JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — September 11, 2001 is a day still vivid in the mind of retired FBI Special Agent Alex Silverstein .
“That morning, I had gotten into the office and I got a phone call from a friend who had been watching the news and had heard about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. And immediately it went through my head that it was a terrible accident and so I went to go find a television,” said Silverstein. “I turned on just in time to see the second plane hit and it was very clear at that point. It was a deliberate attack.”
It was Silverstein’s second day back to work in Washington D.C. after his wife just gave birth to their daughter. He was called to go to New York, but then he heard something had happened at the Pentagon.
“There’s this bright blue sky, brilliant sunshine, the world’s largest office building right in front of us with this column of thick black smoke,” said Silverstein.
Silverstein, who was the Relief Supervisor at the Washington D.C. FBI field office at the time, sprung into action.
“Our main job at that point was just to do whatever we could,” said Silverstein. “If we could save lives we were going to save it.”
Unfortunately not everyone made it out alive.
“While I was there I saw the roof collapse. I remember a firefighter who was standing next to me said ‘No one else is coming out,’” said Silverstein.
Silverstein and his team spent the next three weeks working 12 hour shifts recovering evidence and human remains.
“I’d worked violent crime, I’d work homicides at that point, but nothing ever prepares you to see destruction on that scale,” said Silverstein.
But Silverstein says what stood out to him was the kindness he saw from other people.
“There were people who went into those towers, who went into the Pentagon, and all they saw were human beings in distress,” said Silverstein. “That is some of the best that we can be as human beings.”
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