25 years after 9/11, 2 Sacramento-area survivors reflect on the day that changed their lives

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, two Sacramento-area men who were working inside the World Trade Center are reflecting on the day that changed their lives forever.

Richard Hannaford, who lives in Natomas, was between the 40th and 41st floors of the South Tower when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the building.

"I learned a couple of things. One was what it feels like to be in an earthquake and two what jet fuel smells like," Hannaford said.

The memories remain vivid a quarter-century later.

Hannaford said he could see clearly through the dust and chaos inside the tower. Looking outside, he witnessed scenes that have stayed with him ever since.

"I saw people falling from the sky, a couple holding hands and sights and sounds that I cannot unsee or unhear," he said.

Corey Daniel, who now lives in Lodi, was also inside the South Tower that morning. He was on the 50th floor and making his way down when the plane struck.

Daniel was only on the second day of a temporary work assignment at the World Trade Center.

"I'm not normally a sprinter or a marathon runner, but that day I was," Daniel said.

He said he ran from the building wearing penny loafers, eventually wearing out the soles of his shoes. Daniel reached street level, and within about 15 minutes, the South Tower collapsed.

"I had total tunnel vision, so I did not see literally anything even though there was a lot of carnage, bodies and debris around me," he said.

Hannaford remembers a different kind of confusion inside the tower.

"All the way down, until after the plane hit our building, we kept hearing, 'Please go back to your offices' from the broadcast system," Hannaford said.

Both men said they felt an overwhelming need to get outside as quickly as possible.

Daniel remembers running into the street, yelling and waving at people to get away from the tower because he feared it was about to collapse.

Some of their coworkers went back to their offices to retrieve belongings. They never made it out.

For Hannaford, the memory of those who did not survive remains one of the most difficult parts of remembering that day.

"If you're faced with something so horrible that jumping out of a window, knowing you're going to die, is the better alternative, I can't imagine such a thing," he said.

Carrying the memories forward

In the 25 years since the attacks, both men have found ways to live with what they experienced, leaning on their families and returning to the place where the Twin Towers once stood.

Hannaford has visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York. He said he found himself pointing out the names and faces of friends who were killed that day to his wife.

Daniel made his way back to California by cross-country bus after the attacks. Along the journey, he saw a country responding to the tragedy in a way he said he had never witnessed before.

"To see the American flags and the patriotism signs at every stop in every town and every city that we went through across the U.S., it was incredible," Daniel said.

Both men say surviving 9/11 changed their perspective on the years that followed.

"I've always kept that as a testament to my drive ever since 9/11, that I was going to be successful," he said. "The terrorists and people that were after us weren't going to take us down, or take me down. I survived that."

Today, Daniel measures that success less by career accomplishments and more by his family, his church and the opportunity to watch his grandson grow up.

"That's why I'm here 25 years later and I'm so happy and blessed and fortunate that I'm around to see those days because I almost died when I was 30," he said.

For Hannaford, it's about finding that balance and moving forward without forgetting.

"No matter how bad it is, you can always find a way to make it better," Hannaford said. "I'm here. It's 25 years later. I'm lucky enough, and my life is really good."