Remembering 9/11 as a Travel Agent

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed thousands at the Pentagon, World Trade Center, and in a field in Shanksville, Penn.

Check Patch every day this week for new 9/11 stories from Fairfax City council members, school officials, religious and business leaders. Share your 9/11 stories with Patch by emailing whitney@patch.com.

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I – like everyone else who was alive on Tuesday, September 11 – vividly remember the day and what happened.

At the time I was working for a small travel agency in Vienna. I was on Route 123 around Cox Market and remember enjoying the crystal clear, beautiful blue sky. Tysons Corner was in the distance.

An announcement came on the radio detailing that a small plane flew into the World Trade Center in NYC. (At the time my daughter lived in NYC – around 58^th on the west side, but worked in Westchester – so this news was a BIG concern!!)

When I got to work – all was aflutter….what would you expect in a travel office with four women!??! On a good day there was drama! We gathered around a small radio – the updates came in over the next 30 to 60 minutes. I returned home to bring a portable TV into the office. The four of us sat around the TV and speculated about what was happening.  Two other part-time agents came into the office to huddle together for friendship and news.

We watched in growing shock and horror – especially when it was announced that two of the planes departed from Dulles on United. In addition to the general concern about what was happening – we were very concerned that an agency client was on one of the planes that crashed. We all felt that would be an additionally crushing blow….that we would have booked a client on a plane that was doomed.

In the following days, business was very glum at the travel agency. We held people's hands as they tried to decide on travel plans, helped them cancel or rebook their trips. The agency closed (after 30 years) in 2002 – in part a victim of Tuesday, September 11.

My most enduring memory in the days AFTER 9/11 was one of silence.  We don’t tend to notice the noise around us – aircraft, car traffic, etc – the noise becomes part of our daily lives. The days following 9/11 were very, very quiet -- NO air traffic to break the silence! For a number of days or weeks I would wake up and be a bit nervous about turning on the TV …. Always wondered if we had another catastrophe during the night!

My daughter was completely freaked out. While she worked in Westchester, she lived in Manhattan. Her first apartment was blocks from the Towers and her then current apartment had a magnificent view of the Twin Towers on a clear day. She had a trip planned with college friends to meet in Munich for Octoberfest. She eventually decided to go, but it was very traumatic for her. She still does not like to fly!

September 11 was much like the day John Kennedy was shot – forever in your memory.

Janice Miller
City of Fairfax School Board