Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed, including 40 passengers and crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a field in Somerset County.
Of those who died on 9/11, 28 were Pennsylvanians, according to the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Those victims included Victor Saracini, who was killed when the Boston-to-Los Angeles flight he was piloting for United Airlines was hijacked by al-Qaida terrorists and flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York.
The Pennsylvania victims also included Louis J. Nacke II. He was one of 40 passengers and crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was headed from Newark to San Francisco. Flight 93 was the fourth plane that terrorists hijacked from East Coast airports that morning. When passengers on the flight learned of the terrorist attacks, they frantically called loved ones and made plans to overtake the hijackers. Their heroic efforts forced the plane to crash in a field in Shanksville, Somerset County, preventing it from reaching its intended target, which authorities believe was the US Capitol.
We invited newsletter readers to share their memories of Sept. 11, 2001, and their reflections to mark the 25th anniversary of that day. (Answers have been edited for length and clarity.)
“My husband was scheduled for surgery that morning. We had to be there by 6 a.m., an hour away. It was a beautiful day. Sunny with bluest skies. We awaited our turn in the lobby until they called us around 8:30-ish. I rode up in the elevator until I could go no further into the O.R. When I returned to the waiting area, I sat down and realized the entire room was silent. I looked at the TV screen and noticed what I thought was a scene from an upcoming movie. It was the live scene of the terrorist attack on the towers. No one spoke. Reporters were still trying to discern what was happening. The ride home was very eerie. The most gorgeous day but not a plane in the sky. It was so silent. We watched with the nation the rest of what transpired in disbelief.” — Diane A., Danville
“My husband and I were traveling south in our motorhome after several weeks in Alaska. We had spent the night in a Canadian Forest Service campground in Yukon. We went into the small museum and saw everyone huddled around the TV. Someone asked if we had heard. We stood and watched in horror, watching the unimaginable unfold. Hours later when we stopped at the huge mall in Edmonton, Alberta it was practically deserted. The Canadian people we encountered were very sympathetic and concerned” — Joan Anderson, Pen Argyl
“I was teaching in Carson City, Nevada. My youngest daughter was in Washington, D.C., so I was concerned about her safety. My youngest son was in the Army so that was another concern. Finally came the news of the plane down somewhere in Pennsylvania where I had many family members living. I had to keep going but it was very hard. I got home to many frantic messages from my children to let me know they were okay.” — Louise Seidel, Berks County
“I was working on the road. There were no cell phone or landline services and I remember feeling so frustrated, frightened, and deeply concerned about my girls. I can’t remember ever feeling so disconnected and alone. It was a time of uncertainty when we couldn’t easily reach the ones we love or know if they were safe. More than ever it was a time we all needed to rely on our faith.” — Kit, Erie
“I was working in a long term care center in Albany, New York, a few short hours up I-87 from New York City. At that time the emergency plan for a catastrophe in NYC included moving patients, if needed, up to Albany to free up hospital beds in the city; the staff started preparing a list of patients who could be discharged either home with services or to a lower level of care. It didn’t take long to realize that our part of the emergency plan would not have to be implemented. In the following days and months the staff took more time than usual to hug patients, especially our older ones who had lived through wars.” — Donna, Erie
“I was teaching 6th grade and, under normal circumstances, we were not allowed to receive calls in our classroom. My husband called the school secretary to tell me what had happened. After explaining the reason for his call, she immediately patched the call through to my classroom. Within minutes after hanging up we were notified by the principal that the remainder of the day would be business as usual. I was incredulous! The rest of the day is a blur. That evening we gathered with our church family and neighbors in our church sanctuary. Our pastor was there, but he did not preach. We all sat in silence and prayed.” — Sandra Rodman, King of Prussia
“I was teaching in an elementary school. We had just taken the children outside for morning recess. One of the teachers had just taken his kids to art or gym so he was on a break and opened his outside door and turned on the news. He heard about the first plane hitting the tower so I walked over to his door to see what was happening and saw the second plane hit. We took the children back inside. By lunch time over half the parents in the school had come to pick up their children and take them home. By 1:30 almost all the children had been picked up so the teachers that had no children gathered in a classroom and were glued to the TV until we were told to leave.” — Jane Vucelich, Delaware County
“I was on a Fulbright grant to Mozambique, teaching classes at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, the capital city. My husband and I were in the Cultural Affairs offices of the US Embassy when the first tower was hit. All of us present, Americans and Mozambicans, gathered around the television and watched as the second plane hit the second tower. The shock of it stays with us today.” — Linda Ledford-Miller, Scranton
“I was driving to work on the turnpike when my wife called with the news of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. By the time I arrived the second tower had been hit. At the office, I was in the parking lot talking to a vendor when a plane flew overhead going east. We talked about how odd it was as all flights had been ordered to land at the nearest airport. Shortly later we heard that Flight 93 crashed near Somerset.” — Larry, Allegheny County
“My third child was born in June of 2001. I was home with him, and my mother-in-law called to tell me to turn on the TV. CNN’s Anderson Cooper was on a roof in New York City, and the World Trade Center towers were still standing. Reporters were talking about people above the fires heading to the roof for helicopter evacuations, and how firefighters were running up the stairs to put out the fire and help people descend. My husband and oldest son are first responders, and when that first tower collapsed, all I could think of was all those brave men and women making the ultimate sacrifice while doing their jobs on what started out as an ordinary day. I still get very emotional when I think about it.” — Dawne, Selinsgrove
“I was home getting ready to go to Carnegie Mellon and teach my classes. When I saw the news I immediately called my children down to see what was going on, and also a colleague at CMU. In addition to the horror and disbelief, I was feeling it very personally because I grew up in NYC and although my father was deceased when this happened, he was one of the first tenants in the North Tower, first on the 88th floor, and then on the 16th. He had already survived the 1993 parking garage bombing, as did several of his employees, but every time I see a replay of those planes hitting the towers and then their collapse, I choke up. I haven’t even been able to go see the new Freedom Tower, the memorial, or the Flight 93 Memorial. We need to remember what happened, not just because we were attacked, but because we were so confident that no one ever thought something like this could happen.” — Kenya Dworkin, Homestead
