The Dispatch compiled your thoughts on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 via letters sent via Facebook.com/gilroydispatch and emailed to ed****@****ic.com.
We asked readers where they were that day and how it’s changed their lives. Thank you for sharing your heartfelt stories.
The Dispatch compiled your thoughts on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 via letters sent via Facebook.com/gilroydispatch and emailed to ed****@****ic.com.
We asked readers where they were that day and how it’s changed their lives. Thank you for sharing your heartfelt stories.
Here’s what you said:
U.S. soldier overseas on a plane coming back home …
David was on a plane leaving South Korea (he had been there for a one year non-dependent tour) back to the Bay Area that very morning.
I was awakened by my sister-in-law at 7 a.m. telling me to come look at the TV. My (then only child) oldest son, Andrew, followed me to the living room. Our jaws dropped as we could not believe what we were seeing.
I spent the whole day worried and wondering where my Husband was. I didn’t leave the house at all. I stayed glued to the TV with one hand on my cell phone and the other hand on my landline cordless phone.
His flight, thankfully, landed in Japan. He was able to call me later on in the evening to tell me he was ok and updating me with everything he knew on his end. Once it was cleared that air travel would resume, David called me to let me know they were now landing in Seattle rather than San Francisco due to the re-shuffling of flight schedules.
I wasn’t going to wait another two weeks so I drove up to Seattle to pick him up.
The irony was that Washington was our place of residence at the time of his death for a war that was created from the 9/11 tragedy.
~ Patty Gutierrez, In loving memory of my love, SSG David H. Gutierrez DoW (Died of Wounds) 12/25/09 Afghanistan
My brother was a pilot …
(I was) in Northern California, Arcata … trying to call my parents, sister, brother, cousins, friends, neighbors and friends of neighbors I didn’t even know. Watching the towers collapse before my eyes, a friend with me who said when he was in Amsterdam that guests in a hotel were talking about crashing planes into buildings in the U.S. … my brother was a pilot.
~ Shannon O’Dell
Memories of a 10-year-old…
On Sept. 11, 2001 my parents had taken a trip to New York City for my Dad’s birthday. My Grandma woke me up that morning and said something bad had just happened in New York. I stood watching the TV trying to comprehend what was happening as smoke billowed out of a building. Then I watched as the second plane hit the towers and The person on the TV announced that this was no accident and New York City was under attack.
My grandma told me to wake up my brother while she tried to call my parents. I was 11-years-old and Greg was 9 and I had to explain to him that the city where Mom and Dad were was under attack. He was scared and asking so many questions that I couldn’t answer. I was scared too and all I wanted to do was cry but I had tell him that everything was going to be OK even though I didn’t know if it was or not. Finally after what seemed like hours, my Aunt called to say that she had been able to reach them. Although I knew that my parents were OK I didn’t really believe it until I was finally able to talk to them that night and I really didn’t feel better until they were home two weeks later.
– Megan Hamik
Birthday takes new meaning …
My wife Stephanie surprised me with a trip to New York City for my birthday, Sept. 11. On Sept. 8, our first full day in New York City we awoke to a beautiful day, eventually making our way to the World Trade Center. We traveled by elevator to the observation deck. When we entered the elevator, a young man greeted us; he was about 19 with a great smile. As the elevator climbed floor after floor, we laughed and made small talk with him. He mentioned he worked there while going to college. As we got off the elevator, with that great smile, he said “Have a great time in New York City, and happy birthday.” We spent about an hour at the observation deck. A young woman offered us a souvenir photo. I do not know why, but again, I noticed what a great smile she had. We spent the better part of the afternoon around the Trade Center complex relaxing in the sun, listening to live music.
On my birthday, Sept. 11, we had planned to rise early, and catch the ferry in Battery Park to visit Ellis Island. When the alarm went off, still tired from the night before we chose to sleep a little longer. As we awoke and got ready for the day, we turned on the TV to see one of the Twin Towers on fire. Was this real? Was it a drill? Just as we learned the reality, the second tower was struck. We watched transfixed on the TV as the events unfolded. As the towers burned, then collapsed, my mind went instantly to the young man in the elevator, and the young woman in the photo booth. Were they at work? Were they OK? Had those smiles turned to fear and anguish? To this day, I have no idea, but those smiles are frozen in my memory, and I hope against all odds that they some how survived that terrible day.
As we walked the empty streets that night, I knew my birthday would never be the same. Stephanie and I reflect often on our decision to bypass our early departure that would have put us directly in the path of the events of that morning.
~ Charlie Hamik
Amazing school response …
The morning that 9/11 occurred, when I was home getting ready for school I did not have the news on. Only after a friend called us on the phone early in the morning did we realize the enormity of what happened. I’d have been at Britton within the hour, with no idea of what reaction or mood of the school I would encounter.
The first thing that struck me, was the unbelievable calmness of staff and students. Indeed, some of the students had not yet heard what happened. We did not know the extent of these attacks, or what else the terrorists might have planned. Being able to carry on a fairly normal school day was pretty amazing in itself.
But we did.
Without hesitation our principal at the time, Jim McDonald, guided the staff with calmness. All the teachers continued with their classes but allowed and encouraged discussion and gave students opportunity to express themselves, and air their thoughts.
In the ensuing days a large American flag was suspended from the side of the auditorium, and one day each teacher brought his, or her class out to the east field of Britton to view the flag and allow some moments of silent prayer and reflection on what had happened.
As garrulous as middle schoolers can be, it was so quiet and respectful, you could have heard a pin drop. The students understood the gravity of the situation, when also in the morning Mrs. Sacks, the French teacher, sang God Bless America over the P.A. system, to the full attention of students and staff.
Mrs. Alexander, the art teacher, encouraged her students to express themselves with patriotic themes.
All the teachers, in fact, dealt with this occurrence with great sensitivity. Many in the school, kids and staff, spoke unabashedly of the love and pride they had in their country. All on the staff, regardless of political persuasion, put that aside, and saw themselves first as Americans.
The pride that I saw was not something superficial. And it wasn’t expressed in anger, though angry we all were. The pride shown was more the reflection of our American character; we sympathized with the victims and admired the brave acts of rescue workers and witnessed the selfless acts of heroism associated with this tragedy. We grieved while knowing that ultimately justice would prevail.
Few times in my life have I seen Americans of all ages and backgrounds come together like this. That is why 9/11 will be one of the most significant moments I will remember as a teacher. The time the United States of America stood together.
Our Britton kids really did us proud.
~ Gene Strangio
Gas station in pajamas …
I can’t believe it’s been 10 years. It seems like it was yesterday because we all so deeply still feel the loss. I was at home getting my daughter ready for school when my sister called and said we were under attack and that planes were exploding into buildings all over the place. I thought it was a joke, but when I turned on the TV, I watched with horror and fear – not knowing what was next and whether it would continue all around the U.S.
I ran to the gas station, in my pajamas, and bought as much bottled water as I could carry and kept my daughter home from school. I just stood at my TV set and cried all day. In fact, I kept the TV on, around the clock, for at least a month. It was such a horrible tragedy and loss of life.
~ Kristen Friddle Hamilton
Departing from San Jose …
On September 11, 2001, I was on a United flight (6:30 a.m.), departing San Jose for Germany with plane change in New York city. Our plane came to a screeching halt while taking off and we sat for, what seems like, hours before returning to the terminal. When we arrived back, the terminal was deserted – literally. Two days later, I was able to depart for Europe (via Atlanta). The pilot flew over Manhattan so that we could see the devastation. I’ll never forget seeing the bright flood lights illuminating the scene.
I still lay a map of Manhattan on the floor and stand over it.
My son was stationed in Germany and he was given leave and permitted to visit Rome for a shortened visit. It was eerie walking through the city watching the news on televisions, posted in store windows. Still, some natives came up to us crying and expressing their sorrow.
It was my first trip to Rome, but, a memorable one.
~ Mike Ayers
Emergency response team …
I was working for United Airlines at the time based at World Headquarters in Chicago, and part of an Emergency Response Team in case of an aircraft incident. No one ever expected that two of our aircraft would ever fall on the same day … with UA175 at the World Trade Center and UA93 on the ground in Pennsylvania.
The entire team was activated globally. I was supposed to go to the UA93 site to help families of passengers, however decided to stay at the Command Center in Chicago because my wife Kim was five months pregnant and I did not want to leave her alone. Although the Federal Aviation Administration had grounded all aircraft that afternoon, they did provide special clearance for a single 727 UA flight with the Emergency Response Team onboard to help with UA93.
I’ll never forget seeing that single aircraft taking off from O’Hare and getting ready to man the phones to handle calls from families across the world trying to find out if loved ones were on UA175 or UA93.
On September 12, 2001, we woke up to a different world.
~ Victor Gaxiola
Dropped Ellie at Rucker …
I was watching the news as it unveiled. My husband at the time brought our 2nd-grade daughter, Ellie, to Mrs. Newick’s class at Rucker School. That afternoon my husband picked up his daughter to find helicopters flying over the school. Two prisoners had escaped.
All of our children were safe. When I asked my daughter if she was OK and she said she had prayed. Our lives had forever changed.
~ Debbie Lewis
Turned 71 on tragic day …
This Tuesday morning in September was overcast, as is normal in the summer on the Bay. In Aptos, on Clubhouse Drive, a block from the beach, I was eating breakfast in our kitchen when our daughter called.
My wife answered and began to scream. I had no idea what would cause such horrendous action.
She yelled, “Turn on the TV. Turn on the TV.”
Still not knowing what the catastrophe was, I ran to the TV and turned it on. Of course, we saw the horrible impact of the falling towers. This event occupied most of the day.
What a way to spend your 71st birthday. Yes, my birthday is September 11.
~ Burton Anderson
