September 11 Digital Archive

story1403.xml

Title

story1403.xml

Source

born-digital

Media Type

story

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-08-22

911DA Story: Story

The first plane flew right over me as I was walking in to work. I remember thinking that it must have left from LaGuardia but had a mechanical problem and couldn't gain altitude. I hoped that it would climb or it might clip a building.

When I got into work it had just hit, and I thought it was an accident. I called my wife and told her to put on CNN because events like this don't happen often. After the second one hit, and we heard about the Pentagon, I knew we were under attack. We lost communication with the outside world and were physically sealed off. We knew nothing about what was going on, even though we were right there. Rumors started to fly around, and then panic set in, and there was no news to set us straight except for WCBS radio, and even that came in poorly. We didn't know when it would stop, or who was attacking us, or what really happend to the Twin Towers. It was strange: I could see it all from my window and not understand a bit of it. People in San Francisco knew more about it than me.

I finally ended up walking back home to New Jersey, because I wasn't going to spend another minute on that island. I really just wanted to get home to my wife and son, more than anything else.

Citation

“story1403.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 8, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/11448.