Daniel Merced, Maintenance Laborer, Federal Hall National Memorial
Interviewed by Chuck Smythe, Ph.D., Cultural Anthropologist
December 19, 2001 at Federal Hall National Memorial

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CHUCK SMYTHE: Tell me how you first became aware of the situation at the World Trade Center. You had come to work that day [as on] a regular day …

DANIEL MERCED: Yeah, it was a regular day. I came to work … checked the rotunda floor to make sure everything was okay. Getting ready to go open the front door. Didn't know what was going on [the first plane just hit the Tower]. One of the fellow laborers was supposed to have swept up the steps (he did sweep up the steps). … I saw all the garbage and my first reaction was they never got to sweep the steps … And the paper was falling and ash and a lot of it was still singeing, some of it was on fire … it was just everywhere, big pieces of paper, 8 by 10, company letterheads and stuff.

… So we walked over to Nassau Street and looked up and at first, you know, from our view, we can't see the World Trade Center. So in actuality it looked like the building across the street was on fire. And I have a relative who works in the building across the street. So my first reaction was to call her. When I entered the rotunda, a ranger … came running in screaming that a plane hit the World Trade Center.

So I went to go get the facility manager so we could go upstairs and check the roof [because the ash and the falling paper was still burning]. I got on the elevator. That's when I heard a loud crash, which was the second plane that hit the World Trade Center. So you know, immediately we shut the building down. We closed the front doors because we really didn't know what was going on.

CHUCK SMYTHE: And then - then what happened after you closed it and you were inside, were you -

DANIEL MERCED: Most of us stood behind [the door] because the city was shut down immediately, once they figured out it was a terrorist attack. And it was scary at first, but it was pretty impressive how quick they shut the city down. There was no pedestrian traffic allowed over the bridges, all the subways were shut down; all the cabs, buses, everything was literally shut down. … And then they were telling us, until further notice everyone get ready to go home. … I still had my uniform on. [Then I started to go home.]

And I was speaking to a police officer and asked him, "Is it okay to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge?" and he was like, "Yeah, you can walk over it now." And that's when we heard the rumble and when I looked up, you know, the south tower started to fall. It was coming down; … this thing is really falling down. And I never saw the smoke coming, you know. I didn't notice the smoke was on top of me. It was too late.

CHUCK SMYTHE: A big cloud.

DANIEL MERCED: A big cloud of dust.

I was two blocks away from work. And even though I was two blocks away, once all that smoke was everywhere, I lost my bearings. I didn't know which way I was facing. The police officer that was next to me disappeared. So it was scary at first. ... It was hard to see and I lost my bearings but I was still facing forward, and since Federal Hall was two blocks behind me, you know, I said let me just turn around and walk. What happened was, people who were standing around saw me speaking to the police officer and in the dust and the cloud thought I was the police officer.They started grabbing and tugging on my uniform. You know, they see someone in a uniform. ... So I had about six people or so tugging and pulling on me. So it got scary at first. I had to be firm, be like, "Relax, stay still, calm down." People screaming, "I don't want to die." "I'm too young to die." I had no choice but to come right back to Federal Hall and drag these people with me.

So by the time I got to Federal Hall, I got to the corner I still couldn't see, so we had to feel our way across the wall until we found the doorway. And then when we entered the doorway there's a little cubbyhole, there was people standing in there too. I opened the door and let them all inside Federal Hall and then that's when I entered Federal Hall, covered head-to-toe in dirt and dust, you know. Looked like a snowman almost … it was all like brownish ash, and it got dark outside.

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