I don't know if you intended this as an OPEN topic, and if not , my apologies. I don't think I'll go into detail about my own personal experience. I may not go 19pages!(that's not a cheap shot Scott, it was very beautifully written!), but I might still load up a few pages, as well. So just a few of my own quick experiences.
My wife began labor with our, now, two year old daughter, just before midnight, on Sep 11th. I had been glued to the TV all day. I'm a pilot, so obviously I wasn't going anywhere at that point. When my wife waddled into the living room and meekly exclaimed "hey honey, I think my water just broke", I had just shut off the TV, to go to bed. In other words, I was exhausted from a chaotic day, and the timing couldn't have been worse! She gave birth 10hours later. So for me, my daughter's BIRTH was bitter sweet.
I don't know if this is true, but I've been told that the  number of births in the US exceeded the general daily average by several thousand  that day. I'm not a very religious person, but what a beautifully thought provoking idea.

Scott
That was well written. I am sure everybody knows where they were and what the were doing. I was home watching the Disney channel with my son. My wife and myself had no idea what was happening a mere 300 miles away. My son's speech therapest  came in the house and said that today was a crazy day. She then mentioned the first plane hitting the tower. I turned on the tv just in time to watch the second plane hit  and the rest is history.

very well written scott.
most of you know how that day started for me, woke up and was just eating breakfast as news of the first tower being hit, was broadcast, many of the reports believing it was an accident, but  then a few minutes later like millions of others watching in disbelief as the second hit, and it being the realisation that this wasnt an accident, which was roughly this time at which the second plane hit

Ric_Barker, I'm envious.  Unfortunately, I took my visits to the Trade Center for granted, and I never kept a single thing from my trips there.  God, there were just so many of them.  I never thought I'd not be able to go there, ya know?

I'm currently looking at some pennies which the owner CLAIMS are from the press up at the top.  If I can verify the authenticity of them, then I might just pick one up.

Unfortunately, all I've got to show for my trips there are a lot of memories, which are scattered and seemingly random.  It's weird.  I will have totally forgotten about something and all of a sudden it will come back to me, completely out of nowhere.  A smell, a sound, a sight, a face...

Hold on to your treasures.  You've got something tangible to keep this fresh in your mind.  I've got my memories, some terrible photos I took when I was like 10, and that's about it.

oooh, good idea.

Scott, that is one of the most moving things I have ever read about 9/11.  I don't think I can convey the emotion I felt while reading it.  I guess all I can say is well done . . .

Scott,

Thats the most moving account I have ever read about what happened.

I remember I was home on leave catching up with a friend,and,the radio was on.Of course being an aviation nut I caught the breaking news and put the tv on in time to see the second plane hit.It's something I will never forget.I couldn't believe how many people from South Africa offered services and goods for a place half way round the world that most of us had never seen before.

Just something that dawned on me out of nowhere:
Anybody else notice that the date is 9/11,and the US emergency services number is 911?

yeah. some weird coincidences.
some i had were real freaky. my flight was on the 9th, from gate 11.  my flight to the us took 11 hours the flight home 9.
and i was there for 20 days, which is obviously 9+11