I was still asleep when the phone rang. It was my wife Sara calling from work. "The World Trade Center's been hit by an airplane," she said. "Turn on the TV." And like millions of Americans I watched in horror as desperate people leaped from windows hundreds of feet in the air, and then, like something out of a movie, I watched in disbelief as one tower fell. And then the other. In fact, even though it happened right in front of me, I didn't see the first tower fall. I was watching the Today Show with Bryant Gumbel and Katie Curic. In the live camera angle NBC had from a high vantage point on another building north of Wall Street, the two World Trade Center towers were lined up one behind the other. Both towers were smoking but when the south tower fell, you couldn't see it. You could see something going on behind the north tower but you couldn't imagine it being the collapse of one of the tallest buildings in the United States. I had to switch to another channel for a better view. And as many times as I've seen the video, I still can't believe it.

When the south tower fell a few minutes later it no longer seemed shocking. How quickly inconceivable became inevitable. Remember how it seemed to crumble in slow motion, coming straight down into a billowing cloud of angry dust that seemed to advance on fleeing pedestrians like hate itself. It was other worldly, and yet commonplace. We've seen these streets of New York hundreds of times on TV shows, movies and in person. Everything about it was familiar except what was actually happening. Disbelief merged with denial. I knew what I was watching, sitting there all by myself, but my mind didn't know what to do with the information. And after I watched the death of thousands on live TV, I did the strangest thing. So strange I've never told anyone until now. I went back to bed and fell right to sleep.

And when I awoke a couple of hours later the nightmare was still reality. I needed to be with people. So I got in my car and drove into Center City. On my way I saw something you never see in Philadelphia -- guys hawking newspapers at three in the afternoon around 20th and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia. It was an extra edition of The Inquirer with the headline "Attacks Level Trade Center" with a photo showing the second airplane, its wings tilted at a deliberate angle, seconds before it slammed into the south tower. The smaller headline below the photo said, "Pentagon, State Dept. Also Hit." The crash of Flight 93 in Shankesville, Pa. was reported inside. In the only story on the front page a military expert is quoted in the Associated Press story by Jerry Schwartz, "This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that has ever taken place in the world," said the expert. "Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list. . .I would name at the top of that list Osama bin Laden." Yes, we knew his name from day one. Five years ago today.