作 者：龔如仲（美國(guó)）
海外頭條總編審 王 在 軍 （中國(guó)）
海外頭條副編審 Wendy溫迪（英國(guó)）
海 外 頭 條總 編 火 鳳 凰 （海外）
圖片選自百度
紐約世貿(mào)中心冬日驚魂
文/龔如仲（美國(guó)）
發(fā)生于2001年 9月?11日紐約世界貿(mào)易中心（簡(jiǎn)稱“紐約世貿(mào)中心”）被恐怖分子炸毀的事件（911）可謂無(wú)人不知、無(wú)人不曉。然而很少有人記得或知道恐怖分子早在1993年2月26日就曾經(jīng)用烈性炸藥襲擊過(guò)這個(gè)世貿(mào)中心。而我就是一個(gè)從頭到尾經(jīng)歷了那次冬日驚魂的受害者。
那是一個(gè)嚴(yán)寒的冬天。一大早，天空中就開(kāi)始紛紛揚(yáng)揚(yáng)地飄灑著大片的雪花。與往常一樣，作為公司總裁的我正在位于紐約世貿(mào)中心一號(hào)樓、二十三層的一個(gè)辦公室里處理著日常業(yè)務(wù)，同事小陳外出陪同來(lái)紐約訪問(wèn)的上海畜產(chǎn)品進(jìn)出口公司的貿(mào)易代表團(tuán)，而我的搭檔、公司副總裁老孟正在伏案疾書(shū)，草擬著一份文件，一切都顯得那么平靜、正常。
過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，我下意識(shí)地看了一下表，時(shí)間已是中午十一點(diǎn)四十分。我趕緊起身，走進(jìn)老孟的房間，提醒她馬上該走了，因?yàn)榧s好十二點(diǎn)在離辦公室不遠(yuǎn)的唐人街宴請(qǐng)上海客人，估計(jì)小陳可能正領(lǐng)著客人向飯店走去。正當(dāng)老孟起身并欲與我一起離開(kāi)辦公室時(shí)，電話鈴?fù)蝗豁?/span>了，老孟只得轉(zhuǎn)身回去接電話。一絲不悅從我心田升起，心想：“誰(shuí)那么沒(méi)眼力見(jiàn)兒，偏在這時(shí)侯來(lái)電話？作為東道主，遲到是一件失禮的事情”。
正當(dāng)我心中暗暗埋怨，猛然間一聲悶雷般的巨響傳入耳際，整個(gè)辦公室如同地震般晃動(dòng)起來(lái)，桌子上的茶杯滾落在地，正在講電話的老孟嚇得大叫一聲，下意識(shí)地扔掉了拿在手上的話筒。當(dāng)時(shí)不知情的我還以為是大樓的變壓器爆炸了。情急之下，老孟和我跑出辦公室，鎖上門(mén)后，向電梯走去。
我們真是愚昧到家了，在這種情況下，竟敢一同進(jìn)入電梯？然而更為可怕的是，當(dāng)我們剛剛踏入電梯時(shí)，就突然停電了。不過(guò)幸運(yùn)的是，電梯的門(mén)幾乎在同一時(shí)間內(nèi)突然洞開(kāi)，我們二人急忙逃出電梯。這個(gè)時(shí)候，樓層上已是人聲沸騰，男男女女都走出了各自的房間。詢問(wèn)之下，我方才得知：原來(lái)是一號(hào)樓地下二層的停車場(chǎng)發(fā)生了爆炸，但當(dāng)時(shí)還不知道是事出意外，還是遭受了恐怖襲擊。
一聞此訊，老孟和我都深感慶幸，因?yàn)榇髽潜徽ǖ膸追昼娗?，我們二人正?zhǔn)備坐電梯到地下二層停車場(chǎng)取車，然后開(kāi)車前往唐人街?？磥?lái)，倘若不是老孟﹁及時(shí)﹂接電話，我們二人的小命沒(méi)準(zhǔn)兒早就丟在停車場(chǎng)了。
正當(dāng)樓層的逃難者們打算從樓梯步行下樓時(shí)，滾滾的濃煙已從底層涌將上來(lái)，難聞的氣息幾乎嗆得讓人喘不過(guò)氣來(lái)。老孟和我隨著大約有二十多人組成的人流，從二十三層沿著樓道摸黑下行，其目的是為了從一樓出口處逃生。當(dāng)我們費(fèi)了好大勁，一步步、一層層走到底層出口處的時(shí)候，驚人的一幕出現(xiàn)了：一樓的大鐵門(mén)被一把大鐵鎖從外面緊緊鎖住，我們根本出不去。這時(shí)，由地下二層冒上來(lái)的濃煙熏得讓人睜不開(kāi)雙眼。無(wú)奈何，一行人只好由底層往樓上返回，以期尋覓一處暫時(shí)避難的“庇護(hù)所”。
當(dāng)我們一行三、四十人行至九樓的時(shí)候，該樓層一家公司的辦公室里突然走出一名男子。這位看起來(lái)像是一位公司主管的白人男士招呼大家趕緊進(jìn)入他的辦公室以避免煙熏之苦。待我們一行人進(jìn)去后才發(fā)現(xiàn)，里面已有不少先到的避難者。
這時(shí)候，那位四十多歲的公司主管站了出來(lái)，用堅(jiān)定而冷靜的聲音對(duì)大家說(shuō)道：“據(jù)我了解，這是一起恐怖襲擊事件，目前的情況十分危急。鑒于本辦公室資源有限，請(qǐng)大家把椅子讓給婦女和體弱者使用。本辦公室的飲用水也是女士?jī)?yōu)先”。聽(tīng)罷他的吩咐，我們這些男士們立即離座、站立一旁。接著，那位公司主管拿起辦公桌上的電話再次撥打，以求救助。停電了，當(dāng)然電話還是打不出去。在這種無(wú)可奈何的情況下，那位主管又冷靜地對(duì)大家說(shuō)：“為了以防萬(wàn)一，請(qǐng)大家現(xiàn)在每人寫(xiě)一份簡(jiǎn)單的遺囑，寫(xiě)完后放在這個(gè)箱子里”。他一邊說(shuō)，一邊用手指著放在桌上的紙箱。
這時(shí)候的我心里已經(jīng)亂成一團(tuán)，腦子里充滿了焦慮和恐懼。這是我生平頭一回在危急情況下立遺囑，遺囑里的內(nèi)容無(wú)非是：我的姓名、地址、及遠(yuǎn)在北京的家人的姓名及聯(lián)系方式，同時(shí)附上幾句給妻子和女兒的﹁訣別﹂留言。寫(xiě)完遺囑后，一位黑人小伙子突然站了出來(lái)。他說(shuō)他是法國(guó)人，從巴黎來(lái)紐約辦事，他手上有部手機(jī)，可以用他的手機(jī)報(bào)警。在那個(gè)年代，人們基本上沒(méi)有手機(jī)，小伙子的一句話給大家點(diǎn)燃了生的希望。那位公司主管用手機(jī)報(bào)警后，紐約警察局答應(yīng)將立即會(huì)同消防局人員前來(lái)救人，并讓我們趕緊回到一樓出口處。
于是乎我們這一大幫人，從九樓的這個(gè)大辦公室走了出來(lái)，又是一步步、一層層摸黑向一樓走去。這時(shí)后，已經(jīng)快到退休年齡的老孟已經(jīng)嚇得渾身發(fā)軟，更何況她平時(shí)就是弱不禁風(fēng)，她再也不能獨(dú)自下樓了。我就只好一邊用左手使勁將她托扶著，一邊用右手抓緊樓梯的扶手，艱難而小心翼翼地直奔一樓出口處。無(wú)情的濃煙炙熱地向我口鼻撲來(lái)，我無(wú)法像其它人一樣，一手扶著樓梯前行，一手捂住口鼻處。就這樣，我仿佛經(jīng)歷了“萬(wàn)里長(zhǎng)征”，最后終算到達(dá)了底樓的逃生口。這時(shí)侯，消防車已經(jīng)開(kāi)到，消防員用太平斧砸掉了鐵鎖，我們這幫逃難者終于獲救了。
從煙熏火燎的樓道里走了出來(lái)，面對(duì)著外面一片白茫茫的隆冬世界，寒風(fēng)吹來(lái)，我不由得打了一個(gè)寒噤。這時(shí)候您再看看我們這些逃脫出來(lái)的“難民們”：西裝、外套或襯衫全被濃煙熏得烏黑，人人臉上沾滿了黑灰。但有不少美國(guó)人當(dāng)時(shí)就跪倒在雪地上，他們面對(duì)蒼天祈禱著，感謝上帝將他們拯救。此時(shí)的老孟已經(jīng)恢復(fù)平靜，她堅(jiān)持讓我到她就在附近的家中稍許休息。當(dāng)我們二人經(jīng)過(guò)一個(gè)個(gè)街口時(shí)，附近善良的居民們都熱心地邀請(qǐng)我們到他們家中“洗洗臉、擦擦手、喝杯咖啡后再走”。紐約人表現(xiàn)出來(lái)的這份真情讓人倍感溫暖。
等我晚上回到住處時(shí)，我突然感到頭痛腦漲、渾身無(wú)力，接著就發(fā)起了高燒。這場(chǎng)大病一周后才算痊愈，這是我自到美國(guó)后的頭一回發(fā)燒、感冒。
過(guò)了幾天，我才得到確切消息：一個(gè)伊斯蘭“圣戰(zhàn)”組織發(fā)動(dòng)了這場(chǎng)恐怖襲擊。這些恐怖分子在一輛大型卡車上裝滿了烈性炸藥，然后把車開(kāi)進(jìn)世貿(mào)中心一號(hào)樓地下停車場(chǎng)（當(dāng)時(shí)此停車場(chǎng)對(duì)外開(kāi)放）。車子緊挨著地下二層停車場(chǎng)的一根擎天巨柱。他們的計(jì)劃是，炸斷這根巨柱使一號(hào)樓倒塌，然后讓一號(hào)樓倒向鄰近的二號(hào)樓，以達(dá)到最大可能的破壞效果。但他們沒(méi)有想到，世貿(mào)大樓十分堅(jiān)固，柱子未斷，僅僅把停車場(chǎng)炸開(kāi)了一個(gè)大洞。不幸的是，兩位當(dāng)時(shí)正好在停車場(chǎng)停車的男子當(dāng)場(chǎng)喪命（從后來(lái)的報(bào)告中獲知：共有6人在這次恐怖襲擊中遇難）。案子很快得以偵破，罪犯被紐約警方逮捕。
這件事情使我感觸極深。其一，我十分痛恨恐怖分子這種滅絕人性的惡行。其二，我深深被那位公司主管的紳士精神所折服。在那緊急關(guān)頭，這位鎮(zhèn)靜、堅(jiān)定的美國(guó)人所表現(xiàn)出來(lái)的“女士?jī)?yōu)先”、“男士舍生取義”的情操實(shí)在令人感動(dòng)。在那一剎那間，不僅所有在場(chǎng)的男士們都表現(xiàn)得義無(wú)反顧，就連我的靈魂也似乎得到了凈化和升華。然而，那一場(chǎng)發(fā)生在冬日的噩夢(mèng)，讓我終身難忘。
（此文選自拙作【歲月如重---兼談華國(guó)鋒】之第五章“從商之路”）
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.
龔如仲：生于上海，中國(guó)對(duì)外經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易大學(xué)英語(yǔ)系畢業(yè)，畢業(yè)后奔赴非洲任鐵道部援建坦贊鐵路工作組總部英語(yǔ)翻譯，中國(guó)國(guó)際廣播電臺(tái)英語(yǔ)部英語(yǔ)播音員、記者，外貿(mào)部中國(guó)輕工業(yè)品進(jìn)出口總公司出口二處業(yè)務(wù)員、副處長(zhǎng)，外貿(mào)部輕工業(yè)品進(jìn)出口總公司駐美國(guó)公司總裁（處長(zhǎng)）。
有關(guān)作品：
自2012年至2016年，臺(tái)灣采薇出版社出版自傳【歲月如重】（該書(shū)已被香港中文大學(xué)圖書(shū)館、美國(guó)紐約市立圖書(shū)館和澳大利亞國(guó)家圖書(shū)館作為自傳體作品正式收藏），【東西南北中國(guó)人---細(xì)談如何在大陸做生意】，【悠然時(shí)光】和【悠然時(shí)光---如仲詩(shī)語(yǔ)】。
2018年4月，中國(guó)國(guó)際廣播出版社出版【悠然齋詩(shī)文選】
2018年9月，中國(guó)國(guó)際廣播出版社出版【花兒在身邊開(kāi)放】
2019年4月，臺(tái)灣采薇出版社出版英文書(shū)【My Life—Family, Career & VIPs】
作者現(xiàn)為中華詩(shī)詞學(xué)會(huì)會(huì)員、中國(guó)經(jīng)典文學(xué)網(wǎng)特約作家、臺(tái)灣采薇出版社資深顧問(wèn)、奧地利英文網(wǎng)Sinopress特聘專欄作家、北美北斗星文學(xué)社副社長(zhǎng)、副總編輯。
