story76.xml

story76.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-02-23

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at school taking a class. At the time of the incident I was not aware that the country was under a terrorist attack, until I heard some commotion coming from the corridors of the school. When I found out what had happened, my knees buckled and my eyes got watery because my wife worked in the six World Trade Center building, which is the customs house, as a federal agent trainee for the IRS. Her shift started at 9:00am so I had the terrible feeling that my wife was in the building. I came out of the classroom and I tried calling my wife but there was no answer. I completely lost my mind and I ran out of the school and drove to the World Trade Center site. Little did I know that I was not going to get anywhere closer than a mile from the site. I left the car and ran as fast as I could toward the towers in aid of my wife. When I got close to the site I was stopped by law enforcement officers who had sealed the area so that people like me would not get through. I was devastated and crying because I felt the worse. I pleaded with the officers to let me go by so that I could help my wife who worked in one of the towers. After about an hour of crying and full of dust and particles from the air, I heard from my wife, she had called me and she told me that she was alright. At that moment I became the happiest man alive, I must have thank God a million times. I then ran back to my car and drove home. After I got home, I embraced my wife and together we cried and thanked God. My wife couldn't stop crying and she kept telling me how she had just escaped death. She explained to me that she was lucky because she had arrived to the building around 9:00am and as she was walking, she realized that something was wrong. She saw the north building on fire and people jumping out from the building. She explained to me how she was crying and feeling for those people who were jumping and for those who were stuck and couldn't get out. She did not realize what was happening, she thought that it was just a fire but nothing more. She realize that something was wrong because she saw how the plain dove into the other tower. She explained to me how she then started running because debris was falling down from the tower after the explosion. She told me that she ran for her life and ducked under a canopy for cover. After the debris had fallen she ran past the #4 and #5 train because it was too crowded and went to the #2 and #3 train and came home. When she got home, she turned on the television and tuned in to the news and realized that our country was under terrorist attack. Throughout the day and days after that, she kept reliving the scenery of the people jumping from the tower and of the plane hitting the other tower. The federal government had to sent her for therapy so that she could overcome that terrible tragedy. Although months have passed, she at times cries when she sees pictures of the 9/11 incident.