“We go forward to defend freedom”
* * *
In the Oval Office
8:30 P.M.
Good evening.
Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.
The victims were in airplanes or in their offices—secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers. Moms and dads. Friends and neighbors.
Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.
The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger.
These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.
Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.
America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.
Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America, with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.
Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington, D.C., to help with local rescue efforts.
Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.
The functions of our government continue without interruption. Federal agencies in Washington which had to be evacuated today are reopening for essential personnel tonight and will be open for business tomorrow.
Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for business as well.
The search is under way for those who are behind these evil acts. I’ve directed the full resources for our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.
I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance.
America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world and we stand together to win the war against terrorism.
Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”
This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.
None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.
Thank you. Good night, and God bless America.
* * *
After the president’s Oval Office address, Vice President Cheney boarded a helicopter to fly to an undisclosed location for the night—a site that later would be revealed as Camp David. Cheney slept that night in the president’s own cabin, known as Aspen, a violation of normal protocol made necessary because Aspen connected directly to the presidential retreat’s own escape bunker.
Dick Cheney, vice president: As we lifted off and headed up the Potomac, you could look out and see the Pentagon, see that black hole where it’d been hit. A lot of lights on the building, smoke rising from the Pentagon. It helped bring home the impact of what had happened, that we had in fact been attacked.
Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney: I recall watching the vice president, who was staring out the window at the Pentagon, and wondering what he may be thinking about, the responsibilities he would have in the future. A pretty sobering moment.
David Addington, counsel to the vice president: The headquarters of the U.S. military was still smoking, and we were flying over on our way to hide the vice president. My God, we’re evacuating the vice president from Washington, D.C., because we’ve been attacked.
Dick Cheney: I remember sitting in the living room there [in the Aspen cabin], turning on the television, watching the reruns. I suppose that was the moment—as much as any—that it really hit home what the country had been through that day.
“I spent the evening just crying”
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The Evening of 9/11
Families across the country struggled to understand what the attacks meant for their loved ones, while those directly affected continued to scatter and make their way home—sometimes without knowing how their own families had been affected.
Charles Christophe, attorney, Broadway: I tried to reach Penn Station and from Penn Station eventually to get the train to go to Maplewood [New Jersey]. Everything was closed. We had to wait hours. I think late afternoon, finally, they let the first train go. I was not able to catch the first one, but I did get the second one. People were looking at me, because I was totally covered with dust in my hair, my suit—everything.
Bruno Dellinger, principal, Quint Amasis North America, North Tower: When I arrived home, on my apartment door there was a Post-It from one of my interns who left a funny note: “If you’re alive, I’m still alive.”
Rosemary Dillard, Washington, D.C., base manager, American Airlines, and wife of Flight 77 passenger Eddie Dillard: I had to drive by the Pentagon. I wanted to stop, they wouldn’t let you. I got home, went in the house, and I smoked four cigarettes. I figured if I smoked in the house, it would bring my husband back because he didn’t smoke in the house. Then I had to call his brothers. I had to call my friends, the rest of his family, and my sister. My neighbors started coming over right away, because the flight attendants lived in the area. They came and brought me dinner. After that, it’s kind of a blur. Life changed.
Linda Krouner, senior vice president, Fiduciary Trust, South Tower: I didn’t really know what happened yet. I certainly knew we lost people. When I was at my sister’s house in New York City, there was a fellow, he got my number. He knew I was in the building that morning and he said, “I’m so-and-so. Did you see my son? Did you pass him on the staircase?” This young fellow died; it was terrible. It was really one of these calls that you want to say, “I wish I saw him. I wish I could tell you something.” I couldn’t tell him anything.
Adrian Pierce, Wachovia Bank, North Tower: Cathleen—she sat behind me—we don’t know where she was. Carlos, we don’t know where he was in the building. Toyena, she got killed also. Jeffrey got killed. Antoinette was holding a guy—his name was Tom—she was holding his hand as we were coming out the building, and he let her hand go, and the building came down on her. We lost five people from Wachovia. I also lost 150 friends from Euro Brokers on the 88th floor. One friend in particular, Adam, he came out, he called his parents, and he said, “I’m okay.” But he went back in the building, and he never came back out.
Charles Christophe: I was worrying about my wife, Kirsten [a vice president of risk services for Aon Corporation on the 104th floor of the South Tower]. I was worrying about our daughter, Gretchen, because we didn’t have close relatives to pick her up from the daycare. I was hoping maybe, maybe Kirsten was able to get on the first train or on this train and I will meet her there or meet her at home.
Robert Small, office manager, Morgan Stanley, South Tower: I was home before I normally would have been home. I still thought we were supposed to have our Pop Warner football team pictures taken that night. I still thought we were going to do that. I got a phone call from the league guy: “We’re not taking pictures tonight.” I said, “Okay,” because it still hadn’t hit me how dramatic and big the day was. It was still “my day,” as opposed to what it meant to everybody else. Within the next day or two, you started realizing how many people it affected.
Deena Burnett, wife of United Flight 93 passenger Tom Burnett: I spent the evening just crying and being with friends, having neighbors come in and out, and having family call me on my cell phone to offer their condolences.
Rosemary Dillard: I was still calling his cell phone, and he had a pager—I was still paging it every so often.
Charles Christophe: I got to Maplewood—we usually parked our car by the train station, but I didn’t have a key—so I had to walk to the daycare. I took my daughter from the daycare, and I asked about my wife. Only my daughter was there. All other kids were taken by their parents, and one or two people from the staff. She was a baby—11 months old—and she didn’t understand. She recognized my face, and obviously was happy to see me. One of the employees of the daycare drove me to my home. I didn’t have a key. I had to break the window on the back door in the kitchen to enter. I immediately took care of my daughter—I had to feed her and change her and put her in the bath, because it was already six, seven o’clock. And then I was just sitting by the phone waiting for a call.
Jillian Volk, preschool teacher, Lower Manhattan: We spent the whole night going from hospital to hospital, checking the admittance lists. Then at seven o’clock that night, we got a phone call from Bellevue Hospital, saying [my fiancé] Kevin was admitted there. His dad got there before we did, and he found out it wasn’t the right Kevin Williams. It was somebody else. We had been on this whole high, screaming. I searched the city for three days.
John Napolitano, father of FDNY firefighter John P. Napolitano: It was late, and the kids wouldn’t go to sleep because my son, whenever he worked nights, he would always call and talk to them, and tell them a story over the phone. Then he would end with “Hugs and kisses,” and they’d go to bed. They weren’t going to bed because their father didn’t call.
Charles Christophe: I was waiting for Kirsten’s call. But nobody called.
Fernando Ferrer, candidate for New York City mayor: I organized a prayer vigil on the Grand Concourse at Love Gospel Assembly. What else could you do? That place was packed. We then made the rounds of firehouses. We saw guys come back covered in white dust. People had already set up—oh, I get emotional just talking about it—had set up shrines and brought flowers and stuff and lit candles. It was really something.
Perry Weden, Los Angeles: I had been dating someone for six months and was unsure where the relationship was heading. This normally very calm and collected man was anxious and shaken, distraught over the lives already lost and fearful that L.A. was in the crosshairs. We went to the Santa Monica Pier, a relative ghost town for a warm September day, an attempt to be defiant in the face of fear. He made a comment I would never forget, something about how if the world was going to end today, he was glad to have spent it with me.
Richard Kolko, special agent, FBI: I started the day in the Atlanta FBI field office assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. By midday, I was driving to Washington, D.C. A New York agent who was stuck in Atlanta jumped in the car with me. The roads were deserted. It was nighttime, and we were somewhere in North Carolina heading north on I-95, well above the speed limit. Suddenly, the rearview mirror lit up with a North Carolina trooper right behind me. I pulled over. The trooper approached my window cautiously. He got to the window and clearly, carefully, and professionally checked us out. He asked if we knew how fast we were going and what was the rush. I identified myself as an FBI agent and said we were headed to D.C. He took one step back from the window, pointed north on I-95, and said, “Go get ’em.”
* * *
Lt. Joseph Torrillo, director of fire education safety, FDNY: Eight hours later, I woke up and I didn’t know where I was. I realized I was on the eighth floor of the hospital, in a room, but I didn’t immediately know because I couldn’t see. I’m like, I don’t know if I’m dead or alive. That night, they found my car behind the firehouse. I was declared dead that night.
Lt. Mickey Kross, Engine 16, FDNY: The day had passed. I don’t even know what I did. I know I walked around. I talked to some people. We did a little search. In fact, we found a police officer on West Street. He was dead. He was buried. We helped out where we could and the day passed.
I hitched a ride with one of the fire engines that was going north. I think there was about 40 of us hanging off this fire engine. They dropped me off on Third Avenue and 29th Street and I walked down the block. I walked into the firehouse and I remember my girlfriend, Christine, was there. A number of the wives were there and some of the firemen were there. That’s when I found out that Ladder 7 was missing—that’s our company that’s quartered with us: 16 and 7. Everybody from 7 was missing. They all died.
Chris Mullin, firefighter, Ladder 1, FDNY: It was a depressed, dismal, miserable mood. Hundreds of firefighters, thousands of civilians are gone as quickly as you blow out a match. Gone.
Capt. Jay Jonas, Ladder 6, FDNY: I ended up walking from the World Trade Center to the firehouse on Canal Street. It was pretty quiet. I’m walking with all my gear on. I must have looked like Pig Pen from the Charlie Brown cartoon with this big cloud of dust following me. A bunch of Chinese people from the community start following me, and somebody broke off and came and talked to me. He says, “Are you okay?” I said, “Yeah. If I keep walking I’m okay.” I says, “If I stop, I’m not going to want to start up again.” Then they followed me to make sure I got to the firehouse.
Tracy Donahoo, transit officer, NYPD: When I went home that night, I went home to my mother and sat in the backyard—it was another beautiful day. I was sitting in the backyard, saying to my mother, “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I wanna stay on this job.” I got up the next day and went to work. I went back the day after that, and the day after that, and I said, “I’ll take it day after day and see how I feel.” Over time, I was okay.
Pasquale Buzzelli, engineer, Port Authority, North Tower, 64th floor: I was basically in a stretcher at Saint Vincent’s and they were moving me from room to room, taking X-rays and things. My friend Phil showed up. They gave me some clothes to wear, because they had to rip the clothes off of me that I had on. It was Disney or Mickey Mouse, something that didn’t fit. I put that on.
There was a police officer there with a van and he said, “Where do you want to go?” We gave him the address, our other friend’s house. When I got to my friend’s apartment, it was the first time I was actually able to watch it on television. I couldn’t believe that I actually survived.
Got in the car. We headed north and went across the Tappan Zee Bridge and I was home at eight o’clock that night. I pulled up at home with all my family and friends there. It was nice. It was nice to be home—to see my mother and father, my wife, Louise.
Louise Buzzelli, wife of Pasquale Buzzelli, Port Authority, North Tower: I remember the first thing when we finally got him inside the house, my mother-in-law—she’s from Italy—her first thing was, “You must be hungry!” She said, “Sit down! I want to make you a nice sandwich.”
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As the evacuation of people from Lower Manhattan slowed, the boats that had been busy all day shuttling people out of New York reversed their journey for a new mission: shuttling relief supplies and rescuers to Lower Manhattan.
Lt. Michael Day, U.S. Coast Guard: We started getting calls that supplies were coming into Jersey and all the bridges were shut down into Manhattan. They said, “Hey, can we get someone to pick up some supplies?” I asked if anyone would mind goin
g over to New Jersey and picking up some supplies, and I was inundated. “Sure, I’ll do it.” “I’ll do it.” “I’ll do it.”
Firefighters would come up and say, “We’re going to need water. We don’t have any water.” We’d call over to someone from New Jersey. We established a dialogue with the Office of Emergency Management over there. People were going to store shelves and buying water. It was coming over. There was a lot of stuff coming over—a lot of ice, a lot of restaurants were sending meals. It was very disorganized as far as what was coming. As we started meeting those needs, we started getting more and more requests. “We need acetylene for steel. We need oxygen. We need wrenches.” We started making requests and things started coming. It was busy throughout that night.
At Ground Zero, firefighters and rescue personnel continued to swarm over the wreckage, looking for survivors. These efforts remained haphazard, filled by an army of volunteers, many of whom had no official rescue duties. Indeed, it was two U.S. Marines, Jason Thomas and Dave Karnes, who had traveled to the site on their own volition, who made the evening’s sole incredible discovery.
Scott Strauss, officer, Emergency Service Unit, Truck 1, NYPD: We’re all itching to get back in there and find civilians, find our friends, find somebody. Sgt. Timothy Adrat grabbed a bunch of us and we started searching—because they wouldn’t allow us back onto the pile yet—we started searching the south side, the buildings on the south side of Liberty that were damaged by the collapses, but not completely collapsed. The pile of debris was massive.
Det. Steven Stefanakos, Emergency Service Unit, Truck 10, NYPD: We went to work trying to get to any voids that we could, trying to, from that moment, start any type of rescue and recovery that we could. It was pretty well established as nightfall started.
William Jimeno, officer, PAPD: It was around 8:00 that night when I heard two voices in the distance. I heard, “United States Marine Corps, can anybody hear us?” I couldn’t believe it that I heard voices again. I started yelling as loud as I could. “PAPD officers down! PAPD officers down!” They kept saying, “Keep yelling, we hear you!” They made their way over, and I could hear three individuals. They said, “Who’s down there?” I said, “Port Authority Police, Officer Jimeno, my sergeant’s down. We have men down here. We have men who have died,” and they said, “Hold on, buddy.”
The Only Plane in the Sky Page 39