Some events clearly stand out from others.
They etch a permanent image in our minds, of where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news.
The day July 20, 1969 was like that for millions. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon that day.
When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, it touched the collective soul of the nation.
And then, there was Sept. 11, 2001.
On that morning, 19 terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes and deliberately crashed two of them into North Tower and South Tower of the World Trade Center. They smashed a third plane into the Pentagon. Passengers on the fourth plane overtook the hijackers and forced that plane to slam into an empty field in Pennsylvania.
While all of this was happening, most of us were simply going about our daily routines.
Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001, when you heard about the terrorist attacks?
How did you find out?
How did you react? How did it affect you? Has it had lasting impacts?
As the nation marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we want to pause to share the personal side of the story — as told through the memories of our readers.
We will be publishing a collection of essays, which will be edited for brevity and clarity.
Please be as concise as possible. Include your first and last name, and the community where you live, which will be published with your submission.
Please also include your email and telephone number, so we can reach back for additional information, if we need it.
If you have appropriate photos that you can scan and email, we’d love to consider those for our tribute, too.
Deadline for submissions is Sept. 10. Our planned publication date is Sept. 15.
Please send your submissions with the words — Sept. 11 Tribute — in the subject line, to .
Published September 01, 2021
