This article is an opinion piece that reflects on the significance of remembering the events of 9/11. The article features interviews with individuals who were present at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93's crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The key figures mentioned are Harry Handler, a survivor of the North Tower, Marine Major Dan Pantaleo, who helped at the Pentagon, and Tim Lambert, whose family owned the land where Flight 93 went down. After 25 years, these individuals share their personal experiences and struggles with grief and healing.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
You might think after all this time, there's no bell left un-rung, no prayer unsaid, no song that hasn't been sung.
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After 25 years, the most fitting way we can think of to keep the day close is talking to those who were there.
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who → think → those
"You could see flames shooting out of, you know, all sides of the North Tower," said Harry Handler, who was on the 67th floor of the other tower, 2 World Trade Center.
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"The building made an announcement that said, 'There's been an incident in 1 World Trade Center.
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If you're in 2 World Trade Center, return to your desks.'
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I thought, this is just a bad idea."
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Seventeen minutes later, a second plane hit his tower.
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He began leaping down flights of stairs, 12 steps at a time.
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And then he stopped.
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"I ran into a woman who was leaning against the bannister having an asthma attack," Handler said.
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"I said, 'Well, let me take you down.'
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She took my arm.
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Even though she was breathing heavily, we went very slowly down the stairs."
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They had no idea that a third plane had hit the Pentagon.
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"Things were not where you'd expect them to be," said Marine Major Dan Pantaleo, who rushed in to help, though no one had asked him to.
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"There was a part of a desk that was sort of in the ceiling.
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There was what looked like a safe that was turned sideways and embedded into the wall.
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Just a half an hour later, the last of the planes, likely headed to Washington, too, crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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last → head → Shanksville
Passengers, having gotten word of the attack on both New York and the Pentagon, had stormed the cockpit.
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"On that dark day, 40 people did something that gave America hope," said Tim Lambert.
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"They're faced with the worst thing, and they voted to do something about it, and they did."
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Lambert's family had owned the land where United Flight 93 went down since the 1930s.
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"Those trees took the brunt of the explosion," he said.
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"And then, over time, we saw Nature start to take hold again.
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Grass was growing, wildlife was coming back.
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But the reminders of what happened there were always constant."
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"I feel like it's something I struggle with a lot still," Laurel told us.
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"It's like what my life was supposed to be, versus what it ended up being, and just not even knowing who I would have been."
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Over time, she attended summer camps organized for survivors, but after 25 years, those camp-goers are now all adults.
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"I kind of grew up with a level of shame to the whole thing, and I was bullied at points for it," Homer said.
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"This girl, like, wrote 'DD' on a paper, and she was like, what does that stand for?
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And then she said, 'Dead Dad.'
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And then ever since then, I don't think I really had a great place to grieve in a healthy way."
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Each sees these annual 9/11 observances a little differently.
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"They're all tough," said Handler.
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"Sometimes I don't sleep well, and think, 'Oh right, it's September.
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People are thinking about it again.'
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Pantaleo said, "There's a flood of emotions.
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I remember things like all of the American flags on people's houses just popping up all over the place.
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all → remember → place
So, I go back to that, and I'm hopeful, but then I also recall the incredible devastation and destruction, and that's a different experience for me."
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…and 32 more, not listed.
