For those who lived through Sept. 11, 2001, certain details of that day can feel impossible to forget, like where you were, who you were with, how you heard the news, and what happened in the hours that followed.
As we mark 25 years since the attacks, we want to hear your memories. This week, we asked readers: Where were you when the towers were struck on Sept. 11, 2001?
Here’s what they had to say…
“I was in New Hampshire on my way to a psychology class which was promptly cancelled when I arrived.” — Jane Duggan
“I was at work when the planes struck the World Trade Towers. I remember someone said the Towers were hit by a plane and America is under attack. At the time I remember saying they can bring us to our knees but watch out when we get up because the fist will come up with us. I was working at the call center, which was the call center for passports. The government closed early that day and we were all sent home. I remember getting home and turning on the TV. I was talking to a friend of mine and said it looks like those towers are going to fall over. They were both leaning pretty bad. Then we also heard about the Pentagon being hit and then Flight 93 going into the ground. All around it was a very very sad day.” — Debbie Manning
“I was working in downtown Manhattan on Sept. 11, eight blocks from the towers. It was the most horrific day of my life, with images I can’t forget. Nearly everyone I know lost someone, or knew someone who lost someone that day. One of my work colleagues perished in the North Tower when it collapsed. Ironically, he was only there for a meeting—his office was in Midtown. I remember returning to my office a few days later to secure my laptop and some papers (we all evacuated after the South Tower was struck) and was struck by the silence in downtown Manhattan. For the next several months I recall two things—all the smoke that persisted and the number of barges in the Hudson River carrying debris. It was a difficult time but it also demonstrated the strength and resiliency of New Yorkers.” — Paul Schaffer
“On 9/11 I was working for Sun Microsystems. I was working in the Nashua office and sitting beside a person who was part of a group of people that worked in the towers. That brought it really close for me. It took a couple of hours for this person to learn that everyone in her group made it out. They were fortunate to work on a low floor. I spent most of the morning watching broadcasts of what was going on. A week or so later, Sun was asking us to round up all unused equipment in our buildings. They sent 4 semi trucks of equipment to companies that had been in the towers and lost all of their equipment. They did not charge them. It made me proud to be working for Sun.” — Diane Fallier
“We were at our summer place not far from Alton, and I had CNN on as usual… it’s hard to describe the feeling that grips your heart when you see something like that. We had a couple of people working on the electric lines out front, and when I told them, they shrugged it off, not understanding the import. I was glued to CNN all day, didn’t even bother to go out.” — David Masters
“I was 2 blocks from the White House, saw the smoke rise from the Pentagon and walked, with many others, 3 miles up 14th Street to get home.” — Don Franklin
“I was in New Hampshire on my way to a psychology class which was promptly cancelled when I arrived.” — Jane Duggan
