Maryland man reflects on surviving 9/11 attacks in World Trade Center 24 years ago
By Adam Thompson
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BALTIMORE COUNTY, Maryland (WJZ) — Steve Peck, who now lives in Baltimore County, was working on the 63rd floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower in New York City 24 years ago when the building shook violently.
At that moment, he had no idea the impact it would have on the United States.
Peck was one of the lucky ones who survived the terror attack on Sept. 1, 2001. More than 3,000 people in the two towers died.
“I’m sure everyone remembers exactly where they were when they heard the news,” Peck said. “I just happened to be 20 to 30 floors below where the building was hit in World Trade Center One.”
“A plane hit the building”
Peck said that he and his colleagues were preparing for a 9 a.m. meeting when he thought a bomb had gone off.
They went to the stairwell, focused on running as fast as they could down 63 flights of stairs.
“We went to the stairs and figured out how fast we could run, and what we were going to run into when we got down there.” Peck remembers.
Peck said the traffic on the stairs picked up as they reached the 37th floor, which was compared to leaving a stadium event.
A work colleague looked at his Blackberry and saw the news that a plane had just struck the World Trade Center.
“The lights were on, there was smoke, and we were trying to figure out what was happening. At this time, one of the colleagues in the area had a Blackberry…and he said a plane hit the building,” Peck said. “Then, right around the 30th floor, it rocked again. We said, ‘What was that?’ and the Blackberry said a plane hit the other building.”
Peck said that everyone in the stairwell had to find a way to make it out of the building without panicking. They had to work together to escape.
“Once we knew that had happened, we knew we were kind of sitting ducks, and we were going to make our way down, no panic,” Peck said. “People were obviously scared, but everybody was sticking together, and our hope was to get out.”
Once he got out of the World Trade Center, Peck said he looked up and saw where the plane had collided with the side of the building.
“A lot of people were standing in the park and looking. When we got out, I had a chance to look up at the gaping holes,” Peck said. “Then, my thoughts were if there was anything we could do to help. It was chaos.”
“Never forget”
The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, still stick with Peck, who was fortunately able to walk away on that tragic morning.
“There were so many things that day,” Peck said. “It was a horrible act, just cowardly, that caused this to happen, 3,000 lives just lost. That was very brutal.”
However, Peck said the biggest thing he took away from that day was everyone working together, from citizens to emergency responders.
“We were aligned in that stairwell, aligned when we got out,” Peck said. “Nobody cared what race you were, nobody cared what preferences you had, nobody cared about anything but helping each other out.”
Peck spoke about the firefighters who went into the building and the tens of thousands who lost their lives during the 9/11 attacks.
“We just have to never forget those who gave their lives,” Peck said. “My memory of that day was, in the midst of horrible loss, that 30,000 of us got out alive thanks to the firefighters and the police officers who made sure we got out.”
Peck continued, “The firefighters were putting their lives on the line, and I will never forget them, and I will never forget what it was like to be a country on Sept. 12, the day after.”
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