On September 11, 2001, I was working for a staffing firm in downtown DC, right in the heart of the city. Getting to work each day was a four step adventure that started with a drive to the park-n-ride, then onto a bus, followed by the metro and the rest of the journey was made on foot. It took over an hour to get from my door to work. On that sunny Tuesday morning, I went on my four step adventure just like any other day. I settled in at my desk, put on my headset and started making my calls.
I worked in a "bullpen" environment, so there was no surfing the net or checking my personal e-mail. It was fast-paced, numbers-oriented, high-stress, and go-go-go the entire day. So, I was doing my thing when one of my co-workers peeked over her desk.
"A plane hit a building in New York."
"Really? Like a little private plane? Hm. Must've been a rookie pilot or something." I just shrugged and went back to work. Then more whispers of a commercial plane hitting a building in New York started to circulate.
"A commercial plane? I wonder how that could've happened. That's really strange." We were trying to get onto a news site, but they were so flooded with traffic that we couldn't get anywhere with it. People started calling relatives to find out what was going on. News of a second plane hitting a second building came in through the phone calls. Then, we received word that the pentagon had blown up. It just seemed too far fetched. It seemed like people were just getting carried away or something.
"Well, if the Pentagon is on fire, we'll be able to see it from the roof deck." So, we all raced up to the steps to roof deck.
A sinking feeling came over me as I saw black smoke billowing over the skyline from the direction of the Pentagon. "Oh. My. Gosh." Something really had happened.
"We're under attack.", one of my coworkers said.
We all went back downstairs to the office, not sure what to do. One of my other coworkers was on the phone with her mother. Her face went pale and she slowly pulled the phone down from her ear. "My mom said one of the World Trade towers just crumbled."
"What?! How did that happen?" Again, it just seemed like people might be exaggerating. It was just too much to comprehend
"...also the National Mall is on fire." (It wasn't, but that's what we were being told at the time.)
OK. That was enough for me. I needed to get out of there. "I'm going home." I wasn't the only one with that idea. Everyone in the office started packing up and management finally agreed to close the office.
"The metro service is suspended."
"Well, can anyone give me a ride?" A guy I hardly knew was going in my direction and offered a ride. "Just let me call my husband, first. He's in the city, too." I called him. He was able to escape his office and see a TV in a local bar with coverage of the day's events. "I'm going to try to catch a cab with a coworker. If you have a ride out of here, take it and we'll meet up at home." It was tough to just leave it at that, but he was right. Trying to get to each other in that madness would've been almost impossible and very dangerous, for all we knew. "OK, I'll see you at home."
A few people were calling their family to let them know they were OK and were leaving for home. The thought then occurred to me that I should call my mom. I gave her a quick call and let her know I was leaving the city.
I got in the car with the driver and one other coworker, who was being dropped off in Arlington. The streets of DC were crazy. People were walking everywhere, traffic was worse than the normal gridlock. We had the radio on to try to get an idea of what was happening. As we neared Arlington, we heard an explosion and I jumped in my seat. "What was THAT?" We were scared. We heard on the radio a few minutes later that the State Department was hit with a bomb. (It wasn't, but that is what was being reported. What we heard was a secondary explosion from the Pentagon.)
We dropped off the guy who lived in Arlington and headed out to the suburbs. The guy driving the car...I can't remember his name...he was from New York and had family working in that city. He couldn't get through to them on his cell phone and started to panic. "I just need to go to my buddy's house in Arlington, so I can see what's going on. I'll leave you my car and we'll sort it out later." "What?! Look, I don't know you very well and I'm so sorry that you can't get in touch with your family, but please don't leave me here alone." I didn't know my way around the area and the traffic was terrible. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a sigh. "Okay...okay." The ride to my car was tense. We just listened to the radio and watched the road.
We reached my car at the park-n-ride. I first walked around the lot to see if my husband's car was still there. It was. I tried calling him on his cell phone, but all circuits were busy. I pulled out a piece of paper from my briefcase and wrote him a note.
"I made it to the car and am going to drive home. I'll see you there soon. I love you."
I set it on his car seat and got in my car to drive home. I listened to the radio some more, gripping the steering wheel. I pulled into our apartment complex, parked, raced up to our third floor apartment and turned on the TV. I think I sat there for about an hour, mouth gaping in disbelief.
My husband arrived home later and shared his story of walking out of the city, bridge closings, seeing a makeshift nursery in the trees next to the Pentagon and being asked to help direct traffic at one point. He had a particularly terrifying moment when another plane appeared to be flying towards the Pentagon. A Navy officer jumped out of a black SUV and told everyone to take cover. My husband ran towards the Potomac, resolved he would jump in, if needed. It then became clear the plane was landing at Reagan National and was not a threat.
I don't remember the rest of that day. I remember staying home from work the next day. I remember cable channels didn't show their usual programming and the skies, which were usually filled with planes taking off and landing from Dulles International were dark and quiet. I remember feeling scared and didn't want to go in the city again. I remember the days and months after, where suspicious people were tackled by ordinary citizens on the metro and the entire vibe of the city was on edge and alert. Our candidates were scared to work in administrative positions where they had to open mail because of the anthrax attacks. I later worked in a position where I placed people to work on the Pentagon renovation project and contractors to support the war in Iraq. I feel like I experienced a part of history.
I know my experiences are so small in light of everything that happened that day. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones and friends, to those who have struggled with injuries and nightmares, to those who worked tirelessly after the event in the cleanup and to those who fought and are still fighting in the subsequent wars. May God comfort, encourage and lift you up.
We will never forget.
