On September 11, 2001, I was an 18-year-old sophomore at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. Many of my classmates were from the New York City area
I remember my roommate, Daria Siegel, was worried about her dad who worked in NYC.
My father worked at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on the other side of Lafayette Park from the White House.
I remember hearing about the news in class and also being concerned about my dad.
He was sent home from work after the Pentagon was hit. He said colleagues came in to report planes hit the twin towers. They looked out the window and he could see the smoke rising from the Pentagon.
He said he left and did an errand - had to get my brother a binder for school. Then he took the metro home.
When he got home he turned on the TV with my mom. My mom said she remembered thinking why would anyone kill themselves while they were doing these attacks? She couldn’t understand the concept of a suicide mission.
Not long after the attacks, I brought my friend home for fall break, and we drove past the Pentagon.
Here is a photo I snapped.
