Verdell Evans and his brother reflect on the day they couldn’t reach each other
GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - A Greenville man is speaking publicly for the first time in 25 years about the fear he felt trying to reach family in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.
Verdell Evans’ younger brother, Reggie Latimore, is a New York native. Latimore was in North Carolina that day for a job interview, while his daughter and mother were still in New York.
Evans said Sept. 11 started like any other day.
“I’m up early every morning,” Evans said.
When he heard the news, he left immediately.
“I wasn’t even thinking. I just took off running, went out the door, went to the nearest gas station, filled my tank up, and hit the highway,” Evans said.
Evans said he was trying to reach New York as quickly as possible.
“I wasn’t thinking about nothing else but getting up to New York,” Evans said. “All I was thinking about was trying to get to New York as soon as possible, as quick as possible, and do whatever I could do to help.”
Evans said he did not encounter traffic on the highway until he reached Virginia.
“When I got to Virginia, the state troopers was out there. They was doing a license check,” Evans said. “If you wasn’t living past Virginia, going north, they wasn’t letting you — they was turning everybody around.”
Evans said he believed his brother was in New York.
“I thought he was in New York ‘cause I couldn’t even reach him. I was calling everybody. I couldn’t reach nobody that morning,” Evans said.
The brothers did not speak for 24 hours. Latimore also could not reach his daughter or mother in New York for 12 hours.
“That was like the longest 12 hours of my life, not being able to reach anyone and know exactly what happened,” Latimore said.
Latimore said he eventually reached his mother by phone around 9 p.m. and learned his family was safe.
“They told me that it was just horrible. There was just like a black cloud of smoke everywhere,” Latimore said.
Latimore, who lives in Manhattan, said the skyline has not been the same since the attacks.
“I’ve always been able to see the Twin Towers. You would go on the rooftop and that was part of the skyline,” Latimore said. “And, you know, now we have the Freedom Tower, and it’s beautiful, but it just doesn’t represent what it used to be.”
Latimore said the attacks also changed how he responds to everyday situations.
“I take the subway a lot. Sometimes you might see someone leave a briefcase or a suitcase by mistake, and you automatically get paranoid,” Latimore said. “Because of the things that happened with 9/11, you just automatically get nervous and try to get away from it.”
Evans and Latimore spoke with each other and with Fox Carolina via Zoom this week, marking what Evans called an emotional moment.
“This was a very empowering moment because, you know, we talk to each other all the time on the phone, but to actually see him today, you know, really made a difference, a lot of difference in our relationship,” Evans said.
Latimore said the anniversary is a reminder to value the people in your life.
“I think that people need to learn how to cherish each other more,” Latimore said. “If you love somebody, tell them today. Don’t wait till tomorrow, because tomorrow may never come.”
Evans said he hopes people remember the unity that followed the attacks.
“That day, everybody was unified. But shortly after that, we’ve become more divided now,” Evans said. “We are, as human beings, bigger than this. It’s our responsibility to try and bring back that unity.”
The Honor Tower at Unity Park will be lit red, white and blue throughout the weekend to mark the anniversary of the attacks.
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