A Day to Remember: Readers Reflect on Sept. 11

For most Americans—at least those of us old enough to remember—Sept. 11, 2001 seems like it was just yesterday. But, in fact, it's been a decade.

From the war on terror and the thousands of brave servicemen and women who have given their lives to keep America safe, to a shifting political landscape, the events of that day have forever changed our country.

Where you were on Sept. 11, 2001 has become a memory seemingly etched in stone in millions of Americans lives.

Here's how residents remembered the day:

Lemont Patch Editor Amanda Luevano

I was walking to my eighth grade math class at A. Vito Martinez Middle School in Romeoville. My friend, Jeff, came up to me and told me "some plane ran into a building in New York." At the time, I thought it was an accident.

When I got to class, I knew something was wrong. My teacher had the radio on. She cried as she told us her husband was in New York and she couldn't get a hold of him. I went through the rest of the day feeling uneasy and scared. My school didn't have windows, so we had no idea what was going on outside. Looking back, that was the last time we were shielded from the harsh reality of what happened that morning.

When I got home, my mom told me and my brother that something bad had happened. We curled up on the couch and watched CNN for what seemed like hours. I had never seen anything like that.

I think my generation lost a little bit of its innocence that day.

Heather Nilles

I was working in my office, and more importantly waiting to hear the news of the arrival of my two nieces. Although every year Sept. 11 is a reminder of the tragedy that befell America, I get to breathe in and put the "but" at the end of the sentence. But my Sept. 11 is also a wonderfully joyous occasion, as on that day, I got to celebrate the healthy arrival of my twin nieces, Aubrey and Amber. I feel very lucky and fortunate.

Wanda Derrico

I was on the 46th Floor of the Aon Center on the phone talking to a client that was watching the news on TV and he was telling me about the planes that hit the twin towers. At that moment I was tapped on the shoulder by a women that was telling me that they were evacuating the building due to terrorism. This was quite a scare, so I hung up the phone and hundreds of people were all filing out of the building like ants coming out of a molehill. I will never forget that feeling.

Heather Bury

I was woken up by my grandmother yelling at me that some pilot flew a plane into one of the towers. I got up and grabbed my then one-year-old son and sat on the couch to see the coverage. I saw the second plane hit and knew it wasn't an accident. I gripped my son tighter and wondered what kind of a world was I raising him in while I wept for all those poor people. I then got called into work and went in to the absolute quietest day I have ever had at a job. You see...I was in shipping-over planes...there was nothing to do but sit and wait and listen to the tragedies unfold...never was I so scared and helpless

Megan Duffy

I was also sitting in my eighth grade math class. Once I got home, I was glued to the television from then on, flipping back and forth between channels and trying to find out as much as possible.

Kevin Brztowski

I woke up early that morning and was using my desktop PC in my room looking for a job. I went to CNN.com and saw a basic picture of a plane going into a tower and some simple text. I immediately thought the website was hacked and saved a copy of it. Then I started seeing news feeds all over the net, it was at that moment I knew we were in trouble.

Robyn Rehor Horn

I was a brand new mom and babysitting a little girl. I remember standing in the middle of the street with my neighbors in complete shock. I quickly stopped watching the little girl so I could spend all my time with my own!

Lee Schneider Welko

I was in my office at Argonne. We heard one of the scientists saying a plane hit the tower, so four of us crowded into my office and turned on the radio. Later we were went home due to ANL being a national laboratory. Security was drastically tightened from that day forward. Our world changed forever.

John Ekkert

I was actually at Logan International (where everything emanated). I was planning on returning home to Chicago. The terrorists flew out about 2 hours before we were scheduled to. Needless to say, we had to drive home minus our luggage. I didn't see the footage until about 10 p.m. in a Pennsylvania Walmart (I needed to buy a change of clothes and a toothbrush).

Jennifer Mawdsley

Heard about it on the radio driving on southbound I-294, going through the Touhy toll plaza. Couldn't comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy until I saw images on the BBC website when I got to work.

Marie Hartell Markowski

I was at Jewel when I heard about the first planes. On the way home I heard about the Pentagon being attacked and immediately thought "Oh God! We are now at war." I was petrified that my oldest was going to get called back into the service and that he, his brother, my husband, two of my brothers and countless friends (all cops and firefighters) would get called up to Chicago because I was sure that would be next. That night my husband and I were standing outside when we heard a plane fly over. By then, all commercial flights had been grounded so we knew it was a military plane. I still remember the "goosebumps."

Natalie Sawka

I was in fifth grade at a private school in Chicago. I was in English and the principle came over the PA system and told us there had been a terrible accident with a plane hitting a twin tower in New York. The teacher turned on the TV and moments later the second plane hit. The lights were turned off in the school, the doors were secured and we were locked down. Our parents were called to pick us up and we had to identify them as family being able to leave with them.

Have your own reaction?

Leave a comment below with your memory of the day.

Where were you at when you first heard? What was your initial reaction? How did you tell your kids? How did you ask your parents what it meant?