On that fateful day, 2,977 people died when terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed them. Two were them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, eventually causing them to crumble to the ground) in New York. A third plane was sent into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. A fourth plane is now believed to have been headed for the U.S. Capitol in Washington when its passengers, now aware of the other planes' fate, rebelled against their plane's hijackers, causing their flight to crash into a field near Shanksville, Penn.
That was a day that for me, made it interesting to be a reporter.
Then a reporter for The Record-Herald and Indianola Tribune, a weekly newspaper just south of Des Moines, Ia., I was driving to the office at about 7:45 p.m. from my home 30 minutes away in West Des Moines. I had been on vacation for the entire week beforehand, and I was looking ahead to covering a supervisors meeting that morning and my other normal duties. I was flipping stations on the radio when I heard the local adult contemporary station had switched to the feed from NBC's "The Today Show." There, I heard the anchors and a producer talking about a plane that had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I found it interesting, mainly because I remembered a similar story from my hometown of Zion, Ill., from the year before when WGN Radio host Bob Collins was killed when his plane crashed through the roof of the local hospital.
Then, the producer shouted, "Oh My God!" Another plane had crashed into the other tower of the World Trade Center. Now only about five minutes away from the office, I floored my gas pedal, closing in on about 90 mph as I raced to get to the office and hopefully a television where I could get more news.
I ran into the office to find staffers huddles around a television. With everything going on, I wondered if the county supervisors meeting I was supposed to cover would still take place, and if it did, would I still be covering it. As we watched, we saw that yet another plane had been hijacked, this time into the Pentagon. About that time, my editor sent me out of the office to begin gathering comments for the story that would appear in the next issue.
I first went to the county administration office, partially to check on that conty supervisors meeting and to also gather comment. After finding out that meeting had been cancelled, I found a former sales rep for the Record-Herald, now working for the county clerk. Through tears, she gave me her thoughts.
After a quick stop on the city square, I next headed to Indianola High School, where I hoped to talk to some teachers and students. After checking in, I was allowed to meet with a social studies class that was watching the news and got their comments.
I also was able to talk with students in the school library. It was there that I watched on television the collapse of the North Tower, the South Tower having crumbled to the ground earlier. I was simply amazed at everything going on, but continued on with my work.
The rest of the day consisted of writing up what I had gathered, lunch, and fielding phone calls from family members who were making sure I was okay. I also learned that my church in Des Moines would be hosting a prayer service later that evening. I would have to miss it, however, having been assigned to cover a similar event in nearby Norwalk.
As I drove from the Norwalk event to my church, I listened to the radio as they recapped everything that had happened that day. Until this point, I had not spent any time processing or taking in the emotional aspects of the attacks. I had been in reporter mode, simply being amazed at what I was seeing and did what I had to do. But now, everything hit me, and I shed a few tears as I finished my drive and met with my wife and friends.
Thankfully, we have not had another attack on this country, though we've since been involved in two wars, with another generation of soldiers knowing the effects of war. We also witnessed any unity as a country that we had in the immediate aftermath dissolve into partisan bickering. Whether we ever return to the way life was before 9/11, we may never know.
Either way, let's take time today to remember those who died that day, and those who have died in the aftermath.
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