~~~FICTIONIZED ACCOUNT ~~~

Witness: I cannot believe it. Shit, I cannot believe it. (Sobs)

Reporter: What did you see?

Witness: I was right there, man, right there! I had just gotten
off of the subway, was runnin late to work...I work at
the Trade Towers. Anyway, I'm about three blocks
away, and I hear this...ungodly...ROARING noise...I'm
thinkin, shit, that plane's awful freakin low, ya know?
I look up...and that's when it buried itself into the side
of the north Tower. Right into the freakin side! The
freakin thing went...THROUGH...the Tower.

Reporter: Then what?

Witness: All of this shit started comin out of the building.
Smoke. Glass. Papers. I don't know what all...I just
stood there. What the hell had just happened? I
thought it was an accident. Planes fly around the
buildings all the time...thought one ran into the Tower
by accident. It happens, ya know. Peoples just
standin on the street, lookin up, ya know...confused.
Then...you could see people jumpin out of the Tower.
Not one. More than one...many. You could see some
of 'em holdin hands...men. Women. I couldn't watch
no more...I hadda turn away.

Reporter: Mmm-hmmm...

Witness: Then there's another roar. Awww, SHIT. Not again...
another plane, a BIG 'un, went and hit the second
Tower. Buried itself in...that's when I knew it was no
accident. We were under attack--in our own country!
Shit...more smoke, fire, glass. Paper. You couldn't
believe the amount of paperwork...like at a freakin
parade. Like ticker-tape, confetti. Shit. That's when
I left...couldn't hang around no more.

Reporter: Did you see the Towers fall?

Witness: (sobbing) I walked away from there...was headin
North...and I ain't alone, there's hundreds of people
walkin with me...no one's sayin much, some are tryin
to use their cell phones, can't get 'em to workin, i'm
worried about my own wife and kids, ya know...i'd left
my freakin phone at home, how am i gonna get ahold
of them? The people ain't talkin much, some's cryin.
All of a sudden, someone gasps...I turn around...the
South Tower's fallin...not over. Straight down. I'm
about 20 blocks away, but you could still see the
Towers. You could see 'em all over the city, all over
Manhattan, anyway. Unless trees blocked your view,
ya know. Then, not long afterwards, the second one
collapsed. Fell straight down, like its twin. Ya know, it
took years for them to build them buildings, seemed
like seconds, and they was gone...didn't take no time
for them to fall. (Heavy sigh)



Reporter: What was it like?

Witness: You don't wanna know...all this...cloud...like thick,
thick smoky cloud...like volcanic ash...what do they
call it, plastic?? Something like that...anyway, this
ash cloud, like the one ya saw at Mount Saint Helen's
come rushin out of there, movin fast, man, there's
nothin else you can see, just this...cloud...chasin
peoples down the street. It got dark, like night...like
midnight, almost. Shit, it was so hard to breath...I got
to coughing, thought I'd cough my lungs up. Nasty
taste in my mouth...I'd spit and I'd spit, couldn't get
rid of the taste. Felt like I'd inhaled half the cloud into
my lungs. Burned? Shit, you bet it did...like my lungs
was on fire. So hard to breathe...walkin in the dark,
tryin' to find some light, it was so hard...I don't smoke,
never have, felt like I'd smoked a million cigarettes, it
was hard to move, least little movement, I could
hardly breathe; felt like an old, old man. Scared the
shit outta me, ya know?

Reporter: Did you see any of the firemen?

Witness: My brother's a firefighter. Fightin Dragons. Thank
God, thank God, he's in Hawaii this week, him and his
wife both, she's just found out she's pregnant, they go
to Hawaii every year, this year they got somethin to
celebrate, ya know? My first nephew...I saw many of
the firetrucks and police cars and ambulances headin
toward the Towers when they was attacked, seemed
like all of the firefighters and cops in the city was goin
to help out. Ambulances by the hundreds, it seemed.
Naw, like I said, after the second plane hit, I got outta
there, hear a lot of them lost their lives...man, I feel
for them, they never had a chance. My brother's a
firefighter, did I already say that? (Breaks down) It
coulda been him in there...

Reporter: Have you spoken to your wife and kids yet?

Witness: Yeah, finally, about six hours later, someone loaned
me their cell phone, I got ahold of her...all I could do
was tell her I loved her, I loved her, I musta told her
that a billion times!! Ya know? Told her to tell the kids
I'm okay, they got on the phone, ya could hear them
cryin and shoutin and screamin and all. They was glad
their old man's okay, ya know? Finally got home...first
thing I did was hug my wife like I'm never gonna let
go, second thing, I hug and kiss my kids like I ain't
never done before, third thing is take the longest bath
of my life!! Tried to lay down, all I could see was the
planes hittin over and over again, the Towers fallin...I
don't think I'll ever get that outta my mind, ya know?
The people jumpin...shit. Don't think I'll ever get to
sleep again, ya know?