As a New Yorker, September 11th, 2001 will always hit home for me. I worked as a systems engineer for Nortel at the time, a global telecommunications manufacturer, and worked from home that day because my Mom couldn’t watch my 14 month old daughter. I had a 9am call with one of my customers Deutsch Bank, whose office was at 7 World Trade Center. I joined a little late because I was changing my daughter’s diaper. I joined at 9:02 and heard them talking about a plane that just hit 1 World Trade Center. At the time they were speculating about what happened and they asked me to turn on the news to find out the details. As soon as I turned on the TV I saw 2 World Trade Center get hit by a second plane. I immediately told the Deutsch Bank crew that I thought that this was an attack and that they should leave immediately. Their building, 7 World Trade, was across the street from the twin towers and when 2 World Trade Center fell, it landed on 7 World Trade.
We ended the meeting immediately, and while my daughter obliviously played at my feet, I watched the television with my mouth open, not believing what I was watching. I tried to call my wife who worked in midtown Manhattan and my brother who work in downtown Manhattan, a few blocks from the Trade Center, with no success because all the telephone lines were busy. Later in the day I finally heard from my wife who was trying to find the best way to get home because the city’s public transportation was shut down. My brother was busy running in the streets trying to dodge the massive dust cloud created when the buildings collapsed but I eventually heard from him later that night. Both were fine.
I and a few other engineers were called in that Thursday by Nortel to assist in New York City’s recovery. The New York City Government including the Office Of the Mayor, NYC DOITT (Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications), and The NYC Office of Emergency Management, were Nortel customers. Nortel also served the NYC financial sector including, the New York Stock Exchange, Deutsch Bank and a host of the other financials. I’ll never forget the experience of being stationed at, a then secret location, where all the City and government agencies including the military were working while we engineers supported the telecommunications there. We were in a pier next to the ship, Intrepid, and it was harrowing seeing a soldier on the ship manning the large guns, patrolling the skies and the sea. I remember being transported with sirens blaring down the west side highway to a meeting to discuss how we were going to get the voice communications back online for the Stock Exchange by that Monday because as a country we needed to show the world we were back in business and not deterred by the attack.
I lost friends that day. As a tribute to them I am posting some of their pictures here. They went to work that day thinking it would be like any other day but never went home again. Their families never saw them again.
My friend Jerome Nedd who I went to the City College of New York with, we were on the track team together and kept in touch after school. He went to culinary school after and the last time I saw him he told me about a new job he was starting as a chef at the Windows of the World, a high end restaurant on the top floor of 1 World Trade. He was so excited. It was his dream job. I am convinced that an iconic picture of a very tall person falling head first from 1 World Trade was him. It fit his profile exactly.
My next set of friends, I met at Fiduciary Trust International. It was my second job after college and I was a telecom analyst. It was located on the 97th, 98th, and 99th floors of 2 World Trade Center. I often looked out the window and was amazed at how high I worked. I often saw clouds and small planes flying lower than the buildings and wondered what would happen if a plane accidentally hit the building. I left in 1992 well before the attacks but still had many friends and acquaintances who worked there. Along with the 87 from that company who were killed that day were Kathleen Burns, Pedro Checo, Shimmy Biegeleisen, Rita Blau, and Susan Getzendanner. I can’t help sometimes imagining the horror of them being trapped that high because the plane hit beneath those floors.
September 11th, 2001 is an emotional day for me. It was an unbelievably tragic day. A day I will never forget and these are people that I refuse to forget. May their families be continually comforted.
As we continue to move on after this day, especially in the politically charged time that we live, let us please remember these words.
“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” President Harry S. Truman
“Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11.” President Barack Obama
In Memoriam
Edward Odom
