• On The Green - Sept 21, 2001

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Where were you on 9/11?

Stories from the Gallaudet Community

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I was living in northeast Ohio at the time and was driving to work in western Pennsylvania at the time. I had awoken that morning and didn't feel good at all, like I had a slight flu or something. I called to cancel an appointment I had for later in the day with my chiropractor when he told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I was incredulous. I rushed to work where I supervised 2 day-treatment programs for emotionally troubled kids in separate schools. By the time I arrived, the second tower had been struck. I called my family and close friends to tell them, knowing that none of them pay a bit of attention to the news and would probably not find out any other way. A large group of staff and teachers funneled in and out of the staff lounges to watch the shocking tragedy unfold. I talked with each of my staff members about the best way to share this news with the students. We decided that we would wait until we were certain the immediate danger of planes crashing nearby was over and the "facts" surfaced before debriefing the students.

A report came out that a plane had crashed in western Pennsylvania about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. Since our two schools fell within that radius, we had new worries of possible family members being killed in that crash. Hearing that Flight 93 had crashed in Somerset, PA, (which was actually an hour east of Pittsburgh not west, as we were) we all breathed a momentary sigh of relief that was caught in our throats by the collapse of the first building. My earlier feeling of having the flu began to intensify as I pictured the tens of thousands of people who apparently had just perished in that collapse. After the second tower fell and the FAA issued a statement that all planes in United States airspace were officially grounded, we sat down with the teenagers in the high school and explained to them what had been transpiring in the world. Maybe it was shock or the fact that we were 400 miles away from New York, but the students seemed barely fazed by the news. I left to go to the middle school where my second day treatment program operated. The counselors and I described the events of the morning with the students who seemed unable to grasp the magnitude of the tragedy. I received a message from the school principal to come to her office immediately. As I entered her office, she informed me that a bomb threat had been called into the school and that they would need to evacuate the building. Since my students rode special bussing, they would be removed first. After we notified parents and evacuated the building, my sick feeling got worse and I realized that I was experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack.

I drove home and took some nitroglycerine (I had had heart palpitations in the past so I had a prescription for it). The nitro helped me to feel better physically, but I knew that meant that my heart was really involved. I drove to my church to put a note on the door that I was canceling choir rehearsal for that evening. Walking to the church from my car and back left my chest in tremendous pain. I immediately headed for the hospital. As it turned out, I was, in fact, having a minor heart attack. I was admitted to the hospital and scheduled for a heart catheterization the next day. Since I was confined to my bed, all I could do was watch TV. The TV channels were, of course, plastered with news about the attacks, and I couldn't watch anything without seeing the planes hit the towers over and over again. Then I found the Food Network, and all that changed.

A few days later, I checked out of the hospital with a stent in my heart and a notebook full of good recipes!

I'll never forget the pronounced feeling that our lives would never again be the same.

Matt Rider
Personal Counselor
Kendall Demonstration Elementary School

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I was going to Baruch College in New York City. It was the beginning of the fall semester of my second year. I had a class at 9 30 AM. I was on the subway. I do remember listening to my cd player holding the guardrail. The train was going over the Williamsburg Bridge. From my left eye, I could see smoke in the air. I could see it was coming from lower Manhattan. I said to myself, a fire going on in one of those buildings. The train stopped moving for a while. I could see the other commuters staring out the window. Many of them were on their cell phones, I could sense panic on some of their faces. It was about 8:55 AM. I remember being anxious because I wanted to grab breakfast before class. Finally the train moved. I got to my subway exit. I ran to class, barely making it on-time. One of my interpreters paged me and said she would not be able to make it, the train won't go over Manhattan Bridge. I told my two interpreters for my 9:30 am class that something is going on because my interpreter for my noon class can't reach Manhattan. We left it alone. Class ended at 10:45 am, as we were leaving the building we saw many students watching TV. The program had no captioning. My interpreter started signing... that is the first time I ever heard of the word terrorism. From that day forward, New York City changed. I was unsure of what to do. My interpreters and I decided to go to the nearest Red Cross to draw blood. We waited on line for a couple hours before deciding we had to leave. I went to my mom's job and she was happy to see me. For the rest of that day, my parents and I watched the news as we repeatedly watch the famous scene of the plane flying through the World Trade Center.

This is my story, I'm a true New Yorker. Born and raised.

Carlos Aponte, Jr

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I remember 9/11 very well as I had graduated from Gallaudet exactly 4 months earlier. I was home in IL visiting family before leaving for Kenya to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

At 7am CST, I dropped my mother off at work and drove to a strip mall to gather "American goodies" to bring with me to Africa. At 8am CST, the store was "reasonably" quiet - or so I thought. I returned home to find the phone flashing. It was my mother. "Pick me up now, please. Something has happened." Intrigued, I drove out to pick her up. On the way to her workplace, I turned on the radio. Instead of reverberating bass, I felt nothing. I changed the frequency and still. nothing! And another....and NOTHING! I figured it must have been the news hour.

I didn't find out what type of "news" until my mother came rushing out of her suburban-located federal building. My mother, who has a tendency of exaggerating a little, said "An airplane flew into the Twin Towers."

I wasn't sure if I should believe her. So, as we drove home, I borrowed her Wyndtell pager to send messages to several Gallaudet students. I couldn't believe what they had told me!

The trip home had been eerie as there were very few cars on the road. When we got home, we turned on the TV and our jaws dropped! Videos and photos flashed on our TV as we waited for updated information.

Because of 9/11, I left for Kenya 4 weeks later than scheduled .In fact, my group almost couldn't leave for Kenya because of post-9/11 developments. Lugging our heavy bags, we boarded a bus that was to take us to Dulles International Airport. After getting settled in our seats, a nervous-looking Peace Corps official climbed on the bus and told us that we might not be able to leave for Kenya. The Afghanistan war had recently started and could be a problem as we travel many hours to reach the African continent. Luckily, we finally got the "go-ahead" and were able to leave for the airport.

Joan-na Roang '01 & soon to be G'07

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I was driving down New York Avenue at around 9:45am on my way to Gallaudet with my pregnant wife. I had noticed smoke billowing in the sky, unaware it was from the Pentagon. Upon arrival on campus, a friend of mine who was a CRE at that time rushed to me and dragged me into one of the offices where the TV was on the WTC towers. I was shocked beyond words. Then at that moment, I got a pager message from Dr. Fernandes calling me to an emergency CMT meeting (I was the SBG president that time), and from there, the whole day was a blur. I had my SBG staff coordinate a response to the student body on campus TV, ensured commuter students had a way home safely, and just spent the whole day on my feet, making sure that the students were okay. My mom paged me several times during the day, imploring me to "get out of D.C." for fear of my safety. I never felt unsafe that day, knowing that I'd be okay, but mourning for the lives lost that day. I never got home until 10pm that night, along with my exhausted pregnant wife.

Chris Kaftan, '02, G-'06
MSSD Social Studies Teacher
SBG President 2001-2002

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At end of my early dental appointment, I got on HOV 395 North to DC past the Pentagon five minutes before a plane crashed into the Pentagon. I parked my car in the Conference garage and walked to the Peikoff Alumni House. My administrative secretary/interpreter Bobbie Boswell heard me open the back door and she approached me to go to the lunch room to watch tv. I saw breaking news on TV about the Pentagon and NYC Towers. I was in disbelief because I was enrouting to work before it happened. I waited til after 2 p.m., I drove home on 295 South as 395 South was closed and I could smell and see black smoke in the gray/white sky. I bited my nails fearing that I would be in a bad traffic for an unusual length of time but it only took 25 minutes to get home. I hugged my children (ages 12, 12, and 10) and we discussed and watched tv about the 9/11 terrorism with another family in the neighborhood. A boy from the neighbor family had his birthday on that day and his father was in the Army overseas. We spontaneously planned a birthday dinner feast for the boy.

Daphne E. Cox

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I was doing my practicum at KDES (Kendall).

I was there all day with the students/staff, offering support, etc. I did not leave there until some time in the afternoon, after all of the students had been picked up by their parents. As I were driving back home to Alexandria, VA on I-395, I had to pass the Pentagon. I was truly the only person on the interstate at that time because noone was able to drive into the city, only out of the city. I was driving home on 395 and all I saw was a huge cloud of black smoke coming from the Pentagon. All I could do was cry the whole way home. It was so hard to pass the Pentagon and see that! It was a moment that I will never forget in my mind. Terrible!

Heidi Z. Camacho, M.A., NCC, LPC
MSSD Personal Counselor: Freshman

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On that fateful day, I was a junior student at Gallaudet. I hail from northern NJ, so I've grown up seeing the World Trade Center pretty often, and once went to the top of the South Tower and saw the incredible views. It literally felt as if I was on top of the world.

On September 11, 2001, that morning began like any other. I woke up around 8 am in Carlin Hall, went to take my shower, leaving my TV on for the news. I always begin my morning with the news. I didn't have a class until 9:30am in Fowler Hall. Then just after I was done getting dressed, it was about 8:50am, the CNN went to breaking news then I saw my first view of WTC, with thick smoke billowing from the North Tower... I was shocked, and at the time, reporters were saying maybe it was an accident, the plane's controls perhaps getting jammed or something.... I watched with a wretched heart. Then shortly, I saw an airplane coming from behind in the live view on TV. At first, I thought it was just a plane in the background passing by, but it didn't. Then suddenly I saw the top part of the South Tower explode and I was utterly horrified and I literally fell on my bed in shock. It looked too deliberate. I immediately went online on my laptop and emailed and IMed as many people to let them know about it. I had a class soon. I debated about skipping it, but I knew it was an important class.

After watching a little more, I thought nothing more could happen. I left... I was far wrong!

In class, people were muttering about it. The teacher said he was aware of it, and went on with class. Then half hour later, someone came to class, summoned the teacher out, he came back in with a grim face. Said something had happened in DC. Some kind of explosion near the White House. Class resumed.. then about 15 mins later, someone else stopped by the room, summoned the teacher out again, he came back in, saying things have gotten worse in NYC (at the time, we didn't know, but the first tower had collapsed). Then 10 minutes later, a third person stopped by, this time, his own mother, who also worked here at Gallaudet, and told that the situation was dire everywhere, and that DC had orders to be shut down and evacuated. Gallaudet had closed down. We were all fearful. Then we got word that the Pentagon got struck. I rushed to the library where the library staff was setting up a TV, but the reception was horrible, mostly static. Then I got a thought, as did many others, to rush to Benson hall, take the elevator up to the top floor. And that's when it hit me in the gut, I could see the thick black smoke swirling into the sky and into the distance with my own eyes. The Pentagon...

I was in shock, and scared that more targets would hit DC and NYC. Then I finally got access to a TV and that's when I realized the extent of what's happened. The first thing I saw was both towers in smoke, and my mind thought both towers were fine, just on fire near top. So I got puzzled for a moment, what I didn't realize that it was a replay about to show something far more sinister. Then I saw it, the South Tower suddenly started collapsing and my mind went into shock, "no no hell no!" I was up there once!!! It can't be!! Then the reporter went on to show a 2nd clip, the North Tower standing alone now with ashes spreading out at the base. Then, the top part of the tower started sliding down falling apart, and I cried... I ran back to my dorm room in utter shock and desperation.

I turned on the TV, and saw the entire lower Manhattan in live view, the entire area was billowing with ashes and smoke, the World Trade Center towers no longer there. It struck me to the core. Then I thought of my mom in NJ, and I tried calling on TTY, no answer. The phone lines were down.

Then I had another scary fright. On TV, they suddenly had another story, a report of a plane down in Somerset County, right then, I was seized with fright.

Somerset county was my county in NJ. Then the reporter clarified himself, Somerset County IN Pennsylvania, in a small town called Shanksville. I had gotten extremely scared that maybe a plane crashed in my hometown, maybe on my parents' house.

Then as day went on, I realized that ALL of us were affected. All of us are Americans, the dead were innocent civilians. This was a barbaric attack on America's soul. I pray that nothing on this scale ever happens again here in America or anywhere in the world. This is my story for Sept 11, 2001. May we never forget!

Kurt Kaufmann, now Gallaudet staff at TIP (Tutorial Center)

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I was working in my old office in HMB when John Christiansen ran into my office asking for the remote for the TV in the Atrium. So I found it and asked him what was going on. He said that a plane crashed into WTC. I didn't believe him, but we went into the atrium and changed the channel to one of those news stations and we saw the whole thing. The plane JUST crashed into WTC a few minutes later, we saw the second plane coming around and crashed into 2nd building. More and more people starting to leave the classrooms to watch the news and the atrium began to fill with students/faculty/staff watching the news. We were shocked. And out of ALL days, I forgot my pager on THAT day. After crashing at Pentagon. My family was trying to get in touch with me, since I don't have the pager with me and I was too busy watching news and trying to find information online that I forgot about them. Then I realized that they must have been trying to get in touch with me. So I turned ICQ on and he was online waiting for me and was so worried about me. I calmed him down and said that things are ok here. I gave some people ride to Laurel on my way home at noon.

I remember the feeling on that day and it was hard to describe the feelings and I am sure it is the same for everybody.

Shannon Augustine
eLearning Facilitator

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On the morning of September 11th, 2001 I was working as a Personal Counselor at KDES. The school year was off to a good start and I was preparing to go into the classrooms to check on how the students were doing. A deaf colleague of mine approached me and asked me if I had heard what had happened. At this point in my life, I had been learning and using ASL for about 8 years and as a hearing person, I had started to feel comfortable with my signing and receptive skills. My co-worker said that two planes had flown into the World Trade Center. I looked at her with a blank look. The thought going through my mind was, "I shouldn't be working here at Gallaudet. Clearly I don't have the ASL skills to work in this environment because I believe that she said that two planes flew into the World Trade Center and of course THAT didn't happen!"

She pulled me into a back room with a TV and I watched the footage astonished. I walked zombie-like back towards the classrooms. A teacher pulled me over and asked if I would help settle a 4th grader who was becoming very angry with another student. Typically I take moments like these quite seriously and spend time listening to what's happening with the child and helping them brainstorm what to do with these feelings. However sitting across from this child, trying to conceal my confusion and need to know more all I could think was, "sweet girl, I don't know how to help you put into perspective your frustration with your classmate when so many people are dying right now."

We told the students what was happening after lunch and tried to limit their exposure to the images on the TV. It was only later that I learned that for many children seeing the same images of planes crashing into buildings was being interpreted by some children as multiple attacks on different buildings. When the university shut down that afternoon, the Kendall children were left without transportation to return home. Parents made their way over to pick up their children over the course of the afternoon. While officially as Gallaudet employees we were allowed to leave work, many of us remained to make sure the children would be ok. We made plans to stay the night with those whose parents were stuck and unable to come pick up their children. Students from the Gallaudet campus donated sleeping bags and pillows for our students but as it turned out by about 5pm that afternoon the last of the children were being picked up.

As I prepared to set off back home to Arlington, I prepared for standstill traffic and packed food and water. It was an eerie feeling to drive along 395 at rush hour only to find that I was one of a few cars on the road. I wasn't aware that the city was deserted of its commuters by that hour. I drove with the windows down and passed by the Pentagon on my route home. The reality of the situation struck me as my car filled up with smoke from the burning building.

After I arrived home I looked up into the sky to see 3 planes flying overhead. Confused at first knowing that all planes were supposedly grounded, I realized that this was Air Force One returning to DC with two fighter escorts.

Fortunately the following day the university remained shut down. I used that day to take care of myself, check in on friends and to pray for healing and peace in the world.

Alexis Greeves
Outreach Specialist
Training and Professional Development
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center

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It was a double-sad because one: it happened and two: I was awake the whole time working at Petsmart in Greenbelt, MD. I was there b4 the incident and after the 4 plane crashed without knowing about it while the rest of my co-workers were aware. It was no wondered why I was seeing kids 'cutting' school by going to the mall in such a early day.

Petsmart had a TV in a break room, few feet from me. Basically, I never saw anything live b4 the collasping of WTC. I only saw ground zero live.

Being deaf ain't easy but I won't say it is not fair. But it would be better off seeing reruns for less reaction. To make this better, I should have lied that I was actually sleeping the whole time...

Benjamin Bottoms

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Where WAS I on Sept 11th, 2001?

I was at Model Secondary School for the Deaf. I could remember that event very clearly because it happened on the second day of my junior year at MSSD. It was a beautiful morning and clear skies too. That time, I had a RIM 850 Wyndtell pager and I was in my Chemistry classroom with Ms. Del Wynne among my junior classmmates. I received a message from my Dad that if I was okay and that the Pentagon was attacked. I did not understand at the beginning. I had to reply to my Dad to talk to me later because I was in session.

As the class finished, I walked on my way to my English class and passing the windows, I saw the huge black smoke coming out south of the Washington Monument. It was obvious the Pentagon was on fire. One of my classmate, Michaela Wrinkle approached to me with her dismayed looks and exclaimed to me, "The World Trade Center buildings in NYC has been attacked by planes." Immediately, I withdrew my class because I knew my stepbrother's mother was in the WTC.

Her office was located on the North Tower at the 89th floor. I went to the library and started fingering on my pager to make some contacts. Around lunch time, MSSD was annouced closed and students were watching the news. I recalled of seeing that news showing the two towers collapsed and I thought it had to be like an action movie.

I was afraid and feared for my stepbrother, Kendel Cofell if he'd lost his own mother, Maria DiCarlos-Cofell, in that building. I went through the afternoon calling my parents and my stepbrother. The phone lines were crazy and some of times, I could get this annoying message "Circuits are busy right now" that would get me so mad.

Around at 5PM, I finally got through the circuits and managed to get my stepbrother on the phone. I asked him first thing about his mother. He said that his mother already successfully escaped the building and that time she was entering the building on her way to work, the plane hit the building that she managed an easy way out of her building. My stepbother was released early from his school and walked back home.

I was very relieved that Kendel said his mother was fine. She witnessed the horrible, un-godly acts of the terrorists upon the buildings where she worked at. She said it was the scariest day of her life. And she missed her WTC office so much compared of her office right now on first floor of the building in Rockfeller Center. I admired her bravery of being a true witness to 9/11 and very proud of having her as part of my family. It was a day that really impacted the world.

Jonathan Davis

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I am a senior at Gallaudet now.

At September 11, 2001. I walked to my math class at 9am at HMB 2nd floor. The time I arrived there from Clerc, I saw several people watching TV and I just didnt have time to stop by and see what happened because I didnt want to arrive late to my class. The time I got to my class. My teacher was so furious and said : I dont know if my son - he's interprenter at Pentagon - is safe. then she told us to walk to faculty lounge and see. The time we got there, we saw SMOKE out from Pentagon. You couldnt miss it. I was surprised to experience it in my lifetime. It was a weird experience for me because most of students who were here with me, arent here anymore and nobody talks about it when i came back 2003.

Berna Marthinussen

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It's impossible to forget September 11. At that time, I was newly enrolled graduate student over at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. I had not yet found a place to stay in Beaumont, so I had to drive an hour and half one way to school from a family home in Pasadena near Houston. On that fateful morning, I arrived school and walked into the building. I saw a crowd of people staring at something in the office. I was in a hurry, so I didn't bother finding out what it was. The class was about to start and I had few minutes to check e-mail on computer, but when I signed in, a friend of mine beeped me, "What? What are you doing here? Are you crazy? Watch the news!" His strange instant message got me wondering. Rather than to question further, I decided to go back to the crowd near the office. I walked in the office just in the time when the news showing flight jammed into second twin tower. I was shunned. I was speechless. No one dared to say a word and everyone wore "what's happening here?" expression on their face.

Needless to say, the class was cancelled. Everyone was upset. Others quickly went into the computer lab to find out if their friends, family or loved ones were OK. Angela and I decided to take a early lunch over a nearby Subway. It was quiet lunch. Angela rarely spoke to me even though we knew each other since we were kids. She talked to me on that day than she had talked with me over the years altogether. To my surprise, she was also a great listener.

"What do you think it would happen to us? Is it really worthwhile to continue studying here? For all I know, we may have seen the beginning of World War III here. Is it the end of us?" Angela listened quietly, shaking her head. "I really don't know." I smiled weakly, saying, "I don't either."

After driving back home at the end of the day, I found my family watching the news in the living room. My grandpa gave me a sad look. I knew what he was thinking. It was unusual quiet at home and in our neighborhood. I did not think anyone could sleep that night as well.

The following morning, I began my hour-and-half drive to school. The road was quiet but it was not unusual. However, something strange caught my eye. I saw American flags wavering over cars and trucks. I was touched. Between two small towns, there weren't many cars and yet, almost every single car in sight had at least one American flag. It was awe-inspiring. I couldn't be more proud to be an American on that day.

After long day at school and long drive home, my grandpa greeted me with an American flag at the door. Somehow, I knew it was not a beginning of an ending, but rather, an ending of a beginning. I was home.

Despites the fact that I am more than 1,500 miles away from home and my grandpa resting in a nursing home, I am still at home. I am an American; a proud American!

Sheri Youens, adjunct faculty for the Dept of Applied Literacy.

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I can remember someone shouting down the hall of the first floor building that I working in at the time that a plane had hit one of the "Twin Towers" in New York City. It was mid afternoon, and we were all getting ready to leave for the day. I don't think I realized what was going on until they announced a second plane hit. Every civilian was to leave the depot immediately.

I was in Germany on September 11th, where my husband and I had been stationed for the last two years, while he served in the U.S. Army.I remember feeling confused and so far away from everybody and everything. I remember being scared for my husband, I hadn't been able to get in touch with my him for hours. All the soldiers had been placed on high alert, and were not able to leave the depot. I tried calling my mother and father several times, but all oversea lines were busy. I just sat on my couch in shock, not knowing what to think or feel. I watched CNN for the rest of the night, in to the early morning. I didn't see my husband until the following day, and I could tell he was as shaken up as I was. We finally got a hold of family members and made sure every one was safe.

Our close friend was deployed to Bagdad the following year for 12 months. And a year and a half later my husband was deployed to Iraq for 14 months. September 11th has forever changed all of our lives.

Sarah Chase
Gallaudet UG