Remembering So We Never Forgot
Scott Faughn – SEMO TIMES
I don’t remember where I was on 9/11, but I do remember the first Cardinals game played after the attack. I was home listening to Jack Buck read his poem and crying my eyes out.
Toni and Brian Becker – SEMO TIMES
It was just another Tuesday morning until it was anything but and the whole world changed. Brian was getting ready for work and I was watching the news on our bedroom TV, with our little 7-month-old and 3-year-old playing around in the room. I was confused by the image of the flaming tower with the jagged-shaped hole in it as I tried to disseminate the stuttering TV anchor’s equally confused reporting. The images just kept getting worse and our confusion turned to profound shock as we came to grips with the act of war on our own soil that we were witnessing before our very eyes. Several months later, while driving down Business 60 East toward the lake, our little Ben exclaimed, “LOOK! They built the twin towers again,” pointing at Twin Towers Retirement Apartments. He thought 911 had happened in P.B. I ache that 13 years later, our “little” boys have grown up with a steady diet of the harsh realities and increasingly vicious aftermath of that day.
Tammy Hilderbrand – SEMO TIMES
I was an elementary school teacher and remember walking into the school that morning thinking what a beautiful blue sky it was. I had a small television in my classroom, so before my 10am class started I watched the national news. It is very difficult to know what to do in those kinds of situations when you are in charge of children. You don’t want to hide the truth, but you don’t want to alarm them. Parents began calling in wanting to get their children. I had a friend who was supposed to be there at the World Trade Center that day, it took 24 hours to find out his flight had been delayed which prevented him from being at the towers that morning.
Peter Tinsley – SEMO TIMES
I remember we were at Tan-Tar-A for a copier dealer convention. I was walking through the lobby on my way to breakfast when on a TV screen the news was showing a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. I remember watching it as a freak accident. Then, the second plane hit and I instantly felt attacked. I’ll never forget standing there and wondering what was next. Would we be attacked and to what extent? I feared for the safety of my family and our country.
DeAnna Strubinger – SEMO TIMES
I was at home with my children when the news came on about the World Trade Center and Pentagon attack. At first I thought it was a promotion for a movie. I spent the rest of the day holding my children and watching the coverage. I still take the time every year to learn what I can about the heroes and victims of that day.
Rachael Herndon – SEMO TIMES
I was on the way to a pre-scheduled dentist appointment and my aunt, who was taking me, and I started noticing the radio announcing event cancellations. We had no idea what was going on because there was a delay in breaking the news over the mid-Missouri radio. I started the day excited for not having to go to school, but it ended in a mess of confusion and anger. I had always been a fan of the news, but I truly could not read enough in order to help me understand what had happened and why.
Steve Hankins – SEMO TIMES
I was at my desk at the Jonesboro Arkansas Sun. There was a television installed on one wall of the newsroom, but it never was on. Management thought reporters would be glued to the set if it was on, according to scuttlebutt. Someone from advertising rushed into the newsroom and told us to turn on CNN; that the United States was under attack. I watched in horror as the second jet struck the World Trade Center Tower. I remember asking Editor Paul Holmes “Well? I hate to ask this, but when do we start blowing up stuff?”
Lloyd Hankins – Former Federal Aviation Administration GS-15
I was working on my Malden home when the telephone rang. The caller was my son, Steve. He told me airplanes flew into the World Trade Center in New York. My FAA skills and training told me the planes were probably light aircraft that strayed from their course. When I turned on the TV and saw the tragedy I thought “My gosh! Who would do such a terrible thing?” Steve pummeled me with questions. He said my history in radar and aircraft safety made me an expert and he needed to speak with an expert then and there. I answered his questions as best I could, but could not legally reply to all of them because of my security oath. I told him the aircraft were equipped with transponders that would track the planes and relay information digitally. I also told him the transponders probably were turned off so these attacks could proceed as stealthily as possible. Steve was awarded for his story which relied on my comments. It was a Catch 22; I was proud to answer his questions, but heartbroken about the attacks and loss of life that day.
Jim Hollingshad – Malden Emergency Management Director
I was in Dr. Pellman’s office here in Malden when I heard the reports. The TV was on channel 12. As a U.S. Army Sergeant and veteran I can say this was appalling to watch. It was so cowardly to kill civilians just to move their backward agenda forward. It was 1000 times worse than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I’m pretty sure more people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001 than were killed on Dec. 7, 1941. It was a terrible, terrible day that has had some kind of effect on all Americans to this day.
Larry Patterson – Dexter Asst. Police Dept. Chief
My employer’s boss called down to the shop and told us to turn on the TV, that a plane hit the World Trade Center by accident. Right about then the second plane hit the building, and we knew it was no accident. I am an Army and Navy veteran. I served in the Army as a Sergeant pre-9/11 and in the Navy post-9/11. It’s called dual service. All the veterans I talked to about the attack knew somebody was going to pay for that. We knew there would be heavy ordinance dropped on them once we found out who they were. We didn’t know how this thing would play out, because to us this was a declaration of war.
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