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Bob’s 9/11 Story

I am Bob Dorn, I worked in lower Manhattan, about ten blocks from the

towers that day. I was caught in the chaos of that day. I offer my humble story.

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I do not display my pictures to offend but to explain my day.

• By Robert j .Dorn (I wrote this one month after the fact, because I kept being asked about what happened that day and could not bear to keep repeating it)

• I don't know what my true reason is for writing these thoughts down? Is• it because I am just tired of repeating to friends and family the events• of that morning, as I viewed them? Yes. Is it because I am a history• buff, and historian (of a minor scale) and an amateur genealogist, or• because I think it?s an event that any 'eye witness' should keep his/her• memories of? It’s all of these.• Firstly, I should explain that I work at 75 Varick st. (7th Ave.), now• called 1 Hudson Square, the building that stands 'exactly' on top of the• Holland Tunnel, which, as of this writing is still closed.• I am approximately 9 or 10 blocks just north of the WTC area. I work on• the 12th floor of the building, and my Library office faced the• beautiful view of the former Twin Towers to the South, and the Jersey• City and NJ shore to the west. I am a librarian at Audrey Cohen College.

• At approximately, 9 AM morning I was on the Q train, in the middle of• the Manhattan bridge (for neophytes, this bridge is Parallel and just• north of its more famous neighbor, the Brooklyn Bridge) when an• announcer/conductor came on over the speaker saying, "plane just crashed• into World trade tower" [that's the closest I can come his exact words• at the moment.]

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It was maybe ten minutes or so, when I noticed sirensalready sounding, policemen gathering on each corner, directing trafficaway from areas below Canal Street area. The people in my building seemto have looks of haunted anxiety on their faces. I still had not seenanyone else who worked at the college. I don't remember whether I wasasked for ID as I entered the building, but as I got off at the 12floor, got out and saw the Security officer, he was already shaking hishead and telling me that the building was being evacuated. Also, theVice President for Administration had come around the corner at the sametime. I do not remember what I asked them, except whether anyone hadgone/been in the library where I work. One librarian was mentioned, whomthey said was sent home. I later found out that she had seen the wholeevent and the planes hitting the towers (which I was too late to see).At that point I exited down the elevators and went out to the street togather more information. I had heard that there were deliberate attackson the buildings, but there was still a lot of confusion.

In a few minutes I crossed the street to take more pictures of theburning disaster in front of me from the all too blue and beautiful skyof that morning.

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By this time, many fire engines, Emergency vehicles, Police cars andother emergency vehicles had rushed down Varick street (lower 7thavenue) sometimes having to blast their horns or sirens to get throughthe very confused menagerie that Varick street had become. On the otherside of the street, I saw one and then several administration andfaculty members of the college whom I acknowledged. I crossed over whenI saw my friend and colleague Steve from the College.

Within the next few minutes, Steve and I listened to several others whohad gathered on our corner, the rumors and other guesses at the originsof this. The fires and smoke were still billowing out of the towers.Debris was falling occasionally, and what I didn't know at first that itwas not all debris but also people jumping to certain death to escape, Isuppose more certain and immediate death by the fire storms started bythe airliner fuel that we were later to learn was well over 2000degrees. I was sure by this time that I had the story straight that twoairplanes had for some reason crashed into both towers and ignited them.Somewhere between photos and following up rumors, we were interrupted bya man who came running with a phone in his hand shouting that thePentagon had been bombed or attacked or something similar to what hadjust happened here. I did not, could not, immediately believe him. But,eventually my doubts were preempted and we knew it was true from otherreports around us. We knew no exact details and really did not stillknow what had occurred.

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As I exited the subway station at Broadway and Canal, I started walkingwest on Canal Street (my usual route, currently, to work at Varick St)towards the river. All during this time looking up at the two towers onfire with all the plumes of smoke. this was about 9:10 AM or so? At thesame time on each corner I was taking pictures from differentvantagepoints at each corner. Already the crowds had gathered at eachcorner with that awful look of unbelief on their faces. It was my ownexpression of disbelief and awe at the same time. At this point, Ididn't know what had occurred, and was hearing snippets of talk aboutairplanes and 'attacks' etc. What I saw was the now familiar gapingholes that I had described earlier. I was under the impression thatperhaps this was something similar to the 93 attack, and perhaps theremay have been some loss of life. I had no impression of the furtherdisaster about to unfold before my eyes.

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Steve and I decided after standing around for some time, to go look fora coffee house he knew which he thought would be open and where therewas a TV where we could get the news and find out more. After walking upand over to Hudson street closer to the Hudson River side of town, wefound that the caf? was closed.We decided to head back and Steve decided to depart and try to getuptown and home to Chelsea. I had already heard that there were notrains or subways running and the bridges were closed. In a while Iwould find out that most of this was already true and soon, everythingwould be closed down, except walkways for people to get across toBrooklyn or whatever borough they needed to get to get home. I wassidetracked again by wanting to hear and see more and take more photos.This was just minutes after the first tower had just collapsed. Therewas much confusion, shouting, crying, but no obvious violence. I crossedto the East Side of Varick in front of the Chase bank, and noticed thatI couldn't see the two towers, but just the North tower and a plume ofsmoke where the other had been. In disbelief I asked the hystericalwoman next to me, who was about the burst into tears, where the towerwas? She cried, "It just collapsed!? I stood there in dumb disbelief andreally not knowing what was going on in my mind at that moment. I couldonly think of all the people who were obviously in the tower.Of course they hadn't had time to all get out!

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There was a man with a set of binoculars who started talking about the people jumping. I looked up andit was obvious that some of the specks I was seeing amongst the debriswere people jumping. Several people were crying out at that point, andthe woman next to me was still crying. About a few minutes after that asI stood watching, someone yelled 'It's falling!" meaning the secondtower. I quickly took up my camera snapped several pictures, still indenial of what I was seeing, but taking it all down in film anyway!

There was much crying and moaning after that. The situation around mejust got worse and there was more and more confusion. I stayed aroundfor probably another half-hour or so, trying to ascertain moreinformation and whether there were any trains running and any way to gethome.Soon after that I noticed a truck driver with his truck and a radio onparked on the east side of the street next to the Chase bank. Severalpeople approached the truck, listening closely to this vehicle andradio. He confirmed the attacks on the Pentagon, but still no specifics.I realized that many people including myself were in shock and continuedto try to understand that horrible sight of the falling tower we hadjust witnessed. I still cannot believe it.

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Within 20 - 30 minutes I started asking people and MTA employees whatwas running and decided to find a way to get home. I never expected Iwould be walking the entire 8 or more miles to Prospect Park inBrooklyn, but I did.At this point, the area began to look like a war zone of sorts. Therewere many more emergency and police vehicles gathering into the area andslowly, they seemed to be blocking people from going south below Canalstreet, which is still the cutting off point.

Then I decided there was nothing more to be done, or certainly nothing Icould do. I lost interest in taking any more photos, and ascertainedthat perhaps the bridges to Brooklyn were open to pedestrians. I startedwalking with a slowly increasing crowd of 'refugees' (we really wererefugees at this point) east towards the Manhattan bridge which is justparallel to the Brooklyn bridge.As I got closer to the bridge I began to see the increase in crowds. Ialso noticed that despite the fact that some people along the street hadsaid that the bridges and all subways were closed, the traffic andcrowds were still going towards the bridge and it seemed in the distancethat the bridge had pedestrians and traffic slowly going across.I stopped once or twice to ask MTA employees who I saw blocking thesubway entrances, whether the bridge was open to walkers. All they couldtell me was that they 'weren't sure' and I should go ahead and try.Once or twice I glanced back at the sky above what once 'was' the towersin the distance to see nothing but an increasingly large plume of smoke,sort of like a small nuclear bomb had been detonated. Also, there was asmoky, acrid smell in the air, which only increased as I approached thebridge.

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I proceeded to the bridge entrance, and at first wasn't sure whether Ihad to bear right and go on the pedestrian entrance and walkway or justwalk across the bridge. There was a steady slow stream of cars andtrucks on my left also entering the bridge entrance, but also a parallelline of pedestrians ('refugees' if you will) on the right side, which Ithen decided to join.

As I walked, I watched the people around me. I was astounded at theincreasing amount of soot and debris covered souls who seemed todefinitely be exiting a 'war zone' or a bombed out area, depending onhow you viewed it.

I listened as I walked to several 'stories' of what had happened tothose refugees. I heard some scary stories of 'mere escapes'. Soon about1/4 of the way across the bridge I started talking to a tall afro-American gentleman, who had on a very expensive looking three piece suitcompletely covered in debris and soot, carrying his work, seemingly inhis valise. (Word?). As we talked he explained he had just escaped byexiting the (south) tower because he had gone down to go to the ATMacross the street. If I remember correctly (not sure at this point) hehad left the area as he saw the second tower attacked and then saw thefirst tower fall. My memory of our conversation at this point is ratherunreliable and I cannot remember details that well.

I ended up walking for another hour or more, intermittently trying toflag a taxi, or catch one of the buses heading up Flatbush Avenue. Allof this was to no avail and eventually I gave up and decided, since agentleman had told me that Prospect park was only about 5 ? 7 blocksahead (that didn’t make much difference to my feet at that moment) Iwalked on.

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One of the few uplifting moments of that disastrous morning was thedifferent groups of people lined up along Flatbush Avenue (this isFLATBUSH AVE mind you!), giving out Water and soda for the walkers... orshould I say, ?refugees?. We must have looked like that as we walkedslowly and quietly for the most part, across the Bridges towards our wayhome. I stopped by a group of young conservative Jewish girls who werehanding out soda, and got something from them. This was the onlyhighlight of that day.I kept walking, observing the human collateral from this attack.Finally, I reached Prospect Park, from the War Memorial side and startedwalking through on the East side. As I walked there were small groups ofpeople who had obviously gathered together for their walk balk, orperhaps just joined each other on the way. I did not feel like talkingmuch at that point, but merely wanted to get home, perhaps turn on thetelevision for the news and find out more.This event will forever be impressed upon my mind and I can only thinkof two other events which will have such significance; the day PresidentKennedy was shot and my own father’s death when I was eight years old inDecember of 1960.

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Some of my pictures taken that day. Taken as I walked along Canal St., NYC on my way to work. A walk I did almost everyday.

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Bottom picture; the building on the Right is where I worked, Just above the Holland Tunnel, Varick St. & Canal St.

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Warning!These images still hurt. I was watching as the North tower, the second collapse, occurred. My work place is still on the Right.Varick and Canal Streets, where I worked, and where I was that day.Last September (2011) I returned there for the first time since that day, in an attempt to heal my wounds.

All pictures of those taken by myself that day.

President Obama’s words today, Sept. 11, 2012, Eleven years later.“I have always said that America is at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates – and we will never be at war with Islam or any other religion. We are the United States of America. Our freedom and diversity make us unique, and they will always be central to who we are as a nation.”

The President has signed a proclamation making Friday, September 7 through Sunday, September 9, 2012 National Days of Prayer and Remembrance.