The Day a Nation Stood Still

Those planes crashed into the two towers, and black smoke poured out like water. Most think of this as the day an entire nation standing still like willow trees. But as soon as that first plane killed so many people, our service men put on their uniforms without hesitation. Among those brave men and women was 23 year old Terry Wolff, a fire fighter born and raised in New York.

Terry started that day off just any other. He woke up to sound of his alarm clanging at 5:30 a.m. then he started his shower as he brushed his teeth. After he put on his tan Carhart pants, a navy blue t-shirt with the “New York Fire Fighter” logo over his heart, and a blue faded Mets hat. His breakfast was the usual, scrambled eggs with crispy maple syrup bacon. On his way to work he listened to the usual radio station 96.9 “The Cat”. When he arrived at the station he clocked in and sat down to watch CNN to catch up on the world. After two hours of a quiet morning with no calls, Terry called in the other guys on duty. What they saw they could not believe.

“It has to be a hoax! No way could it have actually happened, the Trade Center is too protected for that,” shouted out Richie.

“Well let’s get on the roof and look for smoke, the trade center is tall enough to see from here, it’s to the south isn’t it?” Jerry answered.

As the men felt that warm sunlight on their faces, they stood in shock at what they saw. One of the towers had what looked like the tail end of a plane sticking out of one side, black smoke filled the sky, and people jumping from the thirty stories up like helpless babies to avoid the flames.

“We have to go help! Sound the alarm and get on your jumpers!” Jerry demanded to the rest of his crew.

As the men drove up to the World Trade Center, they were suck behind of people in the road crying and taking pictures of the spectacle. As they looked down they could see people being pulled from the ruble, some were limping away while others lay lifelessly in the concrete. The fire truck then proceeded to blare its horn and drive on the side walk to be close enough to help. When the men entered the building they were told to go to the highest floor possible and bring people down.

“Reggie! Take Sanchez, Killebrew, and Allan through the stairs on the south. Wilson, and Romero your with me let’s go,” Terry said as he ran towards the north staircase. As they climbed the shaky steps they started to smell the burning of office papers and smoke from the floors above. As they reached the thirty-fourth floor the smoke became thicker and thicker. When the steps were blocked off by ruble, they went into the first door they could. When they opened the door they could only see black smoke, and hear the crying out of people in the room. As they walked forward they encountered an elderly man that was shaking in fright.

“Can you walk? Go that way and get out now! Bring anyone you can find,” Terry said as he pointed towards the half way opened door.

“It’s darker than my coffee in here! How are we supposed to find anyone?”

“Turn on your light and follow the voices. Help the critical first then have others help them get out!”

When the team ended up on the other side of the room, they looked to their left and saw the remnants of a cockpit. The door windshield was broke and they could see blood splattered inside.

“Those are the guys who did this!” Romero said as he started to break his way into the plane with his axe. “I’m gonna chop them up and burn them! Show them how it is!”

“Romero! Get over here! They are already dead; you won’t be able to do anything! The best thing you can do is get these people out of here! Get your head straight,” Terry said as he pulled him away from the plane. As they walked along the window they saw a room with people inside, the door was blocked by parts of the plane and office furniture so they had to break down the wall beside it.

As they entered the room they saw thirteen people, all of them alive and unharmed except for one. A man in a grey suit was trapped. Part of the ceiling collapsed and pinned his leg against the wall. After they cleared the unharmed people out of the room and showed them the stairs, their captain came on the radio.

“All units, the floors beneath the plane are breaking apart and collapsing. All units are to grab as many people as they can and exit the building immediately.”

“We can’t just leave him here! We have to help him, it’s our job!” Romero said as he started to pull ruble off of the trapped man.

“I agree, but the building is about to collapse. You both go and I’ll stay here and get him out!” Terry demanded as he started to take Romero’s place.

“We’re a team and we stick together no matter what the circumstance,” Wilson and Romero agreed.

When the rifles banged in honor of these fallen men, Terry woke up and in cold sweats remembering what could have happened if he didn’t carry out that fallen man in time. Then he looked down at his forearm and read the words inscribed on his arm: “I am bound to protect those who are in danger, those in time of need, those who I would serve.” Then a single tear rolled down his face like a drop of water on river rock that has been worn and weathered, but still holds strong.