I was a boot when it happened. Not just a new sailor but actually in boot camp.
We were nearing the end of our fourth training week. For the non-squids here, that means we were nearing the mid point of boot camp.
The day actually started pretty normally. We woke up, did our morning routine and marched off to the chow hall for breakfast.
That was where I first noticed things were off. There was a quiet hum in the place, because thousands of recruits were whispering. That was odd because you can't talk at all in the mess hall. For some reason the RDC's were off doing their own thing instead of stomping out the chatter.
Another recruit working the mess hall told us that a plane had just flew into "some building in New York", when we were getting our trays, I didn't believe him at the time.
Our RDC came to our table and had us all muster outside almost as soon as we sat down. I thought it was because of all of the whispering, but we didn't get beat. Instead we just marched straight to our barracks.
Our Senior RDC was there with a TV on one of those tall carts you see in classrooms. He explained that one of the trade center buildings had been hit by a plane, and that it looked like it was on purpose. He would turn the news on for us while him and the other RDC's had to go to some meeting.
Right as he turned the TV on, all of us saw on live tv the second plane hit. One guy started freaking out because his mom worked near there. They had one of the section leaders, take him to the Chaplin.
The RDC's left for their meeting while the rest of us were just stunned.
They came back a while later, after the pentagon got hit and the other plane crashed in a field. They explained that any one with family in any area hit could get emergency leave, but they would have to go to a different Division when they got back. For the rest of us training would carry on as usual, except now all watch standers had to demand to see ID's as part of the challenge, and we were expected to have our military IDs on us at all times (until now they were stored in the RDC's office).
When we got outside to continue on with the training schedule, it was like stepping into a different universe. All of the recruit watch stations outside were replaced by armed marines and masters-at-arms. It was wild.
The rest of training went off with out any problems, but that was a crazy day.
TL;DR
After the Xenomroph ate the baby, a kitten chased it away