Michael Brown's 9/11 Story
On the 25th anniversary of 9/11/2001, a day that will always be of tragic significance in American history, the owner of Industrial Plastic Systems Michael Brown wanted to share a very personal story from that day. It all starts with an old plane ticket.
DELTA FLIGHT 2568 – SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2001
I still imagine, what if? That is the biggest thing that comes to mind whenever this date rolls around.
Coming across old documents a few months ago, I found my old tickets from September of 2001. I showed them to my Marketing Manager, told her what it was like to fly on this black letter day, so she encouraged me to talk about this experience and the emotional impact it still has for me.
I remember so much of that time. It only cost me $121.50 to buy a round trip ticket on September 6th of 2001. The plan was to fly out of Tampa and arrive in NYC via JFK on September 11th via Delta Flight 2568, and then fly back home on Delta Flight 2461 the very next day. It goes without saying, but plans obviously changed and it took me 5 days to get home.
Before being able to do a one way car rental, which a lot of people were having to do to get home after the terrorist attacks, I remember that fateful September 11th Tuesday morning and being diverted to land at another airport. Sitting on the tarmac and being confused about what was happening with the rest of my fellow passengers. Then news started spreading, and we were afraid. How could you not be?
I had a flip phone and tried to use it to call my wife, to call my workplace, anyone, but I couldn’t get through. I wanted to help others out, so I passed my phone around to strangers so they could try and get in touch with their loved ones. By the time my phone made its way back to me, the battery was dead.
Once I got into the actual airport, I waited in line and was able to access a payphone. I got through to my sister and Industrial Plastic Systems’ Office Manager, Kim Gmytruk. In the 30 seconds I had before the call was dropped, I told her I was okay and asked her to please call my wife.
I do remember the slivers of humanity that day. I remember an international soccer team that was trying to get home to the UK, who were completely out of money from their travels, stranded at the airport. How the pizza place in the airport gave them free food, how strangers helped them get accommodations and I even gave them what little cash I had on me at the time.
I remember the person I was with on 9/11 had a fishing trip scheduled, and since I was already literally grounded, and I needed to clear my head after such a traumatic experience, I went fishing. What else was there to do anyway?
After all this time, I think of all the people who didn’t make it home that day. I even think of the other people on the same plane as me, who aren’t here today to tell their story. I am grateful to still be here to reflect on the 25th anniversary of this tragedy, and I hope sharing this story will help others reflect internally on the gratitude that tragic “what ifs” remain just that.