Tipp Gazette Readers Remember 9/11

Recently, the Tippecanoe Gazette asked our readers share their stories and remembrances of September 11, 2001. Here are a few of their stories.

We were returning home from a vacation in the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York. It was a beautiful day; the sky was that brilliant azure, so rarely seen. We stopped in Pennsylvania for gas. As Pat was putting gas in the car, he glanced up at the lovely sky. The fellow at the next pump asked him if he was looking for planes. Pat laughed, and said, “Sure.” We didn’t know. Then Pat went inside to pay and when he returned to the car he was laughing. “There’s some crazy old guy in there talking about planes crashing into buildings.” Impossible! No one would do that! But we turned on the radio and heard the unbelievable news and drove the rest of the way home scared, astounded, wondering how a world that can provide such a beautiful sky could also provide such horrors.

Susan Langley

I took the day off from work to write—I was working on finishing up a new draft of my first book, “Black Bird,” when I started getting calls from people at work wondering what was going on. My wife and I lived in the DC area at the time and our offices in Fairfax were just a few miles from the Pentagon. I turned on the TV and started relaying information to the folks at work—at the time, most offices didn’t have TVs on in the workplace, and hardly anyone had smartphones, so people were listening to the radio. After the towers were struck, everyone knew something horrible was happening. The airspace over DC was shut down, but everyone was worried about more hijackings and whether the White House or Capitol building were next on the list. I remember people talking about where the President was located and if the government was “safe” and could continue functioning. It took a long time for things to get back to “normal” in DC after all of that, and I have to admit I was glad when we moved away a few years later. I won’t forget the clear blue skies from that day—sometimes even now, when the skies are bright blue and clear, I wonder if something terrible is going to happen.

Greg Enslen

I was at home working on a design project while earning my bachelor’s degree in interior design. I was sitting at my drafting table working on the floorplan of my project in my living room. The TV was on. The news broke into the TV program I was watching and went live with coverage of the first plane flying into one of the towers. I saw a second plane hit the other tower. I was curious how they had the video of the first plane hitting the tower so quickly. Then, after seeing that it was a second airplane hitting a tower, I completely freaked out, realizing I was watching the second airplane crash as it was literally hitting the tower live. I lost my mind watching the second airplane crash.

I lost most of my memories, but I remember Sept. 11, 2001. I can remember watching both buildings just burning and realizing that those fires were unstoppable. I did not see the towers crash live as it happened, but shortly after I watched the videos of the crashing down to the ground.

Kara Moore

I visited the World Trade Center Memorial soon after it opened. What struck me was the silence felt across many city blocks surrounding the memorial. I found the memorial to be such a humbling and emotional place. The continuous flow of water serves as a beautiful reminder that we will never forget that day or the precious lives that were lost.

May we always honor and remember the innocent souls, the first responders, and all those whose lives were forever changed on September 11, 2001.

Karen Kassel

I was at work in Tipp. My husband was flying to Fort Smith, Arkansas; they immediately had to land in Dallas. No one knew what happened until they landed. He found a gentleman who rented a car and was coming toward Tipp. Scary time…

Peggy Suerdieck

On the way home from a mandatory work meeting (on my day off, of course). Had Mike and Mike on. They stopped talking about sports and described a surreal scene in NYC. I got home, turned on the TV, and not long after, the second plane hit.

“West Milton”

I was at work that day. My husband and I lived in Northern Virginia at the time, and our office (we worked at the same place) was just a few miles from the Pentagon. He was at home that day; he’d taken the week off to work on writing one of his first books. Back then, no one had smart phones, but somehow everyone at the office figured out that something was happening. I remembered that there was a radio in the common room, and I ran and got it, and put it in my office to listen to. That didn’t work for long; everyone wanted to hear the news, so the radio (and me, and everyone else) headed back to the conference room. In the days after, I remember that people kept saying, “things are going to be different now.” I didn’t know what they meant back then, but I have a sense now of how much things have changed. Side note: at the time, my husband and I had been married just a year and a half. Our first son was born June 14, 2002. Xander arrived a few days late; his estimated due date was June 11, 2002, nine months to the day after 9/11.

Samantha Enslen

I was working for Mutual of Omaha reviewing medical claims when the Bob and Tom show alerted me to the big awful. I went home and started picking my four kids up from school. The first to be picked up was my youngest, who was 8. He and I would always rock out to the radio while heading to the other schools. But there was no music that day, just news reports. He asked me why there was no music. So, I gently explained what was happening. His response: "huh, a day no music played." And that’s what we've called it ever since...The day no music played.

Karen Jordan

I was driving into work and heard the first report on the radio. Two minutes later, pulling into our parking lot, I saw the FBI staff loading up their cars with tactical gear, with expressions of resolve and strength. Their office was located one floor above ours in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. They were headed out to protect people in Chicago. My boss, the CEO of our company (who had been in the Towers a hundred times as an investment banker), had a sister who lived and worked in Battery Park, New York. It took hours to get word that she was safe. Horrible day.

Joy Poepsel

I was at the beauty shop getting my weekly hairdo when my beautician stopped in the middle and said she had to go home. She did stay and finish.

Doris Dodd

I had just graduated and started my first teaching job. We always had Channel 1 on in the morning for the news, and then we would discuss it afterward. Sept. 11, 2001, was an extremely emotional day. I had to remain strong for my students and attempt to explain what had just happened. I think all adults had a difficult time explaining this horrific incident. I’m still teaching and realize we have an entire generation that possibly doesn’t understand the events from that day. I feel that we, as educators, have an obligation to keep this memory alive.

Sarah Drewing