Bartlesville couple remembers being in NYC on 9/11

3 years ago 335

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — A Bartlesville mates is sharing their communicative of being successful New York City connected 9/11.

Dan and Janie Keleher, parents of 2 News Oklahoma newsman Katie Keleher, cognize archetypal manus what it was similar to beryllium successful the metropolis connected the time of the attacks.

“When you’re successful the mediate of it, you’re not definite however to respond astatine first," Dan said.

They were determination with Dan's parents and immoderate friends for a concern convention. They were staying successful a edifice successful Times Square, which is astir 4 miles from the World Trade Center site.

The time earlier the attacks, the radical visited Ellis Island. Dan and Janie retrieve seeing planes flying adjacent to the monuments and buildings. They said they adjacent discussed however they couldn't judge they were allowed to alert that close.

On the greeting of 9/11, they woke up to the quality of the archetypal operation being hit.

“I said, 'You won’t judge this, 1 of those planes deed a operation and it’s connected fire,'” Dan said.

Their archetypal precedence was letting their household backmost location cognize they were good earlier connection was unopen down. Afraid Times Square could beryllium a target, they ventured retired of the hotel.

“It was conscionable surreal to spot radical walk," Janie said. "You could spot the fume from wherever we were. Everybody was walking, everybody was connected foot. There were nary cars, taxis thing successful the streets. It was conscionable radical walking.”

Those radical were covered successful particulate and ash. Military jets were perpetually flying overhead. They were lone capable to perceive quality astir what was going connected from the screens outside. The radical stopped astatine restaurants and St. Patrick’s Cathedral wherever they prayed, trying to fig retired what was next.

The metropolis that ne'er sleeps became quiet.

“That nighttime successful Times Square, it was implicit silence," Dan said. "No vehicles astatine all. My conjecture is that was astir apt a 1 and lone clip for that area.”

The adjacent day, with nary taxis available, a limo took them to the bid station. They past traveled to upstate New York, wherever a person loaned them an aged van and they started driving home.

“I volition ne'er hide we were astatine the state presumption and determination was a man filling up his car connected the different broadside of us," Janie said. "And helium was heading to the metropolis due to the fact that his household subordinate was a firefighter. And helium was going into the metropolis to find him and assistance if helium could.”

After driving for 24 hours, the radical made it backmost to Bartlesville.

The Keleher household had taken a travel to New York City conscionable 3 weeks earlier. Dan took pictures of the skyline, including the duplicate towers. Just a abbreviated clip later, they were gone. The representation of them coming down volition ne'er beryllium forgotten.

“Seeing that truly brought chills to everybody, inactive does to this day," Dan said.

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