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Terrible Tuesday: District Comes Under Attack

By John-John Williams IV, Lauren Anderson and Kelli D. Esters
The District Chronicles, Howard University

Jacqulyn Hampton, a senior public relations major at Howard University, was still shaken Wednesday morning.

An intern at the Pentagon for the media watcher/adviser for the Air Force chief of staff, she was still realizing how close she had been to death the day before.

She went in to work Tuesday morning at 9:30 to see her colleagues huddled around televisions.

Oblivious to what had happened in New York, a co-worker informed her that two passenger planes had struck the World Trade Center. She then became glued to the tube.

Meanwhile, a plane was targeting the Pentagon.

"We didn�t see it coming, but we could hear it coming," Hampton said.

After impact, Hampton and her co-workers took cover as the plane hit the west side of the Pentagon, across from her office.

"The building shook really fast, then stopped," Hampton said.

Everyone was instructed to leave the building.

"Everyone was scattered and going everywhere," Hampton said. "It was every man for themselves."

As her tears fell, Hampton said, "I felt like I was going to die, honestly."

After a sleepless night, she returned to classes at Howard with the incidents from the day before fresh in her mind.

"We are no different than Kosovo or Kuwait," Hampton said. "It happened to us�we are not invincible."

There was a similar scene at many D.C.-area colleges and universities. Students and faculty were gathered around televisions and radios with looks of disbelief on their faces.

The news that both World Trade Center Towers had been hit by two separate planes resonated in their minds. Then, the unthinkable hit too close to home. The Pentagon, located minutes from downtown Washington, came under attack as well.

"I couldn�t believe it when the World Trade Center got hit," said Gerald Lowery of Howard University. "It really got serious when the buildings collapsed. I don�t know how we�ll react but this has reached a level that surpasses your regular measures.

It just can�t be just a regular, rudimentary reaction.

But it can�t be a knee-jerk reaction either."

"We had a TV in the office and we were just watching to see what was going to happen next," said Lisa Fletcher, a senior accounts payable analyst at Catholic University.

"It�s like a movie . . . I can�t believe it�s happening," said Georgetown University student Anne Liggio. "Everyone seems dumbfounded."

Liggio, a native of Chicago, said she had friends and family who were connected to the attacked areas. Eventually, she found out everyone was safe.

"My brother in Boston told me to pack a change of clothes if I needed to evacuate," Liggio said. "He said he�d find a way to get me."

Evacuating was not an option for everyone.

The attack at the Pentagon hit extremely close to home for some Howard University students because many of them were staying in the Doubletree Hotel in Arlington, Va. After a housing shortage, the university rented three floors at the hotel, which is across a six-lane highway from the Pentagon.

Students staying at the hotel said they heard the plane strike the building and actually felt the hotel tremble.

Rashon Harris, a 19-year-old business marketing major at Howard University, said he started to get up in the morning to go to class, but he was too tired and decided to stay in bed. After rising groggily, Harris turned on the television and saw that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Before Harris could fully digest what was going on, he heard a loud screech from outside and felt the windows shake.

He said his first thought was that the noise was a terrorist attack.

"I heard a crash and saw the window shake.

I immediately saw reports that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. I ran out into the hall to my friend�s room. Other people came out into the hall.

I could see smoke from the window. It sounded like a sonic boom, a huge crash."

"Students were shocked and in a frenzy," Harris said. "Everyone was trying to call their family. My calling card wasn�t working properly because the phone circuits were busy. I had to try calling like five times.

"I saw debris flying outside the window, people running and cars swerving," Harris observed.

"I was nervous. We were out here . . . with no means to get out of the area," said Emmanuel Arrey, a sophomore at Howard University. "I was trying to contact my parents. I looked outside and when I got out there, it smelled like barbecue."

ANOTHER VIEWPOINT

Tara Curtis stood bewildered, looking at news on television Tuesday morning.

"The school is closing, and everyone is saying to go home," Curtis said as she stared with her eyes glazed over. "But I have no place to go."

Curtis stood in amazement, just staring at the television. "That is literally right where I get on the freeway to come to school," Curtis said.

Where Curtis was staying was across the street from the next terrorist target.

"I spoke with her (mother) when the planes first hit the World Trade towers in New York," Curtis said.

Curtis said her mother was worried about her being in the District and asked her to go back to the hotel. "I heard the Pentagon was hit after I was in the car already on my way back to the hotel.

"I thank God that I was stopped (by my mother) early enough not to be around when the plane hit. This is definitely not a normal situation; it may have been divine intervention because my mother told me to go back to the hotel."

This morning, as I was driving to work, I saw people entering the Pentagon wearing their suits and uniforms," Curtis said. "And now, to think those people may be dead. It makes you realize how precious life is."

INSIDE THE PENTAGON

Aleathia (cq) Thompson, a freshman Spanish major at the University of the District of Columbia, was standing around in the basement where she works with her co-workers when she learned about the initial World Trade Center disasters.

"We had just gotten a call about the Trade Center and we were all joking about it," Thompson said. "One man said, �I�m going to put in my sick time because we�re next.� My boss said, �everybody hit the deck. It�s a bomb!�"

Ten seconds later, the plane crashed into the Pentagon.

"I heard a loud boom," Thompson said. "There was lots of black and gray smoke.

"When they told us about the Trade Center, it wasn�t real to me, but when I saw the smoke, I started crying."

According to Thompson, the plane crashed into the first and second corridors where the food court and mini mall are located.

"I was going to start working there when I first got the job," Thompson said. "But they needed me more in the basement."

Sabrina and Rodney Clark, a married couple, both work in the Pentagon and were there when the building was hit.

"Fire came through my window and blew it out," Sabrina Clark said. "I took off running and kept going through the center and continued on through the Metro.

"It felt like an earthquake. We jumped up and started to scream. All I could see were two big balls of fire. I could smell burning fuel and I could hear the crumbling sound of crumbled cement. I could feel the cement falling on my face," Sabrina Clark said.

"We practiced fire drills, so everything was organized," she said.

The Pentagon had just finished construction on the side of the building where the plane hit and workers had not moved their offices back to that section, named Heliport.

Rodney Clark, 32, worked in the Remote Packing Facility and Sabrina Clark, 34, worked in the fourth corridor, training program management.

"I saw a burst of smoke and smelled fuel burning," Rodney Clark said.

"I feel shaken," he said. "But it wasn�t that bad. We had to take a class on terrorism, so we were prepared.

"When it happened, I was nervous, so I called her. She was scared. It was a shock," Rodney Clark said.

"I have family in New York," Rodney Clark said. "But I was able to get to a co-worker�s house and call my family. All of my family had been calling all over the place, terrified, looking for me.

"I will always have the vision in my mind of the building about to crumble," he said. "I have never been that frightened before."

PENTAGON CRASH AFFECTS DISTRICT

The news of the plane crashing into the Pentagon sent shock waves through the District. The federal government closed, along with D.C. public schools and many District colleges and universities. Dr. Elaine Bourn Health found it hard to work in her Southeastern University office.

Heath, who is the dean of faculty and academic affairs, said that as soon as the government buildings surrounding the university closed, "we followed suit."

"We never expected anything to happen on this side of [the] shore," Heath said.

Maureen Fleming, of media relations at George Washington University, said there was a community message sent to the students and staff at the school. The message stated that all classes and evening events had been canceled for the remainder of the day.

"The liberal leave law has also been in effect for the remainder of the day here at GW," said Fleming. "But the residence halls remain open and are in service."

Other schools like American University also closed. Kathryn Schroeder, public information officer for the university, said the university officially closed at 11 a.m.

"We are asking students, faculty and staff members to remain on campus until further notice," Schroeder said.

The threat of more destruction did not make Gallaudet University cancel class.

Sheila Bryant, an employee at Gallaudet said everyone was doing fine and agreed with the university�s policy to continue classes.

"It�s safer for the students to be in class on campus than on the streets," Bryant said.

School aside, Bryant was highly concerned about her four-year-old son, whose daycare center closed on New Hampshire Ave.

"I don�t understand why they closed down the schools throughout the District," Bryant said. "I don�t understand why my son�s school let out. I feel he is safer at school."

Transportation was also affected throughout the day. Every scheduled plane departure was grounded nationwide.

In the District, traffic jams kept commuters in gridlock for most of the afternoon.

Metro riders were also inconvenienced. The Pentagon, Union Station and Reagan National Airport Metro stations were closed.

"Usually, these type of things scare the citizens into submission. But, this one will get your blood boiling," said Paul Clanson (cq) of Silver Spring, Md., while standing on the Farragut North Metro platform. "You�re gonna have some really angry Americans, and that doesn�t bode well for the enemy."

DISTRICT STUDENTS LEARN OF THEIR FAMILIES�, FRIENDS� BRUSHES WITH DEATH

Curtis said she was worried that one of her sorority sisters was an employee at the World Trade Center.

"We can�t get in touch with Adrisha, and it�s really upsetting. We can�t get in touch with her but we are praying for her and her family."

Curtis still does not know what happened to her friend.

Other students received better news.

Kellen (cq) McDowell, a Howard University student, was on a shuttle bus when she learned that the first tower collapsed.

"That�s where my mom works � in the first tower," McDowell said. "It was the scariest thing I�ve ever been through. It�s just the thing of not knowing.

You couldn�t call in to New York. Verizon, Voicestream, Sprint, all of the cell phone providers were down."

McDowell said she eventually spoke to her stepfather, who told her that her mother probably wasn�t there yet.

"I spoke to my Mom at 2:30 that afternoon.

She said that she had stopped to get a cup of coffee and was sitting on the bench smoking a cigarette before she went in and saw the first plane go into the building.

Daviece (cq) Clement, a Howard University student, immediately began to worry when she heard about the plane crashes in Manhattan.

Both her mother and cousin worked in the vicinity of the World Trade Center towers, and her cousin worked in the building.

Clement�s mother works three blocks away from the World Trade Center.

"My mother was at work when she felt a large boom," Clement said. "Her building started to shake and (she) thought it was a mini-earthquake."

"All of [a] sudden, she saw people running down the street," Clement said of her mother, who works on the 16th floor. "She said black smoke and dust was everywhere. It kept rising up and up."

Clement�s mother evacuated and made it home to Long Island safely four hours later. What about Clement�s cousin?

"She got out O.K.," Clement said with a smile.

Writers Sharia Davis, Chanel Vestal, Amber Mobley, Vincent Thomas and Arin M. Lawrence contributed to this story.