Remembering 9/11

Outside the 9/11 Memorial in NYC

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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It's hard to believe 15 years have passed since the September 11 terrorist attacks. I was a young father working in West Lafayette, Indiana at the time. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were my days off and I was still sleeping when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I had to go to a meeting at work that day, so I had turned on The Early Show on CBS moments after the second plane had hit. Smoke was pouring from the building and the anchors calmly tried to explain what was happening. Then the Pentagon was hit and after that word of a crash in Pennsylvania.

From CBS News

My mind was racing and I knew in my heart this couldn't have been an accident. I never would have imagined that people could hijack a plane and use it as a weapon though. I continued getting ready for my meeting and listened to the simulcast on the radio as I drove to the station. On the way the announcer said with a great deal of fear in voice, the tower is crumbling. My heart sank as I pulled into the station's parking lot and continued listening, not wanting to believe what was happening.

Inside the station everyone was glued to the TV. The meeting we were to have was canceled. Crews slowly started heading out looking for ways to localize the events that would change the world forever. I drove back home, told we had enough crews for our local coverage. It turns out the network had taken over and we did a commercial free late broadcast that night.

I sat mesmerized most of the day watching the coverage on a variety of channels. At one point I had to turn off the TV and focus on my two young children. Our youngest at the time had just been born two months prior. After all the fear and not knowing, I was proud to see how our country and our leaders rallied. When President Bush talked from Ground Zero on the bullhorn, there was a sense of patriotism that will be hard to match.

9/11 Remembrance Ceremony
9/11/02 Lafayette, Indiana

That spirit trickled down around the country. Our little community in Greater Lafayette held ceremonies and vigils in the years that followed. There's a permanent monument still there as well. On the one year anniversary my boys were among hundreds of others who laid a carnation on one of the pieces of steel from World Trade Center.

More recently, my wife and I visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Words cannot adequately explain what we experienced during our visit. If you're ever in New York City, this is a mandatory stop on your tour of the area.

Remember the lives lost that day and those who died in the direct aftermath of the attacks. We will never forget.

Visiting the 9/11 Museum

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Over the summer, my wife and I took a short trip to New York City for a wedding.  Besides seeing the Statue of Liberty and walking through Times Square, we both wanted to visit the 9/11 Museum. It had just opened and we wanted to see the tributes to thousands of men, women, and children who died that day.

Writing about the experience will not do it any justice.  Seeing the artifacts left behind and hearing the voices of the passengers on the planes and in the Twin Towers brought us to tears.  I suggest if you have the chance, visit the museum.  There are a few areas where photography is allowed, so here are some of my pictures.  

Remembering 9/11

Hope: Humanity & Heroism at Madam Tussauds in NYC

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Every year on September 11, I think most Americans take a few minutes to reflect and remember where they were when they heard the news of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. , and the hijacked plane that crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.  I was a father with two young boys, and reporter working at a TV station in West Lafayette, Indiana.

September 11, 2001 was a beautiful Tuesday morning in Indiana.  I woke up a little later than usual because it was my day off (I worked weekends at the time).  I turned on the TV, which was already on the CBS Early Show.  Bryant Gumbel was talking about a plane accident in New York City.  The image I saw was the smoking North Tower of the World Trade Center.  The plane was still sticking out, and it looked like a small plane at the time, I had no idea it was a commercial jet.

I had to run to work that day for a meeting about the station's website, so as I got ready for that, Gumbel announced that another plane had hit the South Tower.  Then came reports of an explosion at the Pentagon and I think we all figured out pretty quick that these weren't random accidents.  Our country was under attack.

I hopped in the car and sped to work, listening to the news on CBS Radio.  As I pulled into the station parking lot the South Tower collapsed.  I remember getting goosebumps and feeling overwhelmed and helpless by what was happening.  My meeting was obviously cancelled, and despite trying to stick around and help with the local coverage we would eventually start doing, I was told to go home.

9/11 Memorial Ceremony 9/11/02
Lafayette, Indiana

I did and I stayed glued to the TV all day.  Finally around midnight I had to turn away from the coverage and give myself time to digest everything that was happening.  The world changed that day.  I had two sons under the age of two.  What kind of world would they be growing up in now?

In the weeks and months after the attacks, patriotism was at an all time high.  Our small community held candle vigils and prayer services.  My boys laid red, white, and blue carnations on a piece of steel from the World Trade Center on the one  year anniversary.

9/11 Memorial in Lafayette, Indiana

Members of the Lafayette community lost loved ones that day.  So now, there is also a statue that stands in downtown Lafayette.  It's a constant reminder of the sacrifices made by so many and the thousands of innocent lives lost on that fateful day.

In the Spring of 2013, I had an opportunity to visit New York City.   I was eager to visit the 9/11 Memorial.  At the time of my visit, work was still being done, but we were able to walk around outside the museum see the reflecting pools in the footprint of where the Towers once stood.  The names of the victims are etched on the outside walls of the pools, with water continuously flowing.  It's a somber reminder of the lives lost not just on 9/11, but also during the attack in 1993.

One of the Reflecting Pools at Ground Zero
New York City

You may notice one of the names engraved on that wall, Christian Michael Otto Regenhard.  I did a little searching and found that he was a firefighter responding to the call of duty on 9/11.  He graduated from the Fire Academy just weeks before the attacks.  He was also a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.  He was just 28 years old when he died, we were the same age.

Thank you Christian Michael Otto Regenhard for your service to our country and for giving the ultimate sacrifice.  God bless everyone who died on 9/11.

You can learn more about Sgt. Regenhard by clicking this link.