NEW YORK CITY-"I felt the building shake and saw debris falling outside my window." That's how one survivor described the first few minutes of what would prove to be the worst terrorist attack mounted on US soil, a massive attack that would level three buildings of the World Trade Center and cripple the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
He seemed at first to be a homeless person, covered in dirt-stained tatters. But on closer inspection, it became clear that it was a business suit he wore, covered not in dirt but plaster- thick dust, which also imbedded itself in his hair and mottled his shoes. He sat on a bench just a block away from Leonard Street in Downtown Manhattan, where FBI roped off traffic, curiosity seekers and all reporters, including this one. Only a constant stream of ambulances and police cars squeezed through.
He identified himself as a Port Authority worker who arrived at his 68th-floor office at 8am. "I made a pot of coffee and went to my office," he reported. "At about 8:30, I felt the building shake and saw debris falling outside my window. I couldn't know at the time that it was an airplane that hit us."
The worker, who withheld his name, said he made his way to the center of the building--Tower One--and "found one of my brothers. I started praying immediately."
And he didn't stop. As he and his coworkers began to make their way down the 68 flights to the street, he said he maintained a constant stream of hymns, direction and words of encouragement to his fellow victims. "I tried to be as authoritative as possible to give everyone direction," he stated.
As they reached the 44th floor, he said, they met up with workers from other parts of the building and the traveling slowed, but they all pushed down, in surprisingly orderly fashion.
"When we got to the 12th floor, we couldn't see, the air was so thick with dust," the executive recalled. "Emergency teams with flashlights were there, and they told us to reach for the wall and feel our way down."
The PA worker couldn't say how long the descent took, but once they reached the street, the ordeal wasn't over. "We still had trouble breathing, the air was so thick with smoke," he recalled, adding that he came across a woman there, "elderly and feeble and worried about her husband who was still in the building. We helped her over to the police."
The executive and a few fellow workers made his way to a local store where, he said, the owner gave them water and closed the door and gate behind them. "That's when we heard the rumble, and the tower fell."
The executive insisted that good news be part of his story. He said the survivors owe their lives to the "highly trained emergency crews who risked their lives to make sure people got out of those buildings." And he added a bit more good news. He said he finally got in touch with his fiancee to let her know he was alive. Next Tuesday, September 18--exactly a week after the World Trade Center was destroyed--he and his fiancee will be married.
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John Salustri
John Salustri has covered the commercial real estate industry for nearly 25 years. He was the founding editor of GlobeSt.com, and is a four-time recipient of the Excellence in Journalism award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.
