My memories from Septmeber 11, 2001:
A perfect day. That's what I thought of as I reported for duty at 0700 hrs. on Tuesday September 11, 2001. It was a perfect day, a crystal clear blue sky without a single cloud and just a hint of a chill in the air. I shouldn't be at work today I thought, I should be outside enjoying this perfect weather. Oh well, tomorrow should be just as nice, maybe I'd give my Dad a call and take him fishing.
I am a professional firefighter in the City of Easton Pennsylvania, about 60 miles from New York City. After a cup of coffee, we start our day. Drivers check their vehicles, while the riders do housework, mopping floors and such. I take note that I have House Watch from 0900 to 1100.
Around ten minutes before nine, someone yells out to the apparatus floor that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. I head to the communications booth thinking that it must have been an accident. Perhaps the pilot of a small plane had a heart attack, or engine trouble. I remember reading that in 1945 a B-25 crashed into the Empire State Building. In the booth I turn on Fox News, and there on the screen is Tower 1 with smoke pouring out of a huge gaping hole the entire width of the building. That was no small plane, it must have been a commercial airliner. Strange, even if the pilot had a heart attack the co-pilot or engineer would be able to avoid hitting a building.
I called my cousin Chris before he leaves for work to tell him what had happened. As I was talking to him, out of the corner of my eye, I catch the image of another airliner cross the TV screen. I say, "Holy shit! Look at this asshole! He must want a better look." As the last word came out of my mouth, I saw the plane disappear into Tower 2 and a fireball erupt out the other side. "Holy shit! Did you see that? Chris, I gotta go." I got on the PA system and announced what I had just saw, and added "This has to be an attack".
As I watched the events unfold on the screen, I thought of people I knew.
Roy, a friend of mine, was on Engine 28 in Manhattan, first due for the WTC. Was he on duty today? Donna, she worked in the WTC, but which building? I hope not the towers, she'd have a hell of a time getting out. Donna is blind. Kenny, Engine 220, Park Slope in Brooklyn, I wonder if they'll end up calling him in?
The Chief comes in and I ask him if he's been following this. He says he has. I say, "Shades of Tom Clancy," referring to the book "Debt of Honor" where a Japanese pilot crashes a 747 into the Capital Building. He says he was thinking the same thing.
From this point on events are blurred and yet clear.
Rumors of more planes hijacked, fighters being scrambled, planes headed for Washington. Watching TV and seeing the people trapped above the fires. Firefighters climbing over 80 flights of stairs, that's gotta suck. Could I do that? "Oh my God! They're jumping!" Tower 2 collapses. The realization that thousands of people have just died. Firefighters, my brothers, hundreds of them would have been in that Tower. They're all dead! Roy. I start to pray. The endless repetition of Tower 2 collapsing. They're showing it again, Holy Shit! That was Tower 1! More people dead. Thousands more.
More rumors. More planes hijacked. Two more. Four more. The Pentagon has been hit. Fighters are searching for others. A plane crashed in western Pa. Shot down?
More headed for Washington? Sorrow. Fear. Rage. Each emotion stronger than the last.
I finally go outside for air. I look up at the sky, that crystal clear, bright blue sky, and realize that the whole world has changed. I say a prayer for those that died. Then I call my parents just to tell them I love them.
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