It's said that most people can remember exactly where they were when they first heard of the attack on the World Trade Centers. For me, I remember exactly where I wasn't... Tower 2, 62nd floor.
I had an 8:30am appointment on that floor. I was dispatched to meet with an insurance adjustor and a client about some large format copiers and printers. I ended up rescheduling the appointment for 11:30am because I had to take my Porsche to Danbury DMV. I tried to take it on Monday 9/10 but, as luck would have it, the DMV was closed on Monday. On Tuesday, 9/11 I drove to Danbury DMV and stood at the door waiting to be 1st in line. It was 7:30am and they let me in early. I was in/out in 15mins. I exited Danbury DMV, drove the 5mins back to my condo, swapped out the Porsche for the Hummer H1 and made my way to NYC.
An hour into my drive the radio station I was listening to cut away and announced that a commuter plane had struck Tower 1 (north tower). I recall the radio guys commenting about how they're not surprised that it doesn't happen more often, as these buildings are so tall. The time was around 9am.
I called my contact to see if he was near the WTC yet and to see if he had seen the event. His phone rolled to voicemail. I was in the electronic salvage business, so the call was more of a joke to say, "looks like I will have some extra business in a few days at the WTC".
Traffic into the city was terrible. Things started to escalate. There was a lot of flashing lights and I can now see the smoke coming from Tower 1. Traffic was being diverted so I jumped off the parkway and take the I-87 in via the Triboro Bridge. As I lined up to the toll booth, I happen to glance up to see the WTC again when I witnessed the fireball explosion from Tower 2 (south tower). It was just after 9am.
The joke was over. I knew at that point we were in a serious mess. Traffic came to an almost immediate stop. I jumped on my phone again and tried to call my contact person. The lines ran busy. "Sorry, but your call cannot be completed at this time. All circuits are busy. Please try your call later." was the message I got. I tried and tried but with no success.
After about 15 minutes, the traffic going the opposite direction had cleared. There were no cars. There was some construction on the bridge and I can see a spot where they had moved the concrete median divider. I drove up the side of the median and crossed over and made a U-turn. I knew there was no getting into the city so I headed back to my office.
As I made my way back to the Parkway I could not help but to think of my contact person. I wish I could remember his name. I would feel really bad if he had died that day and I could not remember his name... but he survived. As I neared Connecticut the radio news team announced that NYC was on total lock down and all the bridges and entry points into NYC was blockaded. I was lucky to get off the bridge when I did. Then they announced that the plane that hit Tower 2 was a United Airlines flight out of Boston. Holy Crap! My sister's an International flight attendant with United Airlines and is out of LAX and Logan Airport! My world, for that instance, crumbled. I had no way of contacting her or any family member as cellular service was still out.
The traffic at the NY/CT state lines were nuts. A lot of the stretch follows the commuter train track that leaves from Brewster, NY into downtown NYC. I didn't make it back to my office until 11:00am. My office phones were exploding. People were trying to track me down. I was trying to track others down, especially my sister and my family in Phoenix. It wasn't until 2pm that I finally confirmed that my sister was in Los Angeles and safe, and my contact person was alive and well. He was trapped in the subway when they shut down power to prevent the subway cars from crashing under the WTC commuter tracks. As for the clients on the 62nd floor... I don't know. Even til this day, I don't know if any of them died. I wasn't eager to find out, as I didn't know any of them and didn't feel the need to add more guilt or anger.
Two days later on 9/13 I received a call at 7am from an AIG insurance and several others who represented Bell Communications and Verizon Wireless. Our office was selected to help restore communications in Manhattan. I was on Ground Zero three hours later.
We should have not been there. The place was not safe. Building were missing exterior walls, there were bursted water pipes, and the air was thick with dust, debris, and other things I'm afraid to even think about. Day in day out, I sported radiation badges, Yyvek protective suits, oxygen tanks, duct tape and biohazard bags. Our office was given two directives. 1) Get the communications out so they can get a crew to install new cables and hardware. 2) If you find body parts, bag them and/or flag them, then radio down to the CCP (central command post).
The next 9 months I was there. I buried my personal feelings. The thoughts of what happened on 9/11, I suppressed. I had a job to do and that was to bring NYC back on it's feet. When it was all said and done, those 9 months ruined me. The strain of the job broke up my partnership with my best friend and we shut down our electronic salvage business. On my last day in NYC, I rode the train in and out. I remembered on the ride back, I was listening to some music on my laptop and a song struck me hard. It released all my suppressed feelings and I broke down on the train. My strongest emotion was guilt. They call it Survivor's Guilt. I truly believed that I should have died on September 11th. Call it dumb luck, the work of a higher power, or that DMV finally did me a "good thing". Either way I am here today and am thankful that I was blessed with a 2ndchance.
And now, you also know how I came to use my Member ID name.
Bless those who lost their lives from the events of 9/11 and bless those who serve in our great Armed Forces who give their all to defend our freedoms and our way of life.
God Bless America.
