Five years ago, September 11, 2001, I was heading to work in New York City as I have done every single day. I remember thinking to myself what a beautiful day it was " there was not a cloud in the sky. So I got to work about 8:00, got my cup of coffee and sat down to check my email as usual. About 30 minutes later, someone came up to our office and said a plane just flew into the World Trade Center. My first thought was that a private plane was flying to low, lost control and accidentally clipped the World Trade Center.All frantic, my co-workers and I ran outside to see what had happened. Directly down, about 20 blocks away, we could see the towers vividly and yes, a plane had hit directly into the top of the North tower. There were flames and thick black smoke everywhere. We could not believe our eyes. In that instant, I looked around me and never thought NYC would be in the state that it was at that moment. There was dead silence " traffic was completely stopped " everyone was outside of their cars " people were everywhere watching in disbelief. It's like someone had flipped a switch and turned off the city.
After a while, people started talking and trying to figure out what had happened. Many were saying what I had thought " that a plane had accidentally flown into the tower because it was flying too low. Well we were wrong. In the distance we saw another jet flying directly for the Towers. We could not believe our eyes - with a huge fireball, the jet flew directly into the South Tower. At that moment, we all knew this was not an accident " this was War. Hundreds of people around me were screaming andcrying frantically wondering about their family and friends in the Towers. It was a sight that I cannot get out of my mind to this day.
What were these people going through? How were they going to get out of the Towers? Is this really happening? These were all the thoughts running through my head as we all watched in horror. People were saying look at all the debris falling out of the windows. Many of us knew that was not debris. It was people jumping to their deaths because they could not withstand the heat. I could not believe this was happing - these poor innocent people.
After watching for what seemed like hours, it had happened. The South Tower was collapsing. No way! No way was this happening! I didnt think it could get any worse. It was like a huge part of me was taken away. How could the World Trade Center Tower collapse? It was one of the most advanced architectural structures in the world. Well it did and with a huge puff of black smoke, covered the entire south side of the island with ash and debris. How many people were in there? Is the North Tower going to collapse now too? These were all questions that were circling among everyone on the streets. I looked around and some of my fellow co-workers were crying. We tried to console each other but it was almost impossible to do. How could we make each other feel better when we were in the middle of a war zone?
Not long after, the North Tower had collapsed too. Again, we just couldnt believe what was happening. I tried to call my family and friends to try to get in touch with someone but the cell lines were completely flooded with calls so I couldn't get through. So I decided to go upstairs to the office and try to email my mother to let her know I was ok. Well the Internet was flooded too. I could not send or receive any emails. It was like our country was completely shut down. At that moment, I did not want to be in the city anymore. I wanted to get back to my home in New Jersey but how? How could I leave the city when were in a complete lockdown? All bridges, tunnels, subways and Path Stations were completely shut down. I thought I was going to have to sleep there until I heard someone in my office say that the NYC Ferry was taking people from the south side of Manhattan over to New Jersey and that this was the only way out. The problem was the ferry was directly near the World Trade Center.
Well I made the decision and decided to take the chance and walk down there to see if I can get out of the city. It took me nearly two hours to walk 20 blocks. As I was walking down, everyone was going in the opposite direction, looking at me like I was crazy for walking towards the descruction. I couldnt help it; I wanted to get out of the city. As I got further down, closer to Ground Zero, I saw people setup stations in front of their apartments with water, towels, bandages and anything else they could think of. I stopped by a station to grab a t-shirt and some water to wet the shirt and place over my nose and mouth as it was difficult to breathe with all the dust that was in the air.
To make a long story short, I was able to pass through a couple of police barriers and finally made my way to the Ferry, and yes they were running to New Jersey - I was so relieved. So I got on the Ferry and took a ride back to New Jersey. As we got farther away from the island, it was a different sight than when I was in the city. When I was in the city, all I could see was smoke and dust in the air but when we were a little further away, I saw the devastation from a distance. I just couldnt believe my eyes - it looked like the entire city was completely gone.
Well I made it safely back home and like everyone, watched the news for the next two days straight. Five years later and it seems like it happened yesterday. I know many want to forget the events of 9/11. I myself find it difficult to hear about it every year and cannot imagine what the families of the victims are going through. Im sure they just want to forget and move on. But in my mind we must also never forget. 9/11 is a day for remembrance " a day to remember those that were lost and a day to remember what these terrorists have done to us and will continue to do to us in the future.
Thank you to all the men and woman who continue to serve and protect our country.
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