I was scheduled to meet my recruiter on 9/11 to report to US Navy basic training on 09/12. I was literally packing my bag for basic training while watching the live coverage on TV.

I remember calling out to my mom, who was hiding in her room at the time trying to hide the fact that she was crying (single parent, I was the only child, she was having a tough time with the fact I was leaving but fully supportive of my decision), saying "turn on the TV".

She said "what channel".

and I responded with one of the most ominous reply one can say in the modern age... "doesn't matter".

After a few minutes she came in my room and said "call the recruiter"... which I had been trying for a while but the lines were busy. After taking our time to get ready we drove the 45 minutes to their office and heard about the first tower collapsing via the radio on the drive over.

Long story short... because we were within driving distance from basic I ended up leaving with my recruiter on the 12th, reported to basic on the 13th, and our entire division was finally assembled/we started training on the 17th.