To say Washington, D.C. was in a state of chaos on the morning of September 11, 2001 greatly understates what I saw that day. I lived in the D.C. neighborhood of Foggy Bottom at the time. The State Department and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are located in the neighborhood.
The day started like any other for me. I was up at 6 a.m. and I had an interview with a professor at Georgetown University for an article I was writing. After getting dressed, I began to scan the day's headlines in the Washington Post. I also listened to the radio as I did every morning.
Just as I was reaching to shut the radio off and go to my interview, the radio host announced, "We are getting reports that an airliner has flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York." What a horrible accident, I thought. I remembered the many times I had visited the World Trade Center. I paused to listen more.
In a few minutes the announcer said, "We are seeing another airliner headed for the south tower of the World Trade Center." Two planes in a row? I asked myself. This is no accident, I concluded. I switched on the television in time to see Flight 175 hitting the south tower.
I watched in horror as the jetliner crashed into the tower. I sat glued in front of my television for maybe half an hour. Shortly afterward, the panes of my kitchen window rattled and I heard a distant explosion. This signaled that Flight 77 had crashed into the western side of the Pentagon and I could see from my kitchen window an ominous black cloud billowing smoke from across the Potomac River.
The radio announcer soon reported the Pentagon attack. The federal government immediately closed and workers were sent home. There were huge traffic jams as people left Washington for their suburban Virginia and Maryland homes. The mayor declared Washington was in a state of emergency and people were ordered to stay off the streets.
Soon chaos reigned over the radio. Crackpots began calling in to say the Library of Congress had been blown up. Likewise, the Supreme Court and the U.S. Capitol had been reduced to rubble. It was clear to me that some sick people were taking advantage of the Pentagon attack to spread terror with false claims of other Washington landmarks destroyed.
Though Washington was officially in a state of emergency, I had to go out to the streets. It was about noon at this point. The streets were bare and I couldn't see any traffic anywhere along Pennsylvania Avenue. A TGI Friday's was closed with a note posted to the door: "Go Home."
As I walked back to my apartment, I noticed a military truck carrying several troops. One of the troops was listening to a portable listening device, I assumed to keep track with the fast breaking news events. I also saw soldiers with weapons stationed at what would have been busy streets.
In sum, September 11, 2001 was a horrible day. It was frightening and disturbing for the city to be in a state of emergency. It was disturbing not to know what was happening and not to know what else might happen. It was almost like what might have happened if there had been a nuclear attack or some other type of disaster.
Of course, Congress, the president, and vice president had been moved to safe and secured locations. They were all whisked out of harm's way for their protection until the situation stabilized.
Silence was the most memorable thing I recall from that horrible day. After the Pentagon was hit and the city locked down, the silence was amazing. I lived in D.C. for nearly 20 years and I have never experienced anything like the silence of September 11.
On a busy workday, like September 11 was, there should be noise. Noise was normal. I lived in the nation's capital and I expected noise. The day started with noise but it gave way to silence. An unforgettable and uneasy silence. It was as though something in the city had died as a result of the attack on the Pentagon.
It took days for the noise and other signs of life to return to the city and with it the compassion to honor the dead and injured. With the noise also came the will and determination to seek retaliation against those who would kill innocents and sacrifice themselves to strike out at our country.
As we acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, let us declare to seek a safe future domestically and internationally. The Arab Spring uprisings are a clear indication that people, subjected to decades of dictatorship, desire to be free. May we forever hear the voices of those who struggle to be free.
James Patterson is a San Francisco-based writer.