Thinking of rcprince who works in Manhattan

Thank you, Detlof, I'm OK, as I was not in the buildings at the time. I usually time my trip to the office so I'm coming up from the PATH under 1 WTC about 8:55 a.m. (just as the first plane hit, I understand), but yesterday I went in an hour early to get some work done before a 9:30 conference call. Our office is at Battery Park Plaza, on the tip of the island next to Battery Park, a 5-10 minute walk directly south of the WTC, and when the first plane hit, a group of us were watching the fire and smoke from our 20th floor office on the north side, figuring it was a terrible accident (we couldn't see the hole as it was on the north side of the building). As we were watching, there was a loud roar of jet engines accellerating as the second plane passed right next to our office--almost the same level we were watching, it seemed--and we watched in horror as it banked left up Broadway and accellerated into the WTC 2 tower and disintegrated with a huge blast and fireball. Our blood literally ran cold; we could not believe what we had just seen. At that point we got out of the building, although I did go back up to call my wife and gather some papers to work from home, and that was when the towers collapsed and I ultimately had to leave the building and go into the street, where it was raining ashes and debris and I got covered with ashes, dust and smoke. One of our firm's former associates worked on the 60th floor of 2 WTC--after the first plane hit the other tower, he left despite building announcements not to leave and came down to our offices and watched the second plane hit where his offices were located--the poor man was in shock. Can you imagine how he felt? Eventually, I walked over to a ferry to New Jersey and found my way home, although I was in a daze the whole day, and now.

One of the haunting memories of the day (besides watching that plane ram into the building) was as I was going to the ferry, where I noticed one of the millions of pieces of paper that had blown out of the buildings following the explosions. It was a charred page from an offering memorandum on a deal on which I am working; God knows how many of my friends and colleagues were in that building. My heart and prayers go out to all the victims of this act, but also to the innocent victims of terrorism in Belfast, Jerusalem and all parts of the world. Until you see it first hand, I guess you don't realize what a horrible thing terrorism can be. I would not wish what I saw yesterday on any person. The only good things I will remember from that day was the bravery of the firemen, police and rescue workers and the way all of us in Manhattan and this area came together to help each other during this crisis.

Thank you for thinking of me and everyone involved, especially the victims and their families.

Russ Prince

I have no words Russ, but gladness, that my pain and anguish, also nourished of similar conflagrations in the 1940s, which I was lucky to have survived as a child, would not be sharpened by a more personal loss. What else can I say but to repeat, that our thoughts and our prayers are with you all.

RC, good to hear you're OK. I don't really know you but we will be praying for all affected. Take care.

Hi Russ,

I'm glad to learn you are okay. What a horrible tragic day that was. My wife and I were watching on TV and we just couldn't believe that something this calculated, cold-blooded and heinous could happen right here in our backyard.

May God help you and all who are affected by this unconscionable act.

Rcprince, thank you for putting forth your own person story of the events that took place yesterday. There are no words I am able to say that conveys the emotion I want to express.

I am just glad that a good friend is safe and sound.

Good luck and God bless,
Joe

Glad to know that you made it out. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

Is Rayhall around ? I think he was in NY as well.

Rcprince, I agree with John_1. Thankyou for sharing your on scene story regarding this horror with us here on Audiogon. It is certainly the most personal and poignant account I have heard. Your words bring home the sheer horror of this action even moreso than the TV coverage. My prayers go out to victims and families. Craig.

RC, I am glad to hear that we still have one of members alive and safe. I am just at awed with what I saw on TV yesterday and I can't even imagine what it was like being near the scene of this tragic event. I am up to my neck with mixed emotions; sadness, a sense of loss, violated, and most of all extremely angry at this senseless act against so many innocent people. Pictures of people falling out of the sky just breaks my heart. I can't even fathom what it was like for them to resort to jumping off a 110 story building. They must have saw something so horrific that they felt that they had a better chance of surviving the jump, or just taking their own lives, rather than endour the gruelsome death by staying where they were at. I get teary eyed everytime I see our American flag hagging all over town (SF Bay Area). We have retaliate with full force when we find out who is responsible. I am prepare to die for our freedom if it meant a nuclear war can be the outcome of this cowardly act. I rather not live in a world which is dictated by Evil. For god sake, we're suppose to be civilized people on this earth. All human race with any soul should stand up against these evil acts.

russ: it's impossible to imagine the horror through which you lived. it makes us all realize, or so i hope, how trivial are our concerns about wire and caps and pots. it's gonna' take awhile before i can get back "on topic," at least insofar as audio is concerned. thank god you're alive. i surely hope we've lost no one in our little community. -kelly

Thank you to all of you for your concern and messages. John_1, I see Rayhall has posted on another thread, so I'm glad to see him well.

Thanks Rcprince, and all and especially John_l to whom I sent a private email. I am well and, like Rcprince, work for a Wall Street financial services firm, so I have been very busy. My office is in Jersey City directly across the Hudson River from the WTC, but our downtown headquarters building is across the street from the WTC and we have other offices in the low-rise buildings of the WTC complex. I was not in my office at the time of the attack, but commuting. As my commute takes me underneath and through the WTC on the way to work, I was about 10 minutes away from Ground Zero when the first plane hit. I am often in the WTC on the way to work, on the way home and at lunchtime. On any given day, the result could have been quite different for me personally. I am feeling very grateful to be alive, that all my immediate family is alive and that to this moment, I know personally of no one is dead.

Thanks to all,

Ray Hall

Russ, Ray & others, it's a relief to see you're here (but what of so many others...). Was away with no Net access when this happened.

How are U faring after witnessing this..? What's going on in NY now? "Getting over" a shock is easy to write about, difficult to do.

To Russ, Rayhall and all New Yorkers, my thoughts are surely with you all. In an event such as this one's perspective about everything is altered. I feel certain mine has forever and to those that actually lived through this, I just can't imagine. I pray for the survivors of this tragedy and may their faith, neighbors and friends help give them the strength to deal with their losses. I sure hope that something ultimately good comes out of the ashes of this horrific mess.

Sincerely, Will

Glad to see you made it rayhall.