By Mike Caputo
Whether or not they are directly affected, residents tend to recount moments in time that had such a widespread impact. Six years later, many Americans can still pinpoint their exact whereabouts when informed of the planes hitting the Twin Towers. Each person has a unique, yet memorable story from that fateful day in 2001.
Lawrence resident Jackie Handel said she knew something was out of the ordinary on the morning of 9/11 when women began pulling out their cell phones in the middle of a golf tournament, even though a strict rule prohibited cell phone use during Nassau Women's Golf Association tournaments. This prompted Handel to drive her golf cart over to the others to see what they were looking for.
What appeared to be a typical fall morning at Middle Bay Country Club turned into an emotional display that Handel said she would never forget. Women, who were previously worried about their golf game, were now screaming and crying hysterically.
"They were screaming because their husbands were dead," Handel said. "Or they had sons that were dead or a nephew. Everybody had someone close to them that worked in the area."
Just by witnessing the impact that the attacks had on the lives of friends, family and even strangers, Handel, like most Americans, found herself in a difficult position.
"It shook everybody up," Handel said. "I have friends that lost children and I have friends that passed away."
Robert Reichmann, a former student in the Five Towns, was really far from the towers when they were struck by two planes on 9/11. In fact, Reichmann, who was 19 at the time, happened to be on an extended study in Israel when he was informed of the event back home in New York.
It was late afternoon in Israel when a friend told Reichmann
that one of the Twin Towers had been struck by a plane. At first Reichmann and his other study partners thought it was a joke taken too far. As the day went on, Reichmann said he eventually found out about the second plane hitting the towers. However, he said his study group went to sleep before being fully informed of what had unfolded in New York.
Reichmann said most of the people in his group were from New York or had relatives living there. Since cell phones were in heavy use, it was difficult to contact loved ones back home, which worried the group.
They were also concerned about their own safety in Israel, but Reichmann said it had been mostly calm during his trip.
"Everyone was kind of wary, but actually at the time, it had been pretty calm for a while and then a couple of months later, it started up again," Reichmann said. "We were conscious of that sort of thing, but we were never expecting it to happen there [in New York]."
Shernette Joseph was 18-years old and in a place that was fairly new to her. Joseph, who resides in Brooklyn but works in Cedarhurst, had recently moved to America from St. Lucia.
Joseph was home getting ready for school on the morning of 9/11 when she saw scenes of destruction on the television, but assumed it was a movie. It was not until Joseph's father rushed home that she was informed of what was actually taking place only miles from her Brooklyn home.
"I was just shocked, I can't remember anything other than being shocked," Joseph said. "It makes me appreciate life even more because you never know what is going to happen."
Inwood Fire Chief Frank Parise was getting ready for work when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Then, while driving on Woodhaven Boulevard to his job as store manager of a Sports Authority, he learned that the second plane hit. Parise and his fellow workers knew exactly what to do: immediately close the store and send all employees home.
Parise, a volunteer firefighter who saw fellow comrades responding to the destruction, knew his day had just begun. As soon as he arrived at the Inwood firehouse, the firefighters were dispatched to the scene with a rescue truck. Upon arrival at Ground Zero, Parise vividly remembers one end of the color spectrum.
"The one thing that sticks in my mind the most is when I got out of the truck and there was all white dust and paper. All the buildings were white," said Parise, who remained at the scene with fellow responders until the early morning hours. "It was like walking into a cloud of white."
Kim Kleppel endured a situation common to many families on 9/11, but came out of it with an astonishing result. Kleppel, of Lawrence, always feared airplanes. In fact, she never went on them, and the events of 9/11 surely would not help her, or anyone else in her situation, overcome that phobia.
"I was always terrified of flying," Kleppel said. "If I had to fly, I
would put big notes all over the house saying this is where the dog's food is supposed to go and this is where my insurance policies are."
That was especially true when her daughter frantically called because her husband had taken a flight to Chicago that morning. Since communication had been so difficult, she originally had no idea if her husband was on one of the hijacked aircraft.
Instead, her husband, Kleppel's son-in-law, was in an Indianapolis airport, already renting a car to drive back to New York. But there was more anguish, their son, Kleppel's grandson Zev, was attending his first day of classes at a school in New Rochelle. Kleppel remembered how nervous her daughter was. To their delight, they were informed that Kleppel's son-in-law had driven all the way from Indianapolis to pick up Zev. Through the entire fiasco, Kleppel emerged with one positive change. Ironically, she was no longer afraid to fly.
"My feeling was: 'My God, you can get killed just going to work, why should I be afraid of getting on an airplane?’" Kleppel said. "So I haven't been afraid to fly since 9/11, which is a bit backwards from what other people have thought."
Comments about this story? MCaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
