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 photo:
Lincoln College Swim Team has a patriotic workout.
Photo courtesy of The Lincoln Courier. |
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Alum survives WTC bombing
The patriotic colors of America could been seen at various
places on campus. The tragic events of terrorism that happened
on September 11th, 2001 will be a memory etched into our minds
forever. Even though Lincoln College is a time zone away from
ground zero, Lincoln College was touched by the attack on
the World Trade Center in New York.
Tom Gilbertson
graduated from Lincoln College in 1970. He now works for Aon
Risk Services, which brokers all forms of aviation insurance
for corporate travel. He also is a pilot and a flight instructor.
Gilbertson’s office was located on the 102nd floor of
the south tower of the World Trade Center. He said he felt
a slight shutter after the first tower was hit. “ I walked
out of my office and all I could see was smoke and paper flying
in the air, I knew something had happened but had no idea
what it could be. The thought of a plane crashing into the
towers was unthinkable because it was a clear day and what
pilot in their right mind would do that?” Gilbertson
said he felt secure in the building he was in and was reassured
by the announcement the Port Authority made over the loud
speaker. At this point co-workers were discussing evacuation
plans and a friend that was also a volunteer firefighter urged
that everyone leave the area. “We took the elevator to
the sky lobby (the 78th floor) where the officials at this
point were telling people not to be alarmed. We decided to
go the ground floor anyway and as it turned out, this was
a very good decision.” At the ground level Gilbertson
said he knew right away something was not right. “I looked
outside and saw a car on fire and when I walked between the
mall area that was once located between the two towers I could
see debris falling.” Gilbertson and his co-workers took
the subway to uptown Manhattan and says he can’t believe
what had happened. “ It’s hard to imagine that we
had no idea of what was going on at that time, but we were
very lucky to get out when we did.”
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photo:
Lincoln College Board of Trustee Ted Allison with Roger W.
Ferguson at Commencement.
