On the morning of 9/11/01, I arrived at about 8:50 am for a 9:00 meeting at DC’s Union Station, in the office of Amtrak President George Warrington. As we and about 5-6 others arrived, people were chatting in front of the office TV, curious about the apparent crash of a plane or helicopter into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. Moments later, our group watched in real time on The Today Show as the second plane suddenly appeared and crashed into the second tower. Along with millions of people across America, our jaws dropped, and our stomachs knotted. What the hell was happening? This wasn’t an accident.
Almost immediately, every phone line in the suite started ringing. Warrington bellowed, “Get me [the head of Amtrak Security], NOW! Stop all the trains on the Northeast Corridor!!” My boss said, “We’re outta here,” and we non-Amtrak employees hustled out. The stairwell was full, and this was not a drill. In front of Union Station, people were streaming out into the taxi lanes, intensifying the usual traffic jam there. I decided to walk home, which was about 20 long blocks away up Massachusetts Avenue. Along the way, someone shouted something about a bomb having gone off at the State Department, which turned out not to have been true. But minutes later there was a plume of smoke in the southern sky, which was the Pentagon crash.
Like millions of others, I spent the rest of the day at home, in shock, watching on TV all that was unfolding and becoming apparent. The audacity of the attacks. The fall of the two towers. The loss of so many lives, including hundreds of brave first responders. The initial confusion involving the president. That huge plume of smoke over in Virginia. I took a walk in the late afternoon. It was a gorgeous September day, and the sidewalks were crowded, but it was unnaturally still with people speaking in hushed voices and no sound of aircraft going into or out of nearby National Airport.
In the weeks to come, I spent many hours back at Amtrak, helping to craft the messaging and PR campaign to persuade Congress to invest billions in security upgrades throughout America’s very open and unsecured passenger rail system. I recall that Joe Biden was our champion in the Senate, and we did win some additional funding that year, but far less than what was needed. I’m quite sure the system still needs major upgrades today, because we as a nation consistently fail to prioritize passenger rail, unlike every other major developed country. I hope that the infrastructure bill currently pending in Congress will be enacted and make possible more Amtrak upgrades.
What was your professional experience like on or after 9/11/01?