My account of my personal very personal experience of being in DC on 9/11. Keep in mind, I remember every bit of the details of the day, but at the time, it was really like an out of body experience.
for reference: I lived 12 blocks from the Capitol and worked in the Rayburn House Office Building. I worked for Congressman Nathan Deal, my roommates Monty Philpot worked for Congressman Saxby Chambliss and Lauren Allgood worked for Vice President Cheney.
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Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 started out like any other typical morning waking up and going to work on Capitol Hill as a congressional staffer. Technically we were suppose to be at work by 8:30 but as a veteran legislative assistant, I typically rolled in around 8:45 or 8:50. I was in the car doing my mile commute to the Capitol when I heard the first reports of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. The radio DJ's were assuming at that point it must have been a small plane scraping the top....
I arrived in my office probably around 8:55 and saw that my coworkers were watching the resulting fire on TV. "Wow, that couldn't have been a small plane!" I thought to myself and commented to my coworkers.
At about 9:01a my mom called to discuss going to the FOX Theatre over Christmas and with my eyes glued to the tv, I said "Mom, turn on the TV, the World Trade Center is on fire!" Literally as those words came out of my mouth, I watched on live television the 2nd highjacked plane crash into the South Tower. I literally couldn't believe what I had just seen. I said "Mom, I have to go!" I ran into my coworker's office who was sitting there staring at the tv with wide open eyes just stunned. I was in the beginning stages of panic, really unsure of what I had just seen. But I knew this was no accident.
At some point within the next half hour, my dad called and told me to leave my building and go home. I told him I was fine and that not to worry, DC is a "no fly" zone. Around 9:45 the cameras at the White House were showing smoke coming from somewhere off in the distance. There were reports of a car bomb at the State Department and they thought the smoke might be coming from the EOEB in the WH complex. My immediate thought was my roommate Lauren. Soon thereafter a staffer from another office came running down the hall telling us that the Pentagon was on fire. They could see if from their office. We would soon find out that it was yet another plane that had crashed into it.
At this point, calls are beginning to not go through, the circuits were overrun. My dad was able to get through to me once more and this time COMMANDED me to leave my building. This time, I listened---although they were not officially evacuating the Capitol complex yet. I called my roommate Monty who worked for another congressman, and told her we were leaving and that I was coming to get her. I said, "don't go anywhere until I come get you!" The last thing I remember doing before leaving my office (before blackberries) was sending an email to my sister and my parents and telling them I loved them and that I was leaving. I really didn't know what was happening. I didn't know what might be coming next. But I knew I wanted to get home. So I just looked at my coworkers and my deputy chief of staff and said "bye."
As I leave my office, it occurs to me that using the elevator is clearly not a good idea, but I don't even know where the stairs are that will get me to the basement! So I have to find those before I can go underground to the Longworth building to get my roommate Monty. I finally make it over to her office and she and her coworker Annie Laurie, by this time Capitol Police are evacuating the buildings. What I would later find out from some of my friends on the force is that they were getting information in their radio that another hijacked planed (flight 93) was headed to Washington. As calm as they appeared to be, you could see the fear in their eyes.
Monty, Annie Laurie and I walk out the door of Longworth at the corner of C ST and New Jersey AVE into a sea of people, all Hill staffers trying to appear calm walking every which way. Everyone is trying to make calls on their cell phones, but nothing is working. No communications with anyone besides those you're standing next to. The 3 of us begin the walk east on C Street. We're walking faster than normal. About the time we are between the back of the Library of Congress, we hear what sounds like a passenger plane flying over.....very low. (Keep in mind, passenger jets don't fly over DC, especially not low) So we start to pick up the pace. Then I hear the engines of a fighter jet. I can't remember if I said it out loud or in my head, but I said "THIS IS IT!" Shortly after the plane passes over head, I hear a very loud BOOM! Well at this point, we and everyone else around us screams and takes off running. We ran for blocks! We didn't know what else to do. We finally made it up to Pennsylvania AVE and were able to look back down and see that the Capitol dome was still in tact, praise God! We didn't know what had happened, but at that point all I could think and pray was "God, you are not surprised right now, You are not surprised." My only peace and comfort in an absolutely terrifying out of control experience was knowing my God, the God of the universe, knew exactly what was going on and He was in control.
Note: the boom we heard we would later discover was the sonic boom of the fighter jet going super sonic and breaking the sound barrier. Because the Pentagon was on fire, they were having to bring in planes landing at Reagan in a different pattern. the planes were being escorted by fighter jets. As soon as the plane landed the fighter jet was dispatched elsewhere at super sonic speeds.
As we crossed Pennsylvania AVE SE to make the trek a few more blocks to our house, the Hill became increasingly quiet and more deserted. by the time we made it to Independence AVE and 12th, we were the only people on the street---cars or pedestrians. It was eerily quiet. Monty and I were so worried about Lauren---How would she get home? Was she ok? had anything happened at the White House? When we walked up the front steps, Lauren opened the door. Monty and I fell into her arms! She had been at the Capitol delivering some letters on behalf of the VP and her car service was able to bring her home. so she had beat us home!
So, the three of us were carless dressed in suits and were wondering what to do next. No one could have imagined what had already happened and we were petrified of what was yet to come. We felt incredibly defenseless. So, we changed our clothes, packed overnight bags, and decided that we wanted to spend the rest of the day in the basement. In our minds, that was the safest place for us to be. So, we got some food, Monty's dog Dixie, our overnight bags, opened up a futon and brought down the TV and spent the rest of the day watching the tragedy and the aftermath unfold on television.
I remember at one point, just literally breaking down and sobbing. It was almost unbearable watching what these terrorists had done to innocent Americans. They wanted us dead.
The days immediately after 9/11 were really hard, I felt a tremendous amount of survivor guilt. However, one of my proudest moments of my life was walking in to my Capitol Hill office on September 12 with my held high and refusing to be scared. I was resolved to do my part to show that WE weren't beat! But it was such a hard week in the days following the attack, I didn't even go to the gym, why should I go exercise when there are people buried in rubble? I also had a tremendous amount of separation anxiety, I did not want to be alone. The next weekend Lauren and I went on a retreat with McLean Bible Church. It was just what I needed. I needed to be out Washington and have some time to worship God. It really was therapeutic.
At the time and even looking back, I am so proud of the President and the actions he took to protect our country. We really are an incredibly blessed nation and are the envy of the world. I'm so thankful that we did not let the evil deeds of that day negatively shake who we are as a nation. UNITED WE STAND!
My heart goes out to the families of those who didn't make it out that day, and also to the families of those whose loved ones were tasked with running in!
for reference: I lived 12 blocks from the Capitol and worked in the Rayburn House Office Building. I worked for Congressman Nathan Deal, my roommates Monty Philpot worked for Congressman Saxby Chambliss and Lauren Allgood worked for Vice President Cheney.
###
Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 started out like any other typical morning waking up and going to work on Capitol Hill as a congressional staffer. Technically we were suppose to be at work by 8:30 but as a veteran legislative assistant, I typically rolled in around 8:45 or 8:50. I was in the car doing my mile commute to the Capitol when I heard the first reports of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. The radio DJ's were assuming at that point it must have been a small plane scraping the top....
I arrived in my office probably around 8:55 and saw that my coworkers were watching the resulting fire on TV. "Wow, that couldn't have been a small plane!" I thought to myself and commented to my coworkers.
At about 9:01a my mom called to discuss going to the FOX Theatre over Christmas and with my eyes glued to the tv, I said "Mom, turn on the TV, the World Trade Center is on fire!" Literally as those words came out of my mouth, I watched on live television the 2nd highjacked plane crash into the South Tower. I literally couldn't believe what I had just seen. I said "Mom, I have to go!" I ran into my coworker's office who was sitting there staring at the tv with wide open eyes just stunned. I was in the beginning stages of panic, really unsure of what I had just seen. But I knew this was no accident.
At some point within the next half hour, my dad called and told me to leave my building and go home. I told him I was fine and that not to worry, DC is a "no fly" zone. Around 9:45 the cameras at the White House were showing smoke coming from somewhere off in the distance. There were reports of a car bomb at the State Department and they thought the smoke might be coming from the EOEB in the WH complex. My immediate thought was my roommate Lauren. Soon thereafter a staffer from another office came running down the hall telling us that the Pentagon was on fire. They could see if from their office. We would soon find out that it was yet another plane that had crashed into it.
At this point, calls are beginning to not go through, the circuits were overrun. My dad was able to get through to me once more and this time COMMANDED me to leave my building. This time, I listened---although they were not officially evacuating the Capitol complex yet. I called my roommate Monty who worked for another congressman, and told her we were leaving and that I was coming to get her. I said, "don't go anywhere until I come get you!" The last thing I remember doing before leaving my office (before blackberries) was sending an email to my sister and my parents and telling them I loved them and that I was leaving. I really didn't know what was happening. I didn't know what might be coming next. But I knew I wanted to get home. So I just looked at my coworkers and my deputy chief of staff and said "bye."
As I leave my office, it occurs to me that using the elevator is clearly not a good idea, but I don't even know where the stairs are that will get me to the basement! So I have to find those before I can go underground to the Longworth building to get my roommate Monty. I finally make it over to her office and she and her coworker Annie Laurie, by this time Capitol Police are evacuating the buildings. What I would later find out from some of my friends on the force is that they were getting information in their radio that another hijacked planed (flight 93) was headed to Washington. As calm as they appeared to be, you could see the fear in their eyes.
Monty, Annie Laurie and I walk out the door of Longworth at the corner of C ST and New Jersey AVE into a sea of people, all Hill staffers trying to appear calm walking every which way. Everyone is trying to make calls on their cell phones, but nothing is working. No communications with anyone besides those you're standing next to. The 3 of us begin the walk east on C Street. We're walking faster than normal. About the time we are between the back of the Library of Congress, we hear what sounds like a passenger plane flying over.....very low. (Keep in mind, passenger jets don't fly over DC, especially not low) So we start to pick up the pace. Then I hear the engines of a fighter jet. I can't remember if I said it out loud or in my head, but I said "THIS IS IT!" Shortly after the plane passes over head, I hear a very loud BOOM! Well at this point, we and everyone else around us screams and takes off running. We ran for blocks! We didn't know what else to do. We finally made it up to Pennsylvania AVE and were able to look back down and see that the Capitol dome was still in tact, praise God! We didn't know what had happened, but at that point all I could think and pray was "God, you are not surprised right now, You are not surprised." My only peace and comfort in an absolutely terrifying out of control experience was knowing my God, the God of the universe, knew exactly what was going on and He was in control.
Note: the boom we heard we would later discover was the sonic boom of the fighter jet going super sonic and breaking the sound barrier. Because the Pentagon was on fire, they were having to bring in planes landing at Reagan in a different pattern. the planes were being escorted by fighter jets. As soon as the plane landed the fighter jet was dispatched elsewhere at super sonic speeds.
As we crossed Pennsylvania AVE SE to make the trek a few more blocks to our house, the Hill became increasingly quiet and more deserted. by the time we made it to Independence AVE and 12th, we were the only people on the street---cars or pedestrians. It was eerily quiet. Monty and I were so worried about Lauren---How would she get home? Was she ok? had anything happened at the White House? When we walked up the front steps, Lauren opened the door. Monty and I fell into her arms! She had been at the Capitol delivering some letters on behalf of the VP and her car service was able to bring her home. so she had beat us home!
So, the three of us were carless dressed in suits and were wondering what to do next. No one could have imagined what had already happened and we were petrified of what was yet to come. We felt incredibly defenseless. So, we changed our clothes, packed overnight bags, and decided that we wanted to spend the rest of the day in the basement. In our minds, that was the safest place for us to be. So, we got some food, Monty's dog Dixie, our overnight bags, opened up a futon and brought down the TV and spent the rest of the day watching the tragedy and the aftermath unfold on television.
I remember at one point, just literally breaking down and sobbing. It was almost unbearable watching what these terrorists had done to innocent Americans. They wanted us dead.
The days immediately after 9/11 were really hard, I felt a tremendous amount of survivor guilt. However, one of my proudest moments of my life was walking in to my Capitol Hill office on September 12 with my held high and refusing to be scared. I was resolved to do my part to show that WE weren't beat! But it was such a hard week in the days following the attack, I didn't even go to the gym, why should I go exercise when there are people buried in rubble? I also had a tremendous amount of separation anxiety, I did not want to be alone. The next weekend Lauren and I went on a retreat with McLean Bible Church. It was just what I needed. I needed to be out Washington and have some time to worship God. It really was therapeutic.
At the time and even looking back, I am so proud of the President and the actions he took to protect our country. We really are an incredibly blessed nation and are the envy of the world. I'm so thankful that we did not let the evil deeds of that day negatively shake who we are as a nation. UNITED WE STAND!
My heart goes out to the families of those who didn't make it out that day, and also to the families of those whose loved ones were tasked with running in!
Photo credit: KCT September 11, 2008
2 comments:
thank you for sharing this Julie -- yesterday was a day of memories for me of gathering around tv's in Los Angeles and watching in stunned disbelief and not being able to do anything to help or contact friends and loved ones in NYC and DC.
So unbelievable! I'm so thankful you were kept safe!
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