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Delbarton resident recalls surviving 9/11 attacks

By TRAVIS CRUM

Williamson Daily News

WILLIAMSON — Ronnie Spence said it was “divine intervention” that caused him to ignore instructions to stay inside Two World Trade Center during the terrorist attack on 9/11. Staff and visitors were told to remain in place, even after the first tower was hit and in flames.

Spence, a Delbarton native who founded Cornerstone Investment Group in Pikeville, Ky., made it safely out of the tower before it collapsed based on what he calls an “instinct” that something wasn’t right.

The terrorist attack marks its 16-year anniversary on Monday.

Ronnie Spence, a Delbarton native, made it safely out of the tower before it collapsed based on what he calls an “instinct” that something wasn’t right.
(Williamson Daily News photo)
Spence was on the second tower’s 61st floor when the first passenger airplane hit the One World Trade Center building.

“I was standing by a window and noticed debris – office paper – falling by the windows,” he said.

He could see smoke coming from above and when he looked out onto the street he could see a chaotic scene unfolding.

“That’s when I started to see more smoke, and I noticed the paper was on the fire,” he said.

Spence lived in Louisville in 2001 and had just accepted a job at Morgan Stanley. Their headquarters were located in the World Trade Center, and they sent him there for training.

There were 260 people in his training class that Tuesday, all split up into groups to fit inside several conference rooms. Everyone was on break in the commons area when the first plane hit.

All Spence could tell was there had to be an immense fire coming from above. That’s when Spence and his friend Eric Bell made a life-saving decision.

“Eric said, ‘We will see the fire from outside and if it’s okay we will come back in,’ ” he said.

The two men and several others made their way down the stairwell when announcements began telling people to stay put in their offices or turn around and go back in, under the belief it was safer inside than outside with falling debris.

“They never told us what happened only that Tower One had a fire but Tower Two is secure,” he said.

The two men persisted, spurred on by Spence’s instinct. They made it to about the 20th floor when the second passenger airplane hit Tower Two, approximately 60 floors above where they were.

The entire tower shifted about four feet in both directions and dry wall cracked right before Spencer’s eyes.

“Even at that point, we still had no idea what was going on,” he said.

That’s when murmurs about the true nature of what was happening began to trickle in.

“Somebody mentioned an airplane hitting, but it was such a pretty day outside,” he said. “Why would a plane accidentally fly into the building?”

When the two men made it to the street, they were directed away from falling debris and people running to and away from the scene.

It wasn’t until the men looked up that they could see the nightmarish situation from which they had just escaped unharmed.

The Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda had orchestrated the single-deadliest foreign attack on American soil, killing 2,997 people and injuring more than 6,000.

“We stood and watched the building burn for a few minutes. We stood and watched and never thought about it collapsing,” Spence said. “Once people started to jump we decided to head back to our hotel.”

The men spent the next several hours connecting with loved ones to let them know they were OK. Spence learned about the attacks after reaching his father in Delbarton via cell phone.

Spence said he made it back to his hotel where Morgan Stanley had already sent counselors to help its employees. By chance Spence said he heard of subways leaving Penn Station. He and Bell were on a subway the following morning to Richmond, Virginia shortly before the subways were ordered closed for safety.

Looking back 16 years later, Spence said he wants to share his story so the memory of what happened never fades away. Young adults graduating from high school today have no recollection of that day.

“It’s not something we all need to dwell upon, but it’s not something we need to forget,” he said.

He recalled the days and weeks following the attack. There was an outpouring of patriotism and togetherness: thousands donated blood when there was a shortage, countless people raised money for relief efforts and everywhere people flew an American flag.

“Unfortunately it seems we are more divided now than ever in my lifetime,” he said. “We are all so united just 16 years ago.”

Travis Crum is a reporter for the Williamson Daily News. He may be reached by phone at 304-236-6497.

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