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STORIES

Cyrus Barberia

Veteran

MY connection to 9/11

  • I was living in New York City or Washington, DC on 9/11

Where were you when you first heard about or saw the 9/11 terrorist attacks?

I was working in East New York Brooklyn when I heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center. I went out into the street and I could see the smoke from what had happened when the plane first hit. My wife was working in Manhattan at the time. I called her right away and she said they were evacuating her building also in midtown. There was no mass transportation or private transportation to pick her up. She, all her co-workers, and a good part of Manhattan had to walk across the 59th Street bridge, every one of them covered with dust. The roadway was covered with dust. I borrowed a company van and raced over as fast I could to the 59th Street bridge where thousands of people were walking across. By some miracle I found my wife and some of the coworkers. I loaded them all into the van I took them all to their houses they were all in some form a shock. Seeing all those people coming out of the 59th Street bridge was the saddest sight I've ever seen in my life. About 2 weeks later I finally got to see Ground Zero at the World Trade Center. I was proud to help out that day.

How did the events of that day shape your life and inspire your service to this country?

I was out of the service in 1974 and didn't think much of it at the time but it gave me a renewed sense of patriotism on 9/11. When people started saying thank you for your service first time brought tears to my eyes cuz it never happened starting to Vietnam war. Although I didn't go to Vietnam, I am Vietnam era veteran. "Thank you for your service" made me feel for not having gone there.

What are you excited to contribute to your community, however you define it, for the next 20 years?

I'm 70 years old. I don't participate in many community events or help out too much, it gives me a great guilt. I have health issues which is not much of an excuse but I still have a feeling of patriotism and love my country. I didn't have a camera on both of those days that I was there at the World Trade Center and I have no photo to share unfortunately but the sight of what I had seen is in my mind forever.

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