9/11 20 Years Later by The Sumter Item

SATURDAY-MONDAY, SEPT. 11-13, 2021

9/11

20 years later

9/11: As decades pass, the act of remembering evolves

BY TED ANTHONY AP National Writer

HANKSVILLE, Pa. — Across the vast field where the plane fell out of the sky so many years ago, all is quiet. The hills around Shanksville seem to swallow sound. The plateau that Americans by the millions ascend to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial, to think of those who died in this southwestern Pennsylvania expanse, sits just above much of the landscape, creating a pocket of quiet precisely where quiet needs to be.

It is a place that encourages the act of remembering. Twenty years have passed since United Flight 93 made its final descent, chaos unfolding aboard as buildings burned 300 miles to the east. Nearly one-fifth of the country is too young to remember firsthand the day that changed everything. At the edge of the memorial’s overlook, a burly man in a leather Harley Davidson vest talks to two companions. He points toward the patch where the plane hit. It is an intimate conversation, and

it is hard to hear what he’s saying. But his first two words are clear: “I remember …” • • •

Remembering is not merely a state of mind. As those who SEE REMEMBERING, PAGE C7

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t work. Cursing the red lights extending yet another commute. Hitting the snooze button.

Doing errands. Doing chores. Doing nothing. In school. At home. Not yet born. There are countless ways people spent their mornings on Sept. 11, 2001, countless emotions and life circumstances swirling about that make the United States the bustling melting pot it is. At 8:46 a.m., the world changed. By 9:03 a.m., most of the country that was awake and old enough to watch was bearing witness. Together. No longer minding their own business. 9:37 a.m. 10:03 a.m. The events of 9/11 are now taught in history books. Most of the 13 American service members who were killed last month by suicide bombers at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, the U.S. making its final evacuation to end America’s longest war, were babies or even not yet born during the initial attacks. Time can only say how we look back on the last 20 years moving forward, but one thing is certain: You’ll always remember where you were that morning. We asked community leaders throughout Sumter, Clarendon and Lee counties to recount their memories and look back with us on Sept. 11, 2001, 20 years later. — Kayla Green

SUMTER COUNTY JOE McELVEEN Mayor had just started his tenure Only nine months into his 20-year tenure, Joe McElveen recalled he was in a meeting on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. “I was at the Chamber of Commerce,” McElveen said. “We were on a telephone call with Congressman (James) Clyburn, who was in D.C. in his office, and at some point, after we’ve been talking for a while, he tells us he’s been told to get out of the building.” The phone call ended, and McElveen had no clue what had happened until he walked out of the office and noticed a cluster of Chamber employees lost for words staring at a television screen. He joined and watched the World Trade Center burn. “The first thought was that there’s been a terrible accident,” he said, “and then it happened again, and you knew it wasn’t an accident.” McElveen’s immediate concern was for the Sumter community and our military neighbors at Shaw Air Force Base, a large active-duty base that conducts warfare operations overseas. He quickly met with the city’s departments and learned that local law enforcement agencies, the Sumter Fire Department and others were already taking the steps to secure Sumter’s assets and its residents, which mostly consisted of security measures. • • •

TALMADGE TOBIAS City manager Talmadge Tobias was city

manager at the time of 9/11, and he was sitting in Columbia for a Drought Response Committee meeting when he first learned what unfolded in New York. A person rushed in to tell the committee members what happened, and they all parted ways. Tobias headed back to meet with City of Sumter staff to take action. “Not knowing what was going on, we had some heavy equipment placed in front of the Opera House so no one could come looking for the Opera House and do any damage,” he said. On his way home, Tobias listened to the tragic news as the event worsened with the strike from a second plane and the collapse of both towers. “Those things are such a shock to you that you have to react,” Tobias said. “You want to not believe it, but your mind goes then to, ‘Sumter is a military community. We have a very strategic base.’” The City of Sumter went into defense mode, he said. They were in constant contact with local law enforcement and communicated with Shaw Air Force Base as much as they could. In his opinion, Sumter’s relationship with its military members grew from that day forth. “Sumter has always had a tremendous, tremendous cooperative nature, particularly when it comes to crisis situations,” Tobias said. “You look at what is best for the whole community… We were no different than anybody. There was shock, but then our mind moves to what do we need to be doing.” • • •

MARY BLANDING and CHARLES EDENS Clerk to council and Sumter County councilman Sumter County Clerk to Council Mary Blanding was at the Sumter County Government office when it happened. Council had a meeting she needed to prepare for later that day, as well as three committee meetings. Once she learned about what had happed, she felt an overload of shock and sadness take over her, but she had to continue working. The meetings were not canceled after the terrorist attacks. “I kept doing the things that needed to be done to be prepared for council’s meetings, and I kept council members informed of information from the administrator and the public safety director,” Blanding said. That evening, Sumter County Government met for its usual council meeting at 6 p.m., where Blanding said the county reassured council and residents that they were connected with local, state and federal agencies on high alert. According to the meeting minutes, the chambers were full of staff members and county residents. All council members were present, including Councilman Charles Edens, who still holds a seat on council today. Edens recalled being in his truck, riding on S.C. 441 to Bishopville for farming equipment. His usual station was interrupted by a broadcast. “It said that a plane had gone into the trade center, and

that’s really all they knew,” Edens said. “And then on my way back, the second plane had hit.” Edens had only been on council for almost two years when 9/11 happened. “I never witnessed or lived through anything like that,” Edens said. “I didn’t know what to think.” According to the meeting minutes, the chairman, Frank Williams Jr., gave his condolences to those in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania following the terrorist attacks earlier in the day. Council also addressed public safety measures with its public safety director at the time, Victor Jones, who said the county’s Emergency Operation Plan was activated. Security was heightened at local schools, Shaw Air Force Base and different federal and state buildings across the county. • • •

GEN. T. MICHAEL MOSELEY Retired Shaw Air Force Base general was inside the Pentagon Gen. T. Michael Moseley was inside the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. He recalled his office being near the Potomac River entrance. The sun was shining, and it couldn’t have been a more beautiful day to meet with Gen. Chuck Wald, who was the commander of the Ninth Air Force and U.S. Central Command at the time. The pair was discussing the changeover, as Moseley was set to become the next commander of the Ninth Air Force and U.S. Central Command,

but they were interrupted. “We were in the office on the outer ring, and the exec came in, apologized for interrupting and said, ‘Sir, you need to know we just had an airplane hit one of the towers in New York,’” Moseley said. “We looked at him, both Chuck Wald and I looked at him.” They asked what the exec meant by “an airplane hit one of the towers,” and once they realized it was one of the World Trade Center towers, Wald and Moseley looked to each other and both said, “Al-Qaeda.” The television was on within minutes. Moseley sat with Wald watching the tower burn. Then the second plane crashed. “That kind of got us a little bit energized,” Moseley said. The staff’s first thought was Wald needed to get back to Shaw immediately, Moseley said. A war was about to begin. However, they were met with an obstacle once the third plane struck the Pentagon. “A big, big kind of earthquake feeling with an impact shook the building. It hit around the corner from us,” Moseley said. An explosion overwhelmed their ears, and screaming rang throughout the building as people fled outside. Lights flickered as fire and smoke filled the facility. Wald was pushed out to safety by executive staff and headed straight for Sumter, Moseley said. The staff then worked to find everyone and get them out of the building. They didn’t stop until everyone was accounted for in that area of the building. Once they thought everyone was out, Moseley followed. “I got down the hall about 30 feet, and I thought, ‘I have to go get my hat,’ because a military guy can’t go outside without a

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hat,” he said. “I went back into my office, and my truck keys were sitting right on top of my hat, which was I guess God’s way of telling me, ‘You’re going to need your keys to get out of here.’” He made it outside but witnessed the attack from a different point of view. The Pentagon was burning, people were being dragged out onto stretchers, and first responders were flooding onto the scene. Moseley knew this was only going to get worse, so he headed home to his family. “We all agreed we needed to get out of this space because we don’t know what’s going to happen next,” he said. As he drove home, smoke filled the sky and could be seen across the river. It wasn’t until a couple days later he could return to his office. “We got back into the building the next day or so, and within a couple of weeks, I left to go to Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia,” Moseley said, beginning his new mission and leading a new war. “That was a bad day,” Moseley said. “That was terrible.”

• • •

‘Things were going to change. We knew we were going to have to ramp up as a whole.’ LINN SKIPPER Sumter Police Department patrol captain Linn Skipper was sitting in his office at the old Law Enforcement Center when he heard people in the hallway talking about a horrible event on the news.

He walked down the hallway to the classroom, where he and his coworkers stared at the television in disbelief. “Nobody knew what was going on,” Skipper said. “It was just supposed to be a normal day, and you start watching this stuff. The first plane had already hit, and it was smoking, and while we were standing there watching, the second one hit.” The agency knew they had to start planning. “Things were going to change,” he said. “We knew we were going to have to ramp up as a whole.” Skipper was a patrol captain at the time, responsible for about 65 patrol officers across several shifts. He had to call in everyone, including those on vacation, to come into work. They needed to react for the sake of the community and their military neighbors. “At the time, we didn’t know how this was going to trickle down to Sumter,” Skipper said. “Shaw has their business, but we might be called upon to assist, or we might have been called to handle our own infrastructure issues. We didn’t know how far-reaching these attacks were going to be, so we just had to ramp everything up.” Officers worked long hours, reevaluated training methods and secured several buildings and areas across the city in the first few days. Skipper said they were challenged to reevaluate their strategies again once the anthrax scare happened a week after 9/11, when letters in the mail were laced with the disease that killed a handful of Americans and sickened many more. “That was unbelievable,” he said. However, Sumter officers made it through and even grew after the 2001 terrorist attack. Building security cranked up, as well as officers’ situational awareness when responding to a call. Skipper said the police department is better equipped and more prepared today than they ever were before. • • •

SHIRLENE SKIPPER 911 Center director Technology was a lot different in the

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PHOTO PROVIDED BY 177TH FIGHTER WING – NEW JERSEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD

Firefighters work at the site of ground zero in New York City on Sept. 14, 2001.

911 Center in 2001. It had a radio system for its operators and a single television that only showed the weather. It was a typical quiet morning in the 911 Center for Shirlene Skipper, but no one had any clue what was going on in the outside world. “We did not know what was going on in current events until one of our operators had a doctor’s appointment that morning and came in late and said, ‘Quick! You have to change the channel on the TV.’” Skipper said. “We didn’t even know how. That TV was hardwired just for weather.” As the 911 Center staff tried to figure out a way to watch what was unfolding in New York, the worker continued to talk about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. “We were thinking in the 911 Center, ‘Oh my goodness, what a horrible accident,’” Skipper said. “We weren’t thinking terrorists at that time.”

Once they realized a second plane had hit, they realized it was no accident. “I just remember us in the 911 Center being in total disbelief,” Skipper said. “This was something that we never experienced in our lifetimes.” Skipper and the 911 Center staff immediately jumped into emergency management mode, which was their hurricane plan because it was their only plan at the time. They didn’t have a plan for terrorism. She began contacting all off-duty personnel, telling them to dust off their hurricane and to-go packs and make arrangements for their pets and children. They were about to work long shifts. A lot changed in the following days. Skipper said security increased at the Law Enforcement Center because it was considered a target. The majority of Sumter’s first-responding agencies were located under that single roof. Skipper just kept hoping she’d wake up from the nightmare. However, Sumter today has improved immensely as officers had to think outside the box and prepare for possible future attacks. The 911 Center started paying attention to current events around the world that could affect Sumter or South Carolina. This made them better prepared for any possible increased call volumes or emergency plans. The center also has more equipment and has updated systems that were prone to failure. Skipper referred to the facility having “back up plans for back up plans,” which she said were not a joke. • • •

1ST SGT. GERALD RICHARDSON Corporal over the police department’s warrants division Gerald Richardson recalled 9/11 as a day when he had to revert to his training. “In law enforcement,” he said, “you don’t have time to be scared.” Richardson heard of terrorism in foreign countries while he

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Thomas Sumter Academy

We will never forget

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ACCOUNTS

years after the tragic event.

FROM PAGE C3

served his country in the U.S. Army and Army National Guard, but no one ever heard of it happening on U.S. soil before. “I guess the thing here was the unknown,” Richardson said. “The unknown was no one here ever heard anything about foreign terrorism.” Officers were put into defense mode. Richardson remembered being called in, warned about possible longer shifts and providing security in new positions across the city. He went from his typical 9-5 job to working long hours at the Sumter Mall, which was a thriving commercial hub 20 years ago. Richardson said officers were sent to areas like the mall across the city to guard heavily populated places including Shaw Air Force Base, Broad Street, local colleges and more. No one knew what the next target would be. “It made me more aware of current events,” Richardson said. “It could happen anytime, anywhere … I guess that’s what tragic events should do.” Richardson thinks the agency has improved since 9/11. Officers became more aware when responding to a call. Rather than rushing to a scene, they would take a step back and evaluate before approaching any situation. The agency has also developed new strategies and training for possible future attacks and how to remain cool, calm and collected when keeping the community at ease during a scary time. “We are an agency better off and better prepared,” Richardson said. • • •

BRIAN CHRISTMAS In 2001, Brian Christmas, now the fire department assistant chief, was a firefighter working for both the Sumter Fire Department and Sumter Police Department. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, he worked under the police department’s investigation unit, not knowing what was about to unfold in New York. “They had the TV on up on the wall, and that first plane had just hit, and then we all just started to gather around watching the TV,” Christmas said. “Initially they didn’t know what was going on.” As the incident progressed, the second plane struck the tower. Everyone in the Law Enforcement Center’s classroom was in disbelief, Christmas said. This was something far worse than an accident. “Absolutely a tragedy,” he said. All Christmas could think about was the loss, from victims inside and outside the World Trade Center to first responders on scene or heading to the scene. Both first-responding agencies worked diligently to create new protocols, increase security and update technology systems and equipment, Christmas said. The most drastic change came when federal funds became available. The Sumter Fire Department was able to get new, upto-date equipment and created the Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological Awareness team to train firefighters in how to deal with hazardous materials. Christmas said the fire department now has a plan in place if a terrorist attack ever does happen in or near Sumter in the future. “Those things still continue today,” he said, noting that funding still funnels in 20

• • •

KARL FORD Sumter Fire Department assistant chief on Sept. 11, 2001 “Back then I was assistant chief,” said Karl Ford, fire chief of the Sumter Fire Department. “We were coming back from the city shop. We had dropped off a vehicle down there, and we were listening to the radio.” The radio broadcasted that a plane had hit the World Trade Center, but Ford could not believe it until he returned to headquarters and witnessed the second plane’s strike on the television. “There was a group of about six or eight of us watching the TV, and we were all just kind of glued to it, wondering what was happening,” Ford said. “We watched it burn for a little while, and then the first tower collapsed, and I remember everybody saying, ‘Oh Lord, I wonder if everybody got out,’ and I wondered how many firefighters and police officers just died because I knew they were in the building.” What Ford remembers more than anything from that day was the first responders who ran toward the burning and collapsing towers. They did not stand by or flee from the problem. They had a duty and fulfilled it to the best of their ability. Ford said the Sumter Fire Department is prepared now more than ever for an emergency situation like this, but he hopes the need never arises. “I hope we don’t ever have to experience something like that again, but I know that’s the worst tragedy I had ever seen in my lifetime,” he said. The “Never Forget” phrase is a cliché to Ford because no one really can forget what happened that day. “You think about it all the time,” Ford said. “You worry and pray about those types of things happening elsewhere against the United States, but you hope we’ve learned from it and are prepared to not lose so many lives again.”

9/11: 20 YEARS LATER vidually to students in their classrooms the next day.” Local schools increased safety protocols after 9/11 because of the thought of possibly more terrorist activity, according to Hilton. That included watching the school’s playground more closely during recess and any cars pulling up to the school at that time. “We became more vigilant of suspicious activity,” he said. Hilton added that 9/11 in combination with the Columbine, Colorado, shootings in the spring of 1999 changed school operations forever. “Those two events changed school security forever after that, including keeping school doors locked,” he said.

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MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM

DID YOU KNOW? Occupations related to emergency services and public safety in the U.S. Total:

113,904,639 Emergency medical technicians:

97,157

• • •

O.J. PAPUCCI

Paramedics:

Served in CENTAF at Shaw Air Force Base Sumter resident O.J. Papucci was stationed at CENTAF, the U.S. Air Force component to U.S. Central Command, in logistics at Shaw as part of his 28-year career in the Air Force. The mood in Sumter on 9/11 and immediately after was solemn, he said, because people knew things were going to change in response. Papucci departed with a small contingent for the area of responsibility on Sept. 22, 2001, which means going to foreign soil. In the theater, he was director of the Joint Mobility Center. The center prioritized movement of cargo and personnel for all branches of the military coming in to and exiting the area of responsibility. They departed from Columbia Metropolitan Airport, and Papucci remembers how different the airport experience was. “Security guards were walking around the airports with rifles or machine guns. It was a scary time for everybody since nobody knew what was going to happen,” he said. He returned to Shaw on Jan. 5, 2002. — Bruce Mills

93,642

First-line supervisors of police and detectives:

98,715

First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers:

48,246

First-line supervisors of security workers:

68,062

First-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other:

2,750

Firefighters:

297,645

Detectives and criminal investigators:

143,440

Police officers:

738,767

Private detectives and investigators:

82,764

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2019 American Community Survey

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www.edwardjones.com

— Shelbie Goulding

Financial Advisors of Sumter

• • •

JOHNNY HILTON Millwood Elementary School principal on Sept. 11, 2001 Sumter native and current school board member Johnny Hilton was the principal at Millwood Elementary School on Pinewood Road on 9/11. He remembers a principals’ meeting on Pike Road that morning and it being interrupted with the news about the World Trade Center. A television was turned on, and nobody knew what was happening. Everyone was upset and confused initially and then angry later when they realized it wasn’t an accident, he said. Back at Millwood, Hilton and other school officials did not make an announcement to students over the PA system that day. Instead, the plan was to let the students go home and have their parents tell them of the terrorist attack. Faculty and staff did talk at the end of the day on next steps with the children, he said. “We did talk about it amongst ourselves that we would need to talk to the kids about it the next day,” Hilton said. “Teachers did talk indi-

Cal Rhoden, Financial Advisor 803.506.2777

Charlie Burns, AAMS®, Financial Advisor 803.934.8887

Nathan C. Love, CFP®, Financial Advisor 803.905.7655

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Catherine K Watkins, CFP®, AAMS®, Financial Advisor 803.773.8373

David Felder, CFP®, AAMS®, Financial Advisor 803.773.0801

In remembrance on the 20th anniversary of 9/11/2001 Thank you to our Active Duty Military, Veterans, and First Responders. Our thoughts are with the brave men and women serving our country and the ones who served before them.

Amanda Miller, Financial Advisor 803.775.5311

James R Chandler, Jr., Financial Advisor 803.775.2911

Member SIPC

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CLARENDON COUNTY JOHN BONAPARTE Former school board chairman of Clarendon School District 1 John Bonaparte, chairman of the former Clarendon School District 1’s school board, said he was working at International Paper when the events of 9/11 unfolded. He was busy doing work when the news came across the television at his job. He said everybody was distraught hearing the news. “That was the most shocking thing I ever saw in my life,” Bonaparte said. “I couldn’t do what I needed to do that day.” He said they didn’t stop production that day but couldn’t keep their eyes off the television, as many were troubled by what they saw happening in New York. He said he thinks that since that day things have gotten worse with more hate, division and bias within America. But even with all these troubling times, he said people will need to keep their prayers up so that what happened 20 years ago doesn’t happen again. • • •

JACKIE BLACKWELL Was a Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office investigator on Sept. 11, 2001 Jackie Blackwell, the coroner for Clarendon County, remembers the scenario of that day clearly. Blackwell, an investigator for the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office during that time, was getting ready for work when she turned on her television to the Today Show about two planes crashing into the World Trade Center about 9 a.m. “The call came in as a small plane hitting one of the towers, so I’m sitting there watching it,” she said, as the reporters thought at first it was an acci-

dent. “Then, as it develops, you could see the other plane coming, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh’ because we thought it was just a smaller plane hit the tower.” When she watched as another plane hit the second World Trade Center tower, Blackwell’s fears had been realized: America was under attack. “It was just a day of fear. Everything was chaotic. I couldn’t take my eyes off the TV. Everybody was totally in shock. I went straight in to the office, and we just watched it, and that day everybody was numb to what was going on.” It was her first time witnessing a terrorist attack, and she remembers the horrific scenes still. “It was horrifying to see those people jumping out of those windows to their death. It was something to behold,” she said. “You could see that America was very fearful during that time. We didn’t know what was going to happen and was going to happen next.” Blackwell has family members in New York, but none were harmed in the attack. Many feared for their lives because they didn’t know if there was going to be another attack, she said. She will never forget that day. She said she does think that America has learned and beefed up its defenses. “I think [America] is keeping a more watchful eye now. I feel safer now than I was back then 20 years ago,” she said. “I don’t think that will ever happen again. I think the military has really stepped their security up to the plate to not let anything go through the cracks like that ever again.”

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PHOTO PROVIDED

Clarendon County Fire Chief Michael Johnson took this photo of the 9/11 Memorial in New York in December 2020. eryone’s shock. “Everyone was distraught,” Tindal said. “There was true terror in the air because I think there were so many attacks and so many things happening in that moment, so we were really fearful because we didn’t know when the next attack would be held.” For Tindal, he has some connection to it. His friend has a sister who worked in the twin towers and said she was traumatized because they didn’t know what was going on there. She later learned that her sister was alive. Now, two decades later, he hopes and prays that the nation never experiences anything like that again. — Kareem Wilson

• • •

TERRANCE TINDAL

MICHAEL JOHNSON

Summerton councilman was in high school

Clarendon County fire chief

For many young adults, 9/11 was a day when the whole nation was at a pause, and it became a day of fear and uncertainty. Summerton Councilman Terrance Tindal was in high school when he saw the news alert about the attack at the World Trade Center. He said the principal made an announcement for all teachers to turn on the televisions to watch the news, to ev-

“The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I clearly remember my father waking me up on his couch,” Johnson said. “I had had a long day before, and he woke me up to tell me that a plane had just struck the World Trade Center.” Johnson said he vividly remembers watching the television and feeling “that deepdown desire to help in any way

that I could.” “After watching it on television, I went to Station 1 and watched the events continue to unfold over the next few hours,” Johnson added. “We sat in silence and watched as countless lives were lost.” “Today, reflecting back on the events of that day, I am humbled,” Johnson said. “I have watched numerous documentaries and have listened to personal and other televised stories, and I’ve learned so much over the years.” Johnson said what he misses the most from that day 20 years ago is something many have quickly forgotten. “After the events, people stood together,” he shared. “They stood together for the greater good of our country. They stood together to serve those around them. I miss seeing that desire in a stranger’s eyes to serve.” In December 2020, Johnson visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York. “It was an indescribable moment,” Johnson said. “While I was there, I walked around and read the names engraved in the monument. There was one name in particular that I wanted to find, Chaplain Mychal F. Judge. I encourage others to research this gentleman today.” • • •

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On this solemn occasion, Sumter County Council and County Government wish to express our unyielding gratitude toward our Veterans, First Responders and Active Duty service members who serve and protect our Nation and our Community.

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Loss and devastation at ground zero These photographs were taken in and around ground zero on Sept. 14, 2001, after the World Trade Center Towers fell. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY 177TH FIGHTER WING – NJ AIR NATIONAL GUARD

The New York City skyline is seen during the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001.

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REMEMBERING

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beseech us to never forget the Holocaust have long insisted, it is an act. And when loss and trauma are visited upon human beings, the act of remembering takes many forms. Remembering is political. Those who disagree about the fate of Confederate statues across the American South demonstrate that, as do those who dispute how much the war on terror and its toll should be part of discussions about 9/11 memories. Remembering wears many coats. It arrives in ground zero ceremonies and moments of silence and prayers upon prayers, both public and private. It shows itself in folk memorials like those erected at the sides of lonely roads to mark the sites of traffic deaths. It is embedded in the names of places, like the road that leads to the Flight 93 memorial — the Lincoln Highway. It surfaces in the retrieval of “flashbulb memories” — those where-were-you-when-this-happened moments that stick with us, SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO sometimes accurately, sometimes not. The Sumter Fire Department held a special ceremony Sept. 11, 2011, in remembrance of the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist atThere are personal memories and cultacks against the United States. The fire department unveiled two 75-pound pieces of steel from the Twin Towers of the World Trade tural memories and political memories, Center in New York placed in front of the headquarters’ station. The two steel beams from the Twin Towers used in the making of the and the line between them often blurs. memorial were acquired by the department from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. And for generations, remembering has been presented to us in monuments nal. People in different parts of the piece in May. and memorials like Shanksville’s, negoEven within more static forms of country and world, under vastly differAt a hinge point like a major annivertiated and constructed and fine-tuned to memory, such as the Flight 93 Nationent circumstances, watched the same sary, particularly with something as tecevoke and provoke the memories and al Memorial, the question of how relive camera angles on the same few tonic as 9/11, it’s easy to fall back on an emotions of people and moments in cermembering changes and evolves feeds and saw the same, now-indelible aphorism like this one from William tain ways. hangs over so much. Faulkner: “The “Monuments are history made visible. In the visitors’ center, visceral, pain- views of the destruction in the past is never They are shrines that celebrate the ideful artifacts of the moment still bring same way. They dead. It’s not als, achievements and heroes that existback the past with astonishing effiexperienced it even past.” But ed in one moment in time,” architecturciency; twisted, scarred cutlery from the saying has al historian Judith Dupre writes in her in-flight meals is a particularly breath- apart, but together. endured for a 2007 book about them — a book she first taking sight. But the variety of reThat formed reason. pitched to her publisher on, of all dates, membering that is presented yards a communal Memory beSept. 10, 2001. away at the quiet overlook and its memory of Yet while monuments stand, rememthoughtful memorial feels more percomes history. sorts, even if And history — bering itself evolves. How 9/11 is remanent, more eternal — and now, 20 sometimes peoshared history membered depends on when 9/11 is reyears on, more befitting of something ple who saw — is held onto membered. Remembering it on Sept. 15, that happened a generation ago. the same tightly, some2001, or on Sept. 11, 2004, is different Paul Murdoch of Los Angeles, the THE ASSOCIATED PRESS things didn’t from remembering it on Sept. 11, 2011 — lead architect of the memorial, says it times rabidly. Désirée Bouchat reaches toward the inscribed remember or, for that matter, different from what it was carefully calibrated to resonate It’s why so name of James Patrick Berger at the National them the same September 11 Memorial on Aug. 6, 2021, in New will be this weekend. across multiple stages of memory many people way — a specif- York. She last saw her co-worker on the 101st What, then, does remembering come about the event and its implications. grasp tightly to ic camera angle floor of the trade center’s south tower. Nearly 180 comforting, to mean on a 20th anniversary, or at any “You can imagine a memorial apAon Corp. workers perished on Sept. 11, 2001, in- nostalgic historor vantage juncture when an event like 9/11 starts proach that sort of freezes anger in point, a key fig- cluding Berger. “Some days, it feels like it hapto recede into the past — starts to beical narratives time, or freezes fear. And that can be a pened yesterday,” Bouchat said. ure’s com— even when come history — even as its echoes are very expressionistic piece of art. But I ments, the they’re shown still shaking the foundations of everyfeel like for something to endure over a exact sequence of events. Rememberto have been as destructive as they were thing? long period of time, I think it has to oping can be like that, experts like Talariproductive. “Our present influences how we reerate a different way,” says Murdoch, The act of remembering something member the past — sometimes in ways who co-designed the memorial with his co say, particularly with intense flashbulb memories like 9/11 that carve like 9/11 involves exactly that delicate that are known and wife, Milena. deep grooves but aren’t necessarily acbalance. When memory does become sometimes in ways “Now we have a curate in the details. history, it can become more remote, like that we don’t realgeneration of people “We reconstruct the event through a Revolutionary War memorial for peoize,” says Jennifer who weren’t even our own lens, and part of that lens is Talarico, a psycholoalive on 9/11,” Murple whose passions and sacrifices have very social,” Batcho says. “You would gy professor at Labeen sanded down by time. With disdoch says. “So how fayette College in tance, it can calcify. do you talk to people think that the memories would be more cohesive and homogeneous. It turns out Pennsylvania who That’s not going to happen with 9/11 of this new generathat it’s much more complicated than studies how people for a long time, of course. Its politics are tion — or of future that.” form personal memstill roiling. The arguments that it progenerations?” ories of public duced — and the ways they sent society That question is events. hurtling in a different direction — are particularly potent • • • Evidence of that is just as intense as in those early days. on this 20th anniverobvious in the events And when a nation pauses to rememsary. Society tends May 31, 2002, less than a year afterof the past five ber the morning 20 years ago when it to mark generations ward, former New York Mayor Rudy Giweeks in Afghaniwas attacked, it is not only looking over in two-decade packuliani tells high school students in stan, where a 20-year ages, so there’s an Shanksville at their commencement: “A its shoulder. It is also looking around war waged in direct and wondering: What does this mean to entire one that has hundred years from now, people are response to 9/11 us now? been born and come going to come and want to see it. And ended pretty much “What is important in making a meof age since the atthey are going to want to know what where it began: with morial, in what you remember and in tacks. That hardly happened.” the repressive and how you remember it?” J. William means they haven’t Sept. 11, 2016, the 15th anniversary. violent Taliban in Thompson wondered in his elegant been paying attenPresident Barack Obama says: “Fifteen charge once more. 2017 book, “From Memory to Memorition, though: They years may seem like a long time. But for “If we were still in al: Shanksville, America and Flight 93.” “remember,” too, the families who lost a piece of their AP FILE PHOTO even if they weren’t Afghanistan and Any answers to that are, understandheart that day, I imagine it can seem like Rick Sarmiento, center, embraces Karen around. things were stable, ably, complex. But behind all the formal just yesterday.” we would be remem- Bingham, left, and Nancy Root during a words and ways to commemorate a day Krystine Batcho, a That fundamental tension — it feels visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial psychology professor like yesterday, yes, but it is also becomthat upended the world, something bering 9/11 in probaon Sept. 10, 2014, in Shanksville, Pennbly a very different at Le Moyne College ing part of history for the long haul — is more fundamental lurks: a simple imsylvania. Bingham’s son Mark Bingham way than how we in Syracuse, New what confronts us in the coming days as perative to hold onto a sense of what was a passenger on Flight 93, as was will remember it this Root’s cousin Lorraine G. Bay. The meYork, studies how changed things, and how. many revisit and consider 9/11 and year,” says Richard nostalgia works. She On the cover of Thompson’s book, a commit their own acts of remembering. morial marks the spot where United Cooper, a vice presi- Airlines Flight 93 crashed 20 years ago. found something inFor those who were not at the nucleus man stands looking at the Shanksville crash site, his right arm raised. In his dent at the nonprofit teresting a couple of 9/11’s horror and its pain but experileft he holds a hand-painted sign etched Space Foundation who worked for the years ago when she was researching enced it as part of the culture in which Department of Homeland Security for how young people encountered stories they live, it can somehow manage to feel with four words, one declarative senseveral years after the attacks and has tence: “I did not forget.” that resonated with them — both perlike both yesterday and a long time ago watched many remembrances through sonally and through the news. all at once. And as with so many acts of the years. Ted Anthony, director of new storytelling Even those who lacked living memoremembering, it is still being debated “That heartbreak and pain we felt on and newsroom innovation for The Assories of 9/11, Batcho says, responded and contested — and will be for a long the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, is resurciated Press, was AP’s director of with stories about the event. It was retime to come. recting itself,” Cooper says, “and that Asia-Pacific news from 2014 to 2018 and membering as shared experience. “Sober ceremonies should not misimpacts how we remember it today.” covered the aftermath of 9/11 in AfghaniAnd no wonder. So many first enlead us into thinking the public rememcounters with 9/11 on the day it hapstan and Pakistan from 2001 to 2003. Folbrance of this horrific event is a settled pened were, in the tradition of an inforlow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ matter,” 9/11 historian John Bodnar • • • mation age, both separate and commuanthonyted. wrote in a Washington Post opinion

‘If we were still in Afghanistan and things were stable, we would be remembering 9/11 in probably a very different way than how we will remember it this year.’ RICHARD COOPER Vice president, Space Foundation, and former Department of Homeland Security employee

9/11: 20 YEARS LATER

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021 - SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

ACCOUNTS

FROM PAGE C6 CARTER JONES

Was Clarendon County’s fire chief on Sept. 11, 2001 “I was in Indiana in a training class when they interrupted the class and took us into an office so we could watch it on TV,” said former Clarendon County Fire Chief Carter Jones, who is now the special projects coordinator for the South Carolina State Firefighters Association. “As soon as I saw the pictures, I knew those buildings were going to fall.” Those buildings were not made to withstand the weight of the fuel and the fire that resulted, Jones added. Jones, along with his sons, Craig and Jonathan, made numerous trips to New York before 9/11, visiting with various fire stations and ladder companies, making friends and acquaintances throughout the New York Fire Department. One of those friends was Joseph Angelini, who was 63 when the World Trade Center collapsed. “He worked on Rescue 1,” Jones added. “He and his son, who was a lieutenant in the fire department, both died in the collapse.” Another friend, William Fehan, over the course of his firefighting career moved from the ranks of firefighter to the role of fire chief in the NYFD. Father Mychal Judge, who was the first documented fatality on 9/11, was also a friend. “Father Mychal Judge was the fire department’s chaplain,” Jones said. “In documentaries about 9/11, you can see Father Judge walking through the lobbies of the buildings

praying out loud.” Talking about the collapse of the twin towers even 20 years later still makes Jones emotional when talking about his friends and his fellow firefighters and emergency responders who led the charge into the buildings. “In the documentaries, you can see in their faces that they knew in their hearts what the outcome was going to be for them,” Jones said. “Twenty years later, I still get choked up talking it. Just thinking about the efforts that the firefighters and law enforcement and their success in being able to evacuate so many people, gets me emotional.” “I guarantee that nearly everyone who ran towards those buildings knew the likelihood that they would never come out.” Fire departments across the nation learned a great deal from the twin towers’ collapse. “Building codes were strengthened,” Jones added. “Codes for high-rise buildings were changed. The communication was improved. During 9/11, the individuals inside the buildings were not able to communicate with those on the outside, and some never heard the command to evacuate.” “I’m so very proud to have known some of the firefighters who fought so bravely,” Jones said. “They charged in. They did their job. They recognized the reality of the situation, but it didn’t stop them from doing their jobs.”

‘I guarantee that nearly everyone who ran towards those buildings knew the likelihood that they would never come out.’

• • •

JULIA A. NELSON Manning mayor “I was holding my son, Nelson, who was 11 months old, and watching the morning news,” said Manning Mayor Julia A. Nelson about the first time she heard about the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. “I was in total shock and couldn’t believe what I

was seeing, especially as the second plane hit one of the towers and both towers eventually fell.” “I couldn’t believe people were jumping from the buildings in attempts to avoid the terror that was going on inside those buildings, only to fall to their deaths,” Nelson added. “I remember being overcome with emotions, crying and saying this couldn’t be happening, not here in America.” Thinking back on 9/11, Nelson said she considers it “as the day of the ultimate breach on the U.S. soil and a total disregard for human life.” Nelson said she also cannot forget the heroes. “Those who ran into the burning buildings to save lives, and many of those individuals succumbed to their injuries on that day. Some died later, and some are still living with permanent health issues,” she said. “Today, as we witness what’s unfolding in Afghanistan, it’s heartbreaking,” Nelson said. “So many lives have been lost over the years, and yet, with the attempt to end our soldiers’ tour over there, lives continue to be lost by our servicemen and women. “We can only pray for God’s deliverance for those who aided America in this war, from Americans themselves, to the Afghanis who assisted us.” • • •

KEITH GRICE Manning police chief “I was in the Troop Seven Highway Patrol Headquarters in a training class when I first heard about a plane striking the World Trade Center,” Manning Police Chief Keith Grice said. “I thought the first plane hitting the building might have been pilot error, but when I heard the second plane hit, I knew then it was no accident. I knew that our country was under some type of attack.” Thinking back 20 years, Grice said he’s extremely sad-

MEMORIES FROM THE COMMUNITY KAREN HASTINGS I was stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It was afternoon when the first plane hit. We all gathered around the computer to watch CNN, military, German and U.S. civilian alike. When the second plane hit, I exclaimed, “We’re under attack!” No one could believe it. It was just so unthinkable. Shortly thereafter, the base went to FPCON Delta, and we were all sent home. I drove home, tears streaming down my face. I lived pretty far away so was really the only American in my village. My neighbors knocked on my door all night, wanting to talk to me and say how sorry they were. “We are with you,” they said. Some left flowers by my doormat, too. German school children were weeping openly while they walked home. I called my mother back in the U.S. very briefly to say we were OK — international calls were going through — and packed my personal mobility bag and checked my gear, because I knew we were going to war. A lot of the base shipped out within a month, and I did within six months. I wound up deploying 10 times in 20 years to combat zones, mostly in support of operations in Afghanistan. I’ll never forget it, no one who lived through it will, but what I chose to remember most is the entire civilized world stood by us. The light of the human spirit did not dim. It shone brighter because of this barbarity. • • •

KATHY STAFFORD I went to work as usual in the classified department of The Sumter Item newspaper. The phones ringing, people calling to place ads. All of a sudden, the phones stopped ringing … I heard someone from our newsroom cry out, “Oh my God!” … I ran to the newsroom to find out what had happened. The big TVs were on and were showing the twin towers.

One of the towers had been hit with a plane. I saw when the second plane hit the other tower … I could not believe what I was witnessing. People falling or jumping out of the buildings trying to escape. I watched in horror when the towers collapsed. So many people lost their lives that day. • • •

AMY VAUGHN I can remember my oldest son being 8 months old, Jackson Stiles, and watching the planes being hit on TV. We were supposed to leave to go visit family in Texas in a few days. I remember my mom being nervous about flying, as I was, too, but I told her, “Those horrible people have done what they came to do.” My son and I went ahead and got on the airplane a few days later, flying with confidence, and we have the entire plane to ourselves. Now, going to the airport was horrible with a pack and play, my luggage, my son’s luggage; I was searched, and my stuff was dissected for over an hour in the airport. After all of this went on and I learned about the Pentagon, and I remembered my friend Rehan that worked there as an intern. His family could not get ahold of him for weeks, and then one day, he got a call saying that he had been released from the government. Rehan had been mistaken for being a terrorist because of the way he looks. Both his parents are from Sri Lanka, but he is a U.S. citizen. His family described later what our government had done to him trying to get information about the attacks. Of course he didn’t know anything. It was horrible to hear what had been done. I went and visited him a few years later, and we talked about what had happened; to see a grown man cry for hours and hours just broke my heart. He obviously has some PTSD symptoms but is a private school teacher in Texas.

THE SUMTER ITEM dened by all the innocent lives that were lost that day. “These people woke up and were going to work,” he added. “Not only did their lives and the lives of their families, but the entire world changed that day.” Grice said that he believes our nation is better prepared for acts of terrorism. “As a country, I believe we recognize threats sooner, and we’re more prepared to deal with them now,” Grice said. “We as law enforcement are more prepared to prevent these types of situations. I believe that our government has done a good job preparing against these types of attacks.” Since 9/11, similar attacks have been thwarted that “we don’t know about,” Grice added. “Many terrorists have been captured at traffic stops,” he said. “We as law enforcement need to be vigilant whenever we’re making these stops. We never know who is in those vehicles.” • • •

SEN. KEVIN L. JOHNSON Represents District 36 “On 9/11, I was actually home nursing a bad back,” Sen. Kevin L. Johnson said. “As I laid there watching The Today Show and saw the first plane hit the tower, I thought it was just a tragic accident. When the second plane hit, I knew something bad was going on.” Johnson said he remembers seeing then-President George Bush’s reaction when he was first notified of the tragedy. “I will never forget the look on President Bush’s face when Andy Card whispered in his ear as he was reading to a group of students,” Johnson said. “Twenty years later, on one

hand, I am happy that nothing like that has happened on American soil since then, but I am highly dismayed at how divided our country has become because of partisan politics,” Johnson added. “I think the lack of unity can potentially make it easier for another attack from foreign or domestic terrorists. I hope I’m wrong about that. “It is still good to be an American.” — Sharron Haley

LEE COUNTY TRAVIS WINDHAM Lee County Council chairman Travis Windham, chairman of Lee County Council, cannot believe 20 years have passed since one of the most pivotal moments in history occurred in his lifetime: the attacks of Sept. 11. That morning, Windham was at a county council meeting at the Lee County Courthouse. He was coming downstairs when a county employee told him about the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York. He, like other county employees, was caught off-guard by this attack and remembered the shocked looks on everyone’s faces. Windham said it took them by surprise because Americans never had to encounter such an attack on their own soil before. But one good thing that came out of that day was he felt it brought us together as a nation. “I think at the end of the day, it made us realize how vulnerable we are,” he said. “When something like that happens, it makes you realize how vulnerable you are, and we’ve always got to keep our guard up because it can certainly happen again.” He said everyone and future generations should always keep what happened that day in their minds to remind ourselves why we must stay vigilant and secure. — Kareem Wilson

Airlift pilot looks back at Sept. 11 mission BY AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. — Lt. Col. John Donahue, who serves with 628th Air Base Wing Plans here, had a role in America’s response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Following is a testimonial, in Donahue’s own words, on his unit’s and team members’ support for one of the few flights that were in the air on that day.

THE BEGINNING “Ten years ago, I was halfway through my Air Force career, and now, as I approach the end and the anniversary of Sept. 11, the day that would come to dominate the events of most of our lives and my career since, I wanted to share my ‘there I was story’ for that fateful day. “On Sept. 10, 2001, my crew and I left then-McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., on a routine presidential support mission [flying a C-141 Starlifter]. Although presidential support ranks as one of the Air Force’s highest priority missions, this one was supposed to be pretty cut and dry: a quick flight down to Jacksonville, Florida, where President Bush was meeting with educators and school children. Once there,

we would pick up a number of Secret Service agents, their gear and the presidential limousine and return them to then-Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. A minor malfunction of our weather radar system was the only snag, and it resulted in our staying overnight in Jacksonville, since the next day’s weather forecast looked promising for flying in clear weather back home. “At 9 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 11, I called the [Air Mobility Command’s 618th] Tanker Airlift Control Center [at Scott AFB, Illinois] in anticipation of our afternoon departure. TACC is the central nervous system that coordinates all United States military airlift and tanker missions worldwide. Before we could leave for Andrews, we had to have clearance from TACC. “TACC is always buzzing at a fever pitch, but the background that day sounded so chaotic it was distracting. I asked the staff sergeant controller what was going on. The controller told me a twin-engine plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York City, and the news services were just picking it up. I flipped on the television and was bombarded with live coverage of major damage to the

SEE PILOT, PAGE C11

THE SUMTER ITEM

9/11: 20 YEARS LATER

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021 - SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Remembering those from Shaw, Sumter who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country after 9/11

he numbers become difficult to fathom, the impact and implications even more so, when thinking about America’s longest war. Nineteen terrorists associated with al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, hijacked four commercial planes on 9/11 and flew them into New York City’s Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, while the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers counterattacked the hijacker pilot. The coordinated attacks directly killed 2,977 people, marking the single largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil. That includes the deaths of 441 first responders, the greatest loss of emergency responders on a single day in American history. Countless

more victims have perished since, whether from cancer, other associated illnesses or suicide. The ensuing War on Terror lasted 20 years and cost trillions of dollars. A 2018 study out of Brown University estimated the total human cost of America’s post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan is more than 500,000. That includes thousands of American military service members, civilian contractors and allied forces. Hundreds of thousands have been wounded, and millions have been displaced. The numbers become easier to fathom, the impact and implications even more so, when they hit close to home. The Sumter Item has record of six casualties connected to Sumter and Shaw Air Force Base from America’s ensuing War on Terror. Information is from Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter County Veterans Affairs and Item archives. — Kayla Green

The first post-9/11 death came from Operation Iraqi Freedom, when Sgt. Anthony Jones died on June 14, 2005. The 25-year-old was born in Sumter and entered the U.S. Army on March 23, 1999. He was re-classified as a wheel vehicle operator in 2002 and completed two rotations to Kuwait in support of the mission. His survivors included his wife, two sons, his parents, a sister and other relatives.

Staff Sgt. Sheldon Tate, 27, died on July 13, 2010, in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his unit was attacked. According to his obituary in The Item, Tate was a native of Sumter who joined the U.S. Army on Oct. 18, 2001, where he served as a food services specialist. He was deployed to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once before his death. He left behind his parents, a sister, his wife and a daughter, among other relatives and friends.

Andrew Bubacz, a 23-year-old who had graduated from Crestwood High School five years prior, died on Nov. 12, 2010, from head injuries suffered while maintaining a communications tower in Nuristan, Afghanistan. He spent most of his five years in the service as a computer specialist stationed in Oklahoma, and his first deployment came about a month before his death. A street in Sumter has since been named after him.

Lt. Col. Frank Bryant Jr., a former Shaw F-16 pilot who was stationed at Luke Air Force Base’s 56th Operations Group in Arizona, was among the nine Americans killed by an Afghan air force officer in an April 27, 2011, Kabul airport shooting. According to reporting from Shaw at the time, friends described him as humble, genuine and a “quiet giant.”

Sumter and Shaw then suffered two fatal F-16 crashes from the 77th Fighter Squadron in two years. Capt. James Steel was killed when his aircraft crashed into a mountain near Bagram Field in Afghanistan after a close air support mission in April 2013. Steel, 29, served in the 77th Fighter Squadron as the chief of mobility. He had graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2006 and completed pilot training before arriving at Shaw in 2010.

Then, in December 2014, Capt. William Dubois, 30, died when his aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff for a mission in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

Valerie Brunson, with Sumter County VA, also mentioned Mabry Memorial’s inclusion of Dale Cormier, the first Shaw pilot killed in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. The 30-year-old died when his F-16C jet crashed on the Saudi Arabian peninsula as he returned to base from a mission.