9/11 Remembered

Today is the anniversary of one of the defining moments in United States history. For our ‘Greatest Generation,’ it’s Dec. 7, 1941. For the Baby Boomers, it’s Nov. 22, 1963. Then there’s Sept. 11, 2001.

We asked some Valley residents their most vivid memory of that day a decade ago.

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“Watching the towers fall. I was working at a day care at that time and we had the TV on. We were just staring in complete awe of what was happening. Even though we weren’t in New York, we felt everything they felt. Just the devastation and the heartache.”

— Kristina Wilson, 32, Wasilla

“Those towers collapsing. I thought, ‘What the hell’s going on?’ It was just, I couldn’t believe it. There’s more security now and I don’t agree with some of the stuff they did with the war and that, but some of it was fine, and some of it they went a little overboard on.”

— Jerry Monnin, 67, Palmer

“My mother called, who lives in Oklahoma. She says, ‘You’re not going to believe this. The twin towers in New York are on fire.’ From that moment on, I turned the TV on and it was just sad, very sad. My husband is an Anchorage police officer, so he was up and running that day. It was very nerve-wracking the whole day.”

— Pam Ritala, 46, Wasilla

“I remember: “At first, when I woke up, I went into the living room. Back then I was still living with my mom, and I saw the first plane had crashed into the tower and I was like, what movie is this. They said it’s really happening. Then I saw the second plane crash and I was like, this can’t be happening. I was like, ‘Oh my, (crap), this is really happening.’”

— Daniel Edell, 27, Mat-Su

“Getting up, watching the news and seeing the planes hitting the towers. I just thought it was like a nightmare, that it couldn’t be real. Really, it was just, like, this can’t be happening.”

— Shelly Dushkin, 55, Wasilla