I got this email forwarded to me, which has Adam's email address from when he first sent it out. I remember reading a short version of this story in one of the newspapers:

THE PRICE WE PAY:

My name is Adam Mayblum. I am alive today. I am committing this to
"paper" so I never forget. SO WE NEVER FORGET. I am sure that this is
one of thousands of stories that will emerge over the next several days
and weeks. I arrived as usual a little before 8am. My office was on the
87th floor of 1 World Trade Center, AKA: Tower 1, AKA: the North Tower.
Most of my associates were in by 8:30m. We were standing around, joking
around, eating
breakfast, checking emails, and getting set for the day when the first
plane hit just a few stories above us. I must stress that we did not
know that it was a plane. The building lurched violently and shook as if
it were an earthquake. People screamed. I watched out my window as the
building seemed to move 10 to 20 feet in each direction. It rumbled and
shook long enough
for me to get my wits about myself and grab a co-worker and seek shelter
under a doorway. Light fixtures and parts of the ceiling collapsed. The
kitchen was destroyed. We were certain that it was a bomb. We looked out
the windows. Reams of paper were flying everywhere, like a ticker tape
parade. I looked down at the street. I could see people in Battery Park
City looking up. Smoke started billowing in through the holes in the
ceiling. I believe that there were 13 of us. We did not panic. I can
only assume that we thought that the worst was over. The building was
standing and we were shaken but alive. We checked the halls. The smoke
was thick and white and did not smell like I imagined smoke should
smell. Not like your BBQ or your fireplace or even a bonfire. The phones
were working. My wife had taken our 9 month old for his check up. I
called my nanny at home and told her to page my wife, tell her that a
bomb
went off, I was ok, and on my way out. I grabbed my laptop. Took off my
tee shirt and ripped it into 3 pieces. Soaked it in water. Gave 2 pieces
to my friends. Tied my piece around my face to act as an air filter. And
we all started moving to the staircase. One of my dearest friends said
that he was staying until the police or firemen came to get him. In the
halls there were tiny fires and sparks. The ceiling had collapsed in the
men's bathroom. It was gone along with anyone who may have been in
there. We did not go in to look. We missed the staircase on the first
run and had to double back. Once in the staircase we picked up fire
extinguishers just incase. On the 85th floor a brave associate of mine
and I headed back up to our office to drag out my partner who stayed
behind. There was no air, just white smoke. We made the rounds through
the office calling his name. No response. He must have succumbed to the
smoke. We left defeated in our efforts and made our way back to the
stairwell. We proceeded to the 78th floor where we had to change over to
a different stairwell. 78 is the main junction to switch to
the upper floors. I expected to see more people. There were some 50 to
60 more. Not enough. Wires and fires all over the place. Smoke too. A
brave man was fighting a fire with the emergency hose. I stopped with to
friends to make sure that everyone from our office was accounted for. We
ushered them and confused people into the stairwell. In retrospect, I
recall seeing Harry, my head trader, doing the same several yards behind
me. I am only 35. I have known him for over 14 years. I headed into the
stairwell with 2 friends. We were moving down very orderly in Stair
Case A. very slowly. No panic. At least not overt panic. My legs could
not stop shaking. My heart was pounding. Some nervous jokes and
laughter. I made a crack about ruining a brand new pair of Merrells.
Even still, they were right, my feet felt great. We all laughed. We
checked our cell phones. Surprisingly, there was a very good signal, but
the Sprint network was jammed. I heard that the Blackberry 2 way email
devices worked perfectly. On the phones, 1 out of 20 dial attempts got
through. I knew I could not reach my wife so I called my parents. I told
them what happened and that we were all okay and on the way down. Soon,
my sister in law reached me. I told her we were fine and moving down. I
believe that was about the 65th floor. We were bored and nervous. I
called my friend Angel in San Francisco. I knew he would be watching. He
was amazed I was on the phone. He told me to get out that there was
another plane on its way. I did not know what he was talking about. By
now the second plane had struck Tower 2. We were so deep into the middle
of our building that we did not hear or feel anything. We had no idea
what was really going on. We kept making way for wounded to go down
ahead of us. Not many of them, just a few. No one seemed seriously
wounded. Just some cuts and scrapes. Everyone cooperated. Everyone was a
hero yesterday. No questions asked. I had co-workers in another office
on the 77th floor. I tried dozens of times to get them on their cell
phones or office lines. It was futile. Later I found that they were
alive. One of the many miracles on a day of tragedy. On the 53rd floor
we came across a very heavyset man sitting on the stairs. I asked if he
needed help or was he just resting. He needed help. I knew I would have
trouble carrying him because I have a very bad back. But my friend and I
offered anyway. We told him he could lean on us. He hesitated, I don't
know why. I said do you want to come or do you want us to send help for
you. He chose for help. I told him he was on the 53rd floor in Stairwell
A and that's what I would tell the rescue workers. He said okay and we
left. On the 44th floor my phone rang again. It was my parents. They
were hysterical. I said relax, I'm fine. My father said get out, there
is third plane coming. I still did not understand. I was kind of angry.
What did my parents think? Like I needed some other reason to get going?
I couldn't move the thousand people in front of me any faster. I know
they love me, but no one inside understood what the situation really
was. My parents did. Starting around this floor the firemen, policemen,
WTC K-9 units without the dogs, anyone with a badge, started coming up
as we were heading down. I stopped a lot of them and told them about the
man on 53 and my friend on 87. I later felt terrible about this. They
headed up to find those people and met death instead. On the 33rd floor
I spoke with a man who somehow new most of the details. He said 2 small
planes hit the building. Now we all started talking about which
terrorist group it was. Was it an internal organization or an external
one? The overwhelming but uninformed opinion was Islamic Fanatics.
Regardless, we now knew that it was not a bomb and there were
potentially more planes coming. We understood. On the 3rd floor the
lights went out and we heard & felt this rumbling coming towards us from
above. I thought the staircase was collapsing upon itself. It was 10am
now and that was Tower 2 collapsing next door. We did not know that.
Someone had a flashlight. We passed it forward and left the stairwell
and headed down a dark and cramped corridor to an exit. We could not see
at all. I recommended that everyone place a hand on the shoulder of the
person in front of them and call out if they hit an obstacle so others
would know to avoid it. They did. It worked perfectly. We reached
another stairwell and saw a female officer emerge soaking wet and
covered in soot. She said we could not go that way it was blocked. Go up
to 4 and use the other exit. Just as we started up she said it was ok
to go down instead. There was water
everywhere. I called out for hands on shoulders again and she said that
was a great idea. She stayed behind instructing people to do that. I do
not know what happened to her. We emerged into an enormous room. It was
light but filled with smoke. I commented to a friend that it must be
under construction. Then we realized where we were. It was the second
floor. The one that overlooks the lobby. We were ushered out into the
courtyard, the one where the fountain used to be. My first thought was
of a TV movie I saw once about nuclear winter and fallout. I could not
understand where all of the debris came from. There was at least five
inches of this gray pasty dusty drywall soot on the ground as well as a
thickness of it in the air. Twisted steel and wires. I heard there were
bodies and body parts as well, but I did not look. It was bad enough.
We hid under the remaining overhangs and moved out to the street. We
were told to keep walking towards Houston Street. The odd thing is that
there were very few rescue workers around. Less than five. They all must
have been trapped under the debris when Tower 2 fell. We did not know
that and could not understand where all of that debris came from. It was
just my friend Kern and I now. We were hugging but sad. We felt certain
that most of our friends ahead of us died and we knew no one behind us.
We came upon a post office several blocks away. We stopped and looked
up. Our building, exactly where our office is (was), was engulfed in
flame and smoke. A postal worker said that Tower 2 had fallen down. I
looked again and sure enough it was gone. My heart was racing. We kept
trying to call our families. I could not get in touch with my wife.
Finally I got through to my parents. Relived is not the word to explain
their feelings. They got through to my wife, thank G-d and let her know
I was alive. We sat down. A girl on a bike offered us some water. Just
as she took the cap off her bottle we heard a rumble. We looked up and
our building, Tower 1 collapsed. I did not note the time but I am told
it was 10:30am. We had been out less than 15 minutes.

We were mourning our lost friends, particularly the one who stayed in
the office as we were now sure that he had perished. We started walking
towards Union Square. I was going to Beth Israel Medical Center to be
looked at. We stopped to hear the President speaking on the radio. My
phone rang. It was my wife. I think I fell to my knees crying when I
heard her voice. Then she told me the most incredible thing. My partner
who had stayed behind called her. He was alive and well. I guess we just
lost him in the commotion. We started jumping and hugging and shouting.
I told my wife that my brother had arranged for a hotel in midtown. He
can be very resourceful in that way. I told her I would call her from
there. My brother and I managed to get a gypsy cab to take us home to
Westchester instead. I cried on my son and held my wife until I fell
asleep. As it turns out my partner, the one who I thought had stayed
behind was
behind us with Harry Ramos, our head trader. This is now second hand
information. They came upon Victor, the heavyset man on the 53rd floor.
They helped him. He could barely move. My partner bravely/stupidly
tested the elevator on the 52nd floor. He rode it down to the sky lobby
on 44. The doors opened, it was fine. He rode it back up and got Harry
and Victor. I
don't yet know if anyone else joined them. Once on 44 they made their
way back into the stairwell. Someplace around the 39th to 36th floors
they felt the same rumble I felt on the 3rd floor. It was 10am and Tower
2 was coming down. They had about 30 minutes to get out. Victor said he
could no longer move. They offered to have him lead on them. He said he
couldn't do it. My partner hollered at him to sit on his butt and
schooch down the steps. He
said he was not capable of doing it. Harry told my partner to go ahead
of them. Harry had once had a heart attack and was worried about this
mans heart. It was his nature to be this way. He was/is one of the
kindest people I know. He would not leave a man behind. My partner went
ahead and made it out. He said he was out maybe 10 minutes before the
building came down. This means that Harry had maybe 25 minutes to move
Victor 36 floors. I guess they moved 1 floor every 1.5 minutes. Just a
guess. This means Harry wad around the 20th floor when the building
collapsed. As of now 12 of 13 people are accounted for. As of 6pm
yesterday his wife had not heard from him. I fear that Harry is lost.
However, a short while ago I heard that he
may be alive. Apparently there is a web site with survivor names on it
and his name appears there. Unfortunately, Ramos is not an uncommon name
in New York. Pray for him and all those like him. With regards to the
firemen heading upstairs, I realize that they were going up anyway. But,
it hurts to know that I may have made them move quicker to find my
friend. Rationally, I know this is not true and that I am not the
responsible one. The responsible ones are in hiding somewhere on this
planet and damn them for making me feel like this. But they should know
that they failed in terrorizing us. We were calm. Those men and women
that went up were heroes in the face of it all. They must have known
what was going on and they did their jobs. Ordinary people were heroes
too. Today the images that people around the world equate with power and
democracy are gone but "America" is not an image it is a concept. That
concept is only strengthened by our pulling together as a team. If you
want to kill us, leave us alone because we will do it by ourselves. If
you want to make us stronger, attack and we unite. This is the ultimate
failure of terrorism against The United States and the ultimate price we
pay to be free, to decide where we want to work, what we want to eat,
and when & where we want to go on vacation. The very moment the first
plane was hijacked, democracy won.

 

WOW!!

 

Yep, that is a great account, thanks for posting it.

 

Well said. I concur!

 

That's just a chilling first hand account.

 

Absolutely incredible! Thank you for that post. Reading it, I felt as if I were there. Of course, I wasn't and don't have a clue what you must have gone through.

 

wow...i think now that i've cleared some tears from reading this account, i can at least feel happy for those who survived and happy for the american spirit which has truly come out strong after such a catasrophic incident.

America, land of the free and home of the brave.

 

Have they released the numbers of people who definitely got out of those buildings yet?