story330.xml
Title
story330.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-03-29
911DA Story: Story
I was at work at Gage-Babcock & Associates. Ironically, we
do fire protection and security consulting engineering. I
was sitting at my desk and one of our engineers who is also
a volunteer fire fighter ran into my office and said the
World Trade Center was on fire. I quickly went into e-mail
and saw a sight that turned my blood cold. We thought it
was an accident, but as we watched, the second plane hit.
Moments later we heard about the Pentagon. For the first
time in my life, I was afraid.
Only one week before on the 3rd of September my former husband
retired from the Pentagon. He lost 32 people he worked with
every day.
My son, Jared Holz, is an advanced life support paramedic for
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NYC. By a fluke of scheduling
he wasn't working on the 11th. As soon as he saw what had
happened, he packed a bag and drove to the city. He arrived after
both towers had fallen.
I remember thinking when I watched in horror as the first tower
fell, this is surreal. It looks like it's melting. Little did
I know. It was hours before I heard from my daughter-in-law.
Jared was at ground zero for 3 days before going home to rest.
He said everyone was so frustrated because they expected to be
able to save and help people, but there was no one to save.
Jared's sister, Rachel Johnson has contributed some of Jared's
photographs to the Image Repository on this site. Those of us
who hadn't been there could not really understand the scale
of this disaster until I saw Jared's photographs.
All the photographs that were published on the Internet during
the days that followed 911 of the floral tributes outside our
embassies around the world brought tears to our eyes. The outpouring
of sympathy from around the world helped us to realize we are
not alone. The strength of the people of NY and the DC area
was uplifting to everyone.
God bless America has new meaning for all of us. This site will
be a new treasure for Americans worldwide. It should be
maintained forever. We will never forget. We should never
forget. We will never again take freedom for granted.
do fire protection and security consulting engineering. I
was sitting at my desk and one of our engineers who is also
a volunteer fire fighter ran into my office and said the
World Trade Center was on fire. I quickly went into e-mail
and saw a sight that turned my blood cold. We thought it
was an accident, but as we watched, the second plane hit.
Moments later we heard about the Pentagon. For the first
time in my life, I was afraid.
Only one week before on the 3rd of September my former husband
retired from the Pentagon. He lost 32 people he worked with
every day.
My son, Jared Holz, is an advanced life support paramedic for
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NYC. By a fluke of scheduling
he wasn't working on the 11th. As soon as he saw what had
happened, he packed a bag and drove to the city. He arrived after
both towers had fallen.
I remember thinking when I watched in horror as the first tower
fell, this is surreal. It looks like it's melting. Little did
I know. It was hours before I heard from my daughter-in-law.
Jared was at ground zero for 3 days before going home to rest.
He said everyone was so frustrated because they expected to be
able to save and help people, but there was no one to save.
Jared's sister, Rachel Johnson has contributed some of Jared's
photographs to the Image Repository on this site. Those of us
who hadn't been there could not really understand the scale
of this disaster until I saw Jared's photographs.
All the photographs that were published on the Internet during
the days that followed 911 of the floral tributes outside our
embassies around the world brought tears to our eyes. The outpouring
of sympathy from around the world helped us to realize we are
not alone. The strength of the people of NY and the DC area
was uplifting to everyone.
God bless America has new meaning for all of us. This site will
be a new treasure for Americans worldwide. It should be
maintained forever. We will never forget. We should never
forget. We will never again take freedom for granted.
Collection
Citation
“story330.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed April 13, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/16155.