20th Anniversary Memories of Sept. 11

Photo: Bumble Dee – stock.adobe.com

BVM Katherine Kandefer was in her second week of a new job in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001.

The office of the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership was about eight miles from the Pentagon and had the only television in its building. People gathered to watch news coverage of the World Trade Center twin towers being hit by airplanes.

Then, at 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. All 64 people on the plane and 125 people in the Pentagon were killed.

“What I saw was sheer panic,” Katherine says. “As soon as the Pentagon was hit, Washington was closed down.”

Public transportation on the subway and busses stopped.

“Misinformation was rampant,” and rumors spread that other federal buildings would be attacked. “There were announcements saying, ‘Leave D.C.,’” she remembers.

Phone lines were overwhelmed and she could not reach BVMs or her family to let them know she was alright. Her sister was able to get a call through and Katherine asked her to contact BVMs in Dubuque and other family members.

Amid the horror, “We started hearing stories of people helping people. For me, that was the redeeming part,” Katherine says.

Emergency and disaster personnel rushed to the scene with fire trucks, military vehicles, police cars, ambulances, and helicopters.

She was not able to leave her workplace until 3:30 p.m. when a colleague drove her home. “By that time, there were no cars on the street. We probably passed a dozen cars. Everybody had already gone,” Katherine says.

The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial remembers each of the victims with their name engraved on a cantilevered bench over a lighted pool of flowing water. “It’s a beautiful place,” Katherine says.

The 20th anniversary of Sept. 11 brings back difficult memories for all of those who remember that bright, sunny Tuesday morning when the world changed.

It doesn’t seem possible that 20 years has passed and that 9/11 is history, not lived experience, for an entire generation born after 2001.

“I was happy that they rebuilt the Pentagon so fast. For me, I think it shows our resilience and what we can do if we choose to work together,” Katherine says.