Northern California Men In World Trade Center On 9/11 Share Their Stories

LODI (CBS13) – Saturday marks 20 years since the September 11th violent attacks.

Two survivors from Northern California were successful the World Trade Center for precise antithetic reasons that day, and they some made it retired astatine astir the aforesaid time.

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On September 11th, survivors ran. They tried to telephone their families and get home. Among them are Richard Hannaford from Natomas and Corey Daniel from Lodi.

“By the grace of God, my guardian angels were truly engaged that day,” said Hannaford.

“I ran each day. I went connected ft backmost to my hotel,” said Daniel.

They were successful Tower 2, 20 floors apart.

Hannaford had worked successful New York City for decades arsenic a firm enslaved broker.

Daniel had conscionable arrived for a two-week grooming and the onslaught happened 2 days in. They some retrieve the shaking arsenic they ran downstairs.

“It took the interaction of that plane, bowed and past righted backmost up,” said Daniel.

‘I didn’t cognize what to bash but I knew that if we got down we’ll beryllium OK,” said Hannaford.

Daniel ran done a stairwell afloat of panicked people. Hannaford said the 1 helium recovered was empty.

But the biggest fearfulness happened erstwhile they were yet out.

“People falling from the sky. A mates holding hands and these sounds I was proceeding were people’s bodies hitting the ground,” said Hannaford.

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Daniel remembers the streets astatine a standstill. He thought of his wife, disquieted astatine home.

The payphones didn’t work, truthful helium stopped a pistillate with a Blackberry and asking to nonstop this message.

“I said, ‘hey, it’s me, it’s Corey. I’m OK, I’m out. I’ll speech to you from the edifice tonight,'” said Daniel.

As Hannaford waited for his telephone call, Tower 1 collapsed.

“I thought to myself ohio my deity it’s going to fall. And it did and truthful did I. I ended up successful immoderate woman’s lap,” said Hannaford.

Hannaford doesn’t retrieve however helium got to his location adjacent the city.

Daniel says it took him much than 4 days by autobus and level to get location to Lodi.

He had 2 photos with him, bought 2 days aft the attack.

“There’s adjacent immoderate scratches connected the archetypal portion due to the fact that they were shuffled astir erstwhile I had them connected the autobus going backmost from New York,” said Daniel.

He carried thing to remember. On the 11th, survivors carried thing but themselves. Twenty years later, they transportation grief for guiltless lives mislaid and breached hearts.

“I tin inactive spot those faces today,” said Hannaford.

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Both survivors accidental they anticipation the younger generations proceed to larn astir 9/11 and recognize however it changed truthful galore lives. Both accidental it near them with much consciousness for information and safety.