Where were you during 9/11? What has changed in 20 years?

I was just about to go to the final formation of the day in Bamberg, Germany when someone came out with the news. We were all told to stay near phones (before the smartphone days) and be alert. I lived in stairwell housing and a lot of folks were out on their balconies blasting patriotic songs and waving flags. Remember that flag spirit? One thing I will never forget was the line of traffic to get on the post the next day. It took me almost nine hours.

I was standing in the door of my barracks room at OMC Co, on Pulgas; then the radio started squawking.

I was in flight on my way back to McGuire on a C-141B following an air refueling over Main. We where descending over Road Island when we received the call from New York center. We proceeded to McGuire direct to the sea-isle approach. You could see the smoke from tower 1 for miles.

I was at my first base, McChord AFB, just 6 months when 9/11 happened, it was the longest most terrifying day ever.

I was in what was called BNCOC at the time at Fort Knox, KY.  We all thought the SGL's were playing a joke.  When they put it on the TV we knew it wasn't.

I was a Wildland Firefighter in California just finishing up the season out there and getting ready to head home for the season when it happened.  I was at the station when it happened and we had just finished training for the day.  Suddenly, we were notified what was going on and we were put on alert as we were not sure what was going to happen.  We were not sure if we were going to have to flex into Sacramento if they were going to be targeted etc.  At the end of the shift, I was able to check on my family and ensure that they were ok, my daughter was very young at the time, however she knew that things were wrong.  My wife told me later that she wanted to know why people were crashing planes into our buildings.  I waited a while to see how things flushed out and then I joined the Navy Reserves, because I was still trying to get picked up full time out in CA as a wildland firefighter.  I could not get deployed though, then Iraq kicked off so we were in two wars and I bunred out on being an EMT and decided it would be more fun to try and take lives than save them so I got released from the Navy Reserves, went AD Army as a Tanker with the full intention of deploying to combat as soon as possible.  It was off from there.

I like this question. I was actually listening to music with a buddy of mine in his his truck, parked on old iron sides on Fort Hood, waiting for our battalion motorpool formation...wow, back in the 13th SIG BN, 1ST CAV days.

I had just learned a few days before that I had been selected for SSgt.  I was on the Pistol Range just outside Camp Margarita at Camp Pendleton while assigned to the 1st Marine Division; MajGen Conway was the CG, LtGen Hagee was the I MEF CG and BG Mattis was his Deputy.

I was in my 4th week of recruit training at TRACEN Cape May, NJ.

One of our squad bay leaders was a NY City cop and his wife worked in the second tower. She escaped before the towers fell.

I was out already, (working with my office in mid-town Manhattan) but I can tell you that I received my discharge (DD-214) shortly before then, from the IRR (non-drilling) reserves, and I was upset that I'd been "retired" for "failure to promote" 3 years in a row.  Not to mention that I hadn't done anything that would have RATED a promotion to LCDR.  After 9/11/01, a lot of IRR guys got "upped" to SelRes or ADSW.  Shortly after then, I had a wife, a mortgage, and my first kid on the way, so the discharge was actually a benefit.  Of course, I'm proud of everyone who continued to serve, and if the Canadian hoardes come over the border, I'll help push them back north, but otherwise, I'm done.  I spent 9/11 with LT Chris King, my best friend from the ship, the best guy to go through a crisis with.  Our wives couldn't have been safer than being with us on that day.