Never Forget: 20 Americans Share Their Extraordinary Memories From 9/11

Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, E! News spoke with flight attendants, teachers, students, first responders and more Americans to share their poignant memories and the lasting impact.

By Mike Vulpo Sep 11, 2021 10:00 AMTags
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Where were you on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001?

It's a question that instantly draws a vivid memory for anyone who lived through that horrific day. For some, it feels like yesterday when they were sitting on their couch watching Katie Couric or Charlie Gibson deliver breaking news on their favorite morning show. Others recall looking out their windows and spotting smoke and flames coming from the iconic World Trade Center towers. Others still recall simply a surreal sense of disbelief.

Regardless of where you were and who you were with, that morning 20 years ago is one that no American will ever forget. 

After learning about the four coordinated terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States at the Pentagon, two World Trade Center towers and a Pennsylvania field, producer and journalist Karen Stolman-Firsel immediately got to work for MSNBC's documentary unit. What came next was a shift in her way of life.

"I changed from Sept. 10 to Sept. 11—instantaneous," she told E! News. "There was a shift from pure innocence to realizing that the world contains pure evil. I will forever remember that pivot. I will remember the rain on Sept. 10 and the horror I witnessed on New Yorker's faces on Sept. 11. The emotional tug of war—between wanting to do my job well and literally wanting to curl up in a fetal position and not move—both so very different —is something that I'll struggle with my whole life."

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Karen added, "On Sept. 10, I was an American. A Jewish American. A woman. A daughter. Sister. Cousin. Niece. Best Friend. But, on that morning of Sept. 11, I was a journalist first and not much else mattered. I wanted to be part of the storytelling so that we could honor everyone's stories. It was imperative that all of those who were killed will forever be part of the fabric of American history—and we had to honor them."

As the country honors the victims and survivors, E! News spoke to 20 extraordinary Americans who took us back to the morning of 9/11. From a New Jersey teacher who struggled to calm her nervous students to a New York City high school student who was told to get out of class and "run north," every memory reminds us to never forget the events that unfolded 20 years ago today. 

Christine M Rohleder

Flight Attendant for United Airlines

"I was scheduled to work a 4-day trip from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Hong Kong on that day. As my husband and I approached the airport parking lot, there was security everywhere and two security police came running up saying the airport is closed. I said, 'I have a flight to work on.' They said again, 'The airport is closed.' I told my husband to take me upstairs and I would try to get to work. He said 'no' in that we don't know if this airport will be the next to be hit. So we headed back home. 

Later, we lit a candle for each of the crew members killed that day. We put them on our front porch until they burned out. I have been lighting these candles for the last 20 years no matter where I am. I returned to work five days later when the skies opened again. I flew to Japan with most of my friends for support as I was the lead flight attendant. The planes were empty. People were afraid.

I would like people to know that the flight attendants that died that day were our heroes because the pilots were already dead. The flight attendants did their best to notify the people on the ground what was happening on the planes. Some on Flight 93 helped in the breaching of the cockpit. I think all flight attendants that were working around that time are still traumatized. It could have been us." 

Heather Schatz

Associate Producer for CBS The Early Show

"I saw the second plane hit from our backyard in Jersey City. I was home at the time because I had worked the late shift the night before and hadn't gotten home till 3 a.m. My husband worked in the third building, which fell later that afternoon. CBS kept calling me to come back in, but I refused, until my husband came home. 

I went back in at 5 a.m. the next morning and worked what felt like around the clock for several days, at the Broadcast Center, Ground Zero and Union Square, where the vigils were. I continued to cover it for weeks and years after that. I can't believe it's been 20 years. It still feels just like yesterday. I will never forget the sights, sounds or smells from that day—no matter how hard I wish I could some days." 

Lila Nordstrom

Senior at New York's Stuyvesant High School

"As a student three blocks from the World Trade Center, we were given only one instruction as the Twin Towers fell: 'Run north.' We had no meeting spot or check-in planned. Three thousand high school students were simply released onto a Hudson River path and told to get as far from downtown Manhattan as possible. I walked all the way to Queens, 10 miles,  because I was afraid to go to my own home, which was also downtown.

Our school was out of session for about a week. We attended school in a temporary location for another couple weeks but were back in the middle of the Ground Zero clean-up on Oct. 9. Many of my classmates have since fallen ill from the dangerous air downtown at that time and for the last 20 years, I've been an advocate for the young people poisoned by the World Trade Center cleanup. In 2006, I founded an advocacy organization called StuyHealth that advocates for health services for 9/11 survivors since many of my classmates have, like first responders, gotten sick from the World Trade Center cleanup."

Gerard Lennon

New York Police Department Lieutenant

"I was assigning 75 to 80 officers a day to the World Trade Center operations. On 9/16, I was assigned to rescue operations and I worked the pile. I remember standing on a large pile of rubble and looking down seeing a fire truck about 15-feet down. I worked the bucket brigade for the day with a large group of police officers. During that tour, I did help dig out the body of a young lady and I will never forget the flowered dress she wore. 

What I would like everyone to know is that we knew the air was not safe. We showered as soon as we got to the precinct and bagged our dirty uniforms from day one. We knew we were in danger, but we all went anyway. Every single officer from my precinct worked Ground Zero—even the officers that had family members missing. We are getting sick now so many of us have cancer and some conditions they don't even know what they are. I personally have two certified conditions and two unknown conditions, but would do it all again as would all of the officers." 

Ellen K

Morning Show Radio Host on KIIS FM Los Angeles

"I was 7-months pregnant with my son and as I arrived at the studio that morning, I readied for the show. Everything was seemingly normal. We always had three TVs on in the studio and I stood watching. When the first plane went in, my baby Calvin started kicking rapidly. Then, the second plane hit and the stress was too great. I instantly felt sick and dizzy.

For us, the most important thing in the following days and months were our phones and the live connection with our listeners. They needed us and we needed them and we did the best we could to comfort each other." 

Kelly Williams

Sixth-Grade Student at New York's Robert E. Bell Middle School in Westchester

"Every few minutes, people would leave school crying. I was one of the few who made it the whole day through, but we didn't have TVs or Internet in the classrooms. I remember huddling around one desktop computer in my English class trying to figure out what was going on. When I finally got home from school, my family was anxiously glued to the TV because my uncle was supposed to be on the plane that crashed into the second tower. We finally got a call at 9 p.m. that he was late to the airport and missed his flight."

Karen Stolman-Firsel

MSNBC Producer in Documentary Unit 

"Our MSBNC team gathered at a makeshift edit facility. We were told that we had rented out this work space/studio and that our team was responsible for creating an hour-long+ show for MSNBC—and they wanted it to air ASAP. With all of what was going on, we needed to get personal stories on air NOW. I remember that we had field producers buying people's footage off the street; I believe we recorded it on our own cameras and ran it back to the editors. We didn't have smartphones; we had flip phones, Blackberries, old-school cameras, video cameras, even disposable cameras…getting raw footage was hard and the quality wasn't good. The footage—we decided—was going to tell the story.

That footage carved the path for us. We were able to tell personal stories of those who recorded what they did. That footage became our historical compass.  We were writing, editing, talking on landlines with NBC, police, hospitals, city officials just trying to make sure every bit of information was accurate—which was near impossible.  As fast as we could digest all of this information/footage/stories coming into us—everything kept shifting. We'd write one thing and scratch it. We'd edit a time line, and it changed a minute later. 

I saw footage that would never, and most likely has never and will never, make it to TV and the general public. It was the most awful footage of death, destruction, desperation by so many people. I remember crying where I couldn't stop. I couldn't type. I could barely speak. We were not going home anytime soon—we were going to be there all night, and we were going to be there for days and days. 

Miraculously, we did create an hour-long documentary that same night with all of these incredible people telling their horrific stories. I don't know how we did it. But we did. Our MSNBC team were some of the best producers in the business. We worked together. We consoled each other. We leaned on each other. We cried together. It was teamwork at its finest…and truthfully, that hour-long program that we did that night is work that I will continue to be most proud of." 

Terri Slater

Passenger Traveling on 9-11-2001

"I remember the day vividly! It was a beautiful blue-sky morning and I was on a flight from Boston to Palm Beach, Fla., returning from a long weekend. We had departed Boston Logan on time and preparing for the short two-and-a-half-hour flight when at approximately 8:45 a.m., the passenger across the aisle passed a note to me, which was circulating around the plane. It appeared to be a computer printout from the cockpit given to him by a flight attendant. It said something about there being a bomb on the plane and asking passengers to let the crew know if they were aware of anything. I nudged my traveling companion who seemed unconcerned and continued reading his magazine. Within minutes, the captain came on the loudspeaker announcing that we were making a landing in Charleston, South Carolina, as the FAA has ordered all air traffic to come to a halt.

As soon as we departed the aircraft into the terminal, my cell phone was ringing off the wall with my daughter on the line frantically calling to check which flight I was on. The terminal was buzzing and as soon as we saw a TV monitor, the reality of what had happened while 30,000 feet in the air passing over Manhattan hit." 

Jaime Primak Sullivan

Special Education Teacher at Dickinson High School in Jersey City

"We are trained for a lot of things, but terrorism is not one of them. Our building was locked down. No one in or out. We had a small but prevalent Muslim student population. As speculation on who was behind this grew on TVs, some of our students started attacking the Muslim students. I had never seen fear and anger like that. We had so much security walking our halls. Everyone was just trying to maintain order while administration made a plan.

The entire student body and faculty (3,000 of us) stood together and watched the aftermath of the towers falling from the parking lots. We cried. We prayed. We broke up fights. It was so devastating to see our kids so fearful and not be able to absolve that. Most of us were just as afraid.

Many students lost family that day, so did many of the faculty. There was an overall sadness when we finally returned to our classrooms days later. We were urged to answer student questions with facts, not emotion. Looking back, I think we all did our best in an impossible situation.

I was naturally a very happy, big personality as a teacher, but for so long after, I was cloaked in depression. I showed up for my students and they showed up for me, but it was going through the motions for a lot of us. My focus as an educator became less about this book or that worksheet and more about life skills. How do we cope? Communicate? Heal? I needed it as much as they did."

Heather Muhleman Jenkins

Lifeguard at Walt Disney World's Typhoon Lagoon

"On Sept. 11, 2001, I was working at Walt Disney World on the College Program as a lifeguard at Typhoon Lagoon. The parks closed and I felt a sense of relief because I know I couldn't imagine trying to keep that Disney smile on while this was happening. All of my friends came to check on me one by one. I was one of a few from the New York area and we all cried together all day. I couldn't reach my family as the lines were down so all I could do is wait and cry with my Disney friends, who had become family. That day solidified my friendship with a handful of girls that will last for eternity.

The mood was somber and in the days after the terrorist attack, life seemed to move on for the cast and crew of the Happiest Place on Earth, albeit slowly. I was still processing and my bosses understood. They let me make red, white and blue ribbons for my lifeguard co-workers to wear on my lifeguard stand, even though it was against Disney costume policy. They understood but continued to try and get us to focus on the guests we still had in the parks. The guests seemed distracted and unfocused. I know they wanted to enjoy themselves on their dream vacations, but it was hard to ignore what was happening a few states away." 

Amy Fleischer

Sponsorship Director at Jones Beach Theater in Long Island, New York

"Concerts were canceled and tours were postponed. But as we realized that we wanted to get back to some normalcy, concerts started to happen again. We were the producers of The Concert for New York City. The generosity of the artists and production was heartwarming. Everybody wanted to help and contribute and all egos were left at the door.  

I was helping out getting donations for hotels and flights for artists and crews and New York could not have been more accommodating as well as the artists taking whatever accommodations we had. Everyone gave their time and whatever else they could to make this concert happen with very little lead time. And then the concert itself. The biggest artists coming to embrace our first responders, trying to help them heal. It was a healing experience. The most memorable concert I have ever seen." 

Talia Haykin

Junior at Florida's Jacksonville University

"Our school had a really large Naval ROTC program and we were known for our aviation program. It was the military students I remember the most. I think the aviation kids were grounded for a long while. But the military students were most affected. Many were older, non-traditional. They came to get degrees and achieve a higher rank, but they also had experience in the military. I sat next to a really nice guy in my math class. I remember that he disappeared for like a week after that. No one knew where he went. When he came back, he told us he went to his commanding officer and whomever he had to speak to because he wanted to be deployed. He knew what was coming and he wanted to be a part of it. 

9/11 was a very defining moment for me. I was 20 years old. I wasn't a kid but I wasn't a grownup yet. I was on my own in college but not really on my own. Suddenly, there was this emergent situation where I had to navigate on my own. It was one of the first times in my life I really started paying attention to my own safety. It was life altering. It feels like my childhood firmly ended on 9/11/2001." 

Liz Lange

New York Fashion Week Designer of Liz Lange Maternity

"I arrived at the tents very early that morning as I had the 9 a.m. show slot. There was a lot for me to be excited about. Not only was it my first fashion show, but it was also the first-ever maternity clothing fashion show being done at Bryant Park. Since Good Morning America was covering our show live, Lara Spencer, who was an on-air correspondent and who was pregnant at the time, was also modeling in my show...The show started at 9 a.m., but since cell service wasn't what it is today, no one inside the tents knew that a few minutes prior, a plane had hit the North Tower. But shortly after the show began, as I watched nervously from backstage, I noticed something odd.

First, the CNN camera crews went running out of the show and they were soon followed by the GMA camera crews and ultimately almost all of the press and reporters. I couldn't understand why the press were all leaving before the show had finished. It made no sense! And the minute the show did end, the guards were pushing us to exit quickly.

I was one of the lucky ones. Because of my show, I knew where all my loved ones were that morning as they were with me, sitting in the audience to cheer me on.  But I will never forget the shock and horror of that day."

Vickie Chachere

Associated Press Reporter Covering President George Bush During His 9/11 Morning Visit to Florida School

"By the time the second tower is hit, we realize we're in the midst of an attack and are told the president is going to come in to address the nation from the library. People are starting to get really anxious. I can see the librarians and the teachers who had brought a group of students to sit in the floor in front of us kind of stiffen up. I'm thinking about how awful it is for these little kids to have this happen on what was supposed to be an exciting day seeing the president. 

People are starting to get more and more calls from their desks, and then I hear a radio reporter say 'a car bomb has gone off in front of the state department.' This was a false report, but we didn't know that and things are now happening so fast. I hear that and immediately my mind goes to  satellite trucks parked on just the other side of the library wall. I am a pretty calm person in an emergency, but as I am thinking about those trucks, I am looking at the little children sitting on the floor, the librarians in the glass-enclosed office and knowing the minutes are ticking down to the President of the United States entering the room. Mentally, I am bracing for a sound or anything that might precede an explosion. I know now it was only minutes, but it seemed like an eternity and in my head I kept saying 'Make these remarks and get out of here.'

Up until that day, I had never experienced what real terror feels like. I had some scary experiences as a reporter, but to feel real terror is like nothing else and it doesn't leave you ever again. That's why I say that it will always feel like it happened yesterday."

Jennifer Kryshka

Junior at University of Central Florida

"On 9/11, as I was walking to a morning statistics class at UCF, another student stopped me on the sidewalk to tell me that an airplane crashed into the World Trade Center. I had not seen the news and didn't know what she was talking about so I continued on to class. Because everyone else was acting normally, I figured this girl was confused. Obviously, she was not. It's just that no one else had heard the news yet.

Once we heard, none of the faculty knew what to do any more than the students did, and after about 20 minutes in my Women of American Lit class, our professor dismissed us. Everyone was more or less numb, some angry or scared, and really we were all just in shock and glued to the news, trying to understand what would be the most historically horrific day we would probably ever experience." 

Donna Segura

Submariner's Wife and Command Ombudsman in San Diego, Calif.

"Bases were all locked down with only necessary personnel allowed on base. Phone trees were activated with phone calls to various wives and significant others and families were informed to stay home. The fear of a potential war was prevalent with the newer wives or girlfriends, along with ‘how long' this could last? With us seasoned military wives it was a matter of, "Let's do this!' We were a Submariner family but active-duty members in the Navy, Air Force, Marines, Army and Coast Guard and their families felt the same sense of indescribable pain, loss and just sheer violation of our freedoms that we each share with pride." 

Olivia Liveng

Fourth-Grade Student at Connecticut's Dwight Elementary School

"I remember parents started slowly pulling their kids out until it was just the teacher and I. She tried to address to an 8-year-old what was going on, describing it as a small plane crash in NYC. When my mom picked me up, I asked her if she heard about the small plane crash. She didn't look at me, just cried. My dad was already home, which surprised me. I asked if he heard about the plane crash, and I've never seen him get so angry at me. 'The world is ending, Olivia!!!!' he said. I burst into tears and went outside, pacing back and forth for hours, not understanding anything."

Audra Boltion-Ortiz

Senior Publicist for Penguin

"After 9/11, many authors were wary of traveling domestically, much less internationally. Book tours for two weeks at a time—sometimes longer—were the norm. Tours were essential to promotion, but they were put on hold. National appearances were either moved to satellite, as studios were under strict protocols with some dealing with anthrax scares.

As a result of 9/11, it seemed that readers were looking for books of depth or books that would bring comfort and spark inspiration. The Life of Pi, published in 2002, won the Man Booker Prize for fiction. Children’s Books divisions were concerned with explaining the events of 9/11 to children in a safe and educational way. Maira Kalman’s Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey told the story of a retired fireboat rising to the occasion once again when the fire department called asking if the Harvey could battle the fires on 9/11. It was released in 2005 to 5-starred reviews."

Gillian Sheldon Heckendorf

Assignment Desk Editor at Seattle's KCPQ News

"I worked in local TV news in Seattle and was on the morning show that day. The initial report was that a small plane had hit the first tower—right before we were going live for our 6 a.m. newscast. I was on the phone with our New York affiliate to get additional information and glanced at my live feed for a moment and saw the second plane hit—live. I actually didn't believe what I saw. Everything kicked into high gear after that. We assigned our whole team to various roles, including our weather anchor who was a native New Yorker. He was making calls to schools and other services. At one point, he spoke to his FDNY brother as he was headed in. We never heard from his brother again. He died in the second tower. That week, I slept at the station (mostly two to three hours at a time) and worked 24 hours a day. That was the beginning of the end of my news career—I just couldn't do it anymore." 

Beth Feldman

Entertainment Publicist for CBS

"I still remember 9/11 as if it were yesterday. I turned on the TV but was still laser-focused on my work because the fall season had just begun and I was juggling several high-profile projects. We had just launched The Amazing Race, and back then, every time a team was eliminated from one of our reality shows, we put together a full day of national and local press appearances for them as we worked to promote the next episode. At the time, I thought a small plane had hit the towers and it was just a freak accident. Within the next few hours, my bosses and I knew we couldn't bring the team to New York for those media hits.

As publicists, we were incredibly careful about pitching our entertainment projects to the media because we knew the news cycle was fixated on the aftermath of the attacks. We also knew it would be disrespectful to be pitching lighthearted topics after such a horrific tragedy. I think we finally started to see things go back to normal when David Letterman came back on the air one week later and featured former CBS anchor Dan Rather as his first guest. It was as if Dave gave all of us permission to exhale, heave a collective sigh and eventually laugh again."

Some of these interviews has been edited for length and clarity.

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