It’s a Day You Remember Forever; September 11, 2001
- Dennis Phillips
- Sep 9
- 3 min read
My parents often told me the story of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination — a day etched so deeply in memory that they could recount every detail to my brother and me. My mother would add the assassination of Robert Kennedy on the campaign trail, another moment she remembered with absolute clarity.
My grandmother spoke of the Great Depression, ration stamps, and the race riots in Birmingham, Alabama, where she lived. She recalled those days vividly, as though they had happened yesterday.
Every generation has its defining moments in history — events that leave an imprint we can never forget, and that we must never forget.
As this newspaper goes to press on September 11, I continue a tradition that began the day the tragic events unfolded. To those who remember, I say: never forget. And to those too young to recall, I say: tell the story, so the memory endures.
My day began at 6:30 a.m. on that Tuesday in 2001. It was press day for the Johnson City Free Press, a newspaper I owned with my wife, Teresa. I was at the office ahead of her, listening to KLBJ-AM, a conservative talk radio station at the time, which droned quietly in the background. The Johnson City Eagles had won the Friday before, both varsity and junior varsity, and the quiet of the morning gave me space to write up the sports recap — a task that always came easier with a cup of coffee in hand.
Just minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower, the radio went silent before the broadcasters’ voices returned in a much more serious tone. The announcement of a plane hitting the World Trade Center froze me in place. I had no television in the office then (I do now, and have ever since), so I rushed across the street to the DISH Network office. The owner wasn’t open, but he often left the TVs running. I was the first one there, but I didn’t stand alone for long.
By 9:15 a.m., my wife had found me and half a dozen other business owners standing on the Blanco County courthouse square, staring through the glass at the televisions, reading the ticker tape. We couldn’t hear the sound, but that didn’t matter. No one moved.
When the second plane struck the South Tower at 9:03, the ground seemed to tremble beneath us. The shock passed through everyone gathered. A local shop owner burst into tears, and the weight of the moment became undeniable. My wife asked me, “What now?” I answered, “Get the staff. We’re going to the house.” That’s where we set up, working from my living room in front of what was then a giant 65-inch television with surround sound.
You know the rest of the story. As the morning turned to tragedy, the Pentagon was struck, and Flight 93 went down in Pennsylvania. Most of us remember the collapse of the towers and the days that followed in New York. What we must remember still are the numbers — the human cost that reminds us why we must never forget.
The Attacks: Key Figures
4 hijacked planes:
American Airlines Flight 11: North Tower, 8:46 a.m.
United Airlines Flight 175: South Tower, 9:03 a.m.
American Airlines Flight 77: Pentagon, 9:37 a.m.
United Airlines Flight 93: Shanksville, Pa., 10:03 a.m.
Timing of collapses:
South Tower, 9:59 a.m.
North Tower, 10:28 a.m.
Casualties
Total deaths: 2,977 (excluding the 19 hijackers)
World Trade Center area: ~2,753
Pentagon: 184
Flight 93: 40
Foreign nationals: 372 from more than 90 countries
First responders: 343 FDNY firefighters, 23 NYPD officers, 37 Port Authority officers
Memorial & Legacy
9/11 Memorial & Museum: Opened in 2011 (memorial) and 2014 (museum) at Ground Zero
One World Trade Center: Completed in 2014, rising 1,776 feet, the tallest building in the U.S.
Every generation has its moment. September 11 is ours. And as long as we tell the story, the memory will endure.
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