In light of the ten-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, multiple staff members from The Globe share their memories from that day:
David Bell
“On the morning of 9/11 I remember I had just gotten to work when the second plane hit the towers. I went into the break room and turned on the TV. I continued to watch the TV and see what was happening through CNN. Not much work was done that day as everyone was too traumatized and was only intent on watching the events of the day unfold or listen to them unfold on the radio. I remember wanting to go home and make sure my wife and baby were there and safe. It was a terrifying day.”
Maaike Bennett
“I remember being late for school on September 11, my 9th grade year. As I entered World Geography that day it was to complete silence. Everyone’s eyes were on the TV. And when I attempted to ask why, I was shushed. Shrugging, I slid into my seat and turned to look. I can remember the exact moment when it sank in that the images were real, and the realization that I had been frantically rushing to get ready when it had happened as the world held its breath. The rest of the day was a blur; I can’t recall it.”
Shad Engkilterra
“I was working for the Greater Kalamazoo Area American Red Cross in Michigan as the Health and Safety Training Coordinator. I got in my car at about 8:45 a.m. The radio guy said something about a plane flying into the World Trade Center. I thought it was one of those bad morning shows failing to be funny. As I flipped through the channels, I realized that something was going on. I got to work just in time to see the second plane fly into the South Tower.”
Timothy Janssen
“I remember sitting in a small fifth grade classroom of about 14 students. At about 10 a.m. breaking news had hit the T.V. screens, alerting everyone that the World Trade Center towers in New York City had been attacked by a plane controlled by terrorists. I was eleven years old at the time.”
Ryan McDonald
“I remember getting ready for school as a 7th grader that Tuesday morning and having my dad share the news. Having only heard of the World Trade Center, I learned a lot over the following days, weeks and months about that now hallowed place, about our world and about the people that live in it, both good and bad.”
“Though our lives will never be the same because of what happened that day, hopefully we can take this time to reflect on all that we do have and appreciate the good that we are able to experience each day.”
Joseph Meyere
“I remember waking up on September 11th and getting ready for school like any other day. On my way out of the house my younger brother had his TV on and was watching the news. He called me in to show me that ‘some idiot’ had crashed a plane into the World Trade Center. We didn’t know how bad it was, thinking it was only a small one-man plane, so we did what we do at everything and made fun of it. We joked about a pilot claiming that the building had ‘jumped out in front of him’ and how hard it was to miss a building in the sky. Then we watched the second plane go in. That’s when the joking stopped.”
Amber Midgley
“‘I remember: two planes crashed into two buildings. Tons of people died that day some people got out.’ It was written in my book of 4th grade memories, but that wasn’t my real memory. I remember I was sitting on my mom’s bed letting her do my hair, but she was struggling. It was the image on the screen; a building just fell down, I didn’t get it. My mom was crying. I didn’t know why. It wasn’t until I got to school that the news hit me. People die every day, every second, and some, for innocent reasons.”
Ralph Myles
“September 11th, 2001 was like any other at work. Extremely noisy, hot, smoke-filled and just plain dirty. My crew was returning from a break when our plasma burn table operator became very nervous about something. He was the only person in the shop area that had a headset radio. The shop was so noisy that all he could do was wave his hands in an attempt to send some form of sign language to the rest of us. It took some time, but the word finally spread that something was definitely wrong with the world. Our CEO came over at lunch time and had us all gather outside. He explained what he knew about the tragedy and offered a prayer for all those who had perished. As we all recited the Lord’s Prayer out loud with the passing cars honking their horns, our maintenance crew lowered the American flag to half staff.”
Stephen Romney
“I was about 8 or 9 years old at the time, and from what I can remember, the teachers at my elementary school didn’t tell us what happened, or if they did, I didn’t understand what was going on. It only really dawned on me what happened when I saw footage of the towers collapsing on the evening news.”
