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September 11, 2001
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 my story of a day of terror
Posted by: John Wiesemann from Cliffwood Beach, NJ
Thursday February 21, 2002 @ 01:01 PST

i was working in 2 world trade center on the morning of the tragic events. i was working on the 69th floor, i heard and felt crash into the north tower. all i could do, was to run scared toward the middle of the building to stay away from the windows. at this point i thought i would not make it. my wife called at 8:45, i told her i was fine, it was the other building that was hit, i'm leaving now and i'll call when i get to the bottom (not knowing that this would be the last time i spoke to my wife until 1pm). i did start to get into stairwell to make way down the 69 flights of stairs. when i reached the 65th floor, there was an announcement over the pa system, telling us that building #2 is secure and that we could go back to our offices. if i decided to listen to this announcement i would not be explaining my story to the world. we moved through the stairwell in an orderly fashion. the people that i was with were very calm and confident that we were going to leave the building... this continued until i got to the 40th floor and we heard and felt, what we thought was an explosion occurring well above us. at this point the building was shaking too much to give any person a comfortable feeling. i was extremely scared... i knew i was on the 40th floor and that i could not survive a fall of this magnitude. all i could think of at this point was; i was not going to see the faces of my wife and children, i have a son who's 4years old and a daughter who's 7 months and that they might grow up with out a father. the swaying finally subsided and we continued to move down the stairs (still in an orderly fashion). no one thought at this point that this was a terrorist attack. i finally made it to the mezzanine section of the building and was shocked to see the debris in the plaza between the 2 buildings. i was scared... emergency workers at this point helped us to get out of the building by way of the underground mall. they helped us to get out the building near borders book store. i could finally breath "fresh" air. the emergency workers helped us towards broadway to get away from the building. as i left the building i looked up at what has been my professional home for now 3 years and i was overcome by grief. i continued to walk but all i could do was cry and cry and cry. i will praise the help and efforts of all emergency workers that helped to save my life, for the rest of my life. if not for them i would not be writing this piece. i finally made it to the ferry terminal to get to staten island. at this point it's just about 10am and i could hear the horrific roar the i had heard just recently. i ran from where the phones are to the back wall by the entrance to the boats and thought that this sound was the sound of yet another plane crashing and that for the third time within an hour i thought i was going to die. thankfully for me, it was "only" building #2 collapsing. as it was falling down, so were my professional memories and my personal effects that made my cubicle a home away from home. i finally made it back to my home in new jersey by 4pm. all i could do was hug my family and loved ones and thank god for letting me survive. god was by my side as my family and friends let me know that it was not my time. in closing, i thank god, all emergency workers (whoever they may be) and my family and friends (for their prayers).
 


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