Saturday will mark the 20-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks that struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
Here are testimonials of people within the Louisiana Tech Athletics Department on where they were and how they felt the morning shock waves rippled throughout our country.
NEVER FORGET
Dr. Eric A. Wood – Director of Athletics/Vice President
I distinctly remember sitting in my car following one of my doctoral classes listening to the breaking news on the car radio following the first plane. As a native New Yorker, my heart sank and I immediately thought of family and friends back home as I rushed back to my apartment to catch the news and learn of the second plane hitting the Towers. Nobody was picking up their phones and I just remember thinking of how terrified people must have felt upon impact. I eventually connected with friends and loved ones, but listening to their stories of living through that day and how the City was completely shut down just rocked my world. Taking time to pause and reflect on the people who left their homes that day headed to work and never got to see their loved ones again. I can't believe it's been 20 years! Our world was changed forever, but I remain grateful for the first responders who put their lives on the line and ran towards the chaos to save as many people as they could…They are truly heroes! #NeverForget
Matt Terry – Head Coach of LA Tech Golf
I walked into my office at Shelton State CC where I was coaching. My players were in my office looking at the coverage of the towers. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. Later that day we spent time taking about what happened. It was tough to describe what we were feeling and thinking.
Mandy Miller – Head Athletic Trainer
I don't exactly remember the order of events, but this is what I remember. In 2001, I was 26 years old and an Outreach Athletic Trainer in Birmingham, Ala. covering a high school. I didn't have to be out at my school till the afternoon, so that morning I got a workout in and had just gotten home from the gym to eat breakfast. I sat down on the couch and turned on the Today Show per my normal routine. The show's hosts were talking about something then stopped to say that one of the towers was on fire. They were getting reports that a plane had hit it and cut to a live image. I'm pretty sure I never finished my breakfast as I watched in absolute disbelief on live TV the second plane hit.
I remember the reports of a plane going down in Pennsylvania, and not knowing if it was related. Then, for me anyway, even more of the unthinkable. The report of the plane hitting the Pentagon. My Dad worked in Defense for the military. Monthly, he went to D.C to the Pentagon to brief upper level military personnel. He was supposed to be there that day. I remember trying not to panic and calling my dad's work number, why I called him at work I don't know, but I remember crying when he answered the phone! (Keep in mind this was 2001, not everyone had a cell phone still) He had a conflict that time and sent a co-worker to D.C. in his place. I remember the nervousness in my Dad's voice as he was unable to get in touch with him. I knew my Dad was having probably the worst day of his life so I just told him I loved him and would call him later that night. After that, all I remember is watching in horror as the towers fell, the images of the field in PA, and the images of the Pentagon. I remember the fear in the pit of my stomach, waiting for more.
I got out to my school that afternoon and was at football practice. The kids were so confused. They asked so many questions that I couldn't answer. No one had answers that day. I did my best to just tell them to focus on football for now, then go home and hug their parents, because I was an hour and a half away from home that's all that I wanted to do.
Jarred Latta – Director of LTAC
I was in the 2nd grade at Lincoln Elementary School in my hometown Iola, Kansas. It was around mid-morning when a paraprofessional came darting through the door with lots of emotion. I had no idea what was going on but she informed our teacher (Mrs. Tiffany Riley) that the World Trade Center in New York had been struck by a plane – not once, but twice. The rest of the day was a blur, but I vividly remember at 7 years old that we didn't do anything for a while. We stayed inside and the TV was constantly on the news station. My parents told my brothers and I that it was best for us to play inside for the time being. The fear of the unknown and what was to come was very much alive even in a small town in southeast Kansas.
Gerald Jordan – Senior Associate A.D./Competitive Excellence
I was standing in the Lasch Football Building at Penn State when the first tower was hit. Minutes later, I had walked to the East Area Athletic Training Room and the second tower was hit. Being in Pennsylvania, we had a large number of student-athletes from New York. I remember vividly a couple of our women's lacrosse student-athletes sitting in the lounge in tears as their parents worked in the World Trade Center. All the cell phone lines were down and you couldn't speak to anyone. Fortunately, their parents were ok.
The days following were eerily quiet outside. The majority of the outdoor athletic venues were on the end of campus closets to the airport. Prior to 9/11 it was normalcy to see and hear planes coming and going to the point that you didn't really notice until they were not there as air traffic was shut down. I will never forget how quiet it was outside!
Jason Martin – Equipment Manager
I was in the student center on campus grabbing breakfast after my 8 a.m. class, the televisions were on and all of a sudden they are showing a fireball on the WTC and I sat there dumbstruck to what I was seeing. I sat there watching and trying to process what I was seeing before attempting to go to class. After that class, I headed to the fieldhouse at stadium to get ready for football practice later that day. As we were prepping, we got word that all games for that weekend were cancelled. This day has been ingrained into my mind and will "Never Forget" it and the loss of life that occurred on that fateful day.
Amber McCray – Head Coach of LA Tech Volleyball
I will never forget where I was the morning of September 11, 2001. I was a junior at Pine Tree High School sitting in my 1st Period World History class when our teacher immediately turned on the news. The first plane had just hit, and the first news crews were reporting on that crash and speculating what went wrong when the second plane came plunging into the second tower. You could hear a pin drop in the classroom. Because it wasn't until that exact moment that we realized the magnitude and the true horror of what had just happened. This was no accident. This was planned. Our country was officially under attack.
It was a surreal feeling. Terrorist attacks were something we watched and heard about on the news about countries far, far away. For my young, naïve self, it was like a cloak of invincibility ripped away from us. My classmates and I sat traumatized and in horror as we helplessly watched the towers collapse. There were so many tears. I vividly remember students and teachers crying out, myself included, knowing all the lives that were lost right before our eyes. The rest of that day was a blur. All I know is any lesson plans were cancelled as we switched from class to class filing in, staying glued to the TV, then filing out and off to our next period to repeat the same routine. There were so many tears shed everywhere you looked and by everyone. There were so many unknowns at that time, but there was one inevitable realization that had all of my classmates, particularly those with military loved ones, on edge. WE ARE GOING TO WAR. No one knew for how long or that this infamous day would begin a tragic saga that stretched on for 20 years, but we all knew life as we'd known it to that point would no longer be the same.
It is hard to believe now that was 20 years ago. So much has happened in that time, and my heart still breaks for all those who lost loved ones that day whether in the planes, in the towers and Pentagon, or in the rubble. It still breaks for all the courageous first responders who ran in when everyone else was running out, or all the brave men and women of our military who have lost their lives in the wars since. The division in our country MUST change. We MUST heal. We owe it to all we have lost from that fateful day to stand TOGETHER as we fight to make sure this horrific attack never happens again from any enemies both foreign and domestic. We owe it to them to be the UNITED States of America, and that's who we should all strive to be.
Malcolm Butler – Senior Associate A.D./Strategic Communications & Broadcasting
I was living in my grandparents old house (they were not longer living there) and I stayed in the basement floor. I remember walking up the stairs to the ground floor to leave for work. Somehow – and to this day I'm still weirded out about it – the TV was on in the living room (I was the ONLY person living in this house and NEVER turned that TV on). So I walked into the living room to turn it off and on the TV screen was live footage when the second plane flew into the second tower. It took me a minute to figure out this was truly happening. I watched in disbelief for a few minutes and then came to work.
It was a Tuesday, which was football press conference day. I remember everyone had their TVs on around the Thomas Assembly Center all day just trying to process what had happened. It was so somber. We had the normal noon press conference with Jack Bicknell (we were scheduled to play Kansas State in Manhattan that weekend). Of course almost the entire line of questioning centered around the days events and his feelings and players feelings and emotions. No one really had words to describe what was transpiring in our country. College football was postponed that weekend as the team would play in Manhattan later in November.
I just remember not being able to take your attention off of the unbelievable occurrence in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. It's hard to believe its been 20 years. I remember on the one year anniversary of 911 watching a 60-minutes special about the babies that had been born over the last 12 months to men who were killed on 911. For some reason that stuck with me all these years. I wonder now how those 19 year olds are doing growing up without a father due to terrorist attack on our country.
Kim Tanner – Administrative Assistant
I can remember every detail of that morning. At that time, I was working in the College of Education and I was working on an issue with one of our students. I had to call the Registrar's office and asked a question and I will never forget that call. Kathy Duke answered the phone, we were talking, and she said have you heard the news. Of course, we did not have all of the social media outlets we have today so I told her no. She said the World Trade Center has been hit by a plane and they do not know if it was an accident or really what is going on and then the second plane hit. That is when I realized that our lives were changed in a blink of an eye. I will never forget the sight of seeing all of those people running and trying to get away from the destruction. As all of the reports started coming out I just sat there watching in amazement that something like this could happen in the United States of America. I will never forget the sadness that I felt.
