Duncan Middle School teachers discussed the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including how the event unified the United States.
According to the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum website, “Nineteen terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The Twin Towers ultimately collapsed because of the damage sustained from the impacts and the resulting fires. After learning about the other attacks, passengers on the fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, fought back, and the plane was crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania about 20 minutes by air from Washington, D.C.
“The attacks killed 2,977 people from 90 nations: 2,753 people were killed in New York; 184 people were killed at the Pentagon; and 40 people were killed on Flight 93.”
Cathy Barker, DMS humanities teacher, said she was teaching fourth grade at Woodrow Wilson when the attack took place.
Barker said there was a lot of fear following the attack, and she cried in the following days.
“It was one of the saddest days of my life,” she said.
Even now, when she teaches about 9/11, she still upset and emotional.
Mark Montieth, DMS life management teacher, was in flight school at the time. Following the attacks, his flight school got shut down.
Montieth said there was a lot of confusion whether they were at war. He also said people were also scared and were filling up their cars with gas.
“I don’t think it’s ever been the same ever since the attack,” Montieth said.
Although there was a lot of confusion and concern nationwide, for seventh-grade math teacher Reavis Hammond, the confusion was real.
Hammond was in second grade. He recalled walking into the janitor’s office and saw the janitor watching news about the event.
Hammond said he didn’t understand what the news was about since he was only in second grade. When he started seeing more unity across the nation is when he started to understand what happened.
Derrick Miller, DMS journalism teacher, was an 18-year-old, college freshman at Oklahoma State University.
Miller said he found out about the terrorist attack when he was returning to his dorm following a morning class. His dorm neighbor told him to turn on the TV because something big was happening.
“From that point everything changed,” Miller said. “The weeks after, there was a lot of fear and confusion. Our country was more united.”
