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

I was an Instructor for the Army 14R MOS at Fort Bliss, TX.  As the towers were hit, I was in the shower after a good PT session.  I will never forget the phone call I got after getting out of the shower.  My then Mother-In-Law called to ask if I was going to war, not knowing what she was talking about, I turned on the news as the second tower was hit, immediately hung up the phone and hauled a$$ to base.

I was in NYC on Staten Island.  It was a rough day.  Lost some really good friends. But my son was born that December. 

I was the full-time Adminsitrative Officer/S-1 for my MA ARNG Infantry battalion.  The TV was on in the staff area and we were all discusssing upcoming issues/projects/etc.  We watched the events start to unfold (plane hitting the first tower, reports of missing planes).  Within minutes of the plane hitting the second tower our phones started to ring, it was our Soldiers (the M-day "part-timers") calling in asking if they needed to report in.  These guys were ready to drop everything to come into the armory to do whatever needed to be done.  An oustanding response from a unit that traces its lineage to the First Muster in 1636.

Being a bit of a youngin, I was on my way to the bus stop to head to school. No one knew what was going on just that there was an attack. Spent all day at school talking with teachers and staff about what was happening (albeit an abridged version, seeing how we are a bit young to FULLY grasp what was happening and why). There were quite a few kids gone from school that day because their parents had pulled them out for the day to be with them. Mom was in DC for a work thing and we hadn't heard from her all day, very worrying of course but ended up getting the greatest phone call to this day when she was able to call later that night and tell us she was fine. 

Dyess AFB was in the middle of a Phase 1/Phase 2 Exercise.  Immediately ENDEX and went back to our duty sections and began ramping up to deploy our forces.

I was in elementary school, 3rd grade.  We were in the cafeteria when the planes hit and we went into lockdown - they pulled us out into the hall and has us sit under some tables.  I had no idea what was happening because they hid it from us.  I found out when I went home but never understood the full impact until a few years later when Discovery Channel had an "Inside the Twin Towers" program.

I was just a PFC at the time and just hitting my one year anniversary in the Army. I was conducting training with some combat engineers at Fort Bragg, NC learning how to breach wire obstacles. My dad called my cell phone during the training to ask if I was alright, with no explanation as to why (my dad rarely calls and never asks if I'm alright as the first sentence out of his mouth). I told him I was fine and asked why. He told me that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. At first, I just thought that it was an accident and was still perplexed as to why he was asking if I was alright. I just kind of shrugged off the first call until he called a few minutes later to say that a second plane at hit the second tower. At that point, I think the shock of the information was preventing me from piecing together what was happening. I got off the phone and told everyone with me what my dad had said. They all looked as dumbfounded as me and then the SGT that was in charge of training got a phone call. After he hung up, he said that training was cancelled and we all needed to report back to our units ASAP. We got to the unit and waited in the dayroom with the tv on while we waited for everyone else to show up so we could get 100% accountability. We were told to call our loved ones to let them know we were safe and may not be in contact with them for awhile and then we were told to turn off our phones and not use them. The following months were pure chaos as I was assigned to a team that was responsible for inspecting all equipment and vehicles that deploying units were taking with them as the units on Fort Bragg prepped for the call to go downrange. At the same time, we were also tasked with manning the newly established access control points 24/7 and morning PT formations for the following weeks almost never had anybody from off post at them since it took several hours to get on base until the threat level was reduced.

Fort Gordon battle lab...  

I was in Ft. Lewis, WA, with 1st SF.  We were preparing for an air-op later that morning.  Being a few timezones behind, we were getting news of everything during pt/first formation.  When I came back down from my barracks room for final pre-jump and transport to the airfield, we were told everything was cancelled, and that pretty much the entire country had been grounded.

*It was odd for me because the night before, my future (current and only) wife and I were in a semi-private chat room with some online friends with a virtual hand-fasting (something like a Wiccan/Pagan wedding).  The reason we did the online event on the 10th was because I had an uneasy feeling about the 11th with the jump, and that concern originally was a thought of as an injury on the jump, and that the festivities would be missed...  Interesting how intuition isn't always far from the truth.*

I heard later that, if we had been actively jumping at the time, there was some technicality that would have given every one of us a certified combat jump - but this part may have just been rumor-milled...  Would have been an odd exchange later on with guys who jumped into other cz's about where my mustard stain was jumped from, and I'm not quite sure how I might answer.  All speculation to that end at this point...

I was a PFC on emergency leave in New York City and it was a crazy day. I was stationed in the 82nd and my unit was on DRB at the time. The CSM was hesitant to even let me go on leave due to our DRB status and having to be ready to go in 18hrs or less. CSM let me go anyway and when it happened, my first thoughts were with my battle buddies back at Bragg and what do I do? My business for emergency leave was hard and this incident put my mind right back in the fight. It took me 2 whole days to get out of New York City and back to Bragg where me and my guys were ready and waiting for the call.