Twenty-five years after September 11, Gadiel shares his firsthand experience of 9/11 as a high-school student in New York City. He remembers feeling the first impact while sitting in class, seeing the World Trade Center burning, witnessing the second plane hit, and eventually walking uptown through Manhattan after the trains stopped and phone service failed. Gadiel also reflects on how September 11 changed New York, influenced his decision to join the U.S. Navy, and why he believes remembering the victims should be about unity, freedom and rejecting hate.
On September 11, 2001, Gadiel Del Orbe was a high-school student in Lower Manhattan.
Twenty-five years later, he sits down to tell the story of what he remembers from that morning.
In this episode:
• Hearing and feeling the first impact from school
• Initially believing the crash was an accident
• Watching the World Trade Center burn
• Seeing the second plane hit the second tower
• Leaving school amid the confusion
• Phone service and NYC transportation shutting down
• Walking uptown through Manhattan
• Seeing the smoke and ash after the tower collapsed
• Finally making it home to his mother
• Returning to Lower Manhattan after 9/11
• The smell and dust that remained in the area
• Remembering New York City's skyline before September 11
• How New Yorkers came together after the attacks
• Why 9/11 influenced Gadiel to join the U.S. Navy
• Patriotism, religious freedom and Islamophobia
• Why Gadiel believes the victims should be remembered through unity rather than hate
A personal reflection on one of the most consequential days in New York City and American history—from someone who experienced it as a teenager.