story6156.xml
Title
story6156.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-12
911DA Story: Story
It was my second day at a brand new job outside of Washington DC. It was a beautiful September day. All of us were at our desks when one of the women here was on AOL and yelled out of her office, "A plane flew into one of the World Trade Center Towers."
My first thought, was, "Oh what a horrible accident, those poor families." Moments later she yelled "A plane went into the other one." At that point I knew it was an intentional act of terrorism.
By now we all grabbed radios, whatever we could to get information. I was listening to news reports when the plane went into the Pentagon (about 20 miles from here). It was then I knew that day would be like no other day I have ever known. This would be the worst day in America's grand history. It was my generation's Pearl Harbor.
We continued glued to the news as we heard about the hijacking off Flight 93 as they were still in the air, then their crash. Were they shot down? Did one of our military organizations have to do it to protect lives on the ground? No one could imagine the heroes who were on that plane.
We also caught plenty of false reports. A truck bomb at the State Department and the Capital. By now, anything seemed possible.
It became a surreal moment. I kept blinking my eyes as if to wake from a bad dream. Who could ever imagine such a thing would happen in the two most powerful cities in the greatest county in the world?
An odd calm occurred as the phones quit ringing, the city was shutting down. All we could do is sit by the radios and internet. We called our truck driver off the roads immediately. Traffic in the area was a standstill as people flocked out of the Washington Area.
The rest of the day continued the nightmare. When I could get the calls to go through, I called my wife at her work near our Southern Pennsylvania home, just to hear her voice and see if she heard anything we didn't.
The range of emtions, was verge of tears to unbelievable outrage. While driving home on I-95, I saw a traffic sign that said to "Major Incident. Avoid New York City." This was no bad dream. Then the next bridge had a huge American Flag drapped accross it. Tears of pride and sorrow streamed down as I drove home to watch hours, upon hours of coverage and replays. Despite the horror I was glued to the TV and will never forget any of it.
My first thought, was, "Oh what a horrible accident, those poor families." Moments later she yelled "A plane went into the other one." At that point I knew it was an intentional act of terrorism.
By now we all grabbed radios, whatever we could to get information. I was listening to news reports when the plane went into the Pentagon (about 20 miles from here). It was then I knew that day would be like no other day I have ever known. This would be the worst day in America's grand history. It was my generation's Pearl Harbor.
We continued glued to the news as we heard about the hijacking off Flight 93 as they were still in the air, then their crash. Were they shot down? Did one of our military organizations have to do it to protect lives on the ground? No one could imagine the heroes who were on that plane.
We also caught plenty of false reports. A truck bomb at the State Department and the Capital. By now, anything seemed possible.
It became a surreal moment. I kept blinking my eyes as if to wake from a bad dream. Who could ever imagine such a thing would happen in the two most powerful cities in the greatest county in the world?
An odd calm occurred as the phones quit ringing, the city was shutting down. All we could do is sit by the radios and internet. We called our truck driver off the roads immediately. Traffic in the area was a standstill as people flocked out of the Washington Area.
The rest of the day continued the nightmare. When I could get the calls to go through, I called my wife at her work near our Southern Pennsylvania home, just to hear her voice and see if she heard anything we didn't.
The range of emtions, was verge of tears to unbelievable outrage. While driving home on I-95, I saw a traffic sign that said to "Major Incident. Avoid New York City." This was no bad dream. Then the next bridge had a huge American Flag drapped accross it. Tears of pride and sorrow streamed down as I drove home to watch hours, upon hours of coverage and replays. Despite the horror I was glued to the TV and will never forget any of it.
Collection
Citation
“story6156.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed April 18, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/13075.