"9/11" Remembered

Jim Harrison: On Sept. 11, 2001, I was working for the city of Fulton in the engineering dept. We were working from the old Fulton State Hospital grounds in the old Hyde Building. It was a temporary set up.

I remember that some heard the news on the radio. No one knew exactly what happened at that time. We were working outside. Later the in the day the news came on the television. Then we could see what exactly what had happened.

Everyone was in shock, and we had difficulty relating to it at first. Feeling shaky and very nervous. I went outside to get some much-needed fresh air. I felt sad for those people who lost their lives that day.

Over the weeks and months that followed we became interested to find who was responsible for the attack. As time went on, and people talked about it more, it helped somewhat. But we will never forget the people that died and those who helped trying to save them. It was a wicked, evil and cowardly act.

Gemma Fickess: I was seated at my desktop working when a friend and co-walker popped into my office and said, "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center." We had the same thought, how is that possible? After a few minutes we heard about the second plane. We joined the other staff in front of the TV and watched in stunned horror as all our illusions of security crumpled with the Towers.

Gloria McIntire: I was seated in my comfortable chair watching the TV. The program at that time was featuring commercial after commercial. Then what looked like a plane falling from the sky as if it was going right for the TV. First, I thought that the plane had run out of gas and falling. Next I thought someone was playing a trick of those who were watching the TV. At a short time then there was the crash into the Tower. I was in total chock.

Greg Buschjost: I was in my truck driving to work when I first heard about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. By the time I got to work and got my computer up and running the second tower had been hit. I teach science subjects at South Callaway High School. We spent most of the morning watching the updates instead of the planned science lesson.

Carl Kremer: The news of the awful event reached Linn State Technical College campus after noon on 9/11 (my daughter's birthday). On my way to the class I was teaching, I noticed people huddled around the television set in the student lounge and paused long enough to get the gist of what was happening.

Class discussion did revolve around Technical Writing but centered mostly on the effects of whatever was going on themselves. I was repeatedly advised to fill my fuel tank because the supply may be cut off. The fuel stations I passed on the way home had lines of cars waiting to fuel up. I was not among them and carried out my pedagogical without interruption until the end of the term.

Mary Osburn: It is remarkable that even after 20 years, my recollection of that have remained vivid and unchanged. I was teaching at McIntire school in a new position as a Reding Recovery teacher. In the new position I worked with a new student every 30 minutes, walking up and down the hall escorting each student to my room. Before retrieving student number one, I found out about the first plane. I, like a lot of people thought it was a tragic accident. After student number 2, I checked on the status of this horrible accident, only to discover another plane had struck the other tower. The realization that this wasn't an accident, was jarring. During lunch, we pulled a television into the teacher's lounge to watch the coverage as more details were reviled. A decision was made to not reveal anything to the young students we served.

Throughout the rest of the day, all the teachers and staff struggled to continue their jobs with the knowledge of what had happened and what could happen next. My last memory of the day deciding is I better get gas, because the next day seemed so uncertain. The gas station was extremely busy but eerily quiet. No music, friendly hellos, or chatting with neighbors. Utter silence with the knowledge that there was a level of uncertainty that had not been known for a long time.

Jim Yancey: I was commuting to work listening to NPR on the radio. They said a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. I had to return home to get some forgotten item and I turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane hit, live on screen. At that point, I knew it was a deliberate act. During my resumed commute I heard about the Pentagon and the other plane. Needles to say, my workplace was very somber that day.

Vince Logan: On 9/11, I was at work in the former AP Green plant in Mexico, Missouri. I went into the Plant office and overheard the discussion about a plane possibly flying into a World Trade Building. There was speculation by the employees that the report was a hoax. After all, planes just do not fly into buildings. However, we continued to monitor the news broadcasts as the reports were updated that morning.

Sara Beth McIntire: I was in the park playing with her young son. She says that she could not get home fast enough with him to cuddle with him, keeping him as safe as she could.

Nola Garner: I stepped through the doorway for a doctor's appointment only to find the lobby empty. Looking around I saw all the staff huddled around the appointment table. Walking slowly toward them, one of the nurses filled me in as to the planes that had just flew into the Towers. One of the ladies said, "I just want to go to school and get my children, go home and hold them close with me." After a while, the doctor went about taking care of patients.

Denise Graves: I was at work, in my office at MSD. A Power House worker had come in and asked if I'd heard about what happened in New York. As you may remember, those Power House men loved to joke around with the staff. Not taking him too serious, I replied that I hadn't and I waited for the punch line.

When he said, "An airplane flew into the World Trade Center." I thought, not a joke but, why is he telling me about this seemingly insignificant event. A few more sentences from him that included the words, "They think it's a terrorist attack," had me reeling. "An attack, right here in the USA? NO WAY!!"

As we were discussing this, Tom Bastean, our School Supervisor, pops around the corner. Seeing my face he asked, "What's up?" I repeated/signed (for his benefit and the PH worker) what I had just been told. Bastean stops, stares and simply signs "Oh my God!" We immediately got a TV and set it up in the office. That TV stayed on from around that morning for the rest of the day. Staff and students were glued to other TVs in Stark School. We were all witnessing one of the saddest days in U.S. history.