Friday marks the 25th anniversay of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the images and emotions of that morning remain vivid for people across the Twin Lakes Area and the country.
On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes. Two were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing both towers to collapse. A third plane struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93 fought back against the hijackers before the aircraft crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attacks killed 2,977 people.
KTLO Classic Hits and The Boot News asked readers Thursday on social media to share where they were and what they remember most about that day.
For one reader, the events were unfolding just across the Potomac River from the Pentagon.
“I was stationed at the White House Communications Agency across the river from the Pentagon on 9/11 when the planes hit,” the reader recalled. “My mother was trying to call me in a panic because she thought I worked at the Pentagon.”
The reader said the experience continued in the days immediately following the attacks.
“On 9/12, I was in NYC at Ground Zero setting up satcom equipment for the President’s visit on 9/14, just a block away from what was left of the towers.”
Another reader offered only a few words, but they carried the weight of the day: “I was IN the Pentagon.”
In Mountain Home, another person remembered arriving for work at Good Samaritan Village shortly before learning what was happening.
“When I got there at 8 a.m., the staff seemed like something was wrong,” the reader wrote. “I asked and the staff said come to the TV.”
The reader recalled watching the unfolding coverage with coworkers as the scale of the attacks became clear.
“I watched and started crying and all of the Good Samaritan Village staff started praying,” the reader said. “As the day continued, as it got worse, we took care of our residents but we continued to pray and cry.”
Another reader recalled being in West Virginia and seeing Flight 93 shortly before it crashed in Pennsylvania.
“Flight 93 flew right over my house in WV moments before those brave souls overtook the terrorists on board and the plane went down in Shanksville,” the person wrote.
A piece of the Twin Towers resides at a memorial on the Veterans Square in Mountain Home, a local connection to a day that those who lived through it will never forget.
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