story9046.xml

story9046.xml

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2003-02-11

MARK VLAHOS? WTC EXPERIENCE

Today is the first day of the rest of my life... my name is Mark Vlahos and this is my WTC experience. It was Tuesday morning and the date was 9/11 (pretty ironic - 911 = EMERGENCY). I usually get to work between 8 am and 9 am and Tuesday morning was no different or so I thought. I arrived at my desk at 8:26am and was about to eat my pop tarts for breakfast. After a few minutes of setting up my workload something very horrific was taking place. All my fears of coming to this building (1 WTC) and working on the 47th floor had just become reality. The building shook so violently for about eight seconds that it turned my stomach almost instantly. It was as if it teetered back and forth like a seesaw and when it's movement ceased, fear had overcome the 45 people who worked for First Union. My mind had immediately conjured the worst thoughts as possible. I said to myself "I can't believe I am going to die here and like this!" I turned around looking at my co-workers with fear all over their faces and their complexions as white as the clouds. We were all scared and for a short time everyone had frozen their movements and just sat there in a state of shock. People had trouble breathing; some were clutching their chests while others had tears rolling down their cheeks looking for some sort of response. The phones rang simultaneously and pandemonium was about to take place. My friend David had screamed out "It's okay guys, a helicopter has just crashed and we are going to be alright, just calm down!" Hard words to swallow when you are up so many floors up and knowing that if the building goes.... so do you. My mind quickly raced back to the WTC bombing back in 92' and I assumed that they had come back to finish the job. When I went to the window to look up at the smoke, I felt somewhat relieved seeing debris on the ground and for a while actually believed David's concept of what had just happened. The only thing I could then think of was what it would feel like when we dropped. Would it hurt for a second or would my death be quick and painless? That was when I looked up at the pictures of my wife Lisa and daughter Caitlin and said, "I don't want to die yet!!!" I went to the back where everyone was gathered and just said "JESUS!" aloud asking others to pray for our safety. Since then about 10 minutes had passed and still we sat there clueless waiting for some sort of instructions. At first we headed to the stairways but the smoke and dust were too much to bear. My supervisors then asked us to put the stock in the vault not knowing what kind of aftermath awaited us. I did so immediately and people were already out the door heading for the staircases. The last five people were myself, John Serra, Mike Pizzuto, Raymond Stephen and Joe Salgado. I made sure no one was left in the vault and also in the office thinking back to DTC (my last job) where someone was locked in the vault and perished. The last thing I did was go back to my desk, kiss a picture of my wife and daughter and grabbed a holy card of St. Mark that my friend John had given me a while back.
As soon as we entered the hallway Mike and Joe immediately rushed towards the staircases by the elevators. My mind being at ease somewhat thought that the road less traveled was the better one so I yelled out at them "No! Not that one, this one here!! We waited for them and our journey to see daylight again had just begun. The first thing we saw were fellow employees from other companies in single file order all calm, cool and collectively aware of the situation. Reality had suddenly hit me, someone with an active cell phone had just informed us that it was not an accident and that another building (WTC 2) had been hit and more severely. It was an act of terrorism and we were all terrified. My friend John handed us torn garments that he had soaked in water to help us breathe because there were many fumes and a lot of dust enveloping the air in the stairwells. People were coughing, crying and talking to one another knowing that disaster could take place at any moment. I had a pocket bible with me and as always began to pray feverishly and begged Jesus to get us all out safely and unscathed .We heard voices telling us to move to the side and let the victims from the higher floors get through. Curious onlookers witnessed in horror the sight of flesh burnt off these people's arms and faces by the layers. It was as if they had laid in the sun for days and had just woken up. I was in shock that I was a part of such a tragedy and I often wondered if the faces I was looking at would be my last. Firemen were now working their way up with sweat on their brows and exhaustion on their faces. Picture carrying hundreds of pounds of equipment in the heat climbing flight after flight looking into the eyes of a fearful people. For me, the shoe was on the other foot. I looked at them and said to myself "Look at these brave men, heading towards the unexpected. Are they afraid? Look how young some of them are. Is this the last time anyone will look at their faces and see the concern in their eyes?" I was afraid for them and I prayed that GOD was with them all. About 20 minutes had now past and we were only on the 37th floor. Talk about nerves of steel! Not everyone could stay level minded. My supervisor Joe had become faint and seemed very ill. He handed me his bag and asked me to hold on to it. My friend Mike was dry heaving and looked as if he was ready to pass out any moment-his eyes watery and his face drawn. They were soon escorted out with the other emergency victims and as Mike said goodbye to me I wondered if I would ever see him again. Raymond and I were the last two guys from our company left on the stairwell each encouraging one another that we would make it out safely. The firefighters asked us to help them carry some of their equipment up a few floors for they had exhausted themselves. Raymond did so and as I looked down I saw a firefighter with his head slumped down and a look of disdain on his face. I asked him if I could help him and offered him my bottled water to refresh himself, he declined and proceeded to head upwards. Other firefighters were handing out water bottles and juices from the machines they had shattered with their axes. It was amazing how everyone was looking out for one another and how love and care was being expressed from every stranger. One man even tore the shirt off his back and passed out the garments to those who had nothing to cover their noses and mouths. We moved on and eventually landed on the 20th floor with about 40 minutes of time already elapsing since the first initial hit. Concern that time was of the essence was evident. People began to get antsy and inpatient. There was a moment where we just sat there for 10 minutes without movement and that's when I began questioning my faith. Was it still as strong as before? I am not going to lie to anyone reading this but I did not really worry until I actually got out into the open streets. We were now on the 5th floor and they asked us to wait for further instructions. With not a chance of that happening anytime soon, I looked at Ray and said, "Let's go!!" The only problem being the sprinklers had gone off and there was about a foot of water to tread through. People were slipping and falling everywhere but when your life is on the line and time is short-whatever it takes...whatever it takes! The street was near and people ran for their lives. We were directed through the ground level shopping plaza and there was darkness and broken glass everywhere. Ray was slipping everywhere because his shoes were not meant for watery grounds so I helped him all the way out.
One we saw daylight we headed up North and mayhem was everywhere. People were bleeding, screaming, crying and clutching one another. I lost Ray but saw a familiar face in the crowd. My friend Rodney stood there in awe staring at the Twin Towers. I hugged him and all he kept saying was "Look at it Mark, can you believe it? Just look at it!!" Suddenly, we heard a roar. A roar louder than 100 thunderstorms combined and all we heard was ?RRRUUNNNN!!!? The second tower was collapsing and people ran like they never ran before in their lives. It was before I reached about 200 feet when I was engulfed in smoke and dust almost instantly. The thought that I was once free turned to the thought of being suffocated from the poisonous air. I had to think fast or I would have passed out. I jumped into the nearest building and there had already been maybe 50 people cluttering the tiny lobby. I felt uneasy, very afraid that this was it and the tremor I had felt in the building paled in comparison to what I was now feeling. The group of people in there was very confused and very negative. Ashes had covered everyone and they all thoughts of just giving up and they sat on the floor just crying and screaming one after the other. I had to get out of there because they were really starting to affect my state of my mind. I asked for the way out and one guy scolded me saying "What's wrong with you man? Look at it out there!! Can't you see what's going on? Use your common sense, you can't even see 2 feet in front of you!!" I just looked at him and said "You're right man but I'm not going to sit here and die either!!" I handed my wet cloth to a woman to clean her face, which was covered in mass amounts of chalky dust and made my way out. I covered my nose and mouth with my shirt and once again I searched for safety. The streets looked as if a massive snowstorm had hit but there was no beauty in this. The smell of fear was in the air and life was very gloomy for some time to come. I heard cars had hit people and others were walking into poles and walls because visibility was so poor. People were jumping from the burning towers seeking relief in a quick death rather than being burned alive. Could you imagine having to make that decision? Here I am looking at blood and guts on the street thinking about all the people who had just perished with tears in my eyes and pain in my heart. This was a tragedy and the worst thing was that we were unprepared and unaware that something like this would ever happen.
By now I had made it to City Hall and was looking for a phone to call my family to let them know I was OK. There was a woman there with her two daughters trying to use their cell phones to contact perhaps other family members. I looked at them in a way that I didn?t even have to ask them to use their phones, they knew what my intentions were and asked me if I wanted to try and contact my family. I tried 3 or 4 times to no avail so I thanked them and wished them luck as I went on my way. I had asked the police officer where it would be safe to reside and he told everyone to just stay put and relax. How could anyone relax when there is no control over anything you do? There were no correct answers and instinct and prayers were all you had. Everyone was heading North towards midtown for the moment and my gut instinct told me to follow, City Hall may have been another prime target and I wasn?t about to sit there and wait to find out. Once again terror had turned its ugly face towards us and the loud rumbling began again only to sound more and more terrifying than its predecessor. The screaming continued, the fear continued and the worst thoughts the mind could possibly conjure started to arise again. I thought that the other plane that was earlier reported missing had come back to do more damage. So I ran and ran and ran this time not even turning back to look for fear I would be swallowed by debris and ashes again. What about the heroes who were risking their lives in my building to guide us out to safety? Did they deserve this fate? What about the firemen whose eyes I glared into as each one passed me by in the stairwells? Did they or their families deserve this fate? What about my co-workers? Did they all make it out alive or was this day a fateful one for thousands of hardworking men and women who had no clue that when they awoke this morning it would be for the last time.
Every morning when I awake I walk over to my picture of JESUS (the sacred heart) and kiss him and tell him thanks for another day and before I leave I ask him to keep my family and friends safe throughout the day. That morning I had kissed my wife and daughter goodbye as always with the thought of never seeing them again ever entering my mind. This would all change from this experience and I would be lying to you if I said that this wouldn?t affect me for the rest of my life. Back to the streets, I continued to head North looking for a payphone to let everyone know I was alive but the lines were enormous and I had to make change. I walked into a magazine shop and asked the woman for change for the phone and she looked at me hesitantly as if she were going to say she didn?t have it. I already conjured my thoughts to verbally explode on her if she denied my request but she didn?t. I felt anger and my adrenaline was on high voltage from then on. I didn?t want to be afraid anymore and I wanted to be the aggressor. I wanted to tell people I was in the first building that was attacked and I did. They all listened in awe and hugged me saying get home safe. What a great country we live in that everyone shares the emotions and the pain of what had taken place and try to comfort you as best they can. That wasn?t the case for everyone. People still shopped and still looked unconcerned as if they were blind to what had just happened. Every store had the news on and some cars in the street had their radios blasting so that everyone could hear what was going on. I too sat there and listened for a while and then reminded myself to make that call. Finally I found a small Chinese video store with a phone and tried to call my wife. I couldn?t get through so I immediately called my mother to let her know I was ok. She had just recently gotten out of the hospital for chest pains and underwent a variety of tests to make sure her heart was in check. I was concerned that if she didn?t hear from me soon she may have had a heart attack. It turns out that she answered the phone and when she heard my voice she screamed for joy and thanked Jesus about 100 times. I told her I loved her and that I wanted to talk to my dad. For the first time in my life I heard my father crying but they were tears of joy. He lost it completely and told me that if I had not called sooner my mother would have died of a heart attack. The drama continues... I told him I love him and then tried my wife again. She answered and the sweetness of her voice made me breakdown in tears all over again. She could barely get her words out but I heard her telling me she saw my building drop and thought I was dead. I told her I loved her and she did the same passing the phone to my mother in law who also broke down hysterically. As soon as she found out I was okay she told me she loved me and passed the phone to my brother in law Chris. He out of everyone pumped my adrenaline the most. His words were "I knew you would make it Mikey! I kept saying you were alive and that if anyone could make it, it would be you!" I told him I loved him and told my father in law the same. I also said to make sure there was some beer at the house because I wanted to get plastered and relax some of my nerves that were already shot.
On the road again.... I just want to go home was the only thought my mind was relaying to me over and over again. Was this the end of trauma for the time being? I walked for a little while and from the advice of my mother in law Pauline, I headed towards the Brooklyn Bridge. I was still carrying my supervisor's bag which had now become a security blanket which I clutched to my side along with my pocket Bible still in hand. On the way I heard two guys and a girl conversating about something aloud and what I did hear maybe I shouldn?t have. She said "Yeah, let's head to the bridge so that other plane could come and kill the rest of us!" I responded "Oh that's very encouraging as I head over there myself!!" We just laughed about it and continued our journey. Suddenly a black man taps me on the shoulder and says to me "GOD is good boy!" I said "yes He is" and when I looked up he was gone. Was he an angel or did Jesus send him to give me some encouragement and restore my faith that had just started to get stronger about two weeks beforehand? All I knew was that I wanted out of New York City in the worst way even if I had to swim all the way back to Staten Island. I met another guy named Rich who was also a believer and we talked about everything on the way to the bridge and over it as well. The crowd was moving a little to slow for me and we then decided to climb a wall about 8 feet high where there was more space to move and in a quicker pace. I looked over to where the Towers once were and saw nothing but black smoke filling the sky like an evil cloud. I still could not believe the whole situation. People were screaming ?USA! USA! USA!? and war was on their minds. They were over the fear and wanted revenge and they wanted it as soon as possible. I on the other hand still roamed the skies for other aircraft but there was none in sight for miles. Why weren?t our planes looking for them? Why was it so silent that the quietness was killing me softly? Finally we crossed over and I lost sight of Rich when I asked a police officer the way to Staten Island. Let me tell you how great America becomes in crisis situations, people were greeting us with bottled water and potato chips and offering us folding chairs to sit down and rest for a bit. I drank the water, ate the chips and just continued to walk towards Bay Ridge-my old hometown where i grew up. After walking a few miles I hitched a ride with these guys who with their friends had formed a sort of car service for the victims taking them in groups of ten at a time or until there was no room left to sit or stand. I then met this guy Bruce, a computer tech and father of 5, and we talked for a while with the other riders and after 20 blocks we had to stop because the roads were closed. I thanked the drivers and Bruce and I walked on. He called his wife and told me that she would pick us up and bring me to the Staten Island bus stop. Things were getting brighter and brighter and the sun was shining in full form. I actually think my bald head got a little sunburn from all the water I kept pouring over it to cool off. One guy on the street even commented while he camcorded us crossing the bridge "What a way to use the water, did you see what that guy just did?" I was like whatever man, I'm alive and I'm going home. Before Bruce dropped me off he informed me that his wife told him she was expecting again and I said to myself-we will go on, even though many a life was lost, we will continue to live and continue to bring life into this world. I thanked them warmly and ended up on 86th street and 4th Avenue, a place where I had visited perhaps 5,000 times as a child. I asked the officer standing there if the busses were running yet and he said no, just hang around and get yourself something to eat. I then met an old man who turned 92 today and when I informed him where I came from he shook my hand and said, "You have some intestinal fortitude young man, not a bad grip for an old man huh?" I then offered to buy him a beer for his Birthday but he declined saying he just wanted to get home-my thought exactly! I grabbed a pay phone and called my mother and wife again telling them I was half way home and they were relieved I had made it out of the city. I passed by so many familiar childhood hangouts and even saw a familiar face in Larry Bud Melman (aka Calvert Deforest) from the Letterman show. He was the only celebrity I had known as a child and he waved a warm hello to me as he satin a barber's chair that was already closed for the day. I then saw Mr. Lee, a Korean candy store owner whose video games possessed a year or two of my life and possibly $2,000 in quarters-ha ha hah! I told him my story and showed him a picture of my daughter. He smiled, gave me a Gatorade and change for the bus as another woman hugged me after hearing my story and thanked GOD I was alive.
I got aboard the first bus to Staten Island and told everyone on the bus my experience and they all had tears in their eyes but at the same time they were possessing great attitudes that uplifted my spirit. We crossed the bridge and two busses later I was walking home finally coming up my block which I pretty much disliked because of the area but today I loved every centimeter of it and always will. I eagerly anticipated seeing my wife and daughter greeting me with warm hugs and kisses. As soon as I rang the bell my wife Lisa grabbed me so tightly and my daughter hung around my neck as if she knew something had been wrong earlier in the day. My cat Simba even followed me around the house like he was grateful to see me again and I was very moved. My entire family had come over and as I hugged them all and told them I loved them my whole body was repaired from the damage that those evildoers had caused for the time being. I told the story one more time and then received a phone call from my friend Brian Andrews. He informed me that 4 of our co-workers were not heard from (to this day as well) and I was deeply saddened thinking that our whole crew had made it out alive. My first thought was about their families and I prayed for them all hoping that there might be a chance that they may turn up later on. To this day, watching everyone pull together, other nations offering us aid, millions of people volunteering to help one another all makes me feel stronger and stronger as each day passes and with my family, my friends and my faith I know we will all get through this and go on. Although I still watch the television in horror seeing the whole scenario being replayed over and over I know that the past can never be changed and the future is what you make it. I still walk the streets and look over my shoulder and up in the sky when I hear planes or helicopters and I probably always will but I love life and I love everyone. God is good and this will be a wake up call for many. If this doesn?t put any form of religion in your life than nothing ever will. My faith saved me and now I will continue to teach others to the same-only one name saves and that name is JESUS- GOD bless everyone and please pass this on to anyone you like. For those who perished, they are in a better place now and I know we will all see them again one day ;) +