911 - Never Forgotten, Always Remembered

echo press | Friday, September 10, 2021

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NEVER FORGOTTEN, ALWAYS REMEMBERED Taking steps to honor 9/11 firefighters

BY CELESTE EDENLOFF Alexandria Echo Press

Echo Press file photo

Firefighters stand at the edge of about 3,000 American flags during the 9/11 ceremony on the 3M lawn in Alexandria on Sept. 11, 2020.

WHERE WERE YOU 20 YEARS AGO WHEN THE WORLD SEEMED TO STOP TURNING?

BY CELESTE EDENLOFF Alexandria Echo Press

Shock. Sadness. Disbelief. Anger.

People will always be struck by a slew of emotions when remembering the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The day started out sunny and clear, but soon turned very dark.

At 8:46 a.m., al Qaeda terrorists crash American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building.

At 9:03 a.m., the terrorists crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into the World Trade Center’s South Tower, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building.

At 9:37 a.m., terrorists crash American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing 59 people aboard the plane and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the building.

Max Beilke, a 1950 Alexandria High School graduate, was among the first to be killed when Flight 77 rammed into the Pentagon.

And then at 10:07 a.m., passengers and crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 93 try to retake control of the plane that had been hijacked, but in response, the terrorists deliberately crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania, killing all 40 people on board.

Thousands of people lost their lives that day.

Many local residents had friends or relatives that were close to the World Trade Center or the Pentagon when the buildings were hit. The Echo Press recounted numerous stories the days and weeks after the attacks.

This year, on the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America, the Echo Press reached out to local residents – two firefighters, a former principal and a pastor – who shared what they remember from that day.

Echo Press Facebook commenters, as well as Echo Press employees, also share their memories from that tragic day.

This special 20th anniversary section is sponsored by the Echo Press and local businesses.

May we never forget and always remember.

Email reporter Celeste Edenloff at cedenloff@echopress.com

343. Those are the number of steps climbed by Alexandria firefighters on Sept. 11. Each step – all 343 – represent the fallen firefighters from the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Shane Schmidt and Bill Thoennes, both retired Alexandria firefighters, have climbed those 343 steps at Viking Towers in Alexandria numerous times.

“Each year after 9/11, we would climb the Viking Towers steps to ‘Never Forget 343,’ ” said Schmidt, who retired after serving in the department for 23 and a half years. “We would climb the 343 steps, then stop and say a prayer for the firefighters and their families.”

Schmidt said the group of guys who climbed the stairs would put on their turnout gear and would make sure to bring tools with them – axes, hoses, extra air bottles and more.

“When we would get to the 343rd step, we would all remove our helmets and our fire chief at the time would say a prayer thanking those who paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Thoennes, who served for 26 years as an Alexandria firefighter. “We would pray for our country, our military and families. After the prayer, we would put our helmets back on and we would complete the task they – the firefighters – could not do by going to the top floors of the towers.”

Thoennes noted that the 343rd step was about one and a half times up and down the Viking Towers stairwell.

Disbelief

When the events of that fateful day played out back in 2001, both Schmidt and Thoennes were at work – Schmidt at Pro-Tainer and Thoennes with the City of Alexandria.

“We stopped what we were doing and were listening to it on the radio then we turned on the TV,” said Schmidt. “It was so unreal.”

Thoennes was out and about talking to residents that day about Dutch Elm Disease. He was on Eighth Avenue East as some residents had lost some trees to the disease and he was going to chat with them about tree replacements.

“I had knocked on the door and the man inside had his TV on, watching what was happening,” said Thoennes.

“He invited me in to watch for a couple of minutes. As I went to the next house, I was listening to it on the radio.”

Schmidt said it was so unbelievable that at first, when the first plane hit, he thought it was an accident. But then the second plane and he realized it wasn’t.

“It looked like it was in slow motion,” he said. “We were in such disbelief.”

Echo Press file photo

On Sept. 11, 2015, Bill Thoennes, retired firefighter, who was the assistant Alexandria fire chief then, led firefighters up the stairs at Viking Towers during a tribute to the victims of 9/11. Behind him was Eric Bjerke. was visiting an elementary school and that he did not show any emotion in front of the students and that he completed what he had gone there to do.

“You just had the largest attack on U.S. soil and for him to show no fear in front of the kids was remarkable,” said Thoennes.

Touching and powerful

As a firefighter, Schmidt said he was concerned about what could be next. He said the department went on high alert.

“We were feeling for the first responders and wondering what, if anything, we could do to help,” he said. “We felt for their families and there was so much that was unknown.”

Thoennes said he remembers that night watching the footage from that day – the replaying of the planes hitting the towers, the videos of people covered in dust walking and running away from the scene, scenes of fire trucks abandoned and damaged on the side of the street.

In all that he watched, he said a couple of things really stuck out. The first was seeing the video of then president, George W. Bush, being told by his Secret Service agent that a second plane had hit the second tower. He said the president

Contributed photo

Shane Schmidt, who retired from the Alexandria Fire Department in 2011, is seen here in a photo from the same year. He served on the department for 23 and a half years.

He also remembers watching footage of when the bodies of a fallen firefighter, EMT/paramedic or police officer was pulled from the rubble, all the digging halted and the body was draped in an American flag and all the rescuers lined the pathway out of the site and stood at attention saluting the body as it was carried in front of them.

“What a great show of respect and honor for a fallen brother/sister,” he said.

“It was very touching and very powerful.”

Impactful

The events of that day affected, and still to this day, impacts people differently. Thoennes said firefighters are like family; they are your brothers and sisters, and seeing what happened made a huge emotional impact on the Alexandria Fire Department.

“Things hit home, and made us more aware and more cautious as we enter burning buildings because you never know what type of structural damage could occur with heat and fire,” said Thoennes.

“I know it made us, as a department, think about how we attacked some of the fires we had after that. We made sure we didn’t just run into a building without knowing the integrity of the building.”

Schmidt said he hopes and prays that something like 9/11 never happens again, but that people also never forget the events of that day.

“I feel in today’s world things like that should not happen,” he said. “We need to start coming together and supporting each other. Seems like all we do is grow farther apart.”

He shared a favorite Psalm of his, Psalms 133:1 – “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.”

Thoennes said the events of 9/11 made him think about how fortunate he and others are, that people live where they do and have the freedoms they have.

He also shared a huge thank you to all military personnel who went to bat for our country since 9/11 took place.

“Some paid the ultimate sacrifice and did not make it home. To the families of those service men and women, thank you,” he said, adding that he is beyond proud of his son, Brent Thoennes, who served as part of the Minnesota National Guard troop from Alexandria that served overseas for 18 months as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Email reporter Celeste Edenloff at cedenloff@echopress.com

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NEVER FORGOTTEN, ALWAYS REMEMBERED

‘SOMETHING SERIOUS’

September 14, 2001

Former Alex principal remembers trying to proceed with normal school day

BY CELESTE EDENLOFF Alexandria Echo Press

Judy Backhaus was standing in the front entrance of Lincoln Elementary School in Alexandria on that dreadful day in September, 20 years ago.

At that time, she was the school’s principal and was greeting students as they came in as well as visiting with staff members in the hallway.

She remembers there was a TV mounted right by the entrance.

“One of our paraprofessionals came up to me and pointed to the screen,” she said.

“It showed one of the towers on fire and was replaying a plane crashing into it.”

Thinking it was just a serious plane crash and thinking the students didn’t really need Backhaus to be watching, they turned the channel to the school’s internal system of “student announcements.”

Soon after that, she had several staff members tell her “something serious” was going on as they were getting emails from family and friends. And then, district administrators started calling all the principals to tell them to stay inside the building until they tried to figure out what was going on. They were supposed to have their weekly Tuesday meeting, but that didn’t happen until later in the day.

Backhaus had her secretary make an announcement to all staff members that they would be getting an email that they needed to read right away.

“It basically said to leave all TVs off in the building and to proceed with classes as normal,” she remembered.

“Administrators were trying to gather information and would keep staff updated as they learned more. They wanted school to proceed as a ‘normal day.’ ” Throughout the day as she received more information, factual information from the district office, Backhaus would update her staff.

She remembers how some parents came to the school, asking to take their children home, which she said they certainly honored.

At some point, she remembers having the teachers talk to the students about some “terrible things” that were happening, that they – the students – and the rest of the people in the school were safe, and that their parents would probably explain more to them when they got home from school that day.

“I am thankful social media was not as pervasive back in 2001, so that we could control some of the conversations we were having with students,” said Backhaus.

She also said that administration met, formed some talking points and also recognized that there may be some students that would not be in attendance the next few days as parents wanted to keep them home. She said the district honored parents’ wishes for keeping their children out of school.

Administration also reviewed its own safety plans and put some additional precautions in place because of the “rumors” of more attacks. And she said the district had talking points for teachers so that everyone was on the same page while communicating with students in the coming days and weeks. The school also made counselors available.

“We also had to recognize that across our community we had people that knew people that worked in the Twin Towers, or downtown New York, or in the Pentagon, etc., so students also had those connections,” she said. “I remember it being difficult to get all the information. It was one plane crashing, then another and then others.”

She said it took some time to realize all of the connections, but that she specifically remembers the announcement on the TV that all airplanes were being grounded across the U.S. and flights from other countries were being rerouted.

It was then, she said, that it hit her how serious of a situation it really was across the entire country.

“For me personally, it was hard to believe that this could happen on our own soil. As a parent, I was scared for my own kids, as this was one more thing that we needed to protect our kids from and educate them about,” Backhaus said. “I was also thankful that I was surrounded by a great, caring staff that I knew would be there for every child in our school.”

Email reporter Celeste Edenloff at cedenloff@echopress.com

The front of the Echo Press from Sept. 14, the first paper to come out after the Sept. 11 attacks, was filled with stories related to the terrorist attacks.

One community, one country Alex pastor remembers people coming together after 9/11

BY CELESTE EDENLOFF Alexandria Echo Press

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Pastor Greg Billberg had just dropped his son off at school. The Billbergs at that time were living in Wausau, Wisconsin.

He remembers turning on the radio to listen to the news as he drove to work.

“The first thing I heard was that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane,” said Billberg, who is now the lead pastor at First Lutheran Church in Alexandria.

I remember we also took time to pray and just be there for each other.

PASTOR GREG BILLBERG At the time, there weren’t many details, but he remembers sitting, stunned, in the parking lot of his son’s elementary school. Eventually, he drove to work and like everyone else that morning, he and other staff members were glued to the radio and

TV listening and watching as more information became available.

“As I try to remember back to that day, most things that could be, were put on hold,” said Billberg. “We, as a staff, were both shocked and disturbed as we watched those awful images and tried to make sense of what had just happened and what might happen next? There were so many questions and concerns.”

Later that evening, after he and the rest of his family were at home, they watched TV coverage of the day’s events. He remembers asking his son and daughter if they had any questions.

He said the whole family had so many emotions – sadness for the families that had lost loved ones, fear, anger and worry for what the future would be.

He remembers telling the kids that what they were feeling was normal and that he and his wife were feeling the same things, too.

“We also talked about how we aren’t alone at such times. We reminded them that we have each other and that God is always in it with us,” he said. “I remember we also took time to pray and just be there for each other.”

Billberg said that everyone was affected by the tragedy of 9/11 and that because of that, there was a shared sense of vulnerability.

The same week that the terrorist attacks happened, Billberg said there was an outdoor, city-wide remembrance in Wausau that his family attended. He said it was an important opportunity for everyone to come together in spite of people’s differences and that it was a reminder that “we were one community and one country.”

He also said that his congregation at the time addressed the sense of loss and confusion in their worship and included prayers for healing, as well as opportunities for members of the congregation to get together and talk.

Billberg also remembers that soon after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, country music star Alan Jackson came out with a song, “Where Were You When the World Stopped?”

“It was a powerful song that focused on bringing people together and reminding us of our core values,” he said. “Many of us felt helpless at the time and so we decided to include it in worship as a way to focus our energy and be reminded that while there was much we could not do or control, we as Christians still had the gifts of faith, hope and love to hang on to and to guide us.”

Email reporter Celeste Edenloff at cedenloff@echopress.com

We remember 9/11 in images & experiences. Where we were, what we saw, what we will never forget.

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NEVER FORGOTTEN, ALWAYS REMEMBERED Echo Press file photo

On Sept. 11, 2018, Douglas County Honor Guard members stood silently among nearly 3,000 flags placed in the lawn at 3M in Alexandria. For several years, volunteers have been placing the flags in that location to commemorate the September 11 attacks and to remember those who lost their lives on that day.

‘In our hearts forever’

Echo Press readers share thoughts about 9/11 Echo Press readers were asked via Facebook to share comments about Sept. 11, 2001. They were asked the following questions: What do you remember from that day?

What sticks out the most for you? Where were you? What were you doing when you heard the news of the terrorist attack?

Below are just some of the comments that were shared: I was in first-hour biology and we heard there had been a crash. Murmurs started that it was two planes and then we knew it wasn’t an accident. We spent most of the day watching the TVs in class. We started talking about how this meant we were going to war with someone and in a couple years, our classmates would be eligible for a draft. We listened as the expected death toll went to around 100,000 (the Towers usually saw 70,000 people a day) and they weren’t sure about how many buildings or planes were involved at the time. Going home to watch it and understanding our place in the world was different now. That we were not untouchable.

— Nicole Wagner I remember exactly where I was on 9/11.

On my way to work at the Marshfield Clinic in Merrill, WI. We would later learn that a community shop keeper lost her son in one of the towers. The community would later lose a young military man on the day before his discharge, he was killed during an effort to disable a roadside bomb.

Another acquaintance, the cashier’s son where I would stop daily for the newspaper on my way to work, was critically injured in the war. They posted his journey on CaringBridge. I cried.

— Esther Schock Mehrer

course or something far more calamitous.

The answer to that question wasn’t long in coming. I was horrified, of course, like everyone else. But I was horrified on a personal level, because those two kids I had just dropped off at school were with my wife and me just 46 days earlier, standing atop the World Trade Center. To this day, it unnerves me to think about what would have happened to those two beautiful children, 10 and 8 at the time, had the attack been planned for the morning we were there. I will always remember the victims of the attack and hope that we as a nation, keep them in our hearts forever.

– Michael Dempsey

Contributed photo

The Dempsey sisters of Alexandria, Cristin, 8, left, and Kathleen, 10, had their photo taken atop the World Trade Center.

The photo was taken on July 27, 2001 – 46 days before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. The girls are the daughters of Michael and Lynette Dempsey.

I was at work, then went home sick and watched everything on TV. My dad also passed away that day. My — Lyn Stans brothers and sisters and I had spent the night before in the hospital as we knew our I had just dropped off my kids at their father’s time on Earth was coming to an school and was driving to work when I end. I remember waking up in the waiting heard that a plane had struck the World room and turning on the television. The Trade Center. At that point it was unclear first plan had already hit the towers in whether this was a small plane that was off New York. I thought, “Wow, what a terrible

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accident!” I then saw the second plane hit and I knew immediately that it wasn’t an accident. It was a terrible day for our country and personally for our family.

— Laura Demers Nill We had just gotten married – Sept. 8 – and had gone to Cragun’s in Brainerd for a couple of days. We had gotten up that Tuesday morning to come back home when we watched it all unfold on TV. We drove home just glued to the radio. We went from the “high” of our wedding day to being scared for the future all within a couple of days.

Also, we both worked at Dairyland in Glenwood and many people we worked with had traveled/flown to various places in the U.S. and were stuck. And they didn’t know when they would get home. The fear of the unknown was the scariest.

— Emily Sagedahl Uhde I remember watching my small 13-inch TV in my bedroom, telling my husband what had just happened. We were just bustling about getting ready for work. I remember bringing that TV to work and watching it on the front counter. I took my 2-yearold to music class at Shalom later that morning and just as we finished class and got outside and into the car, I turned on the radio to hear about the collapse of the first tower. The remainder of the day was spent watching the television at work. I had just purchased tickets to Las Vegas the day prior for my husband’s birthday. We were expecting to fly out that Sunday. It was our first “real” trip on a plane anywhere. I was crushed. But we ended up being able to fly out, as we were on some of the first flights being allowed after it all happened. Las Vegas was a nightmare. It was quiet, silent.

There were no buffets and most restaurants were closed. Workers were very worried about their jobs, their future. It was just plain yucky. By the time we left for home on Thursday, the Japanese and other international flights finally started to roll in. It was many years before we visited Las Vegas again and what a difference it was.

— Jody Berning

Echo Press employees share memories of 9/11 Echo Press employees were asked where they were, what they were doing and what they remembered about Sept.

11, 2001. Here are their responses: I was a sophomore at the University of South Dakota and was waiting for Spanish class to start when the professor came in and told us about the Pentagon.

We were supposed to Gulbrandson have a test that day, so of course after a moment passed, some loser said, “Are we still gonna have our test?” After class I went to my academic advisor’s office and found her watching footage of the World Trade Center.

As I rode my bicycle back to the dorm I remember noting what a nice day it was, but how everything suddenly seemed off.

“Oh,” I thought. “That’s what it’s like when the world changes.”

— Travis Gulbrandson I was working at the Echo Press. It was a hectic Tuesday morning and we were busy getting the paper ready for press when we heard a report of a Edenloff plane hitting the Twin Towers. We turned on the TV in our conference room and watched, shaking our heads at how horrible it was. At first, we all thought it was probably a terrible accident, a plane with mechanical problems or pilot error. After the second plane hit, we knew this was a huge story, perhaps the biggest in decades. Up against a tight deadline, we did what we could – getting photos of Jefferson High School students watching, in stunned silence, as the story unfolded on TV. The front page of our next issue contained nothing but localized stories about the attack. I still remember our headline, “Terror touches home.”

— Al Edenloff For weeks panic attacks had made my heart race and palms sweat. It was so bad, it felt like I was dying.

When I got to my therapy appointment on Sept. 11, 2001, the Tolkkinen clinic staff was gathered around a radio. They sprang apart when I entered, and turned to help me.

We were all shattered, breathing hard, faces bright with pain and disbelief.

That will always stay with me, though: How quickly they turned to help.

That is how it was, after 9/11. Everyone wanted to help.

— Karen Tolkkinen

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