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In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, KUNC presents a day of special programming from NPR News, StoryCorps, The Sonic Memorial Project, and independent radio producers and reporters nationwide. All coverage will be collected in this archive.6:00 AM – 12:00 PM: NPR Special Coverage“To mark 10 years since the attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon on September 11, NPR will air coverage leading up to September 11 and on the day itself. The overarching theme of coverage is: How has America changed? NPR will air rigorous reporting on everything from national security to politics to our culture, and also reflecting on the human toll -- the impact of September 11th on people's lives and our country. Hosted by Audie Cornish”12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: StoryCorps: We Remember“An intimate look at lives forever changed by the attacks on 9/11. These are stories from families and friends who tell us about their loved ones and their loss: the father who recalls the last words he shared with his son, the recovery worker who discovers a new meaning for normal, the fireman's daughter who knew that her dad who perished in the line of duty wouldn't have wanted it any other way. On the 10th anniversary of the attacks, host Audie Cornish checks in with StoryCorps families to find out how they make their way today.”1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Our 9/11: Growing Up in The Aftermath“WNYC's Radio Rookies and PRX, in partnership with the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, looks at the 9/11 attacks through the eyes of young people who were just kids when the towers fell: a girl whose dad never returned from police duty, two families ripped apart by trauma, a Muslim girl who coped with the angry reaction to her faith, and a young man who has helped one community remember. Hosted by On the Media's Brooke Gladstone.”2:00 PM – 3:00: The Sonic Memorial Project“On the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, we re-visit The Sonic Memorial Project, which commemorates the life and history of the World Trade Center and the people who passed through its doors. A collaboration between The Kitchen Sisters Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, PRX, NPR, independent producers, and stations and listeners nationwide, the project was created with audio artifacts, rare recordings, and the input of thousands of people who called in with their personal stories.”3:00 PM: Bob Edwards Weekend Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times joins Bob to talk about 9/11, then and now. Shortly after the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001 writer Joan Murray read her poem, “Survivors Found,” on NPR’s Morning Edition, the program Bob hosted at the time. Ten years later, she’s back to reflect on that poem, and how it helped people heal from the tragedy.4:00 PM: This American LifeTEN YEARS IN: In this show, we return to people who've been on This American Life in the last ten years, whose lives were drastically altered by 9/11, including Hyder Akbar, an Afghan-American teen who moved to Afghanistan after his father was tapped to become governor of Kunar province there; Marian Fontana, whose husband Dave was a fireman who died in the Twin Towers; and Lynn Simpson, who escaped from the 89th floor and made it out of the World Trade Center with about a minute to spare.6:00 PM: NPR Special CoverageNPR will offer live, anchored coverage of A Concert for Hope, which will be held at The Kennedy Center at 8pm ET. President Obama will speak during the concert, which will also feature performances by Patti Labelle, Alan Jackson and Denyce Graves.

The Day Before America Was Interrupted: Nine People Recall Sept. 10, 2001

Rick King, who was assistant fire chief of Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001, stands near a cross made from steel from the World Trade Center, outside the fire station in Shanksville on July 14. He was one of nine people to tell NPR what Sept. 10 was like, the day before the horrible events of Sept. 11.
Gene J. Puskar
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AP
Rick King, who was assistant fire chief of Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001, stands near a cross made from steel from the World Trade Center, outside the fire station in Shanksville on July 14. He was one of nine people to tell NPR what Sept. 10 was like, the day before the horrible events of Sept. 11.

When Americans are asked what Sept. 10, 2001, was like, many call that Monday "normal" or "ordinary."

"Just a normal summer day," one man said.

That all changed on Sept. 11.

Nine individuals told All Things Considered where they were on Sept. 10. They talked about some of their serendipitous experiences, near misses or devastating turn of events of that day — the day before America was interrupted.


Janet Vincent, rector of St. Columba's Episcopal Church in Northwest Washington, D.C., says she was in White Plains, N.Y., on Sept. 10. That evening, she took her 5-year-old nephew to a Yankees-Red Sox game. The game was rained out. Vincent said she was later haunted by a question that her nephew asked her that evening.


Janny Scott, who was a reporter for the New York Times on Sept. 11, ended up putting together the Times' feature "Portraits of Grief."
/ Nina Subin
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Nina Subin
Janny Scott, who was a reporter for the New York Times on Sept. 11, ended up putting together the Times' feature "Portraits of Grief."

Janny Scottwas a reporter on metropolitan news staff of The New York Times. Married to a local TV anchor, they lived up on the Upper West side of Manhattan with their two small children. On Sept. 10, she picked up her 9-year-old daughter from her piano lesson and took her home for dinner.

Two days prior, Scott says, they held a birthday party for her daughter, who was fascinated by surgical paraphernalia. They hired an emergency medical technician with access to an ambulance to teach basic first aid to a couple dozen third graders in their living room. The grand finale, she says, was a tour of an ambulance parked at the corner of 90th — and everyone in their bandages tried out the stretcher.


Karen Parziale, a marketing consultant and publicist, runs a public relations agency in Hoboken, N.J. On Sept. 10, she was planning a "very big and important business trip" to the World Trade Center for Sept. 11. She had suggested 9 a.m. to her partner.

But Parziale's client never called back.


Matt Long, a firefighter in New York City, says on Sept. 10, he got his brother, also a firefighter, to work with him at his station downtown. The next morning, they had breakfast together.
/ James Cooper
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James Cooper
Matt Long, a firefighter in New York City, says on Sept. 10, he got his brother, also a firefighter, to work with him at his station downtown. The next morning, they had breakfast together.

Matt Long, a New York City fireman for 17 years, was headed to Ladder 43 for the 6 to 9 o'clock shift. He says when he arrived, he realized they were missing two men in their roster. So he called up his brother Jim, also a firefighter, to get him to come down to his station. "It's very rare that brothers get to work on the same truck or engine," Long says. "So he did." Jim came down with another firefighter. But the next morning, the brothers decided to have breakfast together. The other firefighter wasn't so lucky.


Alan Wallace, who works for the Fort Myer fire department in Arlington, Va., was one of three firefighters assigned to the Pentagon heliport fire station on Sept. 10. He says that day, they had "a little excitement." President Bush was coming over to the Pentagon to fly out to Andrews Air Force base. The next day, Wallace was stationed again at the Pentagon. Early in his shift, he caught a sudden glint of light in the sky. It was a jetliner coming in at full speed at ground level. It passed over his head. Wallace says when he spun around — there was no airplane to be seen — just a burning hole in the side of the Pentagon.


Laura Bush says she had a luncheon with Janette Howard, the wife to former Prime Minister John Howard, on Sept. 10, 2001, a day that many people called "normal."
/ Brigitte Lacombe
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Brigitte Lacombe
Laura Bush says she had a luncheon with Janette Howard, the wife to former Prime Minister John Howard, on Sept. 10, 2001, a day that many people called "normal."

Former First Lady Laura Bushsays she had a luncheon with Janette Howard, wife to the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, on Sept. 10, 2001. That afternoon, she worked on a briefing that she was going to give the Senate Education Committee the next morning. And then her in-laws, President Bush and Barbara arrived late in the afternoon. They were spending the night, while her husband, George W. Bush, was in Florida.


Ted Olsonwas the solicitor general of the U.S. on Sept. 10. That day, he worked in his office. He says he had spoken at some length with his wife Barbara. It was his birthday on Sept. 11 and he says she wanted to be home with him that evening, so she changed her flight. While she was slated to fly out Sept. 10, she flew out Sept. 11 instead — on Flight 77 that was flown into the Pentagon.


Rick King, the owner of Ida's Country Store on Main Street in Shanksville, Pa., says the kids were in school on Sept. 10, so he opened the store. He says he would have been down there around 6:30 a.m.

The next day, as Shanksville's assistant fire chief, King was one of the first responders to the crash of Flight 93. It's said in Shanksville that if the plane had remained airborne for just two more seconds, it would have hit the local elementary school.


On Sept. 10, Rob Quillen sat next to Captain Jason Dahl on a flight to New York City. They struck up a conversation, and Quillen agreed to give two NASCAR tickets to Dahl and his 15-year-old son. The next day, Dahl piloted United Flight 93, the one that crashed in Shanksville, Pa.
/ Abigail Quillen
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Abigail Quillen
On Sept. 10, Rob Quillen sat next to Captain Jason Dahl on a flight to New York City. They struck up a conversation, and Quillen agreed to give two NASCAR tickets to Dahl and his 15-year-old son. The next day, Dahl piloted United Flight 93, the one that crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

Rob Quillen, from Omaha, Neb., was a software salesperson on Sept. 10. He was on a flight to New York City for an annual sales meeting. On the flight, Quillen sat next to a man who asked him if he worked for NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon. Quillen was wearing a NASCAR T-shirt. Quillen said he was just a very big fan of the guy. The man said that he and his son were also huge fans.

Later in the flight, the man told Quillen his 15-year-old son had epilepsy. And he had recently asked his son to tell him a place where he wanted to go. His son had said, "I want to go to a NASCAR race and I want to meet Jeff Gordon," Quillen says. Quillen says he had a couple of extra tickets for the first NASCAR race at the Kansas Speedway — so he offered the man the two tickets. When they exchanged business cards, it turned out that the man was United Captain Jason Dahl. That next morning, Dahl piloted United Flight 93 — the one that crashed in Shanksville, Pa. But Dahl's son, Matt, did get to see his race car hero in Kansas City. Quillen made sure of that.

Erin Killian is a producer for NPR. Art Silverman produced this story forAll Things Considered . The piece in its entirety airs today onAll Things Considered so tune in to your local NPR member station. We'll post the as-aired version here later today.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Erin Killian