9/11, September 11, 2001, by Don

From MemoryArchive

Who: Don
What: 9/11
When: September 11, 2001
Where: Dyer, Indiana

I am just from a small town in Northern Indiana named Dyer. You probably have never heard of it, although it lies about 30 miles southeast of Chicago. Well, I work in Chicago for a computer consulting firm, and my assignment for September 10-14, 2001 was in New York City, World Trade Center Tower 1, 57th floor.

I was not worried about being in the Tower that was bombed in 1993. As a matter of fact, before I left for my trip to New york, I recall saying to my father, "Don't worry Dad, lightning never strikes the same place twice." How terribly wrong I would be.

I arrived in New York on a flight from Chicago around 10 a.m. on Moday, September 10, 2001. I immediately went to my client's office in Tower 1 because I knew I had to accomplish much during this week. I left the offices around 8 p.m. that night knowing I had to get in early to get my work completed by the end of the week.

I arrived at approximately 7:45 a.m. the morning of September 11th. Picked up a cup of coffee and headed down to the server room on the 57th floor. I was just starting to load some software, when at 8:46 a.m. the plane hit.

It was a large "THUMP", followed by the longest, and most intense explosion. The floor which I was standing on raised up about a foot and dropped me back down. Then the unimaginable happened, the building began to sway violently from South....then North......then South again.

During this time, I kept saying outloud, "OH MY GOD!"..."OH MY GOD!" I thought the building was going over and I had absolutely nowhere to run.

Once the building stopped swaying, I knew I had to find a stairwell, not an elevator, a stairwell. Once I arrived at the stairwell, maybe 5 minutes after impact, a stream of people from the upper floors was filing by me.

I joined the procession and proceeded downwards. We were no more than 10-15 stories down when the second plane hit Tower 2. "Booooommmmmmm" muffled but strong through the stairwell. Women began to scream and cry. People stopped walking.....then some yelled, "GO", and we began our procession down the stairs.

It took approximately 30-40 minutes for me to get out of the building that day and come out on the street next to St.Pauls Chapel. When I turned around and looked, both Towers were burning and bellowing black smoke. I was shocked and relieved that I made it out alive....now I had to contact my family back in Indiana.

My wife, she was 5 months pregnant at the time, and my first son was about to celebrate his 2nd birthday. By the time I got through to her, almost two hours had past. Both Towers were down and she knew nothing.

I recall her answering the phone saying, "hello".....I said, "I am alive, I am o.k." then we both broke down in tears. It took me quite a while to compose myself.

Now, almost two years afterwards, I still have every moment, every image frozen in my mind. I will never forget the sacrifice of those innocent people that day, and please, please, Never Forget.

Co-opted from Wikipedia's Personal Experiences Page