9/11 Del Norte remembers

Shock. Quiet disbelief. A lost sense of security. Walking around in a stupor.

Many feelings and actions were shared by Del Norte County residents on Sept 11, 2001.

“Now we have to deal with terrorists,”  thought sheriff’s Commander Bill Steven, who experienced more-routine terrorism during his military service in Europe.

The harsh recognition of our newfound vulnerability felt by Steven was shared with many of his neighbors.

But after the daze and disillusion diminished, a strong resolve remained:

• After a lot of thought, Del Norte High School coaches opted to play a scheduled football game against Ferndale. Team captain Erik Eggen lead the Warriors onto the field carrying a large American flag. “He slammed the flag pole into the middle of the field at the 50-yard line where it stood, flag waving, until kickoff,” said Tony Fabricius, a coach at the time. The team continued this tradition, home or away, for the rest of the season.

• Local military recruiters saw a surge in interest to enlist. “I’ve been getting calls from all over Humboldt and Del Norte,” said Staff Sgt. Blake Peterson shortly after 9/11. He worked at the Marine recruiting station in Eureka.

• In the Saturday edition of the Daily Triplicate following the Tuesday attacks, the newspaper included paper American flags and encouraged locals to hang them in the front windows of their homes and businesses to show our unity as a community and country.

“I remember seeing every business in town and every single house in town had these paper flags taped up in the windows,” said Reuben Presler, who was a Crescent City 13-year-old at the time of the attacks.

• The Crescent City Rotary Club elected to send a member to New York to personally deliver a check to the New York Rotary Club to show solidarity. The New Yorkers were overwhelmed by the action from a small California town more than 2,000 miles away.

“We had to show that we stood with New Yorkers,” said Bob Berkowitz, the Rotary member who delivered the donation. “It truly brought home the idea that this was a national tragedy and not just a New York tragedy.”

When Del Norters heard the news of the attacks, some felt a notalgia for a simpler, safer past that suddenly felt all too distant.  Most stayed glued to the news, eager for more information and unable to turn away. Some frantically phoned family and friends who lived or worked near the towers. Here are some of their stories, a decade later:

Tonya Barnes, Crescent City: “On the morning of 9/11, I was lying in a hospital bed at Sutter Coast Hospital. I had just had a very difficult labor, delivery, C-section of our daughter on 9-7 ... I remember being woken by the nurse (who had a strange look on her face) who was taking my vitals. She told me I had to turn on the TV and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I sat in shock and horror watching the second plane crash and wondering what type of a horrific world I had just brought my daughter into ...

“Today, I watch my daughter who’s turning 10 years old this week. She has no clue of the impact the 9/11 attacks have had on her life, but I do.”

Teri Markanson, Crescent City: “I am a New Yorker, despite having lived in California quite some time now. And, I’ll always be a New Yorker. On 9/11/01, I was at a friend’s house when the news hit the screens. I was utterly destroyed! And to be honest, lost no less than 100 folks I knew that worked in the WTC.

“I couldn’t hear anything, but the TV. I couldn’t think at all, other than the overwhelming desire to start making long distance calls. But I didn’t. I knew there’d be no calling into my home that day ... I spent quite a bit of my childhood watching the towers go up ... To this day, every year, and for the rest of my life, I’ll think of all the lost souls from that day.”

Tawnie Bach: “My two daughters and I had the flu on 9/11 ... I was lying in bed and my 11-year-old ran into my room and said, ‘Mom, a plane crashed into a big building in New York City.’ Half asleep I remember telling her it was just a movie and she said, ‘No mom, it’s on every single channel.’

“I jumped up and ran into the living room where both my daughters flopped on the floor watching in awe. They were too young to understand ... I was in my 30s and I didn’t understand. I stood and watched, too sickened to move, flipping back and forth from channel to channel hoping it was some movie, some type of hoax, and then the second plane hit and I screamed out in disbelief...

“My daughters wanted an explanation and as I tried to talk I just wept in disbelief.”

Christina Pedota Polidore was getting her sons ready for school when her brother called and told her to turn on the TV: “I was dumbstruck when I saw the downed Trade Center ... I had worked in One World Trade Center, floor 61 south with a view of the Statue of Liberty in the NY Harbor ... I could have been dust ...

“I recall very vividly that my three sons were very concerned that we hurry and get to school, not watch the news ... I looked at those three innocent faces of my 13-, 11- and 8 -year-old sons and said you do not understand ...  They could not see the horror I felt ...

“We loaded up in the van and headed to Crescent Elk to drop off my oldest son. I parked my van and proceeded to walk directly to the principal’s office, Mr. Finley, at the time. I asked him if school would be in session today. He very calmly looked at me and said, ‘Yes, Mrs. Polidore, we will try to carry on in a normal fashion today to keep things as regular as possible for our students.’

“I remembered that his composure and comment struck me as reasonable.  We were trying to maintain normalcy for our youngsters in a world that no longer was sane to me.”

Chuck Blackburn, Big Flat: “I was watching it on the news, the first plane had already hit, and I remember it left me with a real empty feeling, like ‘What is going on?’

“I had general discussions with different people that went, ‘How could this happen in our country?’ ‘Who are these guys?’ and ‘We gotta get ’em.’

“I had the thought that I’m glad I live in a rural area, because nobody’s gonna target Big Flat, California.”

Bill Steven, Crescent City: “I remember sitting in front of the TV just mesmerized. I watched the towers fall. I was sitting there watching it all unfold … Almost numb… almost in disbelief that something so big could go down so fast.”

Steven was named after his Great Uncle Bill Steven, who fought with the Army in World War I.  He hung his great uncle’s burial flag from the awning of his house.

“It braved a winter so when I finally took it down it had some battle scars. A couple tears, a little faded in some spots. I felt it was an appropriate sacrifice for the flag. I felt that my great uncle would have approved under the circumstances.”

Bob Berkowitz, Crescent City: “I was trying to get stock market reports and couldn’t and thought, ‘that’s very strange.’ Then lo and behold, I turned on the TV, and it was about 15 minutes after the first plane had hit the first tower.

“I was glued to the TV most of the day. If I was in the car, I was tuned to the radio to hear the latest news. We didn't know if we had a national problem or just in New York. That day there was nobody on the streets.  Everybody was glued to media. It made us very nervous.

“For the first time, knew that the United States wasn’t isolated from terrorists.”

Sylvia Stone, Crescent City: “I was in the process of getting ready to attend an Aglow Area board meeting of six women from Medford, Grants Pass, Brookings, Gold Beach, O'Brien, and Crescent City.  My husband, Arnold and I heard it when one of the gals called  and told us to turn on the TV.

After the initial shock, we decided to keep the meeting as scheduled. Thus we would be in prayer — what was more important than that at this time?  After we met, adjusted and prayed, we continued on our planned: ‘Pray over the area’ via car, in which we would pray for each area in our section individually. Hence that day, 9/11, we were to drive the coast from Brookings to Klamath.

“This is where we got an impact beyond words of the tragedy. Upon arriving at the ‘Lookout Point,’ we were shocked to see (this was about noon) a blood red sky! The ocean not only reflected the violent red sky but the ocean was as still as a picture! We stopped the car in shock and realized the birds were even silent. There was a biker who pulled up at the same time who also stopped, also in shock. It was as though God and heaven were grieving.”

Alan Justice, Crescent City: I grew up in Ridgewood, N.J., not far from New York City. I first saw the World Trade Center from a nearby Wall Street business (where my friend's father worked) when it was a big, deep, square hole in the ground (or maybe there were 2 holes then). They had just started building it in the late ’60s ...

“The restaurant on the top floor was a great place to bring a date, as it had a breathtaking view uptown.  Many years later I moved to Crescent City. Three weeks later, I happened to turn on the radio one morning to hear about the attack.  I turned on the TV in time to see live the horror of the collapse of the second tower.  Twelve folks from Ridgewood died there that day.  And now it’s gone full circle.  The memorial consists of two fountains, each is a big, deep, square hole in the ground.”