story9407.xml

story9407.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-08-06

I was in a branch chiefs' meeting and when I came out one of our technicians told me that the WTC building had been hit by a plane. By the time I had walked back to my building, I was told that the second plane had hit. Everyone in the office had radios on. When the plane hit the Pentagon, our director immediately realsed all of our employees. My daughter and son-in-law work for the government in Virginia and also lives near the Pentagon. I tried calling her immediately and couldn't get through. Our grandson is at day care there also. My husband works in Rockville for the county government and his office is on the 14th floor. He could see the smoke from the Pentagon, but said there was no smoke coming from the areas where my daughter and son-in-law work. My boss was giving a presentation to the NCI Executive Committee which was halted. He came to my office on the way back to his office to ask if I needed a ride home or somewhere since he knew I took the bus to work. I said "Thanks, but I'm not leaving here until I hear from my daughter since at that time I didn't have a cell phone (I do now with a walkie talkie!). They had shut the phones down so I couldn't get to her. Then about 11 o'clock she called me from the day care center saying the had also evacuated within 3 minutes of Pentagon being hit. I told her to quit talking and get out of the area and call from home when they got there. It took them 3 hours to make the 25 minute drive since the roads were closed around the Pentagon. I made it home first to Damascus, MD, since my husband stayed at work with a paraplegic who was waiting for his transporation and my husband didn't want him to wait by himself. I called my parents to let them know I was alright and told them to let me know if anyone else in my family called them since we all knew they were at home to receive and triage calls. All arrived to their various homes and we all called each other as we arrived. I did receive a ride to my husband's office that day from another friend who stopped by my office to see if I needed a ride. It was the most peculiar ride because of the lack of noise in the skies. Everyone commented on that and that continued through the week. My cousin's daughter worked at the building adjacent to the WTC and their stories are very amazing too. My cousin worked on Wall Street also and all of our families were deeply affected by that day, but God was on our side that day, and no one was physically injured in my family. That day changed all of our lives forever. We now have an evacuation plan for all of our family and have adjusted to the everyday way of life that this event caused. We also have an evalucation plan at work and even though this has been difficult to think about and plan for, we all feel better that we have done something positive to make sure our families carry on with our daily lives. Living in the Washington, D.C., area and working for the Federal government puts a whole different perspective on our day-to-day lives, one that I never thought would have to be dealth with, but we are. I drove by the Pentagon on the way to my daughter's home in early October after 9-11. I cried when I saw the building. I also was amazed that more people didn't die because of the highway in front of the building with all of the traffic at the time of the morning, and how the plane didn't hit that highway is unbelievable. A lady I rode the bus with said her husband was sitting on that highway and still can't talk about it. He saw the plane hit.

But the government employees in the area who work so hard are now concerned about A-76 outsourcing, so that shows that people have a way of making it through just about anything, but will NEVER forget.