They came single file. They came two by two. They came in groups. They came as a principled community. Most importantly, they came.
In response to President George W. Bush's declaration of Sept. 14, 2001, as a national day of prayer and remembrance for the terrorist victims of New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., more than 3,200 K-State students, faculty and staff came together at noon to stand in solidarity.
They were there to share their pain and to give support to a "world that has been touched through the inhumanity of these acts," said Rev. Don Fallon, coordinator of K-State religious activities.
"I remember Vice President Hubert Humphrey's comment from 1966: 'American democracy is based upon the belief that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people," said K-State President Jon Wefald. "The truth is America always finds that in a time of crisis many ordinary Americans become extraordinary and heroic."
Student body president Kyle Barker praised the audience for "selfless acts of caring" that will make the nation a better place.
"We will persevere," Barker said. "We are Americans. That's what we do. We will never forget this week — the week that America fell apart. But it will be rebuilt — stronger than before."
— Story by Keener Tippin II, from the November 2001 issue of K-Stater magazine; header photo from iStock
This year marks the passage of two decades since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
It's impossible to forget what it was like to watch as the World Trade Center towers crumbled on live television, and the days of fear and grief that followed. The United States would never be the same, but through these moments of incredible darkness, a light of hope still shined. A spirit of kindness, compassion and courage reminded us all that we were not alone, and that together, we would get through this terrible tragedy and rise again.
In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the K-State Alumni Association shares this retrospective of K-State coverage of these events, from the pages of K-Stater magazine and the Royal Purple yearbook.
Sept. 11, 2001, timeline
7:45 a.m.
American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
8:03 a.m.
United Airlines Flight 175 slams into the south tower of the World Trade Center. Many said they believed the first plane crash to be an accident until the second plane hit.
8:40 a.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration halts all flights at U.S. airports. For the first time in U.S. history the nationwide air traffic system is ordered to shut down.
8:43 a.m.
American Airlines Flight 77 flies into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., causing one of the building's five sides to collapse.
9 a.m.
United Airlines Flight 93 crashes just north of the Somerset County Airport in Pennsylvania.
9:05 a.m.
The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
9:28 a.m.
The north tower collapses. A heavy cloud of debris blocks the sun for the rest of the day. Ash and dust fill the air, making breathing impossible for those in the path of the thick, soot-filled haze that was once the Twin Towers.
— Timeline adapted from the 2002 Royal Purple; photo from iStock
Reactions on campus
"I just got back from my 7:30 a.m. class," Matt Diliberto, junior in park management and conservation, said. "I walked through the door and my roommates were watching in disbelief. I thought it was a movie."
Postponements of that week included K-State's first home football game of the season against Louisiana Tech, a volleyball tournament against Nebraska and the cross country Woody Greeno Invitational.
"Students are afraid and emotional about the incident," Don Fallon, campus religious activities coordinator, said at an interfaith prayer meeting in Forum Hall. "It's time to come together to affirm our oneness with God and to affirm our faith."
K-State's Student Governing Association organized a ribbon campaign in the K-State Student Union. Donations for ribbons were taken and proceeds contributed to the relief efforts in New York and the Pentagon. Students were also given the opportunity to sign K-State flags. One was sent to New York and the other to the Pentagon.
"Coming from a military background, I'm used to patriotism," said Anna Cordes, a sophomore in marketing who helped organize a candle lighting. "But seeing college students walking around with red, white and blue, and flags hanging out their windows helps. Even though I'm away from home it makes me feel like I have a support base."
— From the pages of the 2002 Royal Purple
Alumni eyewitness accounts
Cary Conover '97 captured the Sept. 11 attack on film. He wrote his personal experience of the tragedy the week after the attacks.
I live on Stanton Street, about 25 blocks northeast of the World Trade Center. The rooftop of our five-story building provides a modest view of the downtown skyline. It does, however, offer a relatively unobstructed view of the Twin Towers.
Only the north tower was damaged. There was a giant, gaping hole on its north face that spewed thick, dark gray smoke and thousands of specks of tiny white paper into the air. As shocking as it was to see, there was no terror or fear associated with what I was witnessing, only amazement and disbelief. Perhaps from my nearly four years photographing spot news for a small-town newspaper, I dismissed it as an accident. The words "terrorist attack" were nowhere in my mind. I wondered if the north tower would be repairable.
As if witnessing a building of that magnitude with that kind of damage wasn't incredible enough, the south tower exploded. It took a second for us to hear what our eyes were seeing. My distance from the towers cushioned me from the sudden blast it must have seemed like from Ground Zero.
After the explosion I headed towards the World Trade Center with my roommate. When we got as far as we could go (just over three blocks north of the World Trade Center), the police were stopping people, telling those who were south-bound to head back north. The road was blocked off and I saw what appeared to be a giant plane part. Perhaps an engine. Totally mangled, it had gears and was round. There were lots of FBI agents.
Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge was slow because everybody, it seemed, in all of downtown Manhattan was walking across the bridge, evacuating. A total mass exodus of people.
I got about one third of the way across and the first tower collapsed. That was when it got really scary. Until that point, I thought the worst was over; it all seemed to be under control. But to see one collapse entirely was the breaking point for me.
It felt choreographed; the timing was horrifyingly schematic. It was no longer a "story" or an opportunity to make "good" pictures.
Of all the different phases of that morning, this was the one I photographed the least. Survival mode kicked in. People started screaming and holding on to each other at that point, not to mention walking much faster to escape the dust cloud that fast approached.
I realized I really didn't want to get across the bridge and be stuck in Brooklyn all day with an already-dead cell phone and maybe no way of getting back home. So I sort of gathered my wits, turned around and walked in the opposite direction of all the people.
I was walking up Bowery when I heard a crowd of people scream. My immediate fear was that the Empire State Building had been hit but soon I heard people saying, "the other one fell," and "the north one is gone." I went back up to my roof to take another picture, sort of an "after" version of the first picture I had taken that morning.
My camera felt heavy that week, I felt the creativity had been sucked out of me. Wondering and wandering with constant, searing mental images of people still trapped under the rubble still alive. This tragedy has definitely been a mix of sadness and anger, but mostly disbelief.
(Photo from iStock)
Aaron Otto '98, a policy analyst in the Assessment Division for the Chief of Naval Operations, returned to the Pentagon after being in Norfolk, Virginia, on business to discover the loss of friends and co-workers.
I cried when I saw the outside of the Pentagon for the first time after the attack, Sept. 13, with that large scar ripped in the exterior of the building.
Listening to the stories of people escaping from the building was almost too much. One fellow Kansan, hired on the Navy staff only seven days before the crash, was probably the closest PMI (Permanent Military Instructor) to the impact site who survived.
Every time I hear fire truck sirens or a helicopter, I stop and wonder where it is going. I look up when I hear an airplane, but move on with faith that Sept. 11 can't happen again.
K-Staters care
While stories abound about the heroes involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack rescue efforts, not many people know that some of those heroes were veterinarians along with "man's best friend."
Hundreds of search-and-rescue dogs aided the more than 1,200 firefighters who searched the ruins. And many veterinarians were on hand to treat those rescue dogs.
Dr. Martha Dunn O'Rourke '64, '66, of Toms River, New Jersey, was on one of the Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams called up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide care to the search-and-rescue dogs used at the World Trade Center.
O'Rourke arrived just four days after the attacks. Conditions at Ground Zero were still precarious and remained dangerous for many days immediately following the attacks. The air was thick with dust, smoke and debris, and more buildings near the site were in danger of collapsing.
Most of O'Rourke's canine patients were treated for relatively minor problems such as dehydration and cuts and abrasions on their feet. There were also frequent cases of eye irritations and stress hematuria (bleeding inside the bladder).
When FEMA concluded use of their search-and-rescue teams at Ground Zero at the beginning of October, VMAT personnel had treated more than 900 dogs.
— Story by Jennifer L. Lange '96; photo from iStock
"The events of today will certainly have a personal impact on many of our students, faculty, staff and alumni who have friends or loved ones directly involved. It is important at times like this to come together as a K-State family to support each other."
— K-State President Jon Wefald, addressing the student body on Sept. 11, 2001