story5091.xml
Title
story5091.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
9/11/02
On September the 10th, 2001, I boarded a plane in Nashville, Tennessee headed for Reno, Nevada to visit my Grandfather. This was my third trip that year. That afternoon, after having arrived at my grandpa's home, he and I were enjoying the view from his back deck and talking.
As we talked, the subject of World War II came up as is usual. My grandpa had been a Naval Aviator in the South Pacific during WWII, receiving both the DFC and the Purple Heart. Naturally, I am a WWII buff so we often talked about the war, but rarely of his detailed memories. Once again I tried that day to get him to open up and share with me some of his experiences from the Great War, but as is often the case with war veterans, he remained reluctant to recall those painful memories, and understandably so. I said to him, "Grandpa, for all the wonderful things you guys did, you still have one more job to do." Grandpa replied with half of a grin, "What the hell do we have to do now?" I said "Grandpa, those of you guys still here today, need to tell your stories in as much detail as you can stand, and to as many people as will listen, lest we forget the horrors of war." I could see by the look on his face that this would be something unbearable for him. We changed the topic.
The next morning at just after 6am Reno time, I was in the guest bathroom shaving when I heard my cell phone ringing in the next room. Ordinarily I did not take my cell phone on the trip to Reno, but for some reason I chose to that time. I remember wondering why anyone back home would be calling me so early, forgetting that it was after 9 on the East Coast, after 8am where I live.
Sensing an urgency I quickly ran to answer the phone, smearing shaving cream all over the keypad as I heard my wife's voice on the other end asking me if I were watching the television. I said "No, why what's up?" She said go turn on your TV, we are being attacked. I ran upstairs to my grandfather's bedroom, half covered in shave cream and the phone in my hand. The first thing I saw was my grandfather sitting on his bedside looking at the images on the TV screen with tears rolling down his face. As we both sat and watched in stark disbelief and horror, my grandfather said to me "Son, I think someone forgot."
Later that day my grandpa was hospitalized with heart problems, where he remained until after I boarded the very first plane to leave Reno International Airport the following Thursday morning, the 13th of September. I was scheduled to board a Boeing 757 for Dallas, where I would connect to another 757 to Nashville. Instead I was on a twin engine turbo-prop to Salt Lake City, where I caught a 757 to Cincinatti, and another twin engine into Nashville just after midnight.
My wife Leonora, who is from NY, and I watched as events continued to unfold. We learned of the death of her cousin Michael Tammucio, who worked on the 98th floor of Tower #2. We wept with the rest of our nation, as we mourned not only the death of thousands of innocent men & women, but the way of life that has now been forever changed.
May God bless America, today and forever!
D. R. "Doc" Smith, Sr.
Clarksville, TN
On September the 10th, 2001, I boarded a plane in Nashville, Tennessee headed for Reno, Nevada to visit my Grandfather. This was my third trip that year. That afternoon, after having arrived at my grandpa's home, he and I were enjoying the view from his back deck and talking.
As we talked, the subject of World War II came up as is usual. My grandpa had been a Naval Aviator in the South Pacific during WWII, receiving both the DFC and the Purple Heart. Naturally, I am a WWII buff so we often talked about the war, but rarely of his detailed memories. Once again I tried that day to get him to open up and share with me some of his experiences from the Great War, but as is often the case with war veterans, he remained reluctant to recall those painful memories, and understandably so. I said to him, "Grandpa, for all the wonderful things you guys did, you still have one more job to do." Grandpa replied with half of a grin, "What the hell do we have to do now?" I said "Grandpa, those of you guys still here today, need to tell your stories in as much detail as you can stand, and to as many people as will listen, lest we forget the horrors of war." I could see by the look on his face that this would be something unbearable for him. We changed the topic.
The next morning at just after 6am Reno time, I was in the guest bathroom shaving when I heard my cell phone ringing in the next room. Ordinarily I did not take my cell phone on the trip to Reno, but for some reason I chose to that time. I remember wondering why anyone back home would be calling me so early, forgetting that it was after 9 on the East Coast, after 8am where I live.
Sensing an urgency I quickly ran to answer the phone, smearing shaving cream all over the keypad as I heard my wife's voice on the other end asking me if I were watching the television. I said "No, why what's up?" She said go turn on your TV, we are being attacked. I ran upstairs to my grandfather's bedroom, half covered in shave cream and the phone in my hand. The first thing I saw was my grandfather sitting on his bedside looking at the images on the TV screen with tears rolling down his face. As we both sat and watched in stark disbelief and horror, my grandfather said to me "Son, I think someone forgot."
Later that day my grandpa was hospitalized with heart problems, where he remained until after I boarded the very first plane to leave Reno International Airport the following Thursday morning, the 13th of September. I was scheduled to board a Boeing 757 for Dallas, where I would connect to another 757 to Nashville. Instead I was on a twin engine turbo-prop to Salt Lake City, where I caught a 757 to Cincinatti, and another twin engine into Nashville just after midnight.
My wife Leonora, who is from NY, and I watched as events continued to unfold. We learned of the death of her cousin Michael Tammucio, who worked on the 98th floor of Tower #2. We wept with the rest of our nation, as we mourned not only the death of thousands of innocent men & women, but the way of life that has now been forever changed.
May God bless America, today and forever!
D. R. "Doc" Smith, Sr.
Clarksville, TN
Collection
Citation
“story5091.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 25, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/9910.