The I-95 Airstaff Remembers Where they were on 9/11

There are few moments in life where people can tell you exactly what they were doing when they occurred. For some, it's when JFK was shot or when we landed on the moon. For others, it was the Berlin Wall coming down or The Challenger exploding.

Unfortunately, despite taking place over 20 years ago, for many, the memory of where they were when 9/11 happened is still quite fresh in their minds.

The devastating events of 9/11 took under two hours to unfold but have left a lifetime of impressions on anyone old enough to know what was going on that day.

As we take a moment to honor the memory of that day, we thought we'd share with you our personal stories of where we were when the towers fell.

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JStew: Like most folks, I’ll never forget where I was when 9/11 happened. I was working at a super high-end restaurant in Portland. It started innocently enough. I was just doing my morning prep, and someone came in and said a plane hit one of the Twin Towers. Obviously, this was pre-smartphones, so we all thought it was just some kind of terrible accident. In fact, we didn’t even know yet that it was a large passenger plane. We all assumed it was a small private plane that had somehow crashed. 

A little while later, we hear there’s another plane, and that they were carrying passengers, and then word started to get around that it was definitely a terrorist attack. I felt especially spooky because the owner of our restaurant owned a couple in NYC as well. So I began wondering if my NYC counterpart had gotten out ok, or was even affected. Then we just closed for the day, and everyone went home. 

Cori: I had taken the day off from the station (I was working a different morning show at the time) and had gone to MedNow in Orono, bright and early that morning to be there at 8:30 when they opened. The day before, I had stupidly ridden on my drummer's Harley, from Winterport to August and back, to take part in that year's Toy Run, and forgotten to put on sunscreen. So I had a pretty severe sunburn, bordering on sun poisoning, and went to have the doctor check it out. I was in the lobby, with a handful of other people waiting to be called back when the receptionist came out from behind the desk to turn up the volume. We all sat there, watching in horror, as the towers were hit. The physicians came out to the lobby to watch with us. Everything came to a standstill for almost half an hour.

After I was released, I went to my mom's, as she lived close to where I was and had cable. We both just sat there, in disbelief. Despite being a total mess, physically, and in pain, all I wanted to do was to go to work and help. But they assured me they had it under control, so I stayed with my mom, and we watched the news for the rest of the day, just shaking our heads and crying. The image that left the deepest impression on me that day was a video that showed people jumping off the roof of the towers, rather than burning up as they collapsed. I recall trying to wrap my head around how awful and hopeless those conditions must have been for them to make that decision.

I vividly remember returning to work the next day and having a really difficult time keeping it together as we delivered the news and tried to give people answers. I remember the listeners who called, wanting to talk or make dedications or requests in honor of those who had lost their lives.

Another thing that struck me about that entire time period was what an amazingly tight and honorable brotherhood both the NYPD and the NYFD had at the time. The bravery of those men and women who ran towards the towers as everyone else ran away, that's something for which I have a deep respect.

If you would like to honor this historic day, there are a couple of things going on around the area that you can take part in.

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At 10 AM Monday, at the Bangor waterfront (on the grassy area between Sea Dog and the Maine Savings Amphitheater) the Bangor High School JROTC members will be hosting a remembrance wreath-laying ceremony.