Do you remember where you were on this day 7 years back?

[grimmbass]

Can you believe it's been 7 years? I'll never forget seeing the second plane hit the towers and thinking "this was no accident." I was at work; I felt my stomach drop when one of our guys came out of the back office and said "another one just went down in Somerset."

As the world turned into chaos, I sat in an office ordering office furniture. My supervisor at the time did not send anyone home. It was the most surreal moment of my recent life. I remember thinking "we're at war, and I'm picking chairs."

It's wild to think that I witnessed a defining moment of my generation live on television. I personally cannot believe how much the world has changed in the past 7 trips around the sun.

Anybody else remember what that day was like for them?

[BDR]

At this moment, I was ripping the front page of the paper apart and rebuilding. Whada messed up day.

r:>)

[Lisa]

We were shopping for new curtains for my mom-in-law...as an older person, she was just in shock that anyone would kill others like that. It made her so sad...and me too. Husband was in the hardware store when he heard the news.

[metalchurch]

I was in jail, held overnight for a DUI. I remember i was locked up in my cell looking out at the TV in disbelief...
Let me tell you guys, I have never been more scared in my life, being locked up like that with no control over anything....

I was in Somerset County jail, about 8-10 miles away from Shanksville where the plane went down. When that happened I was really losin' my mind, cause NY is one thing and that's close by, but to have it happen about 10 miles away from you.

There were all these rumours about Martial Law and shit like that, and i was only to be held 24 hrs. to begin with, so I wasn't sure when or if I was getting out....

[fahy34]

I was in college at UPJ at the time commuting from home (roughly 5-6 miles from the crash site). I had a late class that day so I was still asleep because my mother didn't wake me up when planes were flying into buildings in NYC.

Suddenly the whole house shook violently, enough to wake me up and almost cause me to fall out of bed. Mom was running around the house screaming about planes crashing and I had no idea what the hell was going on.

Once I found out what was going on and started hearing the speculation reports about a plane going down near Shanksville, near Somerset, near Johnstown. It was complete chaos.

I still remember being out side and seeing the large military planes and helicopters flying over head, I believe the president was flying over.

It is probably the only day of my life I can remember from start to finish, but I’ll spare you the other details.


On a lighter note I remember the Pittsburgh news report later that night standing near the crash site and saying 'Ladies and Gentlemen I'm literally standing right next to a corn field....this is really bad bear country.'

City folk.....gotta love 'em

[songsmith]

I was at work at Blair Communications. My boss called me and asked me if we had a working TV out in the shop, and that I should hook it up in the lunchroom, he said his friend called him and told him to turn on the TV, then hung up. I did as he asked, and one by one, people started coming to the lunchroom. We were marveling at the stupidity of a small-plane pilot hitting the WTC on the clearest day possible. (at that time, news reports were saying it was a small plane).
Then the second plane hit, while we were watching. It was like someone drained the oxygen from the room. As usual, I was the first to speak. I turned to our intern, 17-year-old Aaron, and told him he'd remember this day for the rest of his life. I just knew the world turned on a dime. I thought of how I felt when the Space Shuttle blew up, and realized this was his generation's Challenger Disaster, or Kennedy assassination, one of those watershed moments when world events affect you directly.
I remember how amazingly beautiful the weather was, and how quiet it was with no planes or trains, and everyone talking in hushed tones. I remember how helpless everybody felt, and how the president reacted to the news at that grade-school where he was reading to kids. I recall staying on the internet for news, and the homepage updated every 30 seconds or so. Then, at home, I watched TV and napped off and on until it was time to go to work again the next morning.--->JMS

[Big Jim]

It was a day off for me. I woke about 9:15am to the Bob & Tom show and heard Tom say something like: "And now we see the 2nd plane hitting the towers." I realized that they weren't being funny. I ran down to my TV and watched for about 1 hour.

I had an oil change appointment for my car and left. I heard about the Pentagon hit on my car radio. We watched TV at the garage, and I went home and watched TV the rest of the day.

Since AM radio had news every hour and 1/2 hour (some did 24 hour coverage for several days) that's pretty much all I listen to, to this day.

My life was changed. A lot of freedoms we took for granted are gone (airport security regulations, going to Canada, etc.)

[Jim Price]

My older brother woke me up when the first plane hit the towers, and my first thought was that it was another accident like the World War II plane that hit the Empire State Building in the 1940's. When I got out to the kitchen, though, the second jet had just hit the towers, and I realized there was something else going on here.

I then sat in stunned silence and watched as the rest of the morning unfolded; the jet slamming into the Pentagon, and then reports of a jet crashing in Somerset County. And then the horrified feeling when both towers came down. When I stepped outside to get the mail, I looked up and studied the sky, wondering if anything else was coming down on us. And as I continued to watch the tube the rest of that morning, I realized the enormity of this day, and that things in our country were about to change. And I felt a lot of anxiety - just how much was everything out of control on this day?

I then had to go to work at Q94 that afternoon, and it was chaotic and challenging to get through the afternoon. We were doing updates of what was going on while playing music, and I kept a nervous eye to the television in the control room, anticipating more attacks.

Along with the night that we launched the first attack on Iraq in the early 90's, this was the most dramatic day I had ever experienced in radio.

[DirtySanchez]

I was working at Thompson Machine in Juniata when all of this shit went down. I remember cranking the radio and listening to all of this. I remember feeling horrible for all of those people in the towers/pentagon/shanksville and their families, but I do have to say I was not surprised. We oppress everyone who does not agree with us. We are bound to catch some shit here and there for it. I do not agree with what Bin Laden did, but I understand why. We have been killing everyday in the name of progress/westernization/democracy/christianity for years. Someone just had the balls to retaliate.
We got so full of ourselves that we thought we were unfuckwithable. Now we know better. You can only poke so many bees nests before getting stung. I know I'm supposed to be feeling all patriotic and waving my fag, and listenin to Toby Keith today, but I feel WE as AMERICANS could avoid this shit by picking our battles and not fucking with everyone else.

Flame on if you feel the need.

[Imgrimm01]

I was in the truck on I99 on my way into Altoona to check satellite signals when I heard the news on Bob & Tom , I was in Altoona at the Atlantic BB head end to see the 2nd plane hit live, I was in Somerset prob. 4 miles from the site and I heard the impact... Chilling man ! I ended up spending the night FBI would not let ma back on 219 to go home.

[moxham123]

Interestingly, and the most strange feeling I had that day, was that I was supposed to be in Manhattan at 9:00 a.m. on 9/11 for a meeting at the MetLife Tower building (one of the tallest in NYC). I always made my travel plans to NYC in advance and I just kept putting them off for some strange reason. The Friday before 9/11, I got a call that I did not need to travel to NYC and the guys from our Rhode Island office did not either and we could phone into the meeting and we were all glad and felt that we did not want to go there that day. I would have been either in the building or walking down Park Ave. looking toward the towers as that happened. I would have been stranded in NYC with no way to get to my daughter back here, who would have been alone. I am so glad I was not there that day.

I was at work at the MetLife building in Johnstown getting ready for my phone meeting and somebody called me from our Rhode Island office and said to watch the news online that the WTC was hit by a plane. I did not know what to think but I had a horrible feeling about it and also a sense of relief that I was not there. Shortly afterward, I heard that a plane was heading for the Johnstown airport, not far from my building, but we had to stay at work. Then, we heard a plane crashed in Shanksville and had just flown right over our building as well as my daughter's school in Richland. If Flight 93 would have gone down in that area, it would have taken out U.P.J., the Richland schools, MetLife, the Vo-Tech, and several other buildings and killed thousands of people. Some people I spoke to did not know anything about any of the crashes even early in the evening that day and that seemed strange too. The day was very surreal and did not sink in fully until later that evening.

[mjb]

i had a small business where i went on sight and did oil changes. i remember how spectacular of a morning it was. i did my oil changes for tony and joe at santos pizza and when i went in to get paid the y said we were under attack and i just kind of laughed it off. then i heard stuff comming through on their radio. i remember tearing up iin dis belief and i had to get home and find out what was going on. i called my wife who worked in the hospital and things were crazy down there and i showed up to give her a kiss and tell her i loved her and for her to be strong and do what she needed to do. wow! haven't thought of all the little things like that for a while. sad,sad day.

[bassist_25]

I actually slept through the attacks. I found out about it on an Internet forum, actually. Wow, I remember sitting with my family and watching the whole thing unfold during the day. I still remember watching people jump from the burning tower before it collapsed. I had a friend from Canada call me that day. I remember the analogy that I told her was "I feel like I'm standing in the middle of Babylon as it comes crashing down all around me."

God Bless the emergency responders who arrived that day and gave themselves without selfishness. Though I know that every NYC fireman or policeman seems to brush off the term "hero," they truly are heros. I remember that about a year and a half ago, my girlfriend at the time drug me to this little hole in the wall bar, which I really didn't want to be at. There, I met a former NYC policeman who lost about ten of his men that day. From talking to him, it was obvious that he's been changed for life in a deep and emotional way.

I was in jail, held overnight for a DUI. I remember i was locked up in my cell looking out at the TV in disbelief...
Let me tell you guys, I have never been more scared in my life, being locked up like that with no control over anything....

I was in Somerset County jail, about 8-10 miles away from Shanksville where the plane went down. When that happened I was really losin' my mind, cause NY is one thing and that's close by, but to have it happen about 10 miles away from you.

There were all these rumours about Martial Law and shit like that, and i was only to be held 24 hrs. to begin with, so I wasn't sure when or if I was getting out....

Damn Joe, I know that was probably scary as hell when it was happening, but that is definitely a true rock 'n roll story for sure, kinda like the time Slash ended up in the Mexican prison and had no idea how he got there. That's definitely going to have to go into the Joe autobiography.

[slackin@dabass]

i was in school. high school. 1st period band class. i didn't know about it until i got to my next class wich was world cultures. i was in 11th grade. i walked into class and my teacher, mr. McNeilis said "everyone sit down, shut up, and watch t.v. this is history happening" the rest of the day we just went about our business. went into each class and watched the news. i think maybe only one class where the teacher tried to go thru a lesson, i don't remember wich class it was, but she eventually gave up and turned on the news. everyone was asking if she knew anything new. haha. kids can be assholes, huh?

[HurricaneBob]

I was working for Digital Solutions at the time. We had a software users group at the Blair County convention center that day. We were about to start the conference when it was on the big screen tv's. We had at least 30 people come from New York that saw what happened and left immediately.
I was good friends with the New yorkers and was hoping no one was injured in their families.

I remember calling my wife and watching in disbelief at what i saw.
That this could never happen to us, the USA.

Heritage Plaza 6pm today for a red, white and blues show.

[lonewolf]

I was at the Penn State Altoona Force lab doing some tests & measurements when we got the word. I monitored it from the fast (for 2001) internet connection and then went to my Gram's at lunch and watched on TV. I remember having an ominous almost helpless feeling.

[YankeeRose]

I was living elsewhere, everyone was off to school and work, and I was online. A few people called to alert me, my mom being one. Quite a few parents went and got their children out of school, but I decided not to...I checked with the school, all was well and I agreed with school officials and the other parent that the best way for all of them not to feel afraid was to allow them finish their day. That night I held my 4 year-old son and cried when we saw the photos of the family who'd been on the one plane that hit one of the WTC buildings. When ever I think of 09/11 my thoughts/Prayers first travel their way. Little did I realize years later I'd meet someone who knew them.

[bassist_25]

Hey Kent, why don't you post the blog of you and Bobby taking the bike ride to the Somerset Memorial. That stuff's very powerful.

[JackANSI]

I remember I was coding on some educational software (I worked for the AASD at the time) then got about 10 e-mails in a few minutes from our main internet routers letting me know that traffic on the 16M line was peaked.. and sticking there.. Assuming it was someone in the office downloading something, I just ack'd the alert and went on my business.

Then a coworker came in an said about a plane hitting the one tower. Thinking it no big deal, its bound to happen in bad weather, happened to the empire state building and its still standing, I went on my business.

I started to get weirded out by the traffic being spiked for that long I went to the logger and starting looking at what websites people were hitting, what connections were open, etc. It was almost all from news sites, almost all video. I knew something was up. Just then the same coworker comes back in and informs me of the second plane.

I patched up an antenna from my few month old knowledge of RF from getting my ham radio license. The TV in our area had no cable.

Some of us knew the school was going to be put in lockdown (no one leaves) really soon, so we took our lunch breaks.

I have other really horrible memories about the weeks that followed, as a red cross communications volunteer. Watching it replayed on TV doesn't even phase me anymore. I know what it smelled like..

[grimmbass]

As per Paul's request...an account of a motorcycle trip to the Flight 93 crash site with my friends Bob and Bob...from my Myspace blog, dated September 5, 2006:

The ground still heals in Shanksville

"There is a chill in this air like I've never experienced,"I thought, gripping the handlebars of my ZZR and following down the final stretch of road that would lead us to the temporary Flight 93 Memorial. From Somerset onward the path had been marked with unassuming wooden placards, tacked onto trees or other road signs, improvised markers to an improvised memorial to the improvised actions of a brave few.

As I followed Bob's taillight through the straight-aways of the greater Shanksville area, the utter isolation caught me. This land of tragedy truly was God's country, full of green fields and farms, wide open stretches of narrow road, and miles of solitude. The place where a brave group of common folk rose against hardened terrorists certainly didn't look like the birthplace of a new era in American history; if anything, the lush farmland seemed more like something out of our past.

Our sojourn was an improvised ride for the three of us. For weeks, we'd been planning to saddle our motorcycles and trek into Virginia, to enjoy the splendor and views of the Blue Ridge Parkway over the long Labor Day weekend. Tropical Storm Ernesto's wild winds had changed the forecast, forcing us to cancel our road trip in favor of more regional routes in-between storms. We'd settled on a trip to the Somerset area to get an up-close view of the windmill farms, but a quick remembrance from Bob planted a seed into all of our psyches.

Unexpectedly, he had turned off of Route 219 to show us where he had been when Flight 93 made its descent. Bob had been a cable television technician in 2001, and one of his regular stops was the Somerset "head end." He had heard the roar when the big plane had come over, as well as the explosion when it came to Earth.

Staring at the cable hut just off of 219, I asked him how far the memorial was. He responded that it was a five-mile ride. The vote to go was unspoken and unanimous.

As we headed for the memorial, I couldn't help glancing at the sky and envisioning what the denizens of Shanksville had seen that day. A massive jetliner barreling toward the hillside, passing within 50 feet of the ground before beaching itself like a flying whale into the empty field. A strange feeling crept over me and I watched my two fellow riders slow their speed, as if catching a whiff of a new scent in the wind. The very air around us was growing heavier as we reached the center of this radius.

Along the way, we passed a memorial chapel, dedicated to those who mourn the losses of Flight 93. "Let's Roll" read a sign by the road in front.

Several miles later, we were turning right to head up the hill to the field where it had all happened. The road was broken and choppy, limiting our speed and, for the moment, restoring our conscious attention to being motorcyclists instead of mourners. We passed a row of Harley riders coming down the hill, who all saluted us with the downward biker wave. We returned the gesture and continued toward the wake.

As we crested the hill, I was surprised by the sheer number of people and vehicles huddled in such a small, undeveloped area. We parked near the main entrance and dismounted. The heaviness of the place knocked the wind out of me before I could even get my helmet off. It felt like gravity was stronger here, a thick gray force tugging upon your spirit, giving and taking energy at the same time.

I cannot truly put into words what this force felt like; I can only tell you that conversation was nearly impossible. The longing of everyone who had lost someone in that terrible tragedy seemed to echo from the ground, the benches, and the displays. The field again was grassy and green, but the healing had only been superficial; deep scars lie upon that land and they still scream in agony to anyone awake enough to listen.

Few words were uttered by the gathered crowd, some listening to the volunteers tell the story of Flight 93, others wandering around the assortment of tributes that had been sent from around the country, thanking the passengers for their sacrifice. The most touching to me was a toy wooden airplane, sent by a regional kindergarten class, with scrawled text thanking the passengers for not hitting their school.

There were very few formal tributes here, but many painted rocks, signed t-shirts, bumper stickers, and military patches. These were not taxpayer-funded marble memorials; these were post-it notes from members of the American family saying "we didn't forget you." I hope that when the wiser and greater minds in Washington formalize this memorial that they don't forget the way America has already paid tribute to these brave souls. This tribute should remain humble, sincere, and real. Gratitude is best expressed in words and deeds, not granite and gold.

I am not ashamed to admit that I came close to tears in this place. The spiritual scar tissue that remains, obscured by beautiful green countryside, still bleeds invisible blood and baptizes all those who visit the Shanksville crash site. With my two silent friends, I rode back up the hill a changed person, not entirely sure of what had happened to me. The rest of the day's ride (and subsequent evening at home) held some of the most somber moments of my life, and I pray that I do not soon forget them.

Regardless of how you feel about war (this awful war, in particular), courage is honorable. As we near our five-year anniversary of that terrible day, let us honor these brave souls and the choices they made by simply remembering.

Peace,

Kent

[Merge]

I had worked the night shift the night before, and I slept through everything. I didn't find out anything until around 1pm, when my brothers woke me and told me about it. I remember later that evening I was eating dinner with my 2 neices. They were 4 and 1 and half at the time, and the oldest asked me "Did you see the planes hit the buildings"?? I said "Yes, I saw it." She sat silent for a minute, then asked "Why would someone do that, Uncle"?? I said "I don't know". That's the only question she's ever asked me that I couldn't answer.

[Little Devil Girl]

I was in my typical Tuesday sales meeting, we came out for a break and someone said the towers were being attacked. Our News director came into the meeting once it started back up and we all were immediately put on the phones for the entire day and night. I didn't get home that night until after midnight. I actually didn't want to leave, I was afraid to go home. The fear in the voices of everyone calling in that day will always be in the back of my mind. To call my then mother in law and tell her to please leave her job because there was a supposed plane with a bomb in it going over where she works freaked me out.
All of our reporters were out covering the site and all the others things going on that day, we were actually the first to be there at the site, before any police and fire crews. I tip my hat to the men and women who cover the news. I know I was in tears in the newsroom during all that, I cannot imagine what it was like to be there as it was unfolding. So even though the media gets a bad rap at times, I was proud to be part of the news team just for a day.

[plumcrazy]

I was teaching a class of 18 - 3, 4 and 5 year olds at Blair County Head Start. That was one of the hardest things to watch happen and at the same time try to explain to small children in a language they would understand. There were many many questions that morning from them that of course no one still knows the answers to.

[KyleMayket]

I was in the Navy at the time. I just got home from a night of drinking in Hawaii (5 hour difference) when the planes struck the towers, my phone rang and I had to get to the Sub, and we were underway within a couple hours going to the middle east...

[Feelgood]

I was sitting in Spanish class tenth grade year. I recall my school's principal coming over the intercom and announcing what was going on. Classes ceased and classrooms were then furnished with televisions and filled with teachers and students alike surrounding them in awe.