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More Photos: How 9/11 Touched Us

Most of us can remember where we were on that day. But for some, things were never the same.

 
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U.S. Marine Cpl. Ryan Radwanski, 20, returned home to Bridgewater in December 2010 from a deployment in Afghanistan. Radwanski was greeted by members of the community, friends and family, including his mom, Jill (left). Radwanski joined the military three years ago in an effort to make a change in his life after graduating high school. Although he is now stationed in California, Radwanski participated in missions while in Afghanistan that he later realized were instrumental in the killing of Osama bin Laden earlier this year. “We had some missions leading up to this, but we had no idea that this is what it would all lead up to,” he said after bin Laden was killed earlier this year. For the Radwanski family, they are proud of all their military boys, with oldest son Lance Cpl. Eric Radwanski also serving in Afghanistan. Ryan Radwanski said he is always concerned about hostility toward the soldiers in Afghanistan following the death of bin Laden. His mother, Jill, said she is proud of the work her sons are doing, although she was surprised when they initially joined. Amanda Murphy
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U.S. Marine Cpl. Ryan Radwanski, 20, returned home to Bridgewater in December 2010 from a deployment in Afghanistan. Radwanski was greeted by members of the community, friends and family, including his mom, Jill (left). Radwanski joined the military three years ago in an effort to make a change in his life after graduating high school. Although he is now stationed in California, Radwanski participated in missions while in Afghanistan that he later realized were instrumental in the killing of Osama bin Laden earlier this year. “We had some missions leading up to this, but we had no idea that this is what it would all lead up to,” he said after bin Laden was killed earlier this year. For the Radwanski family, they are proud of all their military boys, with oldest son Lance Cpl. Eric Radwanski also serving in Afghanistan. Ryan Radwanski said he is always concerned about hostility toward the soldiers in Afghanistan following the death of bin Laden. His mother, Jill, said she is proud of the work her sons are doing, although she was surprised when they initially joined. Credit Amanda Murphy
Silence covered the cemetery like a dark shadow. The rose resting on the casket would be the mother's last gift to her son. When Dawn Roberts walked back to her cold folding chair, she took with her memories of U.S. Army Sgt. Michael D. Kirspel Jr., her 23-year-old son who was killed in combat in Afghanistan on Oct. 27. Eleven days later, hundreds of people—friends, family members, strangers waving American flags—filled St. Mary's Cemetery in Dover. Kirspel was the first casualty from Hopatcong in the Iraq War, which still burns across the Middle East. Kirspel was in eighth grade on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, flying two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and another toward Washington, D.C., before crashing into a Pennsylvania field. Almost a decade later Kirspel was nearing the end of his second tour in Afghanistan. His four-year Army commitment was almost up. Friends say Kirspel looked forward to coming home, and staying there. He never got the chance. Credit Brendan Kuty
On Sept. 11, 2001, Fred Gibbon of Long Valley lost his wife, Debra, in the terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center towers. The tragedy left Fred with three children to care for. The morning after U.S. Navy SEALs captured and killed Osama bin Laden on May 1 of this year, Gibbon went to Ground Zero to “recognize closure for our family,” he says. "My family has unfortunately been affected by history. This is just a more hurtful reminder and not really a celebration of any kind." Gibbon’s youngest son, Adam, who was 12 on the day of the attacks, died in January of bronchopneumonia. At the time of bin Laden’s death, Fred Gibbon said, "It's just justice served up on a world stage with my kids (and myself) stuck in the middle of it all. I just wish Adam was here to see justice served. Adam would have definitely had something to say about the capture of Osama bin Laden and what he did to (Adam's) life. He would have approved." Credit Fred Gibbon
John “JT” Wroblewski, a Jefferson Township resident, joined the Marines not long after the Sept. 11 attacks. He was killed on April 6, 2004 during a gunfight in Ramadi, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. In 2007, JT’s father, John Wroblewski, went to Iraq to see what he son had seen and try to feel closer to his fallen son. He was able to get close, but was blocked from going to Ramadi because the helicopters that were used for travel by troops in Iraq were filled with troops. H was unable to get a ride. One of the many tributes that happened to honor JT after his death was the renaming of the street on which he and his family lived. What used to be called Michelle Road was renamed 2nd Lt. J.T. Wroblewski Lane. His family still lives on that street today. Credit Sue Toth
Susan Rescorla, formerly of Morristown, now of Mendham, has dedicated much of her life post-9/11 to cheerleading the heroism of her late husband, Rick Rescorla, who worked in the WTC as a chief security officer, and helped get people out, at the expense of his own life. The former member of the U.S. Army has been celebrated by his widow through a book, "Touched by a Hero," a forthcoming opera to be performed in San Francisco and, as pictured, a statue of Rick Rescorla in his youth, that was delivered to Ft. Benning in Georgia by Susan Rescorla and members of the FDNY. At left, a photo of Susan Rescorla at a memorial for her husband in England, the place of his birth. Credit John Dunphy
Ed Aussem of Morris Township, here with wife Pat and sons Ryan, 22, and Sean, 19, said he had a life-altering moment when he realized that a change in travel plans had saved his life on Sept. 11, 2001. "I got a call from a colleague. ... He told me that he was in the crisis center that my company, Cisco, had set up to handle 9/11 issues that affected employees. 'They've written your name on the board indicating people they think didn't make it,' he said. I had a moment of 'Oh. My. God,' as I realized that I had been scheduled to fly on Flight 93, the plane that crashed near Shanksville, Pa. It was a shocking feeling: if not for that [changed] meeting, I'd be dead. My friend was screaming in the conference room to erase my name from the board because I was alive. ... For the longest time after that, I questioned why I was spared. I've concluded, after a great deal of thought, that the reason was to be here for my family, especially my two sons. I've decided I'll never retire in the sense of sitting with my toes in the sand. I have become very active in raising money for the Road Recovery Foundation, which provides programs for teenagers suffering from the disease of addiction. I plan to continue this and other fund raising activities in the future. I've been very, very lucky." Credit Ed Aussem
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There are moments we all share—nearly unimaginable in their grand impact, and profound in their personal effect. Sept. 11, 2001 was undeniably such a time.

Patch—working in collaboration with the Huffington Post and the Action America project—has collected hundreds of stories about the ways the terrorist attacks of 9/11 affected the lives of people in the communities we serve.

A small handful of those stories—focusing on residents of Morris, Somerset and Sussex Counties, but including more than two dozen others from throughout New Jersey—are told here through photographs. Starting Sunday morning, hundreds more are at the Huffington Post.

If you'd like to share your own story about how 9/11 affected you, e-mail Louis@Patch.com (if you've got a related photo, please include that as well, in its original, unedited form). We'll post it here or elsewhere on the site as the 10-year anniversary of the attacks approaches.

Related Topics: 9/11 anniversary, JIM VIGILANTE, and September 11 anniversary

Joseph Keyes

1:15 pm on Wednesday, September 7, 2011

On that day, I worked on East 77th street for Lenox Hill Hospital as an HR/IT consultant. I was at my desk before the attacks occurred. I overheard fellow employees interpreting the news they were receiving from their radios and the internet. As facts emerged, the severity of the attacks crystallized. At 10:00A.M., non-essential personnel we were advised to leave the city. As the day progressed, the streets of Manhattan became crowded with dismissed workers who could not leave the city since all egress routes had been closed. Because of caller volume, both cell phone and land-line phone service became erratic or ceased working.
Embarking from Penn, I noticed there wasn’t a single plane in the reddening sky. I wept, as did my seat-mate, when we saw the plumes of smoke rising in the distance from where the WTC towers once stood. I knew this nation would never be the same again.
In the days that followed, the reactions were heart-felt and united. Flags flew from every home. Those of us in the city that day, especially those who lost someone, were profoundly affected. I still have vivid memories about every detail of that day and keep the NJT receipt with a little blue ribbon that I got from a nurse at Lenox Hill Hospital pinned to it in small frame. Good students always look for the lessons. I’m still wondering about this one.

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