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Aftermath of United 93's impact in Somerset County, PA.
(Photo Val McClatchey) 
Investigators work recovery on the crash site on September 16, 2001.
(AP Photo) 
Tower of Voices monument at the Flight 93 National Memorial.
(National Park Service) |
Written Stories
1. "I was 18 years old, working in a shop. I heard about the first plane before I left for work and then the next plane while in the car, watched everything else on the shop T.V.
My mother called me crying cause she sent in my draft card without telling me. I went to St. Nick's for a little prayer service. We were so stunned."
- T. W.
My mother called me crying cause she sent in my draft card without telling me. I went to St. Nick's for a little prayer service. We were so stunned."
- T. W.
2. "I was in second grade in Warrington and we had just moved to a new table arrangement in the classroom when my teacher got a call and ran out into the hallway. A few minutes later, she came back into the room a crying mess and told us the World Trade Center was under attack. I didn't know what that was but loved trains and thought she said the World Train Center so I was scared. Courtney, the new girl I was siting next to, started to cry as she knew what it was.
The rest of the school day was weird, some of my best friends had their parents come and pick them up from school. My day went on as planned, I had a play date after school at my friend Jake's house. We had gummy sharks in his kitchen as his Mom was fixated on the TV. She told us not to watch. We went out to dinner at Applebee's that night and all I can remember is the images on the little square TV's mounted on the wall behind our table.
I can still picture it today."
- Dylan Karsch
The rest of the school day was weird, some of my best friends had their parents come and pick them up from school. My day went on as planned, I had a play date after school at my friend Jake's house. We had gummy sharks in his kitchen as his Mom was fixated on the TV. She told us not to watch. We went out to dinner at Applebee's that night and all I can remember is the images on the little square TV's mounted on the wall behind our table.
I can still picture it today."
- Dylan Karsch
3. "I was a 2nd year carpenters apprentice in Philly working at 22nd and Market on a property that is now condos or student housing. The radio was on and when I heard what happened I couldn't believe my ears. I got down off my ladder and walked over to the window where I just looked out aimlessly at society walk about...
Twenty minutes later the Foreman said wrap up and the job was shut down. Philly was gridlocked with people leaving and it was all over the radio, every station.
I turned my radio off only to hear all the cars around me."
- Anonymous
Twenty minutes later the Foreman said wrap up and the job was shut down. Philly was gridlocked with people leaving and it was all over the radio, every station.
I turned my radio off only to hear all the cars around me."
- Anonymous
4. "It was freshman year of college in Philly, I was in a figure drawing class and the professor told us a planes had just hit the twin towers and we could go home if we wanted to. Everyone did except one kid who made the class model stay so he could finish up.
I didn’t have a cell phone and all the land lines were full so I couldn’t get a hold of my folks in Texas to tell them I was okay. I lived in China Town in the middle of downtown and the city was going crazy. Sirens everywhere and people running around. I didn’t know a plane had gone down in PA until I got back to my apt and saw the news.
I hung out with a couple of friends and got f**ked up while we watched the news. It was really surreal. Being so close to NY and a lot of my classmates and close friends being from there and not being able to get a hold of family was pretty intense. We all knew it was going to change everything. It’s weird knowing what the world was like before that day and seeing it change so drastically from then on."
- S. B.
I didn’t have a cell phone and all the land lines were full so I couldn’t get a hold of my folks in Texas to tell them I was okay. I lived in China Town in the middle of downtown and the city was going crazy. Sirens everywhere and people running around. I didn’t know a plane had gone down in PA until I got back to my apt and saw the news.
I hung out with a couple of friends and got f**ked up while we watched the news. It was really surreal. Being so close to NY and a lot of my classmates and close friends being from there and not being able to get a hold of family was pretty intense. We all knew it was going to change everything. It’s weird knowing what the world was like before that day and seeing it change so drastically from then on."
- S. B.
5. "I was 21, in college and would go to my car to listen to the radio and smoke cigarettes between classes. I had heard nothing of it during my morning classes.
At around 11 in the morning I go out to my car and turn the radio on. They were doing a quick recap on it all and I pretty quickly decided it was time to go home.
I'll never forget the news on EVERY single channel. There were a handful of exceptions, I think Disney maintained normal programming, but MTV was CNN, TLC was BBC, etc. No commercials either, for days. Just non-stop news.
We live under a few busy flight corridors and it was absolutely surreal seeing nothing in the sky for days, save for a random medical chopper or military. You can look up any time and see contrails in the day and nav lights at night, but there was just an empty sky.
It was a weird day."
- F. L.
At around 11 in the morning I go out to my car and turn the radio on. They were doing a quick recap on it all and I pretty quickly decided it was time to go home.
I'll never forget the news on EVERY single channel. There were a handful of exceptions, I think Disney maintained normal programming, but MTV was CNN, TLC was BBC, etc. No commercials either, for days. Just non-stop news.
We live under a few busy flight corridors and it was absolutely surreal seeing nothing in the sky for days, save for a random medical chopper or military. You can look up any time and see contrails in the day and nav lights at night, but there was just an empty sky.
It was a weird day."
- F. L.
6. "9 years old in Western PA. My teacher was a huge fan of Harry Potter and spent the morning free period reading the books to us. During her reading, another teacher came into the room, whispered something to her, and then went back to turn on the old TV. It was a broadcast of the one tower smoking, but we had no idea what was going on because the TV didn't have sound.
A couple of minutes later, we watched the second plane hit and my teacher turned off the TV then tried to go back to reading Harry Potter. Key word tried.
A couple of minutes later, we watched the second plane hit and my teacher turned off the TV then tried to go back to reading Harry Potter. Key word tried.
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Not long after this, kids started getting called to the office to go home. Me, my sister, and three of my cousins were picked up from school by my aunt who lived a few minutes from the school and I spent the next few hours playing Smash Bros on the Nintendo 64 with cousins until my mom could pick us up.
I had no idea what was going on and I didn't realize the gravity of the situation until a few years later. The reason my memory of that day is pretty clear is because the adults around me had an air about them that scared me. They were all wound up and jumpy. For a kid, that's scary enough." - H. W. |
7. "I was in 8th grade, about 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia and was in social studies class when the news started coming in. Classes stopped and everyone was glued to the TVs throughout the school. I vividly remember seeing teachers crying.
A boy in one of my classes had a parent that worked in one of the Twin Towers and they didn't make it. They decided to let us go home early that day.
That evening, every single TV station including Nickelodeon was broadcasting coverage of the events. My family huddled in our living room and watched the horrific scenes on the TV. My parents debated whether we would go to school the next day, but they ultimately decided to send us. It was such a scary and sad day."
- Anonymous
A boy in one of my classes had a parent that worked in one of the Twin Towers and they didn't make it. They decided to let us go home early that day.
That evening, every single TV station including Nickelodeon was broadcasting coverage of the events. My family huddled in our living room and watched the horrific scenes on the TV. My parents debated whether we would go to school the next day, but they ultimately decided to send us. It was such a scary and sad day."
- Anonymous
8. "I was in the 3rd grade in western Pennsylvania. They moved our recess up to an earlier part of the day, but strangely enough we had to have it indoors because of 'a bee infestation on the bleachers.' I remember thinking what a stupid reason that was for having to stay inside, we could just avoid the bleachers, after all.
Of course, none of us knew what was really going on - the teachers were actually gathering in the staff room to watch the news as this all unfolded that morning. They called school early that day and parents came to pick us up.
It wasn't until I was home that night that I found out what had actually happened."
- Mike
Of course, none of us knew what was really going on - the teachers were actually gathering in the staff room to watch the news as this all unfolded that morning. They called school early that day and parents came to pick us up.
It wasn't until I was home that night that I found out what had actually happened."
- Mike
9. "I was 45 years old living in Allentown and I'd just spent the previous two years homeless on the streets of NYC after a devastating fire in 1999.
I was born in Brooklyn and had lived there all my life except for 6 years in the military. My family ran a small construction company and when I wasn't working there I was an EMT with a private company and with the local volunteer ambulance company. I drove ambulances in NYC for a total of 14 years before retiring in 1999 with PTSD.
The morning of 9/11 found me sitting in a local bank. I was chatting with the branch manager as I put the bags and papers into my briefcase when one of the tellers came running over and said,
'You're from NY, right? A plane just hit the World Trade Center!'
I hurried back to my store and put on the radio. When the second plane hit I knew this was going to be horrific, and I also knew that two of my brothers (one NYPD and one FDNY) were probably there. What I didn't think about at the time was that many of my old friends and partners from the ambulances would be there too.
When the towers fell my mind went pretty numb. There'd been no customers in the store yet which was a good thing as I was turning into a basket case. I was 99% certain that I'd just listened to my two brothers being killed and I could all too well picture the massive death and destruction. In tears, I called my boss and asked for permission to close my store for the day and go home. She refused (I gave my 30-day notice a month later, mostly because of this) and I sat there for the rest of the day, numb, listening to the radio and asking customers to come back another time.
I tried getting information about my brothers for several weeks afterward but could not reach any of my family (the home number had changed to non-published and the business had closed when dad died the year before) and neither NYPD nor FDNY would believe I was related to my two brothers (their mother was my dad's 5th wife and they were Hispanic with Spanish last names while mine is very German). I found out 6 months later that they both were safe, having both been on vacation at the family home in Puerto Rico.
When the names of the first responders who died were announced there were seven names on the list that I knew well. They were all friends from my EMT days, and four of them were former partners. That hurt me deeply because you really do develop a strong bond with your partner. You spend 40-60 hours a week together and you either bond like siblings or hate each other after a while. It also hurts me that I wasn't with them. I remember them every year when I lower the flag in my yard, and then I come inside and lift a cup to their memory, coffee, not alcohol because that's what we drank on the job. Hot, bitter, and strong, like my tears."
- B. B.
I was born in Brooklyn and had lived there all my life except for 6 years in the military. My family ran a small construction company and when I wasn't working there I was an EMT with a private company and with the local volunteer ambulance company. I drove ambulances in NYC for a total of 14 years before retiring in 1999 with PTSD.
The morning of 9/11 found me sitting in a local bank. I was chatting with the branch manager as I put the bags and papers into my briefcase when one of the tellers came running over and said,
'You're from NY, right? A plane just hit the World Trade Center!'
I hurried back to my store and put on the radio. When the second plane hit I knew this was going to be horrific, and I also knew that two of my brothers (one NYPD and one FDNY) were probably there. What I didn't think about at the time was that many of my old friends and partners from the ambulances would be there too.
When the towers fell my mind went pretty numb. There'd been no customers in the store yet which was a good thing as I was turning into a basket case. I was 99% certain that I'd just listened to my two brothers being killed and I could all too well picture the massive death and destruction. In tears, I called my boss and asked for permission to close my store for the day and go home. She refused (I gave my 30-day notice a month later, mostly because of this) and I sat there for the rest of the day, numb, listening to the radio and asking customers to come back another time.
I tried getting information about my brothers for several weeks afterward but could not reach any of my family (the home number had changed to non-published and the business had closed when dad died the year before) and neither NYPD nor FDNY would believe I was related to my two brothers (their mother was my dad's 5th wife and they were Hispanic with Spanish last names while mine is very German). I found out 6 months later that they both were safe, having both been on vacation at the family home in Puerto Rico.
When the names of the first responders who died were announced there were seven names on the list that I knew well. They were all friends from my EMT days, and four of them were former partners. That hurt me deeply because you really do develop a strong bond with your partner. You spend 40-60 hours a week together and you either bond like siblings or hate each other after a while. It also hurts me that I wasn't with them. I remember them every year when I lower the flag in my yard, and then I come inside and lift a cup to their memory, coffee, not alcohol because that's what we drank on the job. Hot, bitter, and strong, like my tears."
- B. B.
10. "My father was having surgery at Presbyterian Hospital in Philly. My mother and I were in the waiting room and all around us you could hear the normal hospital sounds - Nurses were talking and laughing.
It just suddenly went quiet and someone came in to tell us that a plane a crashed into the World Trade Center. We turned on the TV and watched as everything happened. I just couldn’t stop crying.
I remember one of the nurses telling us that all the Philadelphia hospitals were prepping for an influx of causalities. Those never arrived."
- D. S.
It just suddenly went quiet and someone came in to tell us that a plane a crashed into the World Trade Center. We turned on the TV and watched as everything happened. I just couldn’t stop crying.
I remember one of the nurses telling us that all the Philadelphia hospitals were prepping for an influx of causalities. Those never arrived."
- D. S.
11. "I had just gone back to work at a grocery store after taking my 20th birthday off the day before. A lady came in and mentioned that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.
About an hour later I received a phone call from my sister saying,
'You need to come home right now!'
I don't remember why she said I needed to come home but I started to cry and I left work. I picked my son up at daycare and went to my mom's.
My stepfather was about 20 miles away from the crash in Shanksville working on a roof. He wanted his family home to know they were safe.
He said he saw the plane before it crashed."
- Anonymous
About an hour later I received a phone call from my sister saying,
'You need to come home right now!'
I don't remember why she said I needed to come home but I started to cry and I left work. I picked my son up at daycare and went to my mom's.
My stepfather was about 20 miles away from the crash in Shanksville working on a roof. He wanted his family home to know they were safe.
He said he saw the plane before it crashed."
- Anonymous
12. "I was in 8th grade band class. My friend was crying because her father usually worked there, thankfully he was okay.
We were very surprised were weren't sent home early as there was a train that ran directly into the city that could be a target. When I got home, I remember being weirded out that all the channels like MTV and Fuse were out. At that age, I don't think it resonated the way it would have now.
I still find it really surreal that I had been alive for an event like that."
- R. R.
We were very surprised were weren't sent home early as there was a train that ran directly into the city that could be a target. When I got home, I remember being weirded out that all the channels like MTV and Fuse were out. At that age, I don't think it resonated the way it would have now.
I still find it really surreal that I had been alive for an event like that."
- R. R.
13. "I was in 3rd grade and remember the teachers whispering to each other.
'Should we tell them?'
'No, some of them have parents that work there...'
I went home and just wanted to play and watch TV. My parents were watching news nonstop.
I didn’t truly understand until months later."
- A. E.
'Should we tell them?'
'No, some of them have parents that work there...'
I went home and just wanted to play and watch TV. My parents were watching news nonstop.
I didn’t truly understand until months later."
- A. E.
14. "I was just a kid, I was a fifth grader in Mount Union. I had gone to school that day, but my brother was sick and my mom stayed home with him. My class, which was both 4th and 5th graders, had a substitute teacher; our regular teacher had gone somewhere in Ohio to watch a Sade concert. We weren’t expecting him back for a couple days. That day, we were standing outside the restrooms waiting to go back to class when our teacher came in. I vividly remember him asking the sub if she had told us what happened. All we knew, at this point, probably around lunch time, was that we weren’t allowed outside for recess (and we were all confused because it was a beautiful day). The sub replied that they had been instructed not to tell us what had happened. Our regular teacher led us back to our classroom and explained there had been a terrorist attack and how everything was probably scary for us. Then we went about our day as prescribed.
The full gravity didn’t hit me until I got home and my mom was watching the news. I remember her saying she had taken my brother to the ER because the doctor’s office had closed. Apparently the doctor had family in the DC area and they were terrified. We watched the news everyday for what seemed like an eternity both at school and at home. It’s a trauma I have honestly never dealt with. Every year on the anniversary, I am a wreck. And even if I watch TV shows that have memorial episodes, I cry. I just remember being so little and so scared."
- Candt Price-Winnick
The full gravity didn’t hit me until I got home and my mom was watching the news. I remember her saying she had taken my brother to the ER because the doctor’s office had closed. Apparently the doctor had family in the DC area and they were terrified. We watched the news everyday for what seemed like an eternity both at school and at home. It’s a trauma I have honestly never dealt with. Every year on the anniversary, I am a wreck. And even if I watch TV shows that have memorial episodes, I cry. I just remember being so little and so scared."
- Candt Price-Winnick
15. "I was in 8th grade social studies class, we were the youngest class they let watch. I definitely didn't understand what was going on or why this was bad other than a lot of people died. School got cancelled, but we were right outside of Philly and this was New York? Young me didn't understand how this had anything to do with me.
Well years later, I was playing League of Legends and when we got Bin Laden. I told my friends when the news announced it, and found out that a mutual friend's father died in the towers. I never knew. A few more years go by and I married that man.
I never dreamed as a 9th grader that 9/11 would affect me. And now my future son isn't growing up with his biological grandfather. Remembering 9/11 is a family tradition and we are praying our son isn't born that day.
We go to the memorial often to talk to his father.
We have been to Guantanamo Bay and saw the masterminds face to face in their court room.
After 9/11, a star was donated to my father-in-law and his family received a flag that had gone to the moon. Our son's nursery is space themed and I am so excited he will have these items hung and just something connected to his grandfather. Turns out 9/11 has had a huge impact on my life and my future.
I never would have dreamed."
- Reddit user /u/Jaci_D
Well years later, I was playing League of Legends and when we got Bin Laden. I told my friends when the news announced it, and found out that a mutual friend's father died in the towers. I never knew. A few more years go by and I married that man.
I never dreamed as a 9th grader that 9/11 would affect me. And now my future son isn't growing up with his biological grandfather. Remembering 9/11 is a family tradition and we are praying our son isn't born that day.
We go to the memorial often to talk to his father.
We have been to Guantanamo Bay and saw the masterminds face to face in their court room.
After 9/11, a star was donated to my father-in-law and his family received a flag that had gone to the moon. Our son's nursery is space themed and I am so excited he will have these items hung and just something connected to his grandfather. Turns out 9/11 has had a huge impact on my life and my future.
I never would have dreamed."
- Reddit user /u/Jaci_D
16. "I was in 10th grade math class in Wexford when it happened. No idea what was being taught that day. We had TV’s in all our classrooms because our school subscribed to a program called 'Channel One.'
Our history teacher swung open the door and said something was happening. A plane just flew into a World Trade Center tower in New York!
I’ll never forget our teachers reaction. He shrugged, like 'Just another day! Planes fly into towers all the time! No big deal' and went on with his lesson.
The history teacher comes back a bit later screaming,
'Turn on the TV, the other tower was just hit!'
We turned on our classroom TV and watched the towers fall.
The rest of the day was a blur to me. I remember trying to find any news or information I could. In keyboarding class, I finally had access to the internet and no class work was completed as I was too busy researching. I had to know what was going on. It was then that I learned about the plane that went down in Somerset, PA. That was so much closer to us than the NY crashes. Very unsettling.
- Reddit user /u/SwirlingAether
Our history teacher swung open the door and said something was happening. A plane just flew into a World Trade Center tower in New York!
I’ll never forget our teachers reaction. He shrugged, like 'Just another day! Planes fly into towers all the time! No big deal' and went on with his lesson.
The history teacher comes back a bit later screaming,
'Turn on the TV, the other tower was just hit!'
We turned on our classroom TV and watched the towers fall.
The rest of the day was a blur to me. I remember trying to find any news or information I could. In keyboarding class, I finally had access to the internet and no class work was completed as I was too busy researching. I had to know what was going on. It was then that I learned about the plane that went down in Somerset, PA. That was so much closer to us than the NY crashes. Very unsettling.
- Reddit user /u/SwirlingAether