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Where were you when you Heard...
something memorable?
-Columbia blowing up- I was home, and read it online. I thought, "Oh no, not again" -Columbine massacre- I was at work and this Jerk (who was also my boss) asked me if I knew where this "Columbine High School" was. -Challenger- I was visiting some former work mates at the USGS where I had summer interned when someone told us. -Man lands on the Moon - Mom came and got me to watch this guy on television. I remember thinking, "Gee, that picture sucks". (Stupid kid) Those are the big ones I can remember. |
I remember being in elementary school when the Challenger exploded.
All the classes were tuned in to watch the shuttle take off and then it just blew up. I remember seeing my teacher run out of the room to see what was happening. It was a terrible tragedy to witness, especially when as a kid you are expecting something great to happen. :( |
Columbia- Went home for the weekend, as I got up my mom told me about it.
Columbine- Was at work when I heard a couple of people talking about a shooting at Columbine. Challenger- I was in first grade when the teacher told us what happened after lunch. I didn't understand until I got home and saw the video on the news. OKC bombing- 10th grade, went to my class right before lunch and they had the tv on showing the blown out front of the building. At first I thought it was a pic of an earthquake hitting California. 9-11 Woke up, turned on the tv while making breakfast about two hours after the planes hit the WTC and just as they were getting preliminary reports of the plane going down in Pennsylvania. Those all all of my big ones |
Columbine - I was at home watching it on TV.
September 11th - I was getting ready for classes when I got a call from a family member about it. I spent most of the day at class staring out the window at the Sears Tower, because my mother works on one of the upper floors there. |
TFP Downage - I was browsing the TFP when suddenly I got a Page Not Found. Me: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
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9/11 - I was in the parking lot of the apartment I was living in at the time, and some guy comes out yelling to me that "they blew up the whitehouse" so then I went and checked CNN.com, which was crashed, so I went to Fark...
Columbia - Trying to watch a UK game that got taken off the air for Columbia coverage. |
OKC Bombing - I felt the rumble from the explosion from my apartment in Norman, about 25 miles from the blast center.
On April 18th in the afternoon, I had been at the ATF office in the Murrah building as part of a gang-violence prevention class, an elective of my Education degree. We were shown several things confiscated from various raids (guns, knives, photos, etc), and the agent running the demonstration, Don Leonard, mentioned about the next day being the two-year anniversary of Waco. "Maybe I should just stay home tomorrow," he said half-jokingly as we left. Don Leonard should have stayed home that morning. He and six others with the Secret Service died in the explosion, along with 156 others in the Murrah building, four in neighboring buildings, and one rescuer. All the other "big events" pale in comparison for me. I never met any of the people who died in them. I never was at the location where it happened. I never forget Don Leonard. |
The moment I heard about Columbine I hopped in my car and headed sraight there. I think I was home.
The rest of 'em I don't remember... I tend to not pay attention to big things like that. |
Princess Diana - Woke up and put the TV on exactly 30 seconds before the newsflash. Bizarre!
9/11 - In Detroit, thinking how bad this was while all the Americans carried on working. Wasn't till later that it hit home for everyone. Moon landing - Not even a twinkle in my Dad's eye |
9/11 - i was watching late night tv, saw the whole thing, live, in Sydney.
Diana - watching early morning tv. TFP 3 sinking - in the middle of a post. |
Columbine: I had just gotten back from my afternoon classes. I turned on the TV and had no idea what was going on, then I found out.
9/11 - I had just gotten back from my morning class. My brother called to tell me that a "small commuter jet" hit the WTC. I tried to go online but all the news sites were loaded with traffic. Then I turned on CNN. At that moment the second plane hit the WTC, and my jaw just dropped. I had no idea what had just happened. Columbia - I woke up and my dad told me about it. Didn't care too much and went back to bed. |
Oddly enugh, I don't seem to remember where I was when these major things happened.
I do know that on the morning of the Sept. 11 attacks I found out via TV, and then IM'd friends and such telling them briefly what happened and to turn on the news.. Other than that, I remember my feelings and places AFTER hearing of the events (later that day), but I don't really remember exactly where I was when it happened. Not sure why, really. |
I was visiting my sister on 9/11 and I was just about to hop in the shower before going to the airport to fly home when the second plane hit. I immediately turned to her and said, "The world just changed." The next few hours were spent trying to reserve a rental car and I finally succeeded in getting one reserved for the next day.
I remember hearing about the Challenger in the financial aid office at college. I guess that does a pretty good job of aging me. |
In thinking about my reply here, I realized how much time I spend at work. Most all of the "biggies" I heard while working.
9/11: At my desk when it broke on the radio. Federal building: Standing in the hall by Human Resources. You get the picture. The one I remember when I wasn't at work was pulling up in my driveway from a camping trip and our neighbor coming over to tell us about Princess Diana. |
9/11 at home getting ready for work, checking the weather channal and OMG!
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Boy do I feel old.... I was in my 8th grade classroom when President Kennedy was assassinated
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OK City bombing - I found out the weekend after the fact. I was in a nature camp that week, completely oblivious to the outside world.
9/11 - Walking out of my 8:30 class. Someone told me a plane crashed into the Pentagon and I seriously thought they were joking because it was the most ludicrous thing I'd ever heard. Got the the cafeteria only to find out it was true, and two more planes had crashed into the WTC. Columbia - woke up after the fact only to have it be the first thing I read when I woke up. |
Having a keg party during the last ridiculous presidential election (we got it a day early---the keg that is)
911--- Its weird I got up 2 hours early that day and saw the news flash after the first jet hit. During the highway chase of OJs-- at work streching a female gymnast (I was working as a physical therapy asst at a sports medicine clinic) |
challenger...i was very young when it happened, but i remember watching it on tv and pointing out the "bunny ears" to my mother.
columbine...i was in a hotel room in AZ...happened the day I went to the Grand Canyon. Had no idea till we got to the hotel. 9-11...I was actually awake (very strange for me) because I'd cut my finger at work the night before and my mom wanted me to show my dad before he left for work himself. So there I am, unable to get back to sleep at five-something in the morning, and I went and laid on the couch downstairs. We're in the middle of watching the local news when they break in saying something had hit the WTC..."a small plane." I saw the second one hit on live television...it is an image I will never erase from my memory. As for Columbia...my mother called me and told me that it had happened twice in my lifetime--that another space shuttle had come down. ::sigh:: |
heh, the OJ chase. I was playing a video game with a gradeschool friend of mine in my room, and then we heard my parents watching it on the news in the living room so we turned it on too.
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Columbia - I was watching <i>Donnie Darko</i> on HBO for about the 20th time, when I just suddenly realized I couldn't devote another 90 minutes of my life to watching it, and switched to CNN (right when the engine was falling on the house - spooky).
O.J. - vacationing in Hawaii - didn't let it become a big deal for the first week or so. Challenger - was sleeping in; had my alarm set to music, so I kind of heard the news semi-awake, then bolted up in bed. Columbine - was web-surfing CNN at work when the news came in. 9/11 - was standing in the bedroom getting dressed for work when they broke the news on <i>The Today Show</i>. Moon Landing - the whole family was crowded around the TV in anticipation. JFK assasination - all the teachers were called to the office, and 5 minutes later ours came back and explained it all to us - I remember she was crying. Then, as soon as the buses could get there, we were all sent home. It was the only thing on TV all weekend. |
Challenger: Sitting and watching it in class. 4th grade. Pretty freaky.
9/11: Working around DC and hearing about it as it happend, and sitting in the parking lot listening to my car radio and then cringing when NPR said something about the possibility of chem/bio on the planes- |
okc bombing
was in the school libary and watch the coverge on cnn 9/11 my school has a subway station and i ordered brekfast and went to watch the news and like ten minitues later it came on the tv |
at the moment i can only think of 9/11.. I was brushing my teeth as i was about to head to math class. When i do, i usually wander thruout the house, so i caught it all and then had to get to class.
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I block out alot of things that happened when I grew up. The one event that does strike me is 9/11.
I was bartending at TGI Friday's... all I could do was sit and glare at the TV's even though I had customers... they were doing the same thing. |
I was at home watching it all unfold on TV for almost all of those...
The Challenger, I was in 6th grade in Math Class, when my School plugged it into all the TV monitors. |
OJ - sitting at home watching the chase with my older brother
OJ trial- the final day of trial i was in 8th grade and the school turned on all the tvs so we could watch the verdict during lunch Columbine- I was babysitting and watching it.... 9/11- My sister came over and woke me and alpha phi up...(i was on vacation from work) i was in complete shock....i remember just sitting there with my hand over my mouth dumbfounded Columbia- I didn't know till i got home from work....it was weird at first i thought it was coverage of a plane crash or something first official day of war on Iraq- on the computer on a Harry Potter website |
i just remember columbia.
i was about to go to school that saturday for a UIL academic meet (and i live in east texas!) |
Columbine-sitting in my HS chemistry class, someone tore into the room and turned on the TV and was like, "LOOK AT THAT!" I lived in Colorado at the time, although I didn't live very close to Columbine, but it his pretty close to home.
9/11-I was coming back from a PoliSci lecture and ran into someone on the stairs and I said, "Hey! how are you doing?" They mumbled something and dismissed me and I was just confused. I walk back up to my hall and everyone's crowded around the TV. I remember us all just staring at each other and thinking it was a bad joke or something. |
Challenger, I was at a freind's house (both 2 years old) and we heard commotion on the TV in the other room. We had been playing with toys, ironically enough, a toy space shuttle, and I remember not knowing exactly what was going on, but the image is still burned into my memory.
Columbia, I was in history class, and my mom called me on my cell phone. The only other time she ever called my phone was when my dad died, so I knew it wasn't something good. I checked my voicemail half an hour later during the 15 minute break in the middle of class, and just kind of stood there in shock. Columbine, I didn't really watch the news much back then, and it was spring vacation from high school, so I saw something briefly about a shooting in Littleton, and didn't really know much until that afternoon when my mom started asking about it. That was the event that got me watching the news in the first place. 9/11, I was in school walking to homeroom, and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach, and felt like something really bad had happened, call it a gut feeling if you want, but no Obi-Wan Kenobi jokes. I got to homeroom, the intercom came on, and the Headmaster of our school spoke, in the same monotone he always did (same tone of voice to announce winning Athletic State Champiponships as he used when a student died) and said, "I never thought I would have had to announce something like this, (at this point we all assumed he was pissed because someone had trashed his car or something)" and continued ot announce that two jets were hijacked and intentionally flown into the WTC. Still gives me chills to think about that. OKC, I don't remember. Kennedy shot, not around back then Gulf War 1, I was playing Nintendo, and someone called, my mom picked up the phone, and I was too young to understand why she wouldn't let me play Nintendo. Moon Landings, not around, but we all know those were fake :) |
9/11-I was at school, and there were all sorts of rumors going around about what had happened, because nobody really knew what was going on. I skipped my next class and went to the library to watch the news, and saw the second plane fly into the second tower, then watched them collapse. It took a while for it to actually sink in.
Columbia-I had had a really wierd night with lots of odd dreams, then I woke up cause my phone was ringing. My friend called, told me that a space shuttle had gone down. I hung up, fell back asleep, had some more wierd dreams. When I finally got up, I couldn't remember if the phone conversation had really happened or not. Unfortunately, it had really occurred. |
Challeger - In my third grade class, not knowing what a space shuttle looked like
Sept 11 - Sitting on my fat, unemployed ass, after waking up at noon, and loading Yahoo! Quickly turned on the news shortly after that. |
I only remember two. 9/11 and OKC.
9/11 - I was driving to school and listening to the radio. I had not turned on tv that morning nor been listening all that long when one of the DJs came on and said that a second plane had hit the towers. I had not heard about the first but I found that odd but was not super alarmed just yet. I didn't know what the hell was going on though. I went to my Senior comp class which was my first class of the day. My teacher was just talking about whatever. I liked her and all but I didn't really learn anything. After awhile one of the girls in the class asked to go to the bathroom. When she came back she told us about the pentagon and about the two towers falling. OKC - I was in like 5th grade. I was being home schooled at the time. Thats all we did that day was watch the tv. Intresting side note to that is my grandfather actully had an apointment at some whatever office just right next to the Murrah building. But he ended up canceling it the day of because he felt ill. |
9-11 Passed out on my couch from drinking the previous night, friend of mine comes running into my room (living in a fraternity house at that time) and says "Dave wake up! WW3 Just started, turn on the news."
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Of course, 9/11.
I was picking up a guy and we were driving out to a meat plant in Arkansas City, Kansas. We had the news on all day long and I was calling my wife as more and more terrible things kept happening. The first plane had hit, but I heard about the second, and then the towers collapsing. There were reports that a plane had hit congress, but it turns out that was the pentagon. I also saw a dirty bastard gas station owner boost his prices 30 cents in one shot. It was a good thing we drove. |
How many people here remember Kennedy's assassination? That seems to me to be the first moment of "We were all somewhere when we heard."
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the main thing that sticks out in my mind is in late 1990. I was 5 years old and my dad was a Capt. in the US Army. It was early in the morning when my dad came into my room in full uniform with my mom on his arm crying. He came over and told me he had to go away for a while and that he would see me soon. Then he left. 9 months later me and my mom met him at Ft. Stewart, GA when his company's plane landed.
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September 11th 2001 - My roommate came in and turned on CNN, I woke up and he was like "The WTC was destroyed". Glued to the TV for the rest of the day.
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9/11- I was in net admin class when someone came in and said we were being attacked.
Columbia- Was just waking up to a newscast showing the trail of smoke fly through the sky. Columbine- I was at work. |
And juanvaldes I think you mean september
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I was at my computer composing my father's eulogy when the 911 attack took place.
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Challenger exploded on my classroom television screen. We were watching the launch because there that teacher was on board and the school that it would 'momentous.'
I was repairing a spiral staircase while they chased O.J. in a white bronco down the highway. I caught Oklahoma City in study hall in high school. Columbine I don't really remember. And September 11th I caught on CNN right after my morning shower to get ready for class. It was a Tuesday wasn't it? Columbia was a blip, and not much else. |
Im bushwhip; bushwhip is me. Technical problems
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PS: check out this awesoem PM button we got, I would have loved it ;) |
9/11 - I was just getting into work at 3pm and a co-worker told me what happened. I was asleep up until I had to go to work so I never knew anything had happened. When I heard about it, I didn't really hit me. After looking at some pics on the internet at work, it finally reached my brain that something bad had happened. Thats when I remebered my girlfriends mom had woken us up (I lived with her and her family at the time) and told us but I was so tired I just fell back asleep. It was a rough day from then on.
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Columbia - Was playing Counter Strike and glanced over at CNN on the TV and saw what I though was a meteor (the black and white footage). Was AFK too long and kicked from server so continued to watch CNN.
9/11 - Was in line at the campus bookstore getting a coke and snack cake for breakfast when it came on the radio. Went to class and the teacher didnt show so I biked to a friends apartment and watched the news for the rest of the day and skipped school like most everyone else. |
Sept 11. I just came after exercising and was eating stuff. Somebody shouted turn on your TV....
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columbia : driving to Austin for a week long conference, listened to the radio for 4 hours
challenger: at school, watching the TV Columbine : after leaving school for the day 9/11 : school had the TV on listening to the news Kennedy : living in the phillipines, eating breakfast, when my father (in the Air Force) got the call, did not see him for the next week or so, the base was on full alert. reagan was shot i was at school |
My Dad woke my sister and me up when the Beatles were on The Ed Sullivan Show.
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My big events:
1) November 4, 1995: Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin of Israel (big news at the time). Just got back from work at a local shop, late at night, turned on the telly for some movie, only to see the news. I was shocked, of course. 2) May 13th, 2000; huuuuge explosion in a fireworks storage facility in the Dutch city of Enschede. dozens dead, and a big hole in the middle of a residential area. I was having dinner with friends, watching some stupid music show, when the news broke. On the bright side, the show was cancelled. 3) September 11th, 2001; terror attacks in New York. I was at work, checking CNN.com. I couldn't get in. BBC was also down, Dutch newspaper sites too... Worried, I checked Fark.com, where I saw two big headlines. I started reading, and couldn't belief it. The rest of the day was *very* weird. On the way home everyone was talking about it. 4) May 6th, 2002; assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn (big news here). I was at my friend's house (other friends), again for dinner. We turned on the TV, and saw the news. It went downhill from there. |
9/11... I was late for class, and upon walking into the room, I expected to get yelled at, but no one said anything. Everyone's eyes were glued on the TV. I started to say "Wha-" but then everyone just pointed.
The whole class we just sat there and stared. No one had any clue what was going on. It was just branded onto my brain forever. It seems like it was yesterday, because the picture is so clear in my mind. Between periods, the next period, people were saying that the towers had actually fallen down. Everyone thought they were bullshitting until they saw it themselves. |
911 - i remember we were all at work, and my friend jay goes "my girlfriend said some plane just hit the WTC - look on CNN.com"
his girlfriend worked in the meadowlands, about 4 miles from NYC on the jersey side, and her office window faced the towers... they were all looking out the windows at the smoke, wondering what happened to the pilot and such. my mother was driving to work in hoboken, and as she came out onto observer highway (named such because as you drive towards the waterfront you have a clear view of the WTC less then a mile away) as the second plane hit. i called her and she was in tears... i don't think i'll ever be able to forget that day - i knew people that didn't make it back... |
Challenger - was sitting with the rest of my grade school class watching the launch on tv. Don't remember the rest of the day, other than alot of teachers were crying. Unfortunatley, I was at that age where the only way I knew to handle it was to make jokes.
9-11 - My roommate woke me up before work and told me to watch the tv. I saw people running down the street with masks on their face, and blown up buildings, and told him I didn't have time to watch a movie, we had to go to work. Then he told me it was live. I looked at the tv, and the first building fell. I didn't get much done at work that day. Columbia - didn't even know there was a shuttle in space, untill I heard it crashed. My wife and I drove from milwaukee to chicago in silence listening to what ever news I could find. |
9/11 - i was gone on vacation to lake powell with family, we were staying on a housboat for the week, so it'd had already been 4 days (wed-sat.) when we came into town...and it was like we were in another dimension...everything was changed.
Columbia - read about it online about an hour after it happend at Fark.com |
I heard about columbia blowing up in my Geology class in first year university I remeber thinking "cool". I can't remember the rest cause I am now too jaded to give a shit. 9-11 I was getting ready to go golfing at a local electrical suppliers annual golf "tournament" . I went golfing that morning then hung out at the golf club and watched the planes hit the buildings over and over and over and over untill we all agreed to turn the tv off. It was pretty cool to watch though.
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9/11 - I was sitting at my desk and heard a bulletin. I was at a home office then so I went in the other room and turned on CNN - saw the second plane hit.
Columbia - was in the car. |
weird I was home sick for many events... normally i'm not one to call out sick for any reason.
Columbia blowing up- in the hospital watching a DVD and the guy in the bed next to me came back from dialysis and said he thinks the shuttle had a problem of some sort. -Columbine massacre- I was at work watched it all unfold on the TV -Challenger- home sick -Regan assassination attempt- home sick -Anwar Sadat assasination attempt- home sick -9/11 - in Times Square and my office, kept running in and out of the building to see the people's reactions in Time Square watching the ABC/NBC Jumbotrons. -Russian/US handshake- afterschool rushed home to watch the live footage. |
Larry Flynt shot....I was 9, out of school that day for a doctors appt, I was across the street from the courthouse when it happened
John Lennon being shot-I was 12, I heard it on the school bus Challanger-at home, I was in 12th grade and we were home for a snow day, I was watching it on TV Susan Smith's kids found....at home packing to go to visit my family in the same town because my grandfather had been put in the hospital for the final time with his alzheimers Columbine, I heard about it on talk radio on my way home from work 9/11 I was at work when they said something on the radio, I thought it was a "morning show" joke at first, then when we realized it was real, we had to finish getting payroll for 35 states ready because the planes were being grounded. I didnt get to see anything on TV until 430 that afternoon Challenger-home, I had just woken up from one of my "airplane dreams" when I turned on the news and it had just happened. |
Interesting bump...
Berlin Wall Coming Down - Nov 9. 1989 - Was in a bar with some friends watching it on the news and realized that we were indeed watching history. Bar picked up the tab for a round of drinks. Tianemen Square - especially when the kid stood in front of the tank - June 1989 - watched the events unfold on the news... probably in a bar. Oklahoma City bombing - Worked for a PR firm at the time, and there were televisions every few feet so that people could watch those pointless celebrity shows that interviewed the celebrities the firm represented. The televisions were onthat morning - because of some celebrity interview - don't remember who... The news broke in with the pictures of the after effects of the explosion. Reagen Attempted Assassanation - March 30, 1981 - I was at work at my part time job as a cashier in a supermarket. Time basically stood still for a few moments. Challenger Explosion- Jan 28, 1986 - It was a beautful day in Massachussets and I was driving to my job with the window of my car open. The news announcment broke into a song that was playing with the news that Christa McAulliffe (she seemed to get more press than anyone else0 and the rest of the astronauts were killed in an explosion. The very next song on the was Broken Wings by Mr Mister. I walked into my job and gave thepeople the news, my boss was on the phone wiht his daughter who had watched it explode on television consoling her. 9/11 - I was in a hotel room in Sydney Australia taking a nap having just arrived 24 hours prior, I had fallen asleep with the television on - and something made me wake up - within moments of my waking up - Australain television was taking news feeds of the US Networks (it was bizarre seeing Katie Couric) and I had the news. It took me about 15 hours before I was able to get an international line, but only about 2 hours to realize that my best friend was dead. The attack on the marine barracks in beruit where over 150 people lost their lives - sometime in 1983 - I was in college watching the news on a very small black and white television in my room. it's probably one of the first major news events (aside from the Reagen assassination) where I actively hunted out a newspaper (ah life before the iternet) and realized that there wasa big world around me. The hijacking of the Achille Lauro in the mid 80s by Palestinian terrorists. and Leon Klinghoffer being killed and thrown overboard was in a college dorm room watching the news again, on that same small black and white television... 1985 was a rough year... there was also the hijacking of the TWA flight by Lebanese terrorists, trying to go to Beirut. One Navy diver was killed, if I remember correctly, this went on for about 2 weeks as the plane went to a bunch of different places and finally ended when Israel released a boatload of prisoners. I still vividly recall the news images of the pilot in shirtsleeves leaning out of the cockpit with a terrorist holding a gun to his head. The release of Terry Anderson and (first name draws a blank) Sutherland in '91- after being held hostage for more than 5 years... February 1993-- World Trade Center bombing -- I was on the 82nd floor and walked down 82 flights of stairs to evacuate, lost my shoes that day and headed over to my favorite bar across the street from the World Financial Center and drank quite a bit with some other soot covered people. Sometime in '79... The taking of the us embassy in Iran... I was in high school at the time and we talked about it for days in a contemporary issues class |
Challenger - I was watching it in school. All I really remember from that day is that the shuttle exploded, nothing else. No reactions, nothing. I was 6.
9/11 - I had the day off work, but sadly I had to go to court. I saw the second plane hit right before I had to leave. Went to court, got home and watched CNN the whole day. I vaguely remember the Berlin Wall coming down. I know I was young. According to Mal's date ^^there, I was 7. I think I saw it on the news that night while my folks were watching it. It was a big deal to my mom because she is German. OKC - I believe I didn't hear about it until I got into work that night. It was a big deal here because the truck had been rented from a place in Wichita. |
The others didn't really make a large impact on me so I don't remember them so clear.
9-11 I remember very well though. I was going to my second class (I think 9:20 - 9:30ish) as I was walking I heard someone say something like "someone told me that a plane hit the WTC" the other guy said "hmm". I didn't really think about it at all. My teacher walked in saying that if we hadn't heard something horrid is happening and for us to find a TV as fast as we could. That one plane hit the WTC, and that a few min. ago a second hit the other building. That it was an attack. We all left quickly I went to my friends dorm, the closest TV to me, and woke him up. We fliped on the TV and watched the towers fall... I spent most of the day watching the TV. Telling my mom "They aren't going to bomb Charlotte, don't worry." also sticks out in my mind. I feel that I can remember watching the wall come down, and my mom and grandma were telling me it was important. I also remember watching people cry on TV about the Challenger . I didn't really understand that people were on it. |
I heard about the september eleventh attacks from some guy in the cafeteria. I think I punched him in the stomach later for what he said. "Hey, someone flew a plane into the world trade centre! Isn't it awesome?" I didn't believe him until the AVers brought the largest televisions the school had into the cafeteria and broadcasted CNN for the rest of the day. I think I cried, but I can't remember.
When man landed on the moon, my mum was seven. I hope it helps explain why I can't remember some of the other things. |
Kennedy assassination: In elementary school. Some 8th graders came running down the halls, yelling into classrooms "the president's been shot!". Our teacher got mad, thinking that was a horrible joke-but they had been watching tv (or listening to the radio, forget which) about Kennedy's visit to Dallas when the news hit. We were rushed home. I just remember my parents crying a lot.
9/11: I was working at a middle school-some of the teacher's lounges had the tv's going and within minutes, everything changed. I will never ever forget one teacher, Michelle, running through the halls screaming, "David! My David! No!". I got help for her- her son worked at WTC. But fate had intervened-he missed the train to work. Parents rushed to school to get their kids. Three days later, our area was overcome with the stench of the burning remains of the WTC. |
911 - Had just returned from France to home (Beirut, which Maleficient seems to recall several things about, but I was too young to remember much from these days) 2 days before. I was on the road to visit some family members, when I got a call from a friend - he told me two planes crashed in the WTC, one in the pentagon, one in the white house [I guess there was a rumour about that last one at that point]. I said "whatever". Just thought he was messing with me (he was a bit of a bullshitter at times). When I got to my destination, someone there starts talking about the "horrible events".. So then I went to the TV and couldn't believe it was real.
I had never been to the US yet at that point, but I was applying for grad school over there around that time.. I remember thinking that those plans might not work out. Thankfully, they did. |
jfk assassination: i was in my grandfather's livingroom watching an enormous black and white tv. i dont remember why it happened to be on.
oj: i watched alot of the trial that summer, exclusively on e! entertainment television because they covered like like a sporting event. wtc: i had just walked into the penn book center when the report concerning the second plane came over the radio. i remember walking through the student union later that day, through what seemed like hundreds of students standing and sitting in groups, shellshocked, staring at huge tv screens the university had set up. the footage of the trade center collapse was already on auto-repeat. they university had established these strange groups of roaming therapists and set them into motion in that space. they wore sports jackets, like the broadcasters from the wide world of sports used to. red sox winning the world series: i was in my local bocal, saying "i never throught i would see this" over and over to myself. between gulps of beer and the occaisonal attempt to mimic the sounds actual sports fans make when something they like seeing is happening on screen. |
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Superbowl XXV, 1991, My beloved Giants vs the only real NY Team, the Buffalo Bills, sitting in the sun at Tampa stadium... (Paid off that trip for a year, but I was going to be there.. ) The collective stadium holding their breath as Scott Norwood of the Bills attempted a 47 yard fieldgoal in the waning seconds of the game... and -- WIDE RIGHT!!! Giants WIN!!! Final Score 20-19 - Whitney Houston, in her pre-crackhead days, rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, as a newfound patriotism found it's way to the US because the Gulf War has just begun.. Never a moment I will forget... NY Rangers winning the Stanley Cup over Vancouver in 1994 --for the first time in 54 years... Sitting in the bar next to the Garden wiht a few friends I had a death grip on one friends arm the entire third period -- he had marks on his arm for about a week after... |
The one that sticks out in my memory the strongest is
-The Fall of the Berlin Wall - I was just beginning to be interested in world news. I remember being glued to our small black and white TV watching people dancing on the wall, and beating it with sledgehammers. I remember drilling my Mom with questions. I had my eyes opened that day. The things I'd learned in history became reality to me. Here these people had been trapped by that wall. I saw the thrill they took in it falling and it occurred to me, what could that have been like to cause this much joy now? -Columbia blowing up- I was at home actually watching the launch. When it happened we were in shock. I remember the thought passing through my head that it was some prank. Then I thought it would be a pretty bad prank and had to be real. At that point my heart just sank. I had been so excited that a teacher was going on that flight. I had already been teaching and my heart went out to those students. -Columbine massacre- I honestly don't remember. I was at work when it happened. Came home beat and then learned about it. I was too tired for it to really hit home at that time. It just slowly sunk in. -Challenger- In school. We happened to be watching a educational program on television and someone came in, spoke to our teacher who promptly changed the channel for us to see replays of the accident. We were all sent home early from what I can remember. -Man lands on the Moon - I was yet to be born 5 years later. |
9-11 - Just got back home from class and wondered what the hell all these camera crews were doing in new york looking so worried. About 5 minutes later they showed the footage and the ball dropped.
Princess Diana - Up one morning early, turned on the tv. Same as 9-11, didn't get the first bit of the report, i thought the Queen had died. Then they showed the car crash and her name. I went and told my parents right away. I don't think i really understood exactly what had happened until a few years later. Columbia - Not too sure, i think i heard it on the evening news, but i knew then that space had become a no-go area for the general public for a long time to come. Dunblane - Was very little at the time, also didn't understand what had happened. I knew it was very very bad though. I heard it round my grandparents house i believe. |
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9/11 - I was at my co-op job, and I was actually the first one in my office to start spreading the news.
Sitting at my cubicle, my mom called me and told me to go to CNN.com. At that time, they had said it was just a Cesna (sp?) that hit the towers. I told someone about it, and they kept checking the site and eventually that changed to a passenger plane. A little while later they rolled some TV's into the lobby so we could watch tv then the 2nd plane hit. It was strange that day, exciting, fast paced, but deeply sad and lost. Either way, a very memorable day indeed. |
Hi coffee2go4me,
I was in my 9th grade Social Studies class. Principal told the school on the PA system that JFK had just been shot. |
I have a pretty amazing story about the JFK assassination - it's my first memory. For years growing up I had this vague memory of being really young, sitting in a car with my mother driving and listening to the radio. I can kind of picture the road, a fairly bleak place with fields on both sides. It was grey and overcast. The radio was playing music, which I enjoyed, and then suddenly they cut off the music and a male announcer's voice came on, which I didn't enjoy. I couldn't understand anything he was saying but then all of a sudden my mom pulled over on the shoulder, stopped the car and started crying. I was mad because the nasty man on the radio had made my mother cry. Many years later, sometime in my late 20s, I asked my mom what this memory could have been and described it to her. She was absolutely amazed and told me that's what happened when JFK was shot. The thing is, I was born in July 1963, and JFK was shot in November - I was only 4 months old! :eek:
As for the others, I remember when the Challenger went down, I was at a local coffee bar getting coffee. I really didn't care and couldn't understand why people were getting so upset over it. I was at the same coffee bar getting coffee on 9/11, and this time I cared a lot, although the enormity of it took a few minutes to sink in. I went home and woke up my boyfriend, and we tried to get the news on our tv which is actually just a DVD player because we have no cable and no antenna. Then I had to drive down to Monterey to interview a dishwasher with a bad back, while planes were still missing - I kept peering up through the windshield to see if there were any stray jets coming down. For the OJ chase, I was in our local county jail reading encyclopedias in the library when a bunch of people and the guard on duty came rushing in to watch the tv. It occurred to me that it would be the perfect time to escape (it was a minimum-security facility) but I held onto my self-control and didn't. :D When the gulf war started I was deep inside the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico with my girlfriend - I got in the elevator to come back up and the elevator attendant told us about it. I thought maybe we should just stay down there, since it'd be a pretty good bomb shelter. We thought it was World War III and we drove back to Calfornia nonstop, taking turns sleeping in the back of my van. I think I was in 1st grade for the moon landing. I remember not getting a very good view of the tv because most of the other kids were bigger than me (story of my life). The other one I remember was when John lennon was killed. I was in the kitchen of my mom's house playing Othello with my boyfriend, and when we heard the news I was just in such disbelief that such a thing could possibly happen. Growing up the Beatles were like gods to me, I was just stunned. |
Cuban Missile Crisis: Daily duck and cover drills in the family basement.
JFK Assassination: Junior High classroom. |
Challenger - I was in my third grade classroom when the principal announced it over the loudspeakers. We didn't have TV's in the classroom, so the teacher told us to read while she went out of the room.
Berlin Wall - I was in jr high, don't remember what grade...but I distinctly remember watching the news as it happened, and seeing people tear down pieces of it, and seeing people driving through the holes in their cars and stopping for TV reporters with tears of joy on their faces. Start of Gulf War - I was driving home from a nearby city with my mom when news of the first American missiles being launched came on...I was scared at the thought of a war. Waco - I was in my tenth grade health class and my teacher, who was as excitable as a three toed sloth, came running in wild eyed yelling...Waco's on fire! Waco's on fire! He turned the TV on and we didn't do any work the rest of the period. I don't really remember where I was for Columbine, Columbia, or the first WTC attacks. Of course I remember 9/11. I was five months pregnant at the time, and my son kicked like crazy that day, I guess do to stress. My husband had just flown home the night before (thankfully, I realized this later in the day) from a months military training in California. I was returning from taking him to work when the news hit on the radio of the first plane hitting; minutes later the news hit of the second plane. I had to take my mom to the dentist that day so I didn't get to actually see any footage until the afternoon when the towers had already fallen; I heard everything on the radio. I had planned on going to the mall nearby while my mom was at the dentist; I still went since I had to kill the time during her appointment. There was nobody in that mall; as I wandered up and down I looked into the stores and every sales associate was in an empty store and on the phone. I stood at the Clinique counter in a department store and listened to the radio with the saleswoman. |
9/11 - I received a phone call at about 1:30am, didn't get to the phone in time but there was a message from a friend that sounded freaky.. asking me to pick up. I was certain that she was in the middle of a personal seige, someone had broken in and she was hiding.. calling for help (ok, stupid she would have called the police, not me.. but that was the urgency I heard..) so, worried I headed over to her house. When she opened the door, she showed me the news.. she was watching CNN(?). I sat and just looked in horror (this was before the collapse). I was there just after the second plane.. it was amazing at how surreal it seemed.. I had to keep reminding myself that 'this was real' and it was huge.. I was as horrified as I was glued. I didn't think it could get any worse. I shed tears when the towers collapsed.
Diana's death had a big impact on me, but nothing I can imagine will have a bigger impact than 9/11... I hope to never witness anything that compares let alone something bigger! |
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The shooting of Regan: Just got home from school and saw the footage The OJ verdict: I remember studiously avoiding the trial and the whole OJ thing... I really didn't see how it mattered. My boss at the time brought a radio into her office on the day of the verdict so she could listen... when it came down she made a point of making a big deal about it saying... you will remember where you were when this verdict came out... it is a defining moment of our generation. The only reason I now remember this is because she made a big deal about it and the only reason a lot of people even care or remember this is because CNN etc. made a big deal about it... otherwise it was just another domestic dispute. Elvis' death: I was driving with my Mom on Ellesmere Road in Scaborough just east of Markham Road. I remeber because my Mom was a huge Elvis fan (always playing his music) and when we heard on the radio that he was dead she was very sad. September 11th: I was in Stockholm on business and I was finished my last meeting for the day and was wandering the old town when I saw an Internet Cafe and thought I would check my email. I started to eavesdrop on the young American couple at the terminal next to mine. They were excited about something and I glanced at their screen and saw the image of the towers smoking and people fleeing in the foreground. I was sure it was an ad for a new movie or a hoax of some kind... I did a Google myself and... it wasn't either. My stomach dropped out. |
One of my earlier memories is JFK getting shot. I remember my teachers crying and getting sent home for the day.
I was in Coer de Alene, Idaho with 30,000 Boy Scouts when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. I was 4 hours away from a business trip to LA, on 9/11. I told my boss he didn't pay me enough to get on a plane today (before flights got cancelled). |
Frank Zappa Died - I was delivering a pizza
Now, bearing in mind that no one knew what was going on: 9/11 - I was sitting at my desk actually getting work done (having been struggling to get motivated) whan Gooch popped her head into my office and said, "Sombody just flew a plane into the world trade center." I walked over to see what was going on-there was a TV going- saw it happen, and said, "Jesus, they have got to be more careful how they test SDI." Among my very first memories are watching on TV the helicopters taking people off the roof of the embassy in Saigon and Nixon resigning. |
Columbine--I had just gotten home from school and turned the TV on.
9/11--French class, my principal announced it over the PA system, and our teacher turned the TV on so we could watch the news. Those are the only ones I can remember. |
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When the OJ verdict was announced, I was working in a photo lab, cutting negatives. We talked about it casually for a minute, went, "hmm" when it was announced, and continued working. |
9/11 - World History class in high school. The teacher next door came in and said that a plane crashed into the WTC. I thought it was a small private plane - no big deal. I had her English class next, and that's when I saw the extent. I was somewhat awed, but the biggest thought on my mind at the time was whether we'd get school off. We didn't.
Columbia - Woke up, turned on CNN, and there it was. My uncle died a week later, so that took up more of my memory than the shuttle explosion did. |
Princess Diana- I got home from hanging out with some friends, and my mom was really upset. She told me what happened and we watched the news. I cried.....mainly because my mom was so upset...and because I felt so sad for her kids.
911- My sister came into my room and woke me up at about 7 am ..... She said there was some plane crashes in New York and some other cities, and it was all over the news. I got up and was then glued to the tv for the next 12 hours or so straight. I skipped class that day, because I couldnt bring myself to walk away from the images on TV. I cried until i felt like I had no more tears left. |
9/11 - saw the first tower smoking on tv in the dorm near mine. I asked my friend what movie this was, and he replied "this isn't a movie." Went to breakfast and saw the 2nd plane crash. Later that day at baseball practice I saw my baseball coach get choked up. It really does take a real man to cry.
OJ - I can't figure out why I remember this because I forget much more important things like columbine, waco, gulf war etc. I was getting ready for a baseball game at the local park and we were talking about the bronco chase. Great thread btw. |
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I guess you and I are older than most around here ;) That's the first thing I thought of even before scrolling down to your post. I was in freshman high school algebra class and I remember the old guy teacher Mr. O'Conner (~ 70yo) cried and most of us were quite upset. When the news was announced, even before JFK died, the principal came on the intercom and announced the shooting and they let us all go home. |
OJ Chase- My mom was working at the hospital at the time and I was trying to watch TGIF when they cut in with the chase
Ok city - I was in jr. high and we had just got our first computer. I was showing it off to one of my friends and we missed the bus, on the way to school the radio announced it. 9/11 - I was working in a hotel at the time as a dishwasher I had just clocked in when someone ran into the kitchen to tell us to come see whats on tv. People came from their rooms to watch with us.. Beginning of first gulf war - I was pretty young and was in some program at school were we basically played all day, my mom came to pick me up and said we had gone to war I didn't really understand at the time. Columbine - I was a freshman in high school and they had a lockdown the rest of the day till we were able to go home. |
September 11 is my birthday and I was taking the day off on the morning of the attacks. I woke up and came downstairs and my mum said in sort of a distracted way 'happy birthday, come see this.' I watched the second plane hit and both towers collapse.
One that hasn't been mentioned yet (maybe I'm the only former grunge rocker around), I was in the car with my family when the radio DJ announced that Kurt Cobain had been found dead. That had a much larger impact on me than anything OJ ever did. |
Gulf War - I was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and heard about the invasion of Kuwait, and my parents being very worried. Soon afterwards we heard about the US coming in and all of a sudden US troops were everywhere. We were evacuated to Jeddah, a city towards the west and stayed there for a while. We had all the gas masks and stored food, windows taped and boarded up, and a school was hit by a missile nearby but we weren't in too much danger.
September 11 - I was in Australia, asleep just before dawn and my mum came in to tell me the World Trade Centre had been destroyed in New York, I didn't know what she was talking about. I came downstairs a bit later to see the news on TV and went to school that day. I've never cried at a world event until then :( Gulf War 2 - Again in Melbourne, I was in a philosophy lecture at uni and had sent a dozen text messages to my brother asking what was going on. Finally one of his replies told me that the war had officially started. I told the person next to me and word got around the whole lecture theatre, and someone stood up and announced it to everyone. Columbia disaster - I was at a beach house outside Melbourne with some friends and since the weather had turned bad we were watching TV and a newsflash came on about the disaster. Nobody else seemed to care but I was sad about it for a long time. Columbine massacre - In high school in Melbourne. I'm not sure where I was at the exact time, but I remember the rumors at school that similar things were going to happen. One student was also sent home that day as the staff thought he was going to do the same thing, and there were heaps of rumors about him coming to school with weapons. The principal went to his house that day to ask if he knew anything about Columbine. Of course the kid was just a bit of a misfit at school, he had nothing to do with what was going on. Princess Diana - I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and caught the news flashes unfolding. I was too young to realize the significance of it all but I thought it was sad anyway. December 2004 tsunami - I'd just started volunteering for Oxfam in Melbourne in the call centre for donations. I remember hearing about the tsunami and thinking 'This will be huge'. From then on it was non-stop donations for weeks on end. Since then I've sort of thought it as a sign that the day before the tsunamis I'd signed up for the position. And one for the Aussies: Port Arthur Massacre - I was in primary (elementary) school in Melbourne and the school was locked down. Nobody knew what was going on except that a man with a gun was around, killing people. We weren't allowed to leave the school unless a parent came and picked us up, and I was worried sick that I'd be stuck at school forever because I had no way of contacting my parents. I thought I'd have to live at the school from now on. For those who don't know about the Port Arthur massacre, <a href="http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial/bryant/">read it about it here</a>. |
911 ( which brought on so much false patriotism.... dont get me started)
10th grade. In photography class, in the dark room. listening to the radio we wernt supposed to have. in a darkroom there are only red lights, i rember coming out of the dark room and saying a plane just crashed in to the wtc. then us watching it for about 3 min then going back in the dark room and hearing about the pentagon funny thing is that i hate having that memory because the media/ government made 911 so much different than what it really is / was now that i think of it i didnt watch tv for about amonth because 911 was all they would talk about. mmmmmmm MASS MEDIA MIND CONTROL |
OJ Verdict - Middle school, in our Social Studies room, with just about everyone else from my class.
Columbine - In HS, heard about it on the radio on the way home after football practice. 9/11 - In the dining commons, 2nd year, heard people talking about some plane crashing into the WTC. Went back to my room, turned on the TV. |
mine....
the blackout - Home alone, I was actually on the computer, randomly surfing the net, then my comp just shut off....Then it came back on, in a surge of power for a second, then stayed off. Then, went over my buddy's house a few blocks over on my skateboard, proceded to play chess/risk/monopoly under the stars all night. Right after it happened, I remember when some ignorant people of low socio-economic background [aka: white trash] were going around the neighborhood and proclaiming that terrorists did this and the entire nation's power was out ! :rolleyes: Grr..... columbia- Just a few days before, I noted to my math teacher [who works @ NASA part time] if he knew that it was the 16th anniversary of the challenger crash. He forgot. I remember, being surprised @ the time, that not many people remembered the significance of Jan. 28th [besides the fact that it was the date I was conceived :D ] A few days later, my father was watching television, and saw the incident on cnn. sept. 11 - When it was actually happening, I was actually in class, and wasn't notified about it until 1030 AM [EST zone], when the school's president came on the p.a. and said what was happening. That day, was like a dream, didn't seem it was real, and confused as hell. Later, I saved the quiz that I took right after I heard that announcement. My handwriting was atrocious and my hand was trembling then, along with every bone in my body.. |
9/11 - I was working. I remember being pissed off that people would spend their time shopping for groceries whilst events unfolded that would no doubt fundamentally alter certain aspects of the american experience. Shit, before the scope of the attack was clear i thought it might be the start of WW3.
Columbine - I don't know where i was, but i remember thinking to myself, "Yeah, i'm lucky that the idea of gunning down my classmates never crossed my mind, they're probably lucky too." |
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I don't remember what I was doing the day it happened.. it only really hit home for me when they printed on the front page (I think) of the newspaper the pictures/faces of all the people that died in it.. I felt the enormity of it at that moment... |
911- was sound asleep when i woke up with a sense of dread.. was like all of a sudden every sound around me fell silent. with a rush. then my wife comes in and says someone attacked NY.
challenger- 7th grade in the library at school. I was the only one that knew for certian that it blew up. i started crying and our prinicpal look at me and said whats wrong son. I say the boosters exploded or something. everyone turned to the one kid that never said anything and was an outcast and for once i was the center of thier world answering questions as the events unfolded about how the space shuttles work. (background my uncles father helped design the seats for the early space shuttles) i new alot about them even back then. and i quote *its gone sir, they died. well never get to mars now* |
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