THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2019 STUDENT MEDIA
The day after
Aggies recall experiences from Sept. 11, acts of service and solidarity in days following attacks By Hollis Mills @sillohsllim The sun rose the morning of Sept. 12, but the tragedy of the previous day still cast its shadow across the country. “Despicable acts of terror,” as former U.S. President George W. Bush once described them, tore through the New York City skyline 18 years ago, forever altering the
lives of a nation’s people. In the face of unimaginable adversity, individuals across the land sought hope in the hands of their fellow countrymen. Grief gave way to purpose, because while each Sept. 11 is a day of remembrance, the nation is reminded of the resilience needed to keep moving forward. Twelve years before he became a political science lecturer at Texas A&M, Dwight Roblyer was serving as an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and war gamer in the studies, analysis and gaming division of the Pentagon. Roblyer, Class of 1984, was not in the building the morning Flight 77 penetrated the west side of the Pentagon. He was at home helping his kids with their math homework before
a phone call from a friend prompted him to the upstairs television set. “It was horrible to see what was going on in New York City, but then to see the Pentagon attacked like that gets you at multiple levels,” Roblyer said. “One is, hey, those folks are my comrades in arms and some of them I know well, and then also to realize it’s not just an attack against our people and our economy, but it’s also an attack that’s being directed toward our government. There’s that feeling of, ‘Okay, what is going to get attacked next?’” Two weeks passed before Roblyer would return to work and witness the gaping wound firsthand. DAY AFTER ON PG. 6
Photo illustration by Brady Stone and Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION
The Freedom from Terrorism Memorial stands at the front of the Quad as a tribute to Aggies that have served and continue to serve the US in the War on Terror.
‘We were all there to serve’ Former student shares personal account of White House response to 9/11 attacks By Camryn Lang @CamrynLang
FILE
Tiffany Barfield, Class of 1999, was working in the West Wing of the White House when she heard the World Trade Center was attacked.
As fear swept across the U.S. in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, an Aggie working in the White House returned to the chaos to serve in any way she could. After graduating from Texas A&M in 1999, Tiffany Barfield began her first job in February of 2001 as a staff assistant in the Office of Domestic Policy. This day was unique, as she was filling in for the assistant to President Bush’s domestic policy assistant, Margaret Spellings. The job moved her from the Executive Office building to the West Wing, where she first began to hear that something had gone wrong. “Her assistant [returned] and some chatter had started,” Barfield said. “The first AP clip came out at the 8:30 mark that [the plane] had hit the World Trade Center. … By that time I walked back over to my office … Then the second tower [was] hit. You could just feel the tension of people trying to figure it out.”
The domestic policy staff was housed in the Executive Office, allowing Barfield to witness the reaction of the National Security Agency that was located down the hall. Despite not seeing the news coverage of the attacks, the fear was leaking into the rest of the building, Barfield said. “[The National Security Agency’s] door flew open and some of the guys started running out,” Barfield said. “I knew something bad had happened. By that time, the Pentagon had been hit and we were told to evacuate quickly.” Barfield met up with Marisa Medrano Perez, Class of 1995, who was an associate within the Office of Domestic Policy at the time. The pair ran as fighter jets scrambled above them, Barfield said. “I grabbed Marisa’s hand and said, ‘Let’s say the Lord’s Prayer,’” Barfield said. “[I] had no idea that the Pentagon was on fire. By that time, the plane in Pennsylvania had gone down. Honestly, to this day, I still think [the passengers] may have saved my life.” Barfield and Medrano Perez drove to a hotel in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and began to process the event. Barfield said they both received calls that night from their superiors about their safety, WHITE HOUSE ON PG. 6
The Battalion
September 12, 2001
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