9/11 20th Anniversary

Chris Plunkett said he was transitioning to civilian life after nearly a decade in the U.S. Army, having become a top car salesman in the area. Then 9/11 happened.

Michael McLaughlin watched the World Trade Center towers collapse from a classroom at a Minnesota high school.

Friends of Flight 93 President Donna Gibson was living in Pittsburgh on Sept. 11, 2001, when United 93 crashed in Shanksville — a moment that, at the time, seemed underplayed compared to the gripping images of first responders battling through smoke and rubble in the wake of the World Trade …

Seth Walker was a junior at Shanksville-Stonycreek High School on Sept. 11, 2001, when news broke of the terrorist hijackings before United Airlines Flight 93 crashed just about a mile away.

Journalist and author Anne Nelson, a Stillwater native, was teaching at Columbia University on Sept. 11, 2001. To her, it feels “just like yesterday.”

Twenty years ago, Lisa Peskin of Cumberland, Maryland, was in New York City.

Northumberland County Coroner James F. Kelley still tears up recalling his experience working in the New York City Medical Examiner's Office in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks nearly 20 years ago.

Terry Butler was prying a radiator from a minivan in a scrapyard near Shanksville, Pa., on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when United Airlines Flight 93 flew low — “too low” — over his head.

Jonathan James joined the Marine Corps about 10 days after graduating from Fort Hill High School in 1998. He was working in the Pentagon the day it was struck by American Airlines Flight 77, which had been hijacked by terrorists.

Ada, Oklahoma, resident Alexandrea Aguirre was a sophomore at New York University when the 9/11 attacks struck 20 years ago. She and her roommates turned on the news that morning, and what they saw shocked them.

Each Sept. 11 for Richard and Roseann Svitak is equal parts sadness and rage.

Major Wallace Cole Hogan Jr. was a Valdosta State University graduate, a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He left Valdosta and become a Green Beret and was a general’s aide at the Pentagon.

Today, Brad Lawson is the president of a private Christian school in rural South Georgia, but 20 years ago he was only about a mile away from the Pentagon when American Airlines Fight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. He and his regiment quickly deployed for search and recovery.

Glenn Billings of Billings Funeral Home in Woodward, Oklahoma, was part of a mortuary team that goes to disaster sites and helps identify and return bodies to their families. He took a class two weeks before the Oklahoma City bombing and was told, "You must be prepared."

Former Port Authority Police Officer Keith Siragusa was halfway between Enid and New York City when he learned that the first tower of the World Trade Center had collapsed.

Within the first year of the terrorist attack in New York City, Benny Santiago made three trips to the city.

Former 7th District U.S. Rep. Brian Kerns was driving to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., when a plane crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

On his way to an attorney’s office to discuss the death of his brother the weekend before in a motorcycle accident, Mark Brown heard about the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Dr. Dianna Black and her husband, Nicholas, headed to work together. He went to an Army meeting in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia, while she was preparing to make her way to the Army’s new headquarters — construction of the office was just two weeks old.

Ralph Winburn is a Tahlequah, Oklahoma, resident who served in the EMS division, which was part of the Fire Department of New York during the Sept. 11 attacks.

When Bob Morrison was a boy, he lived across the street from a firehouse. When the alarms would sound, his father would tell him to get his shoes on and come with him because someone needed help.

Adair County Emergency Manager Dianna Yell remembers how on Sept. 11, 2001, life suddenly stopped — even dairy farming.

Josh Smith knew he wanted to be in the military from a very young age.

It's been 20 years since Lyndon Willms, a 1975 graduate of tiny St. Elmo High School in central Illinois, was working inside of the Pentagon building that Sept. 11 morning when the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 was taking aim at his workplace.

Eric Higdon, was a detective with the New Albany, Indiana, Police Department, when the 9/11 attacks occurred.

Jack Segal was notified about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks while at work as the chief of a political advisory group for NATO's command in the Netherlands.

The 9/11 attacks were unimaginable to most, if not nearly all Americans. Here’s a look at some of the ways things were never the same after that horrible day 20 years ago.

The 9/11 attacks were unimaginable to most, if not nearly all Americans. Here’s a look at some of the ways things were never the same after that horrible day 20 years ago.

Eric Higdon, was a detective with the New Albany, Indiana, Police Department, when the 9/11 attacks occurred.

It's been 20 years since Lyndon Willms, a 1975 graduate of tiny St. Elmo High School in central Illinois, was working inside of the Pentagon building that Sept. 11 morning when the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 was taking aim at his workplace.

Josh Smith knew he wanted to be in the military from a very young age.

Adair County Emergency Manager Dianna Yell remembers how on Sept. 11, 2001, life suddenly stopped — even dairy farming.