| Barry Jennings, a key 9/11 eyewitness who was an emergency coordinator for the New York Housing Authority, passed away last August 2008 at age 53 from undisclosed circumstances. Jennings was an eyewitness to the devastation of the World Trade Center towers on September 11th 2001. On the morning of 9/11 Barry Jennings with Michael Hess, (one of Rudy Giuliani's highest ranking appointed officials, New York city's corporation counsel), entered WTC Building 7. It was just after the first attack on the North tower, but before the second plane hit the South Tower, when Barry Jennings escorted Michael Hess to the WTC 7. Jennings recalls a large number of police officers in the lobby of WTC 7 when they arrived. The two men went up to the 23rd floor, but could not get in, so they went back to the lobby and the police took them up in the freight elevator for a second try. When they arrived on level 23, at the Office of Emergency Management (FEMA),) they found it had been recently deserted, "coffee that was on the desk, smoke was still coming off the coffee, I saw half eaten sandwiches," he said. At that point he made some phone calls and an un-named individual told them to "leave, and leave right away." Jennings and Hess then proceeded to the stairs and made it to level 6, when there was an explosion and the stairwell collapsed from under their feet; Jennings was actually hanging and had to climb back up. They made it back up to level 8, where Jennings had a view of the Twin Towers ... |
