Current Bear Facts staffers reflect on where they were during the September 11 terrorist attacks, and what the attacks meant to them.  Check back here as we add reflections from more staffers.

Chris Radecki, Editor-in-Chief:

I can vividly remember sitting in my music class on September 11, 2001 and wondering why students were being excused from school and being picked up by their parents.

As my mind raced with the endless possibilities of why my classmates were being pulled out, I was called down to the office and told that my mom was here to pick me up as well.

Walking out with my mother, she did her best to explain to me what was happening in a way that I could best understand the situation. Being the seven year-old I was, I didn’t seem to care or fully understand what had happened.

When I finally got home, I turned on my television to my favorite station to watch cartoons, and I remember all the stations were playing the same clip of a plane crashing into the Twin Towers in New York.

At the time I was living in Easton, Connecticut. Easton was about an hour from New York City, and almost everyone who lived near us worked in the city. Our neighbor was in one of the towers at the time of the crash, but luckily he worked on one of the lower floors and made it out with his life.

Waking up the next morning, I remember glancing at a copy of the New York Times sitting on our kitchen counter. The front page had a large photo of a man falling through the air head first as he jumped out of one of the buildings. I remember looking up from the story at my mother who began to shed a tear. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized the weight of the situation.

Before I went to school that morning, my mother and I dropped my sister off at a church where she went to pre-school in downtown Easton. The first sight I saw was a family kneeling in a circle, crying, a weathered look of mourning on each of their faces. It was not until a few years later that I fully understood what had happened to the crying family that very day.

It is my understanding that the son of the family was on one of the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers. The son was in his early twenties and was coming back to New York City from a business trip. Apparently, the son realized the plane had been hijacked and called his father while he was still in the air and informed him of what was happening and gave them his farewell wishes.

As the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 approaches, the United States of America is looking forward as we remember those who lost their lives that day. May those who died rest in peace, as they will never be forgotten. 

Abby Carpenter, Features Editor:

September 11, 2001 is a day we will talk about with our children someday. Not only did it affect Americans all over the country, but especially those directly involved in the tragedy.

I was living in Aston, Pennsylvania, only three hours away from New York City when the attacks happened. It impacted my community even more so than others in the area.

When we were dismissed from school that morning, I still did not know what happened. As soon as I arrived home, my mother told me what happened to the World Trade Center.

She had me watch the attacks on television that same day and tried to explain terrorism as best she could to a 7-year-old second grader.

In addition to the explanation every parent had to give to his/her child, my school also had other news for me.

Miriam Horrocks, my P.E. teacher at St. Francis De Sales parish school, was the one person in the community most devastated by the attacks. Her husband, Michael Horrocks, was the co-pilot on United Flight 175, which crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Needless to say, I had a new P.E. teacher the next day. When I found out, I felt very sorry for Mrs. Horrocks, but I, being seven years old, could not understand the gravity of the situation.

The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center not only directly affected those in New York City at the time, but even those people in surrounding states and communities, like mine in Aston.

Mrs. Horrocks is now remarried; I see her and her family at church every time I return to Aston to visit my grandparents.

As I understand, Michael called Miriam right before the plane took off to say a quick hello. Obviously, it was the last time they spoke.

Michael Horrocks, United Flight 175: Forever Remembered