story4830.xml
Title
story4830.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
On 9/11/02, I was in Atlanta attending a training seminar. I was scheduled to fly home to Los Angeles that evening. I learned of the attacks during the morning break. The big screen TV at the bar showed all that was happening. The announcement was made at the time that all flights were being grounded. I was able to call my wife at home to tell her to turn on the TV and also that I didn't know when I could return home.
Needless to say, the rest of the training seminar was cancelled. The instructor was in tears--he was from the Boston area and had clients that worked at the World Trade Center. As a class, we knew it was far more important to get home to our loved ones.
I was actually lucky--I was able to check back into the hotel I was staying and didn't have to scramble like so many others who were diverted to Atlanta. I also had a rental car, so I wasn't stuck. I offered to drive other stranded travellers around and even offered a classmate to drive him home to Indiana (wasn't necessary, as he was able to get a car).
The tough part was talking to my three 6 year old children (triplets) that evening. I assured them I was safe and that I wasn't near where the "bad guys" where. It wasn't how I wanted them to learn of how dangerous our world can be.
When the flight moratorium was lifted, I was able to get a flight that Thursday night, I talked to many people who had been stranded throughout the country and Canada. Universally, everyone talked about how total strangers had pulled together to ride this out.
I arrived home very late Thursday night. Because of the uncertainty of flights, I didn't tell my family that I was on a flight, so it was a nice surprise for them. Likewise, at work on Friday, I was welcomed back with great cheer, as I was one of the few in my company to be stranded.
I've heard in the news that the terrorists had potentially looked at flights from a number of cities, including Atlanta. It still chills me to think that my original Tuesday flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles on a 767 might have been on an list the terrorists had.
Needless to say, the rest of the training seminar was cancelled. The instructor was in tears--he was from the Boston area and had clients that worked at the World Trade Center. As a class, we knew it was far more important to get home to our loved ones.
I was actually lucky--I was able to check back into the hotel I was staying and didn't have to scramble like so many others who were diverted to Atlanta. I also had a rental car, so I wasn't stuck. I offered to drive other stranded travellers around and even offered a classmate to drive him home to Indiana (wasn't necessary, as he was able to get a car).
The tough part was talking to my three 6 year old children (triplets) that evening. I assured them I was safe and that I wasn't near where the "bad guys" where. It wasn't how I wanted them to learn of how dangerous our world can be.
When the flight moratorium was lifted, I was able to get a flight that Thursday night, I talked to many people who had been stranded throughout the country and Canada. Universally, everyone talked about how total strangers had pulled together to ride this out.
I arrived home very late Thursday night. Because of the uncertainty of flights, I didn't tell my family that I was on a flight, so it was a nice surprise for them. Likewise, at work on Friday, I was welcomed back with great cheer, as I was one of the few in my company to be stranded.
I've heard in the news that the terrorists had potentially looked at flights from a number of cities, including Atlanta. It still chills me to think that my original Tuesday flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles on a 767 might have been on an list the terrorists had.
Collection
Citation
“story4830.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 28, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5785.