Jonathan oral history interview conducted by Julie Broihier, July 13, 2010

About

In 2001, Jonathan owned a successful sub-contracting business downtown and most of his work was in Battery City. On his way to work on September 11th, he noticed the flames on the top of tower one and thought the air conditioner caught fire. From his office window, he could see the second plane flying low and headed north. He did not see it hit the second tower but he felt the hit. Initially, he thought the fire he noticed driving into work interfered with the air traffic control and caused the second plan to go off route and into the tower. Shortly after, he heard over a Nextel radio that it was actually an attack. Motivated to help, Jonathan headed to the WTC and along the way helped to direct some lost firemen. As others were running away from the towers, Jonathan says the firemen were the only people running towards the towers. He was just north of the buildings when the first tower collapsed and following the collapse was an eerie silence. He walked away with just a few lacerations. Jonathan spent about three hundred hours at the site doing whatever he saw was needed. The first victim Jonathan came across was a woman holding a Matchbox racecar with the number 43 on it. He held onto it knowing that this must have had some significance to the woman for her to be clutching it just before she died. He felt attached to the car marked with the number 43 because 343 firemen died on 9/11, and although he was not a fireman, he felt connected to the brotherhood at Ground Zero.…

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Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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