The-Leader_2006-09-14_001 |
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BACK TO SCHOOL SIGHTS: above, a Freeport student savors a burger at the Freeport first day barbecue; right, Baldwin students face the age-old battle of student vs. locker. See more back-to-school photos on page 9.
By Bill Bennett as told to j Michele Swersey
-j (Editor's Note: the following story is
Ij The Leader ran the week after 9/11
M and is a first person account of that
'' day. Sane may find this story too dis-
I turbing, please use discretion.)
Official Freeport Fire Department : photographer Bill Bennett (a [ Baldwinite who is also an ex-firefighter) was among those in [Downtown Manhattan on Tuesday, ; September 11. He was notified of the incident when his beeper went off j saying: "Plane crashed into the World [ Trade Center. Third Alarm \ Confirmed."
"I was going to go in to the city and watch from a distance to take some I photos, not realizing the severity of ' the situation, yet," he told The Leader. He found himself in gridlock traffic,
but an "emergency only lane" was open, so he chose to take the lane. With his press credentials and past fire experience, he knew he could be of some use. The next thing he knew, he was three blocks away when Tower 2 fell. He started to run towards the scene.
"People were running past me yelling, 'It's falling, it's falling.' I kept running towards the scene not knowing what I was about to see," said Bill. "People were covered with dust and dirt. I saw people carrying other people who were hurt and crying. I saw people with serious wounds, bleeding heavily. I made my way to the base of the number 2 tower," he said. "I could see the wreckage through the smoke, but I could also hear the sounds of the fire raging out of control from the number 1 tower."
When he looked up he could not see the tower itself through the smoke.
but he could hear the sounds of the building becoming unsafe. He realized that he should get away at that moment. "My gut feeling was to move away. I almost made it a block away, when the building started to come down."
Bill said his life started to flash before him. He thought, "I'm going to die." He started thinking about his wife and how mad she would be at him for going there. "I remember thinking and hoping that when I died she would understand that I died doing what I loved to do [taking photographs of fires for newspapers]." He remembered standing against a building overhang, stunned, listening to the deafening sound of twisting metal as the building crushed in on itself. "Like slow motion," he said. "I could almost hear the floors hitting each other as each one fell to the ground." (continued on page 10)
In This Issue
• lUianY changes for Freeport schools
Emergency
preparedness
foryouihs
Environmental bond on ballot
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | The-Leader_2006-09-14 |
| Subject | Newspaper |
| Description | This is a Newspaper distributed locally within the Village of Freeport and Baldwin. |
| Creator | Linda Toscano |
| Publisher | L & M Publications, Inc. |
| Contributors | Scanned by Imaging & Microfilm Access, Inc. (Bohemia, NY 11716) |
| Date | 2006 |
| Type | Periodical |
| Format | PDF; TIFF |
| Source | Freeport Memorial Library |
| Language | English |
| Coverage | United States |
| Rights | This digital image may be freely used for educational uses, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this image is permitted without written permission of the Freeport Memorial Library, 144 W. Merrick Road, Freeport, NY 11520 or email: frreference@freeportlibrary.info |
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