The Day That Changed My Life Forever

Never forget.
Music by @Dyalla

[adriannamatos]

I remember this day like it was yesterday. I’m born and raised in Brooklyn. I was in 1st period math class when we suddenly felt a loud explosion and saw smoke coming out of the twin towers. I remember all of us staring out the window of this classroom on the 5th floor that faced the towers. We were silent with panic and shock. My teacher closed the blinds, and ran down the hall. She ran back into the classroom and helped comfort us. Many of the kids started crying, worried about their parents who worked there. My father was on his way to the office that morning. I was so afraid that he wouldn’t make it back. But thank god, he managed to turn back around to pick me up and head home for safety. I think about all of my fellow students who lost their mother and fathers in the line of duty, and it still breaks my heart. It scares me that our country is in an uncertain state when it comes to security.

[chadgaming]

Glad that your Dad survived the most horrible tragedy of our time. My heart goes out to the families of the victims that were lost on that fateful day.

[global.things]

My favorite building in the world has to be the Freedom Tower.

There is so much symbolism in seeing it soar above the city into the clouds. ❤️

[renatranskyler]

I'm from the UK, but that day was very life changing. I was 9 years old and I was home from school early. I watched the second plane go into the 2nd tower on live TV. I'll never forget my mum's reaction. As the story progressed and the first tower fell, I turned to my mum and asked "wait mum, is this a movie, or is it real?" And she replied, "Unfortunately, it's very real. " i remember her crying, but i was more confused than anything. Censorship seemed to go out the window that day or maybe back then, people didn't realise how traumatising it could be even if it was on tv. But I remember the news showing injured people, people jumping from the tower, etc.

The next day at school, we had to have "circle time" in our classrooms to discuss what happened and how it made us feel.

Everyone was so panicky post-911. No one wanted to go on planes, etc. Then, a few years later, we had "the London bombings, " and that caused more panic.

[karenmacleod]

Thank you, Brett, for this touching to the heart video. I am from Canada but 9/11 hit so many people in so many different places of the world. Everyone was so devastated of what happened that day. Thank God your fathers meeting was cancelled that terrible morning, what a true Blessing for him and your family. You are very nice to share this video with us all Thank you! It will be in our minds and hearts forever, of what all those people went through. God Bless! everyone on this the 22nd Anniversary of 9/11 I never miss watching some of the memorial celebrations each year 💖❣✝🕊Take Care!!!

[maryellis]

Beautiful commentary on this horrible day, Brett. You are an exceptional storyteller.

[Adeoca]

I was 12 years old and living in Buffalo Grove, Illinois on 9.11.2001. I was in school like every other kid on that day. I remember the day being a very difficult and depressing day after I got home from school. 22 years later, I’m 34 years old now, and living in New York City.

[benschaeffer]

I can ABSOLUTELY relate to your story Brett. I was back living in my hometown of Brooklyn on 9/11, after about six years away going to college out of state up in Massachusetts and living out West and traveling a lot as college students do; and had returned home to NYC to go to grad school at NYU. I was 28 years old on 9/11. I'm 49 now.

LUCKILY, (like your Dad's meeting) my graduate seminar at NYU was canceled on the morning of 9/11. Otherwise, I would have been stuck underground in the Subway, going to work instead, because I worked in the Hudson Square area on the Lower West Side, about 17 blocks away from the WTC. I was SO lucky that I was still at home in South Park Slope, Brooklyn. I was in the shower when AA 11 hit the North Tower @8:46am, and I thought it was just the Subway passing underneath my building, so I thought NOTHING of it. After I got out of the shower (around 8:49am) though, I heard the 🚨🚨🚨🚨's and then started to think A WHOLE LOT. My dog 🐕 Caramel was going ABSOLUTELY NUTS! And then my Aunt (who lived in Brooklyn Heights) called me HYSTERICALLY crying, (which wasn't like her AT ALL), and told me she'd been out walking her dog on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (as she did every morning) and saw a large jet fly into the North Tower of the WTC, so she panicked, picked up her Dog and ran home. I IMMEDIATELY turned on CBS News and started watching (it was about 8:51 or 8:52am at this point) Bryant Gumbel's broadcast. I was STUNNED.

We ALL KNOW what happened 11 minutes later. When United 175 hit the South Tower, I not only felt the shockwave of it, I HEARD it, like a thunderclap in the distance. My Dog went and hid under the bed at that point, whining piteously. She wouldn't even come out from under the bed until AFTER both towers had collapsed. And I heard each tower collapse, though I had gone a bit numb at that point (my own 9/11-related PTSD can get pretty bad recalling the day even 22 years later), BUT, I still heard it. It was LOUD, and each collapse made a HUGE echo out across the city. It was surreal, and COMPLETELY eerie. After that, I'd NEVER heard NYC so quiet. EVER. In my life, and that scared me too, because we were ALL bracing, thinking: "what are they going to hit next?" Let's face it: NYC is a TREASURE TROVE of potential terrorist targets.

My childhood friend survived because she missed her earlier ferry from Staten Island coming into Manhattan, where she worked for Merrill Lynch on the 74th floor of the South Tower; 4 floors below the impact zone of United 175. She lost a LOT of co-worker friends that day, and her PTSD & Survivor Guilt was off the charts.

It's AMAZING to me ALL the 9/11 stories that we'll NEVER hear. Like from the parents of your classmates in Massapequa. I moved from NYC to San Francisco back in the Summer of 2004, and to this day, when I tell my 9/11 story out in here in California, people go UTTERLY silent.

#NeverForget

[jennahoran]

Brett thank you for posting this. I was 16 and my brother was about your age, we are from just north of the city. My trauma responses have been more obvious, but I often think about how it may have affected those around your age and younger, if that trauma is more often deeply hidden. It truly horrifies me how casually some young people, who weren’t born yet or old enough to remember, talk about this day and the tragedy that happen. Much like your dad says it’s fresh in his mind, that’s the case for myself and thousands, probably millions. It has shaped the millennial generation as our biggest source of trauma and loss of innocence. Unless you live in the tri-state area, it’s also very difficult to understand how it still lives on. Commercials about victim funds, health concerns, memorials, “Never Forget” signs across the region. We must continue to talk about what happened and how it changed the world in an instant.

[dqrifib]

Devastating day for so many, everyone remembers where they were and the fear they felt.
I'm from Toronto, Canada and I too remember it like it was yesterday, unbelievable images and such brave first responders.

[jeanettemac]

Thank you for sharing this Brett. Had no idea you were so close to it. It was very surreal and worrying for us in London. Lovely to see your dad safe and well. Our hearts broke that day for all the loss. Sending love then and now to the US. Remembering those lives lost and the bravery of so many. We love New York.

[arfriedman]

I'm glad to hear your experience on that tragic day.

My dad and I were there that day. We were on the SI Ferry with our car. Getting off the ferry, the news said it was a plane. My dad knew it was terrorism. My dad had me grab a flying paper because he thought it was propaganda. It was just an office paper.

My dad was a civilian NYPD union president.

My dad ran to do EMT in front of millennium hotel after we parked the car. He was trained by NYPD civilian job he had for years. My dad was blown in the air when the building fell. A restaurant pulled my dad in to wash him off.

I only walked to Hester st when my office said walk north. The office let me stay after I knocked on their door to use the bathroom. On their TV, I saw the towers fall and thought my dad gone.

The office I was in kept getting important phone calls.i finally used their phone at 2 pm because they insisted. My mom said my dad was alive, but I don't hear that. I say dad passed away. Finally she said my dad wants to get me and I see he's ok. I had to ask permission for my dad to get me.

My dad's car was full of the wtc soot, thick. My dad was cut bad on his arm and refused to go to ER.

It was odd people clapping as we drove to Manhattan Bridge. The responders deserved the clapping. We had several checkpoint driving home. We got home at 6pm.

A day or two later, my dad had to go to ER for his arm. He's ok since. He passed away in 2012.

I've written my comments on other wtc videos. They may have more details than what I put here because I'm writing on a phone here.

Much success and health to all.

There's a lot more to my story which you can find under other wtc news channels.

[theartsyzoologist]

Wow, thank you for sharing this Brett. I’m not American, I’m all the way in New Zealand but I remember this day so vividly as well. My father got us out of bed to watch the news, and nothing could prepare my siblings and I for what we saw on the television….nothing blurred out just pure terror, chaos and shock, seeing people jumping from the buildings will be etched in my mind forever. It was supposed to be a fun eventful day, my cousins birthday and our field trip. As soon as I arrived at school, it was silent, we all just felt and looked out of place, my teacher looked pale and confused, it was like looking at shells of our former selves. We could only imagine how much harder it would be for those in the U.S directly in the fray. My friends and I decided to write our thoughts out on paper, and the teacher figured it was a good idea so had the rest of the class do the same. We then took turns reading them out. That was the point I had learned to take positives from a negative situation and have continued to do this in life. My mum still has that very piece of paper inside her Bible.

The fact that even here in little New Zealand (and probably the rest of the world), it had such a profound effect and impact, shows the magnitude of 9/11 and how a piece of all our hearts and souls died with our American brothers and sisters that day.

I’m not quite sure if anybody else will gauge my exact thoughts on this, but I truly felt like there was an energy shift in the world, like winds of change, life had turned completely and the innocence and carefree happiness had been shattered and no longer existed. Maybe it was my younger naive self? But I felt the world was never going to be the same. The only comfort I felt that day was mum picking us up and giving all four of us the biggest hug. Then looking around seeing all the parents clinging to their kids…man it was overwhelming.

So much love, healing and strength to all you Americans/citizens and souls that were directly affected and confronted with this tragedy. Just know that a lot of us always have and always will stand in solidarity with you all.

[donnamarsh]

So glad your Dad is alive to tell about this terrible tragedy. Important history. 💓💓

[star_.yourlocalidiot]

I’m 10, (turning 11 this year) so I was not alive to see this. We just learned about it in school, so i wanted to know more. I understand how you feel because my teachers friend died that day. I’m so happy your family was okay. This helped my studies tbh and I have to thank ypu for discussing such a difficult topic. On 9/11 at the times that the planes hit, (we had previously written these on biodegradable paper) we spread out all of the names in our field and sung the national anthem. then we lowered the flag to half mass, and did the pledge. We do this every year, and it’s really sad. Thank you once again for discussing this.

[smylmvv]

My condolences go to all the people who lost their lives that tragic day...

[Halseb]

I was 9 years old at the time 9/11 happened. Today I'm 31. Like many others who also were young when these tragic events unfolded, I have very clear memories from that day. I remember that I got home from school around 2pm after playing with some friends outside. We had really beautiful, sunny weather that Tuesday afternoon in Sweden on the 11th of September. The door to my family's house was half open since my mother was home from work already, as she only worked part time at her job at the time. Once I enter the house, I see my mom glued to the television in the livingroom. I walk up to the television and see the horrifying images of WTC being hit. I understood that something really bad has happened, but I just couldn't grasp the magnitude of it. Was it real or was it fiction? I said: "Hey Mom, what are you watching?" My mother replied to me with a calm, but serious tone that "a terrible incident" is happening in New York City. I sat down on our sofa and joined her, none of us said nothing. A short while later, I saw the live images of the WTC twin towers collapsing. Even as a 9 years old kid as I was back in 2001, I understood that the world will never be the same after this.

[ruthtallmer]

I was in my early 40s, & that day changed my life forever, despite the fact that ALL my loved ones survived (I'm from Bklyn), as did I, who lived in VA at the time, & was in the Metro exactly when a plane hit the Pentagon...the whole train and STATION shook, but the most traumatizing part of the day was the attack on my beloved NYC. My sister, parents, 3 close friends, & my best friend & her daughter were directly in harms way. I thank God EVERY DAY that none of my beloveds were harmed, but we all feel that 9/11 is for us, & should be nationally, a day of mourning & a legal holiday...We can (and never) should forget...and yes, Freedom Tower is lovely & is a monument to both our brave citizens, & the resiliency of New York & our people.

[patriciaperkins]

Thank you for putting this up, Brett. I lost one of my closest friends in this tragedy and my late Dad lost a friend from his Army work at the Pentagon. We were also friends with John Tishman, the brilliant engineer who designed the first Twin Towers and whose engineering firm, now part of Aecom built the Freedom Tower. Thank you for sharing both your memories and your Dad's personal story.

[JustAPersonWhoComments]

Your dad's story and the footage he captured must be so valuable in preserving the memory of that day. Thanks for sharing your perspective, and it's great to see you exploring the rebuilt One World Trade Center to pay homage