On September 11, 2001, I was working at New North Network as a web designer. My work neighbor walked up the stairs, and I could see she was distressed. I asked her what was wrong. She looked at me and said, “A plane just hit the World Trade Center!” I was in shock. I asked her to repeat herself, and she said that she was just in the conference room and they had the TV on, and on the news, they showed that a plane hit the World Trade Center. I ran downstairs and into the conference room to see the same scene as she described. My eyes were glued to Good Morning America as the anchors were trying to make sense out of the situation, and they showed live footage of the World Trade Center, and there on live television, I saw the second plane hit the other building. All I could do was slump down into the chair I was standing near in disbelief. We all just sat in silence watching this on the television. No work was done that day. We stayed in the conference room, just staring in disbelief.

For me, 9/11 made me think of when I lived in New York City. When I stood on the roof of the World Trade Center, looking around at the city. My mother was visiting New York City, so we went around the city, and she took a lot of pictures. I don’t remember who took what pictures around the city, but I remember how it felt to be up there looking around at the city. It wasn’t as part of a tour; it was just me, my mother, Carmen Galdos, and her son Rey Mangual. Carmen worked in the building at a major telephone company, and I had asked her if there was any way we could go to the roof.

In 2001, my mind thought of all the friends I met and knew there, and I wanted to reach out to them to make sure they were okay. I called Carmen, Raja Mansour, and Stephen Yang, or at least tried to; the phone lines were crazy at the time with all the chaos. Was able to talk to Carmen the same day and found out she was safe. My friend Stephen called me to let me know that his flight was grounded in Kentucky and that he was safe. It took me a couple of days to reach Raja, but I was relieved when he did contact me, and I knew he was safe.

I didn’t know anyone who died on September 11, 2001, but it still hit me like a ton of bricks. The Twin Towers or World Trade Center, which I stood on top of the roof and overlooked the city, no longer stand. Countless lives were taken along with firefighters, police, and rescue workers.

Deaths By Location

• World Trade Center (New York City):
  • About 2,753 deaths (including those in the towers, the surrounding area, and first responders).
• Pentagon (Arlington, Virginia):
  • 184 deaths (125 inside the Pentagon + 59 passengers/crew from American Airlines Flight 77).
• Shanksville, Pennsylvania (Flight 93 crash):
  • 40 passengers and crew.

Deaths By Occupation/Group

• First Responders:
  • 343 firefighters (FDNY)
  • 23 NYPD officers
  • 37 Port Authority police officers
  • 8 EMTs/paramedics
• Military Personnel (Pentagon):
  • 55 military members were killed in the Pentagon attack.
• Airline Passengers and Crew:
  • 246 total on the four planes (all killed).
• Civilians in towers and the surrounding area:
  • Roughly 2,000+, including office workers, contractors, and visitors.