'One of the longest days of my life'
Todd Barker
Age:48
Hometown: New Smyrna Beach
Driving to the city on that day was pretty normal until I heard on the radio that a plane had wrecked into the World Trade Center. That was 8:45 a.m. and I didn't believe it and also the guy on the radio also didn't. As I drove the 75 miles to my destination by JFK Airport, I clinged to hear every word coming over the radio and just kept driving, which eventually I should have turned around, but I just went on my way.
The situation continued to get worse as time went by, when I was crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River, I could see the smoke coming from lower Manhattan and the Towers.
At this point I became scared what was going on and thinking all different type of scenarios, even a terrorist attack and what I was getting myself into. The next bridge I crossed over to Long Island on was the Whitestone Bridge and that's when I witnessed the horror of the second tower coming down.
I had a friend from the city meeting me on the Island and as it turned out, he was trapped for three days and couldn't get back home to his wife. I got to my destination by the airport and walked out on a piece of land that looked over the bay to the city and the whole city looked on fire.
It was one of the longest days of my life and one the rest of the New Yorkers will never forget.
The day was so amazing that over several years after that people still recounted their stories of where they were and how they felt.
On the 9th anniversary: As far as today with all the bickering over the opening of the Mosque, its a shame its taken this long to start the development of the new towers.
I feel even with what everybody has gone through with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, America is going in the right direction for the fight against terrorism abroad, but we haven't dealt with our Homeland Security and taking care of things at home.