From the Archives

Brandon Odom, who works for Hornbeck Leevac in the New York Harbor area, returned this week from New York with photographs taken on September 11, the day terrorists struck the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.
Odom was in C&D Canal in Baltimore when the planes struck the Towers, and by the time they reached New York, the harbor was closed. For 18 hours, his boat circled around Long Island waiting to return to the harbor. He said the wait was because the Coast Guard had to search the vessel before it could enter the harbor. He said four men searched the boat.
Odom said men boarding the boat with guns and searching it was a different experience. “I’m not use to people coming with guns on the boat,” he said.
Odom, who has worked for three-and-a-half years for Leevac, said New York is probably one of the safest places to be right now. He said there were jets and helicopters flying over the city, and the Coast Guard was checking traffic coming through the harbor.
Another change on this trip was flying home. Odom said only people with boarding passes could enter the secured areas for boarding flights.
“They’re banning all sharp items like fingernail clippers,” he said. Another thing he pointed out about the difference on his flight home was that there were only about 20 people on his flight, and usually there were 80 people.
Odom said New Yorkers seemed lost in the days following the attacks on New York. He said people seemed to be trying to get back to their normal daily routines. He said he couldn’t explain how it felt to look up Manhattan and not see the Twin Towers.
“It was something that was always there. I just can’t explain it.”