20 years ago
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2021
- My memories
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Great video, J.J. This was so heart felt.
Hello Mr. Beat
Hi Mr Beat. Love your videos.
Mrbeast give me money
whoa hi mr beat
Tower go wooooosh
The focus on your self-awareness of the situation as it unfolded felt very human, I appreciated that angle a lot. You didn't seem afraid to showcase a lot of your natural thoughts and reactions that I feel others would be too embarrassed to admit. I was only 4 on 9/11 but had I been the age I am now I know I would have thought similar things
It was a great narrative memoir!
I was 4 on 9/11 as well, and I remember for better or worse figuring out what was going on, and knowing just enough to be terrified for the next three weeks.
as im seeing this comment it has 911 likes
@rapture ocotber 16, 2021 that’s not what we’re talking about right now
I was 9, I think. It was only several years later than I began to understand what happened, and more than 15 years before I began to truly understand why it happened and the degree to which it defined my generation.
Thank you JJ for having respect for what happened. Canadians and Americans will be together forever.
Yeah, in East Europe, my great grandmother, who was 84 at the time, summarized the feelings of our people quite well (I was 14, so I had a little less understanding of things): I feel sorry for those who died and injured, but America... I can't feel bad for that country.
Just 11 years after the Soviet army left (they were occupying because of the American threat), after seeing Americans bombing the Balkans... We did not have respect.
@@realGBx64 NATO bombed the Balkans in fighting Slobodan Milosovic and the Serbs who were geocoding the Albanians
@@AW-zk5qb sure, that is true but the impression of the common people did not really focus on the detail at least as much as I understood the sentiment back then
@If you can't melt sand - how do you make glass? Are you really just going around spamming inside job everywhere? C'mon man.
@@realGBx64 I’m from a country that used to be part of Yugoslavia. Literally everyone here outside of the ultranationalistic Serbs agrees the intervention was a good thing.
I just graduated from the same high school JJ went to. This story resonates with me because I can visualize everything he talks about in the school. Never once were the tv monitors switched to anything but the school announcements, nor did I ever see anybody crowd around a tv in the way he described. This highlights to me how significant of an event this was especially when I can visualize every location and situation he speaks of in a very real way. I was born 4 months after 9/11, but this made it feel like I was there that day because I started so many days like JJ did that day at that same school, yet it truly was a different and horrible day. Thank you JJ for this story.
Amogus
@@sandrohernandez4401 seriously?
@@sandrohernandez4401 IMPOSTER???
lol my mom is a teacher at Charles best. and I currently go there.
@@sandrohernandez4401 man this is serious cmon
The brutal honesty of this is deeply moving. I am a similar age now as you were then, and hearing how I would probably have reacted is bizarre and affecting: trying to react how you think you should, trying to process it thoughtfully and ending up not thinking at all. Your monotone delivery really captures the surreality of a day that you aren't ready to process or comprehend, even if you think you are. Its almost claustrophobic in the way you become so incessantly aware of yourself, and then aware of becoming aware of yourself, not how you would ever expect to react but inevitably do. This can't of been an easy video to make, but it is an important and emotional tribute and you should be deeply proud of it.
Thank you my friend. It was actually hard to hear myself read back some of these lines, and I even get a bit choked up now, thinking about it. It was a very searing experience for me, so I can just imagine how it must be for others closer to it.
As a Canadian, I remember being in Florida during 9/11 2001, I woke up to what I had thought was a dream, but was a grim reality. What really hit me was I had just visited the WTC north tower a week ago on my US trip.
We may have our jokes and disagreements, but deep down that’s because we love each other and that’s what loved ones do.
God bless America, Canada love you guys❤️.
@Cali Boy Yeah, he was in America on 9/11
Im a Floridian and was 14 when 9/11 happened. It was a half day at my school and up until lunch hour everything was normal but when it was over and I was going to my science class all of the attention was focused on the tv and by the time it was about 1230pm me and my fellow classmates just watched in horror and shock and I just wanted to be home safe from all the craziness that day.
We love you too, you are our Arctic brethern. Canadaians, Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans are all Americans in my book, you guys just didn't have the balls to fight for your independence 😤❤
@@Jo-tv6sj all countries have, love the people not the government my friend.
This was surreal JJ. I was with you in your mom's car on that drive 20 years ago. What amazing storytelling and narration! What a feat of immersive-filmmaking! I have goose bumps! Keep up the good work.
I was scared to death that morning because my parents were actually flying from Colorado when this happened. I was 21 and frantically trying to get in touch with my parents instead of going to my college classes. As a proud American I just want to say it always makes me a little prouder when JJ mentions his pro-American stance.
@earth is flat says the guy that has a username the earth is flat lol.
@Cole "minor terrorist attack."
It is one of, if not the deadliest terrorist attack of all time. Nearly 3,000 dead is not a minor terrorist attack.
@Cole Ah yes. Using your logic, everything else is minor compared to the Tiaping Rebellion. Or World War 2. Or Mao's regime. 3,000 lost in an instant is not minor at all. "It only killed 3,000 people, but more die in Afghanistan so this tragedy is invalid" is a really shit mentality to have.
Edit: spelling
@@thefunfactman6098 It isn’t that many people
@@PzedP1818 It is the deadliest modern Islamist terrorist attack. The two nukes where a terrorist attack.
Every year, I find myself going into the life of a random victim of the attacks, I go deep into learning about their life, and what they were doing. This year I learned about Toshiya Kuge, a Japanese college student who dreamed of coming to America to learn English. He had a great American Adventure, visiting the major cities, and hiking/water rafting in the national parks. He was on his first flight heading back to Japan, which was Flight 93. I accidentally ran into his name when I went to the 9/11 museum, and I broke down. He seemed like someone I would've befriended if I had the privilege of meeting him. He and so many others had lives and dreams as deep as our own. I try not to think too deeply about it often, but I still don't want my emotions of that day to ever go away.
Take a look at the play and story Come from Away. There is a lot of positive in Gander on that bleak day.
I do the same thing! Glad to know that I am not the only one who does that! I always thought that I was weird! Thank you so much!
Thats nice. I wish u were my friend forever. Hehe
I wonder why you don't also give such charitable thoughts to the many more who died in the war.
This is great!!
Great video JJ. Always love hearing your perspective and hearing it here more serious and story like thqn your regular content was something I appreciate.
What a crossover
Everyone's favorite sad anime boy
Thqn?
@@melvinklark4088 interesting to hear how things felt across the boarder from the panic and pain taking place in the US at the time.
Ain’t no FKN way… HIDING IN PUBLIC IS CANADIAN ?!?!
it's so interesting to hear about how earth shattering this news was for people alive at the time. For people under 20 like me 9-11 is history, almost like Pearl Harbor or the holocaust. thanks for sharing your experience. it's incredibly helpful.
You might remember Jan 6th in a similar way, depending on how it struck you.
@@BradyPostma Certainly not quite as severely as 9-11 (I don't have personal experience but there is a much smaller human impact and impact on global standards and politics), but Jan 6th even over here on the other side of the world was shocking to read and hear.
Personally, for me a much more 9-11 moment was when I was getting a ride from my cousin from a ferry terminal and in the backseat I suddenly read about and see the video of the chemical explosion in Beirut.
@@BradyPostma jan 6 wasnt really THAT crazy of an event, it was a major event, but it really didnt affect the world, or even the us that much. really nothing important came from it honestly. i honestly dont remember anything about what i was doing on jan 6. i did think that it would might cause a domino effect (it made us fearful, especially knowing how close the event was to you), but nope. it was just an event that happened, and ended.
@@shroomyesc Yeah, that Beirut explosion was crazy. Anything that brings the sheer size of that explosion into focus is always shocking.
I wonder if Jan 6th hit me harder than it did most people. It felt like Caesar crossing the Rubicon to me -- the beginning of the end of the country. Not a lot of lives were lost or property damaged, but it seems like that was because the target wasn't humans or property, but the nation-state itself.
@@fakename2336 Well, if nothing else, Jan 6th made me deeply suspicious. I feel like I have to be on watch now. Vigilant.
I was a fifth-grader when this happened. Being a California resident, it was very early in the morning and I hadn't woken up for school yet. My dad rushed into my room and pulled me out of bed saying that I needed to see what was on TV (CNN). I ran into the living room to be greeted and horrified by the footage of the burning towers. My parents had to explain to me that the planes were likely hijacked and intentionally flown into the towers. For much of that morning before going to school, my eyes were glued to the TV. I'll never forget seeing both towers collapse in real time.
I'd always had a fascination with skyscrapers, and I don't know if it was because I was too young to truly understand what was happening, but at that moment I think I felt more sad for the buildings than for the 2763 victims... which is something I feel kind-of ashamed about to this day. I think it wasn't until I saw footage of people leaping from windows of the WTC - to avoid what would've been an even worse death from the fire - that the human toll REALLY hit me. Later at school that day my teacher Miss Stephens was pretty much crying as she tearfully explained to the class about what had happened. The mood of everyone in the classroom was like a state of blank shock. The rest of that day is a blur for me, aside from the 24-hour constant news coverage - I'll always remember the CNN headline in the immediate aftermath which read simply, "ATTACK ON AMERICA".
@earth is flat if it was a inside job than why would they blow themselves up? Isint the point of control and greed to not be the burnt corpse in a office?
I was also a 5th grader in CA when this happened. I remember going downstairs and my mom had the news on and they were playing the coverage.
@Allah is Satan(Saturn); Mahomet=Baphomet if it was a inside job why is the us so paranoid now why would they be paranoid of something they did
This ominous way of storytelling in the beginning was something I enjoyed, and want to see more of if possible.
Yes, it’s great!
The bit about a morbid thrill from living through the worst thing ever is particularly, chilling, right now
Horrible but not the worst thing ever
me when all those juicy "global pandemic" headlines started dropping and I was released from my job one fateful friday afternoon
Sitting hearing that for the first time since WW2 schools would be closed only for the Head Teacher to make his way around classes on the verge of tears to tell us all and to stay safe. Certainly not comparable to the scale of 9/11 in the sense of it being intentional terror attacks that slid through all security measures. I'm about to start university and for the last 2 years there were no exams. Just evidence gathering.
totally worse then the holocaust, or the slave trade
@@Jayozranger obviously it isn’t literally “the worst thing ever” I was quoting the video. These events are more like “the worst things in our lifetimes (so far)”
I complete understand that offended feeling when things get scheduled on 9-11. I'm a bit irritated today because my brother-in-law chose today to introduce his girlfriend to the family, but then I remind myself he was only 5 when 9-11 happened, so it doesn't have the same gravitas for him that does for me or my wife.
I guess that for most younger people, especially those who don't have anyone close who was personally affected by it, the day would have as much significance as something like Pearl Harbour or even the British burning down the White House.
It feels like another meaningless footnote in history that you only read about for interest's sake.
I saw someone write that they are blue every year at this time. That hit me. I think that is our collective feeling of those of us old enough to remember. Back then, American was our identity. We were proud of those buildings, those towns,…those people. It hurt us in a personal way. Even those of us 1000 miles from NYC have images and words that break through our thoughts and pierce our hearts from time to time…especially in Septembers on beautiful sunny days. When I try to explain what our collective sense of life was like before that day, I can’t even find the words.
I'm 23 seriously anyone 25 and under has no comprehension of it and treats it as a historical event.
The unabashed truthfulness of this man. That was so honest and realistic. It really brought me into the story. That brought back a lot of memories of how I felt that day. Truly skilled artistry, well done JJ
@earth is flat what's next you ganna claim vaccines give kids Autism?
This is cool seeing the perspective of a Canadian telling their memories of 9/11. Even though he wasn’t in the USA or New York when the 2 planes crashed it’s cool to see how something big happening in another country can affect someone else in another country
It's a phenomena that spread even to Brazil.
Yo who’s Evan lmao
The event affected so many Nations. Many people who passed in the event were from many nationals.
*affect
canada and the us are basically the same country
This is a beautiful video; deeply tragic, but beautiful. You should be so proud of yourself for making this.
Thank you my friend
JJ this is one of the most moving, raw, and personal videos that I have ever seen on UA-cam. I’m not old enough to remember 9/11 (I am only 18) but this video, and the emotion from all those years ago that still clearly remains within you make me understand the deep impact this day had on a generation in a way that no textbook will ever do.
@earth is flat that's all your ganna say? No proof just keep sprouting inside job with no context. Your not ganna convince anyone my dude.
@@Demicleas They're just spamming it over and over
"The world I had confidently been preparing for, wasn't going to be the world I was going to get." If there was a statement that ever summed up what that day was like, this would be it. Rarely does the tempo of the world change in a single day.
JJ’s voice works incredibly here. This is one of the greatest video’s you’ve made to date. Thank you JJ, thank you for remembering to never forget. 🇺🇸❤️🇨🇦
I love your pfp!
@earth is flat Your name makes it a little too obvious that you’re trolling lol
I was 10 yrs old on that day. For me, 911 is a milestone in American history marking the end of the (at least for many) carefree, innocence, and optimism of 1990s America and the beginning of a darker, more cynical and paranoid era.
Awesome presentation!
Never Forget.
I've noticed how society really changed from that day and how the hard -fought freedom of the 20th century was suddenly replaced for fear and safety as its prime value. It just kept getting worse-and-worse as the last 20 years went on. The terrorist didn't destroy our society that day but introduced a disease slowly killing it.
I was 10 years old at the time as well, I 100% agree with your observation. It sounds terrible for me to say given the topic but I don't think America truly recovered after 9-11.
@@lajya01 Good point, the surveillance state (in all of the developed world, not just the US) and further militarization of police (mostly just US) did more harm to society than the terrorists did.
I was 11, I was home schooled my parents took me to a local grocery store because we needed food and it is a good way to teach math. We stopped for breakfast there was a restaurant in the store. I walked by and saw the planes flying into the towers I asked my parents what had happened but said they didn't know we found our hour or so after what had happen
I was born in 2001 and have always felt a bit guilty that I’ve never grasped the shock and horror of this all, that I don’t have the same relationship to this event as nearly everyone older than me. To me it usually feels like yet another horrible historical event. This video helps me understand what it felt like to watch it on the news. Thank you.
Same. I’m still unsure if the World Trade Center was like something everyone knew. If it was as identifiable and well known as the Eiffel Tower or something like that.
I was born in 2006, and so I kinda feel the same way
@@mcclickbait4943 I’m 90% sure it was. They absolutely dominated the NY skyline for decades
Thank you JJ.
Like you, I too was a 17 year old high school student that day. Three enduring memories from that morning and afternoon, among many others, are...
1. My first hour teacher, Mrs. H mentioning to the class that a plane had hit a tower in NYC. This was before people (at least us students) realized what was fully occurring. The collective reaction from the class was to assume it was a Cesna style plane, and we mocked the "idiot pilot" for running into a building. Very shortly thereafter the vice principal come over the intercom with an urgent and panicky sounding voice telling all teachers to turn the TVs on their classes. It was then we all saw what was happening. You could have heard a pin drop In a class with a bunch of rowdy high schoolers.
2. At the time, I lived near a military base, and all bases had gone into total lockdown right after the attack. As such, there was real uncertainty as to whether all of the military kids who attended our school would be allowed to go home at all that day. Eventually, it was agreed that they could go home, but it took hours.
3. Most poignantly for me was running home after school ended to wake my mother up. She was a nurse working the night shift at a local hospital at the time. She probably arrived at home around the time it all started. I assumed (correctly) she had missed it. She is also from New York. I ran into her room, where she was half awake, and started ranting probably incoherently, that The World Trade Center was gone, it had been attacked. The Pentagon was attacked too. Mom, we're at war.
Those are some of the reasons why a part of me is still 17 on this day.
9/11 was one of my first memories. I remember being in kindergarten and my Father(and other parents) hysterically started pulling their kids out of school. Everyone was terrified. My dad who was a military man was so angry. I’ll never forget his face. Had a cousin and uncle return home with physical and mental scars and it’s all because of the evil committed on this day 20 years ago. Much love to everyone who has supported America! I know we aren’t perfect but we truly love our brothers in Arms!
What state did you live in?
@@JJMcCullough Indiana! Home of the Hoosiers! Just gotta say me and my girlfriend love you man! Best poli content on UA-cam
@@JJMcCullough I wasn’t born yet and my parents were in their early twenties, but I heard a lot of stories about kids getting pulled out of school, across the country. I think it really came down to irrational thinking, everyone was scared that America could be attacked like that and thought that the next attack could take place anywhere, at anytime.
I guess it’s easy for me to look back at it and question the likelihood of Al Qaeda attacking a school in a small town, but it’s hard to put myself in the shoes of people who witnessed such an event.
' Much love to everyone who has supported America!' you mean much love to the americans who have been brainwashed into thinking that some terrorists attacked two massive towers (planned by the government) and that gave the american government the excuse to invade Afghanistan, steels its resources and than kill 33 times more people than had died in 9/11. Shame on you
@@eatinsomtin9984 If you're going to spout conspiracy theories, at least use the correct version of steal
I still remember being at school early to work in my first period grade 7 shop class, which my shop teacher offered when shop was the first period class… We just stared at the TV in shock and later on the vice principle came into the class and demanded the teacher turn off the TV which he did. As soon as the vice principal left the room he immediately turned the TV back on and said out loud, “that we need to see this as it may be one of the most significant moments of our lives”, how prophetic were those words… I really thank him for letting us just sit and watch or go into the shop if it ever became too much, or if we didn’t want to watch it for any reason. I don’t remember a single person speaking much or leaving the room.
I don’t know if I was there early enough to see the second plane hit the building in real time, or if I had just walked in at the moment where they were just replaying the moments leading up to it but I still remember them saying a plane had hit one of the towers and then several minutes later watching the second plane hit the other tower. It was so surreal…
May all the victims of that tragic day Rest In Peace, and my heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones. What a tragic day, what a tragic next two decades that arose from such hatred and miss guided fundamentalism.
Thanks for sharing your experience JJ.
Why did he want the TV turned off?
@@JJMcCullough probably since they didin’t want the kids to get scared
Exactly, the Vice Principal thought it was too scary for the students… my shop teacher fortunately didn’t agree, and switched the TV back on as soon as he left. My shop teacher thought it was way too important of a terrible historic moment for us to not experience and be informed about. He made sure to allow any student who didn’t wish to watch to leave the classroom and just work on a shop project in the shop instead. No one to my recollection left the shop classroom as everyone appreciated him having the TV out and allowing us to watch and get informed of the unfolding situation
around the unites states. It was also nice to see Canada pitch in with cities like Gander taking care of passenger from flights that were diverted to airports within Canada.
That day turned out to be one of the most significant moments of my teenage, and young adult life. I’m glad I was able to watch it unfold and have a place to talk about what was unfolding as it happened.
This takes me back, it hurts in a strange way. I was in middle school in Nashville, Tennessee. Your account feels like mine and every American or Canadian experience I've ever heard. And it feels unique to these 2 countries compared to others. That worry for your father, the everyone. It's like everyone on this continent took stock of their family cause no one knew what was about to happen next. For ever we've been divorced from global conflict secure in the fact that there are oceans between where we are and where we don't want to be as a populace. Sure we send people over,, but it could never happen in the North Western part of the world (I know parts of Africa, Portugal, Spain, and The UK are in the northwest but ya know, not really) it really busted our collective bubble. The Canadian and American experience feels the same. We act like we are so different all the time, but growing up in these 2 countries, the experience is pretty near the same.
Been watching this channel for a while now and there's two layers of "That's strange to think about" as 1: I never even thought about how 9/11 affected our neighboring country up north and 2: I'm currently a senior in high-school myself. It's already something that my generation is/has to learn from a history book. So whenever I hear about the "Everyone remembers where they were on 9/11." The only thing I can think about is how I wasn't even a concept at that point. And the self awareness of the fact I wasn't alive for a significant event that many people were is just... trippy in a way.
@rapture ocotber 16, 2021 Yeah his birth is an inside job, how else can he be born?
Wasn't alive 20 years ago, only 19, but I have heard the stories of people who were. Rip to the 2977 people who woke up that morning and never saw there families again.
I was just three years old at that time.
Fellow New Yorker
I'm only 15, but the events of 20 years ago still hit hard.
@@PiyushSinghSisodia-om8nx same, I don't know if I should be glad I never witnessed it on TV. Rip everyone that never made it out alive.
19 as well, the event never really mattered to me though
I was 1 years old on that fateful day, my mom recalls I was playing in front of the tv and all she could think about was what kind of world I would be growing up in
My older brother was 6 days old
(Edit) she tells the same type of story about him too just napping while she was watchin the news folding laundry
I was still young too and the biggest worry my parents had was what would happen to the airline industry since my father was still settling into being a pilot at the time. He really thought he would lose his job within the year when he thought the industry would collapse or at least cease for a while.
I was 2 years old
I was 0 days old.
@rapture ocotber 16, 2021 take your conspiracies elsewhere bot. Spamming your “message” will only make your cause less believable, and even more laughable. I didn’t even know it was possible to be this laughably wrong.
I would say “brilliant, as usual” - but of course there’s nothing “usual” about the event, and this video stands alone. Thank you for it.
I’m also in the pacific time zone, so three hours behind when the events were happening. I was headed into work, with the radio on NPR. I stopped at my habitual donut shop on the way in. This was maybe 15 minutes after the second plane had hit, so it was clear it wasn’t an accident. In the donut shop all was calm, and patrons quietly sipped their coffee. They hadn’t heard. As I left, I almost said they should turn on the news, but I realized the were still living in the better world I had been in 30 minutes before. I decided it was better to just leave them there for a while longer.
I wasn't old enough to have memories of 9/11, but what you said about "morbid thrill" is exactly how I felt in the first few months of 2020, when COVID was gradually encroaching on our lives. I remember gradually hearing more and more about it. I remember in February, when I went to the office where I was interning, suddenly seeing signs about washing your hands and a big bottle of hand sanitizer. I remember early in March, when my professors started cancelling classes one by one. I remember how it suddenly became hard to find things at the grocery store. When I started washing my hands for 20 seconds at a time, it started drying out my hands, and I had to switch to baby soap. I remember the last few days before lockdown started, when it became clear that it was coming sooner or later. At each step, it felt unprecedented, and each step was a shock in how fast it came
Late reply, but i remember feeling the same way. I live in England, and March 13th 2020 was my last day at school before lockdown. I remember I was sat in 6th period Physics frantically checking my phone as Boris Johnson was going to be making an announcement on COVID protocols at 3.00. Phones were banned in my school so i had to be careful not to let the teacher see what i was doing. He eventually saw what i was doing and almost confiscated my phone, but thankfully he let it go, given the situation. Lockdown didn't officially start till the next week, but i felt the 'morbid thrill' of being the first in my class to know what was going to happen.
Thank you for sharing that, J.J. With all of the noise and clatter of modern society, it’s necessary to remember that we’re all vulnerable, frightened people that don’t have the answers. We cower in fear and hope that whatever catastrophe hits next won’t involve us. You’re detailed description of your day at school exemplifies that feeling of lost hope and how children seems to possess an innocence that precludes them from realizing these truths. Thank you.
We cannot ever forget this tragedy.
20 years ago today...
9/11/2001
Never Forget
Forget what?
@@DrRiq Denis Atkinson died that day. It was a tragic event for the cricketing world
9/11 is also Ethiopian new year
@@zachryder3150 RIP Dennis. What a towering figure.
I was in middle school in Peru and on my way back home around 12pm, the streets were quite even around the open supermarket that I usually find very noisy. There weren't many people walking around, probably they were glued to the TV. I felt that shock and sadness in the atmosphere. I won't forget that day. It changed everyone's life.
I find it strangely interesting to hear stories from people about 911. As someone who was born after it by a few years, it’s hard to wrap my mind around just how impactful and horrible the event was. It’s hard to imaging something like that today happening, and what I might feel if it did happen.
I was only 10 that day, and I was homeschooled, so the circumstances were different for me, but this was so relatable. So much so that it sent chills down my spine and tears to my eyes. The fear and uncertainty of that day remains unparalleled in my life.
Solidarity, my fellow homeschooler.
@rapture ocotber 16, 2021 I'm just responding so that everyone can still see your old handle in a month and three days from now.
@@1perspective286 this guy is a flat earth crazy conspiracy theorist I wouldn't be surprised if he believes that vaccines give kids Autism.
I also suffered from really bad fall allergies as a kid, for months I sniffled and squinted through a haze of mucus in my eyes. This was the case on 9/11 as well. I was already in my first class, our middle school started ridiculously early in the morning, and I was trying not to rub my itch, goopy eyes while taking a quiz in science class. I remember a knock on our door and the assistant principal came in. For a split second i thought someone had told him I was high because of my bloodshot eyes and I was going to be in huge trouble, but then I remembered how silly that was because I was also clearly wheezing and sniffling too. The asst principal went to the teacher's desk in the corner and whispered in his ear. I'd never actually understood before what it looked like when books would say a character turned white as a sheet with fear, but I learned that day. My science teacher's wife was in NYC that day for her job, and had talked about visiting the twin towers on her sightseeing day. He basically fell into his chair and then picked up his phone to start dialing, though it would be much much later in the day before he could reach her and find out she was ok. I remember looking over to see his hands shaking so hard as we were all ushered out of the room by the asst principal, our half-finished quizzes forgotten. They herded as many 7th graders as they could into the social studies room, which as the biggest and the only one with a tv that actually picked up tv channels. The desks had been pushed to the edges of the room, too many kids crowding for space as we sat on the floor. I remember a particularly obnoxious kid who like to spout off bullshit just to be devils advocate loudly proclaim that this wasn't nearly as bad as the OKC bombing and we should just go back to class, he got a smack on the back of the head for it by a classmate and told to shut up by the social studies teacher. Bets started being taken about whether they'd let us go home before lunch. It was surreal because it felt so distant from our suburban midwest school, and yet the adults were indicating that this was a huge event. I even remembered being embarrassed by my watering eyes, worried that people would think I was being overly dramatic by crying. And then the towers fell. I didn't see the first one happen, nor do i remember what had distracted me away from the tv, but i remember a single gasp and the entire room went deadly silent, and the tv screen being filled with a barrage of images of debris clouds hurtling down NY streets. I think that's when it became real, and I didn't have to try to hide my eyes anymore.
This might one of the saddest things I've ever heard of or should I say THE saddest thing to ever hear. I hope your life gets better because I feel so sorry for what happened to her. May our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ bless you for your hard work and not gonna lie though but people like you are rare so am I. It would be really nice to have you as a friend.
Was the teachers wife ok or was she in the Towers?
Thankfully she was fine, turns out she wasn't even in the city that day. Though with all the flights delayed I believe she did get stranded there for a while and ended up a week late returning home.
@@pratfallpratt8998 thank goodness
After many attempts to write something here after reflecting on my military service during this time, all I can say is this....
So many lives have been lost from that day up to our current day on both sides.
Condolences to every one of them that lost thier lives and their families.
I was in 8th grade. One thing I remember is my middle school's principal running down the hallway crying. The Pentagon had just been hit and her daughter worked for the Pentagon, so she thought her daughter was dead.
Thankfully, her daughter was okay. It was still a horrifying moment though, just seeing my principal in such emotional distress.
I was 13. Just starting grade 8. I remember being sent to the office that day for some reason. While there all the secretaries and the principal were acting weird. Grouping together and talking in quiet voices. Rumors starting spreading through the school (I remember hearing that the US was invading Canada... lol). They wouldn't actually tell us anything. I got home around 330 on the school bus and turned on the news. So that's how I remember it.
I was only 9 years old when it happened. I was in school when the teachers heard what was going on. They did a good job of not letting us kids know. I didn't find out until I'd gotten home. My mother was too upset to leave the house, so I missed my tae kwan do lesson that afternoon. I was too young to really grasp the full magnitude of what happened. I just knew that it was very bad.
Ontario kid here (same timezone as New York). In September 2001, I was in the ninth grade. First period that term was Civics class. That Tuesday morning, we had a television set on a cart in the windowless interior classroom and were tasked with watching a live Parliament session and jotting down notes. Early in the morning and illuminated only by the glow of the CRT with all the lights of the room turned off, many of us were groggy, barely paying attention, barely awake.
Then the live parliament feed froze. We initially thought it was a something wrong with the television. Oh well, maybe we would get out of having to do this assignment of jotting down who was arguing what. The teacher left the room for a moment, we presumed to get someone's help with the tv. Just a few minutes later, our teacher returned and RACED to the tv. He didn't walk at all, but ran from the door across the room. This I vividly remember.
He changed the channel. To what, I don't recall, just that it was a live broadcast from New York. The news reported that one of the towers of the World Trade Center had been struck by a plane. We, goggly highschool students, started to awaken from our disinterest and began to pay attention. A plane flew into a building? That doesn't happen. What's going on? Even the news reporters didn't know what was going on.
Then, live in front of us, we saw it happen again. The second plane flew directly into the other tower. I remember some of the girls in my class shrieked. We continued to watch the footage, live. After what felt like only a short time, the first tower collapsed. Then the second one. I saw it happen in real time, not from a recording, not from a second hand retelling. It happened for me just as if I was one of the reporters there on the scene.
I too, took a perverse delight in telling my friends about being a witness to this event. What were the odds that we had a television in our classroom? What were the odds that we were in fact, supposed to be watching television? Everyone else was stuck in boring math class, or English, or geography. I was so lucky. It wasn't until much later that I witnessed an act of terror that resulted in the deaths of many, many people that early morning. The buildings collapsing looked like toys being toppled by a toddler. Innocent almost. The fact that people were inside those buildings didn't immediately register.
After, I felt a strong sense of uncertainty. I do recall that the principal made a hastily planned speech over the PA system and there was a moment of silence. All classes that morning were canceled - but only in the morning. Any regular classes after lunch continued as per normal. I guess the teachers felt that a couple hours would be enough time for us to get back into routine.
I don't recall a good deal about the afternoon classes. I was eager for the day to be over, so I could get home and watch the news coverage. Maybe there was more to know. But there wasn't. It was the only thing on the news, every channel. Nobody knew more than what they knew at about 11 am when the tv was turned off for the PA message from the principal.
My teacher's brother died in the WTC. I was in third period English and because of the events, almost every classroom had turned on the news. She was telling us how her brother worked there and that she's a little worried but not too much because she was sure he would get out. Then the towers collapsed. Watching a grown woman collapse and break down while in front of a room of kids is something that will never leave me.
Mom was in college on 9/11 and she returned to my Syrian grandma dancing and saying we had victored
In what way ?
ive never seen this heartfelt jj i feel as if hes more energetic mostly
At first, I was wondering why JJ would be in transit to school at 10AM and not at school already before I realized he lives in a time zone 3 hours behind NYC.
There was a study that found that the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster had a much larger impact on children on the East Coast compared to those on the west coast, as East Coast students were watching it live on TV in class, while West Coast schools hadn't even started the day yet when it happened
I'm also Canadian, and despite being in Jr high school at the time, I too remember it vividly. I grew up in a small town close to CFB Edmonton; most of the students were from military families. My mom took me to school like any normal day; I knew something was wrong when there were only a handful of students that showed up for school. I was the only one in my class that day - instead of several hundred students, there were less than 10.
They gathered what students were there in the gym, allowing most of the staff to go home. They gave us a free day with no classes and let us use any gym equipment we wanted, though most of the students at the school, like myself, spent the day in front of the radio, listening, trying to conceive of and absorb what happened and what would happen next... trying to figure out where all of the other students were.
I learned after going home that the other students weren't there as all of the military families were preparing for potential deployment to assist the Americans.
Both of my best friend's parents were in the military - she ended up staying with my family until her parents knew if they were being deployed or not as they had no local family - they were from Ontario. They ended up not being deployed that day.
Before 9/11, I couldn't conceive of a war - sure, we had soldiers that we sent on peacekeeping missions around the world (my grandfather served for the UN in Cyprus), but war was something you read about in history class, not something that affected my local community so drastically.
9/11 sparked my interest in the news, in local, national, and global affairs - being informed about the world around you, especially as it gets more polarized and violent, is incredibly important. Before 9/11, the news wasn't important to me with exception of the local weather forecast and NHL game scores.
I respect the hell out of this. - I had a very similar experience as a midwestern 8th grader. The whole morning at school was business as usual... Until about 3rd or 4th period right before lunch. - The remainder of the day persisted with awe struck Teachers, out of character, allowing their students to witness history happen on their 'movie day' TVs they kept in the closet. As a young teen growing up & preparing for high school, it was my 1st time feeling a rift in time. It felt alien, but it also felt grown & while I wanted to like the feeling that existed behind the veil, Im not sure I was ready for it. & of course that was only a small taste of the real world & life to come. - That day changed a lot of us. Of course, we experienced nothing compared to those with loved ones lost to the attacks & my love bleeds for them! - As a generation, I believe 9.11 was the Millenials first reality check as a whole. & Looking back two decades later? Tbh, I am not happy with how things have unfolded. Or how events have been handled. I am not happy with the exploitation of this historical moment as propaganda for administrations to justify their agendas! I am not happy with the leadership we have had, period! & I dont think anyone is! I mean, the Taliban have just officially ceased control? How are we truly supposed to feel about that after all these years of war? - This can not be the end! Or maybe it is, but if so... I believe this is only the beginning of the end! & We still have a long way to go on this path before we reach a solution! - Anyway, theres my 2 cents! Thank you for sharing your perspective with us JJ! I hope you decide to do more intimate videos like this in the future, I rather enjoyed this video! Much love & respect! Take care!
~ VV ~
I think you meant to write "seized" rather than "ceased", but otherwise
It was interesting to read about the perspective of the day from your eyes.
The way how your 17 year old mind realized, the same day, "this is going to be the new pearl harbor" is both ....shocking and mind boggling to me.
On October 2 2016 I was 15. I slept with fear the night the plebiscite to enforce the peace deal in Colombia ended in the stand-off that has shaped the country to this day . The utter sense of disappointment and anxiety was way more general between the ones in the political culture that supported the deal, but no one talked about fear that same day. From that day I have felt how fear has grown between the population, both as we return to a conflict and the anxiety around the idea of a future that tears down the political tradition of my country grows between us. I have slept with fear again since May, when the turmoil took over the country and even now that the protest have calmed down, its still very common to hear shots at distance in Cali, even in wealthy and somewhat isolated areas.
I can relate to that tension. On that day I was sitting in a Colombian restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The TV was turned on to RCN, and once I heard the referendum's results, it was a weird spectacle: groans and cheers at the same time. I left immediately fearing a riot might break out.
Solo sepa que los colombianos en el exterior no olvidamos nuestra patria.
Sometimes i hear loud thuds while on the bus home and i fear theyre gunshots, one day coming for my life
Pero soy colombiano hasta la muerte
@earth is flat your one sad man.
I can't even remember yesterday meanwhile people can remember a day 20 years ago so much
Thank you for sharing JJ!
Thank you for this, really helps a person like me who was born in New York City to see what internationals thought of the tragic day. My father was very very close to the towers when the collapsed but was fortunate to find shelter quickly. My mom who was at New Jersey saw the whole thing. They were both immigrants from Mexico and I can’t imagine what they had thought at the moment, especially my mom since she came to the US 7 months before the attack. My dad had to walk all the way to Brooklyn down to Bay Ridge to get home. I remember my parents telling me that their families in Mexico were so worried about them. I was born 4 years later so the attacks have somewhat of a impact on me, especially when you live to see the one World Trade Center aka the freedom tower being built step by step. I live in sunset park and there is a park that provides a great view of downtown Manhattan and a bit of midtown. Seeing the skyline change for 16 years of my life is something I would feel privileged and honored to witness
Amazing video. But the part that stood out to me was him telling the Croatian student, and that realization of breaking news to someone they’ll never forget.
Thank you, this was a great reflection on a moment that is now 20 year past but feel just like it was yesterday.
I was 11 and my dad is a diplomat for the U.S and we were in Sydney and I was at school and we were supposed to watch an educational video and then suddenly the principal came in and told the teacher turn on the news and that’s how I found out. I was shocked and confused. Everyone was nice to me as the only American 🇺🇸
I was 7 years old in Maryland at the time, Everyone in my school was sent home that day as it wasn't that far from the pentagon all things considered and it scared a lot of people. I was still very young so i don't recall much other than my parents being very distressed for a couple days and me just playing ps1 in my room. I don't remember when exactly i was told about the disaster that happened that day but im sure it was gone over either by friends or teachers the following days
I’ve always said it feels like yesterday but recently so much has happened since 2020 that it now does feel like 20 years ago, it feels like history honestly.
A chemical explosion in August 2020 also destroyed half the capital, killed hundreds and injured thousands. But I guess we have to remember what happened 20 years ago because America is more important.
@@jamiethompson6605 We should remember that also💙
I was born in 2007 but yeah it feels like someþing ðat was history "which it is" and we got to know "history is happening as we speak".
@@eicelandicchicken484 thorn and edh so quirky wow
@@eicelandicchicken484 1337
Thank you for sharing!
I needed to hear your story today to process my feelings of my story of that day. Thank you
Bojler eladó!
@@peternagy6067
Mekkora?
Thank you so much for the empathy and support from you and the entire country of Canada during that time. It's interesting to hear this day from the perspective of someone from another country. It's amazing how similar it was to my own.
Thanks for sharing this JJ.🙂
Thank you for sharing, JJ, this day is never easy for anyone who lived it.
I think this is the one day where everyone born before about 1995 knows where they were. It was horrible in the scale of the carnage, and traumatic in what it did to our sense of self.
Thanks for sharing your story J.J. Us Canadians probably felt more connected to the U.S. that day than any other.
I was born in 95 and I don't remember a thing. I think your estimate is a good one.
@@Jamesaepp I estimated that based on the fact that I was born in '91 and my sister in '94 and we both remember it. My cousins were born in '96 and they don't.
@@BloggerMusicMan I was born early in 1995 and I remember seeing it on tv, my mom being frightened and letter going with her to the the mall which was full with people panic buying, also all the tv sets in that mall were showing burning towers instead of a commercials as they normally do.
I am a Canadian who was born after 911 I still feel a sense of dread whenever it is September 11 or when I watch videos of the attacks. On a more light-hearted note, I go to the same high school that you went to.
I don't know how to explain, but this was very needed by me... and I suspect countless others. Thank you, J.J., for this very heartfelt commemoration you shared, from the point of view of a young one as many of us were then - I'm glad you shared it with us all
That was very touching, JJ and without the drama. Very respectful and solemn. Excellent video.
This should actually be an award-winning video.
Thank you, J.J. I'm a cynical bastard, and your words really did warm my coal black heart. You were a talented writer as a teen, and you're an excellent writer and essayist now. Glad to see someone still does essays. As an American, I thank you for your story.
I went to a friend's house from work, they let us go early. She lives way out in BFE near Kankakee, IL. We were going to go trail riding for awhile, which we did. While I was there, I believe I saw Air Force One or Two, escorted by four or five fighter jets, fly over her place. Not very high up. I took pictures of it, and it sure does look like it's the POTUS or VP's plane. I got home in the early evening. I was driving South on Ashland Ave. in Chicago, approaching the bridge over the river, and I saw this young man running around with a Palestinian flag. I don't know if he was happy, or upset about this thing that was done to us. I wondered if he'd be killed. I ended up going to my favorite saloon, the Gold Star on Division. That's where I heard my first 9-11 joke.
I'd love to see those pictures!
@@BradyPostma They're on one of my old computers. I will go through the old computers, which will take a while because I don't remember what computer they're on and I have thousands and thousands of pictures. I will post them when I find them. I don't want anyone to think I'm being mendacious.
@@aprilkurtz1589 I'm not remotely suspicious that you're lying, and you don't owe me any proof. Those just sound like fascinating pictures.
@@BradyPostma They're neat, and I hope it really was POTUS. I know you don't need to see proof, and I hope I didn't infer that. I have an idea of which computer they're on. I haven't seen the dang things in 19 years, probably!
Thank you JJ, a moment shared by so many. Thank you for sharing your experience. It brings tears to my eyes and the word I think of is travail. Sadness at an epic global scale. Sending love to you and everyone from the US.
JJ
Thank you so much for sharing your story! I love this!
Love from USA!
JJ I don't what it was, but hearing your story had me break down in tears. I myself was much too young to understand what was occurring that day as I was 6. One thing I do remember is being evacuated from school and my grandmother and sister, who was home sick from school that day picking up from school. Thank you for sharing your story JJ.
I just realized I forgot what day it was lol, crazy how long it’s been
yup. the farther we stray away from the date, the more we start thinking about it less, even on the exact day it happened
Thank you for making this video JJ. I don't have any memories of then, but my parents are New Yorkers and I grew up hearing their stories. I think it's important for everybody who was there to share their stores, from people in New York to a high schooler in Canada. It helps people like me remember the event as more than just an important day in history, but as a genuinely traumatic event.
What a touching, raw, honest story. Incredible work JJ. Never forget❤️
I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. I remember the towers falling and how scared our country was. I remember thinking this was my generations pearl harbor and how was I going to tell my kids and grandkids that after 9/11 I did nothing wasn't an option. I was in 8th grade and at that moment I was going into the military. So after some college I joined the Army at 20. This 1 event changed my life forever. I distinctly remember my Iranian friend being afraid that the government was going to put him and his family in a camp. The fear or all out war. The woman jumping to her death from the tower and holding down her skirt. It was all shocking for an 8th grade kid. A day I will never forget.
As someone who was too little to have any memories from the attack it's interesting to hear your story. Makes me think about similar memories from an other terror attack, but that was obviously not nearly as world changing as this moment in history. Thanks JJ.
Excellent video. I teared up a bit
This brought tears to my eyes. As an American that lived in New Jersey and was 22 at the time; it still amazes me to hear non American perspectives on the event. I appreciate the different perspectives so very much. Trying to make phone calls and seeing the landscape change that day was truly a difficult experience. I grieved for humanity that day, knowing in that moment we joined countless other countries that have and continue to experience suffering like that.
Cheers to Vladimir, it's rare hearing about Croats ever
Zvonimir*
@@vedrancorluka1332 moguće, zapadnjački naglasak pa se ne čuje dobro
Nije moguće nego je doslovno rekao.
@@vedrancorluka1332 da nigde nisam cuo l plus (i na pocetku se cuje z )zvonimir je bas hrvatsko ime za razliku od vladimira
@@milosm9280 da ali koliko ima hrvata vladimira milijardu, nema veze
that thumbnail is so simple, but it carries so much weight about the past 20 years of not just American history but world history it's crazy rip to everyone who died that day
Thank you for sharing this J.J.
I remember the event so vividly. I just turned 5 a couple months before and we were watching a tv show, with me sitting on top of a very sturdy table. When the TV show was interrupted by a live breaking news. There was an attack on centers that I never heard of at the time. As the news turned to the live footage, it was directly as the second plane hit a few seconds later live. The reporting stopped completely as the gasp and shock was heard. I, along with most of my family was glued to the TV. Both the reporters and the news crew were in shock and I heard them. I remember looking around and saw those older than me, eyes widen in disbelief. The eerie silence shook me. My five year old self didn't want to admit it or didn't know it at the time. But i felt sometime heavy and sharp sank inside of me. A uneasy feeling that my younger self didn't know. It felt horrible. I then fully realized a couple of days after, a kind of realization a five year old shouldn't even have to think about. I felt my stomach churning and I felt sick. It was a horrible week.
The middle school I attended was full of worried/confused kids and completely vacant faculty. I will always remember the teachers and other staff acting like nothing happened. No comments, no interruptions - just business as usual. Then again it's one of the worst and low rated schools in the area.
I hope everyone can find peace and comfort.
Joe from Seattle, USA
Wow...that is mind-boggling to me. I've heard others talk about how their schools wheeled in TV's to show them, so I thought my story was atypical because my school just did an announcement on the PA system and then our teacher would tell us updates later as she knew them. (I went to a small Christian school that didn't have a lot of money.)
@@kimberlybega8271 The school I went to is a low income ghetto neighborhood kind of place. In 1999 there was an attempted shooting.
Wow, I can’t believe it has been exactly 20 years since this happened.
Great video! Love the format. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thank you for sharing your story.
I think back to that day, I was like 11 years old. That was the day the news was turned on and never, ever turned off again.
So much changed after 9.11 - but what doesn’t get mentioned much is just how much the minutia of daily life changed too.
i was in my early 20's and working in a car detail shop staffed with a bunch of rowdy, crude guys my age. it was normally super loud and chaotic, with guys shouting and music blasting from multiple radios. but that morning it was unsettlingly quiet. everyone just working in silence like robots with one radio in the corner tuned to the news.
I love hearing first hand stories of historical evenys
One of your best!
That was a really nice listen
Yesterday, my ACT Prep teacher told us about her 9/11 experience. She teaches in Tenneessee now but worked in Florida at the time for a road mantinance company. The county had about the same road milage as the state of Delaware. She said that her friend, Murphey came into work. Normally he was the human personality of sunshine. Always happy and in a good mood. Everyone knew him, everyone loved him. She said he stopped by her desk and just stood there. Then said "Hey, Gina." She turned around and his face was pale. She asked him what was wrong. He was stuttering with his words. He asked to turn the TV on in the conference room because he thought he heard something impossible on the radio in his car. She said he could and he said no, he wanted her to come in their with her. Now, my teacher is a little lady, and she said Murphey was a big masculine dude who could take on anyone, but he wanted her with him to see. They turned on the TV and it had after footage of the first crash. She said, "don't worry, it was an accident. No one's gonna fly a plane into a tower." And as soon as she said that, it switched to live footage of the second plain going into the second tower. She knew it was an attack and she was distraught.
She called her daughter in the middle of class since she was a Junior in high school at the time. Her daughter said her school went into lockdown the whole day because they were nearby the Kennedy Space Center and were afraid of it being hit.
Another story was my aunt's friend who worked in the towers. She worked on either the 85th or 86th floor. When the first tower was attacked, the management on the second tower said it was fine, and to stay and work. There was back and forth arguing until she went with a group of an employees who decided to leave. She realized she left her purse in her drawer and wanted to go back to get it, but she said God was giving her the largest urge, practically screaming at her to GET OUT. She did, in a panic, she went to go pick her kid up from school.
Edit: There is a lot of civil unrest in America, and the world, now a days. With "I like this party and you don't so your an evil spawn of Satan." But when something like this happens, it brings America, and the world together to realize the tragedy of the situation.
There's something very eerie about the parts of this video that look like stills but are in fact video.
I was 7 on 01/9/11. My memory of it doesn't really make sense - I remember waking up, and my parents telling us what happened, but I would have been in school. They might have told us the day after, I don't know. Maybe I was too young, but I never had a feeling of distress about it, or a sense that it was a turning point or an historic moment. That didn't set in until Afghanistan was invaded. I don't think it's an age thing, though: my peers all have some reverence and awe about the attacks, and I sort of don't. Just one of those things, I guess.
I do remember my parents offering to host some stranded Americans until the planes were allowed to fly again. They ended up turning us down, though.
Anyway, thanks for sharing.
I would've expected it to be distressing to American kids that age, but apparently your experience of it is pretty similar to mine as an 8 year old Dutch kid. Even the false memory of receiving the news in the morning lol. At my local time it would've been on the news at about 3/4pm, so I guess I saw it on tv after returning from school, and not at breakfast.
Thank you so much for this video, J.J.
Great story, touching and saddening. Evoking memories.
I was only two months old at the time and I imagine much of your audience hadn't even been born. Thank you for your video, because I think that by only understanding the events of 9/11 with hindsight, my generation is at risk of missing their true significance and perhaps even forgetting the sacrifices of those who died.
Very good telling of this story perfect presentation.
May we have one moment of silence for the ones who lost a family member or died🙏
I remember reading that journal entry back in the day. I was in 7th grade and your reflections and writings helped me make sense of a chaotic world.
I'm only 19 and watching or hearing stuff about 9/11 makes me emotional. For example, 2 years ago (my senior year of high school), one of my teachers had us watch a documentary about dogs on 9/11. I couldn't watch much of it.