Friday September 11th was the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11th 2001. Local historian David Wendell held a presentation at the Marion Public Library in which he detailed the events of the day. The presentation began at 9:30AM and concluded at 10:30AM. Wendell used various models and photographs to help tell the audience about the events that led up to the attacks on September 11th 2001, all of the things that happened on the day, and the aftermath of the attacks. Wendell’s presentation also featured a speech by Navy veteran Guy Duke who was stationed in New York at the time of the attacks.
Marlene Wendell tells the rest of the audience members where she was at and what she was doing on 9/11 before the start of David Wendell’s presentation. The first tower was struck by American Airlines flight 11 at 8:46AM eastern time. The second tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175 at 9:03AM eastern time. American Airlines Flight 77 hit the pentagon at 9:37AM eastern time, and a fourth plane (united Airlines number 93) crashed in a corn field outside of Shanksville Pennsylvania in Somerset County after the passengers attempted to take the airplane back.
Navy veteran Guy Duke (who was stationed in New York on 9/11/2001) tells the audience his story from the day, and how he came to be in possession of this American flag. Duke found the flag (which has many messages from people wishing to express their condolences to the victims and families of the victims written on it) at one of the walls that was used as a makeshift memorial site. He also pointed out a story written on the flag that had a particularly large affect on him. The story was written by a lady named Jocelyn Mathis who wrote that she woke up late and never got to work on time. She is glad to be alive, and sad for the thousands of lives lost. She also wrote that she missed her friends and co-workers.
Local historian David Wendell speaks to the audience about the events leading up to, during, and after 9/11. Wendell (who was in his apartment underneath the approach for the east west runway at O’hare International Airport on the north side of Chicago on September 11th 2001) says that he was awakened by deafening silence due to the fact that all of the planes across the United States had been grounded.
Wendell speaks to the crowd about where President George W. Bush was on 9/11 and what happened on Airforce one once the president was aboard the plane. The president was reading to a group of second graders at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota Florida when the towers at the world trade center were struck. After United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South tower of the World Trade Center The president briefly used the schools auditorium to address the nation before boarding Airforce One which took off at a rate of 8,000 feet per Minute after leaving Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (typical commercial planes climb at a rate of 1,500-3,000 feet per minute). The president was flown to Barksdale Airforce Base in Louisiana and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska before landing at Andrews Air Force Base just outside of Washington DC in Maryland at 6:45PM. President Bush spent nearly nine hours aboard Airforce one (which was used as a flying command center) on 9/11.
Rita Nietling rings a bell held by David Wendell in remembrance of the 2,977 lives lost during the 9/11 terror attacks, and those that have passed away due to illneses contracted as a result of being near the crash sites. 343 New York City fire fighters, 72 law enforcement officers from nine different agencies in New York and New Jersey, and 55 members of the United States Military lost their lives along with 2,507 civilians on 9/11. According to the WTC (World Trade Center) Health Program over 9,400 people have lost their lives in the last 25 years due to illnesses they got as a result of exposure to a deadly cocktail of over 350 different hazardous agents and toxic compounds that were identified in the air, dust, and wreckage.
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