Entertainers Remember Sept. 11

(CBS)  The events of Sept. 11 affected every single American in one way or another. The Early Show asked some of the biggest names in entertainment to share their personal thoughts on the tragedy.

Tom Hanks: "I was thinking: 'Boy, this is going to be hard, because every time we fly into New York, we'll see the marks on the outside of the World Trade Center. It's going to take a long time to repair this. This is going to be a visual scar for a very long time. Um, and everybody will be able to see it up there.' And then the first tower fell and that was the first inkling that OK, we now have a distinctive world here."

Joe Pantoliano: "I grew up on the shores of Hoboken N.J., watching those towers be built and seeing those towers come down. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I was in shock. I was so in shock, even after the second plane hit, I thought it was an accident. I mean, why would somebody do something like that?"

Doris Roberts: "The shock of seeing those buildings go down. Shock of that happening to our country. And what I think about now, with great sadness, is that my grandchildren will never know a life without fear. And that, I think, is terrible."

Patricia Heaton: "I think it was just a sense of that this was the end. And I was surprised that this is the way it was all going to end, but I felt calm."

Ray Romano: "I remember having this anxiety, because for a second, I thought I couldn't distinguish between dreams or reality. I thought, 'This can't be happening…'"

Marg Helgenberger: "You know, I made a lot of phone calls right away, certainly to my friends in New York, and that was hard to get through, as you know. And my family, just you know, it just one of the most profoundly traumatic day of most people's lives."

LL Cool J: "You know, being from New York,. you know I don't know if this is the right word, but I felt really disrespected. It was really like a bad movie. I just remember being glued to my TV basically for what felt like a month straight. You know, just being on the couch in limbo."

David Caruso: "We were all very naked there for quite a while, and the infrastructure that normally protects us appeared to not be there for us. I think that we've grown a lot. I think that we are possibly safer now."

Doris Roberts: "I met with the New York police and the firemen who were down there, at ground zero, and they presented me with this flag that flew over ground zero." She also received a piece of the first twin tower. "And I said, 'I am so honored that you do this. But why are you giving it to me?' And he said 'We've been here since Sept. 11, looking for pieces of our friends. And then we go home and turn on the television set, and you make us laugh so much, you bring us back into life.'"

Harrison Ford: "I think people behaved extraordinarily, really. That's my main memory of it. How moved they were by the sacrifices that the fireman, policeman, EMT's made."

LL Cool J: "I just hope that you know the victims' families can heal emotionally and that the victims' souls rest in peace."