About Town: The 9/11 Oral History Project

For the past week, I’ve been meeting with people, all of whom were born and raised in Fort Lee, who played an integral role in the events of 9/11 as they transpired. 

Having people share such intimate details of that day, as they remember it, such personal recollections that, in many cases, have never been shared before, is an honor, and one that I do not look upon lightly. 

As these stories unfold before me, two overriding themes emerge from the ash of memory:

• Fort Lee, the Fort Lee whose streets birthed these people; the Fort Lee whose small community nurtured and embraced them; this Fort Lee, their Fort Lee, was thought to be under attack on 9/11, and every imaginable agency--from area police departments to the New York City police department to the Army, descended upon our little town to defend it. All in the name of the George Washington Bridge.
• No one story stands alone. I am amazed by how all the stories I've heard thus far intersect--as if I'm watching an intricate plot unfold. 

The George Washington Bridge, the iconic symbol as the gateway to New York, whose western footings stand firmly upon our shores, has become representative of all that survived and all that endured on 9/11. Because as you will see as Patch begins to unveil these narratives, the Bridge was thought of as a real target. 

From the time that the second plane hit the South tower of the World Trade Center, we would never again live our lives the way we had been accustomed to. Our children would never enjoy the freedoms that we experienced up to that point. And perhaps second only to Manhattan, life would never be the same for Fort Lee. In defense of the bridge, our town has returned, in a sense, to the fortress that gave Fort Lee its name. 

As I begin to write these stories, I’m realizing how many more stories there are that might go untold and be lost to history. Stories that may seem to pale in comparison next to the drama faced by the Fort Lee-born General Manager of the George Washington Bridge that day, but stories that must be woven into the fabric of our narrative.

And so I’m reaching out to you, residents of Fort Lee, to share your 9/11 story with me so that it can be recorded and added to the annals of Fort Lee history; so that future generations can understand the strategic role that Fort Lee played in the events of 9/11; so that future generations can understand how the tragedy of 9/11 brought our community out to help in every way that they could--whether it was delivering food to the Port Authority Headquarters in Fort Lee or sending medical professionals to help Port Authority employees cope with the tremendous loss of life they were dealing with while still trying to remain fully operational. 

Without our stories, there is no history.

If you have a story you’d be willing to share, or even just a thought or memory that stands out in your mind about the events of that day or how it has significantly changed the person you are now, please contact Ann Piccirillo at annpiccirillo@yahoo.com or Erik Wander at erik.wander@patch.com.