Ronda

I was in London on a walking tour when an American man received a cell phone call from his son telling him about the twin towers. I thought it was rude he hadn't turned off his cell phone. Could not believe it when he told us what was happening. I imagined small planes hitting the towers on accident and was horrified when I returned to my hotel and watched the news. <BR><BR>I still haven't figured out if I was watching it live or a replay as I returned to my hotel around 3 p.m. London time. If I could have gotten on a plane at that day and come home, I would have. As it was, we had to continue on to France with our vacation plans as we couldn't get home even if we had tickets.

xxx

Getting ready to go to the office when the news reported a plane hit the WTC. At that time they thought it was just a freak accident and then a little while later I turned on the TV I saw the 2nd plane slam into the other tower. That's when we all knew it was not just an accident. After that everything was just what is called "surreal". It was like watching a disaster movie except you had to remind yourself that it was too real. Did manage to go to the office like many others only to find that we had to turn back and go home for fear of the office buildings being targeted. It was like a ghost town; all the restaurants and offices closed. This is San Francisco I'm referring to.

Art

Had just left Marlbork Fortress and driving towards Gdansk Poland. Could hear the first few word by Pres Bush then the Polish interpreter took over. Could only pick out a few words and couldn’t believe them. Got to lodging in Gdansk and saw the 2nd plane hit on Polish TV. Went to an Internet caf&eacute; to get the news. We did set a lot of support on the rest of our trip from the Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, Austrian and German peoples. Areas of flowers and candles appeared everywhere.<BR>.<BR>

win

My husband and I were in the airport lounge that night (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and our flight to Frankfurt leaves at about 11.30 pm. We were absolutely unaware of the happening as there was no TV set in this lounge. Then friends and families who know we were travelling that night started to call our handphones to tell us about the news. I remember telling my husband " maybe it is a small plane with engine trouble or something"....NEVER EVER imagined this happened. Later on, as we walked to the departure gate, we stopped to look at the screen and they were showing images of the 1st plane slamming into the tower....I froze on seeing that and when the 2nd plane hit the other tower...I'm not able to describe how I felt. We boarded the plane (unable to sleep the whole journey) and arrived Frankfurt the next morning and took a train to Dusseldorf. Checked into the hotel and stayed glued to the TV screen the whole day. I just cried and cried and cried even tho I didn't know anyone in America. My heart ached for all those families who had lost someone there... At that time, I was praying that some people would have survived...it is like "surely many will be able to get out of there alive"...but it is not to be. It is now 3.40pm Malaysia time, 10th September and tomorrow night will be a year since that incident....my heart still ache each time I recall images of family members of victims crying while carrying photos of their loved ones and I remembered watching the memorial service, at Yankee Stadium??, I think and it is absolutely heart wrenching. Nobody should lose their loved ones like that....If I, who does not know anyone there could feel the hurt so much..I cannot imagine the pain these people go thru.......<BR>I'm a Malaysian chinese living in Kuala Lumpur and I thank God and our leader for the peace we have here today. I hope we will be able to continue enjoying the peace we have grown to take for granted.

Foreign Service

I was at work at the State Department and we were all watching it on t.v. and realized right after the second plane hit it was a terrorist attack. An hour later many of our collegues from the Pentagon walked over and asked if they could please use our offices to contact family and friends since theirs was destroyed. I spent almost the next two weeks working around the clock. It was exhausting but I felt I was doing my part to help out. All I can think of is that 4th plane....it's said it was coming for the State Department or the White House. I guess in times of disbelief you just don't think about all the "what ifs"

elina

I was in Finland, driving to my favourite shop. I opened the car radio, and the news were on at a strange time (usually they are at full and half hours). I really thought it was a play, like the one Orson Welles staged in US radio in the early fifties about Marsians attacking. I remember thinking: This sounds so true, must sound even more true than the one Welles wrote.<BR><BR>I did not think about it any more, did my shopping and went back home. Opened the TV, and saw the second plane. After that I just jumped fron BBC to CNN to Finnish TV.

elizabeth

We were on our honeymoon in Positano. After dinner we walked into the hotel lobby and saw a group huddled around a television watching CNN, which is basically what we did for the remaining two days of our honeymoon. The next night at dinner, there were strolling musicians who played a very slow and sweet version of "New York, New York" and people wept over their pasta.

gigi

My experience was very much like xxx's. I always listen to CBC radio in the mornings. Just as I was ready to leave for work, the radio host mentioned he was looking at pictures of a horrific accident- a plane had crashed into the WTC in New York. I turned on the TV for what I thought would only be a second, as I was now running late. There it was on TV. They were talking about highrises too close to airports, about other similar accidents, it was all just a terrible accident when suddenly another airplane appeared and directly hit the other tower. I think my jaw dropped. For the first time those talking heads on TV were speechless. By this point I had to turn off the TV and get to work. I needn't have bothered. I had a job at a very busy retail store in Yorkville- we didn't have one single customer. We had a radio going the whole day. Everyone kept phoning- our boss, our friends, our family. It was terrifying and surreal. Banks and corporate head offices were closed for the day. Downtown was a ghost-town except for the crowds around the TV's in store windows. Everyone kept saying the exact same thing- "it's like the movies, this is like something out of the movies". I'll never forget the panic or the fear so many people experienced that day in Toronto- I can't even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to be in New York, or elsewhere in the United States.

bobbie

We had just returned from dropping our son, 19 years old, off at LaGuardia Airport for an American Airlines flight to Arizona and returned home to Connecticut before commuting into NYC. Just happened to be listening to the radio and heard the news of the first attack and called my husband to the TV where we witnessed the second plane crashing into the WTC. We did not go into the office that day, actually mine was closed for over a week since it is two blocks away, and we waited very anxiously to find out if our son was safe. The internet said that his plane had taken off on time and if it had, it could have been the one flying towards DC but luckily for us he had never taken off. We heard from him about five hours later to come pick him up since everyone was thrown out of the airport and he wandered to a hotel which of course by that time was full. Long story, he was safe and home that night but is flying back from Salt Lake City tomorrow....His best friend's father was in the WTC and did not survive.

helen

My boss and I were in a very important meeting. My boss' wife started beeping on my boss, and she would not stop. My boss became quite angry, but at last had to make an excuse and phone home. The long drive back to work were surreal, listening to the radio trying to get an image on what were really happening. We got back in time to see the second tower collapsing.<BR>

Judy

I had my suitcase in my hand at around 6:45am in Portland, Ore. to catch an 8:45am flight to the East after spending a great week with my children when the Tv came on with the news and my son said, "sit down, Mom, you're not going anywhere. As the horror unfolded, my son knew within hrs. that a fraternity friend had not survived. Finally on the 1th of Sept. I got a flight back. I supposedly had the last seat on a full flight. Needless to say both connections were much less than half full. A stewardess sat down with me and said that air marshals should be on board or pilots be permitted to have guns. She said yrs. ago El Al had an incident with a terrorist, the marshals walked him to the rear of the plane and shot him. At that time she was considering resigning but she was flying that day. How the world has changed for all of us. Judy

annie

<BR>I was at work on the West Side at 14th Street. We had a unfettered view from start to finish. To this day I STILL cannot believe it happened and that I witnessed it.<BR>I worked non stop for the next three days. I could not sleep. All I heard in my head was the sound of wailing sirens and air horns. Thankfully, the next couple of days all ememrgency vehicles only used the emergency lights and sirens were not to be used unless it was necessary. We were in 24/7 mode for months afterward.<BR>Tomorrow will be a solemn day. No TV or Radios. Can't watch it anymore....

jeanne

I had my twin sister staying with me because our Mom was in the hospital. She had gotten up early to Mom-sit while I took my morning jog. When I came home I noticed my house painters all gathered around the radio but didn't think anything of it. <BR><BR>When I walked in the house the phone was ringing and there was a picture of a fire at the WTC on my TV. I picked up the phone and my sister was hysterical, trying to tell me what had happened. I could still see the TV and saw a plane fly into the towers. At first, I kept saying I couldn't believe they caught this accident on TV! Finally, she made me understand that I was seeing the second plane...and the world changed. <BR><BR>It's odd to think I was jogging in a 9/10 world for 1 1/2 hours while the rest of the world had already been shaken to its very foundations.

NYgirl

At home, making the bed. Husband called, asked me if I was watching tv. Turned it on to see the second plane hit. And life changed forever.

xxx

Me again. I can't help but comment also that within this past year one gets so wrapped up in everyday life and its frustrations that important things are forgotten. However, as 9/11 approaches quickly I reflect back on the many good things that have been sustained and one thing is that my entire family is still with me. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their loved ones and to the babies who were born after their fathers passed away.

Krista

I was in London at St.Paul's Cathedral when it happened. But I didn't find out until I went to buy postcards on the bridge across from Big Ben. I was picking some out and the owner of the stand, a woman, said, "Are you American?" I said, "yes". Then she said "Did you hear that planes crashed into the WTC and a bomb went off at the Capitol?" (yeah-she got that part wrong.) I said "no" thinking she was just a crazy person trying to mess with me since I'm American. She said, "the whole U.S. is in chaos" At that point I said, "Really? Wow! So anyway, how much are these postcards?" I did not believe her at all. I just went on about my business. When I got back to my hotel I turned on the TV and was in shock. What she told me was true!

Philip

I was in my apartment in New York. I heard sirens going by, but that's typical for NYC. But they just kept on racing by and I thought that was unusual for that many to go by. I turned on the tv and all they were reporting was that one of the Twin Towers was on fire. <BR><BR>I walked over to 6th Avenue where you could get an excellent view of both the Twin Towers and the Empire State Building. As I was walking, people were talking about how the towers had been struck by airplanes.<BR><BR>We watched the fire thinking that they will get it under control and only a few floors will be damaged. Someone with a portable radio told us the Pentagon had been attacked. We were in shock as we watched the buildings completely collapse.<BR><BR>

rb

My husband and I were in Melbourne, for the last 3 days of vacation. Because of the time change, we actually arrived there on Sept 11. Went to bed at 11 pm, just about the time everything happened. Woke up next morning, turned on TV, not really paying attention, when I looked at the screen filled with the burning towers. Woke my husband up and we both sat in front of the tv for 4 hours. Needless to say, we spent 3 more days in Australia then planned. The Aussies were very kind.

A. Mary

I was driving south through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, returning to southern NH from a conference. I didn't have the radio on the entire 2.5 hours. I remember thinking it was a glorious fall day with the most beautiful blue sky; wondering why, even that far north, there wasn't much traffic; seeing more than the usual cars pulled over with drivers on phones; when I pulled into my own driveway, my husband said that a plane had crashed into WTC, and I thought it was an accident until I too watched the second plane go into the other tower and knew that this country had changed forever, especially so for those who lost family members in all three areas.

chris

I was touring the Mozart house in Salzburg with my parents and sister when it actually occured. But we didn't actually hear about it until over 4-hours later at a Mozart concert that evening at the Festung when the announcer asked for a moment of silence for the terrible attacks that happened in the US earlier that day. We just looked at each other and said WHAT? We didn't find out until the intermission. My sister told me the WTC was GONE, and I couldn't believe they really meant GONE! It wasn't until the next night in Heidelberg that we actually saw the tv coverage for the first time. My parents and sister were able to make their flight out on the 16th. Unfortunately it was my mother's first and last probably international flight.