Remembering 9/11: Huntley residents share their experience on a day that changed American history

HUNTLEY – On Sep. 11, 2001, 19 terrorists from an Islamist extremist group known as Al-Qaeda, hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center (WTC) complex located in New York.

Flight 11 was crashed into floors 93 to 99 of the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. while Flight 175 struck floors 77 to 85 of the South Tower 17 minutes later.

According to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the WTC complex that day, with a vast majority of those people being able to evacuate safely.

A third hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia killing 184 people.

Passengers on board Flight 93, the fourth hijacked plane, fought back against the terrorists, causing the plane to crash into an empty field in western Pennsylvania. Flight 93 was about 20 minutes by air from Washington D.C.

In total, the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks killed 2,977 people from 93 nations.

Seeing as those attacks have had a lasting impact on American history, a few Huntley residents were able to reflect on their 9/11 experiences.

Huntley resident Marian Strebler recalled feeling devastated upon hearing the news.

“I was at work (I work at the airport) we had a small TV in our break room. When the first plane hit, we thought it was not real. Then the second plane came and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. [I] remember we had all of our planes everywhere grounded. All I wanted to do was leave work and get my children,” Strebler said via Facebook. “My heart hurt so bad that day, and not long after, my oldest son signed up for the Marine Corps and did two tours in Iraq. Thankfully we were blessed with him coming back safely.”

Chris Nicolussi remembers the eerie silence of not having airplanes in the sky.

“My sister called me at home because she was at O’Hare and she told me to turn on the TV. The rest is history. I remember the silent skies, they usually weren’t. I heard the boom as the fighter jets flew over. One of my daycare clients came to pick up his kids, saying they were gathering their entire family and going to church to pray,” said Nicolussi.

While many residents were able to recall the happenings of 9/11 as if it had occurred yesterday, a common message that was shared by various individuals was the hope that younger generations never forget the events that transpired that day.

Today, individuals will find a 9/11 Memorial which is located on the western side of the former WTC complex where the Twin Towers once stood. The Memorial Plaza surrounds two enormous reflecting pools set within the footprints of the North and South Towers.

The pools feature 30-foot waterfalls—the largest man-made waterfalls in North America. The names of people who were killed in the Sep. 11 attacks in New York, the Pentagon, and on Flight 93, as well as the 1993 bombing at the WTC, are etched in bronze around the edges of the pools.