story6262.xml

story6262.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was crossing the Manhattan Bridge heading to work in midtown. I was becoming frustrated because there were subway delays and I was thinking that I could have made a different connection in Brooklyn that would get me to work on time. At 9:06 a.m., the motorman or conductor announced that a plane hit the WTC. I was standing near the door facing this sight and saw both towers on fire. The South tower had smoke pouring out near the top and the North tower had fire and smoke pouring out above its mid section. I immediately thought of the loss of lives and felt such sadness and pain. I said out loud to another passenger standing with me at the window, "Oh my God, I hope its not terrorists or terrorism [my memory escapes me]." He replied that "it looks like a plane crashed into the building." As we very slowly continued to cross the bridge, the gash on the side of the North tower became visible. For the remainder of the trip I as did others sat numb with shock. I transferred to a bus continuing my trip and told some passengers that the WTC had been hit. The buildings could be seen from midtown, it looked devastating. By the time I reached my building, I was hysterically crying. Though I didn't personally know anyone at the time working in the buildings, I knew there was a great loss of lives.