Rachel Cobb’s 9/11: The City Grieves

“The air was so smoky and gritty,” Cobb says. “They handed out masks, but they would only last about half an hour.”

The
back of St. Paul’s Church, the graveyard side, faced the World Trade
Center. Debris surrounded the centuries-old church, but it remained
unscathed.

Relatives
and friends of people missing posted fliers and approached strangers.
The atmosphere of the days that followed was total chaos.

“There was a quiet, church-like silence,” Cobb recalls. “Occasionally people would cry. When they spoke, it was in low voices.”

“You knew immediately that it was the beginning of everything.”