story3118.xml
Title
story3118.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
I'm a consultant; my home is Williamsburg, VA. My story is of an observer, and of the impact of this event on my self and my family.
On 9/11/2001 I was working in One Mertoteck, a high-rise office building in Brooklyn. We were on the 24th floor, and had a clear view of the towers. Our day starts around 7:30 AM, so our entire crew was busy when the first plane hit the towers. My first action was to call my wife in Williamsburg, VA. To assure her that I was not in the towers. At the time her office, the medical center for Williams & Mary College in Williamsburg, they did not have radio or TV. My call was short, I told her that there was a problem in the towers, and that I was not part of it. She informed her fellow workers, and they became part of the nation that felt the pain as they pulled in a TV and watched the rest of the day.
When the second plane was seen our hearts stopped, as we watched it hit the second tower. I've been working with computers for over 35 years. After the second plane hit I went back to my desk, looked at the PC, and realized I had no concept of what to do. My balance, my sanity, my being had been shaken. Several of my co-workers left our floor. They could not bear to be in the high-rise at that time. As the day wore on the terrible nature of the tragedy played itself out. We tried to go out to give blood, but were too late, the centers had more folks than they could process.
One of our group was scheduled to fly home that morning, he got to the airport, and no further. It took him hours to get back to us, including a three mile walk, as the ground transportation in the part of Brooklyn where we were did not exist.
Our apartments were a couple of blooks from our office, walking back we were engulfed by the dust in the air from the towers. It would be a couple of days before any of us were back to full sanity.
On 9/11/2001 I was working in One Mertoteck, a high-rise office building in Brooklyn. We were on the 24th floor, and had a clear view of the towers. Our day starts around 7:30 AM, so our entire crew was busy when the first plane hit the towers. My first action was to call my wife in Williamsburg, VA. To assure her that I was not in the towers. At the time her office, the medical center for Williams & Mary College in Williamsburg, they did not have radio or TV. My call was short, I told her that there was a problem in the towers, and that I was not part of it. She informed her fellow workers, and they became part of the nation that felt the pain as they pulled in a TV and watched the rest of the day.
When the second plane was seen our hearts stopped, as we watched it hit the second tower. I've been working with computers for over 35 years. After the second plane hit I went back to my desk, looked at the PC, and realized I had no concept of what to do. My balance, my sanity, my being had been shaken. Several of my co-workers left our floor. They could not bear to be in the high-rise at that time. As the day wore on the terrible nature of the tragedy played itself out. We tried to go out to give blood, but were too late, the centers had more folks than they could process.
One of our group was scheduled to fly home that morning, he got to the airport, and no further. It took him hours to get back to us, including a three mile walk, as the ground transportation in the part of Brooklyn where we were did not exist.
Our apartments were a couple of blooks from our office, walking back we were engulfed by the dust in the air from the towers. It would be a couple of days before any of us were back to full sanity.
Collection
Citation
“story3118.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 25, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/17756.