We Will Never Forget.
HIA will never forget the 9/11 attacks. We honor those who lost their lives and those who fought to save the lives of others. Below, you can find stories from the day in 2001 shared by our staff members.
Sarah Reed, Sepsis Coordinator, Stroke Coordinator, Medical Data Abstractor:
I was at home when 9/11 happened and watched the 2nd plane hit the tower on the news. It was awful. I feel like as America we stood together for a few days united as a country. When I see documentaries on this event, it saddens my heart. God bless all the people that were killed, harmed, lost loved ones in this disaster. The true heart of first responders were seen this day.
Karen Oller, Human Resources Administrator:
9/11 started out to be a normal day for me. I had just dropped off my 3-year-old daughter Rachel at preschool at 8:15 am. I was going home to get my one-year-old son Josh ready for our 9:30 am Gymboree Class. As I was getting him dressed, and folding laundry, I was watching Good Morning America when they broke into the show with reporting news that an aircraft of some type hit the World Trade Center in NY. I immediately thought of my best friend Lara who lives in the city and works right by the area. The initial reports were still unknown what type of plane crashed into the building. Continuing to watch for updates, I couldn’t believe what I was watching when a second plane hit the second building of the World Trade Center. I immediately panicked, not only for my friend but my dad was supposed to fly home from business that day from California. Then I got a phone call from the preschool saying they were evacuating the building due to what was going on, and that all children had to be picked up right away. I quickly got Josh back in the car and headed for preschool to pick up Rachel, at the same time, I called my mom and asked if she saw the news and did she hear from dad. My dad always took an early flight out of California to get there home. She said my dad had called her at 8 am our time, and that his flight was just boarding. She was panicking, I was panicking but had to stay cool driving with the baby and get my daughter. After getting my daughter I went straight to my parent’s house with the kids. My mom and I were trying to figure out what was going on in the world, and where was my dad? His phone was going straight to voicemail. The news was continuing with the hijacking of planes, and another plane hit the Pentagon in DC, then the plane went down in Shanksville. We were scared. I tried my friend in New York and the phone lines were down. My then-husband had called as he was on a business trip, and was heading home since his company told everyone to go home to be with family. At 11:00 AM my dad called the plane he was on and had made a mandatory landing in Utah and they were not given many details on the plane as to what was going on. We filled him in with the details and he got a hotel room and was stuck in California for 5 days. As days went by you couldn’t go anywhere without people talking about it. I finally reached my friend; she said she was sad, scared, but thankfully ok.
My daughter was constantly asking if all planes were going to crash into buildings and she never wanted to go on a plane again. It was sad and difficult explaining that we are safe, that planes are safe, and we will do everything we can to protect her and her brother. 9/11 will always be a day to remember all of the lives taken.
Roger Calderon, Assistant Vice President:
I was starting my first year of HS, which was also my sophomore year for me. The principal came on the speaker and said many students came to her asking if she heard why there was smoke coming from the WTC. She announced that she made calls and found out that a small plane went into the WTC. We all know now how inaccurate that was. She advised us to stay calm and that it would be up to each of our teachers whether we continue class work or sit silently.
I remember vividly, I was in science class and the teacher chose to allow us to sit silently since the classroom was on the sixth floor and we had the clearest view of the WTC out the window. A couple of classmates were listening to 1010WINS on their MP3 player radios, through their earbuds, to hear what was happening. I was sitting on the windowsill, looking out the window, not knowing what to think really.
Every couple of minutes, the classmates that were listening to the radio, would announce a few updates: small plane lost control… commercial plane… hijacking… potential terrorist attack… location of president unknown… the country is under attack… more hijacked planes in the air.
We were all terrified. Then there was an eerie silence for a few minutes. I suddenly shouted, “THE TOWER IS COLLAPSING!!!” Everyone in the room ran to the classroom windows and we watched the first tower disappear. Right then and there, we all knew the world would forever be different.
Lou Testa, Administrative Director / CEO:
Twenty-one years ago on September 11th, the United States suffered a horrible terrorist attack and tragedy on our soil. I clearly remember that day which was bright and sunny because it was the day of Bob Scull’s funeral. Bob was an HIA Operations Manager for about 7 years, (His son and I were best friends in HS and each other’s best men at our weddings). Several of HIA’s long-term staff remember Bob well including Chris Grosso, Janet MacNeal, and Karen Oller among other HIA staff and some current clients in the Philadelphia area. Bob had passed away from cardiac complications.
I was in the car with his wife Jane driving to upstate Pennsylvania to his final resting place, Skyview Cemetery in Tamaqua, PA. We were all to meet at a local diner at the top of the mountain first. As we were driving up and down the mountains, the radio reception was spotty. I was listening to WYSP and at the time it was Howard Stern broadcasting from NY. It was on really low as we were talking. Only getting reception at the top of the mountains, we started to hear what was going on. Again, spotty as we are going up and down the hills, but we got the gist of it. When we got to the diner, they put the TV on as it was at the top of the mountain and had rabbit ears. Everyone was in shock. Of course, we had to bury Bob yet. The minister, (Bob’s brother-in-law and Jane’s brother), asked them to turn off the TV as it was not respectful as we were here to bury Bob. I was driving Jane and was respectful, a tough day. After the burial, we found out about the plane going down in Shanksville, PA about 3.5 hours from us. We went to the church for the repast and I drove Jane home to Parkside, PA respecting that she wanted to talk about her husband Bob. I wanted to hear what was going on, but out of respect we talked about Bob. As soon as I dropped her off, I was like everyone else, glued to the news. Tough day 9/11 was 21 years ago.
