Huck's Report from Manhattan

self | September 12, 2001 | Huck

[annalex]

Waiting for pictures. Good account. From the video it looked like the entire plane went into the building like knife in warm butter. Did you feel any jolt? Somebody said on TV that they felt a heat wave as the gasoline exploded.

[PoisedWoman]

Thanks for the up close and personal report. I kept looking for you here after your first post yesterday and was alarmed when you did not come back to Free Republic. Welcome home!

[betty boop]

It's so good to know you're OK, Huck. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and observations about these horrific events. best, bb.

[Huck]

Were you in front on the building with the big red cube (with the hole in it) out front on Broadway?

Yes. I didn't see anyone jump/fall, but spoke to many who did.

[BlessedBeGod]

Thank you, Huck, and God bless you.

I've been to the WTC many times, and stayed in the Vista International (before the '93 bombing) in 3 WTC. (After that we stayed in a Marriott down the street.)

I have friends/coworkers in 2 & 5 World Trade. We're still waiting for word on most of them.

[ethical]

Excellent, first hand account. Thanks for the post.

[Dukie]

Glad to learn that you're OK, Huck. Look forward to your pics. Send a flag when you post 'em.

[Gelato]

Glad to hear you're ok! We were all worried.

For anyone interested, here's the post from yesterday: FReeper Huck Not Heard From - Was Very Close to WTC in Last Post .

[Romulus]

Unforgettable report. Delighted to hear you're OK.

[KC Burke]

As I said last night, we were all concerned and your post last night was a relief. I learned that my brother was a few blocks away from the WTC last night which was a surprise as he lives in the SF Bay area.

The scale of the WTC and what used to be its massive buildings comes through in your account. You were right there, below, but off angle to the impacted portion of the building and yet the scale, angle of view and distance involved prevented you from observing the full import of the first crash.

I, and others, had similar experiences in our observations as to how men and women reacted differently in a general sense. It reminded me of the T. Sowell classification of Constrained and Unconstrained Visions held by all mankind from A Conflict of Visions. Once mindfull of that I was a little more tolerant to the variety of response.

My step-daughter was in DC, had her office shut down and then had to battle her way home past the Pentagon side of the Potomac. Up to a few months ago she lived within blocks of that building. She was stressed by the events and lo and behold voicing comments about the last eight years' legacy tying into our current and future situation. My eldest son, a high school teacher, spent the day with kids impacted by these events as well. He was shaken. Our younger citizens are now becoming aware of the true import of us oldtimers' cautions and warnings in a way that only a very few insightful yougsters, such as yourself, were able to invision pre-disaster.

Its also interesting to note the Burkian, little platoon of family, neighborhood, workplace, and community are the units that we respond with and bond to in all significant events. Economic class, race, ethnic origins, and politics all fall away as we deal with real life. If we could just retain that awareness subsiquently as we revert to our normal lives and resume our societal interactions, rather than picking up the Enlightenment/Marxist masks how better off we'd be.

You were indeed blessed and like all such moments, the future is so much more filled with awe.

[vetvetdoug]

God Bless you Huck....glad you are safe. My cousin was on the first floor of the WTC when it got hit, he got away with only a head injury. His story was similar to yours. Good folks keep their head about themselves.

[Fred Mertz]

Thank you for sharing your day with us. I'm glad you are safe and sound, Huck.

[reformjoy]

Huck, your story is fantastic in it's detail. Reading it is like being right there on the street with you, thank you. It really means a lot to hear what happened. We just can't imagine the reality of this event and it's affect on the individual. What we see is a building collapsing, what you saw was a people attacked.

God Bless and thanks again for your report.

[bleudevil]

You're a good writer. I'm proud to be posting on the same site.

[Landru]

wow. stunning.

I'm grateful you're OK...

Your story about these gals in Brooklyn & the conversation which followed?
I'm wondering, hoping even that this disaster has done something thought impossible; brought us tightly together.

The madmen will take no comfort knowing they've accomplished something as miraculous as that.

[Landru]

Thanks for the bump, Joy.

DL? Check it out...

[Osinski]

We were wondering about you and hoping you were ok, especially after the towers collapsed. Whew. Glad you're ok.

[amom]

Glad yer back safe and sound. What a day. I read your story to the folks here. Really brought it home for them.

Thanks!

[DLfromthedesert]

Thanks. I just found out my brother-in-law, who was in New York for a conference, and is a physician, is busy rescuing people from the rubble.