Remembering 9/11 After a Decade of Rebuilding

For many Americans, a decade ago seems like just yesterday. The clarity of where they were and what they were doing at 8:46 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 will never be forgotten.

Ten years ago, Jane Hoffman was working in New York City’s financial district, closer than most to the impact.

She dressed her three children in “I ♥ NY” shirts for the on Sunday in Doylestown, out of respect for the city she called home until moving to Radnor last year.

“I’ll let them know the good things and the bad things that happened that day,” she whispered through tears, unable to find words to describe her memory.

Tom Conte of Doylestown watched the 9/11 Heroes Run from outside on E. State Street, fighting back his own tears, and blindly clenching a sign that had been handed to him.

It didn’t matter that he had never met the victim whose name was printed on the front. He held the sign high until each of the hundreds of runners had crossed the starting line.

“It’s a wound on the soul of every American forever,” he said, gathering his thoughts after a moment of silence.

Conte was dating a resident of New York City at the time of the attacks, and remembers driving to North Jersey the morning of Sept. 11. Because he couldn’t cross any bridges or tunnels, he watched the city smolder and smoke for three days from across the river.

The voice of his then 6-year-old nephew rings clear in his mind.

“I remember him asking, ‘Uncle Tom, why did the bad people knock down the buildings?’”

While he can’t remember his answer, he said he’ll always remember the spirit of the American people after the attacks.

“It brought forth the patriots and warriors in all of us,” he said.

Danielle Scarpitti of Hatboro and Karyn Kling of Doylestown joined the 9/11 Heroes Run to salute one such patriot – a man named David Morgan, who is a patient at their brain injury unit at Moss Rehabilitation Center in Elkins Park.

The nurses wore signs on their backs for Morgan, a soldier from Wilkes-Barre who was injured while fighting in Afghanistan after Sept. 11.

“We see the challenges they face every day,” Kling said. “Many soldiers are forgotten once they’re injured.”

Doylestown Fire Chief Denny Loux Jr. was at work the day the towers fell. He said he remembers hearing bits and pieces of the coverage on TV and praying for his fellow first responders.

Although he didn’t know anyone who died that day, he saw the attacks from a different perspective.

“You go through a lot of training as a firefighter,” he said. “But even all the training in the world couldn’t have prepared them for that.”

For some families, Sept. 11 has become not only a day to remember, but a day to teach.

Kimberly Weinhold of Doylestown took her family to Ground Zero last year, visiting a site she said she clearly remembers from watching the second plane hit on live TV.

“I thought, ‘Why did I bring a baby into this?’” she said, of her then 7-month-old daughter and the scary months that followed Sept. 11.

Today, 10-year-old Bailey has two siblings, who were eager to see Ground Zero and a new city skyline they’ll grow up recognizing.

“I want them to know and grasp the vastness of how it impacted our lives,” Weinhold said.