story4618.xml
Title
story4618.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
It was early Tuesday morning and I happened to have off from work because I worked the weekend. I was going in to take a shower when my wife called me from the living room to tell me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I knew a plane had hit the Empire State Building in the forties and nothing too bad had happened so I figured that some tourist plane had accidently hit the building. I walked into my living room and looked at the tv and I noticed right away that both buildings were burning.
I knew that this could not have happened from one plane so right away I knew that this was not an accident. I started watching the news then I called my father so he could watch it too. He was as shocked as I was. As I was watching it we started hearing about other planes crashing and missing. We lived right in the flight path of LaGuardia Airport so my wife and I started getting very nervous.
I then called downstairs to talk to my friend and as we were talking on the phone I was watching the news and they were doing some interview and all of a sudden there was a loud explosion and we couldn't see the World Trade Center any more. I thought it was because of the dust but my neighbor kept saying "What happened to the tower? Where is it?" I couldn't believe that it fell so I kept staring hard at the set hoping somehow through the dust I would be able to see it. I mean it couldn't collapse it just couldn't.
I hung up from my friend and kept watching the news. Shortly afterward the second tower stared to collapse and all I could do was yell "NO, NO, NO". I work in a hospital in New York City and know a lot of firemen, police and EMTs. All I could think of were all the innocent people I knew who were most certainly killed right now. My wife and I both broke down in tears.
For the rest of the day I didn't leave the couch. I sat there in my robe unable to move for hours. Finally around 2:30 I was able to shower but every few minutes I would still start crying.
The next day I went to work and my hospital overlooked Manhattan. I had to force myself to look. There it was a column of smoke coming up from where the World Trade Center used to be. It was unbelievable. The people at work were just going through the paces. Nobody could concentrate. We were all like robots. One of the people who works in my department is a captain in the fire department and nobody knew what had happened to him.
When it was all over I found out that the man in my department was wounded but he will be ok. Another firefighter I knew was dead. Six people at work lost husbands or fathers with one woman losing both her father and husband.
To this day I still tear up about this. HBO had a special about it and I cried through most it. While typing this I keep tearing up. Today is the anniversary. I didn't want to work but I knew that if I didn't that I would just stay home and probably cry all day. We had a memorial at work and I started crying. I've done more crying this year than I have done in my entire life and I don't know when it will stop. A part of my heart was torn out when those towers went down and I don't think I will ever get over it.
I knew that this could not have happened from one plane so right away I knew that this was not an accident. I started watching the news then I called my father so he could watch it too. He was as shocked as I was. As I was watching it we started hearing about other planes crashing and missing. We lived right in the flight path of LaGuardia Airport so my wife and I started getting very nervous.
I then called downstairs to talk to my friend and as we were talking on the phone I was watching the news and they were doing some interview and all of a sudden there was a loud explosion and we couldn't see the World Trade Center any more. I thought it was because of the dust but my neighbor kept saying "What happened to the tower? Where is it?" I couldn't believe that it fell so I kept staring hard at the set hoping somehow through the dust I would be able to see it. I mean it couldn't collapse it just couldn't.
I hung up from my friend and kept watching the news. Shortly afterward the second tower stared to collapse and all I could do was yell "NO, NO, NO". I work in a hospital in New York City and know a lot of firemen, police and EMTs. All I could think of were all the innocent people I knew who were most certainly killed right now. My wife and I both broke down in tears.
For the rest of the day I didn't leave the couch. I sat there in my robe unable to move for hours. Finally around 2:30 I was able to shower but every few minutes I would still start crying.
The next day I went to work and my hospital overlooked Manhattan. I had to force myself to look. There it was a column of smoke coming up from where the World Trade Center used to be. It was unbelievable. The people at work were just going through the paces. Nobody could concentrate. We were all like robots. One of the people who works in my department is a captain in the fire department and nobody knew what had happened to him.
When it was all over I found out that the man in my department was wounded but he will be ok. Another firefighter I knew was dead. Six people at work lost husbands or fathers with one woman losing both her father and husband.
To this day I still tear up about this. HBO had a special about it and I cried through most it. While typing this I keep tearing up. Today is the anniversary. I didn't want to work but I knew that if I didn't that I would just stay home and probably cry all day. We had a memorial at work and I started crying. I've done more crying this year than I have done in my entire life and I don't know when it will stop. A part of my heart was torn out when those towers went down and I don't think I will ever get over it.
Collection
Citation
“story4618.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 9, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/12716.