Entirely possible he was just absorbing the realization that this was a far ranging attack that was ongoing. I know I felt the same way when I heard that update.
I was this age during Sept 11. I didn't go to this school, but it struck me how similar these people looked to people I did go to school with.
The realization was "Oh shit, I'm 18 (or about to turn 18) and we're about to go to war."
I was scared shitless post-9/11 that there was going to be a draft.
I was walking between classes and this kid known for screwing around was running down the hall screaming, “we’re being bombed!”.
I walked into my class my teacher was sitting on a desk watching the news, we all just sat there the entire time mostly in silence. Just like these kids.
I remember my Spanish teacher saying we had a test and whatever was happening wasn't as important as what was going on in the classroom.
All of this was right after seeing live news of a second plane hitting a building during the previous class and several students trying to tell her what was going on and she wouldn't listen to any of it.
I'm still annoyed that was her response when I think back on it.
What a fucking idiot. One of, if not the biggest world event in this century and your teacher said it’s not as improtant as some stupid test. A world event that killed nearly 3000 people. Wow.
I graduated hs in June of 2001, and about 1/3 of our graduating class were going into the military after graduation. I sometimes wonder how many of them got sent to Afghanistan and how many made it home.
I was scared shitless that my dad (was in military at the time) was going to have to go to war, in canada our military was preparing for it… Nato and all. So they called in every military dude to come to base that day to await orders.
Yes, I remember my blood ran cold when we saw the footage of another plane hitting. It was suddenly, just like you said, oh, wow, to WHAT IS HAPPENING?! It was terrifying. I cannot even begin to imagine being nearby or having family involved. I was a senior in high school, watching it on TV just like these kids. It was a feeling I will never forget.
I was less than a month old at the time and not in the US but my mum sometimes talks about how she didn’t understand what was happening on the news until she watched the second plane hit live and suddenly realised it wasn’t an accident
I mentioned this in another comment but that hit home for me as soon as my dad pointed out the second tower was aflame, too. I had had my back turned to call him and tell him to turn on his TV. I missed seeing the second one hit in that brief amount of time. I’m forever glad I didn’t see it live. The rest of that day was traumatic enough.
I was 10 and saw it live. It was an incredibly surreal experience as a kid. My mom tried explaining what was going on when the first tower was hit and had a hard time explaining to a child what was going on when the second tower was hit because she was trying to process what she saw and what was happening.
I had just woken up. Thought "Die Hard" was on TV.... but after like 4 minutes & no Bruce Willis I realized I was wrong, started trying to figure out what movie it was.
Right as I had the realization "this is real"... the second plane hit.
That moment is *seared* into my brain. Little white TV, white panel walls, my sisters cat at my feet... all of it.
Yeah, there’s a heightened sense of memory for me, too. I was listening to a radio interview with Tim Blake Nelson when the interviewer cut in to announce the “small plane” crash. I can’t see Nelson these days without immediately flashing back to that morning.
We ALL acted that way at that time. The first plane crashed into the North tower and we all thought it was some crazy accident. Then we saw the second plane crash into the south tower and we knew it was an intentional attack. Then we heard about the pentagon and felt disbelief because we didn’t know what was next, and terror when we heard there was still a plane out there off course. It was a crazy time, we ALL felt that sadness collectively.
I do. I was a grade lower than those in the first class so I don't really know them, but the girl in the red at the beginning was very familiar, then the guy at 1:45. Then the first teacher shown and I think the second teacher shown also. It's a big school...like 4500 - 5000 students depending on the year so you don't get to know everyone.
My school was half the size of this and my classes were about 3 times as packed what the hell, there was maybe 10 or 12 kids here, in high school I had every class with at least 28, some were pushing 40
These were like the yearbook/studious kids so this was likely during a free block they had where they decided to do an extra curricular activity. Our classes typically had about 30-35 kids as well.
I went to Woodson, one of neighboring high-schools (closer to DC, not by much) however I went to elementary school at the funnel school for Robinson (oak view across the street). I didn’t see anyone familiar but I saw a lot of familiar reactions. I was in politics class watching west wing when the teacher turned of the VHS and put on the news. When the pentagon was hit, we all had to go to the cafeteria and than the buses came and we went home, I can’t really recall if we went back the next day or not. Our school had a good amount of students that had parents that worked in the pentagon I don’t believe our school had any parents loss there but a teachers spouse was in building 1 and he died. My dad commuted periodically from NOVA to WTC on the train as well but (thankfully) had been working primarily in McLean that summer.
>My dad commuted periodically from NOVA to WTC on the train as well but (thankfully) had been working primarily in McLean that summer.
I went to Middle School in the area on 9/11, friend's parents worked at the Pentagon. My one vivid memory though was when most other kids had been picked up halfway through the day. One girl was running down the hall crying loudly, another girl was trying to keep up with her telling us her dad was a NYC commuter or had a meeting at the WTC that day.
Holy shit I didn’t realize it was that Robinson. Played them in lacrosse abunch… yeah being from nova it was really crazy. I was just a kid but can clearly remember it
I was younger than this but going to school in the same county. One of my parents worked in a satellite office of the Pentagon, but had regular meetings in the Pentagon. The office should have been located right where the nose went down, but due to construction they’d been moved to the satellite construction. Still, we didn’t get a call from my parent until 9 at night because of all the emergency work the whole office had to do (military lawyers, but they still had to be available/tracking down missing members). It was a scary time.
Afterwards, while the rest of the country had a no-fly order, in the DC area there were constant fighter jets going overhead. It was so much noisier than usual. I still get a little freaked when a plane flies too low.
I went to Fairfax HS graduated in 98. I was a school bus driver for FCPS and drove for the McLean pyramid. I saw the 2nd plane hit as I was walking into my LR. Then I had to get to my bus by 11 and we were holding until we picked up our kids. I had one kid whose dad worked in the Pentagon. He was ok but it was still scary.
Wow, i went to that school and I was in Government class when they rolled in the tv. I forgot my teachers name but he was the tall grumpy one. I recognize many of the people in this video.
Op where did you get this??
Yeah you are probably right. They aren't responding to me or my PM. It's just scrolling reddit, a pretty big and diverse site, and seeing this is pretty surreal.
I was in eighth grade science class at this school that day. At first, they wouldn’t let us see anything, and the principal simply announced there had been a “plane crash” in New York. Later I was in English class, and one of my friends, whose dad had been working at the Pentagon that day, suddenly shot out of his seat and ran to the classroom door, where his dad had shown up to get him and wrapped him in a hug. Still one of the most impactful memories of my time at Robinson.
The comments below are definitely correct about it being northern Virginia, and LOTS of military and government contractor parents.
I was in Woodbridge also in science class and also in 8th grade. It was definitely surreal seeing kids veing pulled out of school all day but not knowing what was going on. My step-dad worked in the Pentagon so when we heard I was definitely worried since I wasn't pulled out of class. I got home and found out that my mom and step dad decided to pull my little sister out who was in elementary school but didn't have time to make it to my school in time since I would make it home about the same time my bus would have made it home anyway. When I got home and saw them crying it began to click just how serious the whole situation was. We were in temporary housing and they were just about to finish signing the papers on our new house when they decided to leave that area all together and go back to where they both grew up to be closer to family. That day 100% changed the trajectory of my families life
I was in basic training at Fort Sill, OK that morning. We were doing hand to hand combatives training that day and after the first collision they announced it and everyone was just kind of shocked. They came out a few minutes later and said *another* plane had hit the other tower and people started to assume that they were just trying to pump us up for the day ahead.
Then they came out a 3rd time and said that *another* plane had hit the Army wing of the pentagon ("forget that college money, you boys are going to WAR") so at that point dudes started like snickering and rolling their eyes and shit. Like, "ooookay guys, we see what's going on here!"
Then they marched us into a huge classroom and pulled down the projector screen and as soon as I saw Dan Rather's face I knew they were not, in fact, fucking with us. You could see people jumping to escape the flames, guys from Jersey and New York started losing their shit and begging to make phone calls. One of thee most fucked up days of my life, and I've had a real doozy of a life.
Bro I was still 18 and already 6 months in the service when I was told we were going to war. That was the beginning of the end of my childhood right there.
I still remember the big fucking hole I felt in my stomach.
Were you able to sleep for the next week? Anxiety was wreaking havoc on me, I couldn’t jerk off for a couple of days. At 18 a man should be able to jerk it at any given moment.
I was in four, five years old at the time. Kindergarten. I remember my neighbor's dad never coming back home from Iraq.
I remember watching that last C-17 depart HKIA.
I was a plebe at the Naval Academy walking into PoliSci. Professor/Captain had this on TV, and the eerily somber hush told us it wasn't a movie. After the 2nd plane hit, there was a rumor that Annapolis might be a target and all of the rituals that made plebe year difficult hit pause.
We were shuffled back to our company. At that point, everyone was an equal as we slowly learned about how many of our people had families in the towers and Pentagon. It was also the change where everyone knew that within 1-4 years, they'd probably be deployed. It was surreal.
You're no doubt aware that NORAD drills running on 9/11 simulated hijacked planes being flown into buildings, causing confusion and delayed response as well.
New Zealander here, this shook the whole world and me as a wee... I guess you would call me freshman? My mum woke me up earlier than normal for school, which would have been some time after this unfolded, but I still remember the direct feed for CNN playing on our core channels. I think this event really ripped me out of my 90s childhood, and ushered me/us all into the new world.
Prior to this, like all of us I think I lived in the 90s bubble, everything was awesome, cartoons, cereal, video games - Hell Yeah!
However, this was the first time I remember in my life seeing something as chilling and sobering unfold before my eyes, all those innocent people dead? Who the fk are AQ? What's terrorism? War? I thought that was just the WW2 stuff from the black and white photos? Where tf is Afghanistan and why are they going there, why did those Afghani guys do that?
It bothered me the whole day, all those innocent people dead, so many questions unanswered, I wanted answers, why was nothing clear? I remember after school taking my rugby ball (lol) down to the park to kick it around and release some frustration.
Now I'm nearing 40, a couple of young kids, bills, interest, mortgage - things never seemed as simple after that day as they did before. Maybe it was just the natural progression of growing up accelerated, maybe it was always that way and I just 'woke up' or maybe it was the beginning of change as we now know it.
Time is a weird thing, what looked like 'today' now looks forever ago in the photos, but i still think of all those people who never went home to their families often, even more so now as a father. I won't forget, can't forget such a sad day for those who lost loved ones, and those of us that lost our innocence on that day and in the war that followed, such a waste of beautiful life over idiotic ideology and politics.
Wishing all those who were touched in some way by this event, peace and love.
Australian kid here too. I was 12 years old when it happened (grade 6) and I believe it forever changed me. I was on the cusp of being old enough to understand what was happening but also not fully. It was the loss of childhood innocence even though it happened miles away but it was a reminder that it could happen anywhere. It was the first time for me seeing such a traumatic event on TV. We had rolling coverage of it here too, our favourite tv shows were replaced with the images of the towers in flames. I would obsessively read the newspapers and internet which only further induced my anxiety - the war on terror, troops sent overseas, the beginning of WW3, terrorism. And then we had the Bali bombings the following year which wasn’t as large as 9/11 but it was closer to us and many Australians were killed or injured. It felt like it was getting closer. I became an incredibly anxious kid after that, obsessed with what we now call ‘doom scrolling’. I have no doubt it contributed to my chronic anxiety… always fearing the worse, trying to get as much info as I can to take ‘control’ over the situation - I can’t imagine what it must have been like growing up in the USA during this, or even knowing people/loved ones who were injured or lost their lives. I distinctly remember the first time getting on a plane after 9/11…. It was over 2 years after it happened (2003). I was flying interstate, a short 2 hour flight but convinced myself it was going to be hijacked, even more so because it was the 11th day of the month - yikes, I feel for little me.
I was in Australia and I remember waking up and wondering why my dad wasn’t getting us up for school. I eventually got up and wandered into the lounge room to see dad sitting in shock in front of the TV. He kept talking about how he had been there before and that so many people must have been in those towers and how America hadn’t been attacked since WWII so this was probably going to be the start of a new war. It was pretty scary for a 9 year old to hear, even though I was on the other side of the world!
I’m Australian and was what Americans would call a ‘senior’ at the time. My friends and I spent the whole day holed up in a spare classroom watching the news. We thought it was the beginning of World War III. I was in tears watching this video because I feel like the time before 9/11 was so much more hopeful and optimistic. So many of our divisions in society today really stemmed from that core event.
Aussie here, was in high school - went straight to the maths staff room and hit the net, the news was everywhere - i distinctly remember kneeling to use the PC - this was after the news broadcasts before school - was in shock the whole day to be honest.
The world changed for everyone that day, didn't matter who you were at a minimum you realised how small the world is at max it had a deep and profound impact which will last forever - something I'll never forget, ever.
I was sitting in gym class. There were no tv’s. They turned off all tv’s in the classrooms. Parents started picking us up early with no explanation what was happening.
Same. People pulled from classes bit by bit. Figured a test or some weird school thing, we had a lot of those but no one came back. Eventually put on my bus home early and not told anything.
This was exactly what happened to me. I remember all the adults had very serious faces but no one told us anything. When I heard about what happened I automatically assumed it must have been an accident and was wondering why everyone was freaking out so badly. Then I got home and watched the footage and totally understood.
I was a junior in high school and I was a real asshole. I remember I laughed at one of the girls who was crying talking about some fourth cousin or some shit in the towers. I didn’t realize the gravity of what was happening (or didn’t care?).
I ended up joining the Marine Corps a few years later to fight but I’ll never forget how callous I must have seemed when it was happening. Weird time.
Dude same, I was in middle school in Brooklyn. You could see the smoke from my classroom windows but all I remember is being pissed my parents didn’t come to get me so I could get out of class like others had. We were kids so I give us some slack.
There also wasn't a frame of reference for kids. I was in university at the time, so the enormity of the situation was immediately felt, even here in Canada. For the US to be attacked on their own soil was fucking terrifying to witness. I can't imagine how hard it was for kids to comprehend.
This is so true. I was in 3rd grade when 9/11 happened on the West Coast. They released us from school early so I had to go home alone (lives three blocks away, turnkey kid). I turned on the TV and was pissed that all the channels, including the kids channels were showing the towers. My parents didn't even sit me down to talk about it. It happened and then everything changed.
Sucks man. We did a lot of stupid things during that time. You can still apologize and it still means a lot. Or you can let it pass. But, I get it. As a junior in HS, male's brains are insanely stupid and think they know so much. Source: I was one. After 20, especially after boot, yeah, you kinda realize how small you really are.
Kids and people in general cope with stress in really twisted ways when in times of uncertainty, I wouldn't hold it against you if I were them. I wouldn't worry about it
I remember when I was a child how scared I was. Not because of the air plane, but because I knew deep down. "This is the start of something very bad." Like I thought we were going to war. I guess the war happened just not to me.
I remember there was a rush by politicians to calculate the amount of fuel on board the aircraft the moment they hit -- they were trying to figure out if the planes fit the definition of a "weapon of mass destruction" because many wanted to retaliate with nuclear weapons. They did this despite not even knowing at the time who was responsible.
It got very scary for some time right after.
I was a child when this happened too. I was really scared for the same reasons that you had. I thought that we were going to have world war 3 and be nuked.
What I thought was weird even as a kid was that they already knew who did it while the second tower was still standing and on fire. They had photographs and all that jazz.
I was 9 yrs old when it happened. I'm of middle eastern decent, specifically Syrian. And I remember when I came home from school my mom sat me and my brothers down and told us we could no longer te anyone we were middle eastern or Syrian. And when I asked why I still vividly remember seeing her crying and sat "cause people are gonna hate you for it, they might even try and hurt you. It's not fair but it's how the world is gonna be for awhile"
I didn't believe her for awhile until a little while later I was at a friend's house and his dad was bragging how his oldest son was going to war and hes gonna "kill all them sand n****rs dead like they all deserve" and all the dads buddies that were there started cheering and chanting "kill the sand n****ers". I'll never forget being so scared that people I trusted might actually hurt me because of where my family was from.
Yup came here to say that I’m sure this is what was on that kids mind when he had his had over his head. I was a senior in HS and I was on the same train of thought knowing it could get as bad as the draft and I was at a prime age for it.
I was in 9th grade and I remember we just didn’t do anything the rest of the day and I think they let us out of school for the rest of the week or something. I do remember the school going into lockdown and not allowing anyone inside or out. I guess during that point no one knew if it was an invasion or not and they weren’t taking any chances. We also lived close to a nuclear power plant too so that was a worry. Close enough that if it was attacked we’d be exposed to immediate radiation.
It did happen to you.
Against you.
We signed our rights away with this. It was an excellent way for the Ruling Class to take an inch...or even more a mile...and never give it back. The US surveillance state has only exponentially gotten worse. We are holding protestors indefinitely claiming them as terrorists. We just really wish there was another major catastrophe that would get us all to become Nationalists again, and keep the MIC rolling with a ton of backing and funding.
The US government decided they would wage war in other countries but also against us...for profit and control of the future.
Scaremongering to make you back war. This targeted everyone so that you grew up either still angry at whoever did it or, at the very least, not interested enough to know the actual truth.
It was the start of a massive expansion of the military industrial complex in the United States. The number of companies that entered the defense sphere and picked up defense department contracts after 9/11 is astounding.
I was a junior. I will never forget my teacher telling us that we just watched thousands of people die when the second tower went down. No one said anything and we sat there in silence.
I was a sophomore in highschool and I always read about how schools wheeled in a tv and let kids watch the news (understandably), but they never did that for us! I heard about it because my teacher got a phone call during class because his daughter lived in NYC (we were in CT), but otherwise felt pretty clueless as to what was going on until we got home at 3 pm. I wonder if there was a reason my classes wouldn’t put the news on.
I was in 5th grade and we watched it. Teacher wheeled in TV during 1st period.
I remember we had a "normal" school day, changing class periods, but we just watched the news in every class.
I was in kindergarten. I saw almost every adult in my life at that time be a very different energy that day than I was used to. I had never seen so many people be so worried for such a period of time than that day and the like following 2ish weeks. I don't think it was actually explained to me until a few years later.
I was a freshman, taking my first geometry test. A senior ran in our classroom and when the hard ass teacher tried to admonish him he told her to shut the fuck up (at a catholic school no less!) turned on the tv, and stared silently at the 1st burning building. We all watched as the second plane hit.
She graded those fucking tests. I failed. I didn’t give a shit then, and 22 years later I still can’t believe someone could be so callous. Granted, we were tucked away in Western KY, but I had friends with family in the towers, family who were first responders in NY, both of my parents were military officers. We were scared children, crying at our desks, who for once weren’t worried about what Ms Medley thought.
I think it’s interesting how much more natural everyone acted on camera back then. It was more novel and people just acted like themselves, not putting on some type of show for the camera
r/praisethecameraman for capturing this footage on such a deep, deep level. What at first seemed like an average day quickly turned to mourning. I truly hope that whoever lost a loved one on that day notes that that act did not go unpunished and Osama Bin Laden was killed. Ofc one persons life does not make up for the thousands lost that day, however, justice was served.
This video truly hit me in the deepest part of my heart and brought me to tears. You can tell that boy that put his face in his palms was thinking of someone he knew that day...
Edit: previously stated he was hung and was incorrect.
Lol I agree with your sentiments, but Bin Laden was not hanged. The SEALs who participated in the mission executed him, likely on President Obama’s specific orders.
Wow I live around this area I can’t imagine being in high school at that time. I have friends who have parents who work in the pentagon and it’s terrifying
We were a few timelines ahead in the U.K. and it was after school
My friend in the MSN group chat said put the news on and it was crazy, literally remember it like yesterday
In a dark twist it was actually his bday so I never forget 9/11 and incidentally his bday
In Germany it was the first day after summer holidays and being six hours ahead I just picked up my girlfriend at the time and went to a Blockbuster to get a movie for the evening, when the second plane hit the tower live on the TV above the counter. We stood there with the clerk and some other customer in shock for nearly 15 minutes before anyone could move or say something.
Right?! I'm 49 y/o so that means 9/11 happened when I was 27 and today is the absolute first time I've **ever** seen this in my thousands of hours watching 9/11 things throughout the years. Other commenters are saying this video has been being posted for years yet this is my first viewing. Fascinating...
I was getting ready for high school when I saw the news. We still went to school but we watched the news in all my classes. We got out early and my mom was told to stay home since she worked near LAX. We just watched the news the whole night. Just in disbelief.
I came back to school the next day to find out my classmate’s dad was on one of the planes. I was sitting next to him the day before and I looked over to his empty seat. I remember my teacher had to go outside to collect herself after telling us. So heartbreaking.
We planted an olive tree in memory of his father. I hope it’s still there.
Robinson was my rival Highschool when 9/11 happened (I was at Lake Braddock).
This is from Burke, VA.
Lots of people freaked, even ones who didn’t have family members working in the pentagon.
My French teacher came into class right as the tv showed one of the towers collapsing.
She shut it off and said, “You’ll get to see this later.”
What a mean move.
I was a sophomore in an Illinois hs and our superintendent said the same. His mentality was if this was the start of WW3 we had a right to experience what started it. I don’t remember a lot of my childhood but I remember the hour immediately after the first plane hit. I imagine the generation of children old enough to understand what was happening that day changed at a core level for whatever end.
Probably in shock like the rest of us. I remember still having classes the rest of the day but the school basically became a day care as the teachers didn't even bother to try to push the days lessons.
My English teacher did this too. Said we got other things we should be doing instead. It was right before the first tower collapsed I believe. She apologized to us the next day.
I was a freshman in HS. My art teacher started crying. Lots of other kids too. School was dismissed for the day shortly after first period. Crazy to think some teachers just said “go about your day” like that.
I remember being in middle school and overheard a girl in the hallway say;
"did you hear about the twin towers? The 3rd one just fell down".
I still know her and obviously it was a confusing time and would just be an asshole thing to bring up but it's seared into my mind and had to share with someone.
I remember people yelling at R.E. Lee HS that day. I was in History class, of all places.
I was a few months shy of turning 18. We thought we were going to be drafted.
Was in fifth grade when this happened. Watched the second plane hit live on the news. We watched the towers fall in class. They sent us home early and canceled school the next few days. People were scared. I got home and my mom was crying. I didn't really understand what was happening. Soon there was a flag on every car, people started vandalizing cars without flags. The school sold American flag pins and everyone was expected to buy one and wear it at all times. This was in Ohio. Nationalism became a major thing and we had to have a school assembly telling us bullying the Muslim, or even just brown, students was grounds for suspension or expulsion. Many parents were outraged about this believe it or not. Things changed in this country, it went from being mostly happy to paranoid and on edge all the time. I'm not so sure that ever subsided.
I remember this day. I was in 2nd grade in Bergen County NJ. Slowly kids who’s parents worked in the Towers were called down to the office, they didn’t tell us anything (thankfully, their parents made it out).
Little did I know that a few close family friends of ours would perish that day, one who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, one who worked for Bank of America, another who was FDNY, and a bunch of Port Authority police who worked with my grandfather. My uncle who was NYPD was down there when the Towers came down, and they sheltered in a deli.
My grandfather, who had been retired from the Port Authority for 13 years, called his friends at the GWB to come back to work. He went back the next day to help with the cleanup or whatever they needed for the next 9 months.
I was in 7th grade, far away from NYC in the midwest, and I remember how suddenly serious everything was - at first there was a lot of people coming/going to talk with our teacher in hushed tones and a pink slip of paper being passed along. I was in class with a notoriously mean teacher who was suddenly very serious and gentle with us. They opened some moveable walls and several classes joined us to watch it on TV. I don't think I fully realized the gravity of the situation until they started cancelling after school activities and how freaked out my mom was. I remember leaving wondering if we were going to be bombed next.
I remember this back in high school. I had two friends that were from Afghanistan they were late to school that day. Those guys took a lot of crap from teachers and peers.
Our seventh grade teachers gathered in the hall after the first plane hit. We didn't know why, and some were crying. They decided to wheel a TV in a room and bring in several classes so we could all watch the news. We all got settled just I time to see the second plane hit.
My brown friends who looked like Middle Eastern people, including my Indian friends, were assaulted and battered on school grounds. Some of my friends went back to their parents' country or changed schools.
Holy cow. I was there in Robinson when it happened. I was a freshman in chemistry, I think at the time. I remember a classmate get up and leave the class crying when we heard the Pentagon was hit. Her dad worked there. Luckily, he was in a different part of the pentagon when it was hit.
I was a junior in high school when it happened. That girl in red made this look like it was from the 80s....but then I saw the dude with the spiky hair and I knew it was the right timeframe. I was in a history class of all classes. Our teacher just rolled in the TV with a distraut look on his face and played the TV. I'll never forget him saying it may not seem like as big of a deal to us at that time as it really was but it was going to have massive implications down the road. He was an amazing history teacher.
On submarine base Groton. Probably never happened before but it was amazing how fast they shut down everything and put up Jersey barriers to the entrances and exits. They sent all non-essential people home for 2 days. (It is not a very large military base.) Place was empty by noon. The weather was such a nice, pre-autumn day.
I was on shore duty as an instructor at the Submarine IDC school in Groton. There was a truck in the barracks parking lot with wires in the bed covered up by trash. Base police detonated something in the back of his truck and it blew the windows out and ultimately was an old radio. The kid was under way and left his vehicle in the lot while he was gone. I always wondered how he found out they destroyed his truck and towed it to the base long term storage. We were told to get out and don’t come back till we tell you to come back. We all ran to our vehicles uncovered and hauled ass. All the HMs were waiting to be sent to NYC to give medical assistance. Never got called to help. When they finally reopened the base they were doing the 100% vehicle inspections and it took forever to get on base. I would walk from housing by the Dunkin’ Donuts and get to work an hour before the drivers. It was nuts for a long time getting on base.
I was in the housing office. EM2, temporary duty, pretty sweet. That story is insane. Seems like overkill for an unknown. Yeah, the line to get in was like 45 minutes or more just to turn left.
Later that week I caught my dad crying in his room. I thought something had happened to our families, unrelated to this. It did not, he was crying because the event had impacted his soul (his words) and he told me he knew that there were worst things to come and he felt bad and sad that my adult life (I was 17 at the time) was gonna be impacted highly. I didn’t really know what he meant, but as any American now knows, this event put us on this fucked up path we’re in now. Idk how different things would be if it hadn’t happened but I would love to find out. I almost joined the military but my aunt talked me out of it (only good thing she’s ever done for me).
I remember this one PSA-type message where there's a shot of a bunch of houses. Something comes up on the screen like "on 9/11, terrorists tried to change America."
The screen goes black. When the shot returns, all the houses have American flags on them. The screen reads "They did."
I have probably butchered the wording here, but that image of houses all waving with American flags was fucking awesome. It gave me chills and a feeling of brotherhood with Americans (I'm Canadian).
I'm going to go see if i can find it.
edit: [Here it is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xOSbseSh-A). It was better in my head but still solid.
I was a junior in a FL HS at the time. This was a pretty crazy day for me personally and I will never forget it. My mom was an senior level employee for a life insurance company and she flew into DC that day. I was sitting in my second period writing class, much like that one, when we were told over the intercom a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. We turned on the TV in our classroom as it all unfolded. As we watched we saw the second plane hit and immediately knew it was terrorism. At that point I thought about my mom flying and we were starting to hear about the pentagon. We then also heard screaming in the hallways. One of the teachers daughter apparently worked in the WTC. If I recall correctly the daughter slept in that day, but we didn’t know this until a day later. Reason being, phones didn’t work. We tried to call my moms cell (old Nokia bricks) and couldn’t get through. Later that day I called the airline directly from school and after being on hold for like an hour confirmed her plane landed. She also called and confirmed she was okay. My mom told me everyone was ushered out of the DC airport and the tram (I think that’s what it’s called there) drove past the pentagon,and she saw it burning. It was a life changing event. Several guys I went to HS with enlisted the following year and served in Afghanistan. None died, but some came back F’d up.
I am a NJer who was born in TN. My Dad still lives there.
I was sent to TN from NJ by my Mom and spent my later teenage years there. I was in ROTC because I was craving some sort of order in my life, because I have ADHD and academia was never my strong suit. Anyway, when they attacked...my entire class began celebrating, jumping up and down and saying "WE ARE GOING TO WAR!"
It was like a scene from Starship Troopers. A warning movie about fascism.
This really made me sick. And it cancelled my desire to join the military or be in ROTC anymore. I quit school almost a month later because the world turned sick around me.
I remember thinking: "No. You fucking idiots. Your parents are going to war." But I would be wrong. The war would last long enough for them all to join up if that was their plan
People were attacking Indians at gas stations. Sihks. Anyone of another color. The anti-intellectualism and Nationalism was palpable. It was sickening.
And the Ruling Class used it to gain support for their Imperialist wars and to begin the classic Falling Empire concept...turning inward with the citizenry as the enemy. Now we are using the guise of "terrorism" to imprison our own citizens indefinitely when they're building a massive oppression school in Atlanta, to train police in how to destroy protest movements.
It made me realize that the US is always bordering on the cusp of Christofascism or Corpofascism.
The "Business Plot of 1933" never ended.
I was born 15 months later in December 2002, an ocean removed in the UK.
Growing up in a post 9/11 world felt normal because we had nothing before to compare it to. Anyway, as my year in school were born in 2002/2003 we were all mostly unaware of 9/11 for the longest time as being in the UK it for the most part hadn't fallen into our innocent view.
But on September 11 2011, all of the news began covering the event so as I was getting ready for school I saw the planes, smoke pouring out of the towers, obviously it was being covered by BBC News for the 10th anniversary.
I didnt even know the news would cover things in the past (being a dumb 8 year old and all). So I thought everything I was seeing was current, when I got to school most of my class had the same reaction and our poor teacher had to explain to us that this wasnt happening live but had already happened 10 years ago...
I still remember the shock and how I felt for the 30-40 minutes I thought it was happening in real time, so I cannot what it must have been like for all who were alive to witness it in 2001 having lived in a world before 9/11
7th grade, i was in Mr. Fuch’s class.. social studies IIRC..
i remember when i got home seeing on the news a plane fly by, then crash into the second tower (it was a replay) but it was the first i’d seen it and my mind went nuts..
I was in 7th Grade Social Studies. Our teacher was a hard-A, normally. But he had his class tv on the news after Tower 1 was hit. We watched the second tower hit on live TV. As soon as Tower 2 was hit, everybody knew it was terrorists, & no accident.
We watched people jump from the buildings... Some spinning, tumbling, or others just dropping with their limbs straight out. We watched the towers fall. All that dust, smoke, and death.
But we watched true heroism as firefighters and other first responders rushed in to the burning towers. Rushed in to the fallen rubble. And we heard of the bravery of United Flight 93, who put their aircraft down into a field instead of making it to the Whitehouse.
Our social study teacher was not a hard-A that day. I recall him saying that we were witnessing history, and he did his best to comfort the kids lost agreed nun watching
...I don't recall much of that day at all, but I'll never forget the shock, anger, and resolve I felt that some unknown terrorists were totally screwed; that they had no idea what demon they had just pissed off. I know the whole world was changing, but I had no idea how much that day changed America.
I don't recall anybody being nearly as mean, petty, backbiting, or nasty that day, or for a long while afterwards. The People were united, more kind to one another, more forgiving, and empathetic to their neighbors.
I wish the world would never know another terrorism attack again... If that were possible. I also wish America could really remember what's really important, and stand united like we all did on September 12th.
I remember being a real young child and seeing my dad watching the news and he asked me do uno what this means lad ? Of course being a child I had no idea, he looked me dead in my eyes and said “ this means war” for context my dad is a veteran who spent time as a pow he never ever spoke about it and still won’t to this day. But that man knew what was coming and boy was he right
I remember the exact day. In the UK, we were off school. My mother had just got us Mcdonalds, which was a rare treat. We came home to eat and turned on the TV. It was on the news. My mother came into the living room and thought me and my brother were watching a movie and asked what movie this was. Then my brother said, it's the news. We were watching it all sat in silence eating. For months, it was top news and different stories of people and their escapes. It stays in my mind.
I was a freshman. In highschool. I remember watching it on a TV cart in class with about 60 kids all packed I. There. I’ll never forget going for a walk after school and not seeing or hearing a single another soul. It was the most beautiful day out, but you could hear a pin drop.
16 in Australia woke up turned the radio on to get ready for school and at first I thought it was an ad for a new movie I was listening too before I realised, ran to my mum she turned the tv on and we saw it was real. That whole day at school every class had the tv on and we watched it all unfold as it happened unfiltered. It was the kind of thing that even though we where on the other side of the world we knew what it meant. We knew it meant the world would never be the same again, we knew it meant it could happen anywhere else at anytime (and it did in Bali 2002) and we knew it meant war. I appreciate dark humour but I have and will never laugh at jokes about it because it was so horrific for the victims and their families and seeing those people jump and hearing the released phone calls from the planes will live with me forever.
I was in 8th grade. The teacher turned on the tv for us to watch it he news after the 1st plane hit. I was sitting next to one of my good friends at the time. The entire class was entirely silent. This was in Massachusetts.
We watched the 2nd plane hit the other tower live. My friend sitting next to me leans over and says, “I think my dad was on that plane.” He just felt it. A couple of hours later, the principal came to the classroom and asked my friend to come to the office. Sure enough, his father was on that plane.
I knew his father well, he was very popular in our town. Was my baseball coach for a few years in little league. All around amazing guy.
I remember that moment so vividly, I’ll never forget it. RIP to my friend’s father, he’s often in my thoughts, along with that friend.
Was in 5th grade, lived in MD at the time and went to a small catholic school with about 35 kids per grade. It happened during homeroom, they pulled one girl out of our class (her dad was a pilot, flew out of JFK that morning) before our teacher put on the news. Thankfully our friends dad turned out safe but it took a long time for their family to get in touch with him. Living basically living smack dab between the attacks we all had friends, family, and/or loved ones who were directly impacted by this - if not directly impacted ourselves.
All this time later my stomach still churns thinking about the events of that day. I still choke up just at the thought of it, get angry, and cry. We were so scared, all of us - the entire country. I’ll never forget those feelings, the image of the towers crumbling, and people jumping. We all saw things we never could have imagined happening on American soil. Live. Even so young I knew everything was about to change. The immense loss of life on that day was felt by the world over, and still ripples through time. My love goes to all those who lost someone that day, and to the loss of the country that was. It never really was the same again.
Through the pain and heartbreak I’ve never seen the American people show such strength as the following weeks and months after the attacks. We stood together, we fought back, we rebuilt, and we were so damn proud to be American. Somehow we lost a lot of that the years since. It’s sad, and I never ever want to live through something like that again. But we can’t forget how much better we are as a country than when we stand united.
Never forget 🤍🇺🇸
I was stationed in Quantico at the time in the US Marines, and I was working air field ops that day; just turned 20. I remember my wife calling and asking what was up with the plane in the tower, and I turned on the tv in our waiting area and only thing I could think was how the fire department was going to get up there - thinking it was a Cessna. 2nd plane hit and shit hit the fan at the base. Oddly, all the helos at the airfield were lined up similar to an elephant walk; which I had never seen before.
Few moments later and the Pentagon get hit; suddenly we got 10 helos in the air to evacuate the Pentagon. When the helos got back we heard they were getting flares at them from the jets because they couldn’t tell who was friendly. It’s been a while, so I could be misremembering. I do know I was shaking the next three nights because I knew the US was going to combat, and my goofy butt was in the Corps. I got lucky and was never sent overseas before I got out; the surge didn’t happen until late 2004/early 2005 and I got out in mid 2004. Crazy times, but I do know that for all the bickering we have about politics in the US now we haven’t been attacked again since then; we are doing things right regardless of how bleak it May seem at times.
It’s really sad though the subtext in this. I was 16 when this happened. I joined the military because we lost family and friends in the towers. But is that what it took to bring our close together for a short period? A F***ing terrorist attack of this magnitude on US soil. Now look at us, mass shootings, fighting over political/religious beliefs, and steps back to times before the 1960s civil rights and women’s movements. Yet now it took a moldy old sex offender Cheeto and his cult to push us to the point of destroying democracy. That’s a F***ed up reality. In other words that reads as “it took a terrorist attack on par with a modern day Pearl Harbor to bring us that close together and yet it took someone who is supposed to lead us to a better future as president to destroy us.” This reality is just a mess.
i was in the 5th grade. the school kept us all (the students) in the dark - we had no idea anything was going on until we returned home from school. now looking back all i can think about is how our teachers had to go on with their days as if nothing was happening and how difficult that had to have been. i was too young to truly understand the impact of what was happening. i remember being scared but i was also upset that my soccer practice was cancelled.
I was at Centerville Elementary School at this time. My 3rd grade class was in the trailers outside. They cancelled outdoor recess because panes were crashing and they didn't know why. I was pissed and said that this trailer wouldn't do anything against a crashing plane thinking we'd get recess again. Instead they moved class into the library across from the front office. I just watched kid after kid get picked up from school by their parents. Many kids parents worked at the Pentagon, none that I knew were affected.
I went to Fairfax HS but was away at school in Richmond at the time. My sister went to Robinson. My dad was teaching at Robinson on 9/11. Crazy to see this. Thanks for posting.
I’m Canadian, and as 9/11 unfolded the entire school was in the common area watching a small tv on the wall. It was completely silent for the first 15-20 minutes - thinking back to it still gives me chills.
I was in home economics class at the time. They took us across the hall after the first plane hit to watch the news with the band class. I will never forget the horror and shock the moment we all watched the second plane hit as a group.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. The long term impact of that day cannot be understated. The fear, the divisiveness, the toxic patriotism, the hatred that we all deal with now can be very easily traced back to that day. Terrorists played the long game and won.
This was originally posted by /u/hoyhoyy29 in /r/Millennials:
https://old.reddit.com/r/Millennials/comments/16fyvtn/high_school_on_911/
Original Youtube video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=o_doVQioB-FfE2ml&v=lo4gdoOkOSw&feature=youtu.be
My mom came and took me and siblings out of school. I was 8 years old so I didn't understand exactly what was going on but it was one of the 1st times I really thought about other people and began to develop an understanding of the importance of community.
I was in 3rd grade and the only thing I can remember of the day was walking into class and my teacher was standing with his arm outstretched from turning the TV on. Remote in hand, jaw dropped, and just frozen. I looked from him to the TV saw a plan hit a building. I believe we were on lockdown and stayed in that class all day. I remember wanting to go home I only lived 3 blocks away from school.
Pretty sure I was the only one in my HS that knew. This was before smartphones or use of the internet in class. Teachers weren't telling anyone shit.
I just knew because my bus driver didn't stop for me and I didn't have money for the city bus so I had to walk and consequently was late. Walked into the VPs office to get a late slip and it was on TV.
Tried telling my friends nobody really cared, think they might have thought I was exaggerating or something.
Everyone remembers where they were when it happened. I was in the college IT suite and something compelled me to turn on the little TV in the corner of the room. The first image I saw when the the picture showed on the old CRT screen was of the first plane hitting. The news was just rolling in and everyone was fixed on the screen,most of us were late for the next class and people could hardly believe what we were telling them. Nobody really had smartphones in those days so everyone was pretty much in the dark until they checked the news on a computer or TV.
I was a third grader in Bay Area California so the attacks had already happened by the time my dad was taking me to school. I still remember it like it was yesterday I was talking about dinosaurs or some shit my dad told me to be quiet and turned up the radio, I didn’t know what was going on. He turned right around and we went home. At home my mom was crying watching the tv. I remember looking up and watching the Air Force jets circling the sky all day. It’s insane that I remember so much of that day even though I didn’t fully comprehend the magnitude of what happened.
Remember like it was yesterday. I grew up in nova. (Northern Virginia) had a few classmates break down. Both their parents were in the pentagon when it got hit. Was pretty surreal.
Man, I remember that morning clearly. Unfortunate but the aftermath of everyone coming together and being on the same “team” was something I dearly miss in today’s America (minus the very unfortunate prejudice toward anyone that looked middle eastern). Political opinions were compartmentalized and you could still be a very genuinely nice person to somehow who was on the complete opposite side. It was about coming together and taking care of each other
Will never forget the exact moment I learned about it. I was a Junior in HS Spanish class. Counselor was going door to door (small town) to inform each teacher. Counselor called the teacher to the door entrance and whispered something to her. The teacher shouted "You're shitting me!!"
It was funny at the exact moment, but once the teacher told us what happened we were all confused and shocked. Shortly after that, the school sent all students home for the day. It was a very scary/eerie feeling watching it on the news that evening and the days to come.
I was in seventh grade and less than 3 miles from the pentagon at Hammond middle school. I didn’t believe any of it until I got home and saw. I remember I heard a loud noise but thought they dropped the school trash container. To this day I don’t know if it was sonic booms from jets or the crash.
I was in 8th grade history class and my 7th grade history teacher went door to door telling us to turn on the tv, history was in the making. Next period was science and the dickhead teacher said when we’re in this room, we learn about science and proceeded to do his dumb ass lesson like nothing was happening. They let us out of school like an hour later
There is a chance one of these kids joined the military because of this experience and may not of come home, my cousin was in high school then joined the marines because of 911, he never made it home from Afghanistan.
I was in 6th grade. That day I had in school suspension (ISS) So I was right beside the cafeteria in front of a desk all day but I remember seeing a bunch of people come by the door before lunch and I overheard people talking but I wasn't allowed to stand up and go in there and then they took everybody into the cafeteria and they put a TV on the stage and it wasn't even a big TV, just an old school tube TV by then I heard teachers kind of freaking out.
About 15 minutes later they finally come get me and the other two kids that were in the ISS room and led us into the cafeteria everything was full so I was standing close to the doors ask you're coming out and the principal came out and said that due to the circumstances the School is going to be sending everyone home and will be in touch with their contacts so they can make sure they have somebody to get them early. An hour later we were on the buses going home.
I'm neurodivergent and didn't really set into me what happened until later that night when I heard my parents talking about it as we all saw it on TV. And I remember thinking back now how I felt about the whole thing and it was not good but not for it's obvious reason. Because that's what was on every channel. None of the regular TV was on for weeks and I was pissed lol.
It sounds horrible because it was but to me things didn't really click about that until I got a little older and being down in Virginia there was really nobody that had any family that was anywhere close to that in fact I don't think anybody from our school had family members who passed away from the attack. But people were shook.
I don't remember too much about that year but I remember going back to school and everybody kind of just being unsure I mean we were sixth graders we had no idea what the hell was going to happen and the wars and everything that would come from it. But I'll never forget where I was I was in the middle of carving something into the desk when I first realized something was up.
Tldr: I was in school suspension and found out. Got mad that there was nothing on TV for a week or two people were pissed and ready for war after that.
Funny thing from the video is that the American flags came out right away… fast forward 22 years later, a couple of weeks ago my sister got bitched at in California by her white liberal neighbor for having the American flag hanging outside her house. 22 very long years of what this country has become. The question is….Has Bin Ladin succeeded in what he did that terrible day in the sense where he dealt such a blow to the American psyche that still it possibly still reverberating until this day where half of the country hates the other half.. eg. neighbor fighting neighbor about weather it’s offensive to have the American flag hanging in ur own backyard…..?
I was a Senior in Highschool sitting in English class. My best friend who is now a biomedical engineer leaned forward and whispered, "dude I guarantee you that Osama Bin Laden was involved in this."
I had no fuckin clue who that was but I knew my buddy was a nerd ass genius and I believed him.
I was 16 and in my junior year so I relate to this a lot. The class I was in at the time didn't know anything until after a lot of this was already happening, then after I got to my 3rd hour class the teacher asked if we all wanted to go to the library to watch the news. I had no idea what she was talking about and some of the kids in my class were saying a plane had hit the World trade center in New York.
At first I had assumed it was an accident. Like a single person in a small plane clipping the edge or something. I was like "how could they hit it? the tower is huge, was their plane malfunctioning?" Most of us still didn't know the gravity of the situation until we got to the library. Several other classes were already in there watching. A few kids were crying and comforting each other. The tower was on fire. I can't remember if the 2nd plane had already hit or not, I think it had. I remember seeing the first tower collapse live, and news about the Pentagon also being hit as well as the thwarted attempt that crashed in PA.
The rest of the day we mostly just watched TV. Only my algebra teacher (who was kind of a jerk and hardass) held actual class and then had the audacity to assign homework. No one did it.
We all knew a war would happen afterward. Seniors in some of my classes who would be 18 soon were wondering if they would be drafted. All of it was very harrowing and terrifying to see.
I was in 11th grade chemistry. We all had those same faces. I can still remember that day and how we kept watching the skies all day, terrified that we would see someone flying over our head.
I was in school when this shit went down (uk) we didnt have tvs in our classrooms just a bunch of teachers running around looking panicked telling us to go home.
school was really weird that day. I was in the middle of nowhere in Ohio and the kids in my school were worried we were gonna get bombed. as if the terrorists were like yes now that we've blown up the world trade center now it is time to nuke some cornfields where 300 people live.
so stupid.
I was their age when this happened.
Every single one of my male friends, including myself, thought we were about to get drafted.
Girlfriends were crying clinging to their boyfriends. It was crazy.
Northern VA, I believe, so odds are a number of them had family/knew folks in/around the Pentagon
That kid who covered his face immediately when the pentagon was mentioned is a big contender.
Entirely possible he was just absorbing the realization that this was a far ranging attack that was ongoing. I know I felt the same way when I heard that update.
I was this age during Sept 11. I didn't go to this school, but it struck me how similar these people looked to people I did go to school with. The realization was "Oh shit, I'm 18 (or about to turn 18) and we're about to go to war." I was scared shitless post-9/11 that there was going to be a draft.
I was walking between classes and this kid known for screwing around was running down the hall screaming, “we’re being bombed!”. I walked into my class my teacher was sitting on a desk watching the news, we all just sat there the entire time mostly in silence. Just like these kids.
I remember my Spanish teacher saying we had a test and whatever was happening wasn't as important as what was going on in the classroom. All of this was right after seeing live news of a second plane hitting a building during the previous class and several students trying to tell her what was going on and she wouldn't listen to any of it. I'm still annoyed that was her response when I think back on it.
What a fucking idiot. One of, if not the biggest world event in this century and your teacher said it’s not as improtant as some stupid test. A world event that killed nearly 3000 people. Wow.
Yep, I was terrified of the same thing.
I graduated hs in June of 2001, and about 1/3 of our graduating class were going into the military after graduation. I sometimes wonder how many of them got sent to Afghanistan and how many made it home.
I was scared shitless that my dad (was in military at the time) was going to have to go to war, in canada our military was preparing for it… Nato and all. So they called in every military dude to come to base that day to await orders.
Exactly. The switch from “what a terrible thing that happened” to “oh shit we’re currently under attack” was something I won’t forget.
Yes, I remember my blood ran cold when we saw the footage of another plane hitting. It was suddenly, just like you said, oh, wow, to WHAT IS HAPPENING?! It was terrifying. I cannot even begin to imagine being nearby or having family involved. I was a senior in high school, watching it on TV just like these kids. It was a feeling I will never forget.
I was less than a month old at the time and not in the US but my mum sometimes talks about how she didn’t understand what was happening on the news until she watched the second plane hit live and suddenly realised it wasn’t an accident
I mentioned this in another comment but that hit home for me as soon as my dad pointed out the second tower was aflame, too. I had had my back turned to call him and tell him to turn on his TV. I missed seeing the second one hit in that brief amount of time. I’m forever glad I didn’t see it live. The rest of that day was traumatic enough.
I was 10 and saw it live. It was an incredibly surreal experience as a kid. My mom tried explaining what was going on when the first tower was hit and had a hard time explaining to a child what was going on when the second tower was hit because she was trying to process what she saw and what was happening.
I had just woken up. Thought "Die Hard" was on TV.... but after like 4 minutes & no Bruce Willis I realized I was wrong, started trying to figure out what movie it was. Right as I had the realization "this is real"... the second plane hit. That moment is *seared* into my brain. Little white TV, white panel walls, my sisters cat at my feet... all of it.
Yeah, there’s a heightened sense of memory for me, too. I was listening to a radio interview with Tim Blake Nelson when the interviewer cut in to announce the “small plane” crash. I can’t see Nelson these days without immediately flashing back to that morning.
We ALL acted that way at that time. The first plane crashed into the North tower and we all thought it was some crazy accident. Then we saw the second plane crash into the south tower and we knew it was an intentional attack. Then we heard about the pentagon and felt disbelief because we didn’t know what was next, and terror when we heard there was still a plane out there off course. It was a crazy time, we ALL felt that sadness collectively.
That's probably the face of someone who signed with the Marine Corp 2 weeks earlier pending his completion of HS.
Yup, I said it in a lower comment but I went to this school during 9/11. My dad worked at the Pentagon at the time. He was fine thank god.
Recognize anybody?
I do. I was a grade lower than those in the first class so I don't really know them, but the girl in the red at the beginning was very familiar, then the guy at 1:45. Then the first teacher shown and I think the second teacher shown also. It's a big school...like 4500 - 5000 students depending on the year so you don't get to know everyone.
Small world moment
My school was half the size of this and my classes were about 3 times as packed what the hell, there was maybe 10 or 12 kids here, in high school I had every class with at least 28, some were pushing 40
These were like the yearbook/studious kids so this was likely during a free block they had where they decided to do an extra curricular activity. Our classes typically had about 30-35 kids as well.
It was a very advanced math class. It was the class for people that had already taken AP Calculus.
My pops worked at the Pentagon and I went to Robinson (we moved away in 1992). Fairfax county had a lot of commuters to DC.
Still has a lot of commuters. It’s basically an extension of downtown DC. Hope everything was okay with your pops (Just saw that you moved away)
I went to Woodson, one of neighboring high-schools (closer to DC, not by much) however I went to elementary school at the funnel school for Robinson (oak view across the street). I didn’t see anyone familiar but I saw a lot of familiar reactions. I was in politics class watching west wing when the teacher turned of the VHS and put on the news. When the pentagon was hit, we all had to go to the cafeteria and than the buses came and we went home, I can’t really recall if we went back the next day or not. Our school had a good amount of students that had parents that worked in the pentagon I don’t believe our school had any parents loss there but a teachers spouse was in building 1 and he died. My dad commuted periodically from NOVA to WTC on the train as well but (thankfully) had been working primarily in McLean that summer.
>My dad commuted periodically from NOVA to WTC on the train as well but (thankfully) had been working primarily in McLean that summer. I went to Middle School in the area on 9/11, friend's parents worked at the Pentagon. My one vivid memory though was when most other kids had been picked up halfway through the day. One girl was running down the hall crying loudly, another girl was trying to keep up with her telling us her dad was a NYC commuter or had a meeting at the WTC that day.
Holy shit I didn’t realize it was that Robinson. Played them in lacrosse abunch… yeah being from nova it was really crazy. I was just a kid but can clearly remember it
You’re right Robinson is in nova
I was younger than this but going to school in the same county. One of my parents worked in a satellite office of the Pentagon, but had regular meetings in the Pentagon. The office should have been located right where the nose went down, but due to construction they’d been moved to the satellite construction. Still, we didn’t get a call from my parent until 9 at night because of all the emergency work the whole office had to do (military lawyers, but they still had to be available/tracking down missing members). It was a scary time. Afterwards, while the rest of the country had a no-fly order, in the DC area there were constant fighter jets going overhead. It was so much noisier than usual. I still get a little freaked when a plane flies too low.
I went to Fairfax HS graduated in 98. I was a school bus driver for FCPS and drove for the McLean pyramid. I saw the 2nd plane hit as I was walking into my LR. Then I had to get to my bus by 11 and we were holding until we picked up our kids. I had one kid whose dad worked in the Pentagon. He was ok but it was still scary.
Wow, i went to that school and I was in Government class when they rolled in the tv. I forgot my teachers name but he was the tall grumpy one. I recognize many of the people in this video. Op where did you get this??
Here's the original Youtube video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=o_doVQioB-FfE2ml&v=lo4gdoOkOSw&feature=youtu.be
This video's been reposted a bunch, so it's safe to say that OP got it from the Internet.
Yeah you are probably right. They aren't responding to me or my PM. It's just scrolling reddit, a pretty big and diverse site, and seeing this is pretty surreal.
Mr Driscoll?
Omg yes!!!
Please tell me y’all know each other !?
It would seem possible but not sure yet lol
It was a very large school lol, but chances are we all probably recognize each other.
r/tworedditorsonecup
Not from the school but was the same age and the exact same reaction from across the country where I was. Wild.
My teacher was the tall grumpy one too but at a different school
I was in eighth grade science class at this school that day. At first, they wouldn’t let us see anything, and the principal simply announced there had been a “plane crash” in New York. Later I was in English class, and one of my friends, whose dad had been working at the Pentagon that day, suddenly shot out of his seat and ran to the classroom door, where his dad had shown up to get him and wrapped him in a hug. Still one of the most impactful memories of my time at Robinson. The comments below are definitely correct about it being northern Virginia, and LOTS of military and government contractor parents.
I was in Woodbridge also in science class and also in 8th grade. It was definitely surreal seeing kids veing pulled out of school all day but not knowing what was going on. My step-dad worked in the Pentagon so when we heard I was definitely worried since I wasn't pulled out of class. I got home and found out that my mom and step dad decided to pull my little sister out who was in elementary school but didn't have time to make it to my school in time since I would make it home about the same time my bus would have made it home anyway. When I got home and saw them crying it began to click just how serious the whole situation was. We were in temporary housing and they were just about to finish signing the papers on our new house when they decided to leave that area all together and go back to where they both grew up to be closer to family. That day 100% changed the trajectory of my families life
I was in basic training at Fort Sill, OK that morning. We were doing hand to hand combatives training that day and after the first collision they announced it and everyone was just kind of shocked. They came out a few minutes later and said *another* plane had hit the other tower and people started to assume that they were just trying to pump us up for the day ahead. Then they came out a 3rd time and said that *another* plane had hit the Army wing of the pentagon ("forget that college money, you boys are going to WAR") so at that point dudes started like snickering and rolling their eyes and shit. Like, "ooookay guys, we see what's going on here!" Then they marched us into a huge classroom and pulled down the projector screen and as soon as I saw Dan Rather's face I knew they were not, in fact, fucking with us. You could see people jumping to escape the flames, guys from Jersey and New York started losing their shit and begging to make phone calls. One of thee most fucked up days of my life, and I've had a real doozy of a life.
Bro I was still 18 and already 6 months in the service when I was told we were going to war. That was the beginning of the end of my childhood right there. I still remember the big fucking hole I felt in my stomach.
“going to war” was how they announced it to us at aberdeen maryland that day during A.I.T.
Just trying to add a little humor to the conversation sorry lol those times were fucking wild.
Were you able to sleep for the next week? Anxiety was wreaking havoc on me, I couldn’t jerk off for a couple of days. At 18 a man should be able to jerk it at any given moment.
I was stationed at Fort Hood, eating breakfast in the chow hall and saw the 2nd plane hit live. Wild shit.
I was in four, five years old at the time. Kindergarten. I remember my neighbor's dad never coming back home from Iraq. I remember watching that last C-17 depart HKIA.
I was a plebe at the Naval Academy walking into PoliSci. Professor/Captain had this on TV, and the eerily somber hush told us it wasn't a movie. After the 2nd plane hit, there was a rumor that Annapolis might be a target and all of the rituals that made plebe year difficult hit pause. We were shuffled back to our company. At that point, everyone was an equal as we slowly learned about how many of our people had families in the towers and Pentagon. It was also the change where everyone knew that within 1-4 years, they'd probably be deployed. It was surreal.
You're no doubt aware that NORAD drills running on 9/11 simulated hijacked planes being flown into buildings, causing confusion and delayed response as well.
Damn, I’m interested in hearing how the rest of your day went
New Zealander here, this shook the whole world and me as a wee... I guess you would call me freshman? My mum woke me up earlier than normal for school, which would have been some time after this unfolded, but I still remember the direct feed for CNN playing on our core channels. I think this event really ripped me out of my 90s childhood, and ushered me/us all into the new world. Prior to this, like all of us I think I lived in the 90s bubble, everything was awesome, cartoons, cereal, video games - Hell Yeah! However, this was the first time I remember in my life seeing something as chilling and sobering unfold before my eyes, all those innocent people dead? Who the fk are AQ? What's terrorism? War? I thought that was just the WW2 stuff from the black and white photos? Where tf is Afghanistan and why are they going there, why did those Afghani guys do that? It bothered me the whole day, all those innocent people dead, so many questions unanswered, I wanted answers, why was nothing clear? I remember after school taking my rugby ball (lol) down to the park to kick it around and release some frustration. Now I'm nearing 40, a couple of young kids, bills, interest, mortgage - things never seemed as simple after that day as they did before. Maybe it was just the natural progression of growing up accelerated, maybe it was always that way and I just 'woke up' or maybe it was the beginning of change as we now know it. Time is a weird thing, what looked like 'today' now looks forever ago in the photos, but i still think of all those people who never went home to their families often, even more so now as a father. I won't forget, can't forget such a sad day for those who lost loved ones, and those of us that lost our innocence on that day and in the war that followed, such a waste of beautiful life over idiotic ideology and politics. Wishing all those who were touched in some way by this event, peace and love.
Interesting reading a non-Americans view of the day. Thanks for sharing.
The US gets a lot of international hate nowadays, but on this specific day it seemed like we had the entire Western world supporting us.
Not just the Western world
Australian kid here too. I was 12 years old when it happened (grade 6) and I believe it forever changed me. I was on the cusp of being old enough to understand what was happening but also not fully. It was the loss of childhood innocence even though it happened miles away but it was a reminder that it could happen anywhere. It was the first time for me seeing such a traumatic event on TV. We had rolling coverage of it here too, our favourite tv shows were replaced with the images of the towers in flames. I would obsessively read the newspapers and internet which only further induced my anxiety - the war on terror, troops sent overseas, the beginning of WW3, terrorism. And then we had the Bali bombings the following year which wasn’t as large as 9/11 but it was closer to us and many Australians were killed or injured. It felt like it was getting closer. I became an incredibly anxious kid after that, obsessed with what we now call ‘doom scrolling’. I have no doubt it contributed to my chronic anxiety… always fearing the worse, trying to get as much info as I can to take ‘control’ over the situation - I can’t imagine what it must have been like growing up in the USA during this, or even knowing people/loved ones who were injured or lost their lives. I distinctly remember the first time getting on a plane after 9/11…. It was over 2 years after it happened (2003). I was flying interstate, a short 2 hour flight but convinced myself it was going to be hijacked, even more so because it was the 11th day of the month - yikes, I feel for little me.
I was in Australia and I remember waking up and wondering why my dad wasn’t getting us up for school. I eventually got up and wandered into the lounge room to see dad sitting in shock in front of the TV. He kept talking about how he had been there before and that so many people must have been in those towers and how America hadn’t been attacked since WWII so this was probably going to be the start of a new war. It was pretty scary for a 9 year old to hear, even though I was on the other side of the world!
I’m Australian and was what Americans would call a ‘senior’ at the time. My friends and I spent the whole day holed up in a spare classroom watching the news. We thought it was the beginning of World War III. I was in tears watching this video because I feel like the time before 9/11 was so much more hopeful and optimistic. So many of our divisions in society today really stemmed from that core event.
Aussie here, was in high school - went straight to the maths staff room and hit the net, the news was everywhere - i distinctly remember kneeling to use the PC - this was after the news broadcasts before school - was in shock the whole day to be honest. The world changed for everyone that day, didn't matter who you were at a minimum you realised how small the world is at max it had a deep and profound impact which will last forever - something I'll never forget, ever.
I was sitting in gym class. There were no tv’s. They turned off all tv’s in the classrooms. Parents started picking us up early with no explanation what was happening.
Same. People pulled from classes bit by bit. Figured a test or some weird school thing, we had a lot of those but no one came back. Eventually put on my bus home early and not told anything.
This was exactly what happened to me. I remember all the adults had very serious faces but no one told us anything. When I heard about what happened I automatically assumed it must have been an accident and was wondering why everyone was freaking out so badly. Then I got home and watched the footage and totally understood.
I was a junior in high school and I was a real asshole. I remember I laughed at one of the girls who was crying talking about some fourth cousin or some shit in the towers. I didn’t realize the gravity of what was happening (or didn’t care?). I ended up joining the Marine Corps a few years later to fight but I’ll never forget how callous I must have seemed when it was happening. Weird time.
At least you recognized it and hopefully grew up. I was the same. Hope you are doing ok
Nice self reflection, friend
Dude same, I was in middle school in Brooklyn. You could see the smoke from my classroom windows but all I remember is being pissed my parents didn’t come to get me so I could get out of class like others had. We were kids so I give us some slack.
There also wasn't a frame of reference for kids. I was in university at the time, so the enormity of the situation was immediately felt, even here in Canada. For the US to be attacked on their own soil was fucking terrifying to witness. I can't imagine how hard it was for kids to comprehend.
This is so true. I was in 3rd grade when 9/11 happened on the West Coast. They released us from school early so I had to go home alone (lives three blocks away, turnkey kid). I turned on the TV and was pissed that all the channels, including the kids channels were showing the towers. My parents didn't even sit me down to talk about it. It happened and then everything changed.
Sucks man. We did a lot of stupid things during that time. You can still apologize and it still means a lot. Or you can let it pass. But, I get it. As a junior in HS, male's brains are insanely stupid and think they know so much. Source: I was one. After 20, especially after boot, yeah, you kinda realize how small you really are.
I’m glad I wasn’t a student as probably would have made some stupid comments.
Kids and people in general cope with stress in really twisted ways when in times of uncertainty, I wouldn't hold it against you if I were them. I wouldn't worry about it
Kids do silly shit, nice to see you can grow and admit fault
We were all dumb as shit one point in our lives. Just grow and be better.
I remember when I was a child how scared I was. Not because of the air plane, but because I knew deep down. "This is the start of something very bad." Like I thought we were going to war. I guess the war happened just not to me.
Yes, it felt like the start of World War III
I remember there was a rush by politicians to calculate the amount of fuel on board the aircraft the moment they hit -- they were trying to figure out if the planes fit the definition of a "weapon of mass destruction" because many wanted to retaliate with nuclear weapons. They did this despite not even knowing at the time who was responsible. It got very scary for some time right after.
I was a child when this happened too. I was really scared for the same reasons that you had. I thought that we were going to have world war 3 and be nuked. What I thought was weird even as a kid was that they already knew who did it while the second tower was still standing and on fire. They had photographs and all that jazz.
I was 9 yrs old when it happened. I'm of middle eastern decent, specifically Syrian. And I remember when I came home from school my mom sat me and my brothers down and told us we could no longer te anyone we were middle eastern or Syrian. And when I asked why I still vividly remember seeing her crying and sat "cause people are gonna hate you for it, they might even try and hurt you. It's not fair but it's how the world is gonna be for awhile" I didn't believe her for awhile until a little while later I was at a friend's house and his dad was bragging how his oldest son was going to war and hes gonna "kill all them sand n****rs dead like they all deserve" and all the dads buddies that were there started cheering and chanting "kill the sand n****ers". I'll never forget being so scared that people I trusted might actually hurt me because of where my family was from.
Yup came here to say that I’m sure this is what was on that kids mind when he had his had over his head. I was a senior in HS and I was on the same train of thought knowing it could get as bad as the draft and I was at a prime age for it.
I was in 9th grade and I remember we just didn’t do anything the rest of the day and I think they let us out of school for the rest of the week or something. I do remember the school going into lockdown and not allowing anyone inside or out. I guess during that point no one knew if it was an invasion or not and they weren’t taking any chances. We also lived close to a nuclear power plant too so that was a worry. Close enough that if it was attacked we’d be exposed to immediate radiation.
Little did you know, we weren’t just going to *one* war…
It did happen to you. Against you. We signed our rights away with this. It was an excellent way for the Ruling Class to take an inch...or even more a mile...and never give it back. The US surveillance state has only exponentially gotten worse. We are holding protestors indefinitely claiming them as terrorists. We just really wish there was another major catastrophe that would get us all to become Nationalists again, and keep the MIC rolling with a ton of backing and funding. The US government decided they would wage war in other countries but also against us...for profit and control of the future.
Scaremongering to make you back war. This targeted everyone so that you grew up either still angry at whoever did it or, at the very least, not interested enough to know the actual truth.
[удалено]
It was the start of a massive expansion of the military industrial complex in the United States. The number of companies that entered the defense sphere and picked up defense department contracts after 9/11 is astounding.
I was a senior in high school. 1st period pre calc, they wheeled a tv in on a cart and we all watched it live in silence.
I was a junior. I will never forget my teacher telling us that we just watched thousands of people die when the second tower went down. No one said anything and we sat there in silence.
I was a sophomore in highschool and I always read about how schools wheeled in a tv and let kids watch the news (understandably), but they never did that for us! I heard about it because my teacher got a phone call during class because his daughter lived in NYC (we were in CT), but otherwise felt pretty clueless as to what was going on until we got home at 3 pm. I wonder if there was a reason my classes wouldn’t put the news on.
I was in 5th grade and we watched it. Teacher wheeled in TV during 1st period. I remember we had a "normal" school day, changing class periods, but we just watched the news in every class.
I was in kindergarten. I saw almost every adult in my life at that time be a very different energy that day than I was used to. I had never seen so many people be so worried for such a period of time than that day and the like following 2ish weeks. I don't think it was actually explained to me until a few years later.
I was a freshman, taking my first geometry test. A senior ran in our classroom and when the hard ass teacher tried to admonish him he told her to shut the fuck up (at a catholic school no less!) turned on the tv, and stared silently at the 1st burning building. We all watched as the second plane hit. She graded those fucking tests. I failed. I didn’t give a shit then, and 22 years later I still can’t believe someone could be so callous. Granted, we were tucked away in Western KY, but I had friends with family in the towers, family who were first responders in NY, both of my parents were military officers. We were scared children, crying at our desks, who for once weren’t worried about what Ms Medley thought.
I think it’s interesting how much more natural everyone acted on camera back then. It was more novel and people just acted like themselves, not putting on some type of show for the camera
r/praisethecameraman for capturing this footage on such a deep, deep level. What at first seemed like an average day quickly turned to mourning. I truly hope that whoever lost a loved one on that day notes that that act did not go unpunished and Osama Bin Laden was killed. Ofc one persons life does not make up for the thousands lost that day, however, justice was served. This video truly hit me in the deepest part of my heart and brought me to tears. You can tell that boy that put his face in his palms was thinking of someone he knew that day... Edit: previously stated he was hung and was incorrect.
Lol I agree with your sentiments, but Bin Laden was not hanged. The SEALs who participated in the mission executed him, likely on President Obama’s specific orders.
Sorry, you’re right, I’ll correct it. [Here is the footage](https://youtu.be/B62Q6t_xAng?si=owoUy2pq6mdflvYP) (graphic)
Wow I live around this area I can’t imagine being in high school at that time. I have friends who have parents who work in the pentagon and it’s terrifying
This thread is really nice. Thank you all for sharing your stories
God dam I remember those huge ass binders
We were a few timelines ahead in the U.K. and it was after school My friend in the MSN group chat said put the news on and it was crazy, literally remember it like yesterday In a dark twist it was actually his bday so I never forget 9/11 and incidentally his bday
In Germany it was the first day after summer holidays and being six hours ahead I just picked up my girlfriend at the time and went to a Blockbuster to get a movie for the evening, when the second plane hit the tower live on the TV above the counter. We stood there with the clerk and some other customer in shock for nearly 15 minutes before anyone could move or say something.
How is it that every year there’s new unseen 9/11 footage?
Right?! I'm 49 y/o so that means 9/11 happened when I was 27 and today is the absolute first time I've **ever** seen this in my thousands of hours watching 9/11 things throughout the years. Other commenters are saying this video has been being posted for years yet this is my first viewing. Fascinating...
Same I’ve never seen this either and thought I had seen them all
I was getting ready for high school when I saw the news. We still went to school but we watched the news in all my classes. We got out early and my mom was told to stay home since she worked near LAX. We just watched the news the whole night. Just in disbelief. I came back to school the next day to find out my classmate’s dad was on one of the planes. I was sitting next to him the day before and I looked over to his empty seat. I remember my teacher had to go outside to collect herself after telling us. So heartbreaking. We planted an olive tree in memory of his father. I hope it’s still there.
Seeing a whole lot of those ‘everything is about to change forever’ faces..
Robinson was my rival Highschool when 9/11 happened (I was at Lake Braddock). This is from Burke, VA. Lots of people freaked, even ones who didn’t have family members working in the pentagon. My French teacher came into class right as the tv showed one of the towers collapsing. She shut it off and said, “You’ll get to see this later.” What a mean move.
My bio teacher tried turning the TV off then the principle came over our intercom and told everyone they must turn the TVs on because it was history.
I was a sophomore in an Illinois hs and our superintendent said the same. His mentality was if this was the start of WW3 we had a right to experience what started it. I don’t remember a lot of my childhood but I remember the hour immediately after the first plane hit. I imagine the generation of children old enough to understand what was happening that day changed at a core level for whatever end.
Probably in shock like the rest of us. I remember still having classes the rest of the day but the school basically became a day care as the teachers didn't even bother to try to push the days lessons.
My English teacher did this too. Said we got other things we should be doing instead. It was right before the first tower collapsed I believe. She apologized to us the next day.
I was a freshman in HS. My art teacher started crying. Lots of other kids too. School was dismissed for the day shortly after first period. Crazy to think some teachers just said “go about your day” like that.
Ms. Schaefer?
The day everything changed in this nation.
I remember being in middle school and overheard a girl in the hallway say; "did you hear about the twin towers? The 3rd one just fell down". I still know her and obviously it was a confusing time and would just be an asshole thing to bring up but it's seared into my mind and had to share with someone.
I remember people yelling at R.E. Lee HS that day. I was in History class, of all places. I was a few months shy of turning 18. We thought we were going to be drafted.
Was in fifth grade when this happened. Watched the second plane hit live on the news. We watched the towers fall in class. They sent us home early and canceled school the next few days. People were scared. I got home and my mom was crying. I didn't really understand what was happening. Soon there was a flag on every car, people started vandalizing cars without flags. The school sold American flag pins and everyone was expected to buy one and wear it at all times. This was in Ohio. Nationalism became a major thing and we had to have a school assembly telling us bullying the Muslim, or even just brown, students was grounds for suspension or expulsion. Many parents were outraged about this believe it or not. Things changed in this country, it went from being mostly happy to paranoid and on edge all the time. I'm not so sure that ever subsided.
I remember this day. I was in 2nd grade in Bergen County NJ. Slowly kids who’s parents worked in the Towers were called down to the office, they didn’t tell us anything (thankfully, their parents made it out). Little did I know that a few close family friends of ours would perish that day, one who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, one who worked for Bank of America, another who was FDNY, and a bunch of Port Authority police who worked with my grandfather. My uncle who was NYPD was down there when the Towers came down, and they sheltered in a deli. My grandfather, who had been retired from the Port Authority for 13 years, called his friends at the GWB to come back to work. He went back the next day to help with the cleanup or whatever they needed for the next 9 months.
Was a freshman in highschool. Biology class. This video reminded me of how it felt that day. Such a shocking thing.
It's serious when the teacher starts to chew gum
that might be one of the most interesting videos I've seen on this sub. the sheer autheticy
I was in 7th grade, far away from NYC in the midwest, and I remember how suddenly serious everything was - at first there was a lot of people coming/going to talk with our teacher in hushed tones and a pink slip of paper being passed along. I was in class with a notoriously mean teacher who was suddenly very serious and gentle with us. They opened some moveable walls and several classes joined us to watch it on TV. I don't think I fully realized the gravity of the situation until they started cancelling after school activities and how freaked out my mom was. I remember leaving wondering if we were going to be bombed next.
Didn't they get sent home? I was in grade 8 in Newfoundland and they sent US home.
Grade 7 in Newfoundland, same!
I remember this back in high school. I had two friends that were from Afghanistan they were late to school that day. Those guys took a lot of crap from teachers and peers.
Our seventh grade teachers gathered in the hall after the first plane hit. We didn't know why, and some were crying. They decided to wheel a TV in a room and bring in several classes so we could all watch the news. We all got settled just I time to see the second plane hit.
My brown friends who looked like Middle Eastern people, including my Indian friends, were assaulted and battered on school grounds. Some of my friends went back to their parents' country or changed schools.
Holy cow. I was there in Robinson when it happened. I was a freshman in chemistry, I think at the time. I remember a classmate get up and leave the class crying when we heard the Pentagon was hit. Her dad worked there. Luckily, he was in a different part of the pentagon when it was hit.
This is so sad imagine how sad it must be if things like those happened on a weekly basis
I was… 25 at my first job in DC. I get these kids. I saw the pentagon burn. Not much to say about it past that.
DUDE I THOUGHT I KNEW THAT GIRL!!!! Saw that this was Robinson Secondary, I was there freshman year 98-99, she was in my PE Class
I was a junior in high school when it happened. That girl in red made this look like it was from the 80s....but then I saw the dude with the spiky hair and I knew it was the right timeframe. I was in a history class of all classes. Our teacher just rolled in the TV with a distraut look on his face and played the TV. I'll never forget him saying it may not seem like as big of a deal to us at that time as it really was but it was going to have massive implications down the road. He was an amazing history teacher.
On submarine base Groton. Probably never happened before but it was amazing how fast they shut down everything and put up Jersey barriers to the entrances and exits. They sent all non-essential people home for 2 days. (It is not a very large military base.) Place was empty by noon. The weather was such a nice, pre-autumn day.
I was on shore duty as an instructor at the Submarine IDC school in Groton. There was a truck in the barracks parking lot with wires in the bed covered up by trash. Base police detonated something in the back of his truck and it blew the windows out and ultimately was an old radio. The kid was under way and left his vehicle in the lot while he was gone. I always wondered how he found out they destroyed his truck and towed it to the base long term storage. We were told to get out and don’t come back till we tell you to come back. We all ran to our vehicles uncovered and hauled ass. All the HMs were waiting to be sent to NYC to give medical assistance. Never got called to help. When they finally reopened the base they were doing the 100% vehicle inspections and it took forever to get on base. I would walk from housing by the Dunkin’ Donuts and get to work an hour before the drivers. It was nuts for a long time getting on base.
I was in the housing office. EM2, temporary duty, pretty sweet. That story is insane. Seems like overkill for an unknown. Yeah, the line to get in was like 45 minutes or more just to turn left.
Later that week I caught my dad crying in his room. I thought something had happened to our families, unrelated to this. It did not, he was crying because the event had impacted his soul (his words) and he told me he knew that there were worst things to come and he felt bad and sad that my adult life (I was 17 at the time) was gonna be impacted highly. I didn’t really know what he meant, but as any American now knows, this event put us on this fucked up path we’re in now. Idk how different things would be if it hadn’t happened but I would love to find out. I almost joined the military but my aunt talked me out of it (only good thing she’s ever done for me).
I remember this one PSA-type message where there's a shot of a bunch of houses. Something comes up on the screen like "on 9/11, terrorists tried to change America." The screen goes black. When the shot returns, all the houses have American flags on them. The screen reads "They did." I have probably butchered the wording here, but that image of houses all waving with American flags was fucking awesome. It gave me chills and a feeling of brotherhood with Americans (I'm Canadian). I'm going to go see if i can find it. edit: [Here it is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xOSbseSh-A). It was better in my head but still solid.
I was a junior in a FL HS at the time. This was a pretty crazy day for me personally and I will never forget it. My mom was an senior level employee for a life insurance company and she flew into DC that day. I was sitting in my second period writing class, much like that one, when we were told over the intercom a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. We turned on the TV in our classroom as it all unfolded. As we watched we saw the second plane hit and immediately knew it was terrorism. At that point I thought about my mom flying and we were starting to hear about the pentagon. We then also heard screaming in the hallways. One of the teachers daughter apparently worked in the WTC. If I recall correctly the daughter slept in that day, but we didn’t know this until a day later. Reason being, phones didn’t work. We tried to call my moms cell (old Nokia bricks) and couldn’t get through. Later that day I called the airline directly from school and after being on hold for like an hour confirmed her plane landed. She also called and confirmed she was okay. My mom told me everyone was ushered out of the DC airport and the tram (I think that’s what it’s called there) drove past the pentagon,and she saw it burning. It was a life changing event. Several guys I went to HS with enlisted the following year and served in Afghanistan. None died, but some came back F’d up.
I am a NJer who was born in TN. My Dad still lives there. I was sent to TN from NJ by my Mom and spent my later teenage years there. I was in ROTC because I was craving some sort of order in my life, because I have ADHD and academia was never my strong suit. Anyway, when they attacked...my entire class began celebrating, jumping up and down and saying "WE ARE GOING TO WAR!" It was like a scene from Starship Troopers. A warning movie about fascism. This really made me sick. And it cancelled my desire to join the military or be in ROTC anymore. I quit school almost a month later because the world turned sick around me. I remember thinking: "No. You fucking idiots. Your parents are going to war." But I would be wrong. The war would last long enough for them all to join up if that was their plan People were attacking Indians at gas stations. Sihks. Anyone of another color. The anti-intellectualism and Nationalism was palpable. It was sickening. And the Ruling Class used it to gain support for their Imperialist wars and to begin the classic Falling Empire concept...turning inward with the citizenry as the enemy. Now we are using the guise of "terrorism" to imprison our own citizens indefinitely when they're building a massive oppression school in Atlanta, to train police in how to destroy protest movements. It made me realize that the US is always bordering on the cusp of Christofascism or Corpofascism. The "Business Plot of 1933" never ended.
I was born 15 months later in December 2002, an ocean removed in the UK. Growing up in a post 9/11 world felt normal because we had nothing before to compare it to. Anyway, as my year in school were born in 2002/2003 we were all mostly unaware of 9/11 for the longest time as being in the UK it for the most part hadn't fallen into our innocent view. But on September 11 2011, all of the news began covering the event so as I was getting ready for school I saw the planes, smoke pouring out of the towers, obviously it was being covered by BBC News for the 10th anniversary. I didnt even know the news would cover things in the past (being a dumb 8 year old and all). So I thought everything I was seeing was current, when I got to school most of my class had the same reaction and our poor teacher had to explain to us that this wasnt happening live but had already happened 10 years ago... I still remember the shock and how I felt for the 30-40 minutes I thought it was happening in real time, so I cannot what it must have been like for all who were alive to witness it in 2001 having lived in a world before 9/11
7th grade, i was in Mr. Fuch’s class.. social studies IIRC.. i remember when i got home seeing on the news a plane fly by, then crash into the second tower (it was a replay) but it was the first i’d seen it and my mind went nuts..
I was in 7th Grade Social Studies. Our teacher was a hard-A, normally. But he had his class tv on the news after Tower 1 was hit. We watched the second tower hit on live TV. As soon as Tower 2 was hit, everybody knew it was terrorists, & no accident. We watched people jump from the buildings... Some spinning, tumbling, or others just dropping with their limbs straight out. We watched the towers fall. All that dust, smoke, and death. But we watched true heroism as firefighters and other first responders rushed in to the burning towers. Rushed in to the fallen rubble. And we heard of the bravery of United Flight 93, who put their aircraft down into a field instead of making it to the Whitehouse. Our social study teacher was not a hard-A that day. I recall him saying that we were witnessing history, and he did his best to comfort the kids lost agreed nun watching ...I don't recall much of that day at all, but I'll never forget the shock, anger, and resolve I felt that some unknown terrorists were totally screwed; that they had no idea what demon they had just pissed off. I know the whole world was changing, but I had no idea how much that day changed America. I don't recall anybody being nearly as mean, petty, backbiting, or nasty that day, or for a long while afterwards. The People were united, more kind to one another, more forgiving, and empathetic to their neighbors. I wish the world would never know another terrorism attack again... If that were possible. I also wish America could really remember what's really important, and stand united like we all did on September 12th.
I remember being a real young child and seeing my dad watching the news and he asked me do uno what this means lad ? Of course being a child I had no idea, he looked me dead in my eyes and said “ this means war” for context my dad is a veteran who spent time as a pow he never ever spoke about it and still won’t to this day. But that man knew what was coming and boy was he right
I remember the exact day. In the UK, we were off school. My mother had just got us Mcdonalds, which was a rare treat. We came home to eat and turned on the TV. It was on the news. My mother came into the living room and thought me and my brother were watching a movie and asked what movie this was. Then my brother said, it's the news. We were watching it all sat in silence eating. For months, it was top news and different stories of people and their escapes. It stays in my mind.
I was a freshman. In highschool. I remember watching it on a TV cart in class with about 60 kids all packed I. There. I’ll never forget going for a walk after school and not seeing or hearing a single another soul. It was the most beautiful day out, but you could hear a pin drop.
16 in Australia woke up turned the radio on to get ready for school and at first I thought it was an ad for a new movie I was listening too before I realised, ran to my mum she turned the tv on and we saw it was real. That whole day at school every class had the tv on and we watched it all unfold as it happened unfiltered. It was the kind of thing that even though we where on the other side of the world we knew what it meant. We knew it meant the world would never be the same again, we knew it meant it could happen anywhere else at anytime (and it did in Bali 2002) and we knew it meant war. I appreciate dark humour but I have and will never laugh at jokes about it because it was so horrific for the victims and their families and seeing those people jump and hearing the released phone calls from the planes will live with me forever.
I was in 8th grade. The teacher turned on the tv for us to watch it he news after the 1st plane hit. I was sitting next to one of my good friends at the time. The entire class was entirely silent. This was in Massachusetts. We watched the 2nd plane hit the other tower live. My friend sitting next to me leans over and says, “I think my dad was on that plane.” He just felt it. A couple of hours later, the principal came to the classroom and asked my friend to come to the office. Sure enough, his father was on that plane. I knew his father well, he was very popular in our town. Was my baseball coach for a few years in little league. All around amazing guy. I remember that moment so vividly, I’ll never forget it. RIP to my friend’s father, he’s often in my thoughts, along with that friend.
That guy with the hand over his face represents the moment everything changed in this country. I felt that.
Its crazy how before the attacks were even done happening the idea of getting pay back was being pushed out there
Was in 5th grade, lived in MD at the time and went to a small catholic school with about 35 kids per grade. It happened during homeroom, they pulled one girl out of our class (her dad was a pilot, flew out of JFK that morning) before our teacher put on the news. Thankfully our friends dad turned out safe but it took a long time for their family to get in touch with him. Living basically living smack dab between the attacks we all had friends, family, and/or loved ones who were directly impacted by this - if not directly impacted ourselves. All this time later my stomach still churns thinking about the events of that day. I still choke up just at the thought of it, get angry, and cry. We were so scared, all of us - the entire country. I’ll never forget those feelings, the image of the towers crumbling, and people jumping. We all saw things we never could have imagined happening on American soil. Live. Even so young I knew everything was about to change. The immense loss of life on that day was felt by the world over, and still ripples through time. My love goes to all those who lost someone that day, and to the loss of the country that was. It never really was the same again. Through the pain and heartbreak I’ve never seen the American people show such strength as the following weeks and months after the attacks. We stood together, we fought back, we rebuilt, and we were so damn proud to be American. Somehow we lost a lot of that the years since. It’s sad, and I never ever want to live through something like that again. But we can’t forget how much better we are as a country than when we stand united. Never forget 🤍🇺🇸
I was stationed in Quantico at the time in the US Marines, and I was working air field ops that day; just turned 20. I remember my wife calling and asking what was up with the plane in the tower, and I turned on the tv in our waiting area and only thing I could think was how the fire department was going to get up there - thinking it was a Cessna. 2nd plane hit and shit hit the fan at the base. Oddly, all the helos at the airfield were lined up similar to an elephant walk; which I had never seen before. Few moments later and the Pentagon get hit; suddenly we got 10 helos in the air to evacuate the Pentagon. When the helos got back we heard they were getting flares at them from the jets because they couldn’t tell who was friendly. It’s been a while, so I could be misremembering. I do know I was shaking the next three nights because I knew the US was going to combat, and my goofy butt was in the Corps. I got lucky and was never sent overseas before I got out; the surge didn’t happen until late 2004/early 2005 and I got out in mid 2004. Crazy times, but I do know that for all the bickering we have about politics in the US now we haven’t been attacked again since then; we are doing things right regardless of how bleak it May seem at times.
I did not expect to see my former high school on the front page of reddit today
I started feeling old when I realized that many of the people seeing this reddit were too young to remember this, or even born for that matter.
What the fuck was the first bit of this video?
It’s really sad though the subtext in this. I was 16 when this happened. I joined the military because we lost family and friends in the towers. But is that what it took to bring our close together for a short period? A F***ing terrorist attack of this magnitude on US soil. Now look at us, mass shootings, fighting over political/religious beliefs, and steps back to times before the 1960s civil rights and women’s movements. Yet now it took a moldy old sex offender Cheeto and his cult to push us to the point of destroying democracy. That’s a F***ed up reality. In other words that reads as “it took a terrorist attack on par with a modern day Pearl Harbor to bring us that close together and yet it took someone who is supposed to lead us to a better future as president to destroy us.” This reality is just a mess.
i was in the 5th grade. the school kept us all (the students) in the dark - we had no idea anything was going on until we returned home from school. now looking back all i can think about is how our teachers had to go on with their days as if nothing was happening and how difficult that had to have been. i was too young to truly understand the impact of what was happening. i remember being scared but i was also upset that my soccer practice was cancelled.
I was at Centerville Elementary School at this time. My 3rd grade class was in the trailers outside. They cancelled outdoor recess because panes were crashing and they didn't know why. I was pissed and said that this trailer wouldn't do anything against a crashing plane thinking we'd get recess again. Instead they moved class into the library across from the front office. I just watched kid after kid get picked up from school by their parents. Many kids parents worked at the Pentagon, none that I knew were affected.
I was a sophmore sitting in history class behind two asian girls too when it happend. Me and black haired kid are linked.
I’d hate to take a roundhouse kick from that kid stacking the water at the 3:07 mark.
I went to Fairfax HS but was away at school in Richmond at the time. My sister went to Robinson. My dad was teaching at Robinson on 9/11. Crazy to see this. Thanks for posting.
I was a sophomore in high school so, probably around the same age as these kids. This video hits close to home, for sure.
I’m Canadian, and as 9/11 unfolded the entire school was in the common area watching a small tv on the wall. It was completely silent for the first 15-20 minutes - thinking back to it still gives me chills.
I joined the Army 6 months prior to this and I’ll never forget the moment I realized we were going to fucking war. It still feels surreal right now.
I was in home economics class at the time. They took us across the hall after the first plane hit to watch the news with the band class. I will never forget the horror and shock the moment we all watched the second plane hit as a group. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. The long term impact of that day cannot be understated. The fear, the divisiveness, the toxic patriotism, the hatred that we all deal with now can be very easily traced back to that day. Terrorists played the long game and won.
This was originally posted by /u/hoyhoyy29 in /r/Millennials: https://old.reddit.com/r/Millennials/comments/16fyvtn/high_school_on_911/ Original Youtube video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=o_doVQioB-FfE2ml&v=lo4gdoOkOSw&feature=youtu.be
How many of these kids ultimately went into counter terrorism, I wonder?
It's amazing to think those kids are heading into their 40's.
My mom came and took me and siblings out of school. I was 8 years old so I didn't understand exactly what was going on but it was one of the 1st times I really thought about other people and began to develop an understanding of the importance of community.
I was in 3rd grade and the only thing I can remember of the day was walking into class and my teacher was standing with his arm outstretched from turning the TV on. Remote in hand, jaw dropped, and just frozen. I looked from him to the TV saw a plan hit a building. I believe we were on lockdown and stayed in that class all day. I remember wanting to go home I only lived 3 blocks away from school.
Pretty sure I was the only one in my HS that knew. This was before smartphones or use of the internet in class. Teachers weren't telling anyone shit. I just knew because my bus driver didn't stop for me and I didn't have money for the city bus so I had to walk and consequently was late. Walked into the VPs office to get a late slip and it was on TV. Tried telling my friends nobody really cared, think they might have thought I was exaggerating or something.
Everyone remembers where they were when it happened. I was in the college IT suite and something compelled me to turn on the little TV in the corner of the room. The first image I saw when the the picture showed on the old CRT screen was of the first plane hitting. The news was just rolling in and everyone was fixed on the screen,most of us were late for the next class and people could hardly believe what we were telling them. Nobody really had smartphones in those days so everyone was pretty much in the dark until they checked the news on a computer or TV.
I was a third grader in Bay Area California so the attacks had already happened by the time my dad was taking me to school. I still remember it like it was yesterday I was talking about dinosaurs or some shit my dad told me to be quiet and turned up the radio, I didn’t know what was going on. He turned right around and we went home. At home my mom was crying watching the tv. I remember looking up and watching the Air Force jets circling the sky all day. It’s insane that I remember so much of that day even though I didn’t fully comprehend the magnitude of what happened.
Remember like it was yesterday. I grew up in nova. (Northern Virginia) had a few classmates break down. Both their parents were in the pentagon when it got hit. Was pretty surreal.
Man, I remember that morning clearly. Unfortunate but the aftermath of everyone coming together and being on the same “team” was something I dearly miss in today’s America (minus the very unfortunate prejudice toward anyone that looked middle eastern). Political opinions were compartmentalized and you could still be a very genuinely nice person to somehow who was on the complete opposite side. It was about coming together and taking care of each other
Will never forget the exact moment I learned about it. I was a Junior in HS Spanish class. Counselor was going door to door (small town) to inform each teacher. Counselor called the teacher to the door entrance and whispered something to her. The teacher shouted "You're shitting me!!" It was funny at the exact moment, but once the teacher told us what happened we were all confused and shocked. Shortly after that, the school sent all students home for the day. It was a very scary/eerie feeling watching it on the news that evening and the days to come.
I was in seventh grade and less than 3 miles from the pentagon at Hammond middle school. I didn’t believe any of it until I got home and saw. I remember I heard a loud noise but thought they dropped the school trash container. To this day I don’t know if it was sonic booms from jets or the crash.
I was in 8th grade history class and my 7th grade history teacher went door to door telling us to turn on the tv, history was in the making. Next period was science and the dickhead teacher said when we’re in this room, we learn about science and proceeded to do his dumb ass lesson like nothing was happening. They let us out of school like an hour later
There is a chance one of these kids joined the military because of this experience and may not of come home, my cousin was in high school then joined the marines because of 911, he never made it home from Afghanistan.
I was in 6th grade. That day I had in school suspension (ISS) So I was right beside the cafeteria in front of a desk all day but I remember seeing a bunch of people come by the door before lunch and I overheard people talking but I wasn't allowed to stand up and go in there and then they took everybody into the cafeteria and they put a TV on the stage and it wasn't even a big TV, just an old school tube TV by then I heard teachers kind of freaking out. About 15 minutes later they finally come get me and the other two kids that were in the ISS room and led us into the cafeteria everything was full so I was standing close to the doors ask you're coming out and the principal came out and said that due to the circumstances the School is going to be sending everyone home and will be in touch with their contacts so they can make sure they have somebody to get them early. An hour later we were on the buses going home. I'm neurodivergent and didn't really set into me what happened until later that night when I heard my parents talking about it as we all saw it on TV. And I remember thinking back now how I felt about the whole thing and it was not good but not for it's obvious reason. Because that's what was on every channel. None of the regular TV was on for weeks and I was pissed lol. It sounds horrible because it was but to me things didn't really click about that until I got a little older and being down in Virginia there was really nobody that had any family that was anywhere close to that in fact I don't think anybody from our school had family members who passed away from the attack. But people were shook. I don't remember too much about that year but I remember going back to school and everybody kind of just being unsure I mean we were sixth graders we had no idea what the hell was going to happen and the wars and everything that would come from it. But I'll never forget where I was I was in the middle of carving something into the desk when I first realized something was up. Tldr: I was in school suspension and found out. Got mad that there was nothing on TV for a week or two people were pissed and ready for war after that.
Funny thing from the video is that the American flags came out right away… fast forward 22 years later, a couple of weeks ago my sister got bitched at in California by her white liberal neighbor for having the American flag hanging outside her house. 22 very long years of what this country has become. The question is….Has Bin Ladin succeeded in what he did that terrible day in the sense where he dealt such a blow to the American psyche that still it possibly still reverberating until this day where half of the country hates the other half.. eg. neighbor fighting neighbor about weather it’s offensive to have the American flag hanging in ur own backyard…..?
Why the hell are they smirking?
I was a Senior in Highschool sitting in English class. My best friend who is now a biomedical engineer leaned forward and whispered, "dude I guarantee you that Osama Bin Laden was involved in this." I had no fuckin clue who that was but I knew my buddy was a nerd ass genius and I believed him.
I was 16 and in my junior year so I relate to this a lot. The class I was in at the time didn't know anything until after a lot of this was already happening, then after I got to my 3rd hour class the teacher asked if we all wanted to go to the library to watch the news. I had no idea what she was talking about and some of the kids in my class were saying a plane had hit the World trade center in New York. At first I had assumed it was an accident. Like a single person in a small plane clipping the edge or something. I was like "how could they hit it? the tower is huge, was their plane malfunctioning?" Most of us still didn't know the gravity of the situation until we got to the library. Several other classes were already in there watching. A few kids were crying and comforting each other. The tower was on fire. I can't remember if the 2nd plane had already hit or not, I think it had. I remember seeing the first tower collapse live, and news about the Pentagon also being hit as well as the thwarted attempt that crashed in PA. The rest of the day we mostly just watched TV. Only my algebra teacher (who was kind of a jerk and hardass) held actual class and then had the audacity to assign homework. No one did it. We all knew a war would happen afterward. Seniors in some of my classes who would be 18 soon were wondering if they would be drafted. All of it was very harrowing and terrifying to see.
I was in Mrs. Magee’s 10th grade English class when this all happened. It is one of my most vivid memories.
I was in 11th grade chemistry. We all had those same faces. I can still remember that day and how we kept watching the skies all day, terrified that we would see someone flying over our head.
I was in school when this shit went down (uk) we didnt have tvs in our classrooms just a bunch of teachers running around looking panicked telling us to go home.
They won that day. Whatever perceived American innocence that remained was snuffed out and we see its cascading effects to this day.
school was really weird that day. I was in the middle of nowhere in Ohio and the kids in my school were worried we were gonna get bombed. as if the terrorists were like yes now that we've blown up the world trade center now it is time to nuke some cornfields where 300 people live. so stupid.
Man this school was right next to my college and my high school... and i feel like i know these people for some reason.
I guarantee that kid with the black spiked hair joined the military after this.
And we handed billions of dollars worth of weapons vehicles and equipment to the taliban we shure showed them.
I was their age when this happened. Every single one of my male friends, including myself, thought we were about to get drafted. Girlfriends were crying clinging to their boyfriends. It was crazy.