25 years after 9/11, Indiana man who survived World Trade Center attack still making sure America never forgets
Across the country on Friday, ceremonies will honor the thousands who lost their lives 25 years ago in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and among the survivors, a Dyer, Indiana, resident is on a mission.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Don Bacso was working as an IT consultant for a Chicago-based company. When American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower of the World Trade Center between the 93th and 94th floor, Bacso was on the 57th floor.
"I was loading software into a computer when the first plane struck. It hit at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Standard Time," he said. "It was unbelievable. It was terrifying. You could hear beams creaking in the walls."
Bacso said the scariest moment for him was when the World Trade Center started to sway.
"I thought to myself, 'Oh my God, I am in this building, and it's trying to fall. Which way do I run?'" he said.
He ran to the stairs like many others
"People were having panic attacks, asthma attacks. Every once in a while you would hear, 'Injured coming down, move to the right,' and that was the first time I saw how badly burned some people were as they brought them by us," he said.
It took about half an hour for Bacso to get down the stairs, find his way through the smoke and debris, walk to his hotel, and call his young family.
"I said, 'Just know that I'm okay. I'm fine and I will come home. I will get home,'" he said.
When he looks back on that day, Bacso can't believe it's been 25 years.
"It passed by so quickly. I look back on that day and everything that I saw. I mean, the destruction, the devastation, the pain, the suffering, all that; but I saw so much courage in that, too," he said.
He's talking about the medical personnel, firefighters, and police officers who went into the World Trade Center after the planes hit.
"I've never seen anything like it. They were going in and we were coming down. People have said to me in the past that, 'You're a hero,'" he said. "No, the heroes were going up that day. I was going down."
More than 400 emergency responders died during 9/11, the vast majority of them firefighters.
Bacso's mission the last 25 years has been doing his part to make sure America never forgets by sharing his story of survival.
"We can't forget that day. We can't forget the sacrifice and the loss of lives from that day, and the courage and patriotism," he said.
Bacso plans to leave a suitcase with his clothes, shoes, and World Trade Center ID badge from that day, along with other mementos, to his sons. He wants them to carry on his mission to continue sharing his story.
"All these things, the badges, you know, the articles, things like that, I've got to turn it over to my sons for their families," he said. "A lot of people don't understand how precious your life is until you experience something like that."
That's what he plans to do as long as he can, so America won't forget
"If I can express to them when I go out and speak, and talk about life, and talk about how it affected my life, I feel like it's a great benefit to them, and it benefits me too internally," he said.
