You so hit the nail on the head Froggy.  Your thoughts and feelings on that day are very similar to mine and I'm sure, many others.

I remember being off from work on holiday on that day and I just happened to have the news on.  I was just pinned to the spot in horror when I saw the building on fire and the "breaking news" rolling across the bottom of the screen.  I just remember thinking OMG what a terrible accident, how could this happen and then I saw the 2nd plane hit the other building and realisation dawned that this was no accident.  I was still pinned to the spot standing in front of the TV just so shocked, upset, sad, in disbelief, scared for the people within the buildings and those standing outside.  Then the first tower started falling like a deck of cards and I really just couldn't think of anything but those poor people trapped inside. 

Like you, I saw a program last week about the fireman and the lives that were taken - some 350+ firemen bravely lost their lives on that day.  Those brave firemen that survived were telling their stories and you could see the total and utter pain in their eyes as they recounted what happened, bodies falling behind them as people had jumped out of windows and people coming out of the building, in front of them.  Life and death in one scene.  The pain and grief in their eyes brought me to tears and just made me remember the feeling of being hopelessly helpless.

They don't believe they are heroes but they truly are and were.

blue

I was getting ready to go to the hospital,my daughter-in-law was in labor and I had the tv on.I was already a nervous wreck with my grandson on his way,when I saw what as going on...OMG.I'm sure I was like alot of others and thought accident...until the other plane hit!! All those poor people and not knowing what was next,very scary indeed.I'm at the hospital watching this horror and thinking I'm gonna be a Grandma but today of all days...oh man!!So for me it is weird..my grandson's birthday and one of the most infamous days in history falling on the same day.

I think about that day quite often and how it changed America forever.  I too remember exactly where I was and what I saw that morning, unfolding live on TV before my eyes.  I watched the plane hit the 2nd tower and will never forget ALL the photos and video images I saw that day as well as the days following.  I could not tear myself away from the television for nearly 2 days, I was so incredibly sad and numb.  I remember emailing one of our local TV stations 2 days after the attack, asking them to please, air something other than the 24/7 live coverage of the aftermath because we all needed to see something GOOD...positive, cheerful and to just get our minds on something else for a short while....the depression was awful not only for me but for so many people in my community.  But what I saw in the days...weeks after that horrible days also made me so proud to be an American.  SO many Americans came together as a UNITED people and helped each other, setting aside their political, religious and personal beliefs.  I wish...I pray....we could find our way back to that patriotic UNITED nation again because so many of us have forgotten that day and how it nearly tore us apart.  The sacrifices which so many have made and continue to make, to allow our freedoms and keep us safe.  "Thank you" just isn't enough some times.  I will be watching the those shows that commemorate that day...and pray for all those that were lost.

I'm not an American and I've never even visited the U.S. But I surely remember that day... I was upset before it happened but for a trivial reason: I went to attend the Romanian Tennis Open that day and had to leave the arena because it was raining ceaselessly. To my frustration the rain had stopped by the time I got back home so I was preparing to watch one of the matches on TV. But the broadcast was stopped for an announcement: a plane had hit one of the WTC towers! I switched to CNN immediately and then... you all know what happened. What we have felt in Romania about the whole thing was summed up brilliantly the next day in one of the newspapers by a veteran journalist, here is the article:

Editorial from a Romanian newspaper

"An ode to America"

Why are Americans so united? They don't resemble one another even if you paint them! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations. Some of them are nearly extinct, others are incompatible with one another, and in matters of religious beliefs, not even God can count how many they are.

Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed on the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand. After the first moments of panic, they raised the flag on the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a minister or the president was passing. On every occasion they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless America!".

Silent as a rock, I watched the charity concert broadcast on Saturday once, twice, three times, on different TV channels. There were Clint Eastwood, Willie Nelson, Robert de Niro, Julia Roberts, Cassius Clay, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Sylvester Stalone, James Wood, and many others whom no film or producers could ever bring together. The American's solidarity spirit turned them into a choir. Actually, choir is not the word. What you could hear was the heavy artillery of the American soul. What neither George W. Bush, nor Bill Clinton, nor Colin Powell could say without facing the risk of stumbling over words and sounds, was being heard in a great and unmistakable way in this charity concert.

I don't know how it happened that all this obsessive singing of America didn't sound croaky, nationalist, or ostentatious! It made you green with envy because you weren't able to sing for your country without running the risk of being considered chauvinist, ridiculous, or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests.

I watched the live broadcast and the rerun of its rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who fought with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that would have killed other hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth were they able to bow before a fellow human?

Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit which nothing can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases which risk of sounding like commonplaces. I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion.

Only freedom can work such miracles!

Johnny -  I always wake up once or twice during the nite. When i do i always ck the time on my cell. Today i woke up at 4am and your post was looking back at me.

I can hardly express what i felt when i read it. By the time i got to the end i was in complete tears. I don't know who wrote that editorial but his/her emotion was felt in every word across the page.

Our slogan through 911 is "We will never forget".......and i won't ever forget this.

With the sincerest thanks,

Lips

   I totally agree lips,such a beautiful piece....thank you Johnny and a thank you to the author

Johnny -  I always wake up once or twice during the nite. When i do i always ck the time on my cell. Today i woke up at 4am and your post was looking back at me.

I can hardly express what i felt when i read it. By the time i got to the end i was in complete tears. I don't know who wrote that editorial but his/her emotion was felt in every word across the page.

Our slogan through 911 is "We will never forget".......and i won't ever forget this.

With the sincerest thanks,

Lips

The author's name is Cornel Nistorescu and this is probably the best article he has ever written.