Today, on the 13th anniversary of 9/11, KoreAm revisits articles from our October 2001 issue. Below are the stories of two casualties of the deadliest terrorist incident in U.S. history, followed by the testimonies of three Korean American New Yorkers who provided their eyewitness accounts of the traumatic event.
Dong Chul “D.C.” Lee, March 30, 1953-Sept. 11, 2001
by CHRIS YOO
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Dong Chul “D.C.” Lee, 48, boards flight 77 at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport. Instead of landing safely in Los Angeles, the American Airlines jetliner crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., at 9:41 a.m.
A systems project manager for Boeing in Fairfax, Va., as well as the Korean contact for Boeing Seoul, Dong traveled often for business. This time, he planned to be in Los Angeles for just two days.
His wife, Jungmi, 42, explained, “My husband usually tells me ‘I love you.’ But strangely, that morning, he said, ‘I’ll miss you. Be careful.’ I would never have guessed that those would be his last words to me.”
Jungmi started that day like any other. She dropped the kids off at school and was on the phone with a friend when she received news that the World Trade Center had been attacked by two airplanes that crashed into its two towers. Jungmi’s older sister reported that when they discovered Dong’s flight time and flight number were the same as what was being reported on the news, they grew suspicious that Dong might have been on one of the hijacked planes. At 6 p.m. that evening, they received confirmation of his death.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that the watch my husband gave me for our 15th wedding anniversary would be the last gift he gave me,” Jungmi said, sobbing.
Dong immigrated to the United States from Taegu in 1965. A graduate of the University of Maryland, he was employed by the National Security Agency as a network specialist prior to working for Boeing. He was married in 1986, and is survived by his wife and three children, Daniel, 13, Melissa, 12, and Cynthia, 8.
Over the telephone, Lee’s sister-in-law read to KoreAm the inscription on his memorial card. She said it is a “very accurate memory of him.” The memorial card reads:
In loving memory of Dong C. “D.C.” Lee, dedicated husband, father, relative, friend and humble servant of God. D.C.’s trademark was his contagious smile and his humorous wit. But those who knew D.C. well understand that the smile was the overflow of a heart full of love and joy. Always available to lend a hand, coach a team, listen to a friend and laugh at a joke. D.C.’s life was an outpouring of the faith he held so dear. D.C. now rests in the loving arms of the Savior he served. Nothing would make D.C. happier than to know that his reflection shines throughout all of us who knew, loved, and now, miss him.
— Additional information from the Korea Central Daily, translated by Cynthia Yoo.
Christina, Peter & Sue Hanson
by CHRIS YOO
Sue Hanson — whose Korean maiden name was Ji Soo Kim — had not been to her hometown of los Angeles in four years. “I was so happy to hear that they were coming, but now, I just can’t believe what’s happened,” said Ok Hee Kim, 83. Her graddaughter, Sue, 35, Sue’s husband, Peter Hanson, 32, and their 2-year-old daughter, Christina, were all on board United Airlines flight 175 from Boston that crashed into Tower 2 of the World Trade Center at 9:06 a.m.
Reports stated that Peter made a call to his father from his cell phone minutes before the crash. He told his father that a flight attendant had been stabbed, that the plane had been hijacked and to contact the authorities.
Sue, born in Pasadena, California, grew up in both korea and L.A.’s Koreatown. She was raised by her grandmother while her parents worked long hours to support the family. Sue’s mother passed away when she was young and her father died unexpectedly in 1995.
A graduate of the University of California, Berkley., Sue met her husband, who was a vice president at a computer company, while earning a Ph.D. in genealogy at Boston University. They had been married for four years and lived in Groton, Mass.
Sue’s cousin, Frency Cho, recalled in their last conversation, just two days before the tragedy, that when asked if Sue craved any special food for her visit, Sue replied, “Everything Korean. Everything.”
“If I had to describe her personality in one word, it would be sunshine,” said Frency. “She was so outgoing, always happy. That’s how she would like to be remembered.”
In addition to her cousin and grandmother, Sue is survived by younger brothers, Stanley and John.
— Additional information from The Los Angeles Times and The Korea Times, translated by Cynthia Yoo
I Witness…
Sung Hoon Hwang, a trade association worker at the World Trade Center, decided not to take the express train to work that morning as he normally did:
“That was the best decision I made. If I was two, three minutes earlier, I would not be a man of this world. The train I take dropped me off at the stop two blocks from the WTC. I was walking past the building right next to Tower 1 when I saw a plane go right into the middle of the first building. For a second, I thought I was watching a movie. Windows shattered and the sky filled with papers. Amid the black smoke, people were running out [of] the buildings, pushing and scrambling to get as far away as possible. After 9 a.m., I saw people throwing themselves off approximately the 80th floor. Then the second plane crashed into the second tower. People began to run. As I write this, it is exactly 9:55 a.m., Tuesday, September 2001. One of our towers is gone.”
— from the Maeil Business Newspaper, translated by Cynthia Yoo.
An unknown person scrawled the date on the hood of a car covered in ash. (Photo by Y. Peter Kang)
Jennifer Choi, 24, always enjoyed her view from LG Securities of America’s 84th floor office in the World Trade Center. And that day was particularly beautiful. Suddenly, at about 8:45 a.m., there was a loud bang that shook the building. She looked out the window and saw the building was on fire. At one point she and her co-workers raced out of the office:
“It took about an hour to get down. We were all walking down the emergency stairs, but some of the doors were locked, so we had to walk through the office corridors to the other side. The vice president was let out first when we arrived in the basement. There were officers there congratulating us on being alive. Suddenly, we heard a loud noise, the walls shook, and a torrent of water came towards us. All of us ran, and we made it outside. I looked up at the WTC; half of our building was gone.
My foot began to throb, and I looked down and noticed that I had lost my shoes. I was barefoot and my feet were bleeding. As I was being treated in an ambulance, I saw the first Tower crumble. With the help of a police officer, I made it to Union Square. I met a friend and was able to change into clean clothes and new shoes. I walked the rest of the way to 37th Street where I live.”
— from the Maeil Business Newspaper, translated by Cynthia Yoo.
(Photo via the Prints and Photographs Division. Library of Congress)
Bong Su Suh, 33, an employee of Daichi Kangayo, a Japanese banking firm located on the 82nd floor of Tower 2, was in Tower 1 when it was was hit. There were approximately 30 people in the office at the time:
“From the first floor to the 78th floor, the elevator is nonstop. After that it makes stops every few floors. The elevator on the 82nd floor was already filled with people. I, along with other workers took the stairs to the 78th floor, struggling through the chaos in the stairwells. When I arrived at the 78th floor, struggling through the chaos in the stairwells. When I arrived at the 78th floor, i boarded an elevator because I was pushed by the crowd behind me. The elevator began to make its descent, and I realized that we didn’t even have room to wiggle our toes. It was silent. Everyone was holding their breath hoping to make it to the first floor.
Going down those 78th floors had to have been the longest four minutes of my life. When the elevator reached ground level, people ran to exit the building. I don’t remember the exact details of what happened after exiting the elevator. I could barely hear myself think; the sound of people screaming was immense. The next thing I knew, I was outside and across the street. Not long after that, I heard the second plane crash. The heat, the blaze, and the debris that came from the sky made everything look like a fireworks show gone wrong. I looked at where Tower 2 had once been. I ran 60 blocks to where my wife worked. The moment she saw me, she burst into tears. I wonder how many of my co-workers I’ll see again.”
— from the Korea Central Daily, translated by Cynthia Yoo
This article was published in the October 2001 issue of KoreAm, under the title, “I Witness…” Subscribe today!
