Twin Towers

 

Hayter for September 15, 2024

“Where were you when…”

 

            When I passed by the bank last Monday, I wondered why the U.S. flag was flying at half-staff. I couldn’t remember any famous person dying, or any historic event taking place on September 9.  A few seconds later, it hit me. -- Bonk! – It was the week of 9/11.

            That horror took place at 7:47 a.m., our time, in 2001. That’s about as close to 23 years ago as you can get. For some of us, 9/11 was one of the few historical moments that we were able to witness on TV. In my case, at 7:50 I was standing in the hallway, greeting and pestering my students as they entered the room at Oak Ridge High School. I was about ready to join them when the Social Study’s Department Head hurried to my door and said, “Have you heard?”

            She looked so serious, that I said, “Apparently not.”  Jean said, “A jet has just crashed into one of New York’s twin towers!” I immediately hurried into my room, and hooked up the Social Studies’ television to a circuit in the wall. The minute the screen lit up, we saw the top portion of the North Tower in flames.

The students were as flabbergasted as I was. Students started in with “What is it?” – “What’s happening?” “How could that happen?” What happened looked apparent, but what caused it to happen was a guess. It was a clear sky at the time, so you wouldn’t think a pilot could run into it by mistake.

            It wasn’t three minutes later when another Boeing Passenger Jet flew into the South Tower. There was dead silence in the room for about three seconds before we snapped out of it.

            Most of the morning each of my classes watched and listened to the news about the Twin Towers. At about 9:00 CST the second tower to get hit collapsed on itself. The plane had hit it at an angle between the 78^th to 84^th floors. The first tower that got hit collapsed 30 minutes later. The plane  had hit between floors 94 and 98.

            A few minutes earlier we were informed that  a low-flying Boeing 757 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon. A day later, we learned that 64 passengers and crew memembers and 125 military and personnel workers died.

Around the same time, a fourth Boeing passenger jet was commandeered by a handful of terrorists on a mission to DC.  A few of the passengers and crew members, forced by the terrorists to move to the back of the plane, grabbed phones from the passenger seats and learned that the Twin Towers had been hit by passenger jets. After a quick vote several men agreed to attack the terrorists and bring the plane down. It wasn’t learned until much later that the target was to be either the Capital Building or the White house. The airplane ended up crashing near a small town in Pennsylvania. All passengers, crew members, and terrorists were killed. We don’t know how many of the 40 passengers and crew members attacked the terrorists, but each gave their all to save a bunch of others.

            Throughout the rest of the school year my students learned some of the details I just went over. And my classes for years to come learned of the world events that took place because of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

            Today, I called Big Al, Larry, Dennis and Jill to find out if they could remember where they were on September 11, 2001. I told them about the article I was going to write, and wanted to include their memories. Big Al said that he and Marlena were near Boston at the time. They were to attend a wedding in New Jersey for the son of one of Marlena’s nephews.

Anyway, Al was sunning on the beach when Marlena stepped outside and told him about the Twin Towers getting hit. He probably could’ve seen it from his position on the beach. They had intended to take a flight to New Jersey for the wedding, but all flights anywhere had been cancelled due to fear of further terrorist attacks. After filling me in on all of that, Al asked if I wanted to know where he was when he learned that Elvis had died. I told him I’d pencil him in for a mid-March article.

Larry, the eldest Hayter brother, said he lived in a house in Clear Lake when the the Twin Towers were hit. I paused for a while after that, hoping for a follow up. He then told me that a Catholic church near his house rang the bells after news got out about JFK getting shot. I was tempted to ask him about Elvis, but didn’t have time for it.

Jill was a secretary for the preacher in one the churches in Deer Park, when she learned of the Twin Towers’ incident. She said that one of the ladies from church called about the destruction and was crying. Jill talked to her in attempt to calm her down. It was one of those situations where listening is about the best you can do. She then walked to a room in the church building where a young lady was watching TV and crying. Jill calmed her down and let her talk for awhile. My kid sister has always been a great comforter.

And Dennis? Dennis had just retired from coaching and had a part time job somewhere watching over ten or twenty water wells. I asked how you watch over water wells. He said, I don’t know now and I didn’t know then. But he did remember a guy driving up and telling him about the Towers.

Well, that’s my take on “Where was I during the 9/11 disasters in New York, Washington, DC and Shanksville, PA.” You and I have likely experienced many pleasant moments since then. It’s just sad that, for me, the memories of the pleasant times are too often hidden behind the thought of where I was on 9/11.

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