story20694.xml

story20694.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2006-09-11

I was working for the Arlington County Police Department on 9/11. I had been running late for work (hem of my dress needed some quick needlework), and I remember standing in the bathroom doing my makeup when the first plane hit. I thought nothing about it other than an unfortunate accident, and went about finishing getting ready. As I was heading out the door, I reached to turn off the TV as the second plane hit. That caused me to leave the TV on and reach for the phone, calling one of my co-workers at the PD. I told them to head into my office and turn on the TV. By the time I arrived 10 minutes later, there were 8 people in my office watching the coverage. 35 minutes later, another co-worker came into our office and stated he had just watched a plane hit the Pentagon. He had to repeat what he said before we all ran out of my office to his desk to look out across Ft Myer to the black plume of smoke rising on the other side. That moment in time is burned in my memory...I remember who was standing next to me and just what the dispatcher was saying. After taking 15 seconds to let it all sink in, everyone grabbed what they needed from their desk and ran to get to the scene. I headed to find anyone in the command staff...our Chief was in New York, another Deputy Chief was on vacation in Florida and another was on his way to Richmond. I found the one remaining Chief and told him whatg had happened, then went to go track down MY boss, whom I caught as he was heading out the door to play a round of golf. (He had not turned on the TV). The rest of the day was a blur of activity. A former co-worker came and helped me handle media inquiries, the only way to communicate with the outside world was e-mail. I spent that first day at the PD doing my job, and then spent the next 2 weeks in the South Parking Lot of the Pentagon facility. I will never forget standing infront of the impact sight, seeing the damage with a piece of landing gear behind me and pieces of plane fuselage laying on the ground around me. And the smells of jet fuel and fire and death.

While we did our job and helped who we could, it was hard for me to fathom what happened in NYC at the WTC. It took me two years to get to Ground Zero, and when I got there, it was just mind numbing to look around and realise just how lucky, in the grand scheme of things, we were.

As a result of my work with the attacks, I have chosen a career in Domestic Preparedness. I use what I learned as a result of the attacks to try and help the first responders in communities across the country make sure they are as prepared as they can be for a disaster, whether it be natural, or the result of a terrorist attack.