Courtesy Photo | Capt. Thomas Sullivan, 773rd Transportation Company, gearing up for a fuel supply mission.... read more read more
Spc. Kyndal Hernandez
45th Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE Q-WEST, Iraq (Sept. 3, 2006) - Five years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, an Army captain and World Trade Center survivor, commands a New York unit deployed to Iraq.
Capt. Thomas Sullivan, commander of the 773rd Transportation Company at Q-West experienced the attacks on the World Trade Center from the 95th floor of the South Tower. He and Soldiers from this New York Reserve unit will participate in a remembrance ceremony in honor of the victims of Sept. 11.
Sullivan worked for Fiduciary Trust Company International as a performance analyst since 1996. Until Sept. 11, 2001, the company's office occupied four floors of the South Tower.
On that day, Sullivan arrived at work at 7:30 a.m. just like any other day, but a broader smile may have revealed he had good news to share.
"I had gone into my office to send out e-mails to friends and family members to tell them the news that my wife was pregnant with twins," Sullivan said.
After clicking the "send" key, he made his way to his boss' office to share the exciting news with him.
"As we sat there in his office laughing and joking," Sullivan explained. "I noticed something out of the corner of my eye."
At that moment – about 8:46 a.m. – the first plane hit the North Tower.
"We both jumped to the floor, and I could feel the concussion and the heat immediately," Sullivan said.
As the deputy fire warden for his floor, Sullivan instinctively began evacuating all personnel on his floor after the explosion.
Within minutes his section was clear, and Sullivan made his way to the stairwell. He began his descent running and jumping down the stairs.
Sullivan was 30 floors closer to escape – on the 65th floor stairwell – when the second plane hit the South Tower just 13 stories above him.
"The building shook unbelievably. I could feel a subtle burst of warm air and light debris and dust coming down the stairwell."
By then, a throng of people poured into the stairwell for the long journey to the ground floor. But when they finally made it, they could not exit the building because of glass and other debris falling dangerously from the building.
Along with the crowd, Sullivan turned back to the stairwell in hopes of finding another exit through the basement.
"When we finally exited the building, there was fire, smoke and debris everywhere," Sullivan said. "I told my coworkers that I was going to head to the Staten Island Ferry."
A few minutes after he made it to the street, the South Tower began to collapse.
"When the building started to collapse, I started to run but the thick cloud of dust that came made it very difficult to see and breathe," Sullivan said.
He made it to the Staten Island Ferry but to his dismay, it was closed. Like thousands of other people, he began walking toward the Brooklyn Bridge for the long journey home.
"As we were walking to the bridge, the North Tower collapsed. It collapsed right in front of our eyes."
After walking about eight miles, Sullivan found a phone to call his family. He said it had been more than two hours since anyone had heard from him. His family had feared the worst.
"The next few days were worse than the event itself," Sullivan explained. "I had received dozens of calls from my friends' and coworkers' family members, asking if I had seen their loved ones."
Months later, Sullivan continued to have trouble coping with the tragedy he had been through.
"I went to ground zero once to assist, but I could not bear for too long. They seemed to have all the help they needed, and I was not up for the task physically or mentally."
Sullivan said it took him a few months to deal with the events that transpired that day.
"My service to this country and being here on the memorable day of Sept. 11 is how I honor the people who lost their lives that day. That was a day that should be remembered forever, a day we as Americans should pay tribute to, and a day that I will never forget."
USAR
| Date Taken: | 09.05.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 09.05.2006 12:06 |
| Story ID: | 7611 |
| Location: | QAYYARAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 864 |
| Downloads: | 455 |
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