On Sept. 11, 2001, Detroit native Laura L’Esperance was only five days into a new role at Merrill Lynch in the World Financial Center, located right across the street from the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.
She says she was just starting her workday, chatting in the doorway with her new boss, when she heard the terrifying sound of the first plane crashing into the north tower.
“[We] kind of ran to the windows and looked up, and saw the really dark smoke,” L’Esperance said.
Not long after, the second tower was hit — followed by the collapse of the south tower.
“I remember standing there and kind of watching the debris and the cloud tumbled down, and its kind of rolling, and thinking ‘that’s moving really fast, that’s coming down really fast,’ and we all just like turned and ran.”
Hear L’Esperance’s full account using the video player at the top of this article.
