story5802.xml
Title
story5802.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-12
911DA Story: Story
Well...kinda crazy...had the day off, and was going on with my every day routine of cleaning, laundry, etc...this was after I got my girls off to school...then went to shower around 9:30...got dressed and went to make a phone call and saw our answering machine light flashing...got the message from my husband who worked at George Washington Universtity, downtown, DC...(only three blocks away from the White House)Said, "Hi, there...I'm okay, just in case you were wondering, and if you don't know what's going on, turn on the news...again..I'm okay...trying to get home at the moment...they have evacuated our building..."
As I watched the news the first few minutes, was still not clear what he was talking about...scenes of the towers, and wondering how this could affect my husband working downtown DC??? Then, they showed the Pentagon...and then it hit me...then they talked about how the next target could be the White House...
All I remember is getting dressed and getting into our Blazer and heading for my daughter's school...repeatedly hitting redial to get through to my husbands cell phone but all the lines were jammed...listening to the radio all the way there..finally got there, took them out, and tried to explain to them that they just needed to get home and would explain when we got there...kept the raio off even when my 11 year old asked for me to turn on the radio...just kept telling them that they would have to trust me on this, and they would understand why I took them out of school after we got home...that Daddy should be there when we got back, etc...
Got home and no "Daddy"...but, another msg...it was his reserve unit from Andrews Air Force Base, wanting hin to report to duty ASAP..so, had to call them and let them know that he might be delayed because he was trying to get home from the DC area...
Then explained to the girls what was going on...and thought it was best for them to be home...and they were SO GOOD about it...we are a very tight family, and they knew everything would be alright because they were home with me, etc...
Finally, a call came through from "dad" and said he was probably about 15 mins from home...told him that his unit had called from Andrews, and he just asked if I could be sure all his gear was out and ready for him...i assured him I had everything ready for him...
Being scurity at Andrews, it was important for him to get there ASAP when he could...so, he made it home, and transformed into his uniform, and back out the door he went....
He's been acivated ever since...he hasn't been back to GW since...and has been activated for another year just this past week...who would have ever thought we would have to have our Security Forces going this long...??I know I am having a hard time dechipering all of this...but, all I ask, is, for all of you to say a prayer for our military members who go to work everyday to keep us secure and safe...some day this will all cease, and I will be able to celebrate his going back to his full-time civilian job...I know how badly he would love to be there again...
THANK GOD for our military....!!! I AM SO PROUD OF MY HUSBAND for what he does everyday...
Sandy Boettcher
As I watched the news the first few minutes, was still not clear what he was talking about...scenes of the towers, and wondering how this could affect my husband working downtown DC??? Then, they showed the Pentagon...and then it hit me...then they talked about how the next target could be the White House...
All I remember is getting dressed and getting into our Blazer and heading for my daughter's school...repeatedly hitting redial to get through to my husbands cell phone but all the lines were jammed...listening to the radio all the way there..finally got there, took them out, and tried to explain to them that they just needed to get home and would explain when we got there...kept the raio off even when my 11 year old asked for me to turn on the radio...just kept telling them that they would have to trust me on this, and they would understand why I took them out of school after we got home...that Daddy should be there when we got back, etc...
Got home and no "Daddy"...but, another msg...it was his reserve unit from Andrews Air Force Base, wanting hin to report to duty ASAP..so, had to call them and let them know that he might be delayed because he was trying to get home from the DC area...
Then explained to the girls what was going on...and thought it was best for them to be home...and they were SO GOOD about it...we are a very tight family, and they knew everything would be alright because they were home with me, etc...
Finally, a call came through from "dad" and said he was probably about 15 mins from home...told him that his unit had called from Andrews, and he just asked if I could be sure all his gear was out and ready for him...i assured him I had everything ready for him...
Being scurity at Andrews, it was important for him to get there ASAP when he could...so, he made it home, and transformed into his uniform, and back out the door he went....
He's been acivated ever since...he hasn't been back to GW since...and has been activated for another year just this past week...who would have ever thought we would have to have our Security Forces going this long...??I know I am having a hard time dechipering all of this...but, all I ask, is, for all of you to say a prayer for our military members who go to work everyday to keep us secure and safe...some day this will all cease, and I will be able to celebrate his going back to his full-time civilian job...I know how badly he would love to be there again...
THANK GOD for our military....!!! I AM SO PROUD OF MY HUSBAND for what he does everyday...
Sandy Boettcher
Collection
Citation
“story5802.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 2, 2026, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/14114.