作      者：龚如仲（美国）

海外头条总编审   王 在 军   （中国）

海外头条副编审 Wendy温迪（英国）

海 外 头 条总 编   火 凤  凰  （海外）

图片选自百度

纽约世贸中心冬日惊魂

文/龚如仲（美国）

发生于2001年 9月​11日纽约世界贸易中心（简称“纽约世贸中心”）被恐怖分子炸毁的事件（911）可谓无人不知、无人不晓。然而很少有人记得或知道恐怖分子早在1993年2月26日就曾经用烈性炸药袭击过这个世贸中心。而我就是一个从头到尾经历了那次冬日惊魂的受害者。

那是一个严寒的冬天。一大早，天空中就开始纷纷扬扬地飘洒着大片的雪花。与往常一样，作为公司总裁的我正在位于纽约世贸中心一号楼、二十三层的一个办公室里处理着日常业务，同事小陈外出陪同来纽约访问的上海畜产品进出口公司的贸易代表团，而我的搭档、公司副总裁老孟正在伏案疾书，草拟着一份文件，一切都显得那么平静、正常。

过了一会儿，我下意识地看了一下表，时间已是中午十一点四十分。我赶紧起身，走进老孟的房间，提醒她马上该走了，因为约好十二点在离办公室不远的唐人街宴请上海客人，估计小陈可能正领着客人向饭店走去。正当老孟起身并欲与我一起离开办公室时，电话铃突然响了，老孟只得转身回去接电话。一丝不悦从我心田升起，心想：“谁那么没眼力见儿，偏在这时侯来电话？作为东道主，迟到是一件失礼的事情”。

正当我心中暗暗埋怨，猛然间一声闷雷般的巨响传入耳际，整个办公室如同地震般晃动起来，桌子上的茶杯滚落在地，正在讲电话的老孟吓得大叫一声，下意识地扔掉了拿在手上的话筒。当时不知情的我还以为是大楼的变压器爆炸了。情急之下，老孟和我跑出办公室，锁上门后，向电梯走去。

我们真是愚昧到家了，在这种情况下，竟敢一同进入电梯？然而更为可怕的是，当我们刚刚踏入电梯时，就突然停电了。不过幸运的是，电梯的门几乎在同一时间内突然洞开，我们二人急忙逃出电梯。这个时候，楼层上已是人声沸腾，男男女女都走出了各自的房间。询问之下，我方才得知：原来是一号楼地下二层的停车场发生了爆炸，但当时还不知道是事出意外，还是遭受了恐怖袭击。

一闻此讯，老孟和我都深感庆幸，因为大楼被炸的几分钟前，我们二人正准备坐电梯到地下二层停车场取车，然后开车前往唐人街。看来，倘若不是老孟﹁及时﹂接电话，我们二人的小命没准儿早就丢在停车场了。

正当楼层的逃难者们打算从楼梯步行下楼时，滚滚的浓烟已从底层涌将上来，难闻的气息几乎呛得让人喘不过气来。老孟和我随着大约有二十多人组成的人流，从二十三层沿着楼道摸黑下行，其目的是为了从一楼出口处逃生。当我们费了好大劲，一步步、一层层走到底层出口处的时候，惊人的一幕出现了：一楼的大铁门被一把大铁锁从外面紧紧锁住，我们根本出不去。这时，由地下二层冒上来的浓烟熏得让人睁不开双眼。无奈何，一行人只好由底层往楼上返回，以期寻觅一处暂时避难的“庇护所”。

当我们一行三、四十人行至九楼的时候，该楼层一家公司的办公室里突然走出一名男子。这位看起来像是一位公司主管的白人男士招呼大家赶紧进入他的办公室以避免烟熏之苦。待我们一行人进去后才发现，里面已有不少先到的避难者。

这时候，那位四十多岁的公司主管站了出来，用坚定而冷静的声音对大家说道：“据我了解，这是一起恐怖袭击事件，目前的情况十分危急。鉴于本办公室资源有限，请大家把椅子让给妇女和体弱者使用。本办公室的饮用水也是女士优先”。听罢他的吩咐，我们这些男士们立即离座、站立一旁。接着，那位公司主管拿起办公桌上的电话再次拨打，以求救助。停电了，当然电话还是打不出去。在这种无可奈何的情况下，那位主管又冷静地对大家说：“为了以防万一，请大家现在每人写一份简单的遗嘱，写完后放在这个箱子里”。他一边说，一边用手指着放在桌上的纸箱。

这时候的我心里已经乱成一团，脑子里充满了焦虑和恐惧。这是我生平头一回在危急情况下立遗嘱，遗嘱里的内容无非是：我的姓名、地址、及远在北京的家人的姓名及联系方式，同时附上几句给妻子和女儿的﹁诀别﹂留言。写完遗嘱后，一位黑人小伙子突然站了出来。他说他是法国人，从巴黎来纽约办事，他手上有部手机，可以用他的手机报警。在那个年代，人们基本上没有手机，小伙子的一句话给大家点燃了生的希望。那位公司主管用手机报警后，纽约警察局答应将立即会同消防局人员前来救人，并让我们赶紧回到一楼出口处。

于是乎我们这一大帮人，从九楼的这个大办公室走了出来，又是一步步、一层层摸黑向一楼走去。这时后，已经快到退休年龄的老孟已经吓得浑身发软，更何况她平时就是弱不禁风，她再也不能独自下楼了。我就只好一边用左手使劲将她托扶着，一边用右手抓紧楼梯的扶手，艰难而小心翼翼地直奔一楼出口处。无情的浓烟炙热地向我口鼻扑来，我无法像其它人一样，一手扶着楼梯前行，一手捂住口鼻处。就这样，我仿佛经历了“万里长征”，最后终算到达了底楼的逃生口。这时侯，消防车已经开到，消防员用太平斧砸掉了铁锁，我们这帮逃难者终于获救了。

从烟熏火燎的楼道里走了出来，面对着外面一片白茫茫的隆冬世界，寒风吹来，我不由得打了一个寒噤。这时候您再看看我们这些逃脱出来的“难民们”：西装、外套或衬衫全被浓烟熏得乌黑，人人脸上沾满了黑灰。但有不少美国人当时就跪倒在雪地上，他们面对苍天祈祷着，感谢上帝将他们拯救。此时的老孟已经恢复平静，她坚持让我到她就在附近的家中稍许休息。当我们二人经过一个个街口时，附近善良的居民们都热心地邀请我们到他们家中“洗洗脸、擦擦手、喝杯咖啡后再走”。纽约人表现出来的这份真情让人倍感温暖。

等我晚上回到住处时，我突然感到头痛脑涨、浑身无力，接着就发起了高烧。这场大病一周后才算痊愈，这是我自到美国后的头一回发烧、感冒。

过了几天，我才得到确切消息：一个伊斯兰“圣战”组织发动了这场恐怖袭击。这些恐怖分子在一辆大型卡车上装满了烈性炸药，然后把车开进世贸中心一号楼地下停车场（当时此停车场对外开放）。车子紧挨着地下二层停车场的一根擎天巨柱。他们的计划是，炸断这根巨柱使一号楼倒塌，然后让一号楼倒向邻近的二号楼，以达到最大可能的破坏效果。但他们没有想到，世贸大楼十分坚固，柱子未断，仅仅把停车场炸开了一个大洞。不幸的是，两位当时正好在停车场停车的男子当场丧命（从后来的报告中获知：共有6人在这次恐怖袭击中遇难）。案子很快得以侦破，罪犯被纽约警方逮捕。

这件事情使我感触极深。其一，我十分痛恨恐怖分子这种灭绝人性的恶行。其二，我深深被那位公司主管的绅士精神所折服。在那紧急关头，这位镇静、坚定的美国人所表现出来的“女士优先”、“男士舍生取义”的情操实在令人感动。在那一剎那间，不仅所有在场的男士们都表现得义无反顾，就连我的灵魂也似乎得到了净化和升华。然而，那一场发生在冬日的噩梦，让我终身难忘。

（此文选自拙作【岁月如重---兼谈华国锋】之第五章“从商之路”）

Chapter 18:

Frightening Experience at New York’s World Trade Center

Posted by Ralph Gong

The date of Sep. 11 (911) is well-known not only in the United States of America, but also to the whole world. On the day of Sep. 11, 2001, New York’s World TradeCenter was brutally attacked by the terrorists. As a result, this magnificent architectural complex werecompletely destroyed. But few people know or still remember that as early as on Feb. 26, 1993, this famous World Trade Center had already been attacked by the terrorists, and I myself was the witness, as well as one of the victims who was almost killed when that disaster occurred.

It was a very cold winter day, and from the early morning on, snowflakes had been falling from sky. As the Company’s President, I was doing my daily routine work in my office. The Company I worked for at that time was located on the 23rdfloor, Tower One of World Trade Center in New York City. While Mr. Chen Xuezhong, Manager of the Company’s Animal By-Products Department, was accompanying a trade delegation from Shanghai Native Produce & Animal By-Products Imp. & Exp. Corp. for a scheduled visit to one of our important casing (for sausages) buyers. Madam Meng Junying, Company’s Vice-President, was burying herself in drafting an urgent document in her office. The atmosphere inside our Company offices was as usual, peaceful and normal.

A couple of hours later, I looked at my wristwatch. It was already 11:40 am, 20 minutes to 12:00 noon. I immediately rose up from my chair and walked into Madam Meng’s office to tell her that it was the time for us to leave for Chinatown, which was not far away from the World Trade Center, since we planned to entertain our Shanghai guests at 12:00 sharp. I also said to Madam Meng that Mr. Chen must be escorting the trade delegates of Shanghai Native Produce & Animal By-Products Imp. & Exp. Corp. to a restaurant in Chinatown. It would be impolite if we were to arrive at the restaurant later than the guests.

Madam Meng followed my instruction and got up from her chair and was about to leave the office with me. And suddenly the telephone on Madam Meng’sdesk began ringing, Madam Meng had to go back to her desk to pick up the phone. A glimmer of displeasure rose up from my heart and I said to myself: “This is really not a suitable time for this incoming phone call because we were hosting lunch to entertain the distinguished guests soon. It will be very impolite if we get to the restaurant late”.

Just at the moment when I was complaining about this phone call, a huge dull-thundering sound suddenly uttered and then the whole office was shaking like an earthquake! Cups and some stationeries felt from the desks down to the floor. Madam Meng, who was in the middle of telephone conversation, cried out in fear and subconsciously threw the telephone away. I did not know what had happened but I guessed it must be sort of explosion of the building’s huge transformer. Under such circumstances, Madam Meng and I quickly left the office and locked the door behind us. We walked to the elevator area. It was a foolish action for both Madam Meng and me to get into the elevator when an accident occurred because that would be very dangerous should the electricity supply stop during the descending. But we were so lucky that day, as soon as we stepped into the elevator and the door was closed, the elevator door suddenly re-opened by itself. We immediately ran out of the elevator and chose the stairway.

It was at that very moment when I heard a hubbub of voices coming from the scared crowed people who worked in the offices on the same floor. They also ran out of their offices because of this explosion. I asked a man who seemed to know something about what had happened. He told me that a powerful explosion occurred on Basement 2 of Tower One (for your information, the World Trade Center Complex was mainly composed of two high buildings of Tower One and Tower Two, which looked like two “Sister Buildings”. And Basement 2 was used as a car parking garage which was open to the public at that time). At that time, no one was aware of the fact that this explosion was caused by a very serious terrorist attack.

After hearing what this gentleman told us, both Madam Meng and I felt we were really lucky. Before the attack occurred a few minutes ago, Madam Mengand I planned to go to the car garage on Basement 2 of Tower One where our car was parked. And then I would drive the car to Chinatown to entertain our guests. It was the telephone call that saved our lives because the explosion did occur at the place where our car was parked. Now we were lucky enough to join the crowd of people escaping from the 23rdfloor all the way down to the ground floor. We managed to get out of the building at the exit gate of Tower One safely.

When we were stepping down from one floor to another, the rolling smoke, which was caused by the explosion, kept on coming towards us. It was obvious that the smoke came from the place where explosion occurred. The smoking smell was so choking that it made breathing difficult. What was even worse was that the electricity supply stopped and the whole building was in the dark. It was under such bad circumstances that Madam Meng and I, along with other more than twenty people, were forced to walk from the 23rdfloor, where our offices were located, down to the ground floor where the exit was available.

After a long and hard walking, we finally got to the ground floor. All of us felt a little bit released because we got out of this dangerous place. But we were totally disappointed when we tried to leave the building. The reason was that the exit door was locked from outside and it was impossible for us to escape through this “safe gate”. It was just at that time, the dirty and thick smoke was continuously coming from Basement 2. The smoke was so thick and irritating that we could hardly open our eyes. Under such bad situation, we had no choice but tried to go back to the 23rdfloor from where we just came. Step by step, we walked back upstairs with much difficulty, trying to find a place to shelter ourselves in order to avoid the smoke suffocation.

It was just when we, a group of over thirty people, got to the 9th floor that a man suddenly opened his office door and invited us to get into his office. He was a white American who was about forty years old. He looked like a high-ranking company executive. After we stepped into his office, which was very spacious, we found that there were already a lot of “early birds” or “refugees”.

After all of us got in, the company executive closed the door immediately for the purpose of avoiding the smoke coming, and then he solemnly declared to all of us: “I got the information that it was a terrorists’ attack, and it is now at a very critical moment. You are welcome to use my office as a shelter. But one thing I must mention here is that my office resource is limited, and all chairs in the office should be offered to the ladies first. Besides, this office water supply is limited, too. So ladies always have the priority for water drinking”. After hearing what this gentleman said, we men all stood up from the chairs, giving them to the ladies.

The company executive used the office telephone for dialing “911” to get emergency assistance from the New York Police Department. Unfortunately the World Trade Center’s telephone connection was cut off due to the explosion, and his phone call effort was all in vain. In front of such a helpless situation, the company executive calmly said to all of us: “In order to be prepared for the worst, each of you is now required to use a piece of paper and then write your Living Will. After the document is written, please put your Will into this carton.” While he was saying, he pointed to a paper carton on one of the desks.

I was so shocked and scared that I felt as if the end of the world was coming. I guessed Madam Meng and all others might have the same feeling. But all of us did follow the company executive’s request and respectively wrote down a short message on a piece of paper. We then put all the paper messages into the carton. Obviously, those messages were regarded as the documents of our Living Will. I still remember what I wrote: my full name and work place, my wife’s name and our home address and her phone number in Beijing (for your information, by the time that explosion occurred, my wife was still working in Beijing. She had not yet come to USA to reunite with me yet). Besides, I wrote a few words to tell my wife to take care of our two kids and herself if I should die in this incident. It was clear that my wife was the person who was supposed to read the document of Living Will if something really bad would happen to me.

After the action of preparing Living Will, a black young man suddenly stepped forward to the company executive and said that he was a French who came to New York from Paris for business, and he had a cell phone which could help us contact the Police Department of New York to save all of us. As you know, in early 1990s, cell phone service was not popular at all, and only few people could possess cell phones. What this young man said lit up the hope of our survival. The company executive took the cell phone and then dialed 911 for emergency. The New York Police Department got the message and instructed us to walk down to the ground floor and get to the front door. They would send people to help us.

As per the Police Department’s instruction, all of us left the office and then walked step by step from the 9th floor to the ground floor. At that time, Madam Meng, who was over 60 years old and relatively a weak lady, could hardly walk by herself due to the fatigue and fear. I had to use my left arm to support her during the entire walking period while using my right hand to hold the stairs handrail for balance protection. It was impossible for me to use one hand to cover my mouth in order to minimize smoke inhaling (all other people did do so). As a result, I was forced to inhale a lot heavy smoke that was quite harmful to my health.

We finally reached the ground floor again. Fortunately quite a few firemen from the New York Fire Extinguishing Department had already arrived. They used big axes to cut off the heavy lock and opened the exit door for us. We were all saved!

It was snowing thicker and heavier as we came out of the building. The weather was so cold in that winter afternoon that as soon as I got out of the gate and stepped on the snowy ground, a shiver ran over my whole body. Imagine you seeing us the “refugees” in snow, our dresses of elegant suits, coats, pants, shirts and skirts were all black and dirty, and our faces were covered with the smoke dust and blackened, too.Then some Americans kneeled down to the snowy ground and began to pray. They were praying to God who saved their lives.

At that time, Madam Meng came back to herself, no longer feeling scared. As her home was close to the World Trade Center, she insisted on inviting me to have a short rest at her home first before doing anything else. I accepted her kind invitation and both Madam Meng and I walked towards her home. A very touching moment came while we were walking from one street to another. The residents living on both sides of the streets were very friendly. They said hi to us, and some of them even sincerely invited us to go to their houses to wash our faces and have a cup of coffee. The warmth and kindness shown by those lovely residents made us feel very warm and comfortable. I said to myself: “How wonderful and kind those New Yorkers are!”

I knew that I would never forget about those nice New Yorkers!

After I went back to the place where I lived in the evening, the headache and distention suddenly attacked me. I felt so weak and uncomfortable that I did not even have my supper. I knew that I got a bad cold and were suffering from high fever. The bad cold lasted for a long time and I was not fully recovered until one week later. That was the first time I had fever and cold ever since I settled down in the United States years ago.

A few days later, I was informed that it was a group of Islamic jihad terrorists who did this attack. They firstly loaded a lot of strong explosives in a big truck, and then drove the truck to World Trade Center and parked the truck in the parking place of Basement 2 of Tower One. The truck was just next to one of the giant columns which were used to support the whole building. Their intention was that after the explosives were ignited, this giant column would completely collapse and the whole building of Tower One would be leveled to ground. Fortunately, the World TradeCenter was so strong that the giant column was not damaged at all by the explosion. The only bad consequence was that a huge pit was made on Basement 2 by the explosion. Two men who were parking their cars on Basement 2 at that moment were killed unfortunately.

The good news was that this terrorists’ attack case was detected by the New York Police Department very soon and the two “Islamic jihad fighters” responsible for the explosion were arrested.

The World Trade Center explosion case made me think a lot. Firstly, I hate the terrorists very much because of their savage actions. Second, I was deeply subdued by the gentry spirit displayed by that company executive. At that critical moment, this gentleman was so calm and firm that he followed the gentlemen’s principles of “Ladies first” and “Men should lay down their lives for the justice”! I did remember at that very moment, all men including me around the company executive found it our obligation to go forward and not to turn back, and I felt as if my own soul were being purified at that time.

The nightmare of World Trade Center explosion, though, is all but forgettable in my life!

(END)

About the Author:

Ruzhong Gong (Ralph Gong), born in Shanghai, China, now living in the USA.

Graduated From the English Department of Universityof International Business and Economics, Beijing, China

Before retirement, President of an USA overseas company under China National Light Industrial Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of a joint-venture company in USA, jointly owned by Australia’s Lief Group Company and China National Chemical Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of an American Brach Corp. under China National Foreign Trade Bases Corp.; Chief Representative in Beijing Office under Trade Am, an American Carpets Wholesale Company.

Author of 6 books, including “My Life—Family, Career & VIPs”, “How to Do Business in Mainland of China”, “My Leisure Time”, “My Leisure Time—Poems & Articles” , “Poems and Essays from Leisure Chamber” and “Flowers By My Side”.

Member of the Chinese Poetry Society (CPS), Free Lance Writer for Austrian Sinopress, and Senior Consultant for Taiwan Caiwei Publishing House.

 龚如仲：生于上海，中国对外经济贸易大学英语系毕业，毕业后奔赴非洲任铁道部援建坦赞铁路工作组总部英语翻译，中国国际广播电台英语部英语播音员、记者，外贸部中国轻工业品进出口总公司出口二处业务员、副处长，外贸部轻工业品进出口总公司驻美国公司总裁（处长）。

有关作品：

自2012年至2016年，台湾采薇出版社出版自传【岁月如重】（该书已被香港中文大学图书馆、美国纽约市立图书馆和澳大利亚国家图书馆作为自传体作品正式收藏），【东西南北中国人---细谈如何在大陆做生意】，【悠然时光】和【悠然时光---如仲诗语】。

 2018年4月，中国国际广播出版社出版【悠然斋诗文选】

 2018年9月，中国国际广播出版社出版【花儿在身边开放】

 2019年4月，台湾采薇出版社出版英文书【My Life—Family, Career & VIPs】

作者现为中华诗词学会会员、中国经典文学网特约作家、台湾采薇出版社资深顾问、奥地利英文网Sinopress特聘专栏作家、北美北斗星文学社副社长、副总编辑。