Steve Halliday

When the first plane hit the World Trade Center I was on an American Airlines jet about 30 minutes from Chicago’s O’Hare airport. I had boarded the plane earlier that morning in Norfolk. Shortly after the plane hit the World Trade Center the pilot announced that we should “sit down, buckle up.” You could tell something was wrong but the pilot did not give any details. Upon landing the airport was a madhouse and I quickly saw the burning World Trade Center on the TV mounted in the waiting area. Not knowing what to do, but certain my flight connection to Oklahoma City was cancelled, I hustled to the car rental bus and used my Hertz upgrade status to get a rental car. I had a vivid image of just wanting to see the corn fields of Illinois. I then realized I was heading the wrong way on the interstate and was heading downtown rather than to the countryside. I managed to turn around and kept driving until I saw cornfields. I didn’t know how upset I was until I realized I had driven right into the first cornfield I saw.