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Chicago Canoeist Didn't Know About 9/11 Attacks For 2 Days

CHICAGO (CBS) -- WBBM Newsradio has been sharing Chicagoans' recollections of where they were and what they were doing 10 years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001.

Mike Krauser has the story of one man who was envied, because he has no recollection.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports

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"Actually I didn't know about September 11 for two days," said Derek Dattner, of the Beverly neighborhood.

At the time, Dattner was on a family canoe trip in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota.

"We thought it was so cool that we didn't see any contrails or airplane lights," he said.

They had no idea.

It would be two days later on Sept. 13, while paddling out, they ran into some fishermen.

"And they said, 'do you know what happened the other day?' And we're like, 'OK, they're trying to play around with us,'" he said. "And I said, 'OK, what happened? And they said, 'Terrorists blew up the World Trade Center.' I thought they were trying to pull our legs. I said, 'OK, what else happened?' and they said, 'Well, terrorists blew up the Pentagon, as well.'"

It was the newspaper they had that convinced Dattner. It read, "Preparing for War."

Back in civilization, he called a friend in New York.

"And he said 'I envy you,' because we had two days that the rest of the world didn't have," Dattner said.

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