story470.xml

story470.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-04-26

I work in a small law firm in downtown Washington, DC, about two blocks from the White House. At approximately 9:00 am on September 11, 2001, I was at work when I first heard something about a 'helicopter' crash. Then, I heard something about a 'small plane' crashing into the World Trade Center. Then, panic gripped our office as more accurate details of what had happened in New York City came in. We learned, finally, that both building had been hit by commercial airliners, and that this was obviously more than an accident. At one point, while speaking with my wife, Jessica, on the phone, she heard an a loud noise that she couldn't account for, but didn't immediately mention it to me. It was the sound of a plane hitting the Pentagon. As we learned about the collapse of the WTC buildings, and rumors swirled about planes heading toward D.C. and bombs going off around the city, our office closed for the day, and everyone attempted to go home. With cell phones out of service, thousands of people milling around of sidewalks, streets around the White House being closed by Secret Service agents, the Metro closed and taxis unavailable, it seemed that the city was completely paralyzed, and I was not sure how to get out. Finally, the Metro re-opened long enough for me to get across the Potomac to the Pentagon. Then, the Metro closed again, and we were forced to take a bus, which took a long time to arrive. Meanwhile, we could see the sky filled with smoke from the plane crash at the Pentagon. After the bus came and crawled down the street taking hours to go a few feet, I got off the bus, walked for a couple of miles, found a taxi, took it part of the way, got back on the train, got back to my car, and drove home. The odyssey took 6 hours from the time of the first news about the terrorist attacks, when the trip normally took one hour. My wife and son were very glad to see me, and I, them. We thank God for the actions of those aboard the United flight that went down over Pennsylvania, possibly sparing the lives of many in D.C., including my own. The horror of the moment, the courage of so many, and the grace of God exhibited on September 11 will always be with me. Osama bin Laden's movement is satanic, but out of such evil came such noble and heroic conduct on the part of many in our country. To the extent that America has become more of police state since that day, I am sad. It was hard for us to sleep for a long time afterwards. The world has changed before and will do so again, but the change that we experienced on September 11 was profound. May God be glorified in all of these things.