I was working at a large DC law firm, secretarial job, not attorney. I had a small redio at my desk turned down so only I could hear it. Just before 9:00 the program was interrupted with a news bulletin that a plane had flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. Two attorneys I worked for were supposed to be at the WTC onSeptember 12 for SEC hearings. I asked one attorney how far our New York office was from the WTC and a plane had just flown into one tower. She left her desk and went to an office with a TV set. Several people were there watching when the second plane hit. She came back to her office, as white as a sheet, and said "I can't believe what I was watching." People leaping from windows to get away from the fire and explosion. Just then the plane hit the Pentagon. One person on that plane was an attorney who had previously worked at our firm. She was able to call her husband on her cell phone before the crash. We could see the smoke from the Pentagon crash from our office.

Then chaos in DC. People who lived in the city started walking home from work. The subway system was crowded. Luckily the commuter bus service I used to get to work was still running but I had to take the subway out to a suburban station to get to the commuter bus. Traffic was at a stand still with people trying to get out of the city. The most horrible day ever. I have a friend who was a Civil War reenactor. The film "Gods and Generals" was being filmed in Maryland at that time, and he said several extras in the film were also first responders. They left the film to get back to help at the Pentagon.