Day +2246: Let’s Roll

I was on the phone with my dear friend and co-worker, Sheryl.  It was our habit to talk every morning: she from her desk in lower Manhattan, me from mine in Madison, NJ.  We talked about photography a lot, a shared passion of ours.  We had spent a week together at the Disney Institute for Photography the year before, and it was not uncommon for us to go hiking on the weekends to take pictures of waterfalls and forest flora and fauna.  I don’t remember what we were talking about on that day, but I remember the moment when my friend gasped “Oh my God, what was that.”  It was 8:46 AM, and American Airlines Flight 11 had just crashed into floors 93 – 99 of the North Tower.  At some point, Sheryl said, “I’ve got to go.” and the phone went silent.

I was just down the hall from one of the main conference rooms, and someone had put the news on the big screen.  We watched smoke pour out of the North Tower, and the news was reporting that it seemed to be a small personal plane that had trouble and crashed.  When United Flight 175 struck floors 75-85 of the South Tower at 9:03 AM, we watched in stunned silence and knew it was much more.  I tried to call Sheryl from my cell phone, and could not reach her.  My colleagues and I watched over the next few hours as the towers fell, and flights 77 and 93 crashed into the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA respectively.  When I talked to Sheryl later, I found out that it took her hours to get out of the City, and as she and other colleagues evacuated, they watched in horror as people were jumping from the upper floors of the towers and hit the ground.  Sheryl was never the same.

As I drove home from work that day down the Garden State Parkway, I could see the smoke billowing out from where the towers had stood tall and proud just hours before.  Over the next few days, the smoke from Ground Zero made its way down the Jersey Shore and hovered over many towns including the one where I lived.  It was a constant, sobering reminder of the terror of that day.

Part of my job in HR at the time was to speak with each one of our employees that worked a block away from the towers and verify they survived.  Amazingly, all were safe, though it took a number of days to get in touch with them due to the chaos.

Each year, as so many of you do, I remember where I was when terrorists tried to take away the American Spirit.  Whenever possible each year, I watch the ceremonies online, listen to the reading of the names, the tolling of the bell, and observe the moments of silence.  This year, I am reading through the stories of those on Flight 93 and the amazing people that determined to not let the plane they were on hit the terrorists’ intended mark in Washington DC.  One cannot read through those stories without coming across that of Todd Beamer, famous for his words, “Let’s roll.”  I love the perspective of this writer, who captured Todd’s complete story so well, and invite you to read it…. and never forget.

Let’s Roll: The Courage of Todd Beamer