This is an IHeart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories.

And today, all show long, we're honoring and remembering the events

of September 11, 2001. All show long, you'll be hearing stories from those who witnessed the

events on that day and stories about the events of that day. Up next, a story from

Jocelyn Green, who was working in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., on the morning of September 11.

Take it away, Jocelyn.

On September 11, 2001, I was a 23-year-old single woman working in Washington, D.C., just eight blocks from the Capitol.

We were in a staff meeting when the receptionist on duty burst into the conference room and blurted out,

They hit the Pentagon, you can see the smoke from the rooftop.

The woman beside me screamed, and I quietly fought the rising tide of panic, swelling inside my chest.

We were told another plane was headed for us. We were sitting ducks, and we knew it. the rising tide of panic swelling inside my chest.

We were told another plane was headed for us.

We were sitting ducks and we knew it.

Throngs of people were streaming out of the buildings on Capitol Hill, running over each

other to go who knows where.

Fighter jets roared over the city, drowning out the sounds of chirping birds and casting

ominous shadows on this otherwise cloudless

blue sky day. Rumors were reported as news on the television. We heard that a car bomb

detonated at the State Department, that the 14th Street Bridge had been blown up, which was our

way to get across the Potomac River and get home. It seemed the whole world was falling down around

us. That afternoon we came together as a staff to pray. One woman quoted scripture in her prayer,

...