The Eastern Shore remembers 911

By Linda Cicoira

Twenty-five years ago this month, when residents of the Eastern Shore and those across the country heard that a plane rammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, they first thought a minor accident was being reported.

Then,17 minutes later, when a second jetliner hit the South Tower, people realized they were hearing about terrorist attacks on the radio and watching it on live TV. It was Sept. 11, 2001. A third plane flew into the Pentagon in D.C., and a fourth plane went down in an empty field in Pennsylvania, but was likely headed to the White House or another capital destination.

All were shocked at what occurred, terrified at what more might be to come, and outraged at the sheer audacity of the al-Qaeda terrorists’ actions that are documented as being directed and financed by Osama bin Laden.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day. Some were stuck inside the burning skyscrapers or were passengers on the hijacked jets. Firefighters, police officers, and first responders died from the aftereffects.

The world watched in horror as the streets filled with debris and so much smoke and fumes as the buildings fell to the ground. Thousands struggled with cancer and chronic health problems related to the toxicity from the site.

Many more can’t forget.

“It was a beautiful, cool September morning,” said Don Amadeo of Harborton. “I remember heading to work at the sheriff’s office that morning and thinking how pretty the weather was. A group of us were preparing to head out for the day when we heard that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. At first, we all speculated and assumed it was probably a Cessna or (another) small aircraft that had, for whatever reason, gone off course. A few minutes later, we learned a plane had hit the second tower. We knew then it wasn’t an accident …”

“I watched (on TV) in horror as the towers were burning, and the people there, knowing there was no way out, chose to jump rather than burn to death,” he said. “I stared in utter disbelief as the first tower collapsed … my mind wouldn’t let me believe it. ‘What happened? Where’s the tower? It’s got to be there in the dust cloud, and I just can’t see it,’” he had thought.

“The rest of that day and the days after it were surreal,” Amadeo continued. “Everyone, particularly in the public safety sector, was hypervigilant,” wondering “if something would happen here. ‘Would terrorists try to destroy the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to limit access to the Norfolk Naval Base? Would Wallops be targeted?’ These scenarios, to me and others, were not out of the realm of possibility. Volunteer firefighters would go to their respective stations after work … in the event something happened locally, while mourning the victims of the attack and the 343 FDNY brother firefighters who tragically lost their lives trying to save others. I remember that edginess lasting for quite a while.”

A few years ago, Amadeo visited the memorial at Ground Zero. “Being from the rural Shore, the sheer size of NYC itself, much less the scale of the damage and destruction that day, was almost incomprehensible,” he said. “It’s one thing to see it on TV, but totally different in real life. Standing there, you get a real feel for the scope of utter destruction,” he said.

Ken Tucker, of Parksley, felt “confusion, then horror, then rage” after finishing his first lecture of the day a little before 9 a.m., at the Eastern Shore Community College on Sept. 11, 2001. He was watching a TV with others in the student lounge when the second plane struck.

Then, he took action.

“I drove to New York and volunteered to help at Ground Zero,” he said. “I was there for five days. It almost cannot be described. The total destruction, the acrid smell, the smell of human waste, the lack of preparation for such a sensory overload.” When asked if it left him with an everlasting feeling, Tucker said, “That emotion is too complex to even try to explain. I think only the people who were there and experienced that horror could ever understand.”

“For a year after my time at Ground Zero, every time I coughed, I could taste Ground Zero,” he said. “They gave us respirators with no filters, then paper masks that were worthless. I have been back once when all the debris was removed, and there were just holes in the ground.

“When I was in New York, there were people from all over the country volunteering. Actually, there were people from all over the world who volunteered to help. Pretty remarkable.”

Windy Grace Mason, of Belle Haven, had gone with her children’s father, who is a truck driver, to take produce up north. Her oldest child stayed home with family and went to school while they were out of town.

“The bus never came to bring her home,” said Mason. “This had never happened. I was super upset and worried.” When they went to the school, they learned “what was happening. I was very frightened, a nervous wreck. I held my family closer, and I believe that was the very last trip I took without them.” She remembers “the feeling of distress/panic” and still has “the horrible feeling of powerlessness, not being able to protect my family. It lingers, and I think we all still feel it.”

Michael Stephano, of Cashville, had sailed across the Bay to Reedville with his then brother-in-law. “We woke up early and were looking for a (radio) station that carried Howard Stern. Instead, we caught a bit on a local farm station that a plane had flown into a tower of the World Trade Center. I listened for a few minutes, making comments about the pilot dropping a cigarette in his lap or spilling his coffee … as the news progressed and I realized the gravity of the situation, a second plane hit the other tower, and then a plane flew into the Pentagon, not 30 miles to my northwest.”

“Because of this disaster, I will never forget one of the most exhilarating sails of my life,” Stephano said. “It was a crystal-clear day with a northwest wind of 20- 30 knots. We were anchored in a little hole in the wall called Horn Harbor. Doing some quick math and thinking the worst, I got the hell out of my then downwind position. In my mind, I imagined the potential of a gas attack from the downed aircraft. We motored … into the Wicomico River heading East … I had two reefs in the main, a slab reef in the mizzen, and the staysail was reefed. With gusts to 30, the boat was making a solid seven knots on a broad reach,” Stephano continued.

It was “truly strange and eerie” that in a region surrounded by about six airports, “there was not a plane in the sky,” he said. “It is probably the first and last time I will ever observe a sky devoid of the familiar contrails. Military vessels went steaming north at high speed, presumably up the Potomac or to Baltimore. As we crossed the ship channel, we heard on the radio that the first building had collapsed. About this time a fighter jet came up the bay and made a slow pass on us. He was so close I could see the pilot’s face mask. He made another pass and screamed north up the bay. The second building collapsed. We were … heading across the target ships west of Tangier Island. The rail of my ketch was solidly buried even with the reduced sail area.”

Stephano and his mate continued to listen “to the incredible news” through the AM band radio. When they arrived at East Point, cleanup was left for later. “I raced home to see the images on television. My children were already home from school, and we sat together in disbelief … I lost two friends in the WTC,” he said.

Amy Porter Leighton, of Craddockville, was in nursing school in 2001. “We all paused, gathered, and turned a television on to watch live coverage. Cell phones were ringing all around, with calls coming in to classmates who had family in the Pentagon and surrounding area. Classes were dismissed. We still stayed, supporting each other, trying to navigate this horror and confusion … It made me more aware and cautious. Having a fairly sheltered upbringing, I never really imagined something like this could occur.”
She remembered “the sadness. The general heaviness that followed. How something so shockingly tragic rippled all the way to our small towns and down our twisting back roads. The overall magnitude. And how it brought the community … together. It left me with a sense of vulnerability. A reduction in trust.”

Bobby Doughty, of South Chesconessex, not only remembers when the towers fell, he saw them being built in 1968 when he was stationed at Governors Island in Coast Guard Radio School. He was working a contract job for Newport News Shipbuilding as a planner and estimator when 9/11 happened.

“Shock. Total shock,” he said. “I realized a moment of change was upon us. The buildings were massive. No one could imagine that such … could happen … here in America. Shock and disbelief sum it up.”

Mike Algiere, of Greenbackville, was working nights at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, in Ossining, N.Y., when the terrorist acts occurred. He and his partner went to a tavern after their shift and were watching Magnum PI on a big-screen TV when another screen had CNN reporting the first plane crash, and then the second.

“We knew something was wrong,” he said. “We both thought that America was under attack. We went back to our trailers at the jail to get more info. Both of us were in shock.” In the days that followed, the prison, on the Hudson River, was locked down.
“After it came out that the terrorists used the river as a guide, I realized that sometime that morning the planes passed over us, or at least close. It did change my life for quite a while. All sporting events were postponed. We worked a lot of overtime for various reasons. The thing that stands out the most was that I went to Yankee Stadium for their first game back. President Bush threw out the first pitch. I was never prouder of this country.”

Jan Coulbourne and her husband were shopping in Exmore when they learned the news. “I remember someone coming into the store, relaying what was happening. It was a paralyzing moment and seemed unbelievable. We immediately drove … home and started watching the coverage in horror, mostly in silence. I had a cousin working in one of the towers. We didn’t find out until the following day that he was OK. Thinking about the devastation was horrific for us and everyone we knew. I have to admit that I felt the same horror on the day of the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, even more so because … the people involved considered themselves Patriotic Americans.”

“When the first plane hit, my mind went straight to history,” said Vic Peppler, of Wachapreague. “I remembered that a B-25 bomber struck the Empire State Building on July 28, 1945, killing 14 people – three on the plane and 11 inside … yet, the building remained standing. Not knowing the size of the aircraft that hit the tower, I hoped the damage might be similar: terrible, but contained.”

“Then my thoughts snapped to something far more personal, to my two friends who worked in each tower,” he said. “Thank God they both survived, though it took two days to reach them because millions of people were desperately trying to make the same calls. One … had been running late that morning. His office was above where the first plane struck. That timing saved his life. And when the broadcast showed the second plane hitting, any hope that this was an accident vanished. In that moment, it was unmistakable: we were under attack,” He added.

Bonnie Munn, of Wachapreague, was at her desk when she heard about it on WESR. “I told my coworkers it must have been a private plane that crashed into the building. Later, when it was announced it was a terrorist attack, I was heartbroken and very angry.”

She lived about two hours north of Manhattan for nearly 20 years. After 9/11, she was more aware of her surroundings in the city. “New York State Police troopers were on all of the trains … What I remember most was the devastation, and my son-in-law, a state trooper, having to go there to work … at the morgue accepting body bags with the remains and/or parts of bodies. So many of his fellow troopers have passed away … from the results of being there. Particularly in the early days, with all of the toxic dust flying around.”

Munn said she donates to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which helps heroes by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first-responder families, and she visits the memorial when she is in NYC.

Ed Wessells, of Chincoteague, was an 8th grader at Parksley Middle School in 2001. He remembered “sitting in a crowded classroom connected to our school library, the old TV room where about 34 of us had class every day. Morning announcements had just come on, and everything felt normal until teachers … were handed slips of paper.”

“We didn’t know what was on them, but we could tell something was different,” Wessells continued. “My teacher, Mrs. Merrill, one of the most genuine and caring people I’ve ever known, read her note and immediately had tears in her eyes. That’s when our class realized something was terribly wrong. We weren’t told anything at school. We continued learning the Pythagorean Theorem until dismissal at 3:30 p.m. It wasn’t until we got home and turned on the TV that we learned what had happened, because every station was covering the attacks.”

“Shock, confusion, and a heaviness that didn’t make sense to me at that age,” was his thinking. “Even without knowing the details, you could feel the fear and sadness in the adults … When I finally saw the footage at home, it was overwhelming, something you never forget.”

“As a kid, I didn’t have the power to make big changes, but the day shaped how I view service, community, and the people who protect us,” he said. “It made me more aware of the world and more appreciative of first responders and military members. Even now, I make a point to thank police officers, EMTs, and firefighters whenever I see them.

“I remember my teacher’s face, the way she tried to stay composed even though she was hurting,” Wessells said. “Years later, I read an editorial about her retirement, and she said 9/11 was the hardest day of her entire teaching career. She was instructed not to tell us what had happened, and knowing her, that tore her up inside. She was always upfront with her students, always kept us informed, and being forced to stay silent was painful for her. That moment — her reaction, her humanity, is what stays with me.”
“It left me with a lifelong sense of unity, gratitude, and respect for those who serve. It also left me with a deep awareness of how quickly life can change. We will never forget 9/11 as long as we live.”

Kelly Bulin, of Onancock, was at a hotel in Charlotte, N.C., for a national conference with a large U.S military presence and others from across the world. “I was ironing my clothes, preparing to go downstairs to the ballroom,” she said. “I had the morning news on. I watched the second plane fly into the second tower. My mind couldn’t comprehend what was happening. I went to find my coworkers and, with the hundreds of conference participants, watched the horror of that day unfold.”
She tried to call her family, including two brothers who were flying for business that day. Both were later found safe. One brother’s plane was forced to land in Charlotte and sat on the tarmac for three hours before passengers were allowed off. They drove home the next day.

Bulin was horrified. “My family made safety plans, which included how we’d find each other and meet up if separated, and/or phone and transportation systems went down.” She remembers “the scenes of New Yorkers walking out of the city covered in dust,” people jumping from the Twin Towers, and “how life can change so quickly for thousands of people in horrific ways.”

Natasha Truckner lived in Onley in 2001. She was at home with her mother and immediately called her sister, who had just moved to South Carolina with her niece and nephew. “I watched it unfold on TV … was in disbelief. Later that day, I had to go to Virginia Beach for an MRI and remember being scared to death because I was pulled over at the bridge and they were searching every car. I remember thinking that nothing would ever be the same again and wondered if we would ever feel safe again.”

Alone in the car and 21 years old, Truckner said she remembered thinking, “I think the bridge is going to get blown up. That’s why they’re checking in my car.” Rumors were circulating “that they were going to blow up the tunnels, so it took a little while to get that thought out of my head.”

“I think everyone probably changed something in their lives after seeing that,” she said. “I remember that whole day very well, but what I was most horrified by was the people trapped and not being able to get out, jumping out of the buildings, and hearing that people were trapped in the elevators for days after, hearing that people called loved ones to say goodbye, and first responders running into buildings that were crumbling.”

“It started as shock and fear,” Truckner said of her feelings. “Then changed to sadness and heartbreak for all the lives lost. And then to a feeling of love and unity as the whole nation came together.”

Diana M. Davis was at her clothesline in her backyard in Davis Wharf when she heard the phone ringing. It was her mother saying to hurry and turn on the TV. Davis called other loved ones. She remembers feeling “shock, fear, anxiety, and prayers … as I got back to the clothes.”

Keith Underhill, of Eastville, “was watching the morning news and saw it unfold as it happened. I realized that America dropped the ball trusting that the world wants to be free. I researched Islam. I purchased and read the Quran” to understand “the thought process of this religion … We are at war with Iran because there has always been a war against any nation not under Muslim law,” he said. “Any nation, not just America. The Quran tells that lies, killing, (and) anything is acceptable to further Islam … Spend the time to find the truth. I did. We are in trouble if Islam spreads.”

Debbie Bender, of Cape Charles, said she was returning dishes to people who had brought food for her ill mother-in-law. At the first house, “people were watching the television. The first plane had already hit. The second plane hit while I was standing there. I really don’t think I’ve ever been so shocked in my life. We just sat there watching.” It left Bender with the feeling that “never will our country be taken down like that again.”

Glenda Turlington, of Melfa, was camping on Assateague in Maryland when she heard what had happened. “We had our daughter pick up our granddaughter from Miss Jean’s, and empty our bank accounts and come to Assateague. It was eerily quiet. Nothing was in the sky, just silence except for folks listening to portable radios,” she remembered. “I still notice unfamiliar air traffic.” They stayed there for another week.

Connie Campbell, of Painter, a banker, was “working when we all learned of the devastation. She was in “total shock and disbelief.” A TV was “immediately turned on to learn what was happening. I just felt such sadness for all who were affected by the devastation and loss of life and destruction that we were seeing. I think I felt that life can change in an instant and that we need to show love and kindness more.”

Valerie Daggins, of Exmore, a hairstylist, was “doing a client’s hair, wondering why the news was on all the channels before realizing what was going on.” She felt “shocked, hurt, and loved on my family more,” Daggins said. She remembered “my daughter calling from school, crying. I will always remember that day,” she added.

Peyton Jane Muhic Stauffer, of Jamesville, was a student at Broadwater Academy when she heard the news while in a class. “I was very confused/afraid. I stayed glued to the TV in the senior lounge. I almost cancelled my senior trip to Hawaii because I was too afraid to fly.” She remembers “all the panic and chaos” and still has “a fear of flying to this day.”

Kathy Kromer, of Harborton, was living at the tip of Long Island, and was close to the city when she heard the news. “We had just finished breakfast at a diner when I heard someone say a plane hit one of the towers. Horrible for a small amount of people, but not particularly concerning,” she thought. “When we got to the banking center, they were all a flutter, and we learned it was much more serious, but the second plane hadn’t hit yet. We were in a central banking complex, and there was some talk that the area was in danger.”

“They quickly ran our refinancing through, and we headed home. I turned the news on in the car and couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” she continued. “I was shocked to my core once I got home and saw the videos of the strikes and fires … I knew this was a world-changing event and, short of Pearl Harbor, before I was born, I knew this had to be the worst act of war on American soil.”

“My other concern was that my cousin may have been in one of the buildings,” she continued. “We did find out by late afternoon that he was in the building next to the towers and was safe … just the week before I had driven past the towers after crossing the Verrazzano Bridge. It was still morning, and those two towers sparkled in the morning sun. I remember feeling in awe.”

“I had been at the top of one of the towers a couple of years before on a school trip, so my brain kept running through what the people who were inside went through,” she continued. “It was hard to wrap your head around. I was in the volunteer fire dept, and like all of New York, we sent a team to help in any way we could. Those of us who lived in New York, I think, had an added layer to our horror.” This survey “brought back a lot of memories from that … time. I even got a bit of a gut punch, and I am sure I will think about it a lot today. Thanks for keeping the story alive.”

Andrea Mason, of Parksley, said she and one of her sisters “were loading the car to drive to Dulles and fly to Paris to celebrate her birthday. We drove as far as Salisbury, where we stopped at a friend’s home for an update and a recommendation. We returned home, but did fly out as soon as Air France allowed us to rebook, about 10 days later. What I remember most is how kind the people of Paris were to us.

Victoria Weiskopf was working in Columbia, Md., and was she told of the first plane crash after leaving a meeting. “No one knew why, and in my own mind I thought it was a small plane and an accident. Within minutes, we learned … that yet another plane had crashed into the South Tower. I recall we collectively had the same thought at the same time. This was no accident; this was terrorism.”

“That frightened us, as our Applied Physics Lab was heavily involved in national defense. The word spread that more planes were possibly headed our way. When the plane hit the Pentagon, APL was evacuated.” One of her colleagues was killed at the Pentagon. Her daughters, who worked at the FAA in Silver Springs, were evacuated from their jobs too. They could see the smoke and flames rising from the Pentagon. They drove 20 miles north and came to APL to get me … We drove the short distance home, stopping at one of our favorite spots in the country, where we gave thanks for safety and prayed for those who were in harm’s way.”

Weiskopf’s son called her at some point. “He had a close friend who was working in the South Tower. (The friend) had a big family of young kids, and later we learned he had called that awful morning and had spoken with each child; then he jumped. The experience has left me with the foundational expectation that anything can happen at any time. Strangely, this has brought me some inner calm. No need to worry, fret, or be frightened. None of this will help.”

Andrea Giddens-Bolden, a Painter native who lives in Chesapeake, remembered walking down the hallway at the school where she taught when a co-worker told her what happened. “I thought it was fake. I know that as an African-American, the USA will manipulate a situation for its own purpose. It was only after seeing the news that I truly understood what we as a nation were witnessing in real time. I had a cousin who was to have a meeting in the Twin Towers, but it was canceled that day.”

Angie Huether Crutchley, of Exmore, was just out of college and selling commercials for cable TV. “My manager was coming across the bridge-tunnel to work with me that day. We both started hearing things on the radio. We met at a local hotel lobby with 10 or 15 other strangers and watched TV silently, while sharing the same fears, shock, and emotions,” she said. “It was very surreal. I remember the jumpers. Placing my mind and heart in their bodies, and trying to imagine that impossible choice of burning or falling. At the time, the country felt very united. Especially afterwards. It was sadness for the people in the families, quickly followed by united kindness.”

Mary N. Smith Middle School was locked down after the plane flew into the Twin Towers, a former teacher from Parksley recounted. “The principal was waiting for a report to determine the level of danger for everyone. My classroom was outside in one of the trailers. So, we locked the door, and everyone was asked to remain quiet. We sat there for about 20 minutes. Then, … everyone in the trailers was moved into the library.” The teacher said four TV stations were streaming the news.

“When I saw that first plane hit and the building implode, everything stopped,” she continued. “You could hear a pin drop in that library. No one was moving, talking, or barely breathing. I went on a heightened alert, followed everything happening in the news, and waited for my mom to call with updates on family who live in New York. My cousin was running late for work that day and was spared. Another cousin went to work, but had to return home as soon as she got there. She was spared. My cousin, who worked at the Pentagon, didn’t go in that day. I stopped flying for a while. I changed the times that I would fly when I started flying again,” she said.

“Even today, I’m strategic about the time I schedule flights – a subconscious fear around the time everything happened. I still use the news footage in my Stress Management classes. When I see pictures of the memorial, I get emotional. I want to visit it, but I can’t bring myself to do so. There are so many emotions still surrounding my memories of that day. I’m grateful for all the distractions that kept my family members from going or making it to work that day. It’s a day I will never forget. I even remember what I was wearing. That’s how clear it still rests in my memory.”

Brenda Jackson, of Melfa, had just gotten off a night shift, put my kindergartener on the bus, and was getting ready to sleep when my husband yelled to me from the living room. I saw the second tower come down on TV,” she added. Jackson was “heartbroken, scared, and angry. I mentally prepared for more attacks.” She lost a former classmate in one of the towers. “We all need to be prepared because you never know when it could happen again.”

Randy Lewis, of Wachapreague, “was watching TV and talking to my then father-in-law as the plane flew into the second tower. The first tower was on fire, and we thought it was a terrible accident until the second plane hit … It was truly shocking and almost surreal like some horrific movie that was unfolding as we watched. The world changed that day, and things haven’t been the same since.

Angela Zuniga of Accomac, was getting ready to feed her baby and turned on the TV on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. She lived in Parksley then and saw something about an accident. She changed the channel and realized “everything was the same on all the TV channels. Then my husband told me a plane collided with the Twin Towers. I was scared every time new things came out about the case. It was very sad. It was a difficult experience. I think the people who lived through it will never be able to get over it,” she said.

Kira Koerner, of Painter, and her family were living in Virginia Beach when 9/11 occurred. “My youngest sister hadn’t even been born yet, and my mum was still homeschooling us. I was sitting in the upstairs room we used as our classroom. It’s because of 9/11 that I remember that room more vividly than the rest of the house.”

She also remembers her “mom calling out to my dad to look at the TV and them trying to be quiet about their panic while Dad tried to call our family in New York. I think at first none of the calls went through, but we were most worried about my cousin T.J. … because he was a beat cop for the NYPD. We found out later … he had gotten stuck in traffic coming off the Island,” Koerner said.

“I was young, but old enough to know something really bad had happened, especially because my family was involved. I wouldn’t say I was scared of anything happening to us at the time, but I was scared for them and all the people that had been hurt, and I was sad. Still am. Any tragedy leaves me with an ache, but 9/11 does come a little closer to home because for those first few dark hours we didn’t know if our family was hurt or not. The thing I remember most, though, is my mom’s voice, sitting on our old table bench, refusing to do my math homework again, and hearing her call out for my dad in such a quiet but fear-stricken voice.

Debbie Bridges was at work at Rayfield’s Pharmacy in Nassawadox when she heard the news. She remembered “being terrified, in disbelief, and worried more.” Her daughter was abroad for her third year of college. She recalled “the horrifying live coverage; those terrifying images will stay with me forever. Knowing that it maybe could have been avoided if we had paid attention to information/warning signs. How it brought this country so close together, and now 25 years later, how divided we have become.”

Darcel Bowers, of Painter, was working about five miles from Dulles International Airport when she learned of the attack. She was coordinating a board of directors’ meeting. Several of the directors came in from NYC the previous night.

When the office phone rang; I answered, and a director’s wife said, ‘Turn on the TV, now. The Twin Towers have been hit by a plane.’ “

“I interrupted the meeting, and time stopped as we all watched the second plane crash,” she remembered. “It was very surreal … people wanted to go home… no planes or trains … renting a car was the only option. These people all had friends who worked either in the Twin Towers or very close by.”

Next, we heard an airplane was circling Dulles Airport, just 30 minutes from Reagan Washington Airport. We all went outside, saw it, and we froze. Work was shut down; go home.” She called her husband, Andy Bowers. “I can’t remember what I said. I went home. I thought that my children were safer there. Very confused. Somehow my kids showed up. Andy too. Then, as we were all together, we saw the destruction unfold on TV.” It made her “love more and support all the first responders and our military. I had a nephew who was at the army station in Uzbekistan,” she said.