September 11th, 2001, America stood still. Four commercial flights were hijacked by 19 terrorists resulting in the deaths of nearly 3000 people. At 8:46 a.m. workers pause on their morning walk as firetrucks rush past them responding to the first hit on the north tower of the world trade center, minutes later the south tower is hit with similar results.
In Kansas City, Ms. Sprague is teaching her seventh grade drawing class when there is a knock at the door. “That day, a principle knocked on the door…and super quiet she said, ‘two planes flew into the world trade center…we are not discussing it, we’re not talking about it, we are just gonna wait.’”
Mr. Herman is walking down to the office when a secretary tells him some planes have “dive bombed” the world trade centers, “That day we were all watching. I quit teaching and we just watched.”
On the other side of the building, Mr. Bacon deals with similar circumstances, “Everyone was very quiet throughout the day. The next day I had each kid write a reflection about what they were feeling…everybody was just unsure of what impact it would have…we had football that night.”
In Valley Center, Mr. Brittain was just five years old when disaster struck, “All I remember is getting sent home early…my parents were kind of in a frenzy. I was not old enough to remember it in the moment but I do remember the news channel with the two towers burning and then seeing the collapse.”
Many lives were lost the day America stood still. Interestingly, almost everyone can remember where they were and how they reacted to the situation. Now, we remember those who lost their lives before us in the tragic attack that September morning, the first responders that answered the call, and the families who lost their loved ones.
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