Maybe you were on your way to work when the news came on your car radio 25 years ago.

Perhaps a teacher wheeled a television into your classroom and you and your classmates watched as the Twin Towers fell and the Pentagon smoldered.

Did a friend call you to tell you to turn on your TV, or did a parent or spouse call to make sure you were OK?

Or maybe you were outside the country, on vacation, just waking up, or in transit, perhaps even on a plane.

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, was a bright, sunny, beautiful day on the East Coast, but at 8:46 a.m., that late summer morning descended into horror and unimaginable loss for millions of Americans ‒ and especially for the loved ones of the 2,977 people on the ground and in the planes that crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Few of us who lived through that day can forget where we were, what we were doing and who we were with when we learned that four hijacked planes had crashed, that two seemingly impregnable towers had fallen, that a symbol of American military might had been attacked, and that a group of airplane passengers, knowing their fate, had overtaken the men who planned further carnage and crashed into an empty field, sacrificing their lives to save others.

We’re asking USA TODAY readers to share their reflections on that day: What you remember, how you found out, where you were and what you were doing, how you felt and reacted in real time. Click here to share your story.

Some reader submissions will be used in USA TODAY Network coverage marking 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.