In 2001, at 8 AM, the North Tower was struck by a plane, and 15 minutes later, the Southern Tower was hit. At about 9, the Pentagon was hit. These attacks killed almost three thousand people. The attacks of September 11, 2001 affected Americans in different ways and how we remember this day and the lives that were lost also differ.
The city of Madison hosted a memorial for the victims of 9/11 at Toyota Field. Afterward, the memorial stair climb began.
There will also be a local hero’s run to remember the tragedy. The Travis Manion Foundation’s 9/11 Heroes Run is on September 15th, 2024 at 9:00 am at Toyota Field. Pricing varies, but there are 1-mile, 5-mile, and 5-mile rucking categories. Proceeds will help veterans. You can register HERE.
Because no Bob Jones student was born at the time of the attack, a great way to learn about the event is to talk to people who experienced the event in real-time.
I interviewed a teacher here at BJHS. He shared, “I remember being used to running on the tarmac to get on my plane, and they closed the door behind me. We didn’t have to go through the TSA, and that’s just one of the freedoms I lost. I found out about it because my brother said, ‘I heard a plane has hit one of the towers.’ I figured that it was a small plane since years ago a small plane hit the Empire State Building. When the second plane hit, I thought it was a replay, but I realized it was the other tower. My father asked me what I thought about the towers, and I said they wouldn’t hold up. With that amount of jet fuel and fire, there’s too much weight. Not even a minute after I said that, the tower collapsed.”
My father Justin Howell, a retired chief warrant officer in the Army, shared his experience on that day: “Well, I was in Flight School, and I was on the night schedule. It was happening when I woke up to plan that night’s flight. I turned on the TV and watched with the rest of the world as it happened. My first thoughts were about what this would mean for me. Was I going to go to war soon? Was I going to finish flight school. I was also thinking about what else could happen. Was this part of a bigger attack? I had been in the Army for over 9 years and I had trained for this, but now it was setting in that I would probably have to deploy and fight. It affected me most in that I now was in danger, my family and friends were now in danger. And I started to think about my young sons and how this event and my going to war would affect them.”
He continued, “I think the impact on the world was huge. The US had felt safe in that all wars had been on foreign soil. Someone had brought the fight to us. How would the US people handle it? Our allies were now also possibly looking at going to war. I think it brought some patriotic feels to some who might not have thought about it much. I think it influenced a younger generation to be more patriotic and willing to serve and fight for something bigger than themselves.”
The event actually influenced my uncle to enlist. 1st SG Jason Howell shared, “I do remember 9/11, I was bow hunting deer with a couple of my buddies in the mountains by Blanding when we heard over the radio what happened. We couldn’t believe it and headed back home to see if it was true. When we got home, we talked to our families. It played a major role in my life. I joined the active duty Army shortly after as a Chinook Helicopter mechanic. I was stationed at Fort Campbell with the 101st Airborne. I was deployed to Afghanistan shortly after finishing my initial training. Coming from a small town in Utah, deploying overseas was an eye-opener that really made me appreciate everything that I have and how spoiled we are as Americans.”
To honor the lives lost and the impact 9/11 had on America and individual Americans, take a moment of your day to learn more about the event. You can visit the official 9/11 site to see interactive timelines, to see digital exhibits, or to hear oral histories from people who survived the attack by clicking HERE.
