Where were you on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001?
It's a question that instantly draws a vivid memory for anyone who lived through that horrific day. For some, it feels like yesterday when they were sitting on their couch watching Katie Couric or Charlie Gibson deliver breaking news on their favorite morning show. Others recall looking out their windows and spotting smoke and flames coming from the iconic World Trade Center towers. Others still recall simply a surreal sense of disbelief.
Regardless of where you were and who you were with, that morning 20 years ago is one that no American will ever forget.
After learning about the four coordinated terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States at the Pentagon, two World Trade Center towers and a Pennsylvania field, producer and journalist Karen Stolman-Firsel immediately got to work for MSNBC's documentary unit. What came next was a shift in her way of life.
"I changed from Sept. 10 to Sept. 11—instantaneous," she told E! News. "There was a shift from pure innocence to realizing that the world contains pure evil. I will forever remember that pivot. I will remember the rain on Sept. 10 and the horror I witnessed on New Yorker's faces on Sept. 11. The emotional tug of war—between wanting to do my job well and literally wanting to curl up in a fetal position and not move—both so very different —is something that I'll struggle with my whole life."
Karen added, "On Sept. 10, I was an American. A Jewish American. A woman. A daughter. Sister. Cousin. Niece. Best Friend. But, on that morning of Sept. 11, I was a journalist first and not much else mattered. I wanted to be part of the storytelling so that we could honor everyone's stories. It was imperative that all of those who were killed will forever be part of the fabric of American history—and we had to honor them."
As the country honors the victims and survivors, E! News spoke to 20 extraordinary Americans who took us back to the morning of 9/11. From a New Jersey teacher who struggled to calm her nervous students to a New York City high school student who was told to get out of class and "run north," every memory reminds us to never forget the events that unfolded 20 years ago today.
Some of these interviews has been edited for length and clarity.