Twenty years ago Saturday is a day that changed America forever.

Nineteen hijackers overtook four domestic flights and killed around 3,000 people in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, Sept. 11, 2001.

In the immediate wake of the events, air travel was grounded, just about everything closed or canceled and the nation slowed to a halt in general.

As a result of the ceased air travel, CNN reported “In 2006, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that airline revenues from domestic US flights fell by $10 billion a year between 2001 and 2006. For comparison, the net losses globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 were $126.4 billion in total, according to the IATA.”

Economically, History.com reported New York City’s economy lost 143,000 jobs a month and $2.8 billion in wages in the first three months after the attacks. The first day trading resumed, the market fell 684 points, 7.1%. It estimated the cost of the damage at the World Trade Center was $60 billion and the cost to clean the debris at Ground Zero was $750 million.

Among the changes made in the wake of the events that were broadcast from the media capital of the nation included the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The USA PATRIOT Act (the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001) was also passed to temporarily increase search and surveillance powers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

What changed most of all, however, was the American mentality and the notion that residents will never forget the events that unfolded and changed the way life is lived. Twenty years later, it is clear that has stayed true. 

Below are local responses on remembering the Sept. 11 attacks leading up to the 20-year anniversary. Many say they remember the initial moments they either saw or heard about the planes colliding with the buildings.

“I was an accountant going to work and when I got to work, they had a television. When I walked in, I saw the second plane hit the tower live,” Joseph Becker said. “I was shocked, you don’t just see something like that.”

“I couldn’t believe what was happening, at first I thought maybe it was a joke but it wasn’t. Then the second one hit and I realized we were under attack,” Kenny Gordon said.

“I was born in 1998, so I was three when 9/11 happened. It was kind of one of my earlier memories. I was born in England and my family had just moved to the U.S when 9/11 happened,” Emily Topping said. “All I really remember is that my grandparents were helping move us in, then they couldn’t go home forever because there were no flights out.”

A person locally responsible for ensuring no flights arrived or left Intercontinental Airport in Houston was Bob Pults, who worked in Human Resources at IAH.

“We had to start closing down the airport, close it down quick because there were tens of thousands of flights. We had to get them all on the ground in just a couple of hours,” Pults said. “When I walked in, they’re saying all this stuff had happened and your mind goes blank. You just stand there and stare in awe at the television. They kept showing it over, and over, and over again.

“I started doing paperwork to start closing down the airport,” Pults continued. “By twelve, everything was on the ground there. When I left the airport – and it was a busy day – there wasn’t a soul in there except me. There were probably some security people, but you couldn’t see them because everybody was freaking out.”

Michael Fitzgerald was working in a restaurant and he said the staff paused to watch the live coverage as well but it hit a little closer to home as a veteran.

“From being in the military, it means a lot to me because it was something that kind of took me by surprise,” Fitzgerald said. “It stays in my mind; it’s a terrorist attack on the United States, a place I was trained to defend until the end. Every year it comes around, at the time that it happened I always stop and have a silent prayer for all those that were killed and didn’t make it out.”

For the number of lives lost, many locals persist that the events be remembered forever.

“It’s something we definitely need to remember,” Dennis Filipp said. “To me, it’s just as important as the attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s just totally ridiculous, should’ve never happened.”

Walter Mock said the attacks on Sept. 11, should be remembered the “same as we remember Pearl Harbor, it was an attack on our nation by foreigners.”

Some thoughts remain with those tasked with running toward danger while everyone else ran to safety.

“(First responders are) there for us if we need them,” Rachel Matthews said. “I feel that they dedicate their life for everybody in a time of need. They don’t think about themselves, I don’t think they ever have. They think about us.”

“When something like that happens, you think about all the people in uniform (in the U.S.) and overseas and what a great job they do,” Gordon said. “But something like that, no one can anticipate something like that happening it was just overwhelming.”

Still, out of the ashes rose a sense of patriotism and community, and for that Johnny Class is thankful.

“I read a lot in the paper about different organizations that have started up that weren’t there before that really help the people in case another crisis like that happens, they’ll be right there,” Class said. “Like care programs and the Women for the Wounded, I really appreciate that. I really thank our community for coming together as a whole to help people in stress like that.”