Twenty-five years later, the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 remains vivid for local residents who watched the attacks unfold from homes, classrooms and offices, even the skies above New York.
Nineteen members of al-Qaida, a terrorist organization whose members came from several countries, including 15 who were Saudi Arabian nationals, hijacked four planes on the morning of that fateful day. Two of the jets, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, crashed into the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan. Both towers had collapsed by 10:30 a.m.
American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, while United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to regain control of the plane after learning about the other attacks.
The attacks killed 2,977 people and injured thousands more. Many first responders and others exposed to the toxic dust and smoke at Ground Zero later developed serious illnesses.
America’s more than 20-year Middle East war, first with Iraq and then Afghanistan, resulted. In the aftermath, the nation established the Department of Homeland Security and expanded airport and national security measures. Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, which expanded the government’s surveillance powers.
Air travel worldwide forever changed.
“Never Forget” became the lasting motto of the tragedy, a reminder to remember those who died and remain vigilant against future attacks.
That painful day
For some local residents, forgetting what they saw and experienced that day is impossible.
Carrie Howard, a nine-year Thousand Oaks resident, was teaching fifth grade at Cheesequake Elementary School in New Jersey 25 years ago, less than an hour from the Twin Towers.
Howard remembers the morning as gorgeous until the first plane struck the north tower.
For weeks after 9/11, Howard attended dozens of memorial services and celebrations of life for people from her home and teaching communities who had died in the attacks.
She and her friends also went into New York City, where they saw hundreds of posters of missing people covering the walls of Penn Station.
Howard remembers children being pulled from classes by their parents while other students worried about what was happening.
“We were told by our administration at school not to tell the students what was going on,” she said. “I will always regret not telling them and being a comfort to them.”
Her husband worked on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and could see the towers burning from his office window. It took him hours to get home.
The memories of the tragedy, and of the people who helped one another, remain etched in Howard’s mind.
She’s not the only Ventura County resident who carries memories.
Mic Farris, a member of the Thousand Oaks planning commission, was in the Boston area for business just days before 9/11.
Farris, who traveled to the area for work, spent time in the region with some of his UCLA graduate school friends. As they said their goodbyes, they made plans to get together again in the spring. Farris couldn’t know he was saying goodbye to one of his friends for the last time.
On Sept. 11, though attempting to go on with his work, Farris’ focus was one of that friend. Carl Max Hammond Jr., whom he had just seen, was supposed to be flying from Boston to Los Angeles that morning.
“I was contacted throughout the day by friends who knew Max, asking if we’d heard anything new,” Farris said. “Maybe he never got on the flight. Maybe he was late to the airport. We were all looking for reasons to give us hope.”
Farris, now stranded because flights had all been grounded, learned the evening of Sept. 11 that Hammond had indeed boarded Flight 175, the plane that crashed into the south tower.
To honor his friend, Farris visits the 9/11 Memorial in New York every year during Thanksgiving week with his family.
“It’s important to remember what happened that day, and what keeps us together as a country,” he said. “For me, it’s personal because I was directly affected by my friend being lost that day. So it’s something I won’t forget.”
Bird’s Eye View
Simi Valley resident Derek Hartman saw the attacks from a unique and rare perspective: from 23,000 feet in the air.
Hartman attended Valley View Middle School and then Simi Valley High School, where he was in Air Force JROTC. He went on to join the Air Force after graduation.
Twelve years later, Hartman found himself at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, still learning his new job as a KC-10 flight engineer. He was assigned to the 305th Combat Crew Training Squadron, attached to the 32nd Air Refueling Squadron.
On the morning of Sept. 11 Hartman was participating in a routine training exercise to practice air refueling. Hartman remembers looking down over New York City and seeing a peaceful, clear morning.
Twenty minutes later, at 23,000 feet and roughly 50 miles north of New York, everything changed: the crew noticed a large plume of smoke.
“At first, we thought it was some terrible accident with a small plane because that was the only thing that made sense at the moment,” Hartman said. “Once I realized what had actually happened, the sadness hit first. The anger came later.”
As F-15 Eagles began arriving, Hartman’s KC-10 refueling tanker became part of the emergency response.
A civilian air traffic controller explained that they didn’t need to worry about other air traffic because they were the only aircraft left flying in the entire northeastern United States, Hartman said.
Residents to this day recall the unnatural quiet that quelled skies above Los Angeles and the rest of the naiton.
With Hartman watching, another, more experienced airman, A1C Chris White, operated the refueling boom.
“I still think fighters are the tip of the spear, but I also know now that they don’t get very far—or loiter longer over the fight—without tankers,” he said. “Support may not always be the flashy part, but it’s what makes the mission possible.”
After 25 years, what sticks with Hartman the most is seeing the footage replaying on the television during his debriefing.
“Seeing the towers burning was shocking, but the images of people jumping are the part that has stayed with me all these years. That’s something you don’t forget,” he said.
Healing
Local tributes to the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor continue to this day.
Simi Valley’s Grace Elementary School will hold a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony Honoring First Responders at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11.
The school will hold an assembly that includes the Student Council presenting a small gift to first responders.
And on the bright green lawn at Pepperdine University in Malibu, the annual 9/11 flags display continues as a solemn reminder of that terrible day in United States history. A smaller flag display stands in front of Thousand Oaks High School, placed by the Young Americans for Freedom club.
As well, there will be a small ceremony at each of the county’s fire stations beginning at 6:59 a.m.—the moment the South Tower collapsed. Flags will be lowered to half-staff, and a moment of silence will be observed.