story7.xml
Title
story7.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-01-24
911DA Story: Story
Like most mornings, I was driving to work on the morning of September 11, 2001. To be exact, I had just turned off of Waxpool Drive onto Rte 28 South when news of the disaster hit all radio channels. Before I could reach the exit for Dulles International Airport, the sirens began. And they didn't stop.
Full of fear and panic, I tried to phone my significant other from my car phone, but the lines were jammed and I couldn't get through. Frustration - I need to talk to him!
Seven minutes later my call went through. Could it be true? Had he heard? What was wrong with our phone lines? Did he hear sirens, too? What else did he hear? What? What? What? WHAT WAS HAPPENING?
He was closer to the children's school that I was; he would double back to find out if the school and the student's were alright.
All we could do was agree to stay in touch. Another 15 minutes and I'd be at work; but I never remember going through any stoplights that day. Don't even remember other cars on the road. With my radio turned to high volume, I only remember listening to newscasters on the radio.
Getting ready to make my final left-hand turn, I was at the corner of R50 and Waples Mill Road when news came of the Pentagon. It seemed like seconds later, sitting in my office, the final plane went down in Pennsylvania.
There was a dead silence throughout the building. Stunned silence. Shocked silence. Without asking, one incredible employee was already on his way out the door; no one needed to tell him that blood would be needed. He was on his way to donate - immediately.
Being part of the Human Resources team, we needed to assess the office situation and address our disaster policy. But in the end, there was no assessment to be made. With 23 years in the field, I've never seen anything likeour response that day. Like most other businesses, nothing seemed to matter. NOTHING seemed important anymore but the focus on our people.
Where did our people need to go to feel safe? If they were in the building and could grab the hand of a fellow employee, that was good. If they wanted to get to the one TV set up in the main meeting area and watch up-to-the-minute news in dead silence with co-workers, that was good. If they could get through to their loves ones by phone, that was good. If they wanted to leave, they just did. If they wanted to cry, they just did.
Personally, I left as soon as possible wanting to retreat with my two teenagers to the safety of our own home. We stayed glued to the TV all day. We sat. We paced. I don't remember if we ate that day. It wasn't important. I do remember we didn't talk much. At least not on THAT day.
We talked later about how much we love each other, and how safe we feel in our home, in our community, in our country. We talked about the sad families; we made pledges to help them because we knew we had to help. I explained extremists and terrorism. I think they used words like "silly, makes no sense, and what a waste."
We agreed now was the time to think good thoughts. We agreed to follow the events, but we also agreed that it would be important to limit our exposure to TV and newspaper.
Best of all, we agreed to hang our national flag in front of our home RIGHT NOW. We would need to get a smaller US flag for the mailbox. And remember one for Mom's car, and one for the girl's car.
There's a tremendous amount of security in the red, white and blue. And the more we began to see, the better we felt.
Full of fear and panic, I tried to phone my significant other from my car phone, but the lines were jammed and I couldn't get through. Frustration - I need to talk to him!
Seven minutes later my call went through. Could it be true? Had he heard? What was wrong with our phone lines? Did he hear sirens, too? What else did he hear? What? What? What? WHAT WAS HAPPENING?
He was closer to the children's school that I was; he would double back to find out if the school and the student's were alright.
All we could do was agree to stay in touch. Another 15 minutes and I'd be at work; but I never remember going through any stoplights that day. Don't even remember other cars on the road. With my radio turned to high volume, I only remember listening to newscasters on the radio.
Getting ready to make my final left-hand turn, I was at the corner of R50 and Waples Mill Road when news came of the Pentagon. It seemed like seconds later, sitting in my office, the final plane went down in Pennsylvania.
There was a dead silence throughout the building. Stunned silence. Shocked silence. Without asking, one incredible employee was already on his way out the door; no one needed to tell him that blood would be needed. He was on his way to donate - immediately.
Being part of the Human Resources team, we needed to assess the office situation and address our disaster policy. But in the end, there was no assessment to be made. With 23 years in the field, I've never seen anything likeour response that day. Like most other businesses, nothing seemed to matter. NOTHING seemed important anymore but the focus on our people.
Where did our people need to go to feel safe? If they were in the building and could grab the hand of a fellow employee, that was good. If they wanted to get to the one TV set up in the main meeting area and watch up-to-the-minute news in dead silence with co-workers, that was good. If they could get through to their loves ones by phone, that was good. If they wanted to leave, they just did. If they wanted to cry, they just did.
Personally, I left as soon as possible wanting to retreat with my two teenagers to the safety of our own home. We stayed glued to the TV all day. We sat. We paced. I don't remember if we ate that day. It wasn't important. I do remember we didn't talk much. At least not on THAT day.
We talked later about how much we love each other, and how safe we feel in our home, in our community, in our country. We talked about the sad families; we made pledges to help them because we knew we had to help. I explained extremists and terrorism. I think they used words like "silly, makes no sense, and what a waste."
We agreed now was the time to think good thoughts. We agreed to follow the events, but we also agreed that it would be important to limit our exposure to TV and newspaper.
Best of all, we agreed to hang our national flag in front of our home RIGHT NOW. We would need to get a smaller US flag for the mailbox. And remember one for Mom's car, and one for the girl's car.
There's a tremendous amount of security in the red, white and blue. And the more we began to see, the better we felt.
Collection
Citation
“story7.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 25, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/10065.