A young teenager, aged 15, writes of what he witnessed on September 11, 2001. (He lives in New York City, New York; he is the real-life older brother of Johnny Sandusky. He was adopted by a family named Trachtenheimer.)
He lived several blocks away from the World Trade Center Towers; he had a good view of them from his apartment.
Many people, upon finding out that I make my home in New York City, ask me if I "saw anything" when America was attacked on September 11, 2001. The answer? Yes, I did, and it was something I will probably never get over as long as I live.
It had been a normal Tuesday morning; I got up before seven, to get ready for school, and I had taken a shower and washed and moussed my hair and had then gotten dressed; and I was in the kitchen, fixing myself a glass of grape juice and getting a bagel; and I sat down to wait for the bus, which came about about eight/eight thirty. The day, as I recollect, was absolutely perfect: pristine blue sky, low humidity; a perfect late summer day. There was absolutely NO warning whatsoever of the horror that was soon to take place. (I went to a private school, and school started at nine sharp. It started later than most "standard" junior or high schools.) Well, I was sitting there, at the table, when about a quarter of nine, there was this loud, loud roaring sound and then, immediately after, a HUGE deafening explosion. When I jumped out to look out of the window of our studio apartment, I was shocked to see that one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centers was now ablaze. I didn't know what had happened; but it scared the living hell out of me.
I then heard the keening sirens from ambulances, firetrucks, and police vehicles; and they were on their way to the Twin Towers. Something MAJOR had happened, and I didn't know what had happened; but I knew in my gut that it was bad. Very bad. Then, a few minutes later, I saw a large plane, and the plane was flying too low; and--it flew right into the second tower of the World Trade Centers. There was a huge explosion and a horrifying red-orange ball of fire; and then, people started running for cover. I still didn't know what had happened, only that a plane had run into the Trade Towers (the other tower was still ablaze), and I didn't know why this had happened. But what I had seen sickened me, and it was all I could do to keep from throwing up my breakfast.
Right after that, the bus came; so I didn't get to find out anything. I got to school about nine, and everyone was upset. That was when someone had told me that we had just been attacked by foreign terrorists. The tv at school had the news coverage of the event, and horror of all horrors, the news cameras were showing replays of the planes flying into the two twin towers, the scene of people trying to run away from the twin towers to safety, and most horrific of all, scenes of bodies flying out of windows at the inpact of the explosions and also when the buildings were on fire, and then the sight of the bodies bursting apart as they made contact with the ground. The sight absolutely sickened me, and when it came to be too much for me, I threw up, right there in my classroom. I was sure that people had been killed inside the buildings, in addition to those who had jumped to escape the flames. (Boy, some choice THEY had, huh? Jump or burn to death.)
Of course, everyone was talking about what had happened only about 20-25 minutes earlier; and nobody was in the mood to go to class; they also wanted to know who was responsible for the attack; the news casters were saying that it was a suspected terror attack.
About nine thirty, the principal came onto the mic, and he said that America had been attacked by terrorists from some Middle Eastern nation, and that the Pentagon in Washington D.C. had also been hit, and it was now on fire, too. My stomach nearly fell to my toes when I heard the news. Then he came back on a few minutes later, and he said that school was being cancelled; and one of the towers had just collapsed into a heap of rubble. He then told us to go on to safety.
We left the school building, and we took off running towards the Brooklyn Bridge; and the bridge was nothing but a sea of crying, scared, and screaming people. We didn't dare look back at the calamity that was currently unfolding in the heart of Manhattan. We just wanted to get to safety as quickly as possible.
I ended up in New Jersey, at my aunt Tommie's place; and when she saw me, she took me in her arms and started crying. She kept asking me if I was okay; but I told her I wasn't, as I had seen the attacks; and I also had seen things I should have never seen, like the bodies falling and then bursting apart when they hit the ground. I told her about the South Tower being on fire, and then seeing the plane hit the other tower in a huge fireball; and also told her about all the people running for cover.
She then told me some news that made this seem like a reaccurring nightmare, a nightmare that didn't seem real; but unfortunately, it WAS: she told me that both of the twin towers of the World Trade Centers had just collapsed, and there was a huge loss of life. She also told me about the Pentagon, and then the plane that had gone down in the field in Pennsylvania. More people were killed there, too. She said that this was probably the worst disaster ever to hit our country ever since Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. She said the news people were saying that the death toll from the attacks were probably in the thousands.
I then started crying, and I called my little brother, Johnny, but there was no answer when I tried to call. There was nothing but a busy signal. I was hoping he was okay; he was only 8, and I was only 13 then. I was worried about him because Johnny has muscular dystrophy, and he is in a wheelchair.
It ended up that we didn't go back to school until the following Monday (the 17th); and the mood was still quite somber. Everyone was affected by the tragedy, and some of the kids had lost loved ones or friends. I didn't lose anyone, but I still felt horrible about what had happened. In one terrifying instant, our country was forever changed, and we were now on the brink of impending war.
Many people, upon finding out that I make my home in New York City, ask me if I "saw anything" when America was attacked on September 11, 2001. The answer? Yes, I did, and it was something I will probably never get over as long as I live.
