9-11-01
Reactions from Oregon Staters on campus and around the world

	Black-clad OSU women participated in a five-hour silent vigil in the MU as a protest against global violence.
About 225 people attended a "teach-in" on terrorism in the MU Ballroom, sponsored by various campus groups.

"Our hope was that this concert would allow us to mourn for the victims, but moreover, provide an opportunity for the OSU and Corvallis communities to celebrate our American citizenship," said David Hoffman, director of university bands. "Bands in the United States have a long connection to patriotism."

There has been a dramatic increase in inquiries about ROTC programs on campus, and several OSU alumni have been called into active duty for humanitarian, military and support services.

On Sept. 15, the OSU football game with Montana State was cancelled, the 25-year Alumni Reunion was postponed, and the Alumni Association board meeting was rescheduled for another weekend. Jim Ford, ’53, ’62, had been looking forward to visiting OSU that weekend and wrote a note to Assistant Director of Travel Programs Carlene Moorefield, reminiscing about another missed football game:

In 1941, when OSU was playing in the Rose Bowl, Pearl Harbor was attacked, as you know, and the game was shifted to the East because of "blackouts" on the West Coast. I had earned a trip to that Rose Bowl by selling subscriptions to the Oregonian. I was 14 and had an Oregonian route in Longview, Wash. I sold 100 orders — you needed 70 for the trip — so they were going to give me $30 for the extra 30.

Well, the game was playing in the Southeast, and they would not send us that far, so they gave me $100. So Pearl Harbor kept me from seeing OSU in 1941 and now in 2001, 60 years later, the terrorists kept me from seeing OSU again! I know my inconvenience isn’t anything like what the poor people in New York are going through, so I’m not complaining. I’m still looking forward to meeting you! Thanks, Jim Ford

New York City resident Kim Place, ’83, an OSUAA board member, lives several miles from Ground Zero and witnessed the attacks.

Retired music professor James Douglass was in the People’s Republic of China on Sept. 11, conducting two concerts commemorating the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the Republic. At first he was hesitant to participate, due to the chilly U.S.-Chinese relations after the downing of a U.S. military jet there earlier this year. But he said that after Sept. 11, he found the Chinese people to be deeply sympathetic to the events. "It is one of those things that is going to bring us together."

Chris Redell, ’89, lived in an apartment near the World Trade Center’s South Tower. After the first tower was hit, she grabbed a pile of clothes and caught the last subway out of the district. She made it to her office and discovered later that when the South Tower collapsed, it smashed the windows of her apartment and flooded it with chunks of steel and plaster. She has since moved into a new apartment farther uptown but still cries whenever she talks about Sept. 11. "So many people died, and so many others lost everything," Redell said. "I know I am so very lucky. I feel so bad for those families who lost loved ones."

Classmates kept track of each other via e-mail in the days after the attack. The Oregon Stater received permission to print some of their comments and observations:

September 12

I want to first apologize for the mass e-mail. I also want to say thank you for all your thoughts and prayers yesterday. I know many of you tried to reach me on the phone and were unable to get through. Needless to say, it was damn near impossible for me to get a working line out of the city either from a land-line or by cell phone — it took nearly 90 minutes to finally touch base with my parents.

The minute the Pentagon was hit, the Capitol police began evacuating the Capitol and the office buildings, and we left immediately.

Yesterday was the most surreal experience I’ve ever had — it seemed more like a movie than anything. There were F-16s overhead patrolling the airspace over D.C., what we thought were explosions that we could hear from outside our office building (ended up being sonic booms from the jets), gridlock from the cars and people wandering around not knowing how to get out of city or what to do or even where to go, police and emergency vehicles everywhere, all types of rumors and stories about different federal buildings that were under attack, including stories that one or more passenger jets were headed toward the Capitol. It just didn’t seem real. It was a very unnerving time yesterday for a few hours. However, we are OK, and we are actually in session today beginning at 10 a.m.

Without sounding too cheesy, I want to let you all know that I appreciate and value your friendship more than you realize. Sometimes it takes a grand experience for many of us to realize the blessings and freedoms we have as citizens of this country. Yesterday was the most awful, unimaginable day I’ve ever had, as it was for most Americans. However, it was yesterday that also made me appreciate more than any other time, where I live and having you all in my life. Love, Huck

Chris Huckleberry is a former OSU student and a staffer for U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley. September 12

First and foremost I would like to thank everyone who sent e-mails inquiring about my safety. I am OK. The feeling here is absolute consternation and shock, really. What used to be a massive monument dominating the view out of my apartment is no longer there, as if someone has taken an eraser and wiped off surgically the twin towers. Instead, we have now a cloud of dust that has been hanging there for close to 24 hours.

I was at work when I heard the news. I immediately went home and saw the extent of the catastrophe from my apartment. It was a scene out of a war/sci-fi movie. Military helicopters whizzing by, F16s and F14s flying over Manhattan and the constant wailing of the sirens ... I proceeded to put my name down as a volunteer at my local police station and waited.
From 5:30 p.m. till around midnight, I was busy taking care of people coming from the Wall Street area. They had to be doused with water for decontamination. The sight was almost adding insult to injury. People in business suits drenched from head to toe. Most of them had blank stares and were in shock. We tended to them with donated clothes, comforters and towels.

On my tag next to my name were written "CPR" and languages I spoke, "French, Spanish and Arabic." I caught some people taking double takes at the word Arabic...

I woke up this morning to a mob mentality ... already. Words such as "let’s get all the Arabs rounded up and shipped home" and "let’s kill the towel heads" were echoing through the airwaves. Being Arab, I expect things to be very hard for a lot of us in the next few days. So far, we are all taking this as New Yorkers, and this catastrophe has seen all of us band together with great courage and conviction regardless of our ethnicities. Let’s pray it will stay so.

Bye for now! Addi
Addi Fadel is a 1987 graduate of OSU.

October 25

I was dispatched to New York on Sept. 21 to assist an Incident Management Team in the rescue/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center. I have spent hours training for emergency situations, but no training or previous emergency responses could properly prepare me or anyone for the sights, smells and looks in people’s eyes that I experienced while I was in New York.

Every day, groups of people would stand in the median on West Street to wave flags, hold up thank you signs and cheer as work crews came in or left Ground Zero. These supporters were there 24 hours a day, rain or shine, and had as much enthusiasm weeks after the disaster as they did the first day.

Children from all over the United States sent boxes of letters to rescue workers in New York. These letters were hung in fire stations and placed in American Red Cross eating stations and on tables at the four command posts at Ground Zero. It was very evident that the cards and letters touched the rescue workers and probably meant more to these individuals than I can explain.

The members of the Fire Department of New York, New York Police Department and the Port Authority Police Department put their heart and soul into every day. For them, their day consisted of reporting to Ground Zero, going home to a funeral and then reporting back to Ground Zero. How many people could do that every day for two months?
Eric Sandeno, ’92, is a forester on the Hoosier National Forest in Indiana.