MICHIGAN
"Where were you on 9/11?" as remembered by those in Michigan that day.
Detroit resident Patrick talks about his experience working for a Michigan congressman and how quickly the political climate in America changed.
1. "On 9/11, I was a first year who just started my first year of law school in Detroit, Michigan. I remember being in a gym that morning when news coverage broke of of the first tower getting hit. I remember kind of clustering around a set of standard definition televisions, watching the coverage and it wasn't until the second plane hit and soon after when President Bush announced that this was an act of terror that we really understood.
Our lives were going to change irreparably going forward particularly with regards to how we defined American patriotism and the politics that resulted from that. I recently left the congressional staff of then Congressman David Bonyer and worked closely with the Arab-American community on issues of social and international justice. It was evident early on in that day that those priorities were going to change nationally, they're going to change locally. To this day our politics of division, I would argue started on that day and continue today."
Patrick R.
Our lives were going to change irreparably going forward particularly with regards to how we defined American patriotism and the politics that resulted from that. I recently left the congressional staff of then Congressman David Bonyer and worked closely with the Arab-American community on issues of social and international justice. It was evident early on in that day that those priorities were going to change nationally, they're going to change locally. To this day our politics of division, I would argue started on that day and continue today."
Patrick R.
Written Stories
2. "I was in 6th grade science class and our Principal told the entire school to stop all activities and turn the news on. That was the rest of our day, endless newscasts, no learning. Kids were taken out of classes, parents frantic.
I got home after school and my cousin got off work crying and in hysterics talking about the end of the world quoting Nostradamus. Just a very surreal feeling of dread and confusion."
- James D.
I got home after school and my cousin got off work crying and in hysterics talking about the end of the world quoting Nostradamus. Just a very surreal feeling of dread and confusion."
- James D.
3. "Was at work in Ypsilanti, saw CNN on our computers. My wife had set up a luncheon for a Detroit Police precinct because they were helping here in the local school she was working in. After the Police realized this was a national emergency they called in all officers for the precinct. We were feeding them all day.
I came after work to bring more food we had prepared the night before. I was driving down I-94 and it was eerily quit, light traffic and no planes landing at Detroit Metro.
I didn't find out the full extant of the tragedy until my wife and I watched CNN later that evening."
- Steven V.
I came after work to bring more food we had prepared the night before. I was driving down I-94 and it was eerily quit, light traffic and no planes landing at Detroit Metro.
I didn't find out the full extant of the tragedy until my wife and I watched CNN later that evening."
- Steven V.
4. "I was at home recovering from minor surgery, not sleeping well and on serious painkillers. Woke up to BBC News interrupting their News Hour broadcast with a report of a plane striking the World Trade Center. I stumbled to the TV and watched The Today Show in time to see the second tower get hit.
I curled up in a ball on the couch, didn't eat all day.
Later I went outside and stood in the driveway and noticed the street and the sky was silent. I called my parents and went to bed at midnight, still foggy as hell from the painkillers.
The TV on was left on 24/7 for almost a week."
- W. P. B.
I curled up in a ball on the couch, didn't eat all day.
Later I went outside and stood in the driveway and noticed the street and the sky was silent. I called my parents and went to bed at midnight, still foggy as hell from the painkillers.
The TV on was left on 24/7 for almost a week."
- W. P. B.
5. "I was at work and a co-worker, who had called in sick that day, called us and said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I assumed it was some small private plane and not a big deal. Then the news came that a second plane had hit.
The company in the suite next to ours had a TV so several of us rushed over there to watch. One of my colleagues was in Washington DC that day and got back by basically bumming rides as far west as he could go while his brother took off from Ann Arbor and headed east to meet him.
I turned 21 on September 12, 2001. I remember sitting at lunch with my coworkers that day and just watching news coverage. The bar was very somber that night."
- A.
The company in the suite next to ours had a TV so several of us rushed over there to watch. One of my colleagues was in Washington DC that day and got back by basically bumming rides as far west as he could go while his brother took off from Ann Arbor and headed east to meet him.
I turned 21 on September 12, 2001. I remember sitting at lunch with my coworkers that day and just watching news coverage. The bar was very somber that night."
- A.
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6. "I was in the 7th grade, a water main broke at the school so we got sent home right after the first plane hit. On the short ride home Tool’s "Schism" was playing on the radio and the lyrics went:
'I know the pieces fit Cause I watched them fall away' When my brother and I got home, mom had the news on and we watched the second plane hit. I still can’t believe how vivid the memory is of that song playing in between the planes hitting." - F. B. |
7. "I was a student at Western Michigan and in the Air National Guard at the time; I remember getting online before heading to my student job, and seeing the news about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. My first thought was that it was an accident like what happened to the Empire State Building a long time ago. By the time the article loaded on my dial-up connection it had updated to say a second plane has crashed into the Trade Center and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.
I went into work, the campus was cancelling classes and disbursing students as airliners were getting grounded - nobody really knew at that point what was and wasn't a target.
A coworker that knew I was military came up to me and asked,
'You're going to protect us, right?'
I didn't have a clue what was going on; whether I'd get activated, nothing. But what am I going to say? The only thing I could, really was,
'Yes, we're going to protect you.'
Not that I had any idea what that meant. In the aftermath I wasn't immediately activated, though we had a large contingent from my base get called up for OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom). When the run-up to OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) began I was activated and sent over to Kuwait for the air campaign."
- B. S.
I went into work, the campus was cancelling classes and disbursing students as airliners were getting grounded - nobody really knew at that point what was and wasn't a target.
A coworker that knew I was military came up to me and asked,
'You're going to protect us, right?'
I didn't have a clue what was going on; whether I'd get activated, nothing. But what am I going to say? The only thing I could, really was,
'Yes, we're going to protect you.'
Not that I had any idea what that meant. In the aftermath I wasn't immediately activated, though we had a large contingent from my base get called up for OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom). When the run-up to OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) began I was activated and sent over to Kuwait for the air campaign."
- B. S.
8. "I was in 5th grade at Kimball Camp and they didn't tell any of the kids until we got home that weekend. My school had/has one of the highest (Yemeni) Muslim densities in the nation, so it wasn't until later that I understood the paranoia and mood shift that overcame the overtly-Christian staff at the camp.
Needless to say, there ended up being a lot of undeserved criticism and harassment of Muslim classmates."
- S. K.
Needless to say, there ended up being a lot of undeserved criticism and harassment of Muslim classmates."
- S. K.
9. "Freshman in a suburban Detroit high school, I found out pretty late and overheard a couple kids on my way to my 4th hour class talking about a 'World Trade Center'. I remembered hearing about the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle a year earlier so
I thought it was one of those and a bunch of hippies got beat up.
I arrived at my class, and the teacher had the TV on, I watched the last tower fall and the reruns of the footage. She couldn't conduct class after that so we just watched CNN as they showed shot after shot of what happened.
The rest of the day one teacher tried to teach, but gave up and watched CNN with us instead. The last teacher gave us a worksheet and went on watching.
The next day my friends and I knew we'd be at war soon. My first hour teacher told us that something horrible had happened, but implored us not to embrace hatred for fellow students of Muslim or Middle Eastern background. My third hour teacher, a former Army vet herself, said something similar then got serious. She looked at all of us and said,
'But we are going to go over there, find whoever did it, and kick their ass.'
Then we went to our lessons."
- K. C.
I thought it was one of those and a bunch of hippies got beat up.
I arrived at my class, and the teacher had the TV on, I watched the last tower fall and the reruns of the footage. She couldn't conduct class after that so we just watched CNN as they showed shot after shot of what happened.
The rest of the day one teacher tried to teach, but gave up and watched CNN with us instead. The last teacher gave us a worksheet and went on watching.
The next day my friends and I knew we'd be at war soon. My first hour teacher told us that something horrible had happened, but implored us not to embrace hatred for fellow students of Muslim or Middle Eastern background. My third hour teacher, a former Army vet herself, said something similar then got serious. She looked at all of us and said,
'But we are going to go over there, find whoever did it, and kick their ass.'
Then we went to our lessons."
- K. C.
10. "I was 24 years old and worked as a writer/editor in Ann Arbor.
I was listening to a tape instead of the radio while driving to work that morning, so I didn't hear the news break. I arrived shortly before 9 am, and our mail room guy ran out to reception and asked me,
'Do you have a portable radio?' I asked why, and he said,
'New York is under attack.'
I didn't really process it until I got to my desk and saw I had several voice mails from my mother. Someone dragged the TV out of the conference room and set it up in the main office. Not a single phone rang all morning. We sat there in stunned silence, watching the news anchors react along with everyone else. Nobody knew what was happening. Nobody could get onto CNN and other websites because the traffic had caused them to crash.
When the second tower was hit, most people gasped, while others started crying. We watched as the first tower fell, then the second. At that point, almost everyone was crying. Parents kept trying to call the schools, but phone lines everywhere were bogged down. It took me two hours to reach my mother at work.
At that point, the owner of the company came out and told us to go home. We obviously weren't going to get any work done, and the schools were letting out early.
I was listening to a tape instead of the radio while driving to work that morning, so I didn't hear the news break. I arrived shortly before 9 am, and our mail room guy ran out to reception and asked me,
'Do you have a portable radio?' I asked why, and he said,
'New York is under attack.'
I didn't really process it until I got to my desk and saw I had several voice mails from my mother. Someone dragged the TV out of the conference room and set it up in the main office. Not a single phone rang all morning. We sat there in stunned silence, watching the news anchors react along with everyone else. Nobody knew what was happening. Nobody could get onto CNN and other websites because the traffic had caused them to crash.
When the second tower was hit, most people gasped, while others started crying. We watched as the first tower fell, then the second. At that point, almost everyone was crying. Parents kept trying to call the schools, but phone lines everywhere were bogged down. It took me two hours to reach my mother at work.
At that point, the owner of the company came out and told us to go home. We obviously weren't going to get any work done, and the schools were letting out early.
My housemate arrived home shortly after I did. We watched the news for a while, but it was so depressing that we turned it off. He found a back way into the CNN website, so he refreshed it every hour or so while we watched movies. Television was "offline" for a week or two, so to speak. All of the sporting events and such had been canceled. Television shows set in NYC had to scramble to remove references to the towers, particularly since shots of the towers were so prominent during many series' opening credits. Radio stations avoided certain songs, like 'Rock the Casbah' by The Clash and 'Killing An Arab' by The Cure. Print advertisement had to be careful to avoid symbolism, like this now-famous Starbucks advertisement.
Immediately after, many people were terrified to fly, and greeting your loved one at the gate was no longer possible. Some companies started promoting parachutes for people who work in high rises. Xenophobia was rampant. It still is, unfortunately. I clearly remember my neighborhood gas station owner putting a sign on his door that said:
'WE ARE SIKH. WE LOVE AMERICA. WE MOURN WITH YOU AND PRAY WITH YOU. WE WISH YOU NO HARM.'
It made me incredibly sad.
Immediately after, many people were terrified to fly, and greeting your loved one at the gate was no longer possible. Some companies started promoting parachutes for people who work in high rises. Xenophobia was rampant. It still is, unfortunately. I clearly remember my neighborhood gas station owner putting a sign on his door that said:
'WE ARE SIKH. WE LOVE AMERICA. WE MOURN WITH YOU AND PRAY WITH YOU. WE WISH YOU NO HARM.'
It made me incredibly sad.
The strangest part was the quiet. The first two weeks of the quarantine reminded me of that time. Most people stayed home. Many people were in shock. No one knew what was going to happen next. Since flights were canceled, there was no air traffic, other than med flights in and out of U of M. Nobody noticed them before, but in that quiet stillness, it was like a siren. Occasionally, we'd hear a military jet pass over the office, which was equally strange.
Eventually, life returned to normal, or some semblance of it. I detest the phrase "new normal". I refused to use it then, and I refuse to use it now. Nothing is "normal", ever. Life is fluid and ever-changing. Eventually, we adjust to accommodate to the various bumps and curves that accompany each new day.
We mourned, we adapted, and we moved forward as best we could."
- S. A.
Eventually, life returned to normal, or some semblance of it. I detest the phrase "new normal". I refused to use it then, and I refuse to use it now. Nothing is "normal", ever. Life is fluid and ever-changing. Eventually, we adjust to accommodate to the various bumps and curves that accompany each new day.
We mourned, we adapted, and we moved forward as best we could."
- S. A.
11. "I was in eighth grade. The first I heard of the attacks I was in English class goofing off with some of my classmates. The teacher all of a sudden yelled at us to be quiet because she was listening to the radio about the attacks. She said a plane had hit a building in New York. Being the goof off 8th grade kid I was I just thought either somebody was a bad pilot or they were drunk. Didn't really affect me at the time.
Later in the day I was in Social Studies and the teacher in that class set up a TV so we could see the attacks. When I first saw the images and the buildings coming down I was terrified. I thought we were all going to die and the whole country would soon be attacked.
My mom worked at the school as the recess lady and she came in and took me and my siblings home. We ended up going to a pastor's house where we continued to watch the attacks on TV. My mom took us out of school because apparently earlier in the day while she was watching kids on the playground a plane flew over and all the kids started freaking out and running to the building.
The trauma of seeing those attacks are something I will never forget."
- S. C.
Later in the day I was in Social Studies and the teacher in that class set up a TV so we could see the attacks. When I first saw the images and the buildings coming down I was terrified. I thought we were all going to die and the whole country would soon be attacked.
My mom worked at the school as the recess lady and she came in and took me and my siblings home. We ended up going to a pastor's house where we continued to watch the attacks on TV. My mom took us out of school because apparently earlier in the day while she was watching kids on the playground a plane flew over and all the kids started freaking out and running to the building.
The trauma of seeing those attacks are something I will never forget."
- S. C.
12. "I was working as a point-of-sale service tech out of Appleton, WI and was sent to the upper peninsula to install new computers at all of the Holiday gas stations in the UP. They normally had two computers in the store, one in the back that they did manager duties on and another behind the counter that interfaced the pumps.
I was in Charlevoix, MI and I went to the hotel lobby to get breakfast. The Today Show was talking about the first plane and were still not sure what kind of plane hit. By the time I got to my first store the second plane had hit. It was not long until people started to panic buy gas. So here I am trying to install computers that interface the pumps and the cars are starting to line up at the pumps to buy gas. The manager told me I better go fill up while I have the chance.
My next store was in Cheboygan, MI and it was a zoo when I got there. When I got to the hotel that night what I remember most is all the people looking for loved ones in NY. Person after person with a story of the last time they saw or spoke to someone that they no longer can find. Terrible feeling."
- T. C.
I was in Charlevoix, MI and I went to the hotel lobby to get breakfast. The Today Show was talking about the first plane and were still not sure what kind of plane hit. By the time I got to my first store the second plane had hit. It was not long until people started to panic buy gas. So here I am trying to install computers that interface the pumps and the cars are starting to line up at the pumps to buy gas. The manager told me I better go fill up while I have the chance.
My next store was in Cheboygan, MI and it was a zoo when I got there. When I got to the hotel that night what I remember most is all the people looking for loved ones in NY. Person after person with a story of the last time they saw or spoke to someone that they no longer can find. Terrible feeling."
- T. C.
13. "I was in my 4th grade music class when another teacher barged in and whispered something into the music teacher's ear. She covered her mouth and started crying. The other teacher shooed us back into our normal classroom and we obviously asked our teacher what was going on. I vividly remember her downplaying the event,
'Oh, just a couple planes crashed into a Trade Center in New York. Her daughter is in the city so she was just worried.'
We had a building near us called Gibraltar Trade Center that was essentially a warehouse that housed a flea market, so I didn't think much of it as I assumed it was similar.
My mom took me out of school because we live in a predominantly Arab/Muslim community and while it might seem racist all these years later, at the time she was more worried about the safety of her children than she was worried about saving face."
- Brad Chisholm
'Oh, just a couple planes crashed into a Trade Center in New York. Her daughter is in the city so she was just worried.'
We had a building near us called Gibraltar Trade Center that was essentially a warehouse that housed a flea market, so I didn't think much of it as I assumed it was similar.
My mom took me out of school because we live in a predominantly Arab/Muslim community and while it might seem racist all these years later, at the time she was more worried about the safety of her children than she was worried about saving face."
- Brad Chisholm
14. "I was 21, delivering furniture in Traverse City when I got the news when I saw the second plane hit on an old lady customer's TV set. She said 'You boys got to see this!'
- Aaron McClain
- Aaron McClain
15. "I was in my junior year of high school and all of the classrooms had TVs. It happened during passing period, and the whole class stood and watched while making various comments of disbelief - 'It's like a movie' was a common one. Then my teacher turned off the TV and said,
'Time for your test.'
When some students opposed, he said
'It will still be burning after your test is done.'"
- Anonymous
'Time for your test.'
When some students opposed, he said
'It will still be burning after your test is done.'"
- Anonymous
16. "I was in grad school and on the way out the door, I suddenly stopped in the living room and turned on the TV. I absolutely never watched television at that time of day, I'll never know what made me do it. The first tower had been hit and the morning show anchors were kind of babbling. I was trying to make sense of what I was looking at. Within about 20 seconds of turning on the TV, I saw the second plane hit. I sat down and watched and just cried and cried. I really couldn't believe it, the whole idea was so horrible.
There wasn't a lot of info so after about half an hour I left for class which turned out to be cancelled. I talked with some others from my classes but the info was very scant at that time and a couple people were saying things like they didn't dare go to the cafeteria in the student center, which was the tallest building in our campus at 6 stories. I didn't have the heart to tell them that Detroit and specifically our college was kind of unimportant on the world stage at that point. The conversation was losing steam so I headed back home and watched it all unfold on TV."
- Z. L.
There wasn't a lot of info so after about half an hour I left for class which turned out to be cancelled. I talked with some others from my classes but the info was very scant at that time and a couple people were saying things like they didn't dare go to the cafeteria in the student center, which was the tallest building in our campus at 6 stories. I didn't have the heart to tell them that Detroit and specifically our college was kind of unimportant on the world stage at that point. The conversation was losing steam so I headed back home and watched it all unfold on TV."
- Z. L.
17. "I was in the basement on my computer that morning. My wife phoned to tell me about a freak accident: a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. A while later, she called to say that another plane had crashed into the other tower, making it obvious that it was a terrorist attack.
Not too long after that, with hardly any context, I saw a reference that 'the Pentagon is burning.'
I was just blown away. I thought this meant war, that everything I was doing in my life was suddenly irrelevant and pointless.
I had been putting a lot of work into building a web site, but now that whole project seemed absurd. I didn’t bother going in to work. Hardly anyone else did, either.
My daughter was a toddler then. A few days later, she and I were in Toys R Us, and there was an announcement over the PA system about a schedule change or something, which started out,
'Due to the current national tragedy...'
I thought how in classical tragedy, the disaster is brought about by the protagonist’s tragic flaw. In other words, what happens to the tragic hero is his own fault.
Was America’s tragic flaw to blame for 9/11?
That seemed a really weird subtext to think about at Toys R Us.
I later discovered that traffic to my web site was down by just a third on 9/11. Within a week, the number of hits was back to normal. This astonished me, but also helped me understand that I was overreacting a little."
- O. G.
Not too long after that, with hardly any context, I saw a reference that 'the Pentagon is burning.'
I was just blown away. I thought this meant war, that everything I was doing in my life was suddenly irrelevant and pointless.
I had been putting a lot of work into building a web site, but now that whole project seemed absurd. I didn’t bother going in to work. Hardly anyone else did, either.
My daughter was a toddler then. A few days later, she and I were in Toys R Us, and there was an announcement over the PA system about a schedule change or something, which started out,
'Due to the current national tragedy...'
I thought how in classical tragedy, the disaster is brought about by the protagonist’s tragic flaw. In other words, what happens to the tragic hero is his own fault.
Was America’s tragic flaw to blame for 9/11?
That seemed a really weird subtext to think about at Toys R Us.
I later discovered that traffic to my web site was down by just a third on 9/11. Within a week, the number of hits was back to normal. This astonished me, but also helped me understand that I was overreacting a little."
- O. G.
18. "I was in 7th grade English class in Grand Blanc, MI. I remember other kids talking about a bomb or something, no one was sure what happened or if it was true.
We moved on to our next class, which for me was science. When we arrived in the classroom, my teacher had the TV wheeled into our classroom. She was absolutely FRANTIC, hysterically crying and sitting at her desk on the phone. Another teacher came in to supervise us because my teacher wasn’t able to. We found out that her son was on a plane at the time and she was trying to make phone calls to find out if he was safe. I can’t imagine what she was feeling. Her son ended up being ok.
Shortly after, we got dismissed from school early and went home. My brother and I watched news footage with my mom until my dad got home that evening. I distinctly remember at 11 years old watching people jump from the towers, thinking they were only papers flying out the window or something, but my mom telling me the truth.
It is a memory I will never forget."
- Carolann G.
We moved on to our next class, which for me was science. When we arrived in the classroom, my teacher had the TV wheeled into our classroom. She was absolutely FRANTIC, hysterically crying and sitting at her desk on the phone. Another teacher came in to supervise us because my teacher wasn’t able to. We found out that her son was on a plane at the time and she was trying to make phone calls to find out if he was safe. I can’t imagine what she was feeling. Her son ended up being ok.
Shortly after, we got dismissed from school early and went home. My brother and I watched news footage with my mom until my dad got home that evening. I distinctly remember at 11 years old watching people jump from the towers, thinking they were only papers flying out the window or something, but my mom telling me the truth.
It is a memory I will never forget."
- Carolann G.
19. "I was a sixth grader in Redford when another teacher came to tell our teacher about it. She quietly walked to her desk, and said,
'I was just told not to share this, but it's important that you know.'
She then turned on the television. This was during the new footage of the first impact, so most of us were in the mindset of,
'Oh that's terrible,' with the slight childhood chuckles of, 'How do you not see a building?'
We watched as the second plane struck, even at that age you could just feel the zeitgeist freeze over.
We knew it wasn't something fun or even just sad anymore. Looking back, the thought of 11/12 year-olds' discussions of video games and other childhood things quickly changing to,
'Who could do this?' 'What if there's more?'
...That's honestly something I hope children, or adults for that matter, never have to experience again anywhere.
- Scott Jenkins
'I was just told not to share this, but it's important that you know.'
She then turned on the television. This was during the new footage of the first impact, so most of us were in the mindset of,
'Oh that's terrible,' with the slight childhood chuckles of, 'How do you not see a building?'
We watched as the second plane struck, even at that age you could just feel the zeitgeist freeze over.
We knew it wasn't something fun or even just sad anymore. Looking back, the thought of 11/12 year-olds' discussions of video games and other childhood things quickly changing to,
'Who could do this?' 'What if there's more?'
...That's honestly something I hope children, or adults for that matter, never have to experience again anywhere.
- Scott Jenkins
20. "I was six years old. My first grade teacher turned on the news around 9 am, and we were watching reports about the first plane. The North Tower was billowing smoke. Being so young, I don’t remember what we talked about other than it was scary. It was unusual to be watching TV in class so early in the morning. We had only been tuned into the situation for a few moments when the second plane hit the South Tower - my teacher and her assistant freaked out and immediately turned off the TV.
Over the course of the next few hours, our parents came to pick us up and take us home. My parents didn’t cook dinner that day like we normally did - Campbell’s soup and TV trays for dinner, glued to the TV as the tragedy unfolded.
My best friend at the time, Teresa, lost her aunt that day. Her aunt had fled during the Bosnian genocide and came the the States with her family. Teresa and her family moved away shortly after that."
- Rachel Bush
Over the course of the next few hours, our parents came to pick us up and take us home. My parents didn’t cook dinner that day like we normally did - Campbell’s soup and TV trays for dinner, glued to the TV as the tragedy unfolded.
My best friend at the time, Teresa, lost her aunt that day. Her aunt had fled during the Bosnian genocide and came the the States with her family. Teresa and her family moved away shortly after that."
- Rachel Bush
21. "I had spent the prior week in Seattle on vacation, so I was sort of still on Pacific time. In order to get my body clock ready for work the next day, I had set the alarm for 9 AM so that 6:30 AM the next morning wouldn't be a shock.
I woke up to the radio alarm with a newscast about the first plane. Being a little startled, I turned on the bedroom TV just in time to see the second plane hit. I had to stay tuned to the little TV for a lot of the coverage, since my main TV was busted and was being replaced later that morning.
I had to tell the TV delivery guy what was happening, he had no clue. I still had a standing Tuesday dinner, so we went out anyway, and they showed Bush speaking on TV in the evening. It was probably the only time in Bush's presidency that he received applause in Ann Arbor."
- M. B.
I woke up to the radio alarm with a newscast about the first plane. Being a little startled, I turned on the bedroom TV just in time to see the second plane hit. I had to stay tuned to the little TV for a lot of the coverage, since my main TV was busted and was being replaced later that morning.
I had to tell the TV delivery guy what was happening, he had no clue. I still had a standing Tuesday dinner, so we went out anyway, and they showed Bush speaking on TV in the evening. It was probably the only time in Bush's presidency that he received applause in Ann Arbor."
- M. B.
22. "I was attending The University of Michigan and driving to class when the first plane hit. I remember thinking to myself,
'How shitty of a pilot do you have to be to hit a damn building.'
The second plane hit while I was in class, someone came in and told my professor who then told the class that we were all to go down to the AV room, a hall where art installation videos were usual shown, because something big was happening.
I remember sitting there, watching the news play the footage of the plane crashing into the World Trade Center over and over again. I was sobbing hysterically next to the guy I was casually dating. Everyone was crying and 'confused' - frightened and not exactly sure why.
There was talk about our college stadium being a potential target. My job closed its doors for the day because staff couldn't keep their emotions in check
The skies were eerily quiet until they scrambled the jets over at Selfridge. Seeing them fly in formation over my house scared me to death.
We had a cell phone blackout due to everyone trying to use the system, I had to drive across the high school lawn to get to my baby sister because she had broken her arm and traffic was locked up.
Most of all, I remember the footage reel of planes crashing over and over and over again, my baby sis had nightmares for weeks. It still haunts me."
- Jessica Marian
'How shitty of a pilot do you have to be to hit a damn building.'
The second plane hit while I was in class, someone came in and told my professor who then told the class that we were all to go down to the AV room, a hall where art installation videos were usual shown, because something big was happening.
I remember sitting there, watching the news play the footage of the plane crashing into the World Trade Center over and over again. I was sobbing hysterically next to the guy I was casually dating. Everyone was crying and 'confused' - frightened and not exactly sure why.
There was talk about our college stadium being a potential target. My job closed its doors for the day because staff couldn't keep their emotions in check
The skies were eerily quiet until they scrambled the jets over at Selfridge. Seeing them fly in formation over my house scared me to death.
We had a cell phone blackout due to everyone trying to use the system, I had to drive across the high school lawn to get to my baby sister because she had broken her arm and traffic was locked up.
Most of all, I remember the footage reel of planes crashing over and over and over again, my baby sis had nightmares for weeks. It still haunts me."
- Jessica Marian
A multi-story tear gaping on the face of Deutsche Bank skyscraper at 130 Liberty St.
Ruins of 7 WTC, the skyscraper that collapsed the afternoon of 9/11.
"It was here, when I saw the I-beams, twisted and torn like sheets of paper, that the futility of finding anyone alive really struck me." A file of firemen clearing the chaos where the entrance to the WTC plaza used to be.
The plaza at night, an apocalyptic landscape. Smoke will billow from under the ruins for months to come.
The missing posters.
|
23. "I was at my dorm in Detroit when the attacks happened and I could no longer go about my daily business, I had to do something. The next couple days would be about trying to figure out how to skip classes and go to New York City as a volunteer worker.
The drive from Detroit to New York City took 10 hours and along the way I stopped in the little town of DuBois, Pennsylvania to buy rubber boots, a fluorescent jacket, work gloves, and protective goggles for the job ahead. I arrived in New York Friday night, three days after it experienced the most horrific act of terror in the history of mankind. I had visited the World Trade Center two years before that and the scale of what happened on September 11 still refused to register in my mind. The city was swarming with military and police and the sense of emergency could be felt everywhere. While I was crawling with traffic on the George Washington Bridge, all the drivers looked to their right. Several miles away from us, among the contours of the skyscrapers, a giant cloud of smoke lit by spotlight beams was still rising in the sky. From Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, where I stayed at my friend's place, I was taking the subway to get to Ground Zero. Lower Manhattan was closed and the train passed it without stops. Journalists and reporters formed a many-hour line to the central police department for the press passes. Even with these, the media was not allowed closer than several hundred yards from the place of the tragedy. It seemed that soldiers and police didn't have strict instructions on whom to allow at the site. While some let me go through without asking questions, others would look at my volunteer tag and turn me away. Together with other volunteers, we were delivering water and ice to Ground Zero from Seamen's Church Institute which became one of the suppliers of food, equipment and medical aid to the rescue workers. On the space between Vesey, Church and Liberty streets, we were assembling the supplied respirators, while doctors from the American Red Cross were demonstrating their proper usage. I had no need for the gear I purchased in Pennsylvania. Donations from all over the country provided rescue workers with everything needed, from hot meals to underwear, to shovels and flashlights. I met people from all over. Tshimsus Jesus, a Congo student from a New York college, worked as a volunteer on the Ground Zero starting the day after the disaster. Olya, a girl originally from Ukraine, worked a twelve-hour night shift serving food and removing dirty dishes in the mobile kitchen. Kenny, the operator of a huge, 200-ton crane that stretched 300 feet over the ruins. Our work was progressing slowly. Welders cut steel beams apart in order to fit in the dump trucks. Out of millions of tons of rubble, only 40 thousand had been removed. Even several days after the catastrophe, the ruins were still burning. The smoke could be seen many miles away. Through this smoke, sometimes one couldn't see the New York Telephone building, from which day and night the fire pumps were pouring water to extinguish the internal inferno. In the darkness, you could see the flames shimmering in the ruins. Shifts of rescue workers and firemen would rest on the plaza in front of building five. On the other side, The Millennium Hilton Hotel was gaping with its torn facade letters and broken windows, while peaceful white curtains blew in the breeze. From time to time, a group of firemen would pass, through the lines of troops and toward the remnants of the second tower. I also passed the lines, giving out respirators and looking for those who didn't have them. I rose up the stairs, passed by what used to be a granite sculpture at the plaza entrance and approached the edge of the pit, where the firemen and police stood. It was the most monstrous and surreal view I will ever see. There was a gigantic foundation pit filled to the brim with mutilated metal, but there was no concrete. The gigantic cloud filling Manhattan was from the buildings' concrete floors, pulverized into dust. Excavators and bulldozers were removing rubble from these hills of chaos. Orange tapes stretched across to keep people away from the carcinogenic asbestos dust, separated the onlookers. Across the street, in a field kitchen on the first floor of a house with broken windows and crashed ledges, a generator supplied light. There was no running water. Inside, it was noisy from the voices of the many who dined there, but from time to time an order was heard from the street and the silence reigned. In this silence, the dog-accompanied rescue workers climbing over the five-story tall ruins, froze listening, trying to catch a voice from underneath. There were no survivors that late. Bodies were - scorched, torn apart, without arms, legs, eyes. To keep the air clean, the bodies were put away into the Brooks Brothers store where they were later picked up by ambulances. Nearby hospitals and churches all over Manhattan the walls were covered with photographs of the missing. The Armory at 26th and Lexington was turned into a center for families of the victims. Crowds of people were always there. There were lots of photos and lots of names - American, Spanish, Greek, Chinese, Russian, the list goes on. It was beyond comprehension to look at the mountains of disfigured metal and think that there might still be people whose last memory was that of a crazy, unstoppable fall into a tornado of steel and concrete. I wanted to believe that the surrounding structures would stand firm while the hopes and forces were aimed at finding miraculous survivors. - Dmytro Doblevych |
24. "I was in kindergarten and was getting ready for my mom to take me to school when the Schwans guy stopped by to deliver some food. He asked my mom,
'You seen what's happening in New York?'
She hadn't and went immediately to turn on the news. Mom decided to not take me to school that morning, which I was happy about until everybody started acting real sad."
- R. R.
'You seen what's happening in New York?'
She hadn't and went immediately to turn on the news. Mom decided to not take me to school that morning, which I was happy about until everybody started acting real sad."
- R. R.
25. "That was the beginning of my sophomore year at MSU. I remember being in the student bookstore, buying my textbooks and was just standing and staring at something - live news footage of the towers burning.
I put the radio on for the ride home and the newscaster, Dan Rather, got word that the first tower had fallen. He was sure that it had to be some sort of mistake but of course... it wasn't."
- L. G.
I put the radio on for the ride home and the newscaster, Dan Rather, got word that the first tower had fallen. He was sure that it had to be some sort of mistake but of course... it wasn't."
- L. G.
26. "I was working for the state of Michigan as a field tech in one of the DHS offices in Oakland County. We turned in a TV slightly before the second plane hit to watch some news about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center.
Everyone in the office screamed when the second plane hit.
It was a very disturbing day."
- B. S.
Everyone in the office screamed when the second plane hit.
It was a very disturbing day."
- B. S.
27. "I had just flown home from a week on the west coast after having road-tripped out there with a friend who was starting college. Didn't have a credit card, so I booked my cross-country one-way ticket using a cash-loaded card bought from 7-11 on September 8th, for a flight on the 9th. I took the 10th off work to unpack from the trip, and was back to work on the 11th, picking up some supplies from the warehouse first thing in the morning before heading to my jobsite, which was a Michigan Bell telephone office on the north side of Mount Clemens.
I was en route, listening to the BBC World Service which came on WUOM at 9am, and a few minutes into the program, Robin Lustig mentioned that an airplane had hit a skyscraper in New York City. I imagined a small plane, obviously an accident, and continued on my way to the office. When I got to the office, the whole crew was in the break room clustered around the small TV in the corner. They filled me in that it was not a small plane, and a few minutes later, we watched the second plane hit.
I think everyone in the world had the same realization at that moment.
Within a few minutes, the Bell office tech (we were contractors) had gotten orders from corporate security that they were locking down, we had 5 minutes to tidy up what we were working on, lock our gangbox, and leave the building. We did so, but outside, none of us got into our cars.
The Mount Clemens North office, you see, is about a mile off the end of the runway of Selfridge. We stood there and watched fighter after fighter after fighter scream into the sky. If it had wings, they were launching it. After a few speechless minutes while everything sank in, we all headed home to be ready for whatever might come next.
Suffice it to say that September 10th was the last time I felt really free."
- Nathaniel Bezanson
I was en route, listening to the BBC World Service which came on WUOM at 9am, and a few minutes into the program, Robin Lustig mentioned that an airplane had hit a skyscraper in New York City. I imagined a small plane, obviously an accident, and continued on my way to the office. When I got to the office, the whole crew was in the break room clustered around the small TV in the corner. They filled me in that it was not a small plane, and a few minutes later, we watched the second plane hit.
I think everyone in the world had the same realization at that moment.
Within a few minutes, the Bell office tech (we were contractors) had gotten orders from corporate security that they were locking down, we had 5 minutes to tidy up what we were working on, lock our gangbox, and leave the building. We did so, but outside, none of us got into our cars.
The Mount Clemens North office, you see, is about a mile off the end of the runway of Selfridge. We stood there and watched fighter after fighter after fighter scream into the sky. If it had wings, they were launching it. After a few speechless minutes while everything sank in, we all headed home to be ready for whatever might come next.
Suffice it to say that September 10th was the last time I felt really free."
- Nathaniel Bezanson