Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Radio Iowa’s Dar Danielson looks back at how a couple of people with Iowa ties saw the events: Danielson 911 remember 1:20
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Center Point native Peg Carver was at a business meeting in New York that Tuesday morning 10 years ago. The building had a wide view of downtown. Carver says everyone gathered around the window when the first plane hit and they saw the flames shooting out of the window, but at that time they thought it was a traffic plane that hit the building.
They started to walk away to start their meeting and she says the people at the window started to scream, as they had seen the second plane hit. Carver says they tried to continue the meeting, but then things got worse. Carver says people kept coming in and saying that “now we hear that they’re bombing Camp David” or that something was happening with the president.
She says all the information was wrong, but had been picked up somehow and passed on. Carver says it wasn’t much longer before the first tower collapsed. The second tower then collapsed as they watched from the window.
Carver says they watched an enormous column of smoke and people stood in shock kept saying over and over “there’s nothing there.” Carver says “It was the most surreal thing that I’ve ever experienced.” Carver found a hotel to stay in that night and eventually had to drive back home to Seattle where she worked.
Former Iowa Congressman Jim Nussle was in Washington and saw the explosion as the plane hit the Pentagon. Nussle talked later that day about the events. Nussle said, “We need to be shocked by this and we need to channel that shock into action, and I believe we will,just based on what I’ve seen, Americans and what they’re doing.” As the day wore on heightened security measures was discussed for state buildings, officials at airports across the state tried to figure out how to get grounded passengers home.
A call went out for blood donations, and there was discussion as well whether the Iowa State-Iowa football game should go on. That game was eventually moved to later in the year.