Cook survives two terrorist attacks
By Jackie Perrone jacper@juno.com

Michael Melville

Michael Melville came to the U.S. from South America looking for a new life. He found it and then some.

At the tender age of 17, this adventurer left his native Guyana in 1979 to join family members in New York City. He was energetic and ambitious. He worked gas station jobs, did file clerking at a law firm, and became a staff assistant at FUJI ( Japanese) Bank in New York.

The bank job was located in the World Trade Center. Melville had just finished lunch and was standing on the concourse outside when it was bombed in 1984. He helped some frightened evacuees and thanked his lucky stars he left the building just moments before the explosion.

Fast- forward to 9- 11- 2001. Melville, still at his bank job, worked in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

"At first no one realized a large passenger jet had hit the building," he recalls. "We were told to come down from the building, and we made our way to the street. Then the security people told us everything was all right, and we could return to the building.

"The elevators to the highest floors ran in sections, and I had just made my way to the transfer on the 44th floor when we got the announcement to get out of the building down the stairs.

"We pushed our way to the stairs, along with everyone else trying to get there. Some people stumbled, some fell, some were trampled. It was complete chaos. As we were pushing to get down, we were passed by the fire fighters on their way up to help people. Many of them did not get out. I made it to the same concourse where I had been at the time of the first bombing."

Once again Melville's lucky star protected him.

"I used to drive to Georgia to see friends and family," he says. "I would drive through South Carolina and I noticed how pretty it is so I decided to try my luck here."

Now Melville works on the kitchen staff at the Presbyterian Community of Columbia in Lexington County. "My mother was a wonderful cook, and she taught me a lot. I can cook and clean and decorate. I like to do things to make a house nice," said Melville.

The residents at the retirement community know Melville for his infectious laugh and cheerful personality. "I like to help people and to make them happy," is the way he puts it. He's finding life a lot quieter now, and very glad he came here after escaping two terrorist attacks in New York.