story6174.xml

story6174.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

I work in Midtown Manhattan and commuute in from southern New Jersey each morning. I always knew that we were close to our destination when I spied the Twin Towers in the distance. On that fateful day, I was in a Howel conference room in Chicago, Il., having been called to a management meeting of individuals from around the country.
Our morning session had begun at 7:30 A.M. Central time (8:30A.M. Eastern time) and our first speaker was just starting his presentation when one of our managers received a cell phone call from his son on Long Island. He related a story about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. I was quick to say that it must be a small private plane that veered off course, as every commercial pilot flying out of New York knew that the Towers were a no fly zone. When told that it was a bigger plane and the towers were on fire we quickly found a TV to see for ourselves.
Tunning to CNN we were just in time to see the second plane crash into the Tower. To say we were stunned, is an understatement. We could not talk and an audible gasp is the only sound that could be heard in the room. Quickly we turned up the sound, got an overview of what had happened and began calling our offices in Midtown and Downtown New York. Trying to get through on land lines was almost impossible but we were finally able to reach our offices and our famalies via cell phone. Over a period of hours,we were able to ascertain that they were safe and other than the difficulties of the evacuation through the chaos of Downtown, no one from our firm was seriously injured.
At that point, our thoughts turned to the necessity of getting home. I had been scheduled to leave Chicago on a 12:15 P.M. flight, to Philadelphia, but that and all other flights were cancelled. We spent two fruitless hours checking train terminals and bus schedule but no commercial ventures were running and they were unable to predict when they would be able to re-start.We turned to car rental agencies, but all of them were sold out or where not releasing cars for travel out of the Area.
Fortunately, one of our number had a friend who was a senior VP at Avis and through him, we were able to acquire 6 cars that, at 4:00 P.M., were loaded up and headed out of Chicago for Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia and New York. We all drove through the night, maintaining contact via cell phone.
I was personally gratified to receive calls through the night from friends in cities such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh inquiring about us and offering us food and lodging for the night. We drove on, stopping only to fill our tank with gas. We listened to the news stations on a non-stop basis and were able to fit all the pieces together on our trip home. The trip was uneventful and all our cars made it to their destination safely. My co-driver, John Derham, and I would swap driving chores at each rest stop, but we were so wrapped up in what had happened that neither of us was able to sleep on the 13 hour drive home. When we arrived in the Philadelphia area, we headed for the airport( we had both left our cars there) and it was the eeries feeling to be the only automobile moving through the entire complex. The airport was closed, but fortunately, we were able to retreive our cars and head for home. It was wonderful to see my wife and son and to hear my daughters voice ( she lives in Midtown Manhattan). I knew that this feeling was being shared by thousands of us who had made it home. I cried at my good fortune but knew that many families were in tears because they had lost a loved one. I went to bed with these thoughts in my head but wasn't able to sleep. I got upshortly thereafter and went into our Office in Philadelphia to see if I could be of help from a remote location.
What I really wanted was to be in Manhattan.
On Thursday morning 9/13/01, I got on a bus headed for Manhattan and as I passed the point on the NJ TPK. where the Trade Center was visable, I was greeted with the view of a hugh column of smoke arising from the site. It was like a nightmare come to life and all of the pent up emotions of all of the passengers on our bus were released with tears for the dead and curses for the terrorists who planned and executed this horrible act.
Today is 9/12/02. A year has gone by and I still see the images of the Towers evertime I look south from my office on 52nd Street. The bricks and mortar are gone but the emptiness is still there. I grieve, not for those who lost their lifes, they are surely heros and innocents who are now in heaven, but for the families they left behind and the rescue workers who still believe they could have done more. Their time of sorrow has not ended and they still need our help and comfort today.
Pray for them, honor them and help them in any way you can.