On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida-trained terrorists took over four different commercial jetliners. Two were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third into the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., and a fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers thwarted terrorist plans.
It is a day that is painful to remember even now — 24 years later — by those who witnessed the attacks firsthand.
It’s hard to unpack the memories, a retired NYPD officer told me in an email. He retired in 2021 after 38 years of service. He says that the first few years after 9/11, he watched all of the ceremonies on television, including listening to the names of the victims. But as time passed, it became more and more difficult for him to watch any of the events. He said it brings too much sadness.
In recent years, he has also been dealing with a cancer-related illness, likely caused by exposure to asbestos and other toxins released at Ground Zero in New York City that day. The World Trade Center Health Program has enrolled over 100,000 people and has provided care to more than 44,000 cancer-related cases since 9/11.
Mary and Frank Fetchet, whose 24-year-old son Brad died during the 9/11 attack, told me that not only survivors and first responders but also many family and community members are still affected emotionally by the attack. Mary and colleagues at the Voices Center for Resilience are assessing lingering bereavement and trauma-related issues among registered enrollees and are finalizing a grief study based on input from them.
Nick Wightman, a Bountiful High School history teacher, wasn’t in New York during the terrorist attack, but he has visited the memorial and museum twice, as well as taken a weeklong 9/11 Teacher’s Institute course in New York put on by the staff of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. I asked him about students’ reactions to his lessons on 9/11.
“Mostly, students are overwhelmed after hearing about many of the very real human stories from 9/11,” he told me. “It is very sobering to them. While memorializing those who lost their lives, we also talk about the bravery of first responders and ordinary people alike. In the midst of tragedy, students hear about heroism. It is a microcosm of the values and character of Americans in responding to a crisis.”
Beth Hillman, president and CEO of the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum, said since 2021 the museum has sponsored four weeklong teacher workshops and hopes to engage even more students in the future, along with their “Anniversary Digital Learning Experience‚” the museum’s premier education program, including answers to student questions in real-time on 9/11. The museum hopes to reach upward of 20 million students by the 25th anniversary through its initiatives, programs and digital outreach.
The museum has two primary goals: remembrance and service, Hillman says. “While remembering the past, we want to open people’s hearts,” she says, to show “how the city has recovered and people have persevered in the worst of times.” More than a backward glance at a horrific event, the museum shares authentic and unambiguous stories of hope, resilience and kinship among strangers.
As part of their annual observances to mark the Sept. 11 attacks, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum hosts an annual commemoration ceremony where the names of the victims are read aloud, along with a public art installation, “Tribute in Light,” where two twin beams shine brightly into the night sky, paying tribute to the fallen towers.
In the days and months immediately after 9/11, people rallied to support each other in big and small ways. In Utah, thousands of flags were displayed in the “Healing Field” near Sandy’s City Hall to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11, starting the year afterward.
In 2002, Paul Swenson of Colonial Flags teamed up with the city of Sandy to sponsor the first Healing Field in the country, Sandy’s events manager, Katie Atkinson, told me. Now, a variety of towns and cities across the country sponsor them.
In Sandy, more than 3,000 individual flags display the names, age and location of those who lost their lives on 9/11. “It is a sacred experience to walk among the flags on the Promenade where these flags are displayed,” Atkinson says. Hundreds of volunteers will put them up Sept. 9 and take them down Sept. 15 this year. Visitors are invited to drive by or walk through the area Sept. 10-14 to view the flags, reflect on the events of 9/11 and be reminded of the heroics of first responders and ordinary people alike that day.
James Dodwell is a member of the museum’s Visionary network and New York City firefighter at Rescue 4, the same unit that his father was in when he responded to the twin towers attack on 9/11. Tragically, his father was killed that day when the towers collapsed. His father’s body was never recovered.
“I go to breakfast at the Rescue 4 station on 9/11,” Dodwell says. “All of the guys who worked with my father are retired now, but it’s still good to be with the guys. Later, we go to Mass and are reminded that we are all God’s children.”
In addition to these communal events, Dodwell says they get together for a family dinner with his mother and brother and their families to reminisce and tell stories about their father.
“We leave the chair empty at the head of the table,” he says. “We’ll pass around a glass of wine while sharing something from his life. He always wanted us to be close as a family and I think we’ve done that. My boys and my nephews are on the same hockey team since we all live within a few blocks of each other.”
Dodwell said that it’s also important to his family to remember the days after 9/11 when people came together not only in New York but across the country. Even during the angst and uncertainty of those earliest disquieting days, people made a point of looking out for each other, and many impacted by the events that day continue to do so 24 years later.
“For sure, 9/11 was a tragedy but it’s also important to remember the heroics that occurred that day as well as 9/12 and the days afterward,” he said. ”I hope when we can remember 9/12 as well as the days that came afterwards by doing something for others — maybe looking for ways to show more kindness. That’s an important way to honor those whose heroic acts benefited others. That’s something we can all do regardless of where we live.”