story1968.xml

story1968.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-09

I heard of the first plane hitting the WTC and was shocked, then, the second brought a rising disbelief. It was intentional. But dammit, I had to brief the Secretariat at 9:30 ... no time for terrorists. Hurry up the stairs and down the hall ... pull the chairman of the afternoon's meeting away from the TV monitor ... gotta get ready - people are coming from all over the country for our task group kick-off meeting at 1430hr. Sit down, reflect an instant, and say "I want to go home." "So you think we'll be next?" "We should have been first." Less than a minute later, a massive concrete structure shudders on itself. I think 'get under a doorframe' then 'what the hell difference will that make under three floors of concrete rubble?' and finally 'can I get out before it collapses?' Running, holding my breath, hands on shoulders in front of me, moving through the doorway, holding and encouraging each other ... where's the chairman - he has high blood pressure - why isn't he coming - police shouting to keep moving away from the building, another plane is on its way ... familiar faces contorted as never before seen, plane parts strewn along the ground. Like being in a movie, but on another level, this is what we do. Every day, bought in. What happened in NYC - very different. It was 6 months beofre it occurred to me that I heard two impacts - E-ring and then D-ring, where I was. And I'm still here, still bought in. Every day.