war with Afghanistan I was quite amazed that Americans try to solve "terrorist issues" with war with countries, that were not responsible in my view of the things. And I was puzzled that USA did "solve" their alleged terrorist problem with war and not police methods.
 
I remember I was in my 2nd year of college, between classes in the lunch/rec room with some friends. We were playing pool and just killing time when all the screens in the room stopped playing whatever was on (probably some sports broadcast) and went to the footage of the towers aflame. Both buildings where hit at that point. We all stood there thinking WTF! Did that really just happen? Then the buildings came down. At first I was really confused, as it seemed really familiar, like I've seen it before. But the initial shock of seeing such iconic buildings going down had me push those thoughts aside and I didn't know what to make of it. Later on when reading the explanation about them collapsing because of fire, I knew was bullshit. It then hit me that those building fell at free fall speeds, just like a controlled demolition, and that was what seemed so familiar, since I've seen quite of videos of building demolitions and that looked exactly like it. I didn't know much back then but I did know that whatever the news media was spouting was not the truth.
 
I was on my Navy ship in Texas that morning. I first saw the video of the towers smoking on the mess decks where enlisted people eat and gather for training. I remember having the strong desire to touch base with family and the cell phones not working due to everyone else seemingly doing the same. There was talk of getting the ship underway from port to be safe at sea and at least one ship did that. I remember being angry and not really knowing where to direct it other than going with the target the media and the military were presented in Osama bin Laden. I was actually in the Persian Gulf when the USS Cole was bombed in 2000 and felt when 9/11 happened that now American citizens would wake up to the problems of the world and it had finally come home to roost. I did realize at the time or shortly after that 9/11 was going to change things in a lot of ways. It meant the country was going to go to war for one. It is kind of crazy thinking back to that time now and how much my world view and life has changed and the world along with it. Fourteen years feels like forty to me in a lot of ways.
 
I was working at the morning shift on that day. In the middle of an afternoon nap a friend called me, because I was one of the few who had a satellite subscription, and he rushed in front of the TV set clicking the CNN channel.
There was the Pentagon hole there, it looked like a military jet that dropping perpendicularly over the building, crashing and making a sharp puncture there. Never got how a whole Boeing ended down there though... :huh: :huh:
 
I was at work (in France) and it happens that a co-worker get a sms from his (US) girlfriend just saying "don't care I'm fine". He was unable to reach her and didn't understand but soon he stumbles to the news and calls all of us and we all watched the TV...
 
Seems as if I got up earlier than usual that morning and went into a room of my parents house to turn on the TV. Reading this thread, I've been thinking back to what was going on in my life prior to and around 9/11. It would have been the summer of my freshman year at college, a pretty pretty careless one too. I was spending time with my older sister that summer who at that time was heavily involved in the drug scene. I didn't partake in the drug she was addicted to but was drinking with her and her friends more than usual. Strange in a way to now sense how careless I was at that time.

After turning on the TV that morning, remember the news of the collapse of the twin towers being on what seemed like every channel. Remember feeling a level of shock at what I was seeing on the screen, finding it surreal in a sense as if watching a movie. The particulars are pretty hazy now, at the time I didn't question much the official story of the event. I do remember during a class that next year I believe, a classmate writing something on the chalkboard having to do with 9/11, explaining how he questioned the official story-which apparently made some sort of impression as I still remember it now.

Shortly after 9/11-the stores apparently started selling shirts with the American flag as I remember my older sister wearing one. I didn't find this forum or SOTT until 2007 I believe, so for several years after I wasn't aware of cointelpro, and didn't grasp how much of the media, is propaganda.
 
I was starting my morning routine wondering how disruptive that day's protests in Santiago would be surfing an investment forum before getting ready to go to my Spanish class when someone posted that a small plane had just crashed into one of the WTC towers. Paid no attention to it and continued reading other posts. Then someone posted the other tower was hit and that this was a massive terrorism event. I turned on the TV and the local channels had shifted to putting on the live coverage feed from CNN Español. I never got ready to go to class that day and stayed glued to the TV and computer into the evening. The Internet slowed to a crawl over my 33-56K dial-up connection but I finally did receive emails from people I knew in NYC, I am grateful that no one I personally knew died that day. When I attended my next Spanish class, I found out that the two other Americans there also did not show up that day, the instructor looked at us with great concern and asked if we were OK, none of us said or expressed otherwise putting up stoic fronts but I knew we were all crying inside from the grief and trauma.

I began to doubt the official story within days. Back then I followed the Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe.

My doubts regarding the Pentagon event were confirmed by a friend who worked there. The details are in another post on the forum.

On further contemplation, I am beginning to see a bigger picture within the personal realm.

Seems life events made sure I was outside the country of my birth before 911 (I moved to Chile four months before that New Pearl Harbor). It was that event that changed my one year in experimental overseas living for personal reasons to a political and social one with the extremely strong urge to make expat life work at all costs because I could not be a part of the manipulated rage and brainwashing I saw sweeping the US and that it was crucial to structure a new life that minimally supported the Evil Empire via one's physical presence, mind and labor (yes US citizens and residents, where does the Empire get the personnel resources and money to fuel your own and the world's subjugation?).

Further personal strangeness, I visited NYC for a conference one month before the attack where I jokingly mentioned Osama Bin Laden more than once while dining and drinking with friends (I was making fun of and playing on the name of one of the convention participants, I know I was being bad) and also made a serious comment regarding Chile's history (don't forget the “other” September 11 which occurred in Chile in 1973) of how the US government and people would likely respond to a massive real or imagined threat (as US persons always seem to be so arrogant that something like what happened in Chile could never happen in the US). I also recall seeing on the final stop of my trip when I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, the very end of a summer rerun of “The Lone Gunman episode where a jet was taken control remotely and directed to crash into one of the WTC towers.

Come to think of it, I am making even more connections that relate to my current personal life regarding the Chile-US Empire-911 thingy. Too strange.

Thanks for having a forum where I can express such a POV.
 
In that time I didn't work so I slept every day as long I wanted. But, on this date I wake up pretty early, maybe about 9 a.m. And for some strange reason first thing that I did was turn on the tv and check out news what I usually never did. When I saw breaking news and what is happening I felt like the whole world moved in some way. Like something terrible happend and things will never be the same. Feeling like I was moved in another reality.
 
On 11/9/01 I was at home. I was four months pregnant. When I saw the images of the Twin Towers and the speeches of G. Bush. I felt chills and thought about my future son. In the world he was going to inherit. The people who were with me saw it as a horrible but distant fact. I thought about the future and whether the world would be safe for my son. I thought about wars. I think it was a more instinctive approach, rather than rationalizing all the consequences that would bring.
 
I was at home during 9/11 and remember watching the news in my room. I think the whole event felt so surreal that i couldn't really deal with it at the time. Too much surprising and confusing information (towers collapsing free fall), that it probably sort of overloaded my mind. So i don't remember much how i thought about it back then (i was 16 years old when it happened). I didn't question official narrative, but when the invasion of Afganistan and Iraq started, i started to have some doubts. I didn't approve the invasion and was against it. I remember some other people were sceptic about war too, that's its about resources. But i don't remember anyone questioning official 9/11 narrative. Only almost ten years later did I start to search the internet for more information, when 9/11 and other "conspiracy theories" had become more widespread. Eventually I found SOTT and this forum.

I was just looking some old news clips about this event. It's interesting to watch them with "new eyes". Now with all this knowledge the narratives that are pushed immediately after the attacks are so blatantly obvious and transparent. This event really pushed us into a new reality, that has become a nightmare.
 
Was living in a little country town in Victoria, Australia called Churchill in the Gippsland area. It was student days, and I was at a friend's house where we organized a "pot luck" dinner where you came and brought home cooked dishes or cooked them at the house. There were 5 of us and we were all international students - from Germany, Malaysia, Indonesia, & Norway; and I recall clearly a scene where we were in a midst of cleaning up after dinner when one of them came and said WATCH THE TV! - America is under attack !

Remember being completely transfixed and numb, thinking about the horrors the victims must be going through - and with trepidation the retaliation that the US will pursue, and what it will mean for the world. That time I didn't really know much; hence I didn't even question at all the official narrative. It's amazing how readily I believed it without question then. But my perception started to change when the wars began; especially Iraq. I just could not believe that despite world wide demonstrations against the war - Iraq was invaded again. I think that triggered the path that eventually led me to Sott and the Forum. Thankfully now I understand better thanks to knowledge gained from Sott and the Forum.

The old World truly ended that day - and observing now the dystopia that is a daily reality - especially when I stand in airport full body x-rays scanners; just hits the point even harder...
 
I was on holidays from my job with a Federal Government Agency, and had been travelling interstate with my wife for a reunion with a lot of old Navy shipmates from the sixties and seventies.
I lived near Canberra at the time, and the reunion was in Coolangatta, Queensland.
On our return, we had reached Dubbo the afternoon before, and had spent some time touring the local zoo, which is highly renowned, then settled into our Motel room.

In the morning I was just waking up, and my wife switched on the TV on her way to the bathroom, not even stopping to watch it, and I watched in amazement as the scene unfolded.
It took me a while to work out that it was New York, as the towers had already gone down, and the dust and smoke was billowing everywhere.

As soon as I had identified that it was New York, and was aware that two towers had been hit, I was thinking - this has to be a terrorist attack! Then I said to my wife after I had called her to watch it, I bet this is the work of Osama Bin Laden. I couldn't continue watching as we had to vacate the Motel and proceed home. I didn't really get the details until much later.

So I was susceptible to the propaganda as well, and I'm glad that sites such as this have opened my eyes to a new reality.
 
I was home getting ready for work and turned on the news at about 10 minutes to 9. The report of a small plane hitting the WTC got my attention and I immediately ran to the roof with my camera bag. I lived on E.14th Street in Manhattan and thought I may catch a photo or two. When I got up there, I was hit by a wave of shock at the sight.

It obviously wasn't a small plane and the North face of the North Tower was in flames and giving off smoke about two thirds of the way up. I started taking photos, waiting a little while and shooting again, as things changed. I wanted to run downstairs and tell my roommate, terribly...but, was also captivated by the macabre scene. People down on the street were just waiting for busses to work, or shopping, as if nothing unusual was going on. My adrenaline was cranking. I finally ran downstairs, grabbed my roommate, who had no idea what was going on and took the elevator back to the roof. She was speechless, though the look on her face was of shear horror.

Now the second tower was smoking, my camera was back out and I continued to shoot photos, staring at the scene in between shots and trying to understand what was going on. The North tower progressed to get worse. I though of all the things that the people in there must be thinking and going through, trying to get out. The though that the fire could cause a collapse, was unthinkable. Nothing like that had ever happened---skyscrapers were manmade mountains. Though I did keep wondering how anyone could put the fire out at such a height, or rescue anyone near the top. Then suddenly I felt a heard and then felt a rumble, or maybe it was the other way around. Down went the South Tower.

You have to remember that to Manhattanites, any of us, could have had a reason to be in those towers, on any given day. It was familiar...friends' office jobs, stores to shop underneath, government offices, transfers to the PATH train to visit friends in Hoboken, rollerblading in the mall area...you might be there for any reason. So the site was part of everyone's possible day. It was a neighborhood familiarity, neighborhood reality. But, they were manmade mountains. They'd never fall. Though there it was---South Tower collapsing.

My view of the South Tower wasn't that good. It was partly blocked by the North Tower. It looked like all of the Financial District was buried in smoke...maybe flames...no was to know how bad things were there. But, it looked like the end of the world. At that moment, I had an epiphany. It occurred to me that one plane hitting a tower was weird...but not impossible. But two? I had the realization that it was some kind of coup going on. I thought terror attack was too impossible, as well. Who could put together two planes hitting both towers? Not possible outside of a high tech effort. The thought passed, I continued shooing pictures and then an other rumble and the remaining tower began to collapse, as if in slow motion.

It took only 11 seconds; it felt like 11 minutes. It felt like time had stopped in one big scream. It felt like if there was a way I could find, I could stop it...people on adjacent roofs were screaming hysterically.

When it was halfway down I felt the most terrifying, horrible feeling in my gut and water to scream out, but couldn't. I felt like I was feeling every perishing person's soul, at that moment. It still brings tears,writing about it. I looked over the edge of the roof to the street. People were still going along their daily routines, not having a clue the drama, I'd been witnessing.

Looking at the Financial District, reality began to come to me. If the Financial District is in flames (it only appeared that way, at that moment), the ATMs and banks would close. I ran downstairs to find a working one, if I still could, to take out as much money as I could. It seemed to me that things would be in chaos in the days to come. As it turned out New Yorkers worked together in community in those weeks to come.

I sat on my hands in front of the TV, or walked up and down town, for days. I wanted to help in some way, but couldn't see how by the reports. Then I got a call from a friend, who asked if I wanted to volunteer. I'd mentioned it to him in the few days before. I immediately said yes. I worked down at Ground Zero, doing anything I could. From the inhumanity, of the attack, the scene at Ground Zero was one of humanity and people doing the right thing for each other. That's another story and not part of the question asked at the top of this topic---so I'll leave it there.
 
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