9-11-2001

On Wednesday, September 12, 2001, I received a "Daily Email" from the Times-Dispatch requesting stories of survivors of the attacks on the World Trade Center the previous Tuesday. The Times-Dispatch printed this story, along with others, in its Sunday paper, September 23, 2001, at page A8.

IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

My daughter, Juanita D. Hanley (age 26, graduate of Huguenot High School and Hampton University with a degree in finance) was until last Tuesday, September 11, 2001, an auditor with the NASD in Manhattan. She routinely walked through the World Trade Center every morning on her way to her building, One Liberty Plaza, right across the street from the twin towers. On the morning of September 11, 2001, she caught the 8:15 a.m. train (called "the Path") into the World Trade Center as was her usual custom and had planned to work in her office that day instead of being at other firms conducting audits. She arrived at the World Trade Center at 8:50 a.m., her usual arrival time. Unknown to her, however, the first plane had hit the first tower at 8:48 a.m. Once inside The World Trade Center as she was ascending the escalator, she smelled something burning. When she got to the upper level of the Center, she immediately saw people running. She asked no questions but began running too.

Outside the World Trade Center glass, metal and all kinds of debris were flying all around her as she ran down Fulton Street toward the seaport. Other people were also running to the seaport. She heard women crying and screaming. When she was about two blocks away from the World Trade Center, she heard the second explosion and turned around to see the twin towers on fire and people jumping from windows to their deaths. Terrified that the entire City of New York was under attack, she continued to run the additional 7 blocks to the seaport which was the only way she knew out of the City--the subways, tunnels, trains all having been immediately shut down.

I received the first call from her near the seaport. "Mommy, God has spared my life," her voice was trembling and she was sobbing.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"Somewhere on Water Street. I can't talk long, Mommy, because there are so many people standing behind me to use the telephone too." She promised she'd call again.

She remembered that a ferry ran to Staten Island and it was her intention to go there; but once she got to the seaport, she learned that other ferries were going to South Jersey. She boarded one of them with two of her colleagues who lived in Brooklyn and could not get home. She invited them to go home with her. She recounted that from the safety of the ferry they watched in horror and disbelief as the two towers fell. She said that for the entire ferry ride, she clutched the arm of one of her colleagues while praising God for having saved her life and crying for those whom she had seen jump to their deaths.

She made her way by bus to Weehawken, then on to Hoboken and finally to her home in Rutherford, New Jersey. From there she called me a second time saying she had turned on the TV and that NYC "looks like a third world country" and that both towers were gone. Her two colleagues stayed with her Tuesday until a friend could come and take them safely back to Brooklyn. She was unable to remain in her home but spent the next few days with a colleague who also survived the attack. She returned home Saturday evening, went to church Sunday morning, and had a friend with her Sunday afternoon.

When we spoke this weekend, she said "I just want to get my mind back." She said she couldn't concentrate, was very forgetful, and was having difficulty breathing, had some chest pain, could not sleep and had lost her appetite. I had wanted to travel to New Jersey to be with her but she begged me not to come for fear that something would happen to me.

"It's not over yet. If anything happens to you, what am I supposed to do?" (I had raised my daughter as a single parent since she was 5 years old. She remains in contact with her father, however, who resides in Atlanta, Georgia.)

Later I learned that she was correct: two other groups of terrorists had been apprehended by the FBI and both groups had attempted to board a commercial airline and, in fact, one group had already boarded when the FBI stormed the airplane and detained the would-be terrorists who had pilot licenses from Florida and were also carrying knives.

Today, Monday, September 17, 2001, she was to report to the NASD office in Woodbridge, New Jersey to receive information on trauma counseling. She will not be working the rest of this week. Her continued employment at the NASD is uncertain at this time.