story192.xml
Title
story192.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-03-08
911DA Story: Story
As a park ranger, I get to talk about history all the time. But it's not usually like this.
I was preparing to go to a meeting in the city that day. The first remembrance I have of anything relating to the event was sitting around the break room table, when a maintenance worker I didn't know, talking on the telephone, said, "A plane just hit the World Trade Center!" Of course, it seemed so ridiculous. I headed up the stairs to find the folks in the office scrambling to put on a television. Apparently, others had heard the story too.
For the next few minutes, we were all pretty much glued to the television, watching the events in New York City. When it was determined that it was not just an accident, there was concern for visitors and staff out in the park. I was at our headquarters building, just down the hill from the Washington Monument. A friend and co-worker was down near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We in the office, were trying to pass on the information to our coworkers in the field, and I was on the phone talking with my friend down by the Wall, telling him what was going on in NYC.
"You're not going to believe this! Two planes have hit the towers, and they have fallen down!" I was explaining what had happened, when he interrupted.
"Oh my God. Something just hit the bridge!" And he hung up. We were all familiar with Reagan Airport being just across the river from our park and had frequently been asked questions about the plane that had crashed into the 14th Street bridge about 20 years ago. My friend, hearing a loud noise, disappeared to go investigate. Soon enough, I would see what he had heard on the news. I could walk outside the building and look across the river and see the smoke coming from the Pentagon.
Management had us stay on site until about 2:30 that afternoon. By the time we left, there were few cars on the roads. My apartment in Arlington was just minutes from the Pentagon, so as I drove home, I passed the smoking building.
In the next few days, one of the creepier things to affect us on the Mall was the quiet. On a normal day, the planes from the airport fly right over us, and often, while trying to give directions or explain the significance of a memorial, we have to stop and pause for the plane to pass over. But for the next few weeks, there would just be silence over the park.
I was preparing to go to a meeting in the city that day. The first remembrance I have of anything relating to the event was sitting around the break room table, when a maintenance worker I didn't know, talking on the telephone, said, "A plane just hit the World Trade Center!" Of course, it seemed so ridiculous. I headed up the stairs to find the folks in the office scrambling to put on a television. Apparently, others had heard the story too.
For the next few minutes, we were all pretty much glued to the television, watching the events in New York City. When it was determined that it was not just an accident, there was concern for visitors and staff out in the park. I was at our headquarters building, just down the hill from the Washington Monument. A friend and co-worker was down near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We in the office, were trying to pass on the information to our coworkers in the field, and I was on the phone talking with my friend down by the Wall, telling him what was going on in NYC.
"You're not going to believe this! Two planes have hit the towers, and they have fallen down!" I was explaining what had happened, when he interrupted.
"Oh my God. Something just hit the bridge!" And he hung up. We were all familiar with Reagan Airport being just across the river from our park and had frequently been asked questions about the plane that had crashed into the 14th Street bridge about 20 years ago. My friend, hearing a loud noise, disappeared to go investigate. Soon enough, I would see what he had heard on the news. I could walk outside the building and look across the river and see the smoke coming from the Pentagon.
Management had us stay on site until about 2:30 that afternoon. By the time we left, there were few cars on the roads. My apartment in Arlington was just minutes from the Pentagon, so as I drove home, I passed the smoking building.
In the next few days, one of the creepier things to affect us on the Mall was the quiet. On a normal day, the planes from the airport fly right over us, and often, while trying to give directions or explain the significance of a memorial, we have to stop and pause for the plane to pass over. But for the next few weeks, there would just be silence over the park.
Collection
Citation
“story192.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 28, 2025, https://www.911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5011.