9/11 survivor tells story of tower escape
By Terry Reilly, Star-News, Wilmington, N.C. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Speaking before several hundred guests at
His ordeal began with a slight flicker of conference room lights on the 105th floor at
Seconds later, Dittmar and 53 other insurance executives were interrupted and asked to leave their meeting because of "an explosion in the other tower." All were initially resistant, if not annoyed, about the order to abandon their conference.
Reluctantly, Dittmar was the last to leave the room, taking his time to gather his papers and shut down his laptop. Dittmar and the others, "had no clue as to how bad it was."
And then began a descent that would end with only six of the 54 making it out alive.
Descending the first few flights of stairs, Dittmar was reassured by a companion, "Compared to the 1993 Trade Center bombing, this is nothing. Back then there were no lights in the stairwells and little organization."
At the 90th floor, everything changed.
The stairwell fire door was propped open. Dittmar walked to a window facing the
His family was in the
As others froze, Dittmar left and quickly reached the 78th floor, where hundreds waited for express elevators to the lobby. Stopping briefly, he refused to join other colleagues that stayed.
As he reached the 74th floor, hijacked Flight 175 traveling at 600 mph knifed through floors 77 through 85, just above Dittmar. According to Dittmar, mercifully everyone on the 78th floor died instantly in the 2,000 degree fireball.
Dittmar described an earthquake-like scene in the stairwell. "The steps undulated like waves in the ocean, handrails broke from the walls, and a blast of heat passed over us followed by the smell of jet fuel as the building swayed back and forth what seemed like forever," recalled Dittmar.
But there were no screams. "Nothing but stunned silence" said Dittmar.
What Dittmar experienced next he described as "human nature at its absolute finest: "Everybody helping one another. We coached one another down those stairs. We were teammates and we knew we were going to get out."
Dittmar spoke about how some found some humor amidst their terrifying situation. Never had anyone seen so many pairs of women's shoes in one place, as all high heels were abandoned. Others joked about a collection of jettisoned electronics and briefcases strewn through the stairwell that was larger than any retail store in
The 35th floor was the worst for Dittmar as police and firefighters passed him on their way up. Almost 13 years later, Dittmar was overcome while describing these heroes.
"Just the look in their eyes told you knew they knew. They were going to fight a fire they could not stop; they were going to save lives they could not save. And they knew they were never coming back," he said.
As he passed the 18th floor, Dittmar said, he could hear someone singing "God Bless America."
"The song was coming through a megaphone. There would be a pause and the voice would then encourage everyone to keep moving, saying what a historic day this was and they were going to make it. The guy singing was a security guard and I never knew what happened to him. It reminded me of the story about the Titanic when the band played to help keep passengers calm while the ship went down," Dittmar said.
Upon reaching the lobby, Dittmar was prevented from exiting because of the falling bodies. Forced to navigate the underground concourse, he worked his way to an exit passing a
After walking eight short blocks away (less than a half mile), the
"I turned and heard the most awful sound of steel and concrete, twisting and breaking. And then I'll never forget the blood curdling scream of a million New Yorkers," said Dittmar.
As he walked north, he ran into
Duffy began walking down from his 54th floor office with other evacuees after the first plane hit. Upon reaching the 25th floor, he reversed course and walked back up. He had left
As explained on his website (www.wtceskp.com), "The mission of the Initiative is to keep the voices, spirits and memories of the 3,000 vanquished victims of that fateful day alive, always remembered and never forgotten by all Americans, particularly the youth of our country who are our future and our hope for a better world."
On
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