A Retired Hoboken Teacher Looks At Sept. 11

HOBOKEN, NJ — The fires of Ground Zero 9/11, 2001, burned for 99 days until finally being extinguished on December 19th.

Two thousand children lost a parent on September 11th. The New York City Fire Department saw 343 brothers and sisters perish in rescue attempts, along with 71 law enforcement agents. In the two decades since, more than 1,400 people who assisted in debris removal efforts have died from exposure to toxic airborne pollutants.

The Port Authority of NYC closed the George Washington Bridge as well as the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels. A lengthy segment of the NJ Turnpike was shut down, and commercial air traffic was grounded by President Bush. The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans were no longer reliable protection from the enemy. We quickly realized that the world-and the paths we formerly used to connect with one another-had changed, forever. The term First Responder found a new rightful meaning.

In schools, administrators and teachers across the country became intentional about carving out time to acknowledge the significance of this event in their classrooms. As months and years passed after the terrorist attacks, teachers developed a grasp on how and what to teach about these events in a sequenced manner, fostering understanding and building skills and knowledge through the use of films, short stories, songs and poetry.

We will soon commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the landscape of education markedly transformed not only as a result of the passage of time but also due to the adaptations forced by the coronavirus pandemic as well as the awareness of and responses to ongoing social injustices. Like teachers post-9/11, today’s educators recognize that emotional and physical safety and stability are essential components of an effective learning environment.

This September, as we return to school in a more “normal” manner, teachers will find ways to incorporate the new with the old as they teach their students about important events in our nation’s history. The following stories, told in various forms, can be used on their own or combined with other technologies and methods to help students develop a meaningful understanding of the events of September 11, 2001. With proper introduction, these resources (easily accessible on the internet) can be adapted for use a multiple levels.

“The Man in the Red Bandana,” a fourteen minute video narrated by Ed Burns, tells the story of Welles Crowther. Welles, an equity trader at Sander O’Neil in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, was also a fire fighter in Upper Nyack, New York. He saved as many as eighteen lives navigating stairwells and corridors using the hook and ladder skills of his training to carry others to safety, ultimately losing his own life on his third trip upward. The video, not too long or short and available on YouTube, is a heart-wrenching portrayal of loyalty and selflessness.

“Let’s Roll,” by Jada Yuan, shares the backstory of United Flight 93. Originating from Newark and headed to San Francisco, the plane departed late after having been delayed by air traffic, the passengers realizing in air that their flight had been hijacked by terrorists. Through phone calls to family, a number of passengers learned that three other large planes had crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. A small group huddled to determine the next step, came to the conclusion to storm the cockpit, and followed United Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer as he cried out, “Let’s roll!” The plane crashed at 10:10am in Shankville, PA, killing all aboard. Further evidence indicated the flight was being aimed as a missile at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Another emotional short story is the one of the final goodbye between Beverly Eckert and her husband Sean Rooney, who called from work at Aon, in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, around 9:30am. Beverly conveys exhausting pain as she recounts the searing end of Sean’s life. “Goodbye” is easily accessible on the internet, and an excerpt of Beverly’s recording in which she shares their final exchange can be found on the StoryCorps website.

Song has proven to be a convincing way to convey the array of emotions sparked by the events of 9/11. Alan Jackson’s “Where Were you when the World Stopped Turning;” Tori Amos’s “I Can’t See New York;” Kristy Jackson’s “Little Did she Know-(She’d Kissed a Hero);” and of course Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” and “Lonesome Day” tell about the devil’s day. The compelling lyrics and music videos present another way for students to process the heartbreak, grief, love and agony.

The National 9/11 Memorial and Museum located at the World Trade Center in New York City offers tours with professional guides as well as user-friendly classroom. Visitors delve into the events of 9/11 through a tour of the sacred memorial and a question and answer session. For those wishing to explore the events of the day through poetry, one suggestion is “The Names.” Written by U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins a year after the attacks, “The Names” is a moving tribute to those who died and a powerful reflection of the grief felt by many in the days and years since.

Through writing, reading, singing, sharing, and listening, teachers will reveal how, as Cormack McCarthy stated, “scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.”

And in the retelling of the stories of our country’s past, we invite today’s students to draw
connections to our present and honor the unique experiences and perspectives of those we honor.

Dennis Sevano

This piece was written by Dennis Sevano, a retired educator in the Hoboken public schools. The views expressed here are the author's own.