Contributed by: Suzanne Dara Williams
Contributor's location on 9/11: Oak Lawn (Cook County) IL, a Swouthwest suburb of Chicago.
Contributed on: August 28, 2007

It was about 7:35am CST on a beautiful September morning when we the 2 kids & I boarded our newly purchased '95 Windstar. My son JJ, & his friend Nick, who lived kitty corner across the street, had just started 6th grade. We pulled out of our driveway, as we did every day for several years, and routine would put us in front of TJ (also in 6th grade) & Jimmy's house to pick them up between 7:40 & 7:45.

The first school bell rang at 8:00, the doors would lock, & all students needed to be in class in their seats, no later than 8:05. Since the school was only 5 minutes away, this left ample time providing all kids were ready to go upon my arrival.

As usual, Jimmy (starting 3rd grade for the 2nd time) would daudle & all the other boys would be coaching him along, "Come on Jimmy; you're gonna make us late!"

As the boys boarded the 7-passenger van, I could not help but hear the urgent radio message that interrupted the song, something seldom done on Chicago's US99 country station. There was a seriously somber tone in the voices of both morning DJs Big John Howle & Trish Biondo.

Big John spoke first announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen we truly hate to interrupt this broadcast, however, there has been a terrible accident this morning in New York. Apparently, a very large passenger jet has crashed into one of the twin towers at the World Trade Center. It is the taller of the 2 towers; the one with the antenna on top. We're viewing this on our cameras as we speak and, as one might expect, a large explosion has occurred from impact and the tower is on fire. Details are rather sketchy at this time and it is not known if the cause of the crash is from human error, mechanical failure, or a deliberate attack by one of the U.S. adversaries................

Trish politely added, "The concern is that the aircraft's point of impact is at the upper middle portion of the building, and since New York is an hour ahead of us, most of the upper floors are fully occupied by people who may be trapped." She added trembling, "My dad & brothers are firefighters here in Chicago, and I know they don't make ladders that tall, or emergency exits that long.......which makes rescuing these folks almost impossible............!"

We then heard Trish gasp........and cry out, "Oh my God....they just hit the 2nd tower with another plane!!!!!"
Big John interrupted with a blatant, "Those sons of bitches! Ladies and Gentlemen, the United States is obviously under attack! We will be back with more information as we are made aware of it. God be with us all!"

There was a brief pause before they played Lee Greenwood's song, "God Bless the USA".

By this time, I had dropped the boys off at school, but continued to listen as I proceeded with my 35 minute commute to my CSR position at the FARMERS INSURANCE AGENCY in Westchester, IL.

As I arrived at the office, the phone was ringing off the desk. I couldn't turn the deadbolt key fast enough. Since our office opened at 9:00, I suspected this was family of mine or my bosses. It was Tony's X-wife, Sharon, calling from Phoenix. She, now remarried to a retired U.S. Army colonel and fully aware of the attack on US soil, was in a state of panic. Their eldest daughter, Jeanne, was working for Firemen's Fund whose office was at the Merchandise Mart, yet another tall building in a heavily populated financial district of a large city, and she could not reach her. I reassured Sharon that as soon as I heard from Jeanne, or Tony, I would have them call her.

I quickly hung up & called my own husband, who worked at PepsiCo's Golden Grain. As a machinist in a factory who started at 5:00am, I knew he was oblivious to the events that were unfolding. He quickly announced to his boss & a few other employees to turn on a radio. He reassured me that he would call me a little later if he had the opportunity.

Sharon called back about 20 minutes later apologizing and letting me know the Pentagon was just hit. Again she asked if I heard from anyone yet. She said Jeanne did call her to let her know everything was OK and all downtown Chicago highrises were being evacuated and Jeanne was at home and safe.

My boss, Tony, came in about 9:45. I asked if he heard from Sharon or Jeanne. He advised that he had a breakfast meeting at the district office & hasn't been home since 7:00am, asking "Why, what's up?".

I asked if he was aware that the U.S. was under attack. He looked at me with a skewed expression & said, "Huh?"

Our office was equipped with a TV/VCR that we used for an educational video tape we showed to youthful drivers when adding them to their parent's policies. He immediately turned on CNN and we watched history in the making. It wasn't more than an hour later when Nathan, our commercial lines producer came in to see us both glued to the TV set.

Seeing something he never did before, and probably never will again, Nate chuckled as he walked in asking, "What's going on?" I had tears in my eyes, Tony's face was red as a fire hydrant, both of us said, "We're under attack...!"

He asked, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?" I said, "Sit down and watch!"

We saw people jumping from the building, we saw people screaming, crying, running, and collapsing. We saw heroes spring to their feet in action. Then I asked, "Is it the tears in my eyes or the cameraman's shakey hands? It looks like that building (the first tower) is swaying. Is it going to fall?"

Nathan, a rather intelligent young fellow with a background in commercial construction replied, "Sue, those buildings are made of the highest grade steel framing. They were designed by some of the world's brightest engineers. The chance of them falling are very remote!"

The words no sooner left his mouth as we watched the upper floors fold into the burning rubble that once stood proudly in the World's Financial district.

I said nothing else!

My eyes, once again filled with tears as I turned and walked back to my desk to get the washroom key.

Although we continued to watch the footage the remainder of the day, the three of us spoke very little. We later learned of the wayward United Flight 93 that left it's course and slammed into the Pennsylvania farm field.

Although all 3 of us were born after World War II, we all understood the meaning of Roosevelt's words after December 7, 1941. Perhaps they were JUST WORDS, but now theire meaning was even more comprehensive.

September 11, 2001, is truly A DAY THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY!
________________________
On the morning of September 12th, the boys & I again proceeded with our morning routine. I will never forget the events of the preceeding day. Big John Howle opened dialog that morning with, "Please allow me to formally apologize for my sudden outburst, and poor choice of words, yesterday."

His voice filled with tears, he added "I spoke my true feelings, and I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I remain steadfast in my beliefs, and the perpetrators of this horrible act must be punished. I apologize not for the way I feel, but just for my choice of words. Thank you to all of our listeners who understand. Please forgive me."
_________________________
by Suzanne Dara Williams


Cite as: Suzanne Dara Williams, Story #41395, The September 11 Digital Archive, 28 August 2007, <http://911digitalarchive.org/stories/details/41395>.
Archival Information: 1283 words, 7243 characters
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