2025 More than Twenty Years Later: Honoring 09/11/01 by Ms. Temple

Mrs. Patton Period 0

stemple5 — 2025-09-05 13:57:28 UTC

While I was alive for 9/11, I was pretty young, so I don't remember much. However, my parents have told me a lot about that day. It was my grandmother's birthday but my mom and her spent most of the day watching the news. My Dad was scheduled to take a flight home from Oregon that day, but while he was in the airport he noticed all the TVs were turned off and all of a sudden flights were cancelled left and right. He didn't know what was happening, and it was pretty frightening for him. He followed his gut instinct and rented a car to drive home- an over 2,000 mile trip. My mom was pretty hysterical until she figured out that my Dad wasn't on any of the planes that were targeted.

Greyson Period 8

2025-09-09 00:54:12 UTC

I asked my dad about that day and he said he was at work and he was watching TV right after the first tower got hit and watched the second plane strike. he said that everyone in the office was told to stay home and lay low until they knew what was happening. There was about 24 hours of complete uncertainty. The day reminds him of panic, uncertainty, and sadness. The hardest part about the day and what had happened is as they were all panicking they didn't know who or why this had happened which made everything worse.

Camryn M. Period 7

2025-09-09 01:46:04 UTC

My mom was in college on the western side of New York by Lake Erie, getting ready to go to her second class of the day when it happened. She watched in shock as the plane hit the second tower on live TV from her college house. A few of her roommates started coming home from classes and informed everyone that everything was being cancelled and everyone on campus was told to go home. She called her mom, (my grandma), and told her that just a week or two before, she'd been having a bad feeling about something. She said that when it happened, she couldn't help but think maybe that's why she'd been having that bad feeling. They watched the news for months as new information about the attack came out. "It was scary, sad, and horrible, and there were so many brave people that ran toward those buildings that day."

Charlee Frantzen period 8

2025-09-09 13:06:33 UTC

My mom was at work in a building during 9/11 and all of a sudden they sent everyone home without telling them what happened. Everyone was concerned and confused as to what had just happened but when my mom got home and turned on the TV she saw a story about the twin towers collapsing. She spent the rest of her day at home nervous for our country's safety.

Brady W. Period 8

bwil0235 — 2025-09-09 15:27:54 UTC

I asked my mom about her experience and she told me that she was at her first real job after college. She heard her coworkers saying a plane flew into the World Trade Center, her shrugging it off and thinking it was just a little plan. Then her sister called her since she was in an earlier time zone and was freaking out. Her sister told her it was an airliner that hit the WTC and now the Pentagon. They both got very scared and her and her coworkers gathered around the small TV and watched as the towers fell. Everyone was told to go home, and my mom spent the rest of the day with her friends glued to the television in terror.

Arwa Period 7

2025-09-09 16:51:58 UTC

My parents were both in India during 9/11, and they didn't know anybody who was near the airport at that time. My dad was watching TV with his parents and all of a sudden the news channel came on and gave him the news. Even though neither of my parents were actively tied to 9/11 they still heard about it and knew what happened.

Maahi Shah Period 7

2025-09-09 20:58:35 UTC

My grandpa was at work when he heard that somebody attacked the twin towers and everyone was so shocked. He ran into the conference room and watched the news and watched the towers fall and saw the death tolls. He was worried about his friend that worked at the twin towers, but luckily, that friend missed his train that day, so he wasn't there when the planes crashed.

Megan Johnson period 7

2025-09-09 21:38:30 UTC

my aunt wasn't to far away from it when it happened she was with a friend she said it was a cloudless day and then got the news on live TV

Bea period 7

2025-09-09 21:41:17 UTC

My moms experience with 9/11 was she was living in Colorado and had a job at a coffee shop. On that day she had to come in early and open the shop and started off her day normally. Later, her manager came in and said something about a plane hitting a tower in New York City. After hearing about this, my mom and others went next door to a bar place that had the news on TV playing. They all watched the second plane run right into the building, but at first thought it was just a replay of the first hit. Later on working there that week, people came in to get coffee that had rented a car to drive across the country because no one could fly since all airports were closed.

Giuliana Scala period 8

2025-09-09 21:43:12 UTC

I talked to my dad and he said he had just gotten home from work and his mom sent him to pick up my uncle from work in the city. He said a lot of people were scared Chicago was next. So my Nonnie didn't want anything to happen to any of her kids.

Grace Lee Period 7 Global Connections

2025-09-09 22:21:58 UTC

Both of my parents were at home when 9/11 happened. My mom had just gotten my eldest brother to take a nap (he was only 1), she was walking into the living room where the T.V. was on. The news channel was broadcasting what was happening and my mom watched it all happen. She said it was surreal and shocking. At these times no one really knew what was going on. -- 2 weeks earlier my parents and my eldest brother were on a train passing by the twin towers. They both saw the twin towers. -- It was really crazy how they were there just days before and that now that was happening. She was very concerned and worried for the people in those towers.

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One of my teachers (from outside of school) was also there for this event. However much closer. (This is all I know about it.) She was coming off a subway and was heading up a set of stairs when a police officer yelled at everyone to clear out and move away from the area.

Ryan Justice, 7th Period

2025-09-09 22:22:05 UTC

My mother was in grad school at the University of Illinois, sitting in the library, when an employee said a plane had crashed into a building in New York. They brought everyone into a basement that had a TV. The next thing she remembers was that her and her friends were at subway, and none of them had fully grasped the situation yet, and none of them knew what had really happened yet.

Ella Hayes Period 7

2025-09-09 22:50:54 UTC

My mom's experience for 9/11 was, she was sitting in her cubicle at work about a block from the Sears Tower. She had heard that the World Trade Center in New York had gotten hit. Everyone was evacuating because they were scared since they were so close to the Willis Tower and thought it might be the terrorists next stop. My mom wasn't leaving and was continuing to work, then the other twin tower got hit. She then started to leave but it was a struggle since she was on the 20th floor and the elevators had shut down. It was really crowded in the stairwell and the streets were packed. She and some co-workers took a cab and went to a bar near Lincoln park to watch the horrific new on the television. When she got to her apartment, her and her roommates stayed up all night waiting for an update and more news just kept coming.

Elliot Grucella Period 8

2025-09-09 22:52:11 UTC

I talked to my mom and she told me that it was all a normal day and she was just getting ready for work. Her and my dad worked in Chicago and she always watched the news in the morning. Then she saw on the news a plane hit the tower. Next she went to work at the Willis tower. When she got there the building was shut down they didn't allow anyone in the building because at that point they thought the Willis tower could have been another target. Since the second tower got hit. She then tries calling my dad but everyone was calling each other but all the phones jammed. Then saw that the Pentagon was hit and your cousin husband worked there at the time. She was making sure that he wasn't hurt but he wasn't. She says that it was very quiet because they shut down all the planes for a couple days and my grandpa and uncle were both stuck in different states waiting to be allowed to fly home.

Payton O Period 8

2025-09-09 23:28:07 UTC

I talked to my Aunt and she said that she was at home alone getting ready to go to college and she was sitting in the kitchen. She turned on the TV and put the news on, she was so confused on what was happening and didn't know what to do and if she still had to go to school or not. So she called her dad to ask him what was going on and he said that he didn't really know what was going. She was very scared at that moment because she didn't know what was going on and what was going to happen and she was home alone.

Sofia Ross Period7

2025-09-09 23:59:00 UTC

My mom was in 8th grade she was 14, she was sitting in math class and another teacher ran into the classroom and told the math teacher that somebody had bombed the world train center, she didn't even know what that was. The two teacher talked in the hallways deciding weather or not to let the kids watch. They decided that they should because it was "history in the making" she went to a private school. All of the students 5th to 8th grade were pulled into the hallway, they pulled the TV into the hallway and they were listening to how a plane crashed into one of the towers and smoke was coming out. This was only about 10 minutes after it hit the first tower. Everyone was silent even the little kids, they were just staring at the TV. They all saw the second tower being hit live. Everyone was in shock somebody started crying. The teachers themselves were in shock. The TV showed the towers collapsing and everybody running. It looked like a cloud of dust, people were disappearing in it. People started jumping from the higher up levels so that they wouldn't have to burn alive. My mom remembers it not feeling real and she remembers thinking "it must be fake" but when she was looking around people were crying. The school let everyone go home because they were 10 minutes from Chicago where she lived and there was confirmed another plane going towards the Pentagon and they weren't sure if other planes were hijacked. everything was very tense and very scary for the next few hours. My mom feels like 9/11 was the start of many bad things, like the war in Afghanistan. She feels like today it kicked off a whole lot of stuff that is still in affect today. A lot of racism towards Muslim people which you still see today. People were targeting mosques. It set the hatred and the racism towards Muslims to a greater degree. And since then it's been downhill. It was very heartbreaking and sickening to think that these were just people going to work.

Grayson Settle Period 7

2025-09-10 00:19:41 UTC

My grandma told me that it happened while she was teaching in her classroom. They said that school had been canceled on the intercom during class. She drove home and looked on the news and found out what had happened. She said it was one of the scariest days of her life because she didn't know how far the terrorists would go or if there would be other attacks.

Mikayla Weber Period 8

2025-09-10 00:46:10 UTC

When my mom was in college, in Chicago, she was getting ready in the morning and her roommate turned on the TV and they saw what was happening. My mom was very scared because she was in the city and also my grandma works in Chicago. Her and many others thought that Chicago could also be targeted so she tried to call my grandma but she said that her phone wasn't working because so many people were trying to call their family. It was a very scary day for my mom and no one went to class that day at UIC in fear that something would happen in Chicago.

Hannah Long Period 7

hlon0891 — 2025-09-10 01:26:52 UTC

My mom and dad lived in downtown Manhattan in 2001. My mom was at the apartment they were staying at and my dad was at work, both were only a few blocks away from the towers when the first plane hit. My dad was sitting at his desk and when he looked out the window he immediately knew that something wasn't right. There was so much paper and debris in the air that you couldn't even see the sky. People were starting to worry about what was happening, but nobody really knew anything yet. Then the second plane hit. My dad described the feeling as a tremor moving throughout his entire body. His boss told everybody to stay put but he knew that my mom was close to the towers so he left to go get her. He mentioned that everybody he encountered was going in the opposite direction while he was going toward the towers. He met my mom outside the apartment building and together they went as far as they could away from the towers, ending up at Battery Park. They were at the edge of the shoreline and they physically couldn't go any farther. They saw a wave of dust and debris coming at them but all they could do was cover their eyes and heads. My mom wanted to go help people because she was a nurse but a police officer told her no because she wasn't currently working as a nurse in the city. Even so my mom still wanted to help but my dad knew that if he let her go help, it would be extremely hard to find her again. That's when a lot of boats started to pull up to the shore and wave people on. The boats were crowded with people and they didn't even know where they were headed, all they knew was that they were going away from the danger. My mom and dad ended up in New Jersey and weren't allowed to go back to their apartment for weeks. My dad knew someone in Hoboken but they were dropped off in Jersey City. They had to walk 2 hours just to get to his friend's house. He ended up living there for about a week and he had to go to a wedding in the clothes that he still had on from the disaster. The scariest part about this all was that my dad was dropping off a rental car at the twin towers only hours before the planes hit. He was also supposed to stay in the Millennium Hilton right next door to the towers but because he was staying in Manhattan for over a week he was told by his company to take corporate housing.

Dovas Simanskis Period 8

2025-09-10 02:23:04 UTC

My dad was in army college, Lithuania, He was going through a normal day and then on the news it started showing the 9/11 attack. Everyone around him didn't know what was going on and they only knew that the planes hit the towers. In Lithuania no one was going on lock down and everyone was just watching on the TV or reading the news. It was his first time seeing something like this happening.

Henry Dillon Period 7

2025-09-10 02:30:01 UTC

My mom was a sophomore in college and she had just finished taking a test. She walked out of her class and her phone rang. Her mom was calling her and she asked if my mom was okay. After this my mom went to the student center which had t.v.'s. She watched the news and saw that two planes had hit the towers. Most colleges canceled classes but my moms college continued with classes. After school my mom and her friends were worried about things like gas so they went to the gas station to fill up her tank. she said that it was really eerie with no planes in the sky.

Riley Brennan Period 7

2025-09-10 03:14:22 UTC

My mom was driving to work at a restaurant she worked at when she heard the new on the radio. When she got to work, nobody was setting up the restaurant. Everyone was gathered around the TV watching the planes crash into the towers.

Hannah Banaszak Period 7

2025-09-10 12:17:24 UTC

My mom had just gotten home from the gym and was getting ready for work when the first plane hit. She remembers staying at home to watch the TV for a bit then going to work and all they did was stand around a TV waiting to see what would happen. That night, all her plans were cancelled and she went back home. My dad was already at work, he worked at the same place as my mom, when the first plane hit. He also went to watch the TV at the building.

Mia Eupierre 8th period

2025-09-10 12:53:09 UTC

My mom was at work when the first plane hit. We turned on the TV and they all gathered together to watch the second plane hit. They all knew something was wrong when the second plane hit. she said they all knew it wasn't an accident.

Ethan Guerrero Period 8

2025-09-10 13:57:52 UTC

My mom was getting ready for work in the morning and was driving and when she got to work she saw it on the tv's in her work as a waitdress.

Lanie Harper Period 8

2025-09-10 14:57:32 UTC

My mom was at a bar with some of her friends when she saw it on the news. She remembers one of her good friends was freaking out because his brother worked in the North Tower. Fortunately, when he called his brother he found out that he was at a dentist appointment and hadn't gone to work that day.

Isla Harris Period 8

2025-09-10 15:02:46 UTC

My mom lived in Washington Virginia right next to the Pentagon when 9/11 happened. she was at work a few minutes away when she heard that the pentagon was hit. She couldn't go home because it was too close so she stayed at a friend's house watching the news until the next day. When she went home the next morning The air was still full of smoke and they were still trying to put out the fires. She said it took them another day to fully extinguish them.

Ivan Blau Period 7

2025-09-10 15:10:45 UTC

My mom was working at the library when it happened. It was a strange day, because people in Chicago were worried about an attack there. Many more people came home from work in the city and came to the library.

jimmy gruszka period 7

2025-09-10 15:14:28 UTC

my mom was working at the park district when it happened and was watching tv with her kids when it came up on the tv and she and her coworkers had to shoo the kids away so they would not panic and then her and a couple other staff sat watching and calling family members and friends to see if they were ok

Abdullah Mahmood Period 7

amah2127 — 2025-09-10 17:23:40 UTC

My mom was doing her masters in education and was starting her student teaching, which is basically an internship for teachers. Her first day was starting on on September 11, and she was nervous because it was a new school with new people. When she arrived, the day started normally, but then suddenly the news turned on and everything in the school stopped. Everyone was transfixed on the TV. She didn't really understand what was happening and that it was unreal and horrifying. 9/11 was a terrible day and we should never forget it.

Nic Blaha Period 7

nbla1467 — 2025-09-10 17:55:33 UTC

My mom dropped my sister off at school and my dad was heading to work. Once my parents saw each other they turned the TV on and the first thing that popped up was the plane that hit the first tower. After that my mom and her colleagues watched the news. My parents received emails and messages from my sisters school. She picked up my sister from school and saw many parents and staff panicking.

Thomas Nielsen, 7th Period

2025-09-10 17:56:21 UTC

My mom was at school when it happened. A teacher wheeled in a TV and my mom with four other classes, watched as the second tower got hit.

Paxton Kloss, 7th Period

2025-09-10 17:56:51 UTC

My Dad said he was working in Chicago when it happened and when he heard about it, he thought they where going to hit Chicago next, so he said he got out of there as fast as he could and walked home very fast and when he got home he said they where showing it on a TV and he watched it happen there.

Nour Kudssi Period 7

2025-09-10 17:57:09 UTC

My dad was at work in Chicago while the towers got hit. While he was working, someone turned on the news on the TV, and my aunt in Canada called him to see what was happening. He didn't know yet but after the towers got hit, they found out it was an Islamist Extremist group. He faced a lot of discrimination because he is a Muslim from Syria. Everyone at work was still kind to him, but some people were extremely racist towards him.

Abdul Mohammed, Period 7

amoh0815 — 2025-09-10 17:57:28 UTC

My mom was in college when this all happened, it started off like any normal day until people started finding out that the first plane had hit the towers and everyone there was in utter shock.

Maddie Davis period 7

2025-09-10 17:59:02 UTC

My stepdad was at school when it happened. He says that he remembers the teacher playing the news during class and continued their learning day while it played in the background. He said that no one was actually paying attention, they were all just watching the TV and freaking out.

2025-09-10 18:03:51 UTC

my dad was at work in chicago and one of his work friends noticed it on the news in the break room. so everyone went to the break room and started watching the news and they all started to panic then started calling there friends and family.

Brendan Tan Period 8

2025-09-10 21:59:19 UTC

My dad was on his way to Chicago and was listening to the radio. He then heard the radio say how a plane had hit one of the towers. When he got to work everybody was talking about it and was around the TV looking at the news. He also said that he knew some people back in high school that got a job working at the world trade center on the upper floors and how after 9/11 he never heard from them.

Brooklyn LaCrosse period 8

2025-09-11 00:42:09 UTC

My mom was in her last semester at Western Michigan University and had the news on while getting ready for her journalism class. She caught a glimpse of the TV right as the second plane went through the second tower. She had to leave for her class so couldn’t stay and watch much more but by the time class was dismissed they had shut down the university for the day and her roommates and her were glued to the TV for the next 24 hours. While she was in class she hadn’t realized or heard yet that it was an act of terrorism. Upon learning what had actually happened she was absolutely devastated.

Noah Garcia. Period 8

2025-09-11 00:53:28 UTC

My mother was coming back home from work, when she heard that the first tower was hit. Her initial reaction was pure shock, because she never would have thought it would have been a terrorist attack and her first thought was that the first tower being hit was noting more than a terrible accident. By the time she got home she found out about how the second tower was hit, and that it was indeed a terrorist attack, the next morning she remained in disbelief as to how this terrorist attack could have even been accomplished and to the fact of all the people who lost loved ones in just a little amount of time. After a couple of days people were still on edge about if there would be any other targets, and for a while the United States went dead silent. Overall 9/11 left the whole nation in shock, disbelief, and fear.

olivia morris 8th period

2025-09-11 02:41:42 UTC

my mom was at work when she got the text from her parents at the time to turn the news on, she did this and she remembers looking at that screen and being shocked. She had friends who worked in NYC and she was working in Chicago at the time so she had to get out her building since no one new if there would be another attack. She still remembers this day like it was yesterday she says and it is still one of the most tragic things she has had to experience.

Roddy Nolter period 8

rnol2408 — 2025-09-11 12:58:18 UTC

Both my parents said that the weather was beautiful before it had happened. My dad woke up that morning to go to work. He walked out into the kitchen and saw my grandpa standing up, watching the TV. My dad was half awake and asked what had happened and he watched the news with my grandpa. He eventually had to go to work so he kissed my mom on the head and didn't wake her up. He went to work and it was all he heard about on the radio, on the TV's at his work, everything. My mom eventually woke up and watched the news and called my dad in a panic. For the next few days, it was all they watched on the news. Eventually, they decided they just needed to take a break from watching it and went to the movies because it got too overwhelming, and they felt nothing but devastation when they were watching.

Tori Truman period 8

2025-09-11 13:20:26 UTC

My mom said when 9/11 happened she was at work, she said previously from hearing about it she was having a good day and then she heard all of her coworkers talking about what happened on the news. She couldn't believe that happened and everyone didn't think it was true. She said her coworkers and her thought it was fake. When she found out it was true she said it was so hurtful. And she said she would never forget that day or forget where she was.

logan Namba 8 period

2025-09-11 14:49:26 UTC

my mom was a school and the teachers had just heard of it and the teacher were talking about it and let them go early and parents rushing to get there kids

Charlie Kohman period 8

2025-09-11 17:17:31 UTC

My mom was in her classroom doing schoolwork, and then her teacher pulled in a TV and turned on the news. The news showed the 9/11 attacks and my mom and everyone in her class was shocked. She told me that everyone was freaking out and no one would go on planes for about a couple months. Finally she told me that she will always remember this day exactly for the rest of her life.

gabe scumaci period 8

gscu0621 — 2025-09-11 17:31:49 UTC

uhhh idk couldn't ask my parents about their experience, but there's this famous guy, Gerard Way, who was in New York the day of 9/11. He said he saw it from a far, he was helpless with everyone else watching. On the train ride to leave there was a man who told him he's never having kids after watching that. 9/11 was the push that made him start his band, which is now famous. There's a song they made from their first album about 9/11, called Skylines and Turnstiles.

Finley Janczewski, Period 8

2025-09-11 17:42:21 UTC

my dad was on his way to work and was listening to the news, and then he had a meeting and breakfast with a client. and they watched the towers collapse on the TV, and he was allowed to go home early.

Tyler Urban period 8

2025-09-11 17:45:21 UTC

My mom was in high school at the time and she was in class. Her school realized what was happening. The class turned on the news and they were shocked at what was happening soon after the first crash they watched the second plane hit the second tower on the news.

Charlie Mazza Per.8

2025-09-11 17:55:56 UTC

My mom was in her dorm for collage when the planes hit, but she says shell never forget getting the call from her parents, telling her to turn on the news. She said it was one of the most terrifying and saddening moments of her lifetime, and she said that she wore sunglasses all week because she would tear up every now and then, but nobody in my family got hurt in the attacks.

Julien Rios period 8

2025-09-11 17:56:27 UTC

My mom's job was in the World Trade Center and she was in the subway in Manhattan when it hit. She lost many friends and coworkers one who survived just by running late. My dad was in Brooklyn and saw it on TV. My mom was fine, but she got stuck in the subway for a while because it stopped.

Nico Stachon Period 8

2025-09-11 18:00:35 UTC

My mom told me about her experience of 9/11. She was in Chicago at the time. She said she found out from the TV. She was shocked by the images of the towers. Even though she was far from New York, my mom felt tense and scared, not only for the people being affected, but also for our country. My Mom said she went to New York 2 months after 9/11, and she visited the memorial. She said she could still see smoke coming up from the monument.

Liam Lanenga Period 8

2025-09-11 18:03:18 UTC

My Mom was a sophomore in high school when it was happening. While my mom In school she said her best friend who happened to be on there phone during class jumped up I his chair and ran to her and told her that two buildings just went down.

after that they told the teacher that alerted the principal right away. They got to leave early that day

Sadie Steffes period 8

2025-09-12 04:55:54 UTC

During 9/11, my dad was on the sixth floor of the tower as he is an engineer that was called there. He was telling me about how everybody was huddled around the TV when it immediately first started and everyone evacuated. He also talked about how he got onto a train to get as far as possible as he was lucky to be able to get out very quickly. Then he described, watching the rest of it from a different TV on how the rest of 9/11 went down.

Serena Elavia Period 7

2025-09-13 21:43:21 UTC

My dad was in college at the time when he heard the news. He was so worried because there were so many people in his building that were scared as well as him. The building was dismissed and he immediately left to go call friends and family.

Michael Murray period 7

2025-09-18 01:10:33 UTC

my mom had just immigrated to the us 5 days before 9/11 travelling from Argentina to the us for better college. My dad was working at Sirius tower at the time in one of the restaurants on there he said he was kinda nervous thinking about how they terrorists might strike Chicago next, but they didn't luckily.