The terrorists hit the towers and the pentagon. I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was working in sothern california. That particular morning I was driving my 1974 Ford Bronco from Glendora to the business office in El Segundo. I had just merged into the right lane of the west bound I-210 to get ready for the I-605 south exit when the talk show I was listening to was interrupted by a breaking news cast. “An airliner has just hit the world trade center”. Of course none of the reporters could figure out what was going on. Announcing that it was a tragic accident. I can’t remember how long it was after that, but it only seemed like a minute or two, when they announced the second attack. Accident my ass! Right then, right there, I knew all of our lives would never be the same again.
Then came the reports of the tower collapsing. I was so overwhelmed hearing the report that I had to pull over to the side of the road. I could see alot of other people doing the same thing. For a while, I actually considered going back home. Then came the news of the Pentagon and the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. So I continued the rest of my 2 1/2 hour drive (to go 45 miles).
Our business office was only a mile or so south of LAX. I pulled the bronco into the parking garage, drove to the very top. When I shut off the engine and got out, the silence was deafening. Normally looking east from LAX on a clear day, you can see aircraft lined up on final approach 30-60 seconds apart as far as the eye can see. That day, there was not an aircraft in the sky. Something that I hope I will never see again in my lifetime. There was no roar of a 747 throttling up for take-off, no sounds of an Airbus engaging it’s reverse thrusters on landing. No turbo-props spinning. Not even the high pitch whine of jet engines on a 737 taxiing to the ramp. Just silence.
Never Forget!
-Thomas
