Tragedy+10: Brunk, Terry escape the terror

story by Michael Tilley
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Dale Brunk was on the 40th floor stairwell of the south tower of the World Trade Center when the second hijacked plane hit it.

“The force knocked me against the wall,” said Brunk, who was 22 at the time of the event.

Now a partner-financial advisor at Fort Smith-based Beall Barclay Wealth Management, Brunk was then in New York as part of a three-week training cycle with another financial company. He arrived in New York on Sept. 10 to begin the training.

Brunk and hundreds of others were in the stairwell because just a few minutes earlier they witnessed the aftermath of the first hijacked jet hitting the north tower.

Before the aftermath, Brunk and colleagues were standing in a breakroom on the 61st floor. Brunk was staring out the window, admiring the Statue of Liberty. American Airlines would within seconds slam into the 93rd-99th floors of the north tower.

“We heard a noise … an explosion,” Brunk said, adding that some immediately thought maybe an air conditioner had exploded.

“When so many papers flew past my window that it looked like confetti, that’s when I first realized something was wrong,” Brunk explained.

He then remembers seeing manila envelopes and hanging folders fall.

“And then I saw the debris and burning balls of fire that were falling … and then it really hit me that something was wrong.”

A supervisor ordered everyone to evacuate by using the stairs. Brunk clearly remembers the supervisor telling them to not use the elevators.

‘SELF PRESERVATION’
Sam Terry, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Arkansas, was attending an economics conference at the Marriott World Trade Center, a hotel connected to the two towers.

The second day of the conference was just beginning. Several hundred people were gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. The first plane hit.

“It shook the room. It shook the chandeliers. … There was no question that something bad was going on,” Terry recalled.

He said the speaker suggested everyone “leave in an orderly fashion.” Terry first thought it might be an earthquake, but then remembered what happened to the World Trade Center in 1993.

As Terry and others entered the lobby, the fire alarms were sounding and he could see debris falling outside. (Link here to read other stories from attendees of the National Association of Business Economics conference.)

“There were a couple of security guards who wanted us to stay put until the debris would quit falling, but we pretty much ignored that and got out of the building. Self-preservation pretty much kicks in at that point,” Terry said.

Once outside, Terry and others could see the first tower burning. They ran away from the area. He said when the group turned a corner they were stopped in their tracks by “fiery debris” covering much of the street.

A group from the conference stuck together and walked east toward the Hudson River. Terry had left his cell phone in his hotel room. Within two hours, his phone and other personal belongings would be part of a horrific mound of rubble.

There was a big line for pay phones. Terry hoped to be able to call family and friends and let them know he was OK. A friend, Michael Britt, was on the phone with his wife.

“He was talking to his wife, and then we heard this jet shrill and looked up and saw the explosion. … I’ll never forget seeing that and the look on his (Britt’s) face. The look we gave each other was that we pretty much knew then it was not just an accident,” Terry said.

‘ENCOURAGE THE GROUP’
Before the second plane hit, Brunk and several hundred others had made it slowly down the stairwells of the south World Trade Center tower from the 61st floor to the 50th floor. It was around the 50th floor at which Brunk said a Port Authority official said through the public address system that it was safe to return to their offices. Only a few people turned around. One of those who headed back to the 61st floor was a man in Brunk’s training group.

“I decided to get out of the building. The worst thing that could happen is that I’d be 15 minutes late for work,” Brunk said. “any people did not heed the Port Authority call and decided to go on to the ground. … That decision saved thousands of peoples lives.”

In just a few minutes their collective decision would be validated. The second plane hit their tower between the 77th and 85th floors.

“Some people cried, some froze, some began shoving and yelling,” Brunk said when asked about the seconds after the shaking stopped. “Just picture a stampede. That’s what it started to look like.”

Brunk said the narrow stairwells required people to remain calm. A few steps in front of him was an elderly lady walking with a limp. Brunk feared she would be trampled if the relative calm was lost. He said a few folks began to simultaneously recognize the need for calm.

“We began to encourage the group. We’d say, ‘Hey we’re OK, let’s keep moving. We’re on the 39th floor. We’re going to make it.’ But I didn’t know if we were OK. There could have been bombs going off. We were just trying to calm people down. And I could hear people above and below me also doing that to try to keep us all calm,” Brunk said.

When they approached the 10th floor of the stairwell, concrete dust began to fill the air. It was coming up from the bottom, Brunk said. It was enough that Brunk removed his shirt and began to breath through it.

“And when we reached that (stairwell exit) a man covered head to toe in white dust was holding it (exit door) open. A man next to him, who appeared to be an officer with the fire department, told us to run. He said, ‘Run. You can exit through the subway system or you can exit through the doors, but run, just run as fast as you can.’”

Brunk had no idea which exit would be best.

“I didn’t know if I was going the right way, but I saw daylight and I took off,” Brunk said.

ESCAPING MANHATTAN
When Terry and Britt saw the second plane hit the towers, they knew it was time to get off the island. One of the people in their group had a friend who lived in Jersey City, just across the Hudson in New Jersey. They walked toward a pier to catch a ferry.

“As soon as we pulled out of the dock, we heard another noise … and it was the south tower collapsing,” Terry said. “I’ll never forget this, because the ferry operator said ‘We’ve got to get the f&#% out of here!’ And then he gunned that throttle.”

They were off the ferry and standing in New Jersey for just a few minutes when they saw the other tower collapse.

They were able to find the apartment of the friend. Terry said the couple was “very accommodating,” and he was finally able to call home.

But the attack followed Terry and his peers to the apartment complex.

“We weren’t there long … and we began to see people arriving with bandages. Some were just wrapping a wound, but some looked pretty bad,” Terry said.

‘SURVIVOR LIST’
When Brunk escaped the tower, his first reaction was not unique to him.

“I did the same thing that thousands and thousands of other people did: I looked up. I saw the thickest, blackest smoke that I’d ever seen in my life with two holes and red fire. I was waiting to wake up, because it was so much like a dream.”

Brunk had studied a map of the area the night before with the hopes of knowing how to best travel between his hotel, the World Trade Centers and Yankee Stadium. He was standing near the World Trade Center area trying to determine the best path to his hotel, which was north near the Madison Square Garden.

“I was standing there, thinking about this, when a guy next to me said, ‘Dale, let’s get out of here because I think these buildings could fall,’” Brunk said.

Just a few minutes into their walk, the person with Brunk said, “Oh my God, it’s gone.”

“I was really focused on that (getting back to the hotel), and did’t see it fall. All I could see was the plume of smoke,” Brunk said.

Brunk was surprised when he walked into the lobby of his hotel. There were already people in the lobby identifying survivors.

“They told me they we’re going to put me on the FBI’s survivor list. That’s the only time you want to be on their list,” Brunk said.

‘MIRACLES’
There were between 320-330 in the training group who were staying in the hotel. They had roll call every hour on the hour. To Brunk’s knowledge, everyone returned. Later that night, there was a knock on Brunk’s hotel door. He opened it to find a man covered in dust. It was the same man who turned around in the stairwell to return to the 61st floor.

“That was very emotional,” Brunk said.

With many years to reflect on the episode, Brunk cites three “miracles” that allowed him and hundreds of others to survive. First, there was the supervisor who immediately ordered Brunk and others in the training group to evacuate the building. The second miracle was when most in the stairwell ignored the Port Authority notice that it was safe to return to their respective offices.

“And the other thing that I’ll never forget is that the lights never went off in the stairwell. Through all that, with a plane hitting and the fire, the lights only flickered a time or two. It would have been a disaster if those lights would have failed,” Brunk said.

Days later, Brunk and five other colleagues were able to rent a Chevy Astro mini van in Newark, N.J., and drive it to Little Rock.

“Imagine, six of us in a Chevy Astro mini van with three weeks worth of luggage and one idiot who brought his golf clubs,” Brunk said with a laugh.

The reunion in Little Rock was more emotional for his family.

“I think it was harder on my family than it was on me. I knew I was safe.  … They had no idea where I was at,” Brunk said.

‘NO LONGER INVINCIBLE’
Brunk and Terry were quick to note during the recent interviews that they were fortunate and continue to be aware that outcomes could have been different.

“It makes you thankful for every day. Every day is a blessing,” Brunk said.

Terry, who saw people jump from the towers, said he “was one of the most fortunate people” because he was able to escape early.

“It is tough. Those images were tough to see, and I don’t think I’ll ever get those out of my mind,” Terry said.

The two survivors were somewhat hesitant to answer questions about political and military actions that followed 9-11.

“Our country is very resilient and has made it through,” said Brunk, who added that he doesn’t agree with all the politics. “But so far our country has not self imploded. … You know, it’s so easy to focus on the negative, but there were many positive things that have happened since then.”

Terry, who is now a law clerk for U.S. District Court (Western District of Arkansas) Judge P.K. Holmes III, said he hopes military involvement will soon come to an end.

“I think most of the people responsible have been brought to justice. I don’t take any personal joy or glee in the death of Bin Laden. But it was what we had to do.”

Brunk said the experience matured his perspective on life.

“I did find out at 22 I was no longer invincible and that there are many things in life that are important,” Brunk said.