WASHINGTON D.C.
"Where were you on 9/11?" as remembered by those in Washington DC that day.
A Washington DC worker remembers interviewing for a new job on 9/11.
1. "I had taken time off from my job to go to an interview with a prospective employer in D.C. that morning. We heard that the first plane hit, but both he and I assumed that it was an accident with a small, personal aircraft. The two of us then went into the interview and like all interviews, it was pretty cloistered--no information goes in or out for the duration. It was unusual timing to be in a shadow of information.
It wasn't until we were done that one of the peers of the manager came in to tell us about the second plane. At that point, we knew something serious was happening. I left the office as both managers were transfixed by the radio. Part of me still assumed that it was a freak navigational issue, like a compass inversion. My then current workplace was on the other side of DC, and I was expected back there later in the morning.
Naturally the news was all over the radio, but additionally I could actually see the smoke rising from the Pentagon as I passed. Being on the Beltway, I saw at least one convoy of 6 black SUVs apparently escorting an official to a protected position. I would not have wanted to be in their way.
On the way back, exits were being closed by the DC police to prevent access to certain parts of town, but the most unsettling aspect of that trip was hearing the Air Force jets flying 'air cover' in an attempt to suppress whatever was going on. The roar of jets in combat position overhead is not a sound you expect to hear in a US city, and it really drove the point that we were about to enter a new era.
After I got back to work, most folks were sent home but the rest of us listened to the media to try to get a handle on what was going on. For awhile, there were up to 20 planes that were unaccounted for that were presumed to be hijacked and heading to their targets. CNN was the most reliable news outlet on the web, as they had turned off their ads so their pages could actually load. One of my coworkers was a consultant and was actually expected at the Pentagon that morning--he was unaccounted for awhile, and we were concerned until we learned that he had been stuck in traffic on getting to his appointment."
- Michael Dinsmore
It wasn't until we were done that one of the peers of the manager came in to tell us about the second plane. At that point, we knew something serious was happening. I left the office as both managers were transfixed by the radio. Part of me still assumed that it was a freak navigational issue, like a compass inversion. My then current workplace was on the other side of DC, and I was expected back there later in the morning.
Naturally the news was all over the radio, but additionally I could actually see the smoke rising from the Pentagon as I passed. Being on the Beltway, I saw at least one convoy of 6 black SUVs apparently escorting an official to a protected position. I would not have wanted to be in their way.
On the way back, exits were being closed by the DC police to prevent access to certain parts of town, but the most unsettling aspect of that trip was hearing the Air Force jets flying 'air cover' in an attempt to suppress whatever was going on. The roar of jets in combat position overhead is not a sound you expect to hear in a US city, and it really drove the point that we were about to enter a new era.
After I got back to work, most folks were sent home but the rest of us listened to the media to try to get a handle on what was going on. For awhile, there were up to 20 planes that were unaccounted for that were presumed to be hijacked and heading to their targets. CNN was the most reliable news outlet on the web, as they had turned off their ads so their pages could actually load. One of my coworkers was a consultant and was actually expected at the Pentagon that morning--he was unaccounted for awhile, and we were concerned until we learned that he had been stuck in traffic on getting to his appointment."
- Michael Dinsmore
Written Stories
2. "9/11 was the official first day of my undergraduate courses in DC. The night before, freshmen were introduced to one another during a pizza party. I met a couple ladies who had the same class as me and we agreed to meet at their dorm room and walk together the next morning.
I didn't have a TV in my dorm so I had no idea what was happening until I knocked on their door and saw one of the girls crying. I asked if she was okay and she invited me in where I saw the other girl staring at the TV at what looked like a movie. It was the Twin Towers burning.
I couldn't understand it, we all tried our cell phones and none of us could get service. We decided to go up and see if signal was better on the roof. DC has a cap on how tall buildings can be, so most of the skyline is clear from any high rises and once in the roof we had a clear view out for miles. That's when we saw the smoke from the Pentagon.
This had become the most surreal day of my entire life.
My parents only loved thirty minutes away, but on 9/11 it took them over 6 hours to get to me because traffic was so insane and the metro services were shut down for security.
I cried for days once the shock wore off and I learned everything that had happened.
It impacted everyone - everywhere. My college was on the same street as the White House so we were under major lock down and the campus was scoured for any safety concerns especially because our piping was connected to the White House. We had plain-clothes secret service men on our campus all four years I was in college."
- Michelle K.
I didn't have a TV in my dorm so I had no idea what was happening until I knocked on their door and saw one of the girls crying. I asked if she was okay and she invited me in where I saw the other girl staring at the TV at what looked like a movie. It was the Twin Towers burning.
I couldn't understand it, we all tried our cell phones and none of us could get service. We decided to go up and see if signal was better on the roof. DC has a cap on how tall buildings can be, so most of the skyline is clear from any high rises and once in the roof we had a clear view out for miles. That's when we saw the smoke from the Pentagon.
This had become the most surreal day of my entire life.
My parents only loved thirty minutes away, but on 9/11 it took them over 6 hours to get to me because traffic was so insane and the metro services were shut down for security.
I cried for days once the shock wore off and I learned everything that had happened.
It impacted everyone - everywhere. My college was on the same street as the White House so we were under major lock down and the campus was scoured for any safety concerns especially because our piping was connected to the White House. We had plain-clothes secret service men on our campus all four years I was in college."
- Michelle K.
3. "I was working at the Smithsonian in a science lab for kids. We hadn’t opened yet, and word came through - we were told to shelter in place with the doors closed and locked, people hiding either in the little office, the break room, or the back room. There was a computer with internet in the break room and the office so we split into 2 groups and kept checking the computer as our link to the outside world. It felt like it lasted forever.
People got hungry, and we knew the front doors of the museum were locked, so we went to the cafeteria for food. The cafeteria staff had left, and put nothing away - it was like they were ready for a day of visitors, but there was no one there. We grabbed sandwiches, chips, and sodas, and went back to the office to wait to hear it was/was not, safe for us to leave,"
- Joseph Oleary
People got hungry, and we knew the front doors of the museum were locked, so we went to the cafeteria for food. The cafeteria staff had left, and put nothing away - it was like they were ready for a day of visitors, but there was no one there. We grabbed sandwiches, chips, and sodas, and went back to the office to wait to hear it was/was not, safe for us to leave,"
- Joseph Oleary
4. "I as on my way to work, got on the metro at Tenley Circle and some people were talking about something that had hit a building. I got the impression that it had been a Cessna or something.
When I got off at Dupont Circle, my sister called my cell to ask if I was OK. She told me there had been an attack on the Pentagon. I assured her that there was construction going on there and it was probably related to that. I walked into Starbucks confident that the day was pretty normal and that the rumors were just exaggeration.
Once I arrived at the office though, I was glued to the TV images. I saw the towers collapse in real time and was, I think, in a kind of shock. I also was on a lot of email lists and there were rumors flying around about car bombs at the State Department. It sounded like the city was in the middle of a bigger attack! We had two workers from other countries and they needed to use the internet to communicate for a bit, then we all grabbed bottled water and closed the office.
I walked from there to home. It was the eeriest thing up until the COVID quarantine. Almost every business was closed and the streets were empty. No cars moving as I walked up the normally jammed Connecticut Avenue. I avoided the Metro because I figured that would be a logical place for a second attack. On the way home I ran into a guy I knew and we walked for a block or so together, it was such a weirdly normal thing that totally didn't fit."
- Dan Jeffers
When I got off at Dupont Circle, my sister called my cell to ask if I was OK. She told me there had been an attack on the Pentagon. I assured her that there was construction going on there and it was probably related to that. I walked into Starbucks confident that the day was pretty normal and that the rumors were just exaggeration.
Once I arrived at the office though, I was glued to the TV images. I saw the towers collapse in real time and was, I think, in a kind of shock. I also was on a lot of email lists and there were rumors flying around about car bombs at the State Department. It sounded like the city was in the middle of a bigger attack! We had two workers from other countries and they needed to use the internet to communicate for a bit, then we all grabbed bottled water and closed the office.
I walked from there to home. It was the eeriest thing up until the COVID quarantine. Almost every business was closed and the streets were empty. No cars moving as I walked up the normally jammed Connecticut Avenue. I avoided the Metro because I figured that would be a logical place for a second attack. On the way home I ran into a guy I knew and we walked for a block or so together, it was such a weirdly normal thing that totally didn't fit."
- Dan Jeffers
5. "I was working on a contract for the FAA in the Department of Transportation building a few blocks from the White House. We watched the second plane hit the tower live on a tiny TV. I walked home after the Pentagon got hit and before they figured out what happened to Flight 93. The metro was shutdown, so I walked across the 14th Street Bridge with thousands of other people in their hard, dress shoes.
The skies where quiet.
We were at war."
- S. G.
The skies where quiet.
We were at war."
- S. G.