By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Nineteen years ago, Les Southwick was on his way home from a job in Wauseon when he heard news of a plane striking the first World Trade Center Tower.
“By the time I got home, the towers had fallen,” Southwick said Friday morning on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
“We didn’t understand then how much the world would change,” he said.
As the anniversary neared this year, Southwick was troubled by the change seen in the U.S.
“I’ve never really seen our country as divided as it is now,” he said.
So Southwick, a survey tech with the City of Bowling Green, organized a 9/11 program for Friday morning in City Park. Because of COVID-19, the memorial was attended by few.
“This seemed like a good day to remind people of that day,” he said. “It’s something important to remember.”
Moments frozen in time
While the day of the attacks may now be a blur, some memories are still vivid. For many, the moment they learned of the first plane crash into the World Trade Center Tower is unforgettable.
Mayor Mike Aspacher was on a construction site in Defiance, with 300 to 400 workers. When the news came out, time stood still.
“Work stopped,” Aspacher said. “There was a lot of fear and anger.”
Fire Chief Bill Moorman was working at St. Luke’s Hospital.
“There was a television in the breakroom, and everyone was there, in disbelief,” he said. “We came together. Our lives changed at that moment.”
Police Chief Tony Hetrick was at the BMV in Findlay earlier that morning after selling a vehicle. He had a court appearance at 9 a.m.
“That’s when the first tower fell. Everything stopped. Everybody was watching on TV.”
Hetrick, who had gotten out of the military in 1997, considered re-enlisting.
“But I thought, where’s the battlefield? The battlefield is here as well,” he said.
So Hetrick stayed on the police force, and did his part here. Law enforcement worked with the FBI to run down leads on potential terrorist activity.
“We were all issued gas masks,” he said. “We carry that stuff to this day because of 9/11.”
City Public Works Director Brian Craft, who was an inspector with the city 19 years ago, was on a site on East Wooster Street that morning. When he returned to the municipal building, people were crowded around a TV in the mayor’s office.
He still remembers the moment the second plane hit.
“It went from an accident to terrorism in a split second,” Craft said.
Police Deputy Chief Justin White was a cadet in the police academy at the Ohio State Patrol on Sept. 11. Little information was shared with the cadets during the day – but in the evening a television was brought in so they could see what transpired.
“It was very quiet,” White said. “We all just sat there and watched. It was surreal.”
Assistant Municipal Administrator Joe Fawcett, then a student at BGSU, was getting ready for a business communication class that morning. He remembered watching the images on TV – and recalled the impact that had on him.
Fawcett, who was a junior in the Army ROTC battalion in 2001, went on to serve two tours in Iraq in 2004 and 2006.
“It made me want to go do the job, for sure,” he said.
Memorial in City Park
This Friday morning, as it neared the time of the first plane strike, Southwick began the program.
“Nineteen years ago today, the world as we know it changed in an instant,” he said.
And the memory of that day is important in this time of national turmoil.
“I think this is a good time for healing,” Southwick said.
Aspacher spoke of watching in awe as first responders ran to help. He recalled the incredible feeling of loss and of helplessness for the families who lost loved ones.
“Our country came together that day. There were no Republicans, no Democrats. We were all Americans,” Aspacher said.
Hetrick talked of the unforgettable images of that day.
“I still remember seeing people falling from the towers,” he said.
Hetrick spoke of the lingering effects, with first responders and others contracting cancer from the scene.
“That suffering still continues 19 years later,” he said.
And he talked about the strength of the first responders.
“The incredible amount of fear they must have felt, but they pressed on. And we must press on,” Hetrick said.
Fire Chief Bill Moorman spoke of the far reaching impact of the Sept. 11 attacks – with nearly 3,000 people from 78 nations losing their lives. And he talked about the bravery of first responders.
“Those who never fail to answer the call for their community in need,” Moorman said. “It was the worst day we ever saw, but it brought out the best in all of us.”
The fire bell then rang four times – one for each of the four planes that crashed that day.
Southwick is hoping the 20th anniversary of 9/11 can be remembered with a larger attendance.
“Hopefully next year we won’t have a pandemic, and we can do a grander thing,” Southwick said.
