Edgefield Federal Prison, Sept 11, 2001 - Forbes
On September 11, 2001, I was sitting in Cell Block D-1 in Edgefield Federal Prison Camp in Edgefield, SC. After being incarcerated for nearly 6 months, I was writing a letter to my two sons who were aged 9 and 11 at the time. As I wrote, I was interrupted by a young inmate who ran from a room where he told me, “A plane hit the World Trade Center, it’s on the news.” He went down the aisles striking up conversations with people about what he saw then adding, “It was a big airplane, a 757,” he said. Once I heard that, I knew he must be mistaken and went back to writing without looking back up. Having been to Manhattan a number of times on business, I figured that either the news was completely fabricated or a sight-seeing plane had strayed into some building near New York. Prison is noted for having people who say things without regard for facts..
“Another plane hit the World Trade Center!” came a call from the television room. And slowly I stood up and looked at others starting to make their way down a long corridor to the common area where we had all watched the beginnings of football season just a few days before. The images I saw on the television were unbelievable … surreal.
I had been in meetings in those towers in New York and I had taken my family on vacation there the year before. We had lunch in the North Tower at The Windows On The World and posed for pictures with the kids from the highest vantage point in Manhattan. And there the same place was on television, burning.
I kept recalling that vacation and then made a quick run to a bank of phones where we could make calls home….it was full with a long line of inmates waiting to call home to find out about their families. I went back to the television room, trying to get information as to what went on, then a prison guard came in and turned off the televisions, “Resume your daily assignment,” he yelled.
With that, lines for phones were cut off, family members were hung up on and life in a vacuum away from society resumed. Throughout the day, we spoke with prison guards or other inmates who had cleaning-details near prison officials’ offices who would provide news.
“One Tower had collapsed,” came a rumor. It had to be a rumor that was baseless I thought. Then other news that a plane had hit the Pentagon….then one had crashed in Pennsylvania. It was horrific news gathered from the unreliable sources of inmates passing news along the line to others who demanded more news. It was too much to comprehend, it was too much to believe.
At 5:00 pm, the televisions were turned back on and the news of the day unfolded before a silent crowd that was normally boisterous. The lines at the phones began to assemble again.
The reflection of being so helpless to contribute to my country at that time still haunts me today. I could not console anyone in my family or do anything to help….I was a spectator to events that were changing the world I left behind.
After getting in touch with my family later that night, they assured me that everything was fine at home, far from New York, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania. From my end, there was no new news…but I missed my family more.
There was a noticeable renewed feeling of patriotism in a place not known for having any. I looked at the flag at the entrance of the prison more often … in fact, I noticed that there even was a flag there. People thanked armed services veterans for their service. People spoke more often about their family.
As a point of conversation, many ask, “Where were you on 9/11?” Like others with me on that day, we don’t have a good answer … but it was life changing.
My thoughts are with all of those whose lives were forever altered on that day because of the loss of a family member or friend.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2011/09/11/edgefield-federal-prison-sept-11-2001/