i didn't even know what was going on. my class was in a trailer (I was in 5th grade) and they locked down the school. everyone was freaking out that there was an axe murderer on the loose or something.

9/11 was my generation's Kennedy assassination or Pearl Harbor. One of those moments in time where you remember exactly where you were, who you were with, and what you were doing. I can still remember watching it so vividly in my mind. That day literally gave me nightmares for the next few months where skyscrapers were falling down around me while I slept. I can actually still remember the dreams and the sounds in those dreams.

The night of 9/11 I recall how quiet the skies were. Where I live there is a variety of regional and international airports, as well as air force bases, navy yards, and coast guard yards. Usually the skies are filled with the sounds of aircraft flying about, but that night there was total silence. Me and a few buddies were drinking a couple beers and shooting the basketball around when we heard a lonely F-14 flying overhead. It sent a chill down my spine with the thought that that plane wasn't being flown just for a pilot to log a few hours, he was more likely patrolling the skies and on alert.

For as long as I live I will never forget that day and the events that unfolded. I still sob whenever I watch videos of the towers getting hit and eventually falling. I think Al Qaeda won that day regardless of how hard we hit back. Terrorists changed our lives that day. They changed the way we think. They changed the way we travel. They changed our political landscape.

I'll never forget...

that was SO WEIRD because I'm in the dc area. quiet, quiet skies. my school was under one of the exit/entrance paths for a nearby airport so we were accustomed to hearing them all the time. everything sounded empty without the planes.

... what was weirder was being scared whenever you heard a plane afterward, especially since they were so low to the ground landing nearby.

i recall being in 7th grade math class, then finding out that the towers went down the next period. everyone got out of class early, and we went down to the river from which we could literally see the fire and smoke. can't describe to you what was going through my young mind at the time. my uncle lou was one of the first responders and we didn't hear from him for almost a week. was fucked up. on my block alone 2 people died that worked in the towers. i still can't even watch the towers being hit on tv

never forget those who lost and gave their lives on 9/11. as horrible as it was and as many Americans that were lost, it brought the people of this great nation closer than ever before

Especially don't forget the service men and women who lost their lives in this war.

I know the feeling gb. since i'm in the suburbs a lot of my friends' parents worked in the pentagon. by the end of the day there were like 4 people left in my class because parents pulled kids out right away. a priest from my church was on his way to a funeral at arlington, and ended up pulling over and giving people last rites.

I remember that day as if it was yesterday. The world literally stood still.

I was still working at the university back then. Every single person working there was watching a television or a computer newsfeed.

My wife was in the hospital for a treatment. She barely got treated for what she came for. Even there, everyone followed the horror of that day.

Let's never forget

So why should we remember what we were doing when we heard about what happened rather than what happened?

in what way does remembering associated events prevent you from remembering a particular event?

It's distracting. Why should I have to hear about some associated events that happened in your life?