story7496.xml
Title
story7496.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-15
911DA Story: Story
It started out as a normal day, just like all the others. I commute to Newport Pavonia, Jersey City from Northern New Jersey, about an hour and fourty minutes each day. Our offices are directly across the river from what was the World Trade Center. My office window on the fifteenth floor did not have the view of the towers, but you could see them from the other side of the building.
On September 11th we had followed our normal routine, get to work, get some coffee, chat a few minutes, and start to work. When the first plane hit one of my colleagues came by my office to tell me and others that a plane had gone into the World Trade Center. We all went to the windows to look at the unbelievable site across the river.
I will never forget what we all saw that day. The tower was billowing smoke, and you could see a fire line advancing across the building as windows were blown out by the fires. There were at least six floors on fire from the plane's impact. There were around eight of us standing at the windows trying to figure out how it was possible that a plane had hit the tower. We all assumed this was an accident and a pilot had make a terrible mistake or had some kind of medical condition which caused the horrific accident.
One of my colleagues saw the second plane approaching, and he mentioned it, but planes were common over the New York skyline and no one paid too much attention. All of our attention was focused on the burning tower and watching before our eyes as more and more floors became engulfed in smoke and flames. We were also wondering about the loss of life from the accident and praying for the safety of the others in the tower.
It seemed only a few minutes from the second plane being spotted by my colleague, to the moment of impact into the second tower. We all gasped in horror when the second plane hit, and I knew in my gut that this was no accident...we were under attack.
In short order my company declared an emergency closing and asked us all to evacuate the building. We all walked down the fifteen floors to street level, trying to make sense of it all. When we reached the ground we found that the PATH was closed down (the next stop on the subway train was the World Trade Center). Those of us who had commuted to work on the trains started walking to Hoboken, NJ so that we could make our way home. The walk took us about a half hour.
We had almost gotten to Hoboken and the trains home when some men who were all standing around a work truck with the radio on informed us that the Pentagon had just been hit. This information just added to our sence of urgency to get out of there and back to our families and homes.
Two of the colleagues I walked to Hoboken with had family members that worked in the Trade Center. It was very difficult to see their faces, when both of the towers were billowing smoke all the time we were on foot. When we finallly arrived in Hoboken we all went to our respective train lines to get home. Much to our dismay the trains were not allowed to leave the station until they were full.
We sat in Hoboken on the trains for about two hours. There were people with walkmans listening to the news, and sharing the information with the rest of us without access to information. Others were on cell phones getting news from their loved ones at home. We were still sitting in the station waiting to leave when the towers fell.
Some of the passengers arriving after us had come from the Financial Center. They had witnessed first hand the people jumping out of the windows, and the towers falling. Many had been on ferries crossing the river when the towers fell. They thought lower Manhattan was gone. It seemed to me that alot of these people were in shock. By this time sitting in the train had become torture. We all wanted to go home, and didn't even know if we would make it out before something else horrible happened.
I got up to find the bathroom on the train. I had needed to go since we left the office over two hours before and couldn't delay any longer. I had to go back two or three cars before I found a bathroom car. As I was coming out of the bathroom the train started to move. I was unbelievably relieved. As I was walking back to my friends on the train I got my first glimpse of Lower Manhattan since boarding the train. It was a huge cloud of brown smoke, and the towers were gone. It was almost too much to comprehend.
Our train passes through a tunnel on the way in and out of Hoboken. As we approached the tunnel it occurred to me that we could be blown up as we went through the tunnel, and I should go back to my friends so at least I would not be with strangers when I died. With the exception of one woman becoming ill on the way home our train trip went without further incident.
My husband drops me off and picks me up at the train station, so I had called him to let him know I was on my way home. He picked me up and we headed towards home. We called the kids along the way to make sure they were alright and that they knew that I was OK. Once we got into town we stopped to get some Chinese food. As we were getting out of the car at the resturant a car pulled out of the parking lot. The license plates said 911 WAR. I was truly spooked.
In the days following the attack I found out that the FBI had a website where you could go to report anything suspicious. I went online to report the license plates. I don't know if anything came of it, but it was too weird not to report.
We went back to work on the 15th. In all of the train stations there were missing persons posters plastered everywhere. Hundreds upon hundreds of people were all looking for loved ones, and begging anyone who might have seen them alive to call them. It was truly heartbreaking.
The view from the office was unbelievably different from the view on September 11th. Instead of the twin towers burning and billowing smoke, there was just a pit of smoke. The fires and smoke were there for months afterward. I read somewhere that the WTC fires were the longest burning fires in history.
About three weeks later I had a class to go to for work in New York City. I had not been there since the attack. A part of me was dreading going in, but once I resigned myself that I was going I felt the overwhelming need to go to Ground Zero. I will never forget what I saw there.
My company had previously had offices in Seven World Trade, which I had to go to from time to time for work. When I went to view the site Seven World Trade was no more. Along with many other buildings it had fallen in the days and weeks after the towers. The debris pile was unbelievable. There were six to seven stories of rubble where the towers used to stand. The air was foul with smoke, and a horrible stench. I still don't know if it was the result of burnt buildings, or it was the smell of death itself. I hope never to find out.
I was compelled to take pictures of it all, for my own reference. Somehow having been there made it more real for me, as everything still had a sense of surrealism. We found out later that five people had died from my town. One person was Father Michal Judge, and another was Geremy Glick. Yet another was my teenage daughters friend of a friends Mother. Of course we did not know about all of this until much later.
Just over a year has passed since the attack. I still don't like low flying planes overhead, but I can finally look away when I see a plane without having to follow it across the sky until it is out of sight to make sure it does not hit anything.
I worked from home on September 11th this year. With all the rememberances I found myself crying for most of the morning, but I can't even imagine how the families of all those lost were able to get through the day.
They all need our love and prayers. Say a prayer for all the fatherless and motherless children and those left behind to pick up the pieces of shattered lives.
I wish peace and goodwill to all who take the time to read this. Remember to never take what you have for granted, and make sure all of the people you love know how you feel and that you don't take a single moment of this precious life for granted. God Bless.....
On September 11th we had followed our normal routine, get to work, get some coffee, chat a few minutes, and start to work. When the first plane hit one of my colleagues came by my office to tell me and others that a plane had gone into the World Trade Center. We all went to the windows to look at the unbelievable site across the river.
I will never forget what we all saw that day. The tower was billowing smoke, and you could see a fire line advancing across the building as windows were blown out by the fires. There were at least six floors on fire from the plane's impact. There were around eight of us standing at the windows trying to figure out how it was possible that a plane had hit the tower. We all assumed this was an accident and a pilot had make a terrible mistake or had some kind of medical condition which caused the horrific accident.
One of my colleagues saw the second plane approaching, and he mentioned it, but planes were common over the New York skyline and no one paid too much attention. All of our attention was focused on the burning tower and watching before our eyes as more and more floors became engulfed in smoke and flames. We were also wondering about the loss of life from the accident and praying for the safety of the others in the tower.
It seemed only a few minutes from the second plane being spotted by my colleague, to the moment of impact into the second tower. We all gasped in horror when the second plane hit, and I knew in my gut that this was no accident...we were under attack.
In short order my company declared an emergency closing and asked us all to evacuate the building. We all walked down the fifteen floors to street level, trying to make sense of it all. When we reached the ground we found that the PATH was closed down (the next stop on the subway train was the World Trade Center). Those of us who had commuted to work on the trains started walking to Hoboken, NJ so that we could make our way home. The walk took us about a half hour.
We had almost gotten to Hoboken and the trains home when some men who were all standing around a work truck with the radio on informed us that the Pentagon had just been hit. This information just added to our sence of urgency to get out of there and back to our families and homes.
Two of the colleagues I walked to Hoboken with had family members that worked in the Trade Center. It was very difficult to see their faces, when both of the towers were billowing smoke all the time we were on foot. When we finallly arrived in Hoboken we all went to our respective train lines to get home. Much to our dismay the trains were not allowed to leave the station until they were full.
We sat in Hoboken on the trains for about two hours. There were people with walkmans listening to the news, and sharing the information with the rest of us without access to information. Others were on cell phones getting news from their loved ones at home. We were still sitting in the station waiting to leave when the towers fell.
Some of the passengers arriving after us had come from the Financial Center. They had witnessed first hand the people jumping out of the windows, and the towers falling. Many had been on ferries crossing the river when the towers fell. They thought lower Manhattan was gone. It seemed to me that alot of these people were in shock. By this time sitting in the train had become torture. We all wanted to go home, and didn't even know if we would make it out before something else horrible happened.
I got up to find the bathroom on the train. I had needed to go since we left the office over two hours before and couldn't delay any longer. I had to go back two or three cars before I found a bathroom car. As I was coming out of the bathroom the train started to move. I was unbelievably relieved. As I was walking back to my friends on the train I got my first glimpse of Lower Manhattan since boarding the train. It was a huge cloud of brown smoke, and the towers were gone. It was almost too much to comprehend.
Our train passes through a tunnel on the way in and out of Hoboken. As we approached the tunnel it occurred to me that we could be blown up as we went through the tunnel, and I should go back to my friends so at least I would not be with strangers when I died. With the exception of one woman becoming ill on the way home our train trip went without further incident.
My husband drops me off and picks me up at the train station, so I had called him to let him know I was on my way home. He picked me up and we headed towards home. We called the kids along the way to make sure they were alright and that they knew that I was OK. Once we got into town we stopped to get some Chinese food. As we were getting out of the car at the resturant a car pulled out of the parking lot. The license plates said 911 WAR. I was truly spooked.
In the days following the attack I found out that the FBI had a website where you could go to report anything suspicious. I went online to report the license plates. I don't know if anything came of it, but it was too weird not to report.
We went back to work on the 15th. In all of the train stations there were missing persons posters plastered everywhere. Hundreds upon hundreds of people were all looking for loved ones, and begging anyone who might have seen them alive to call them. It was truly heartbreaking.
The view from the office was unbelievably different from the view on September 11th. Instead of the twin towers burning and billowing smoke, there was just a pit of smoke. The fires and smoke were there for months afterward. I read somewhere that the WTC fires were the longest burning fires in history.
About three weeks later I had a class to go to for work in New York City. I had not been there since the attack. A part of me was dreading going in, but once I resigned myself that I was going I felt the overwhelming need to go to Ground Zero. I will never forget what I saw there.
My company had previously had offices in Seven World Trade, which I had to go to from time to time for work. When I went to view the site Seven World Trade was no more. Along with many other buildings it had fallen in the days and weeks after the towers. The debris pile was unbelievable. There were six to seven stories of rubble where the towers used to stand. The air was foul with smoke, and a horrible stench. I still don't know if it was the result of burnt buildings, or it was the smell of death itself. I hope never to find out.
I was compelled to take pictures of it all, for my own reference. Somehow having been there made it more real for me, as everything still had a sense of surrealism. We found out later that five people had died from my town. One person was Father Michal Judge, and another was Geremy Glick. Yet another was my teenage daughters friend of a friends Mother. Of course we did not know about all of this until much later.
Just over a year has passed since the attack. I still don't like low flying planes overhead, but I can finally look away when I see a plane without having to follow it across the sky until it is out of sight to make sure it does not hit anything.
I worked from home on September 11th this year. With all the rememberances I found myself crying for most of the morning, but I can't even imagine how the families of all those lost were able to get through the day.
They all need our love and prayers. Say a prayer for all the fatherless and motherless children and those left behind to pick up the pieces of shattered lives.
I wish peace and goodwill to all who take the time to read this. Remember to never take what you have for granted, and make sure all of the people you love know how you feel and that you don't take a single moment of this precious life for granted. God Bless.....
Collection
Citation
“story7496.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 11, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/9621.