What were you doing on 9/11?

by Ryan Erickson on 11 September 2008 · 14 comments

in Vault


Simple question that you will surely be asked later in life if not sooner: Where were you on September 11, 2001? I was in the Coast Guard’s C-130 Navigator course at Aviation Training Center Elizabeth City. In fact I was in the middle of my first test when we heard the news of a dual prop plane hitting one of the towers, which of course was wrong. I remember thinking, as an aviator, what kind of idiot runs a plane into a building? Then I saw on CNN the second plane and second tower. That’s where/what I was doing.

Again, simple question: Where and What were you doing on 9/11?

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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

Mike September 11, 2008 at 12:34

I was on the 2nd deck of the LANTAREA building polishing off my second cup of coffee when we were told of the first plane hitting the WTC – I had the same thought even though I’m not an aviator – I mean come on, that was a huge building in a very well managed airspace, right?

We had CNN on in the office and several of us were standing around speculating about what was going on, when we witnessed the second one hit the building. Talk about an eerie feeling – we all knew at that point what was going on. We immediately started running scenarios as planning folks – and knew the inevitable Incident Management Team watches would stand up, so we got prepared for a long arduous watch schedule. I never did get my 911 ribbon for that, but I digress… ;) MM

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Peter A. Stinson September 11, 2008 at 13:54

At ISC Portsmouth, teaching a class on business writing. We were in the classroom in the same building as the gym and exchange. I received a text page (I was, at that time, still a reservist assigned to the LANT/D5 Command Center) about a small plane hitting one of the towers. When I received the second page, telling me about the second plane, I decided it was time for a break for the class.

I announced a 15 minute break, told the class what I’d gotten on my pager, and we all trooped into the exchange to watch the television wall. Nothing like watching 9/11 standing in front of a wall of televisions in a store, let me tell you.

The break grew from 15 minutes to 45 minutes… and then I decided we should cancel the class. I told everyone that I’d reconvene at a later date.

Seven years later, and they never did get the full day’s content.

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Anonymous September 11, 2008 at 16:01

I was Atlantic Strike Team. I boarded a truck and headed to ground Zero from NJ. We arrived in Statten Island in time to see the second building collapse. The next day we were at ground zero doing air monitoring and safety ops with the engineers checking the surrounding structures. When I think of 9-11-01, my legs instinctively cramp up a little due to the 800 flights of stairs we had to climb daily. I don’t watch TV today, the memories suck too bad, and I dislike the media scrounging up all the experts to Monday morning quarterback the event. They weren’t there.

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Ryan Erickson September 11, 2008 at 16:15

anonymous @ 1601, I agree with you on the fact of not watching T.V. I have a tough time watching all the accounts with people crying. I’m an emotional guy ya’know.

I recently read the 9/11 Commission Report, which I highly recommend. It reads more like a book and than a commission’s report. And trust me, with my current degree program I have read plenty of ‘em.

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AztecGuardian September 11, 2008 at 20:22

Just waking up out here on the west coast about the time when the 1st tower fell. Watched it go down on television and then listened to the 2nd one fall on the radio as I drove to class. It was my first semester back at college after attending USCG Basic Training. Needless to say I only had one class after that before I was recalled to active duty.

Today I remember specifically Vincent Danz and Jeffrey Palazzo, both of whom were killed that day while serving with the New York Fire and Police Departments. Both were also members of the Coast Guard Reserve.

Never Forget.

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Anonymous September 11, 2008 at 21:56

I was a civilian on my way to work as a construction helper for my uncle. When he didnt call, I stopped by his house and saw the second tower fall shortly after.

I enlisted in the Coast Guard 1 year later. Still active duty @ an MSST.

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Christiaan Conover September 11, 2008 at 23:44

I was in 7th grade, having moved to Annapolis, MD that April. I was in the cafeteria getting ready to eat my lunch, when a friend of mine came in and sat down at my table. He announced that planes had hit both towers of the World Trade Center in New York, which he’d heard on the radio in art class. We were too young to realize ourselves what it meant, and assumed it was “just another plane crash.”

When we got to our next class, the teacher informed us of the plane that hit the Pentagon and the one that crashed in Pennsylvania. She explained that it was a terrorist attack, and explained what that meant. I remember distinctly one of my friends breaking down right there in class, because her father worked in the Pentagon.

Seven years later, I am now a newly enlisted member of the Coast Guard. While I can’t say that 9/11 made me want to join, it serves as a strong reminder of why we do what we do.

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John Willis September 11, 2008 at 23:56

I remember it like yesterday. I was taking my truck in to have some work on done it. Pulled into the McDonalds drive thru next to the dealers to get some breakfast.

My wife and I were listening to the radio a couple minutes before 9 and they accidently sent the feed through over the broadcast. They must have caught the mistake because it was only about 5 seconds.

I heard “plane crashed into the World Trade Center” and then it w3 as gone.

Went next door to the dealers and spent 3 hours in the waiting room watching it on TV. The salesman and mechanics kept coming in to catch up on what was going on, rather than working.

On the way home I remember telling my wife what was probably the most prophetic thing I’ve ever said. “Life as we know it in this country will never be the same.”

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Laura Horton September 12, 2008 at 12:31

I was on my way to my civilian job with the City of San Diego when I heard about it on the radio. I continued to watch what was unfolding on a little tv in the office. There were two of us in my office who had family that worked near the World Trade center. I was one of them and all I could think about was getting a hold of my brother who worked within a block or so of the Towers.

Then, 4 or 5 days later I was recalled to active duty, stopping every boat in and out of San Diego Bay. Overall, I was on and off active duty for a total of almost 4 years.

My birthday is 9/12 so needless to say it was a very strange birthday in 2001. It will always be a reminder now.

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John Willis September 12, 2008 at 12:35

Happy birthday Laura. You didn’t tell us,was your brother OK?

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Fat American Ex-Coastie September 12, 2008 at 13:05

I was on comm watch at Station Destin Florida. Things got alot more secure at Sta Vacation. I remember the phones goin ballistic.

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Hagar September 13, 2008 at 11:30

I was XO on CGC ALEX HALEY, in the Gulf of Alaska returning home to Kodiak after completing TSTA in Everett, WA. The CO announced over the 1MC that the World Trade Center had been attacked and that one of the towers had collapsed. I went below to talk to the crew and foound 3 guys sitting on the mess deck in battle dress ready to start a drill. They thought we were setting a scenario for continued training. It took me about 10 minutes to convince them otherwise.

When a ship moors after being gone for over a month it usually empties out pretty quickly. Not so in this case. A family member brought a video recording of the planes flying into the towers to the ship. Since we were underway when the attacks took place and had minimal information, we put it on the TV system and the crew sat and started watching. After a half hour or so I had to insist that they turn off the tape so people would go home and let the duty section stand up.

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Anonymous September 13, 2008 at 14:45

I was TDY to HQ. I watched the Pentagon burn from a 6th floor office and reruns of the towers in a conference room.

Seemed like 2100 2nd Street SW emptied out kind of fast that day – at least the part I was in.

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Erik September 15, 2008 at 13:17

I was on duty as a patrol officer in the City of Burlington, WA. I remember there were no calls for service anywhere in the County or any of the City PDs, the air was completely dead, everybody was just driving around listening to the news on the radio trying to figure out what was happening. I remember seeing a car with a Marine in BDUs heading towards the freeway at 70 in a 35, we just let him roll on by, figured he had places to be right then.

I got the call for activation at Port Security Unit 313 at 1100, and by 1430 I was on the roof at the base with an M60 and live ammo in full battle gear, wondering where we would end up going, and what the he11 was going on. We ended up doing security for ammo outloads for the next three months, then going to Iraq and Kuwait in 2003.

I will never forget the way the whole county, even the bad guys, completely shut down that morning. The scanner is never quiet, always something. Nobody was even making traffic stops….

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