9/11 - Where were you?

LargeAddick

Was on the 34th Floor of Citypoint near Liverpool Street. We all went into the dealing room to watch it unfold on their screens. Scary times.

RIP to all those who lost their lives that day and to all the others who have lost their lives in other atrocities.

carly burn

Watched the new turning point on Netflix. 

They're right, the majority of the shit we are seeing in the world today stemmed not from the event itself.. But Americas response to it. 


RIP to all those poor souls

bobmunro

I believe I have already explained where I was and what I was doing on the day earlier in the thread, so I won't repeat that.

When in NY for the World Cup this summer the three of us went to ground zero. We booked a guided tour and our guide picked out some victim names on the two memorials outside (that are the footprints of the twin towers) and brought to life their stories - an incredibly emotional experience. We then went inside the museum and again the guide was brilliant in explaining everything. 

When the boys were young we went to NY just four months after the attack and there were just two holes in the ground and a Fire Station still standing from where most of the crew on duty that day lost their lives - what they have done since to the area is amazing, and a beautiful and fitting tribute to the innocent victims, and the heroics of the emergency crews. It is also a tribute to the people of New York who came together in the face of such an appalling tragedy.

Rest in Eternal Peace all the victims of that blackest of days.

Spanish

I was at work and remember vividly someone come and tell me 'did you hear about the two planes flying in to the WTC' ? I thought he was about to tell me a joke. 

The next 24hours seemed to drag as more and more news about the events unfolded.

Agree with @carly burn and also watched the Netflix documentary about the fallout from the response. So many innocent lives lost. 

RIP

golfaddick

golfaddick said:

Probably posted already what I was doing so wont repeat that, but 2 other things that stand out for me are: A bloke I was working with at the time was not in the office as his wife was giving birth that day (to twins) and later he said that he had bought a paper that day to show them kids when they were older the events of the day. Obviously papers are a day behind so he went out the next day & bought a paper to show them what actually happened on THE day they were born & not just the date they were born. My eldest was born exactly 2 years later (14 today) and I've only just realised that on his 18th it will be the 20 year anniversary, so whilst he will be out getting royally drunk & enjoying himself I imagine there will be very different goings-on over in the States.

Reading back I don't think.I posted what I was doing that day.

I was working in Dartford as an IFA for the BMA & had a client appointment that afternoon at the Institute of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill (round the corner from Kings).    

Not having been to the US I was unaware of the Twin Towers but listened to the events unfold on Radio 5 as I drove to my appointment. Waiting in reception at the Institute a woman came rushing in saying they had been told that all staff could leave just in case there was going to be attacks here in London. Why terrorists would want to attack a building full of academics & psychiatrists was beyond me......and to my client who agreed to keep our appointment. 

DaveMehmet

bobmunro said:

I believe I have already explained where I was and what I was doing on the day earlier in the thread, so I won't repeat that.

When in NY for the World Cup this summer the three of us went to ground zero. We booked a guided tour and our guide picked out some victim names on the two memorials outside (that are the footprints of the twin towers) and brought to life their stories - an incredibly emotional experience. We then went inside the museum and again the guide was brilliant in explaining everything. 

When the boys were young we went to NY just four months after the attack and there were just two holes in the ground and a Fire Station still standing from where most of the crew on duty that day lost their lives - what they have done since to the area is amazing, and a beautiful and fitting tribute to the innocent victims, and the heroics of the emergency crews. It is also a tribute to the people of New York who came together in the face of such an appalling tragedy.

Rest in Eternal Peace all the victims of that blackest of days.

We went to the 911 museum when we were out there last year. As you say, it's fantastic what they've done there.

JohnBoyUK

golfaddick said:

golfaddick said:

Probably posted already what I was doing so wont repeat that, but 2 other things that stand out for me are: A bloke I was working with at the time was not in the office as his wife was giving birth that day (to twins) and later he said that he had bought a paper that day to show them kids when they were older the events of the day. Obviously papers are a day behind so he went out the next day & bought a paper to show them what actually happened on THE day they were born & not just the date they were born. My eldest was born exactly 2 years later (14 today) and I've only just realised that on his 18th it will be the 20 year anniversary, so whilst he will be out getting royally drunk & enjoying himself I imagine there will be very different goings-on over in the States.

Reading back I don't think.I posted what I was doing that day.

I was working in Dartford as an IFA for the BMA & had a client appointment that afternoon at the Institute of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill (round the corner from Kings).    

Not having been to the US I was unaware of the Twin Towers but listened to the events unfold on Radio 5 as I drove to my appointment. Waiting in reception at the Institute a woman came rushing in saying they had been told that all staff could leave just in case there was going to be attacks here in London. Why terrorists would want to attack a building full of academics & psychiatrists was beyond me......and to my client who agreed to keep our appointment. 

Just so as you know Golfie, as someone who worked at the IoP for almost 4 years (2001-2005ish), the IoP would have been a legitimate terrorist target with what was going on in the building at the time.  We had 24/7 security checking every vehicle coming into the campus for car bombs.  Can't say any more than that!

SporadicAddick

carly burn said:

Watched the new turning point on Netflix. 

They're right, the majority of the shit we are seeing in the world today stemmed not from the event itself.. But Americas response to it. 


RIP to all those poor souls

So it all started with the event itself...

CaptainRobbo

Was working in student accommodation blocks in some of the kitchens.
The telly in the kitchen was on and saw live footage of the plane hitting the second tower.
Thought I was watching a movie.
Always remember the look on George W Bush's face as he was told of the incident.

Swisdom

Swisdom said:

My wife was in a meeting room on a conference call waiting for our new York office to pickup. They never did. They were on the floor that took a direct hit

Our company lost 300 employees a few of whom were friends of mine

:-(

I also have several good friends who survived either through being late that day, I'll or just ridiculously lucky

Truly horrid and unbelievable day

My wife and I were discussing this earlier as we were both at the same company (Marsh & McLennan).  It was my counterpart in America that died and that led to me spending a fair chunk of time in America retraining the new staff as well as re-building the systems in the years that followed.

We went about 10 years ago for a visit and saw the new memorial etc and were humbled at how classy it actually was and not overly "american" however we saw the name plates of all those who died on the day and one of the first names was the guy we both worked with - and it brought it all back.

That's probably the most "I remember where I was when it happened" moment of my 50 years on this planet.  That and Lady Diana's passing and Kurt Cobain's death.  9/11 significantly the most vivid memory because it directly involved people we worked with.

We all got a pin badge in memory of lost colleagues

  

CaptainRobbo

JohnBoyUK said:

golfaddick said:

golfaddick said:

Probably posted already what I was doing so wont repeat that, but 2 other things that stand out for me are: A bloke I was working with at the time was not in the office as his wife was giving birth that day (to twins) and later he said that he had bought a paper that day to show them kids when they were older the events of the day. Obviously papers are a day behind so he went out the next day & bought a paper to show them what actually happened on THE day they were born & not just the date they were born. My eldest was born exactly 2 years later (14 today) and I've only just realised that on his 18th it will be the 20 year anniversary, so whilst he will be out getting royally drunk & enjoying himself I imagine there will be very different goings-on over in the States.

Reading back I don't think.I posted what I was doing that day.

I was working in Dartford as an IFA for the BMA & had a client appointment that afternoon at the Institute of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill (round the corner from Kings).    

Not having been to the US I was unaware of the Twin Towers but listened to the events unfold on Radio 5 as I drove to my appointment. Waiting in reception at the Institute a woman came rushing in saying they had been told that all staff could leave just in case there was going to be attacks here in London. Why terrorists would want to attack a building full of academics & psychiatrists was beyond me......and to my client who agreed to keep our appointment. 

Just so as you know Golfie, as someone who worked at the IoP for almost 4 years (2001-2005ish), the IoP would have been a legitimate terrorist target with what was going on in the building at the time.  We had 24/7 security checking every vehicle coming into the campus for car bombs.  Can't say any more than that!

I did quite a bit of work there at that time.
Did you ever get to see the "White Lady"?
She was quite a sight.

golfaddick

CaptainRobbo said:

JohnBoyUK said:

golfaddick said:

golfaddick said:

Probably posted already what I was doing so wont repeat that, but 2 other things that stand out for me are: A bloke I was working with at the time was not in the office as his wife was giving birth that day (to twins) and later he said that he had bought a paper that day to show them kids when they were older the events of the day. Obviously papers are a day behind so he went out the next day & bought a paper to show them what actually happened on THE day they were born & not just the date they were born. My eldest was born exactly 2 years later (14 today) and I've only just realised that on his 18th it will be the 20 year anniversary, so whilst he will be out getting royally drunk & enjoying himself I imagine there will be very different goings-on over in the States.

Reading back I don't think.I posted what I was doing that day.

I was working in Dartford as an IFA for the BMA & had a client appointment that afternoon at the Institute of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill (round the corner from Kings).    

Not having been to the US I was unaware of the Twin Towers but listened to the events unfold on Radio 5 as I drove to my appointment. Waiting in reception at the Institute a woman came rushing in saying they had been told that all staff could leave just in case there was going to be attacks here in London. Why terrorists would want to attack a building full of academics & psychiatrists was beyond me......and to my client who agreed to keep our appointment. 

Just so as you know Golfie, as someone who worked at the IoP for almost 4 years (2001-2005ish), the IoP would have been a legitimate terrorist target with what was going on in the building at the time.  We had 24/7 security checking every vehicle coming into the campus for car bombs.  Can't say any more than that!

I did quite a bit of work there at that time.
Did you ever get to see the "White Lady"?
She was quite a sight.

Who would believe the Institute of Psychiatry could be so popular 🤷‍♂️.

Just saw a moving interview on the BBC news with a British lady recounting that day & how she survived being in the South Tower. Seen this lady before on one of the many programme I've seen this week but this made it so real. She has been so traumatised since that day & regrets only going to 30 funerals out of 60-odd colleagues she lost that day.

So so sad.

FreshHaddock

superclive98 said:

FreshHaddock said:

Was working for Greenwich Council in a
little office in Ferranti Close on the Westminster Imdustrial Estate just behind the Royal Greenwich Trust School, almost certainly browsing the internet when I should have been working.

Probably not in 2001.

I think I was. I the Council had an internet connection then and were using Sun / Netscape iPlanet software (which came out in 1999) to deliver an email and intranet / calendaring system using a couple of E450s that were hosted in the basement of Peggy Middleton House.

This was the software they were using at the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPlanet
I just checked the Wayback Machine and Greenwich Council (www.greenwich.gov.uk - they weren't Royal then) actually had a website back in 1998!

cantersaddick

SporadicAddick said:

carly burn said:

Watched the new turning point on Netflix. 

They're right, the majority of the shit we are seeing in the world today stemmed not from the event itself.. But Americas response to it. 


RIP to all those poor souls

So it all started with the event itself...

Yeah its partly true but a simplistic narrative. The US response to the event has led to a lot of the problems in todays world. Of course if you are talking cause and effect you have to look at the causes of the event and what led to that too. US led Western imperialism in South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA - the geographically correct term for the "middle east") certainly played a part.

Rob7Lee

We had our usual two minutes silence for the 176 colleagues we lost that day, not sure why but this year felt more upsetting.

It’s now showing how long ago this was, so many in the office weren’t alive or don’t remember it as very young.

sillav nitram

Graceland, Memphis. Watched it unfold on the tube. Horrendous day.

aliwibble

superclive98 said:

FreshHaddock said:

Was working for Greenwich Council in a
little office in Ferranti Close on the Westminster Imdustrial Estate just behind the Royal Greenwich Trust School, almost certainly browsing the internet when I should have been working.

Probably not in 2001.

Nah, that was totally do-able at the time, although speeds varied depending on how important it was that your site had a decent network connection. I was working for a different council on the other side of London at the time, and we had one site whose network connection went down whenever there was fog as it was on a line of sight (microwave?) link. Anyway, that day I came back from lunch a little before 2pm and had a quick look on the BBC News website to see what was going on in the world, and saw the story about a plane hitting the World Trade Centre, but at that point they seemed to think it was just a Cessna.

I can't remember exactly what I was working on at the time, I think it might have been our new system of internet payments for Council Tax etc, but I was really busy testing so put some suitably vibrant music on, stuck my headphones in and ploughed on with working my way through the various tests and config stuff. At a little while after 4, I got a tap on my arm from one of the team leaders in my department, who said "A bunch of us are going to the pub, because no-one can really concentrate on work what with the World Trade Centre thing, do you want to come?" Which confused me, as the last I'd heard it was just an accident involving a small plane, so she explained it was a terrorist attack, and both towers had collapsed. I had a go at firing up the BBC website, which was struggling massively under the load of all the people trying to find out WTF was going on so had gone to Low Graphics mode.

https://web.archive.org/web/20010911181520/http://news.bbc.co.uk/text_only.stm
It was only once I got home and saw the TV news that it really hit home.

FreshHaddock

@aliwibble - funny you should mention that line of site network thing. In 2001 I was working for the Chief Executive's department (having left Housings little internal I.T. team) and those E450s and the iPlanet crap was my first ever gig as a professional Unix computer man impersonator. Later (and I can remember the Unison people telling me I shouldn't do this!) I TUPE'd out to the company that LBG had outsourced to, and ended up working in the building above Poundstretcher on the North side of Beresford Square. That also had a line of sight microwave link back to Peggy Middleton House. We moved out of that building when the Woolwich Centre was built. Those were the days. No proper air-conditioning in the server room. They'd put a portable A/C in there with the exhaust sticking out the window, and if you were unlucky you'd open the door and the floor would be covered in pigeons deposits and there would be a couple of them flapping around in there.

Kap10

I was working in the NLA Tower [ 50 pence piece building] in Croydon. A room had been set up for people to watch the coverage, we were also getting reports of bombs going off in London, including the Home Office building in Croydon ... verified "my mum told me". Fortunately they were just rumours.

Were mobile signals turned off? I hsvd a vague feeling we could not use our mobiles.

Addick_and_Chips

I was in six form and we had a half day. I was leaving the school and someone told us that a plane had gone into The World Trade Centre. My immediate thought was this was a light aircraft and it was a horrible accident. 

I will never forget getting home, walking into my living room and seeing my mum in floods of tears. The images on the news shook me so hard, I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. As others have said, it was like watching a movie but knowing there were real people in those towers. Then the second tower came down. History in front of our eyes.

The world changed forever that day. I believe a lot of the division that we are seeing around the world at the moment was linked to these attacks and we're only now seeing some of the consequences of that. 

Thoughts with of those who lost their lives or lost love ones that day. 

2121

I was 15/16 at school. Bunked half a day. Went home to find my dad and sister there, thought oh eff im in trouble, but dad was glued to the news. We all sat and watched it unfold. RIP. 

2121

Last night i saw the image of the falling man again. Harrowing. And tthought of the last image/video of the kabul airlift was those afghanis trying to escape also falling from the globemaster. All awful. 

thickandthin63

I was at working at a farm shop opposite Ruxley Garden Centre when the news came on the portable tv we had.I remember watching in utter horror,a few years earlier i had taken my wife to NY for her 50th birthday,and we visited the towers ,reaching I think the 75th floor which was the public viewing area.iWhen the towers came down,I just thought that they would never be able to clear it all up,they were so vast.Although nearly 3000 people died,I honestly thought that figure would be much higher .I watched the 2 hour sky documentary last night,and just cannot imagine the horrors those poor people went through
Sadly,although not on this scale,I think it is only a matter of time before some lunatics repeat this atrociety.