RCIL Remembers 9/11

Eleven years ago today our lives were forever changed.  Please read below as RCIL staff share their thoughts and stories of 9/11.

Vicki Gillespie – “I was with my RCIL family!”

Kathy Holloway – “We had a staffing meeting in Osage City that day!  I remember standing outside in the parking lot looking at all of the circles in the sky, of the planes turning around to land.  All I wanted to do was get home and get all of my family together!  I remember just praying for the families and our country.  I had a fear that I had never had before!”

Macy Gaines – “I was working in the shipping dept at Sigma Tek in Augusta, shipping air craft parts. I worked with only one other person. When the radio stated the second plane had hit we just looked at each other, and without saying a word we both went to the shipping offices were the other ladies did the paperwork. We found them all huddled around a single radio. My oldest son was a baby in daycare. I really wanted to get him and go home. On 9/11, I and say an extra-long prayer for our nation, for our nation’s leaders, and for all those who have been traumatized by the event.”

Stephanie Wold – “I was on my way to staffing when we heard about the attack on the twin towers and then when we arrived at staffing where they had the TV set up in the back room and when realized the magnitude of what was going on. I would like to send my thoughts and prayers out to the families.”

Mandy Smith – “I was a junior in high school.  I was in American History class when the first plane had hit.  When the bell rang for next period no one could move.  The rest of the day we just sat in disbelief as we watched the television.  I remember sitting in Mrs. Curtis’ room watching the second plane hit and thinking this couldn’t be real.  I don’t think the depth of what happened that day really hit me until weeks later.  My thoughts are with the families of individuals who were on those planes and buildings that day.”

Jennifer Silvey – “I was 17 years old. I lived in Tebbetts, Missouri and I just got up to make some food as I prepared to pack my bags because I was leaving for Job Corps the following day. I watched the 2^nd plane hit and will never forget it. Even at 17 I fully understood that things would never again be the same.”

Deone Wilson – “I say a special prayer of thanksgiving for our armed forces. I also pray for the family members of the people that died on that terrible day.”

Doris Hammons – “I was headed to Osage City to Staffing and the receptionist called on my cell phone and she was hysterical. I did not know how bad this was until I got to Staffing and saw the news on TV. We were all sent home to be close to our families.  It was a very scary time in my life. This disaster took away my false since of safety in the United States. My heart is saddened every year on this date for the families of victims. But now my family does have a disaster plan in place. So we can all meet up as a family and be together even in dangerous times.”

Becky Brewer – “I was here at RCIL.  We were having staffing that day and right before staffing was to begin, we received word that something was happening.  Mary, our ED at the time, had a television in her office and we began watching the news reports.  Since most people were far from home, staffing was cancelled and everyone was sent home.  I remember seeing airplane vapor trails that made u turns where all aircraft had been ordered to land immediately wherever the closest airstrip they could safely land on was.  Many landed in smaller towns like Salina and Dodge City.  My brother-in-law was in the air headed to Washington D.C. during the attacks and was diverted back to Memphis.  There were many church services held that evening. “

Deanna Wright – “I was at home and it came across the T.V.  I remember it each year by keeping up with what is being done for the families, and for the country.  I am sad that this year the museum is not done, hope next year it will be.  I watch specials every year about 9-11, and with my children.  I remember how scary it was for them because they were just in their teens and early twenties, and had never seen anything like it before.”

RCIL would like to send our thoughts out to all who were affected by the tragedy of 9/11.