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

I just left my IGR HQ and went to the Barbershop, I was sitting in the barber's chair when the news came on.

I was finishing up MOUT training in Ft. Benning during OSUT when the first tower hit. They pulled us out of the field and plopped us in front of the Drill's TV to watch the news for a bit.

I was on leave between assignments. I had fell asleep on my mothers couch the night before watching television. I was awakened by my mother turning on the television to show me one of the towers of the world trade center had been bombed or something. I was amazed to discover it was a plane that hit it. Initially I thought it was a plane on approach that lost control or something and crashed into the building only to watch in horror, on national television no less, as a second plane slammed into the side of the second tower. A terrorist attack of the worst kind had made its way onto American soil and perhaps my mother saw something I didn't that day, what was to come. That following evening she woke me up in the middle of the night crying on my chest because she knew I would have to go to war.

I was at Ft. Lewis, WA giving APFT to my soldiers when the 1SG called the company into the building to watch it on the television. It was also my sons 5th birthday. My very next conversation was with my wife, "Babe, we're going to war".

<---- young. I was walking into my Senior English class oblivious to what was going on. Everyone in class was crowded around the TV and all I could remember was walking up and seeing one of the planes crashing into the towers. I joined 9 months out of high school.

I was manning an ECP to the flightline at Whiteman AFB, MO. I remember getting a call to immediately stop all traffic in and out of the area. I asked for my area supervisor to come meet me since I had someone in the entrapment area and CSC told me not to let her out or in until she could be searched. The area supervisor told me to have her start removing clothing. I was a young A1C at the time so I didnt question it, we stopped her as she was getting ready to remove her shirt. After that I loaded up in the area supervisor's truck and we started to search and clear every building on the flightline. It was a VERY long shift.

I was stationed at Fort Rucker, AL when this occurred. I had just drawn my patrol car for day shift and was entering a housing area when the Desk Sergeant called all patrols back to the MP Station after the first plane struck. I also received an SRT alert and was directed to report immediately to the SRT office for stand up in response to any possible terrorist actions/ threats made towards Fort Rucker.Definitely a day I will never forget.

I was at the Air Force Academy - my sophomore year but I remember it like it was yesterday.  They were very concerned at the time that the military academies would be a target and as such those bases became much more secure. When I first saw the coverage, I did not believe it.  It finally sunk in when I tried to reach family from Brooklyn, NY and it took several days to hear from them. 

I wasn't in the service. I was in high school. 17 years old. I was in a school lead organization meeting, when it happened. The next day I told my parents I wanted to enlist and serve my country. They wouldn't sign the papers for me, so as soon as I turned 18, (a few days after) I enlisted.

I was in my barracks room in Pusan, South Korea talking to my wife on the phone.  She told me to turn on the news because an airplane just hit one of the towers.  We thought it was just a freak accident until we saw the second plane hit.  We sat there on the phone for about an hour trying to take it all in.