WCTC Ceremony Marks 10th Anniversary of Terrorist Attacks

It was Sept. 9, 2001, and and his family were on an airplane leaving LaGuardia Airport.

As the plane began ascending into the air on a clear night, Hevey’s wife looked at the World Trade Center, turned to him and said that on their next trip to New York City, she wanted to see the Twin Towers.

”At that time, I promised her we would return,” Hevey said Friday. “That trip never happened.”

Hevey was one of several speakers who gathered at Waukesha County Technical College Friday morning for a Sept. 11, 2001, remembrance ceremony. In a respectful manner that was primarily attended by firefighters, police and WCTC staff and students, community members took a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks against our country.

Sept. 11, 2001, was the day that everything "changed in an instant," said retired Major General Paul Lima, who was at the Pentagon when an airplane that was hijacked by terrorists slammed into the defense building in Washington, D.C.

“Many of you were in grade school on Sept. 11, 2001, but I am sure most of you remember the events that day,” Lima said

Lima described how emergency workers quickly evacuated the Pentagon and bringing the people who were hurt from the plane crash out of the building and into the parking lot where triage was set up. The Pentagon was evacuated in less than 30 minutes, Lima said, which was essential because then the fire broke out in the building.

In the triage, emergency workers began taking care of the patients, but some of the injured had to stay in triage for 30 hours, Lima said.

Hartland Police Chief Robert Rosch spoke about the 72 names of the law enforcement officials that were killed on Sept. 11, 2001. The men and women rushed into the building to help evacuate as many people before the towers collapsed.

“All were serving the community with honor and courage,” Rosch said.