Thread by @vabelle2010

I remember that day so clearly. I was on surveillance about an hour out when my mom called me about the first plane, then all of a sudden the second plane hit. I told her I loved her and I had to go. I followed a line of NJSP all the way up the turnpike

foxnews.com/opinion/2018/0…

What usually took me an hour to an hour & a half took me about 35-40 minutes. I got into the FBI Newark Office & got brought up to speed when we were told a plane was taken that originated out of Newark airport. I think after being told that, we were all in shock.

You see, we had 2 NK JTTF members scheduled to be on that flight. One INS Agent & one FBI Agent. Then my SSA’s phone rang. The two had switched their flights the night before. They were pretty shaken. Our large conference room became our command post.

Every agency you can think of had a rep in the CP. My SSA asked me to pick a plane but didn’t say why. I told him I had liked Lyle Alzado who wore #77. He handed me a folder and told me they all lived in NJ for a good amount of time. I became NK’s Flight 77 case Agent

I remember going out to cover NK lead 1 with another agent, Ray. We were in auto mode. Emotions aside, all business. I had already watched the first tower go down from across the river. Ray and I had to retrieve 911 call tapes.

On our way back to the office, Ray said we better get food because we had no idea when we would eat next. So we went to an Italian kitchen, with all homemade Italian food. We ordered a few trays to bring back to the office, knowing this was going to be the only food for a while.

I called my husband earlier and told him I was going to be home but I didn’t know when. I still don’t know if it was 1 week or 2 that I slept on the floor of my office, showered in the gym, went to a store to buy underwear and other necessities.

My Flight 77 team was amazing. They detailed every day the hijackers spent in NJ. They spoke to hundreds of people and probably covered 1000 leads. I had to actually tell them to go home and rest. They needed to be in top shape and healthy.

I did numerous raids. Usually, the press was at the location before we got there. I later heard they had somehow got access to our radio transmissions. This put us in danger by tipping off the location of the raid. Totally unacceptable.

So we went to, for lack of a better term, silent raids. No radio usage. This can be dangerous. Communication is essential for raids. But this is what we were forced to do. I have to say I didn’t see the video of the planes hitting the Twin Towers until about a day later at 4am

I was sitting at my SSA’s desk signing off on paperwork since I was also the secondary relief supervisor. The primary, Hank, had been injured at home just before 9/11. With severe compound fractures to his arm, he still came in. Even though we all knew he was in pain.

As I was sitting at the desk I glanced over at the TV, which had the sound turned off. It was video of the towers getting hit. I stood up and watched it again. As my SSA walked in, a fighter jet flew right by outside of the building, very loud. I hit the floor.

My SSA said if it was a plane coming at us, that wouldn’t have helped. He was aware this was the first time I watched what happened. I should point out this SSA was one of the foremost terrorism experts in the FBI. He is brilliant and a wealth of knowledge still.

I should have put this part first but I think it hit home at time we both were standing watching the video: we had been working non-stop for the 2 weeks prior to 9/11. No days off, even weekends didn’t exist. We were looking for an AQ subject who had been reported to be in the US

After 2 weeks of looking for this guy, our NY office located information he had left the US, even though he was on the No Fly list. Air France ignored that little detail. I asked my SSA why did I feel like something was wrong. Something was brewing. He said he felt it too.

The weekend before 9/11, I told my SSA my husband & I had tickets to Phantom of the Opera the next weekend & reservations at the Marriott at the Twin Towers. He & I both remembered later what he said next, “No problem. As long as something doesn’t blow up”

While watching the TV, we looked at one another & he said “Don’t say it”. Then I said that we both felt something was coming but we couldn’t put our finger on it. We now knew life was going to be very different for Americans.

God Bless those lost on that day, their families who still feel the pain, the first responders to Ground Zero who now have had a myriad of respiratory issues including cancer, the men & women of the @FBI & other agencies who worked tirelessly to get to the truth.

RIP those who died that day and those who have died as a result of responding to Ground Zero. #ReinstateRobynGritz Hero.