On Sep. 11, 2001, a series of four airliners carried out an attack on the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. The third plane hit the Pentagon outside Washington D.C. and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Over 3,000 people lost their lives in this attack just 11 years ago today. The day’s events triggered the U.S. attack on Al-Qeada and Osama Bin Laden.

BHS students and staff recollect that day twelve years ago.

• “I was sitting in an office of a real estate company and somebody said the towers had been hit and they grabbed a TV real quick and turned on. We spent the entire rest of the business day watching everything unfold. I just remember thinking that this is happening on U.S. soil. Everybody was just walking around in a daze, everybody stopped working, everybody stopped everything and we just sat there and watched.” – Science teacher Scott Crenshaw
• “I was in my first year of college and I got back from a morning class, turned on the TV. Did not really know what was going on, kept watching the news as everything kind of progressed. I woke my roommate up, and then basically sat there for the first part of the day, had a lot of different thoughts of just really being shocked. It was a crazy time, a lot of people had a lot of different thoughts about what it might mean.” – FACS teacher Paul Musselman
• “I was working at Baldwin High School at the time. I was walking from my office to the main office, when I saw footage of the first airplane hitting one of the Twin Towers. At first I was stunned and could not process what I was seeing on the big screen TV in the cafeteria. Then, I remember thinking that our way of life would be changed forever.” – counselor Melody Hoffsommer
• “I was looking at a piece of land to purchase out in the country. I had not listened to the morning news because my husband and I had to look at the property before work in the morning. We noticed all the airplanes in the sky were making circles and turning around. We got in the car and heard the news on the radio. We went straight home and turned on the TV.” – secretary Cindy Kruger
• “I was living in Virginia on a military base, so it was a big deal. I didn’t get home until about 7 that night on the bus because of all of the chaos and traffic.” – senior Chessica Evans
• “I recall coming into my classroom at 8 a.m. and a student came in and said, turn your radio on, something bad has happened. I remember teachers taking groups of students to the cafeteria to watch the news throughout most of the day.” – English/Journalism teacher Kit Harris
• “I was too young to remember. I remember my parents being devastated.” – sophomore Wyatt Parmley
• “I remember riding bikes with my mom, and we looked up and saw planes heading back to the airports. And we went back home and turned on the TV. I remember going back home and playing Legos.” – sophomore Christian Gaylord
• “I remember being in school, I was in half day kindergarten in the morning, when I got home in the afternoon, I remember my parents were watching it on TV. I just remember it being a terrorist attack.” – junior Tucker Clark
• “I was in first grade in Texas, I remember we had to go out and stand by the flagpole and somebody sang the national anthem, people were crying. I remember being confused and scared.” – senior Brooke Randels
• “I was walking into the Community Center in Madison, WI which is where I was working at the time. We turned on the TV when we heard about the first plane hitting the tower and I thought it was an accident and then the second plane hit and I knew it was intentional. I was worried about my parents because they were in Alaska on vacation and they were stuck there for two and a half weeks because they could not get a flight out.”- secretary Kim Bergan
• “I was shocked. I tried to stay in the cafeteria and watch the news as much as possible that day.” – Activities Director Gary Stevanus
• “I was in Mrs. Verhaeghe’s class at Vinland and our principal Mr. Scott came in with a weird look on his face and told her to turn her radio on. I didn’t know what was going on.” – senior Clay Thomas
• “I was in afternoon kindergarten so I hadn’t gone to school yet at the time of the attack. I remember watching TV with my mom and she was crying.” – junior Reese Randall
• “All I remember is that I was in Mrs. O’Neil’s first grade, but that’s it.” – senior Andrea Baltzell
• “I had just got the kids to school and I was watching TV and my husband said something about a plane hitting the Twin Towers and at first we thought it had been an accident and then the second plane hit. After the second plane hit I was scared and wondering how many other places would get hit.” – food service staff Charlene Hannon
• “I was here at school and one of my students came in and told me a plane had struck one of the Twin Towers so we went down to the cafeteria and saw the second plane hit.” – Social Studies teacher Kathleen Sigvaldson
• “I remember not knowing what was going on but the teachers were watching the news and a lot of parents came and pulled their kids out of school.” – senior Mackenzie Johnson