Re: (Fwd) FW: WTC -- Survivor

[Tom Trail <ttrail@moscow.com>]

            Visionaries:   This is the story from Adam Mayblum about his
escape from the 87th
             floor of the World Trade Tower.

             Tom Trail
>> >>
>> >>: THE PRICE WE PAY:
>> >>:
>> >>: My name is Adam Mayblum. I am alive today. I am committing
>> >>: this to "paper" so I never forget. SO WE NEVER FORGET. I am
>> >>: sure that this is one of thousands of stories that will
>> >>: emerge over the next several days and weeks.
>> >>:
>> >>: I arrived as usual a little before 8am. My office was on
>> >>: the 87th floor of 1 World Trade Center, AKA: Tower 1, AKA:
>> >>: the North Tower.
>> >>:
>> >>: Most of my associates were in by 8:30m. We were standing
>> >>: around, joking around, eating breakfast, checking emails,
>> >>: and getting set for the day when the first plane hit just a
>> >>: few stories above us. I must stress that we did not know
>> >>: that it was a plane. The building lurched violently and
>> >>: shook as if it were an earthquake. People screamed. I
>> >>: watched out my window as the building seemed to move 10 to
>> >>: 20 feet in each direction. It rumbled and shook long enough
>> >>: for me to get my wits about myself and grab a co-worker and
>> >>: seek shelter under a doorway. Light fixtures and parts of
>> >>: the ceiling collapsed. The kitchen was destroyed. We were
>> >>: certain that it was a bomb.
>> >>:
>> >>: We looked out the windows. Reams of paper were flying
>> >>: everywhere, like a ticker tape parade. I looked down at the
>> >>: street. I could see people in Battery Park City looking up.
>> >>: Smoke started billowing in through the holes in the
>> >>: ceiling. I believe that there were 13 of us.
>> >>:
>> >>: We did not panic. I can only assume that we thought that
>> >>: the worst was over. The building was standing and we were
>> >>: shaken but alive. We checked the halls. The smoke was thick
>> >>: and white and did not smell like I imagined smoke should
>> >>: smell. Not like your BBQ or your fireplace or even a
>> >>: bonfire.
>> >>:
>> >>: The phones were working. My wife had taken our 9 month old
>> >>: for his check up. I called my nanny at home and told her to
>> >>: page my wife, tell her that a bomb went off, I was ok, and
>> >>: on my way out. I grabbed my laptop. Took off my tee shirt
>> >>: and ripped it into 3 pieces. Soaked it in water. Gave 2
>> >>: pieces to my friends. Tied my piece around my face to act
>> >>: as an air filter. And we all started moving to the
>> >>: staircase.
>> >>:
>> >>: One of my dearest friends said that he was staying until
>> >>: the police or firemen came to get him. In the halls there
>> >>: were tiny fires and sparks. The ceiling had collapsed in
>> >>: the men's bathroom. It was gone along with anyone who may
>> >>: have been in there. We did not go in to look. We missed
>> >>: the staircase on the first run and had to double back.
>> >>: Once in the staircase we picked up fire extinguishers
>> >>: just incase. On the 85th floor a brave associate of mine
>> >>: and I headed back up to our office to drag out my partner
>> >>: who stayed behind. There was no air, just white smoke.
>> >>: We made the rounds through the office calling his name.
>> >>: No response. He must have succumbed to the smoke.
>> >>:
>> >>: We left defeated in our efforts and made our way back to
>> >>: the stairwell. We proceeded to the 78th floor where we had
>> >>: to change over to a different stairwell. 78 is the main
>> >>: junction to switch to the upper floors. I expected to see
>> >>: more people. There were some 50 to 60 more. Not enough.
>> >>:
>> >>: Wires and fires all over the place. Smoke too. A brave man
>> >>: was fighting a fire with the emergency hose. I stopped with
>> >>: to friends to make sure that everyone from our office was
>> >>: accounted for. We ushered them and confused people into the
>> >>: stairwell. In retrospect, I recall seeing Harry, my head
>> >>: trader, doing the same several yards behind me. I am only
>> >>: 35. I have known him for over 14 years. I headed into the
>> >>: stairwell with 2 friends.
>> >>:
>> >>: We were moving down very orderly in Stair Case A. very
>> >>: slowly. No panic. At least not overt panic. My legs could
>> >>: not stop shaking. My heart was pounding. Some nervous
>> >>: jokes and laughter. I made a crack about ruining a brand
>> >>: new pair of Merrells. Even still, they were right, my feet
>> >>: felt great. We all laughed. We checked our cell phones.
>> >>: Surprisingly, there was a very good signal, but the Sprint
>> >>: network was jammed. I heard that the Blackberry 2 way email
>> >>: devices worked perfectly. On the phones, 1 out of 20 dial
>> >>: attempts got through. I knew I could not reach my wife so I
>> >>: called my parents. I told them what happened and that we
>> >>: were all okay and on the way down. Soon, my sister-in-law
>> >>: reached me. I told her we were fine and moving down. I
>> >>: believe that was about the 65th floor. We were bored and
>> >>: nervous. I called my friend Angel in San Francisco. I knew
>> >>: he would be watching. He was amazed I was on the phone. He
>> >>: told me to get out that there was another plane on its way.
>> >>: I did not know what he was talking about. By now the second
>> >>: plane had struck Tower 2. We were so deep into the middle
>> >>: of our building that we did not hear or feel anything. We
>> >>: had no idea what was really going on. We kept making way
>> >>: for wounded to go down ahead of us. Not many of them, just
>> >>: a few. No one seemed seriously wounded. Just some cuts and
>> >>: scrapes. Everyone cooperated.
>> >>:
>> >>: Everyone was a hero yesterday. No questions asked. I had
>> >>: co-workers in another office on the 77th floor. I tried
>> >>: dozens of times to get them on their cell phones or office
>> >>: lines. It was futile. Later I found that they were alive.
>> >>: One of the many miracles on a day of tragedy.
>> >>:
>> >>: On the 53rd floor we came across a very heavyset man
>> >>: sitting on the stairs. I asked if he needed help or was he
>> >>: just resting. He needed help. I knew I would have trouble
>> >>: carrying him because I have a very bad back.
>> >>:
>> >>: But my friend and I offered anyway. We told him he could
>> >>: lean on us. He hesitated, I don't know why. I said do you
>> >>: want to come or do you want us to send help for you. He
>> >>: chose for help. I told him he was on the 53rd floor in
>> >>: Stairwell A and that's what I would tell the rescue
>> >>: workers. He said okay and we left.
>> >>:
>> >>: On the 44th floor my phone rang again. It was my parents.
>> >>: They were hysterical. I said relax, I'm fine. My father
>> >>: said get out, there is third plane coming. I still did not
>> >>: understand. I was kind of angry. What did my parents think?
>> >>: Like I needed some other reason to get going? I couldn't
>> >>: move the thousand people in front of me any faster. I know
>> >>: they love me, but no one inside understood what the
>> >>: situation really was. My parents did.
>> >>:
>> >>: Starting around this floor the firemen, policemen, WTC K-9
>> >>: units without the dogs, anyone with a badge, started coming
>> >>: up as we were heading down. I stopped a lot of them and
>> >>: told them about the man on 53 and my friend on 87. I later
>> >>: felt terrible about this. They headed up to find those
>> >>: people and met death instead.
>> >>:
>> >>: On the 33rd floor I spoke with a man who somehow new most
>> >>: of the details. He said 2 small planes hit the building.
>> >>: Now we all started talking about which terrorist group it
>> >>: was. Was it an internal organization or an external one?
>> >>: The overwhelming but uninformed opinion was Islamic
>> >>: Fanatics. Regardless, we now knew that it was not a bomb
>> >>: and there were potentially more planes coming. We
>> >>: understood.
>> >>:
>> >>: On the 3rd floor the lights went out and we heard & felt
>> >>: this rumbling coming towards us from above. I thought the
>> >>: staircase was collapsing upon itself. It was 10am now and
>> >>: that was Tower 2 collapsing next door. We did not know
>> >>: that. Someone had a flashlight. We passed it forward and
>> >>: left the stairwell and headed down a dark and cramped
>> >>: corridor to an exit. We could not see at all. I recommended
>> >>: that everyone place a hand on the shoulder of the person in
>> >>: front of them and call out if they hit an obstacle so
>> >>: others would know to avoid it. They did. It worked
>> >>: perfectly. We reached another stairwell and saw a female
>> >>: officer emerge soaking wet and covered in soot. She said we
>> >>: could not go that way it was blocked. Go up to 4 and use
>> >>: the other exit. Just as we started up she said it was ok to
>> >>: go down instead. There was water everywhere. I called out
>> >>: for hands on shoulders again and she said that was a great
>> >>: idea. She stayed behind instructing people to do that. I do
>> >>: not know what happened to her.
>> >>:
>> >>: We emerged into an enormous room. It was light but filled
>> >>: with smoke. I commented to a friend that it must be under
>> >>: construction. Then we realized where we were. It was the
>> >>: second floor. The one that overlooks the lobby. We were
>> >>: ushered out into the courtyard, the one where the fountain
>> >>: used to be. My first thought was of a TV movie I saw once
>> >>: about nuclear winter and fallout. I could not understand
>> >>: where all of the debris came from. There was at least five
>> >>: inches of this gray pasty dusty drywall soot on the ground
>> >>: as well as a thickness of it in the air. Twisted steel and
>> >>: wires. I heard there were bodies and body parts as well,
>> >>: but I did not look. It was bad enough. We hid under the
>> >>: remaining overhangs and moved out to the street. We were
>> >>: told to keep walking towards Houston Street. The odd thing
>> >>: is that there were very few rescue workers around. Less
>> >>: than five. They all must have been trapped under the debris
>> >>: when Tower 2 fell. We did not know that and could not
>> >>: understand where all of that debris came from. It was just
>> >>: my friend Kern and I now. We were hugging but sad. We felt
>> >>: certain that most of our friends ahead of us died and we
>> >>: knew no one behind us.
>> >>:
>> >>: We came upon a post office several blocks away. We stopped
>> >>: and looked up. Our building, exactly where our office is
>> >>: (was), was engulfed in flame and smoke. A postal worker
>> >>: said that Tower 2 had fallen down. I looked again and sure
>> >>: enough it was gone. My heart was racing. We kept trying to
>> >>: call our families. I could not get in touch with my wife.
>> >>: Finally I got through to my parents. Relived is not the
>> >>: word to explain their feelings. They got through to my
>> >>: wife, thank God and let her know I was alive. We sat down.
>> >>: A girl on a bike offered us some water. Just as she took
>> >>: the cap off her bottle we heard a rumble. We looked up and
>> >>: our building, Tower 1, collapsed. I did not note the time
>> >>: but I am told it was 10:30am. We had been out less than 15
>> >>: minutes.
>> >>:
>> >>: We were mourning our lost friends, particularly the one who
>> >>: stayed in the office as we were now sure that he had
>> >>: perished. We started walking towards Union Square. I was
>> >>: going to Beth Israel Medical Center to be looked at. We
>> >>: stopped to hear the President speaking on the radio. My
>> >>: phone rang. It was my wife. I think I fell to my knees
>> >>: crying when I heard her voice. Then she told me the most
>> >>: incredible thing. My partner who had stayed behind called
>> >>: her. He was alive and well. I guess we just lost him in the
>> >>: commotion. We started jumping and hugging and shouting. I
>> >>: told my wife that my brother had arranged for a hotel in
>> >>: midtown. He can be very resourceful in that way. I told her
>> >>: I would call her from there. My brother and I managed to
>> >>: get a gypsy cab to take us home to Westchester instead. I
>> >>: cried on my son and held my wife until I fell asleep. As
>> >>: it turns out my partner, the one who I thought had stayed
>> >>: behind was behind us with Harry Ramos, our head trader.
>> >>: This is now second hand information. They came upon Victor,
>> >>: the heavyset man on the 53rd floor.
>> >>:
>> >>: They helped him. He could barely move. My partner
>> >>: bravely/stupidly tested the elevator on the 52nd floor. He
>> >>: rode it down to the sky lobby on 44. The doors opened, it
>> >>: was fine. He rode it back up and got Harry and Victor. I
>> >>: don't yet know if anyone else joined them. Once on 44 they
>> >>: made their way back into the stairwell. Someplace around
>> >>: the 39th to 36th floors they felt the same rumble I felt on
>> >>: the 3rd floor. It was 10am and Tower 2 was coming down.
>> >>: They had about 30 minutes to get out. Victor said he could
>> >>: no longer move. They offered to have him lead on them. He
>> >>: said he couldn't do it. My partner hollered at him to sit
>> >>: on his butt and schooch down the steps. He said he was not
>> >>: capable of doing it. Harry told my partner to go ahead of
>> >>: them. Harry had once had a heart attack and was worried
>> >>: about this mans heart. It was his nature to be this way. He
>> >>: was/is one of the kindest people I know. He would not leave
>> >>: a man behind. My partner went ahead and made it out. He
>> >>: said he was out maybe 10 minutes before the building came
>> >>: down. This means that Harry had maybe 25 minutes to move
>> >>: Victor 36 floors.
>> >>:
>> >>: I guess they moved 1 floor every 1.5 minutes. Just a guess.
>> >>: This means Harry wad around the 20th floor when the
>> >>: building collapsed. As of now 12 of 13 people are accounted
>> >>: for. As of 6pm yesterday his wife had not heard from him. I
>> >>: fear that Harry is lost. However, a short while ago I heard
>> >>: that he may be alive. Apparently there is a web site with
>> >>: survivor names on it and his name appears there.
>> >>: Unfortunately, Ramos is not an uncommon name in New York.
>> >>: Pray for him and all those like him.
>> >>:
>> >>: With regards to the firemen heading upstairs, I realize
>> >>: that they were going up anyway. But, it hurts to know that
>> >>: I may have made them move quicker to find my friend.
>> >>: Rationally, I know this is not true and that I am not the
>> >>: responsible one. The responsible ones are in hiding
>> >>: somewhere on this planet and damn them for making me feel
>> >>: like this. But they should know that they failed in
>> >>: terrorizing us. We were calm. Those men and women that went
>> >>: up were heroes in the face of it all. They must have known
>> >>: what was going on and they did their jobs. Ordinary people
>> >>: were heroes too.
>> >>:
>> >>: Today the images that people around the world equate with
>> >>: power and democracy are gone but "America" is not an image
>> >>: it is a concept. That concept is only strengthened by our
>> >>: pulling together as a team. If you want to kill us, leave
>> >>: us alone because we will do it by ourselves. If you want to
>> >>: make us stronger, attack and we unite. This is the ultimate
>> >>: failure of terrorism against The United States and the
>> >>: ultimate price we pay to be free, to decide where we want
>> >>: to work, what we want to eat, and when & where we want to
>> >>: go on vacation. The very moment the first plane was hijacked,
>> >>: democracy won.
>> >
>> >
>> >_________________________________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >---End of forwarded mail from "Christiansen, James E."
>> ><j-christiansen@tamu.edu>
>> >
>> >--
>> >
>> >Dr. John G Richardson
>> >Extension Program Delivery and Accountability Leader
>> >North Carolina Cooperative Extension
>> >Department of Agricultural and Extension Education
>> >College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
>> >Box 7607
>> >N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC 27695   USA
>> >Email : john_richardson@ncsu.edu
>> >Phone : (919) 515-2380
>> >Fax:    (919) 513-3935
>> >
>>
>>Dr. Tom Trail
>>International Trails
>>1375 Mt. View Rd.
>>Moscow, Id. 83843
>>Tel:  (208) 882-6077
>>Fax:  (208) 882-0896
>>e mail ttrail@moscow.com
>

Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
1375 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel:  (208) 882-6077
Fax:  (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail@moscow.com