Ron DiFrancesco moved to the New York City area in 2000 to take an investment job with a firm based in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He was already at work on September 11, 2001, when the first plane hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists struck the North Tower. People working in the South Tower were immediately told their building was fine and they should continue working. Soon a friend called DiFrancesco and urged him to evacuate. Just moments after leaving the spot where he had been working, a wing from United Airlines Flight 175 sliced through the office.
In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," DiFrancesco describes the horrors of what he saw happening in the North Tower after it was struck and before the South Tower was hit. He then walks us through the impact of the jetliner hitting his building, the intitially futile efforts to get downstairs and the "voice" that guided him to an exit that could get him away from all the debilitating smoke.
DiFrancesco tells us about getting to the lobby, where he was directed to go, and the last thing he remembers as the South Tower came down. Some experts later concluded he was likely the last person to get out of the World Trade Center alive.
He also discusses the injuries he suffered while getting out and the severe mental and emotional trauma that he and his family then endured for an extended time. DiFrancesco explains why he later decided to start speaking publicly about the horrific ordeal he endured.