story1119.xml

story1119.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-19

I am a Quality Assurance Specialist at Letterkenny Army Depot, a small Army maintenance facility in south-central Pennsylvania. On the morning of 9/11, I was sitting at my desk when I overheard someone saying that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. I immediately thought that it was some sort of terrible accident. My thoughts were of a private, single-engine aircraft bouncing off the building and falling to the street below. A few minutes later I had to go to another office and the route took me by one of the employee break areas. A TV in the break area was tuned to CNN and a number of employees were in the break area watching the events as they unfolded. I stopped to investigate just what had happened and while we were watching, a plane hit the second tower. We stood there and watched as both towers eventually collapsed. I can still remember the feeling as the newscaster became silent when the first tower fell. I really don't think he knew what was happening at first. I eventually returned to my desk to find a message from my wife on my voice mail. She was, of course, concerned for my welfare since I work at a Govenment installation.
The events of that day are still fresh in my mind as if they happened a week ago instead of a year.