25 years ago today, hijackers took control of four airplanes, deliberately flying into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. The fourth plane crashed in a rural area in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back and diverted the plane. The attacks killed 2,977 people, the largest casualty of a foreign attack on American soil.
As the United States observes the 25th anniversary of 9/11, The Eastern Echo asked members of the campus and local community to recall in their own words their memories of Sept. 11, 2001, and the attacks that shocked the nation.
Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001, and what do you remember about that day?
Jeffrey Bernstein, professor of political science:
"So I was somewhere in the Detroit suburbs (Novi, maybe?) at a store buying a bed rail for our two-year-old. They had a TV on at the store, which is where I first saw the news. Both towers were on fire at the time. I drove straight home, needless to say. The South Tower fell while I was driving home, and the North Tower fell shortly after I got home.
I'm from Long Island. Everyone from Long Island knows tons of people who commute into the city, of course. I knew two people who worked in the Twin Towers, both very good friends of our family. It was a very, very long day until we found out both survived — one had come late to work because he voted in the primary election that day, and arrived at the World Trade Center after the North Tower was hit. The other had stayed up late the night before watching the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, and was late getting to work. Both were very fortunate. A neighbor of my mother, a man named Adam Ruhalter, was at work on a high floor of one of the towers, and lost his life that day. He was only 38.
9/11 was most certainly a national, and international, tragedy. But, as a New Yorker, it was also a local tragedy. My city, the skyline, has never looked right since that day, even with the new building there. I had a chance to visit Ground Zero with my brother that December, and I still, to this day, struggle to talk about that experience. I keep those photos in the drawer by my nightstand. On that day, we visited a firehouse, the one closest to Ground Zero, which had lost its captain on 9/11. It was gut-wrenching to see.
There was a palpable sense that day, which I articulated to some friends, that I felt like I was living at an inflection point. My 31 years before that were one chapter, the years after were another chapter. I still feel that way.
So many good people gave their lives that day, starting with the police, firefighters, and other first responders. Firefighters ran INTO the building to save others — I cannot imagine the courage it took to do that. It still hurts to type about it, and to remember it. I never want to feel that way again."
Lolita Cummings, professor of public relations:
"Like so many others, I have vivid memories of when I first learned about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. I was about to walk into my classroom on the third floor of Pray Harrold when a student approached and asked if I had heard the news. I had been in my office preparing for class, so I was clueless. She said a plane had flown into the side of a building in NYC.
At the time, none of us had any idea of the scope of the attack, but I, of course, wanted to learn more. When I got the class settled, we watched the developing news with tears in our eyes and fear in our hearts. It's a sad day that I will never forget."
Aura Cazares, dean of students:
"On September 11, 2001, I was home because I had a job interview. I had the TV on and the news of the first plane crash was televised just as the second plane approached the World Trade Center. I was in shock and my husband who was my fiancé at the time and I were in disbelief and scared. We called our family and watched the news the rest of the day; somehow we knew the world would never be the same. Sadly, our intuition was right."
Matthew Cook, Title IX coordinator:
"I was a freshman here at EMU. I just got back to my residence hall after going to my 8 a.m. class. We got out early on the first day, and shortly after, my mom called me to turn on the news, and that's when it felt like the world stopped. I had family who lived in New York City, so I was very concerned for them, not knowing exactly where the Towers were relative to where they lived.
I was glued to the screen, watching in horror at what happened following the first tower being struck. I remember just wanting to go home to be with my family, as I was concerned about where else and when something this horrific could happen. I don't think I stayed on campus for most of that week; I went home to try to understand what happened and to ensure my family was okay, which they were."
Vanessa Gardner, Francine Parker undergraduate adviser:
"I was in my apartment — my mother called me and woke me right around 9 a.m. She was crying. I remember she said, "We are under attack." I did not have a television but I tuned in on my radio to listen. I had to work that day and going in, every street was empty. There were no planes in the sky; the schools were closed. It was eerie. Everything paused; everyone waited. We didn't know if there was more to come. We didn't have the death toll yet. It was a helpless feeling."
Sadaf Ali, professor of electronic media and film studies:
"On 9/11 I was at home watching the news. I was about to start graduate school at Columbia-College Chicago. When the first plane hit, like a lot of other people, I assumed it was a single engine plane with a pilot who just flew too low. Then the second plane hit and we all saw the type of plane and were shocked and horrified. I still had to go to school, but they delayed registration by a few days because no one was sure if the Sears Tower was going to be the next target. My family and I spent the entire day glued to the television. We didn't know anything about who the hijackers were, so were unaware of the Islamophobia that would follow us (Muslims and other Brown people) for the next 25 years."
You Li, professor of journalism:
"I was attending high school in China at the time of the September 11 attacks. When it happened, it was around 8 p.m. China time, since we are 12 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone. My aunt telephoned my parents' house and told me about it, since she had a satellite TV subscription and was watching live coverage on CNN. I couldn't believe her at first; I had actually been at the World Trade Center the year before, in 2000, when I visited New York City as part of a study abroad program through my high school. How could something that big just get attacked by planes and tumble down?
The next morning, when I went to school, my political science teacher shared the news with the whole class. I already knew, so I wasn't too surprised, but a lot of my classmates were confused and shocked, and some even giggled and thought it was a joke. Little did we know at the time that this single event would reshape geopolitical tensions and the world order for decades to come.
Five years later, I entered the graduate program at the Missouri School of Journalism. My mentor at the time, Dr. Betty Winfield, was a historian of American media. As her research assistant, I worked with her on a study analyzing over 300 newspaper front pages from 2001 to 2008 that used the American flag as a symbol to commemorate the September 11 attacks. The study examined how a national symbol helps Americans make sense of, and heal from, a traumatic event.
Ten years after that, having become a journalism professor myself and now teaching American journalism history, I ask my students each year to conduct oral history interviews about memorable national events — September 11 is always one of them. But as time passes, I've noticed that fewer and fewer of my students know much about what September 11 was, or how it affected daily life, travel, and international politics and relations, since most of them were either toddlers or not yet born. History doesn't necessarily repeat itself, but knowing history helps us understand our place in it — where we came from, and how the past shapes the present."
Gordon Cahours, Ypsilanti resident and Eastern Michigan University alumnus:
Gordon Cahours, 106 year old Ypsilanti resident said the Sept. 11 attacks were horrible to witness, even from afar. 81 years old at the time, Cahours was out fishing on Ford Lake and heard the news over the radio. He rowed to shore and quickly went back home to watch the event unfold on the news. Although the attacks were far from Michigan, there was a lot of coverage on local stations, Cahours said.
“We view that day as a national tragedy,” Cahours said.
Mark Maironis, professor of political science:
"I was leaving the VA hospital in Ann Arbor for some routine checkup, I guess, and I was coming to Eastern, and my first class was either 9 or 10 [a.m.], when I heard the breaking news on my radio that, in fact, one of the towers had been attacked. I think just one, not both, at that time. And when I got to my class, again, at either 9 or 10, it was in the auditorium in Pray Harrold, so I probably had about 100 students. Not one student had heard of the attack.
I announced it to the students, and then they came over the PA system that in fact, we were closing for the day, because they didn't know if colleges and universities would be the target as well, because we really didn't know what was going on."
Because of this, EMU closed for a few days following the attacks, Maironis said.
Joshua Koss, professor of political science:
"I was in my first grade classroom and while we were kept in the dark, I remember a few teachers talking to each other and their demeanor became very somber. I didn't find out about the attacks until I got home."
Call for submissions: We want to hear from members of the Ypsilanti and EMU community, including alumni: Where where you on Sept. 11, 2001, and what do you remember about that day? If you have a story or memory from that you would like to share, send it to editor@easternecho.com and we will include it. Full name, city of residence, email address and phone number must be included for publication. Email and phone number are used to verify content and will not be published.
