story427.xml

story427.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-04-16

I arrived in D.C. on September 9 for a meeting at the NEH on the 10th. I had recently started a position with my state's humanities council and was looking forward to visiting the NEH offices. Part of the meeting was a tour of an exhibit at the Museum of American History on the morning of September 11.

My boss and I had breakfast in the hotel that morning and while she went to her room to check out (we were scheduled to fly out that afternoon) I waited in the lobby. While there, I started talking to another meeting participant. While we were talking, I happened to mention that I lived in NYC for several years. She then said "have you heard what happened. Planes have flown into the Twin Towers." My first thought was of the small plane that had flown into the Empire State Building in the 40s. She then said that they were large planes, commercial planes, and then mentioned that they were possibly hijacked. I was in complete shock and started shaking. My boss then arrived and I told her the story. I then wondered if we should head to the airport and try to get an earlier flight home. I just wanted to be home. We decided to stay. A short time later, another participant came down and said that the Pentagon had been hit and that the Mall was on fire. I then got really scared. I thought we were being attacked. What was happening? Just then, several ambulances drove by and were followed by the Mass Casualty Unit. I had my cell phone and tried to call my parents but was unable to get through. I remember another man outside on his phone and we just looked at one another. "Can't get out?" I asked and he said no. As I went back inside, my co-worker was at the desk shaking. She had seen it all on TV. We put our names on a waiting list for rooms and I went up to hers. I will never forget the sight when she opened the door and I saw the TV. Lower Manhattan was covered in smoke and Katie Couric was talking. The towers were billowing, just like I heard from someone in the lobby. Just then, there were reports of a bomb going off outside the State Dept. and I thought, where do I need to be? Where is the safest place in this hotel if something happens?

I looked outside and it was like a parking lot. Cars trying to get out of the city. I was able to call out on the hotel line and I called my parents and friends. While talking I turned and saw the first tower collapse and thought this was it. Manhattan was going to crumble due to all of the weight of the building and force of the fall. My heart stopped. I thought of my friends still there and worried about them (all were safe I later discovered).

After an hour, things began to "calm" down and we decided to head down the street to a convenience store. Cars were everywhere and there was this off duty police officer directing traffic. She did an amazing job. As people walked by they patter her on the back and thanked her for her effort. Later, we went to a room on the top floor. Looking out the balcony we could see the smoke rising from the Pentagon and hear the helicopters overhead. Each time I heard one I felt uneasy and looked to the skies.

By that afternoon an eerie calm had settled over the city. I remember looking out the window and seeing no cars. No traffic was allowed in and it seemed like a slow weekend afternoon.

After two more days in D.C. (including seeing the exhibit that we were scheduled to see that Tuesday morning) we were fortunate enough to get a rental car. It took two more days to get home.