My name is Adam Mayblum. I am alive today. I am committing this to
"paper" so I never forget. SO WE NEVER FORGET. I am sure that this is one of
thousands of stories that will emerge over the next several days and
weeks.
I arrived as usual a little before 8am. My office was on the 87th
floor of 1 World Trade Center, AKA: Tower 1, AKA: the North Tower. Most of my
associates were in by 8:30m. We were standing around, joking around,
eating breakfast, checking emails, and getting set for the day when
the first plane hit just a few stories above us. I must stress that we did
not know that it was a plane. The building lurched violently and shook as
if it were an earthquake. People screamed. I watched out my window as the
building seemed to move 10 to 20 feet in each direction. It rumbled
and shook long enough for me to get my wits about myself and grab a
co-worker and seek shelter under a doorway. Light fixtures and parts of the
ceiling collapsed. The kitchen was destroyed. We were certain that it was a
bomb.
We looked out the windows. Reams of paper were flying everywhere, like
a ticker tape parade. I looked down at the street. I could see people in
Battery Park City looking up. Smoke started billowing in through the
holes in the ceiling. I believe that there were 13 of us.
We did not panic. I can only assume that we thought that the worst was
over. The building was standing and we were shaken but alive. We
checked the halls. The smoke was thick and white and did not smell like I
imagined smoke should smell. Not like your BBQ or your fireplace or even a
bonfire.
The phones were working. My wife had taken our 9 month old for his
check up. I called my nanny at home and told her to page my wife, tell her
that a bomb went off, I was ok, and on my way out. I grabbed my laptop.
Took off my tee shirt and ripped it into 3 pieces. Soaked it in water. Gave
2 pieces to my friends. Tied my piece around my face to act as an air
filter. And we all started moving to the staircase. One of my dearest
friends said that he was staying until the police or firemen came to
get him. In the halls there were tiny fires and sparks. The ceiling had
collapsed in the men's bathroom. It was gone along with anyone who may
have been in there. We did not go in to look. We missed the staircase
on the first run and had to double back. Once in the staircase we picked
up fire extinguishers just incase. On the 85th floor a brave associate of
mine and I headed back up to our office to drag out my partner who
stayed behind. There was no air, just white smoke.
We made the rounds through the office calling his name. No response. He must have succumbed to the
smoke. We left defeated in our efforts and made our way back to the
stairwell. We proceeded to the 78th floor where we had to change over to a different
stairwell. 78 is the main junction to switch to the upper floors. I expected to see more people. There were some 50 to 60 more. Not enough.
Wires and fires all over the place. Smoke too. A brave man was
fighting a fire with the emergency hose. I stopped with two friends to make sure
that everyone from our office was accounted for. We ushered them and
confused people into the stairwell. In retrospect, I recall seeing Harry, my
head trader, doing the same several yards behind me. I am only 35. I have
known him for over 14 years. I headed into the stairwell with 2 friends.
We were moving down very orderly in Stair Case A. very slowly. No
panic. At least not over panic. My legs could not stop shaking. My heart was
pounding. Some nervous jokes and laughter. I made a crack about
ruining a brand new pair of Merrells. Even still, they were right, my feet felt
great. We all laughed. We checked our cell phones. Surprisingly, there
was a very good signal, but the Sprint network was jammed. I heard that
the Blackberry 2 way email devices worked perfectly. On the phones, 1 out
of 20 dial attempts got through.
I knew I could not reach my wife so I
called my parents. I told them what happened and that we were all okay and on
the way down. Soon, my sister in law reached me. I told her we were fine
and moving down. I believe that was about the 65th floor. We were bored
and nervous. I called my friend Angel in San Francisco. I knew he would be
watching. He was amazed I was on the phone. He told me to get out that
there was another plane on its way. I did not know what he was talking
about. By now the second plane had struck Tower 2. We were so deep
into the middle of our building that we did not hear or feel anything. We
had no idea what was really going on. We kept making way for wounded to go
down ahead of us. Not many of them, just a few. No one seemed
seriously wounded. Just some cuts and scrapes. Everyone cooperated. Everyone was
a hero yesterday. No questions asked. I had co-workers in another office
on the 77th floor. I tried dozens of times to get them on their cell
phones or office lines. It was futile. Later I found that they were alive.
One of the many miracles on a day of tragedy.
On the 53rd floor we came across a very heavyset man sitting on the
stairs. I asked if he needed help or was he just resting. He needed
help.
I knew I would have trouble carrying him because I have a very bad
back. But my friend and I offered anyway. We told him he could lean on us.
He hesitated, I don't know why. I said do you want to come or do you want
us to send help for you. He chose for help. I told him he was on the 53rd
floor in Stairwell A and that's what I would tell the rescue workers.
He said okay and we left.
On the 44th floor my phone rang again. It was my parents. They were
hysterical. I said relax, I'm fine. My father said get out, there is
third plane coming. I still did not understand. I was kind of angry. What
did my parents think? Like I needed some other reason to get going? I
couldn't move the thousand people in front of me any faster. I know they love
me, but no one inside understood what the situation really was. My parents
did. Starting around this floor the firemen, policemen, WTC K-9 units
without the dogs, anyone with a badge, started coming up as we were
heading down. I stopped a lot of them and told them about the man on
53 and my friend on 87. I later felt terrible about this. They headed up
to find those people and met death instead.
On the 33rd floor I spoke with a man who somehow knew most of the
details. He said 2 small planes hit the building. Now we all started talking
about which terrorist group it was. Was it an internal organization or an
external one? The overwhelming but uninformed opinion was Islamic
Fanatics. Regardless, we now knew that it was not a bomb and there
were potentially more planes coming. We understood.
On the 3r floor the lights went out and we heard & felt this rumbling coming towards us from above. I thought the staircase was collapsing
upon itself. It was 10am now and that was Tower 2 collapsing next door. We
did not know that. Someone had a flashlight. We passed it forward and left
the stairwell and headed down a dark and cramped corridor to an exit. We
could not see at all. I recommended that everyone place a hand on the
shoulder of the person in front of them and call out if they hit an obstacle so
others would know to avoid it. They did. It worked perfectly.
We
reached another stairwell and saw a female officer emerge soaking wet and
covered in soot. She said we could not go that way it was blocked. Go up to 4
and use the other exit. Just as we started up she said it was ok to go
down instead. There was water everywhere. I called out for hands on
shoulders again and she said that was a great idea. She stayed behind
instructing people to do that. I do not know what happened to her.
We emerged into an enormous room. It was light but filled with smoke.
I commented to a friend that it must be under construction. Then we
realized where we were. It was the second floor. The one that overlooks the
lobby.
We were ushered out into the courtyard, the one where the fountain
used to be. My first thought was of a TV movie I saw once about nuclear winter
and fallout. I could not understand where all of the debris came from.
There was at least five inches of this gray pasty dusty drywall soot on the
ground as well as a thickness of it in the air. Twisted steel and
wires. I heard there were bodies and body parts as well, but I did not look. It
was bad enough.
We hid under the remaining overhangs and moved out to the
street. We were told to keep walking towards Houston Street. The odd
thing is that there were very few rescue workers around. Less than five.
They all must have been trapped under the debris when Tower 2 fell. We did
not know that and could not understand where all of that debris came from.
It was just my friend Kern and I now. We were hugging but sad. We felt
certain that most of our friends ahead of us died and we knew no one
behind us.
We came upon a post office several blocks away. We stopped and looked
up. Our building, exactly where our office is (was), was engulfed in flame
and smoke. A postal worker said that Tower 2 had fallen down. I looked
again and sure enough it was gone.
My heart was racing. We kept trying to
call our families. I could not get in touch with my wife. Finally I got
through to my parents. Relieved is not the word to explain their feelings. They
got through to my wife, thank God and let her know I was alive. We sat
down. A girl on a bike offered us some water. Just as she took the cap off her
bottle we heard a rumble. We looked up and our building, Tower 1
collapsed. I did not note the time but I am told it was 10:30am. We
had been out less than 15 minutes.
We were mourning our lost friends, particularly the one who stayed in
the office as we were now sure that he had perished. We started walking
towards Union Square. I was going to Beth Israel Medical Center to be
looked at. We stopped to hear the President speaking on the radio. My
phone rang. It was my wife. I think I fell to my knees crying when I
heard her voice. Then she told me the most incredible thing. My partner who
had stayed behind called her. He was alive and well. I guess we just lost
him in the commotion. We started jumping and hugging and shouting.
I told
my wife that my brother had arranged for a hotel in midtown. He can be
very resourceful in that way. I told her I would call her from there. My
brother and I managed to get a gypsy cab to take us home to
Westchester instead.
I cried on my son and held my wife until I fell asleep.
As it turns out my partner, the one who I thought had stayed behind
was behind us with Harry Ramos, our head trader. This is now second hand
information. They came upon Victor, the heavyset man on the 53rd
floor. They helped him. He could barely move. My partner bravely/stupidly
tested the elevator on the 52nd floor. He rode it down to the sky lobby on
44. The doors opened, it was fine. He rode it back up and got Harry and
Victor. I don't yet know if anyone else joined them. Once on 44 they
made their way back into the stairwell. Someplace around the 39th to 36th
floors they felt the same rumble I felt on the 3rd floor. It was 10am
and Tower 2 was coming down. They had about 30 minutes to get out. Victor
said he could no longer move. They offered to have him lean on them. He
said he couldn't do it. My partner hollered at him to sit on his butt and
schooch down the steps. He said he was not capable of doing it. Harry told my
partner to go ahead of them. Harry had once had a heart attack and was
worried about this mans heart. It was his nature to be this way. He
was/is one of the kindest people I know. He would not leave a man behind. My
partner went ahead and made it out. He said he was out maybe 10
minutes before the building came down. This means that Harry had maybe 25
minutes to move Victor 36 floors.
I guess they moved 1 floor every 1.5 minutes. Just a guess. This means
Harry was around the 20th floor when the building collapsed. As of now
12 of 13 people are accounted for. As of 6pm yesterday his wife had not
heard from him. I fear that Harry is lost. However, a short while ago I
heard that he may be alive. Apparently there is a web site with survivor
names on it and his name appears there. Unfortunately, Ramos is not an
uncommon name in New York. Pray for him and all those like him.
With regards to the firemen heading upstairs, I realize that they were
going up anyway. But, it hurts to know that I may have made them move
quicker to find my friend. Rationally, I know this is not true and
that I am not the responsible one. The responsible ones are in hiding
somewhere on this planet and damn them for making me feel like this. But they
should know that they failed in terrorizing us. We were calm. Those men and
women that went up were heroes in the face of it all. They must have known
what was going on and they did their jobs. Ordinary people were heroes too.
Today the images that people around the world equate with power and
democracy are gone but "America" is not an image it is a concept. That
concept is only strengthened by our pulling together as a team. If you
want to kill us, leave us alone because we will do it by ourselves. If
you want to make us stronger, attack and we unite. This is the ultimate
failure of terrorism against The United States and the ultimate price
we pay to be free, to decide where we want to work, what we want to eat,
and when & where we want to go on vacation.
The very moment the first
plane was hijacked, democracy won...
~Adam Mayblum
If you want to forward this page
email
it to a friend.
