The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Area man talks about 9/11 experience
By Dave Merchant, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
Speaking in public can be a healing and learning experience for both the speaker and the audience.
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Southgate resident Todd Creutz has had some amazing and tragic things happen to him in his life and he has been able to talk about them in a public setting to let people learn from them.
Creutz was on the 61st floor of World Trade Center Two at 8:41 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. He describes the first explosion that they heard around 8:48 a.m. as a firework going off. This was the plane that hit the first tower, and Creutz and some associates heard the explosion while at a sales training meeting for Morgan and Stanley.
The building was immediately evacuated. He and others from his work ran down the staircase to get out. He said as they continued down the staircase they could hear intermittent announcements over the loud speker, "Tower No. 1 was hit but Tower No. 2 is secure, you may return to your offices, stay where you are or continue down the stairway."
Creutz is a very religious man and he kept praying during the entire ordeal. Creutz said that somewhere between the 40th and 30th floor, the entire staircase swayed right, then left approximately 3 to 5 feet, it then dipped a foot or two and rose back where it rested. This caused some of the people to lose their footing.
Creutz was able to make it outside the building.
"As we exited the building, I saw much debris and gray dust on the ground, and, unless there is something suppressed in my subconscious, I saw nothing gruesome," Creutz explained.
"I lost my roommate in the crowd and stopped about four blocks from WTC. From this more distant vantage point, the magnitude of the tragedy struck me in full force as I saw the top of the buildings fully engulfed in flames, thick, gray-black smoke blanketing the sky."
Creutz was able to call his wife at 9:20 a.m. from his cell phone to let her know he was OK. He was able to comfort some of the people around him and in turn a few people comforted him before he moved further away from the site.
He has also had other experiences in his life that he talks to people about. His first wife, Diane, died of cancer in 2002 and he also suffered a stroke in 2003. At that time he was a single father of three children.
Now he is a certified teacher who currently works as a substitute teacher in the Southgate Community School District. He is looking for a full-time position as a teacher.
"I always thought I would teach," he said. "I began in the education market in 1976 to 1978 and it was very similar to how it is now. I got married in 1979 and started a career."
Creutz says that he has had many compliments from people who hear him speak and would like to continue with that line of work if teaching doesn't work out. He recently spoke before local residents and members of the Belleville's First United Methodist Church.
He believes that things happen for a reason and maybe this is God's way of showing him what he should do with his life.
"Some people say they hear voices and God can talk to them," he explained. "I always thought God was speaking to me with his actions and maybe he had a special purpose for me."
His speaking has had a positive effect on people.
"I just tell exactly what has happened to me," he commented. "And what God has revealed to me."
Creutz was able to take a trip back the World Trade Center some years after the terror attack. The man from Southgate walked the same path he had been on years before and was able to recreate the timeline. It wasn't something he felt obligated to do but he and a friend who was with him on 9/11 decided to do it.
This survivor loves to tell his story and to present it to people. Anyone interested in it or in having it told in a group presentation can get in touch with him through Christ the King Lutheran Church in Southgate.
"I want to pray thanks for the survivors, peace to those who did not survive and to the people left behind, strength and wisdom for our country's leaders and that justice be done according to the will of the Lord," he said. "God bless you and give you peace."
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