Where Were You Sept. 11, 2001?

It was Sept. 11 2001, when two planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.

I remember that morning, but had no idea the impact or reality of what happened as it started to unfold.

I was working at my first real news job at the NBC affiliate in Pocatello, ID, when we suffered the greatest terrorist attack our country had ever seen on U.S. soil. I lived in the Mountain time zone, so one hour behind St. Louis and two hours behind New York.

I worked as the nightside reporter, which means I wrapped up my shift at 10:30 the night before. I was sleeping that morning as the attacks began to unfold around 8:45 a.m. Eastern time.

After the second attack, speculation really began to focus on a possible terrorist attack. My boyfriend, who still lived here in St. Louis, called me to see if I was watching the news. He asked if I knew of the reports of a likely terrorist attack. I was half asleep, didn't even consider we could ever come under attack like that, did not take his call seriously and went right back to sleep.

To this day, I don't really offer that information up (until now) when the topic of Sept. 11 is discussed. How embarrassing, and somewhat disgusting, is that? I went back to sleep when thousands of people were living their last moments and Al-Qaeda was attacking our country.

It wasn't until he called me again and said this was for real, the U.S. had literally been attacked by terrorists and thousands of people were trapped, that I woke up and turned the TV on.

I'm not sure I still comprehended what was taking place.

I could not believe that this was really happening. How ridiculously naive of me. It was so far away from me or anyone I knew, I just watched the news like it was a TV show. It did not seem like reality to me at all.

I remember the networks took over news coverage that day. No local news, which meant we were not going on the air at my local NBC station in Idaho. However, I got to the station as soon as I could, not really sure what we were doing, but we do news and this was certainly news.

That's when it hit me, the absolute horror of what was happening. I remember sitting in our newsroom and watching a row of televisions. Each one usually aired a different network. On this day, ABC, NBC, CBS and whatever else we had up there all had the same story. The same video: people, bodies just falling from the Twin Towers. 

That's what I remember most about that day. Watching bodies falling out of the World Trade Center buildings on a row of TVs. I remember thinking how terrifying it must be to make the decision to jump from those buildings because that was someone's best option. That image has stuck with me to this day. That's what I remember about Sept. 11, 2001. 

Days after the attacks, I interviewed a woman who was in one of the World Trade Center buildings. She explained to me how she survived, how she and her co-workers crawled in the dark and the smoke to eventually escape.

However, it's that image of the bodies just dropping that sticks with me and the thought that I went back to sleep as this began to unfold. 

I remember for months after the attacks being so down, so sad, but I felt like I really had no reason to feel like this. I didn't know anyone who died or anyone who was directly impacted by the attacks. The more I talked to friends, family and colleagues, it turns out many people felt the same.

It's a weird feeling though, because so many people died horrible deaths and I wasn't one of them. I remember thinking, "What is your problem? Suck it up. People are dealing with a lot worse right now and you are not one of them."

So I wonder, more than a decade later, how do you feel? How did you feel as you learned of the attacks? Do you remember what you were doing that day, that moment when you learned the news? Did it impact you afterwards? Please, post your thoughts in the comments below.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is a personal account by St. Louis Patch Editor Gabrielle Biondo.