story1489.xml

story1489.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-26

I was awaken at home by a co-worker who called to tell me to turn on the TV because 2 planes had just hit the World Trade Center. I turned the TV on and was greeted with the news on all local channels. As I sat watching in disbelief, we talked for a few minutes on the phone and then I hung up, got up and got dressed. I continued to watch the news, flipping between channels to get the latest information. The images and details were being played over and over, and each time any new information came to light, even if it was speculation, it was immediately broadcast. At first, I had thought that it was some huge mistake, but after the Pentagon got hit, I knew we were under attack. I tried to call my girlfriend (now my wife) after getting dressed, but was unable to get through, and even the cell-phone wasn't able to connect. The fact that communication was interrupted at this time made me anxious, as the scope of the problem was now becoming very apparent. I kept trying and got through about 10 minutes later. I told her to turn on the TV, as she hadn't been watching the news. I explained to her what had happened up to that point. We stayed on the phone for a while, both watching the news. We watched as the towers collapsed, and at that time I told her that I wanted to come over to her house. The drive to her house (about a 20 minute drive), was eerie - you could see how affected everyone was that was on the road. There was no hint of inconsideration that is always present in some form when driving...people were stunned.

We continued watching the news, which was constant, and I called into my job (which is in downtown Chicago), to see what the status was there. At first I was told not to come in as they were closing, but a short time later, my boss paged me and informed me that they needed a skeleton staff there, and that I was to come in. After I told my girlfriend that I had to go into work later in the day, she exclaimed "Is he crazy???" I did head into work later, and since I work only a few blocks away from the Sears Tower, I was constantly wondering when, or if, IT was going to be hit. This was even more prevalent in my mind as we kept hearing in the news about how one of the planes was thought to have been headed for Chicago. By this time, though, the FAA had grounded all flights, but this didn't provide any relief as there could have been other ways to attack Chicago as well.

Immediately after that day, I saw tons of US flags displayed on cars all over the city, including my own a week later or so. And on two occasions in the weeks to follow, in the northern night time sky, I saw what probably gave me the most feeling of security ? the afterburners of jet fighters as they flew on patrol. One moment the strange light from the afterburner caught my eye, and as I watched, the next moment it winked out.