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“Kristin had died the November before 9/11, so I was still feeling that and 9/11 was another shadow that was within the shadow. That's why a lot of it, I don't remember. And that also brought the grief of families to be more real to me of losing loved ones in that way.”

“He said one of the husbands was calling his wife from the top of the tower, and said, ‘Look, it's hot up here, it's really hot, the fire is coming. We gotta break the windows. We have got to break the windows so we can get out. We can’t survive. The heat is too much, the smoke is too much, the only chance we have is to jump out of the windows.’ He said, ‘I love you, but…’ Then the phone cut out… The last conversation she had ever had with her husband.”

"I will never forget these women who owned nail salons were out on the street giving people disposable manicure flip flops."

"We didn't have to have any crazy credentials to be used by God, that's what I learned. You can be 21 years old and not know anything, and still be a servant to God." 

“People were starting to run around, cell service was completely out, but we were still walking. And as we were walking towards Battery Park, I hear this noise that absolutely sounds like a bomb, and that's when panic set in. It was the first tower coming down.”

“We looked out the window and saw office equipment, paper, and three bodies falling to the ground.”

“He saved McCallie School from any kind of religious backlash; he united McCallie as one McCallie.”

“And I really believe that there are a lot of places we could get wisdom for conducting ourselves. I think the world religions are those sources, and people in various religious communities should be able to not give up their beliefs, but to talk to each other, to understand why people see the world the way they see it.”

“I’d say we’re safer now. Going beyond airport security, if you were to look at the security of military bases pre-9/11, it was worse than a toll booth…We put a tremendous amount of handcuffs and restrictions on ourselves just for the overall preservation of innocent life.  We have these restrictions that the enemy doesn't follow, that the bad guys don't follow, and I saw time and time again where we chose the preservation of innocent life over the easier methods of war.” 

“People’s ideas of what Muslims are didn’t come from them learning anything about our religion, it came from 9/11. There are many people in America whose only “knowledge” about Islam comes from hearing about it on the news after a terrorist attack. If people actually talked to Muslims, read the Qur’an, and try to learn about our religion, they will truly see what Islam is about.”

“So we got on the phone with NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange trying to figure out what they were going to do. They obviously made the decision not to open the market that day and ultimately not to open the market for the rest of the week, which was the first time in recorded history that actually occurred...”

“How do you protect someone when you have no control over the situation? With no guarantees of what tomorrow will be like.”

“Even today around 9/11, my mother puts up a billboard in my hometown which encourages people to do random acts of kindness in honor of Mary Lou because she was such a kind, sweet, and joyful person during her time on earth.”

"When you are in your early 20's you feel like you are immortal and that the world is your oyster. You do not think about tragedy, and you do not believe that something can go drastically wrong at any given moment. That was just not a concept that I had experienced yet in my little bubble of life, and after that day, my priorities were reorganized drastically."

“My professional career was defined by our response to 9/11.”

“I felt that I needed to repay the country’s enemies for what they had done.  It’s always immature.  It’s always an impetuous decision, but that's what it is all about.”

“I saw the best of New Yorkers and I saw the worst of New Yorkers. I had never seen New Yorkers respect and cheer for us before, they had never come together and been thankful for the cops before.”

“I think we were all trying to prepare ourselves for if one of us would have to be the pilot that has to shoot down two hundred plus people; that was a very daunting thought.”

“It spurred a lot of hatred and added to more conflict in the U.S. that dragged on for the next twenty years. Extremism breeds extremism.”

“On the other side of that cynicism, though, I found a new drive for life. What this situation does for those who are young and want to have kids, it makes you very urgent to do that-- to have a baby, to reaffirm life or a way to feel connected to the Earth and your own life. It was something to feel hopeful about.”

“You know, as an 18 or 19 year old listening to this guy talking about this, I'm like yeah, whatever, sure man. But then 16 years later it was actually coming true.”

“I remember one of my friends telling me a story of how he was not allowed onto a bus the day after September 11. The driver simply refused to let him on because of his race and left the stop without him.”

“Dad, if I ever die in duty, I want to shut the town of Great Necks down.”

“It’s hard knowing that you are a captive audience living in New York, because when they close the bridges then it is impossible to get out unless you fly out or swim across.” 

“Unfortunately, I did not get a last goodbye call from my mom on the day that she got trapped on a sinking ship.”

“I initially didn’t think of the CDC as a potential target until when I saw those barricades leaving Emory; then I realized that the CDC thought that the CDC was a target.”

“All of the lessons that September 11th forced upon us were always right there, in front of us. The tensions and the vulnerabilities always existed, and the government knew that they existed.”

“We went from a normal day to something strange going on, ... to we have no idea what was actually happening and just random terror.”

“The idea that fear can make you, I hate to use the word selfish, but it is, in a sense. It makes you selfish for your own self-preservation.”

“ Everyone thought that the U.S. was just this big power house that couldn’t be touched. We soon came to find that this definitely wasn’t the case.”

“Walking over the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge was when I saw the Pentagon on fire.”

“Everyone was surprised. It’s as if someone who couldn’t be hurt by anyone was now being punched in such an incredible manner that no one could have conceived it, that they were going to receive such a hard blow internally.”

“We went from no thought about attacks to being super aware about being the target for overseas terrorists. We felt safe until we didn’t. We didn’t feel protected anymore.”

“To me he symbolized a literal falling of man; moreover, mankind - a hopeless descent to which I hoped we would not succumb.”

"I remember after that day, I felt a kinship with every single other New Yorker."

“It was a fundamental shift in my world view and our role in the world…I realized that things are not as black and white as I saw them before.”

“It was all just absolutely surreal and, you know, somehow, someone held a hand over us and we escaped it.”

“When I was a kid I lived in Jersey City, which was right across the river from New York City, and I watched them building…the World Trade Twin Towers… I looked at the Towers everyday.”

“I actually don’t think that the attacks were the worst thing that ever happened here. I feel like what has come after has been much worse - the fear that people have. The fear of each other that people have. The suspicion of people that don’t look like you. I feel like that’s so much worse than what happened that day.”

“Anytime you have an F-16 do two passovers at 500 mph followed by Air Force One landing, you know something’s up.”

“To this day, I still have his contact in my phone. I just don't have the heart to delete it.”

“One thing that the dog people said was that when the planes hit the buildings and the buildings fell, all the dogs went wild, because they were so close and they could tell there was a big disturbance.”

“For me, in a very unique way, I feel like having had that experience together, me being a flight attendant, him being a fireman very much galvanized our relationship. We shared something that was a very unique bond.”

“I can say that my life has pretty much been measured as a before and after September 11th, because on that day my life and my family’s life changed forever.”

“We needed to know what their weapon was going to be, and we clearly knew. We knew that some bad guys connected to Al-Qaeda wanted to know how to fly.”

“I think we became more suspicious…I don’t think we have healed, because these sentiments that were stirred up are still very much alive…”

“So just weeks later there was already an ingrained thought that terrorists could now hijack planes and if you are in any large gathering of people you are a target.”

“I will never forget going through London’s Heathrow Airport: it was like a ghost town. Even though the airports had reopened, nobody wanted to fly; it was like the world had stopped.”

“It was reported that there were two groups happy because of 9/11: the Middle Easterners and the Chinese. It was mostly a small minority of people online, but it was very cruel. When the Chinese-American community heard about this, they were furious. They were angry that there were people celebrating such evil things.”

“I think he was aware that the White House was threatened, so he told us to get down in the basement. He didn’t say it that way, but calmly, without raising any alarms he encouraged us to go to the basement.”

“It’s the small things like telling our favorite stories of him to each other that make you realize it’s so much better to try and find the good in the situation rather than let it eat you alive.”

“I had a client who was a roofer, and he happened to bear an uncanny resemblance to Osama Bin Laden. He was tall, thin, very dark complected, and even had the beard. I actually got my case continued because the judge agreed he looked too much like Osama Bin Laden.”

“A lot of people around me didn’t want to know the real reasons these individuals attacked us, but simply wanted someone to blame…We’re humans, we are not unconscious animals. We can work through issues with diplomacy, trying to understand both sides.”

“The boys were mesmerized and excited by the helicopters, but they had no idea why the helicopters were flying.  I remember thinking about the innocence of children and wanting to somehow preserve that innocence in my two young boys for as long as possible.”

“You cannot hit a country like ours, and do that kind of damage, and not expect this country to react like that.”

“For all of us, it changed our expectations for what American life might be like.”

“In the years after 9/11, I have felt like I need to be an even better Muslim. I have to show, through my actions, what Islam really teaches.”

“That’s the most vivid memory for me. It was a yellow necktie. The force of what happened was just sending whatever was in the office building down to the ground. You’re standing there thinking, ‘that’s somebody’s necktie, or daily planner, or coffee cup.’ It’s the personal stuff.”

“I was just telling people what to do immediately: let’s get together, make sure you’ve got your stuff, grab your things, let’s go. Because, obviously, you’re going to get out of a burning building.”

“I’ve got this one-and-a-half year old baby that I have every hope for in the world, and I’m watching the world crumble.”

“At that moment it was flight or fight, and my body decided flight.”

“After 9/11, I had a greater appreciation of how precious life is. I made sure I said how I felt to my immediate family members and neighbors and not waiting until an appropriate time to say, hey, here’s how I feel about you, but taking advantage of the opportunity right then and there that day and saying I care about you and I love you.” 

“We never feared of being attacked like most people did, but rather we feared having to be the attackers.”

“The events of 9/11 for our school community emphasized the need more than ever for the core Quaker values of our institution.”

“At the end of the day, all we want to do is be there for our children and keep them safe, and on that day no one really felt safe.”

“I knew he was dead as soon as the second tower collapsed, but I did not give up hope that Rob was alive for days, months, and really even years after the attacks…”

“…there was still a sense in which it wasn't happening in Chattanooga, but the scale and scope of it made it feel definitely more like this was going to matter to all of us everywhere…”

"I remember standing there with my mouth open. And then, the thought came into my mind, “Oh my god, I hope, I pray that it’s not a Muslim who did that.”  I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. I was just horrified at the situation, just horrified... and then when I learned it was Muslims, I was devastated."

"For me, the way I look at 9/11 is shaped by my background studying history."

"I think that a lot of stuff around intolerance that we are seeing is connected to it, because people personalize it and are reactive and want to feel safe. So if you can demonize someone out there, then you can set up systems to keep the demon away and I think I see a lot of that in our world."

“Buddy, I just crawled out of the World Trade Center; your dinner plans review with your wife is going to have to end now.”

“Any time the sky is that color blue, I think of that morning. Everybody here does. It really was a gorgeous, gorgeous day… ”

“He sort of picked me up and swung me around and I remember that ashy, smoky smell on his coat. Then he put me down and we went about our business. That was my first moment.”

“After 9/11, I became entirely distrustful. Knowing that they wanted to kill me, and more importantly, my family. I mean, it did what it was intended to do, which was put terror in our hearts.”

“Previously, I thought that only socialist nations, such as China and the USSR, were able to mobilize their civil servants, including police, firefighters and soldiers, in such a way that they would devote themselves for the greater good at any cost, irrespective of their own security. Now I learned that people in capitalist nations could do the same thing.”

“Everyone was shocked by the violence. It’s just that you could see that there was a bit of a microexpression, where you realized that they were satisfied that we finally had to deal with something difficult.” 

“And I remember being in the shower, thinking this is so horrible: the day that my baby is born is the day the father died.”

“I remember growing up thinking that America was the strongest nation in the world. It’s what we were all taught and it’s what we’d seen in history. I think that after 9/11 I didn’t believe that anymore.”

“We continued walking, and when we were about two blocks away, that’s when I heard the noise. It was a loud rumble, and as I looked back, I saw all the dust coming towards us, so we then ran like hell.”

“…in the midst of shootings and bombings being synonymous with Islam, it is our duty to stand against the hate and show them the true nature of a true Muslim.”

“Well, it’s a little crazy around here, but not as messed up as it’s about to get for you in two hours. We’re relocating the President to Offutt Air Force Base. Do you have any issues with that?”​

Ali Shafi graduated from McCallie in 2017, then majored in International Relations and Spanish at American University in Washington, D.C., where he was editor-in-chief of The Rival. He is currently a law student at Boston College. 

Ander Youngblood is a senior day student from Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Andreas Sillaste ’23 is a rising senior from Oulu, Finland. In addition to being an excellent student in APUSH, this past year he was the top-ranked player on McCallie’s undefeated tennis team, which last weekend won its third consecutive state title and is ranked number one in the nation.

Andrew Landsbergen graduated from McCallie in 2018 and is currently a student at Yale University. 

Ani Harsha is a junior day student from Chattanooga.

Ben Caldwell graduated from McCallie in 2017, then majored in English at Davidson College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. A talented artist, Ben lives in Charlotte, where he teaches 8th grade English. 

Bennett Brock graduated from McCallie in 2020 and is currently a student at the University of Georgia. 

Boden Brindell graduated from McCallie in 2020 and now lives in New York City, where he is a student at Columbia University. 

Briggs Martin ’24 is a senior boarding student from Augusta, Georgia. 

Charlie Griffin graduated from McCallie in 2022. He is now a freshman at Brown University.

Chase Hamelink graduated from McCallie in 2019 and is now majoring in Chemistry at Davidson College.  

Christopher Wiley graduated from McCallie in 2021. He is a freshman at Vanderbilt University.  

Cole Nevins is a junior boarding student from Atlanta.

Colin Carter ’23 is a junior boarding student from Shreveport, Louisiana. 

Colin Chen graduated from McCallie in 2019. He is currently a student at the University of California at San Diego, where he is majoring in Cognitive Science.

Connor Quinn graduated from McCallie in 2017 and from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2021. He is an advertising copywriter in St. Louis for Momentum Worldwide.

Conor Kinley graduated from McCallie in 2021 and is a freshman at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he is on the swim team and majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Creative Writing.

Cotton Snoddy is a junior boarding student from New York.

Daniel Cui graduated in 2019 from McCallie, where he was the winner of the Walker Casey Award, and the original editor of the 9/11 website. He is currently a senior at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. 

David Carroll graduated from McCallie in 2018. He is currently a student at Pomona College in California. 

David Johnson graduated from McCallie in 2019 and enrolled at Southern Methodist University, where he is a Provost’s Scholar and is double majoring in Psychology and Economics.

Davis Little, a boarding student from Atlanta, graduated from McCallie in 2019. He is currently a student at William and Mary, where he is studying History and Public Policy.  

Duke H. Richey graduated from McCallie in 2020 and is majoring in Environment and Sustainability at The University of the South in Sewanee. 

Eason Zhou is a current junior boarding student from Beijing. His 2023 paper on the 1721 smallpox epidemic in Boston won the regional competition for National History Day. 

Erol House ‘23 is a rising senior at McCallie. 

Evan Ellinger graduated from McCallie in 2017 and from the University of Georgia in 2021. He lives in Atlanta, where he works as an underwriter for Chubb Insurance. 

Gordon Moseley is a McCallie senior from Driggs, Idaho.

Grayson Trowbridge was a four-year boarding student at McCallie. He graduated in 2021 and is now a Biology major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Hayes Orr graduated from McCallie in 2022 and is now a freshman at the University of Georgia. 

Henry Veys is a senior day student from Chattanooga.

Ian Campbell, recently named a National Merit Semifinalist, is a senior day student from Chattanooga.

Ibrahim Aslam graduated from McCallie in 2015, then majored in Biology and Spanish at Mercer University. He works now for the AmeriCorps VISTA program in the Cochise County School Superintendent’s office and lives in Sierra Vista, Arizona. 

Jack Forrester, a day student from Lookout Mountain, is a current senior at McCallie.

Jack Gentle graduated from McCallie in 2021 and is now a freshman at Harvard University. 

Jacob Armstrong is a junior day student and a Michaels-Dickson Scholar from Chattanooga. 

Jake Atwood ’24 is a senior day student from Apison, Tennessee. 

Jake Marcum graduated from McCallie in 2019. He is now at the University of Alabama, where he is a swimmer and a member of the All-Sec Academic Honor Roll. In the summer of 2021, he swam in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Jason Nuttle graduated from McCallie in 2021 and is currently completing his first year at Yale University, where he continues to pursue a passion for sculpture and is a member of Yale’s electric car racing team.

 Jayson Spradling ’24 is a junior from Covington, Georgia. He is the fourth and current editor of this website. 

Jerry Zhang graduated from McCallie in 2022 and is in his first year at Duke University.

Jiayi Li graduated from McCallie in 2021. He is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Jiahao Guo graduated from McCallie in 2016, then received both his bachelors and masters degrees (in mechanical engineering) within four years at Northwestern University. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is an engineer at Neuralink.  

John Kohl McAdams was a four year boarding student from Texas. He won the Walker Casey Award in his senior year of 2022 and captained both the football and track teams. He is currently a freshman at Trinity University in San Antonio. 

Joseph Masson graduated from McCallie in 2022 and is now a student at Georgia Tech.

Josh McBride graduated from McCallie in 2019. He is currently a student at the University of Georgia, where he is majoring in Business.

J.T. Brookshire is a senior boarding student from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Liam Spykerman ’24 is a senior boarding student from Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Luke Gilbert is a Michaels-Dickson Scholar and a senior boarding student from Charlotte, North Carolina.  At McCallie, he is a member of the soccer team and is an RA in Pressly Hall, the freshman dormitory.

Mac Hunt graduated from McCallie in 2018. He is a student at Vanderbilt University, where he is majoring in African American and Diaspora Studies.

Mac Poston graduated from McCallie in 2019. He is currently studying kinesiology at the University of Central Florida. 

Mills Gibson graduated from McCallie in 2022 and is now a freshman at the University of Georgia.

 Milo Newton 24' is a rising-senior day student from Signal Mountain

Nate Armstrong is a junior day student from Chattanooga.

Nate DeStefano graduated from McCallie in 2018 and is currently a senior at the United States Air Force Academy. 

Nathan Liu graduated from McCallie in 2015 and from The Ohio State University in 2019. He lives in Atlanta, where he is a financial analyst for Comcast.

Nathan Smartt is a Michaels-Dickson Scholar and a senior boarding student from Austin, Texas. At McCallie, he is a member of the soccer team and is an RA in Pressly Hall, the freshman dormitory.

Nelson Eiselstein graduated from McCallie in 2016, then attended Vanderbilt University on a full-academic scholarship as a Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar. Today, he is on the faculty at McCallie, where he teaches math and coaches cross-country and track and field

Nelson Hayslett is a student at Wheaton College.

Niko Jackson graduated from McCallie in 2021 and is now a freshman at Colorado State University. 

Nolan Ralls is a senior boarding student from Midland, Georgia.

Omar Munir is a junior at McCallie and a current student in AP U.S. History. 

Parker Davidson is a junior at McCallie and a current student in APUSH. His is the first interview from the students in this 20th anniversary year of 2021 to be published on the website. 

Rahul Patel graduated from McCallie in 2022 and is now studying at Boston University.

Ricky Wang-Polendo, a junior and a current student in APUSH, is a Michaels-Dickson scholar from Roseville, Minnesota. 

Riley Parker graduated from McCallie in 2020. A National Merit Semifinalist, Riley won a full scholarship to the University of Alabama, where is pursuing degrees in Computer Science and Business. 

Robbie Watkins graduated from McCallie in 2020 and is currently in his sophomore year at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. 

Robert Cummings graduated from McCallie in 2020. He is currently a sophomore at the University of California in Berkeley, where he is majoring in Economics with a minor in Data Science and Public Policy. 

Ryan McGregor graduated from McCallie in 2016, then majored in International Relations at Princeton University. He is an analyst now with Accenture and lives in Washington DC.

Sam Bennett graduated from McCallie in 2018 and is now in his senior year at the University of Southern California, where he is double majoring in Environmental Studies and Business, and serves as a brand ambassador for Beyond Meat. 

Sam Ostrow ’24 is a senior boarding student from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 

Sultan Minhas graduated from McCallie in 2018. He is a senior at Emory University, where he is majoring in Political Science and Arabic. 

Turner Davidson graduated from McCallie in May, 2021, after having finished at the top of his class in APUSH and winning the Daughters of the American Revolution prize in History. He is currently studying mechanical engineering at Northwestern University.

Vibin Vellanki, a junior and a current APUSH student, is a Michaels-Dickson scholar from Minnetonka, Minnesota. He is the current editor of this website.

Wes Spykerman is a senior from Wayne, Pennsylvania. In addition to everything else that he does at McCallie, Wes is the host of the Tornado Talk podcast. 

Will Hunt graduated from McCallie in 2019 and is currently a student at Princeton University, where he is majoring in Politics and Gender and Sexuality Studies. 

William Bolin graduated from McCallie in 2019 and is currently in his third year at the University of Virginia. 

William Moseley graduated from McCallie in 2021.

William Trowbridge graduated from McCallie in 2020. He is now a rising junior in Duke University’s highly-selective Chinese program in Kunshan, China.

​Will Parker graduated from McCallie in 2019. He is studying engineering at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. 

Will Philpott graduated from McCallie in 2019. He is a “third year,” aka a junior, at the University of Virginia. 

W.M. graduated in 2015 from McCallie. He is now finishing his bachelor’s degree at Harvard and plans to go into biomedical research after college.