Every September 11th I tell myself it will be easier as time passes. It never is. I was not near the World Trade Center back on that day. That morning 24 years ago I was doing the same thing I'm doing now. Hosting the Morning Show on 1023 WSUS. Back then we were broadcasting from 75 Main Street in Franklin. Steve Spadafino was doing the news. There was no internet. We had two small black and white T.V's in the radio station. One was at my feet in the main studio. The other TV was in the news room. My shift was almost over when the first plane struck. At that time no one was sure what happened. Was it an accident or a terrorist attack? We continued to play our "soft rock" music and Steve would break in with a live updates. Both TV's were on and we watched in horror live as the second plane hit. Vince Thomas our program director decided to stop playing music and do continuous coverage. All we had to pass along to our listeners was what we were seeing on those TV's. It took Steve and I a while to figure out the best way to keep our listeners calm as possible. While still covering the horrible events unfolding before us on TV. We called Pastor Ed Casey from the Stockholm United Methodist Church who shared prayers for first responders and victims live with us on the air. Sussex County's Emergency Management Coordinator came on with us all afternoon sharing what he knew. Skip Danielson always took a moment to reassure Sussex County residents they were in no danger. He said many first responders racing along our local roads were all heading to Liberty State Park in Jersey City to assist with the evacuation of lower Manhattan.
We also decided to take live calls from listeners. There was a chilling call that came in from a construction worker on his way home from Jersey City. He was directly across the Hudson River from The World Trade Center. When we took the call we still were not sure where the planes came from. He was certain about what he saw. It was two large passenger jets and he told us one was an American Airlines plane the other was United. While all this was going on Vince was trying to call his brother Joe who worked in downtown Manhattan. Hours passed as we watched Vince fall into deep despair. He finally heard from Joe. Who was on the last subway train to leave the World Trade Center. It took Joe hours to walk uptown to a working phone. He was safe! All afternoon we kept getting updates from Skip Danielson and prayed with Pastor Casey. While watching those black and white TV's to pass along the additional tragic details of Flight 93 and the Pentagon. Flight 93 was a flight out of Newark Airport. One of the heroic passengers on that flight was Jeremy Glick who lived in West Milford.
In the days that followed the attacks our local radio stations helped bring the community together and raise funds for the families of first responders who died that day. More than 3,000 local residents came out to Skylands Stadium for "Colors and Candles" the following evening. The event was organized by our general manager at the time Bob Dunphy. I remember him telling me "Steve I just think we need to get everyone together." Many first responders participated, clergy and Sussex County Freeholders. I will always remember Air Force veteran and Freeholder Howard Burrell reminding us "Freedom isn't Free." A year later all of us returned to Skylands Stadium with a twisted beam from the World Trade Center to start raising funds to build a permanent memorial on the campus of Sussex County Community College. That memorial is there today.
Sussex County Community College's annual 9/11 Remembrance will start today at 9AM.
Photo: Jerry Trudell the Skys the Limit / Moment / Getty Images