APPLETON, WI- Everyone seems to remember where they were on the morning of September 11, 2001. For Walter Zerrenner of Appleton, he got a first class view of history unfolding as he was on a business flight, set to land around the same time the first plane hit the towers.
“As we approached LaGuardia Airport, I was looking out my window and saw the North tower get hit by the first plane.”
Zerrenner said he has been on planes in the past that seemed like they were coming close to hitting the building, so at first, he did not think it was an impossibility.
“Everybody on our flight thought it was an accident, but once we got to the airport, they announced they were shutting the airport down because the World Trade Center got hit”, Zerrenner said. “By then the second plane had hit and the city was being shutdown. I could not get into Manhattan, and of course, then we found out it was no accident.”
Back in Wisconsin, Walter’s wife and daughter were watching the footage and knew that they had to try to get ahold of him.
“The two of them were trying to get ahold of me because they knew that Dad was on a plane at that time. I had to get a hold of my secretary to call them and tell them that I was okay because the cell tower was down and I could not call out.”
Walter was the Senior Vice President for New York Presbyterian Hospitals at the time. The residents were supposed to be having breakfast at the top of the World Trade Center that morning, but the event was cancelled because the guest speaker got sick. He says had that breakfast occurred, it is scary to think about all the people he knew that may have been lost.
Every year on the anniversary, Walter takes time to remember those who were lost that day. On some of the anniversaries, he travels to Greenville to a memorial where two steel beams from the World Trade Center are located.
“It is a day that is etched in my mind forever.”
He says it is the least that he can do.
“That is why it is important I think to have a remembrance, not so much because of the attack but because of the first responders.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Comments