Lansing residents Andrea and Walter Doherty lived in Long Island, New York, 25 years ago. They both remember where they were when they first learned of the attack on the World Trade Center.
“I was at the dentist, and we had the radio on," Andrea told WKAR News. “We thought it was just an accident. And then when the second plane went down, I was driving home. That’s when you know this is not an accident.”
Andrea remembers calling their daughter who was studying dentistry at Columbia University in Manhattan to make sure she was safe.
“What’s sad is everybody in school went to donate blood at the hospital, at Columbia Presbyterian,” Andrea said. “They didn't need it. They said, ‘That's real nice, but we don't think we’re gonna need it.’ How hideous is that?”
The couple moved to Lansing five years later, and on Friday morning, the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack, they gathered with dozens of other Lansing residents to honor the memories of the citizens and first responders who lost their lives that day.
The memorial was held in Wentworth Park in downtown Lansing, which is home to a 10-foot, 900-pound beam salvaged from the World Trade Center.
“As a civilian, I think we all expect our service members and first responders to be made of steel, steel like this beam, strong and unwavering,” Lansing City Council Vice President Trini Pehlivanoglu said. “The beam is a constant reminder of the sheer force of that collision, and that broken things still carry great meaning. Times of tragedy remind us that we are all human. We are not unbreakable.”
One of Andrea’s close friends from Dominican Academy in Manhattan, Virginia, survived the attack.
“She was helped down 78 floors,” Andrea said. “Everybody knows somebody. What is it? Six degrees of separation?”
Walter told WKAR News that his boss had a meeting at the World Trade Center that morning that had been cancelled.
He also had first responders in his family.
“My nephew was a New York City firefighter in Manhattan,” Walter said. “He was in one of the closest stations. He wasn’t there the first day ’cause he was a brand-new firefighter, so they left him in the station, but he was there the next day, the second day and after that.”
424 first responders, including 343 firefighters, died during the initial attack on the World Trade Center. Hundreds more have died due to illness and injury related to the attack.
“As we remember the victims, the survivors, the first responders, and everyday citizens whose final moments were defined by bravery and love, we recommit ourselves to the lessons of that day,” Lansing Fire Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons said at the memorial. “We recommit to unity. We recommit to appreciation, and we recommit to treating one another with the same respect, compassion, and love that carried us through the days after 9/11.”
Lansing Fire Department Chaplain Doug Bradshaw read off the names of 19 Michiganders who lost their lives in the terrorist attack.
“Terrence E. Adderley, David D. Alger, Eric Lee Bennett, Frank J.Doyle, Barbara Edwards,Elaine Myra Greenberg, Bradley Hoorn, SuzanneKondratenko,Darya Lin,Margaret Elaine Mattic,Kathleen Nicosia,Robert R. Ploger III,David Pruim,Joshua A. Rosenthal,Brock J. Safronoff,Lt. Col. Kip Taylor,Lisa Marie Terry,Alicia Titus,Meredith Lynn Whalen.”
Andrea Doherty stressed the importance of remembering those names.
“Until you stop saying their names, they’re not gone,” she said. “As long as somebody remembers you, you’re not gone.”
Danielle Anne Delie. Andrea emphasized that name, a friend of hers from high school.
“My friend Danielle was killed at Marsh & McLennan,” she said. “My graduating class was very small, and Danielle was two years ahead of us. But it’s so small, everybody knew everyone, and I remember her smile, and how funny she was, and her two best friends.”
Andrea said she'd never wish for something like the tragedy of 9/11 to occur again, but she longs for the unity among the American people that came after.
“This divisiveness, it's got to end,” she said. “I don't want to be where we were on September 12 in a lot of ways, but in a lot of ways I do, because everybody all of a sudden was helping and everybody was trying to be kind, and that's what we need.”
Multiple speakers at the memorial, including Rep. Tom Barrett (MI-7), echoed the need for people to come together again.
“I hope that we can reflect on this seminal anniversary and challenge ourselves to do the next right thing and the next best thing we can for our neighbors, for our friends, for our country, and for our community,” Barrett said.
Democratic candidate for Michigan's 7th Congressional District Will Lawrence was in attendance, as was Democratic candidate for senator Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed's Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, attended a service at the Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial in Pontiac.
