My son, Donald Parente, is also a retired Port Authority employee and was working in the WTC Vertical Transportation Department on 911. This is his story.
I was walking across the plaza and commented how beautiful the morning was, clear, crisp, and not a cloud in the sky. I went up to my office in 1 WTC and had breakfast with other WTC Operations Staff. As I walked back to my office, I heard a loud explosion and saw papers flying by my window. My first thought was a transformer blew up on the floors above us. Then other members of the operations staff and I ran to the other side of the building and saw a large hole in the side of 2 WTC. We thought maybe a small plane had hit the building. We all grabbed out radios and flashlights and went to evaluate how much damage was done and what building systems were affected so we could provide that information to the first responders and began to evacuate the building.
I went down to the control center in the basement of 2 WTC to determine which elevators were operational and which ones were not. However, when I tried to log onto the computer I couldn't remember the password, so I knew I could do the same thing at the desk in the lobby of 1 WTC, so I went up to the lobby (everyone who remained in the control center perished when 2 WTC came down). By the time I got to the desk in the lobby of 1 WTC the second plane had hit 1 WTC. My co-worked, Dave Bobbitt, and I were trying to determine if anyone was trapped in the elevators and what elevators were working for first responders to utilize. We did locate people in one elevator that was right at the lobby landing in 1 WTC and the doors opened and they all exited the building.
It was very loud with alarms going off and everyone yelling commands, also bodies were falling through the glass canopy and to the ground only maybe 20 feet from where we were. So some of the operations staff decided to move to 2 WTC lobby to assist over there. I began to walk with then, but I decided to turn back to continue to work with Dave and try to locate people in the 1 WTC elevators (all the operations staff that walked over to 2 WTC also perished when the 2 WTC came down).
A little while later we heard a loud roaring sound that was getting louder and louder, the building began shaking and light fixtures were falling from the ceiling. We all stood there trying to figure out what was happening when one person yelled run and we all started to run. Everyone that turned left into the escalator lobby were in total darkness; you couldn't see 2 inches in front of your face. However, whoever turned right may not have survived. I continued slowly moving forward until I reached the escalators and began walking up, not knowing if it was intact or not because I couldn't see a thing. I slowly climbed step by step only being able to feel if the next step was there. When I reached the top I called back to Dave and the first responders that were also trapped, to look for the escalators because they were safe and the only way out. Everyone did escape up the escalators; however, this is where Father Judge died.
When Dave and I got out of the building we looked back and couldn't believe that 2 WTC was not there. That's when we realized what had just happened. We decided to go back into 1 WTC to try and find our co-workers and continue helping in the evacuation. Before we got back to 1 WTC, we noticed first responders running away from the building and when we looked up we saw 1 WTC coming down toward us. So, we followed the first responders and got away from the building as it came down. At this time, we knew there was nothing left to do so we tried to contact loved ones to let them know we were alive and to try and find a way out of the city.
A few months after 911 I began working for PATH where we began developing the first security department in PATH. We first performed an analysis of the threats and our vulnerabilities. Then we developed projects to address the vulnerabilities, such as improved fencing throughout PATH, an access control and badging system, an increase in the number of cameras, a fiber optic system routed back to the control center, new train and security control centers, tunnel security systems, a cyber security program to name a few. We also worked with the Homeland Security Department in developing new technologies. We were a test bed for many of the security technologies you see today such as the scanners you see at the airports, facial recognition, automatic video tracking and alarm systems, among others. We also worked on the development of the security systems for the new WTC complex.
As a side note, the PATH security department consisted of four people, and we also managed a 100-person security guard contract.
