Where were you on 9/11?

“I was in Mrs. Nancy Frey’s fifth grade classroom at Mayfield Elementary School. The whole school was watching the news, even in the cafeteria. One boy in my class was crying, and my teacher explained to us that what he was feeling is called ‘empathy.’ Prior to that day, I’d never even heard of the Twin Towers. I rode the bus home and walked in to find my older brother, who was checked out of school that day, and my mother watching the news. I remember being upset that he was checked out because, in my mind, I thought the terrorists were going to launch more attacks at any moment. It was a very scary and confusing time for me, as I had no real way of understanding what was happening or what it meant for our country.

“Fast forward to fall of 2020, I was sitting in a classroom at Lee University with students who weren’t even born when 9/11 happened. Our professor played a clip of the towers falling, and I couldn’t hold back my tears. As I recall, he was trying to make a point about the importance of learning about and understanding our history. It felt surreal to relive those moments as I looked out the window of the Leonard Center to see the old Mayfield school building.”

Ali Harris, 30

Cleveland, Tennessee

“I was sitting at my desk at the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. Our fire alarm went off for us to leave the building. The plane hit the Pentagon in Washington, and I lost a dear co-worker. Rest in heaven, Karen Kincaid and everyone who lost their lives that day.”

Deborah Richardson, 66

Covington, Georgia

“I was in the Tennessee Army National Guard in training in Smyrna, Tennessee. Our class instructor told us a jet had hit the World Trade Center. We went to the mess hall and watched the second plane hit the other tower. That’s when we all knew we were at war. The post commander assembled us all in the auditorium and told us the post was on lockdown and he had ordered an armed perimeter. We stayed on post for about two days. We then finished our training by convoying to Fort Knox, Kentucky, with a 155 mm gun in tow. The cars that passed by all honked and waved. I assumed they felt we were going overseas.

“In December 2002, as a new lawyer, I was called to active duty for the war in Iraq.”

Robin Flores, 62 Chattanooga

“I was on the way to work — a project in Quito, Ecuador. My brother called me and said, ‘Today, the world changed. Watch the news.’ He was right.”

Carolina Molloy, 52

Chattanooga

“I was in the office of the president of US Xpress in Chattanooga. Our meeting was interrupted by the vice president of sales telling us a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Our CFO was in the WTC for a meeting. Ten minutes later we got the news of a second plane hitting the other tower. Being a native of New York, I panicked. “Those are my friends,’’ I said. That’s all I could think about. The meeting ended, and we went into emergency operations, securing fuel, stopping trucks, preparing for war on our own land. It was panic the rest of the week. It was a Tuesday and the sun was out, but my world changed that day at US Xpress.”

Michael Young, 57

The Villages, Florida

“I was on summer vacation in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. It was a typical, beautiful Cape Cod morning when I was leading my 18-month-old twins downstairs for breakfast with my parents. The phone rang, and it was my sister calling to tell us to turn on the TV. The first plane had just hit the World Trade Center. We all watched in horror to then shortly watch the second one hit in live time. We were devastated, scared, heartbroken and just plain numb. I remember it being an extremely eerie, quiet day since there were no noisy converted crop duster airplanes flying air banners around.

“We flew back to Chattanooga on the next Saturday (first flight day) and as we flew over New York City, the pilot came over the intercom to tell us we would be flying over the World Trade Center. It was still very smokey, and we could see hundreds of people in yellow working on Ground Zero. It was a very somber feeling to say the least.”

Laura Peoples, 54

Chattanooga