story20554.xml
Title
story20554.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2006-09-11
911DA Story: Story
I was working just off Capitol Hill the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and I had been at work for more than an hour when I started hearing news of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I, like many poeple, thought it was an accident, even though we all knew that certain people had tried to knock the building down before using a truck bomb. The internet was very backed up, so it was nearly impossible to get more news online. We then heard a second plane had hit the other tower, and I was able to get through to a news site and get a photo of the second plane hitting, which I printed and posted in the office (I still have that print out.) An employee then came in stating that "they had hit the Pentagon," as well. All of us in the office (about a dozen people) were in a panic - we all had wondering looks on our faces and were questioning reality, I think.
From our office we could see the top of the dome of the Capitol. We heard planes fly over the city then, or at least noticed them for the first time, and a group of us went to the window (on 3rd street S.W.) and watched the top of the Capitol as the plane or planes flew over. We thought we were going to see a plane crash into it. Not many people know that the dome is made of 9 million pounds of cast iron. It would have shattered literally into a million pieces if it had been hit. The planes we heard were the fighter planes that were scrambled to intercept the plane that hit the Pentagon. They were too late, but went on to fly up the Potomac to intercept the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. They were cleared to shoot that flight down, but were too late there as well.
Don't ever let anyone tell you a plane never hit the Pentagon (modern folklore). I work with a man that I know personally (not a friend of a friend etc) who was on the roof of the Senate or North wing of the Capitol that morning, and he watched the plane fly over Washington and then crash into the Pentagon.
I was told a half hour before the government closed that it would be closing that morning. I had taken the subway in to town that morning, and there was no way I was going back into that hole in the ground under those circumstances. I was able to get a ride from a friend. We ran to his car under 395 at South Capitol Street and drove across the South Capitol Street bridge to 295. I watched out the back window as the Pentagon burned. There was a column of black and grey smoke snaking up into the very clear blue sky. I was home before the government announced its closure.
I watched the news footage on tv the rest of the day, first at my home, then at my girlfriend's house, then at my parent's house. I didn't have work the next day. Both of my parents had lived through Pearl Harbor, and I asked them how life went on after, whether there was any sense of normalcy, or people walked around in shock until the war was over. They assured me life went on, but we must stay focused on the work at hand now.
I remember I had not had breakfast that morning, just coffee, so my anxiety was very intense as I ran to my friend's car and left the city. I always have breakfast now, and on Sept. 11, 2006, I had a very good breakfast.
I was also on duty when the Ford House Office building and the Hart Senate Office Building were closed due to anthrax. This is not a related event, but to us at the time, the two were closely linked. I had to work at the Capitol for several months until the FHOB was reopened. One of my friends had to take the anthrax antibiotic, which we all knew was dangerous.
Looking back on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, I know that they significantly changed life in this country. However, they didn't change the people in this country. I think we are all still basically good people, that would have had compassion for any injustices being visited upon other peoples by our government, as the attackers allege. If the attackers had really wanted our attention to right injustices, this was not the way to do it. I think they lost their chance at compassion from the American people. But I don't believe they ever wanted it. Anyway, it is long past time to address their list of grievances.
From our office we could see the top of the dome of the Capitol. We heard planes fly over the city then, or at least noticed them for the first time, and a group of us went to the window (on 3rd street S.W.) and watched the top of the Capitol as the plane or planes flew over. We thought we were going to see a plane crash into it. Not many people know that the dome is made of 9 million pounds of cast iron. It would have shattered literally into a million pieces if it had been hit. The planes we heard were the fighter planes that were scrambled to intercept the plane that hit the Pentagon. They were too late, but went on to fly up the Potomac to intercept the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. They were cleared to shoot that flight down, but were too late there as well.
Don't ever let anyone tell you a plane never hit the Pentagon (modern folklore). I work with a man that I know personally (not a friend of a friend etc) who was on the roof of the Senate or North wing of the Capitol that morning, and he watched the plane fly over Washington and then crash into the Pentagon.
I was told a half hour before the government closed that it would be closing that morning. I had taken the subway in to town that morning, and there was no way I was going back into that hole in the ground under those circumstances. I was able to get a ride from a friend. We ran to his car under 395 at South Capitol Street and drove across the South Capitol Street bridge to 295. I watched out the back window as the Pentagon burned. There was a column of black and grey smoke snaking up into the very clear blue sky. I was home before the government announced its closure.
I watched the news footage on tv the rest of the day, first at my home, then at my girlfriend's house, then at my parent's house. I didn't have work the next day. Both of my parents had lived through Pearl Harbor, and I asked them how life went on after, whether there was any sense of normalcy, or people walked around in shock until the war was over. They assured me life went on, but we must stay focused on the work at hand now.
I remember I had not had breakfast that morning, just coffee, so my anxiety was very intense as I ran to my friend's car and left the city. I always have breakfast now, and on Sept. 11, 2006, I had a very good breakfast.
I was also on duty when the Ford House Office building and the Hart Senate Office Building were closed due to anthrax. This is not a related event, but to us at the time, the two were closely linked. I had to work at the Capitol for several months until the FHOB was reopened. One of my friends had to take the anthrax antibiotic, which we all knew was dangerous.
Looking back on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, I know that they significantly changed life in this country. However, they didn't change the people in this country. I think we are all still basically good people, that would have had compassion for any injustices being visited upon other peoples by our government, as the attackers allege. If the attackers had really wanted our attention to right injustices, this was not the way to do it. I think they lost their chance at compassion from the American people. But I don't believe they ever wanted it. Anyway, it is long past time to address their list of grievances.
Collection
Citation
“story20554.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 25, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/11432.