Kristine Rasmussen can still vividly remember where she was the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 — standing in the foyer of Merritt Secondary School in a state of shock the day the worst terrorist attack in American history unfolded before everyone’s eyes on TV.

At 8:46 a.m. that fateful day, the hijacked American Airlines flight 11 from Boston slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Centre in New York City.

The Boeing 767 filled with jet fuel left a smoldering hole near the top of the skyscraper.

Undoubtedly, the world was stunned at what had just taken place, and just 18 minutes later another hijacked boeing 767 crashed into the World Trade Centre, this time striking the south tower.

In Arlington, Va., shortly after the twin towers were struck, a plane was purposely crashed into the Pentagon, killing 125 people along with the 64 people on the aircraft.

By about 10:30 a.m., the towers had both collapsed, first the south tower and then the north.

The world’s tallest buildings were reduced to rubble in less than two hours.

All flights across North America temporarily shut down for the first time in history.

For the past 13 years, the events of September 11 have marked a day that lives on in infamy. Nineteen al-Qaida backed terrorists hijacked four commercial planes to carry out a suicide bombing. The fourth plane — flight 93 — was diverted from its target and crashed in a field in Pennsylvania when passengers tried to retake control of the plane.

Merrittonians were glued to their television sets that morning watching it all unfold on the news.

Rasmussen was a studious 17-year-old at the time and just starting her final year of high school. Her father was a teacher, so she would arrive early in the morning for school.

“I was the only student in the school at the time,” Rasmussen said. “I was looking down the hallway to the left past the office there, and the TVs were on, and it was just so surreal. There were a few teachers standing down below the TV watching and it was like watching a movie,” Rasmussen said of the replay of the planes hitting the towers.

The Merrittonian said she still remembers the feeling of shock that came over her. 

“Everybody was standing around with their jaws dropped to the floor looking at this footage of what had happened,” Rasmussen said.

“It was so vivid. I remember it to this day. I remember exactly where I was standing and what it looked like and the reaction of those around me,” she said.

Tracy Dunsmore had recently moved to Merritt for her job as an RCMP officer and recalled getting ready for work that morning with the TV news.

“It just came up on the news and I became glued to it,” Dunsmore said.

At the police station, a TV stayed on all day as officers went about their days.

Coun. Mike Goetz was working for the Ministry of Forests at the time, and like Dunsmore, Goetz first saw the footage before heading out to his job that morning. He said he remembers turning on his TV to see a smoking tower, prompting him to go wake up his wife.

Merritt Mayor Susan Roline was also getting ready to go to work that morning and recalled a feeling of disbelief at what she was seeing, thinking perhaps the whole thing was a hoax when she tuned in to see what had happened.

“It was surreal, like somebody was filming a movie,” Roline said.

Merritt resident Bob Baird, the city’s mayor in 2001, said he too was glued to his television that morning.

“I had two or three TVs going, and when I went down to the office at city hall we had another one going there,” Baird said.
“We were in shock.”

Baird said he continued to watch TV coverage of the attacks even at 11 p.m. that night.

Dunsmore said it took months before she felt that life was back to normal again.

Roline said she doesn’t think the world ever truly returned to a state of normalcy.

Goetz described the aftermath of the attacks as a “new normal,” noting the fact that airport screenings became stricter and there was a new awareness surrounding terrorism.

“Nobody had heard about the Taliban or Bin Laden or any of those things until that day,” Goetz said.

He also said air travel felt more carefree before the attacks.

“It woke us up to the fact that there are people out there who want to spread that kind of hate,” Goetz said.

“I think it has changed how we look at everything.”

Rasmussen said she remembers the attacks were a topic of conversation amongst her fellow high school students.

“For once, our focus had shifted and we were looking to something that was a little bit more world-scale, rather than just based solely in our tiny, little world, which was our high school at the time and our community,” Rasmussen said.

A total of about 3,000 people lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The numbers include 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 police officers and 37 port authority police officers.

The 9-11 terrorist attacks brought about many changes such as tightened airport security, but most notably, it led America’s war on terrorism, resulting in a decade-long conflict in the Middle East that continues to define the 21st century.

Merrittonian’s relative recalls events

Warren Best, a Merritt resident for 40 years, has a relative who experienced the events of the 9-11 terrorist attacks first-hand.

He told the Herald his second cousin, Kevin, was working as an accountant in a neighbouring building at the time. A few days after the tragedy, Best received an email his cousin wrote that day, describing what he witnessed.

I get off the elevator on the ninth floor and this guy grabs me and says, ‘Dude, a plane just crashed into the World Trade Centre, everyone is getting out of here.’ In my mind I am thinking, ‘Must have been a pretty small plane since there is no reason most planes would be flying too close to the WTC, writes Best’s relative.

Kevin goes on to write he went to the lobby of the building he was working in, which was about 100 yards from the World Trade Centre.

I see the side of the building burning and debris falling. I then see a guy on fire from the debris and people start covering him with towels and blankets as he burns to death. Someone yells, ‘Oh my God someone is falling.’ I look up and see a lady falling through the air. By this point I am almost sick to my stomach.

I then go upstairs because it appears that nothing will happen to our building. I get upstairs and everyone is watching CNN [in] the ninth floor lobby. All of a sudden we see another plane crash into the other tower and feel our building shake. People are starting to freak out.

Somebody says, ‘How could this happen twice?’ I think to myself, ‘That is no accident.’

Kevin writes that he hears a voice come over the PA system and announce their building is being evacuated. People move through the stairwell in an orderly fashion, but there is still a state of panic. Some people are crying, others are calling out names. He manages to get out of the building and is determined to leave the area.

Some people are storming out of the financial district, but many are standing around watching the people fall or jump out of the buildings. I look back to see one more guy falling. Now completely sick to my stomach, I start walking double time.

I get to the subway and it is chaos, and packed and hot.

Kevin wanted to get to Brooklyn, but subways to Brooklyn were cancelled. Instead, he decides to walk over the Manhattan Bridge.

The streets and bridge are a sea of people with one look on their faces — panic.

I get out and start walking and I can only see one tower. I think the other building is covered in smoke, but then I realize it has fallen down. I am now completely in a state of shock because even if most of the people got out of the building, there were hundreds of rescue personnel working right at the bottom of it.

About 10 minutes later someone screams, ‘Oh my God.’ I turn and look and see the other tower going down. I get home and call my mom and beak down. The ultimate number of casualties will numb everyone’s mind.