story938.xml

story938.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-07-27

It started out like any other Tuesday. Get up at 4:30. Shower, shave, get dressed and head off to the bus stop to go to the city. The bus pulled in, as usual, at 7:30 into the Park Place stop. I got off and took my daily walk to work. One block down Church Street, cross over to 5 WTC, through the concourse to 2 WTC and up to the 69th floor. Just like any other Tuesday.

As usual I unpacked my attach? case and stored my Walkman. Unlocked my desk and took my cup of oatmeal and coffee cup to get a cup of tea. I checked my voicemail and e-mail and started to do my work.

Little by little other employees came in. I remember saying hello to Rocco and Jack. I think I saw Brad. I remember seeing Tim go into his office. That?s all I can remember but I?m sure there were others (I later found out That Jessy was in).

It was approximately 8:45 am when life as I knew it changed. There was a big bang. An explosion. I looked out my window on the south side of the building and saw paper, lots of paper falling from above. It was almost like a ticker tape parade with big pieces of paper. Then I noticed that other things were falling and they were on fire. We all ran out of our offices to see what had happened. Someone, I?m not sure who, said that either a small plane or helicopter had hit 1 WTC. We decided to begin evacuating people because we just didn?t know what was going on. We told everyone to get their things together and start walking down. We knew that it wasn?t our building but we weren?t taking a chance. No one panicked. Everyone left orderly. I called my wife to let her know that there was a problem at 1 WTC but we were leaving anyway.

Tim and I walked over to the north side of the building to see what had happened. When we got to the PC Support area and looked out the window, we were shocked. On the east side of 1 WTC was a massive hole with black smoke and flames coming out. I looked down to the concourse and saw debris all over. Pieces of the Trade Center structure were lying on the concourse floor as well as the roof of 5 WTC. What I saw next will probably never leave my mind. Something, which I couldn?t make out, came flying out of the burning hole. I followed it about half way down before I realized it was a person. I?m not sure if he jumped or not but, when he hit the ground the body disintegrated. Two more bodies came from the burning hole. We didn?t want to look but it was difficult not to. They suffered the same fait as the first. It was too much for me. I left the window.

At this point the PA system had an announcement that there was a problem at 1 WTC and 2 WTC was safe. We all relaxed a little and a false sense of security came over us. I remember smelling an electrical burning smell. The remainder of us decided to leave. We said we would make one more sweep of the floor and make sure everyone was out and then evacuate.

We went up and down the isles calling to see if anyone remained. If a phone rang we picked it up to let people know that everyone was ok and we were evacuating. When I got up to my secretary?s desk, the phone rang. I picked it up. It was George Ross, a retired executive. He had heard what had happened and was checking to see how everyone was. I told him we were all ok and were about to leave.

Then it happened. A loud bang and the building shook like we were in an earthquake. The walls seemed to move back and forth like rubber. The wall next to where I was standing cracked and opened up about an inch or two. I saw Jack come running out of his office and Tim came running from around the corner (although Tim later told me that he was in his office). I still cannot remember if I went back into my office or had my attach? case with me, but I knew I was running with it. I thought that the building was going to fall at that point. I was scared. I followed Jack and Tim into the hall and I noticed that the ceiling had collapsed. Jack ran to the door for the stairs. I saw him hitting it with his shoulder but it wouldn?t open. We turned and ran around to the east side of the floor. As I passed the next passage I looked left and noticed the ceiling had fell and it was impassable. We continued to the north side of the building and around to the center hall. At this point all I saw was the door. The door to freedom. Jack entered first, followed by Tim, then myself.

We began our trek down the stairs for the third time. Once for a blackout, once on February 26, 1993, the date of the bomb and now. I ran as fast as I could. I?m not sure that my feet actually hit the steps as opposed to just sliding along the edges of the steps. I didn?t see anyone else behind me except John Olsen, the regional manager. I do not know when but I was in a kind of a group. Jack and Tim had gotten ahead of me. I was with John, Glen O?Leary, Vic Rosa and his friend Bob and a few other guys. We seemed like a team. We checked how each was doing. Jack and Tim called up to me. I confirmed I was still going and was ok.

My pager started. First my wife Celia, then my son Steven, then my son Michael, then Celia again and again. I got my cell phone out and tried to call. I had good signal but the circuits were busy. Over and over again I tried to call but the circuits were busy. The pager continued to beep.

Floor by floor we went down. I noticed that there were shoes on most landings. I think these were all woman?s shoes. I guess they took them off to get down the stairs faster. I remember my legs starting to feel like rubber on about the 15th floor, but I kept going. Trying my cell phone, checking how our co-workers were doing. Jack or Tim calling to me. Answering them that I?m right behind them. Checking how John Olsen was doing. There was another heavyset man with us. Vic Rosa would open a door every couple of floors to let him get some air. We were all sweating.. I had arrived on the 10th floor platform and remembered that the telephone company central office was on this floor. I decided to get to a phone. I went onto the floor without thinking. Glen followed me trying to stop me. I told him I had to call my wife. I knew if she heard my voice she would be better. I ran into the hall and through a door. I saw a phone and dialed. Celia answered. She was crying hysterically. I assured her I was ok and on the 10th floor and would be out of the building soon. I hung up and Glen and I ran. Glen ran the wrong way and I called to him and we entered the stairway again. We continued going down, down, down. As we got close to the bottom we started to run into more people. The running had slowed.

I remember seeing Rick Rescorla, the head of security,with a bullhorn telling everyone to keep moving. I later found out that Rick was one of the missing. We finally got to the bottom and were directed by the police to keep moving. They had us go through the 2 WTC lobby and into the concourse. I noticed two things then. One was this guy from the 66th floor, Louis Torres, He was carrying this woman in his arms. I later found out that he had carried her down from the 64th floor. The second was a woman covered in blood. Her head was bleeding and the bottom of her pants was soaked in blood. I kept saying to the police to get an EMT. They just said to keep moving. Two guys were helping her. They directed us around the concourse to the escalator leading up to the Church Street exit. More police, more yelling to keep moving. I remember thinking that I now have to walk up an escalator and my legs wanted to give out. I kept moving. Up the escalator and through the revolving doors out to the street. I saw hundreds of people across the street. The police kept us moving.

We started heading north up Church Street. I do not remember how but we somehow got to Broadway. We must have cut up one of the blocks. It was Glen, Rocco and myself. I remember seeing Tony Farrand and Brad Willcox. We walked fast sometimes looking back in shock at what we were seeing. I continued to try my cell phone with no luck. The public phones had long lines. Glen stopped at some store to get some water and I went into the next store to as to use the phone. I went to the back and there was this guy on the phone. He was an Arab or Indian, I?m not sure. I asked him if I can use the phone and he told me to go to a pay phone. I told him the lines were long and he told me he could only receive incoming calls. For some reason I didn?t believe him. I left the store.

When I went back outside Glen was getting out of the store. A number of us had shared the water and we continued our walk to Varick Street. I continued to try my cell phone with no luck. I continued to look to an available pay phone without long lines. Also no luck. We walked fast. Time seems strange. I do not know how much time had passed when we finally got to Canal Street. We turned the corner and I saw 75 Varick Street about 2 blocks away. I saw a public phone with a woman on it, so I waited. All I wanted to do at this point was call Celia and let her know I was all right. The woman finished and I dialed. I remember dialing a few times since I was rushing and making mistakes. Finally I got through to her. Celia answered. She was crying. I told her that I was far away from the building and was safe. I had hoped I was telling the truth. She didn?t believe me. I reassured her that I was all right and told her I was heading to Varick Street, our contingency site, and that I love her. I hung up the phone.

With that I heard a thundering sound. I looked up from the phone and saw the two towers burning. Then the top of 2 WTC started to go down and it disappeared into the smoke. I stood with my mouth open. I was numb. I could not believe what I was seeing. The building that I saw going up 30 years ago, where I had spent the last fourteen years working, was now falling, disappearing into the smoke and fire. The group of people standing on the corner just stood there in shock. I heard many people say ?Oh my God?.

Glen and I continued onto 75 Varick Street. We went to the 3rd floor, our contingency site. When we arrived there were many people there already there. I think I went to the front desk. There were communications people sitting there. I think I saw Frank Giordano, Evelyn, Lisa, Pauline and some others. All I wanted to do I call some people to tell them I was ok. I went to the back room where the NCC was and found a phone. I saw Mike Eng and he asked me to contact ILX to get entitlements put on the workstations. I told him ok but called my wife again to let her know I was still ok. I called my son Michael to let him know that I was ok. I then called my brother. When he heard my voice he burst out crying. I do not think I ever heard Paul cry. He said he thought he had lost me. I consoled him. I asked him to call the nursing home and have them tell my mother that I was ok. I also asked him to call Rhoda, our sister. I left the back room and walked through the communications room. I saw Pat Haskins. We hugged and told each other that we were ok. We now had work to do.

I called Jeannine from ILX to tell her that we needed the entitlements turned on the 300 workstations at Varick Street. She was crying when she heard my voice. She hadn?t heard from anyone from the 69th floor and thought we were all dead. I assured her we were all alive. We all got out in time. She said she would page me when the work as done since phones was hit and miss. I do not how much time had passed. Time was irrelevant. I kept busy making some phone call to vendors. Someone said the there was food. I waited a while. Then Jack, Tim and myself went to get some sandwiches. After we took the food we were told to go the rear of the building because there was a bomb scare. They said that a truck had pulled up in front of the building and the driver ran. The police were going to check it out.

We all went to the other room and Steve Van Wyk, the IT executive, started to speak. No one could hear him and someone gave him a bullhorn. He started to tell us that he was proud of us for getting out of the building safely. He then started to talk business. I cannot remember anything else he said. We then heard an announcement to evacuate the building. We all walked down the 3 floors to the lobby and out the Canal Street entrance. Little by little people filled the street. We were then told to go up to the Morgan Stanley office at 1585 Broadway. Jack, Tim, Rocco and I tried to regroup our staff in order to make the long walk.

Everything was strange. No one was really sure what to do. Then someone said that they are evacuating 1585 Broadway. I then decided to try to go home. I called Michael to tell him to meet me so we could get out of the city. I told him to meet me at Canal Street and the Westside Highway. It seemed that everyone was in small groups standing by the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. Jack and Tim and a group of people started to walk north toward Penn Station. I wound up with Frank Giordano. I do not know where Rocco went. We tried to keep the New Jersey people together and I found myself standing with only Frank. We went over to the west side to wait for Mike. At this time Frank said something to me that sent chills up my spine. He told me that he went out with his brother this past Sunday. He was telling him that he had a dream on Saturday night. The dream was about him going to work on Monday and a plane hit the Trade Center and it fell into the river. I thought he was joking until I looked at his face. I knew he was serious. I could not believe he had a premonition about what had happened. We stood there for some time. There were police and EMT standing around in groups. It seemed that they were getting their orders. I went over to one of the policemen and asked about the Hoboken Ferry. He told me it was not running and we had to go to 30th street. I tried to call Mike on my cell phone with no luck. I tried Frank?s cell phone and got through. He was at 15th Street and 2nd Ave. I told him to go across town and we?ll meet him on 15th and the west side. Frank and I began to walk uptown.

What happened next broke the tension a little. Frank and I were walking in the street and Frank put his hand in his pocket. He pulled out a Tootsie Roll and asked me if I want it. I couldn?t believe he took the time to go into my office to get some Tootsie Rolls from my desk. He told me that he had them from before. Frank said he had the last Tootsie Roll from the WTC and he placed the wrapped in his pocket.

As we walked and talked about what had happened and saw different cars and trucks coming from downtown covered in soot. It almost looked like snow coming off the roof of the vehicles. Then an SUV passed us. I yelled out to get a lift. The Guy slammed on his brakes as asked where we were going. I told him 15th Street. He told us to hop in. This guy was in his office by City Hall and witnessed the attack. He drove us to 15th Street and let us off wishing us luck.

We crossed the street to get out of the sun and waited for Mike. It seemed like a long time. We continued to talk about what had happened and discuss how we would get home. Finally, I saw Mike coming down the street. I couldn?t wait to hug him. He crossed the street and we hugged. I held him very tight and told him that I Love him. He told me the same. I remember crying as I held him. I couldn?t wait to get home and hold Steve and Celia.

We started walking up the Westside Highway toward 30th Street. We finally got to the Weehawken Ferry. There were hundreds of people on line and busses dropping off more. We got on line and began to wait. I had no idea what time it was. The line seemed to move quickly as boats filled. People heard us talking and asked us what we experienced. We told them and they looked at us in fear at what we had been through. Finally we got on a boat for the next leg of our journey to New Jersey. It took a long time to get across since there were more boats then docks. I remember calling Celia to give her a status of the journey. I also called Paul.

The ferry finally docked and we headed for busses to go to Hoboken. Mike couldn?t get in touch with Anne, his fianc?, so we had to go home by train. We lucked out and got on the 2nd bus. The bus ride was slow. There was a lot of traffic. We were about to blocks from the train station and not moving, so we decided to get off the bus and walk. I remember seeing tables with food and bottled water. I?m not sure who was supplying the stuff but was happy to see that everyone was helping out. We went into the train station looking for information. A man with an NJ Transit jacket came over to us and asked if he could help. I told him I wanted to go to Belmar. He said the next train was leaving in 4 minutes on track 14, the other end of the station. Mike said he was going to try to get home. Anne was at her parent?s house since the roads were closed. I really didn?t want Mike to go home but he insisted. I said goodbye to Frank. He was taking another train. I hugged Mike again and told him that I love him and told him to be careful and ran to make the train. I got through the gate and noticed the train was packed like sardines. I knew I would not get on this train. I asked when the next train was and was told it was at 5:09. For the first time since the first plane hit 1 WTC I looked at my watch. It was 4:45. I couldn?t believe a whole day had passed. I had no conception of time. I called Mike on his cell phone and told him what had happened. He wanted to wait with me but the gate was closed and they wouldn?t let him in. So, I waited alone on the platform.

A couple of guys were talking about what had happened. I kind of got into their conversation and told about my experience. They looked at me in horror at what I had been through. I girl over heard the conversation and asked me about a friend of hers on the 104th floor. She wanted to know if she could have made it out. I told her I really didn?t know although I thought that anyone above the crash probably didn?t make it.

The train finally got in about 5:15 and left at 5:25. I called my friend Daryl and asked him to pick me up in Belmar. The ride home seemed long. Looking out the train window I was able to see the heavy smoke from where the WTC used to be. It made me sad. My hands began to shake and I had to keep busy so I decided to call my family to let them hear my voice. I called Rosie and George, Mary and Sal, Miriam and Jimmie and Junior. I called Celia a few times also.

The train finally got into Belmar. I got off the train ant saw Daryl. I walked up to him and we hugged. He said her was glad to see me. I told him the same. I couldn?t wait to get home to see Steven and Celia. We finally pulled up in front of the house and Steven came out to meet me. I hugged him tight and told him that I love him. He said he loves me also. I started to cry again. I was so glade to see him. I went into the house and down the hallway when Celia came out of the den. We embraced. I held he as tight as I could. We kissed. I was so glade to be home in the arms of my LOVE. I knew that things would be better.

Ellen came out of the den. We hugged and she also said that she was glade I was all right. We went to the kitchen. They had ordered pizza. I was not hungry. All I wanted was water. My friend Marc called to see how I was. He said I only had seven lives left. I told him I was no cat but I was ok. Daryl and Ellen left after a while and Celia told me to go inside and rest. I changed my clothes. I did what she said and turned on the television. I had not seen the news footage of what had happened. As I turned on the TV the first thing I saw was the second plane hitting my building, I looked at it in shock. All I saw was the plane hitting my floor, although it was about 10 floors above. I started crying saying that I should be dead. The plane hit my floor. Celia comforted me saying that it did not hit my floor and I was alive and home. I cried. I did not sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the plane.

There are many things in this story that I think I still cannot remember. Hopefully they will come back to me in time. The important thing is that I was home with my love. The following weeks were an emotional rollercoster. I knew that getting through it would be tough but with the support of my family and friends, I knew that I would get through it.