REMEMBERING 9/11

I was driving in to work (in Alexandria, VA) on I-395 when the first reports of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center came over the radio. By the time I pulled into the parking garage, it was becoming obvious that the crash was more than just a small plane hitting the building.



When I got to my office, the seriousness was evident - two commercial jets had hit the WTC. Photos were beginning to show up on TV and the news web sites. People huddled in small groups about their desktop computers, talking quietly.

Within minutes, there were phone calls reporting an explosion at the Pentagon, and news reports soon after. (The attack on the Pentagon must have happened while I was walking from the parking garage across the street to my office building; I neither saw nor heard anything, although my office building is only 10 miles or so away.)



A few minutes later, I got a frantic call from my daughter-in-law, asking if I had heard from my son. A Navy officer, he had been scheduled to attend a briefing at the Pentagon that morning. Luckily, the meeting had been canceled, and he soon relayed a message back that he was okay.

Initial reaction was simply one of shock, followed by daze - get coffee, talk quietly, take care of mandatory business, watch/listen to further news reports.

The anger came later.



My wife: “I was teaching elementary school on 9-11 and was not told about it, so I had the kids outside (along with another teacher) as a reward. Someone from the office ran outside and told us to come in because a renegade plane was headed for the capitol. That's when we found out what happened.”

My sister: "Driving to work ... talk radio reported an airplane had hit one of the towers. My first reaction was based on a recent incident involving a small plane hitting a building near the Hudson River. I thought 'oh no, another inexperienced pilot ... another accident.' Once understood that it was a commercial flight, I felt it was something sinister even though, at the time, nothing indicated such. I hoped that TV's were on at work. They were on ... I witnessed the second flight hitting in real time. It was like being hit in the gut. More news ... more tragedy ... the Pentagon next ... followed by the flight that was ditched in the field. I knew that your office wasn't far from the Pentagon ... at the time, wondering what you were seeing. It was sickening ... watching 'man's inhumanity to man'. Everyone in the office was tuned in to the tragedy .... overwhelming sadness. No 'work' was done that day."