On an average business day, 50,000 workers went in and out the doors of the World Trade Center, with an average number of 140,000 visitors. On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, those men and women went to work as usual. Little did they know of the tragedy that would occur hours after they arrived and the impact it would have on the world forever. Not to forget the near 130 people killed in the Pentagon and the near fifty people that died from the plane crash in rural Pennsylvania.
In New York, you could see the burning Twin Towers from 20 miles away; those fires continued to burn 99 days after the attack. Here, people plastered to their TV screens were shook by the news reports airing from 790 miles away.
Niles West staff members remember the event.
English teacher, Michael Conroy recounts his experience at school that day: “I walked downstairs to the faculty lounge to check the television. The lounge was usually deserted during that time of the day (7:45), but on this morning, it was packed. As I walked through the door, I heard a collective gasp. I turned just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower.”
School book keeper, Barbara Giannelli was also in the lounge that morning. “I ran downstairs in time to witness the second plane crashing into Tower 2. Four days later, I was on a plane to Minneapolis with my sister. There were only nine other people on that plane, and I’m sure we were all thinking the same thing; let us get there safely.”
For math teacher, Robert Nortillo, the attack hit closer to home: “At that time, both my father and brother-in-law traveled into Manhattan routinely for business, and my uncle traveled occasionally to the World Trade Center for business. For about three hours after hearing the news, I had no idea where any of them were or if they were safe. Then I received a message from my wife telling me they were all okay, which was a huge relief.”
Nurse, Peggy Bassrawi was also affected by the attack: “My husband is an engineer and he had worked at Brach’s Candy for 15 years. During that time, he met another young engineer who had previously been in the Navy, Patrick Murphy. After Brach’s closed its Chicago plant, Patrick re-enlisted in the Navy as a commander. He was assigned to the Pentagon and only a month or so later, he was at his desk when the third hijacked plane hit the building, killing him instantly. He is survived by his wife and 2 children.”
Students recall the event too.
Although she was only in first grade, senior, Aria Caldwell still remembers what happened at school on 9/11: “I was in my classroom and an announcement came over the PA system telling the teachers to put on the news, since we had TVs in our classrooms. We spent half the day following the reports and spent another week talking about terrorism.”
Junior Kyle McCafrey, “My good friend, Surdeep Chauhan’s parents were in New York that Monday. They wanted to stay an extra day to visit the World Trade Center, but didn’t end up staying.”
