My 9/11 Story
I share my 9/11 story every year. I had been traveling with my mom to Switzerland and we flew home to the United States on Step.11, 2001. We were rerouted to land in Newfoundland where we sat on the airplane for a full 24 hours with no television or news of the details about what had happened.
I begin w/ her journal entry on that day.
Sept. 11, 2021
“We left Zurich @ 10:30am , a little delayed. We had breakfast there, it was a blessed time with our hosts. Just as we crossed the Atlantic the pilot informed us we would be landing in Newfoundland for fuel. It seems something has happened in the United States. We have been here in Newfoundland(Stephensville) for 6 hours-it is 1700 EST. We most likely will be here all night. There have been 3 purposeful plane crashes in the U.S.-NY, The Pentagon and Pittsburgh-Thousands have died. All U.S. and Canadian airports have closed. We have had no news except what the pilot has said. After 2 hours of trying to call our loved ones, Libby got through to Matt and then me to Rod. They have said it is a very bad situation in the states-everyone is praying. Only God can protect us. People on the plane are in pretty good spirits considering what is going on in our country. We do not know what the future holds but God is in control. It is late at night, we should sleep. We have many more hours here but it is hard to relax enough to sleep. There are about 6 other planes parked here as well. One young woman on the plane is waiting for an ambulance, she has a collapsed lung. There is a physician on board (from MN).The babies on board have been very quiet. The local people have provided diapers and formula, also water and food. What will be I do not know. I hope we get home tomorrow. I can only be at peace when I think of God and my family. Rod tells me Chip is safe at home, the Naval Academy is closed until further notice. What a dangerous world we live in. All the more reason to put our trust in God. There are some folks from MN sitting near us and a lovely couple celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary.”
The tragedy of that day still overwhelms me. It’s so unfathomable. I tell my story every year because amidst the dark evil that occurred that day, this story is one of a beacon of light. On 9/11, my mom and I were among the 1,100 “plane people” who were rerouted to Stephensville, Newfoundland. This is my story about experiencing the incredible servanthood of the people who live there and how they took care of us.
The morning of 9/11, I was flying home from a trip to Switzerland where I did some youth ministry work with a church. This trip had been planned for a while and as it grew closer, my mom decided she’d like to come with me. I was 24 yrs old at the time and didn’t mind being independent but was very grateful to have her company. We had a great time in Switzerland together and made memories I still treasure today. On Sept. 11th, we boarded our flight to return home.
During the flight, the pilot came on the intercom and said something about having to stop to refuel. That seemed a little strange because usually these flights don’t have to do that. A little bit later he spoke again, which as I recall, I didn’t even pay any attention to what he was saying. However, my mom turned to me and asked, “did he say something about terrorists?” I thought that sounded crazy and said “of course not.”
After a while, he spoke a third time and announced we were making an emergency landing in Newfoundland because of terroist attacks on the U.S. We had no knowledge of what had actually happened. We wouldn’t find out and see the video footage for more than 24 hours later. All we knew is that we were landing in Newfoundland. We didn’t know how long we’d be there, where we’d stay or how we would get home.
When we landed on the tarmac along with 8 other planes, we were not allowed to exit the plane. The town had never experienced this number of visitors all at once before. Unbeknownst to us, they were hard at work preparing for our welcome. We stayed on our plane, sitting on the tarmac and there we sat, and sat, and sat. We stayed on the plane for a full 24 hours. A full 24 hours. Babies needed diapers and formula so that was brought on. One woman had a collapsed lung and needed an ambulance. The flight attendants put coffee on in the back and told us to help ourselves. We wandered the aisles and we prayed. Thank goodness my mom decided to go on this trip with me.
During the beginning of our flight, before the attacks were announced, a 2 yr old boy sitting behind us with his mother, decided to befriend me. His name was Jacob. He wanted to play peek-a-boo non-stop. He would get my attention if I stopped playing and peek through the arm rest of my seat. He decided he wanted to be best friends which slightly annoyed me at the time, however, it turned out to be a huge blessing later on. As night fell, we were all still on the plane, and we accepted the reality that we had to get comfortable and try to “go to bed”. This little boy, Jacob, was having none of it. I am sure he sensed the stress in the air and he cried the whole night. His poor mother. She laid across a row of seats and did everything to comfort him but he wouldn’t settle down. There was an unspoken understanding among all of us on that plane that we were in this together so no one complained. We had accepted the reality that this was our situation, so we hunkered down and tried to sleep. Finally morning came and the town was ready for us! We were allowed off the plane but could not retrieve any of our luggage. It was too much of a safety risk.
About 1,113 of us were graciously welcomed to Stephensville, Newfoundland’s tiny airport. We were led into their little main airport building where the Red Cross was waiting to serve us. My mom and I were not emotionally prepared to see that. My parents have served in the medical field and with the Red Cross for many years, my dad has been on the board, they’ve donated blood and their time and energy to the Red Cross to help others and now we were on the receiving end and it was an emotional and humbling place to be. They gave us blankets and food and water, people to talk to, hugs, teddy bears, but most importantly, hope and even joy. We were in a position with nothing left to do but receive their outpouring of gifts and love. We were the ones in need this time.
We were led to the local college, CNA, College of the North Atlantic and there found out that the entire student body had moved out of their dorms to offer us rooms. In fact, all of the departments and students rose up to the occasion to make our stay as comfortable as possible. Tourism Studies set up an information booth, culinary students had prepared food and even the music and performing arts set up to perform for us in between campus buildings as we walked around.
We had stuck with my 2 yr old, new best friend and his mother so when it came time to be assigned lodging, they thought we were traveling with a small child and assigned all of us to a dorm room together. This was a HUGE blessing because the dorms were given to the elderly and those with small children. About 100 others were assigned to sleep on cots in the gym. This was also a blessing I believe, that God provided for this mother because now we could be of help to her with her little boy.
As we were led into this college, we finally had access to a TV. However, none of us were emotionally prepared for what we witnessed on that news footage of the planes crashing into the towers, of the ashes, of the people running…and jumping. The grieving started all over and a little bit of panic settled on all of us thinking the same question, “how could this have happened to our country and will we ever get home?”
We were on the phone as soon as possible with my dad and my new fiance(now husband) who had been collaborating to form a plan to rescue us. Phone calls were scarce as this was barely the age of cell phones and there was of course no texting and no internet access. My dad had several ideas about how to get to us, but we decided to wait it out and see how things unfolded.
We made several trips to the Walmart to get some clothing necessities, toured the beautiful little shops in town and the college fed us like kings and queens. The children of the town had made cards while we were sitting on the airplane on the tarmac and hung them up all over the walls saying “I’m so sorry about your country.” “We are praying for you.” “Welcome to our town.” It was incredible. In this quiet, small town I’d never heard of, it was the first and only time in my life I’ve ever felt unified with humanity on a global level.
I don’t remember every detail of that week. My mom remembers other details that I don’t. But we talk every Sept. 11th and reminisce about our experience that was like none other. I don’t make it through the day without tears. It was such a powerful experience of light and hope paired with such unfathomable evil and sorrow.
Psalm 57:1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
Being tucked in the shadow of God’s wing until the disaster had passed has never felt more real than it did that week in Newfoundland. It was the safest place we could’ve possibly landed. God extended such mercy through the people’s service toward us whether they knew it or not. It was the most peaceful few days when it should’ve been full of panic and anxiety. I remember a peace and a joy as we wandered the town and got to know the locals who were excited to be at our service with any help we needed. However, we were ready to go home and welcomed the news when we heard we’d be able to depart Sept 13th.
We left Newfoundland and landed in Atlanta. That’s as far as the airlines could guarantee to get us but we were willing to take what we could in order to return to our home soil of the U.S.A. The welcome we received at the Atlanta airport was another incredible experience my mom and I will never forget. When we landed and looked out the window of the plane as we taxied in, we were greeted with airport staff cheering and clapping. We were one of the first planes to land again at the Atlanta airport since the attacks and in that moment, I realized that our plane returning to the U.S.A. was a victory over darkness. We were the only passengers in that whole place which is usually bustling with thousands of people. The halls were lined with staff waving American flags and cheering. It was a relief to see the familiar site of my dad standing at the end of the hallway waiting for us. He had driven from Columbus, Ohio (where my parents live) as soon as he found out we would be flying into Atlanta so he could be there to greet us. He’d been waiting there since the day before just to be ready for the news when we might be returning. A reporter stopped and interviewed him and snapped a photo of us reuniting with a hug. I still have the article.
I have visited Ground Zero a couple of times since, and was overwhelmed with the beautiful memorial and the pools. The museum is a powerful experience and important for everyone to see at some point in their life. The little church that was still standing in the shadow of the collapsed towers, which ended up becoming a haven of healing by serving so many of the emergency workers and injured during the aftermath, reminds us that we all have a purpose in this life no matter how seemingly insignificant or small we think we are. The smallest, most unassuming building, usually dwarfed by that huge metropolis, ended up having the biggest impact in providing life, hope and mercy when it was needed most. Just like the unassuming, small town of Stephensville, Newfoundland did for us. I will never forget 9/11/2001.
I’d like to add that a couple of years ago my mom and I were able to see the Broadway musical, Come From Away, together about the plane people who landed in Newfoundland that day. It was so well told and captured many of our experiences. We also recently found a few photos that the mother of the little boy on our plane had taken of our time together and sent to us. We have since lost touch and Jacob would be all grown up now but so glad to have the memories. Enjoy the photos below. The audio version of the story is available on my podcast here:
