9/11. Where were you when it happened?

I was at the WTC South Tower. Had gotten off the morning ferry from NJ and was walking up Wall St. to WTC when debris began landing around me from the first plane - mostly papers, some scorched around the edges, but this was more a curiosity than anything particularly alarming - yet. When I got up to the area, the police cordon was beginning to form for the burning North Tower, but morning rush folks were still streaming out of the subway. The mob scuttlebutt was an accidental plane crash, but nobody knew anything definitive. I walked right up to the revolving doors near the taxi stand, and tried calling up to my team in our offices (25th floor), before heading up, since it looked as if we'd all be evacuated anyway. Then the 2nd plane roared in and crashed overhead. The explosion and glass shower was fascinating for a moment (in the sunlight), then we all realized what was happening and ran for shelter. For a few moments after the debris fell, all was quiet except the horns and sirens of the emergency vehicles stationed around the area.

I realized then that whatever was going on (I didn't actually see the 2nd plane, but did hear it, and the oddly-shaped burning wound on the side of the tower was confusing), that this wasn't an accident, and I shouldn't be there. I walked back down Wall Street to the ferry docks. At first, it was business as usual on Wall Street, as people without firsthand knowledge of the incident didn't have a clue. But as I continued walking, people began streaming out of their offices. There were a coupe of hundred people on the docks when I got there, before I got off the island, there were thousands - the crowds were pressing us right to the edge (where I was). Cell coverage was saturated and/or degraded and I was unable to get a connection.

When the Towers fell (a few people had cell connections or portable radios to spread the news), we had no visual concept, basically thinking the tops keeled over rather than the whole buildings vertically imploding. Moments later, the dust clouds boiled out of the streets from the West and engulfed us; even on the East River we had less than 5 foot visibility for a while. I made a dusk mask out of kleenex held in place by the shield-type sailing sunglasses I was wearing. This happened twice.

I was on the third - and final - passenger ferry to the Jersey shore. It was a "special" that the company had launched; after this, the ferries were seconded into emergency services and supplies. We were packed to capacity, maybe more. The ferry rounded the Battery and we paused to give us a sight of the "hole" - couldn't see much due to the smoke/dust but we could see there was nothing to see.

When we reached the Jersey Shore ferry station, we were provided eye washes and water. I was home, unlike the tens of thousands of others trapped in the city, within a couple of hours of the Towers falling. Since I split my time between a Middlesex County, NJ office and the WTC, my wife didn't realize I was in the City, and, working in an OR, wasn't getting a lot of news, so that my call surprised her. My kids, however, that I had dropped off to school, knew I was going to the WTC. I called the school to let them know I was OK, to learn that a news blackout was in place - in our area, a lot of families could potentially have been impacted. The advice was to be there to pick them up, so I showered and got ready.

I lost a good friend that day, up on a high floor, who couldn't escape. Good, swift thinking by the mailroom folks in our company, who disregarded the advice of the building mgmt to stay put after the 1st plane hit, got everyone out via the stairwells. They almost didn't make it; while I was on the street side, they were exiting to the Plaza; the stragglers had falling debris issues after the second impact. Had I gone straight in, I most likely would have been in an elevator and missed them - and the elevators reportedly were blown out of their shafts by the impact. I had brought my younger (then 2nd-grade) daughter to work with me the Friday several days before; in NJ, the first week of school is filled with partial days, and I thought it would've been "an adventure" if she came to NYC with me for a day. I am thankful she missed this day.

This day has been tough for me every year since, but gradually getting better. To bring things full circle re: MFP, I gained a tremendous amount of weight afterwards, I'm gradually getting it off, and this year am down over 30 lbs.

Bless the USA and all who serve to protect us, our loved ones and our freedoms. RIP all the victims.