NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — I was in second period Algebra II. Coach Sluder's class. One of my classmates raised his hand and asked, 'has something happened in New York?'
If you're old enough, you remember what you were doing that day.
NewsChannel 5 has these old books listing out the stories worked each day over the years. I wanted to look back at what their cameras captured in middle Tennessee 25 years ago. September 11, 2001.
"I'm horrified," a man said, standing in Arcade Coffee and More in downtown Nashville in 2001. "I'm horrified for the people in New York. I'm horrified for the country."
When the news first broke, a lot of people in downtown Nashville gathered around TVs to just watch.
"I really am astounded," another man added. "I've been praying all the way down here for the families."
There was a lot we didn't know yet. Metro police and federal officers patrolled the outside of the federal building. Both the Life and Casualty Tower and Cordell Hull building were evacuated after bomb threats were called in.
"Personally, I think it's a bogus bomb threat," a woman said, standing outside Cordell Hull. "I think someone's trying to jump on the bandwagon. I think that's just really asinine."
Then-Governor Don Sundquist came back to the capital, cutting short a conference in Kentucky.
"I suspect we'll never feel quite as safe as we once did," Sundquist said in a press conference that day.
"There's a lot of people here trying to get home," a man said, speaking to NewsChannel 5 from the Nashville International Airport. "They're stuck, I guess. Who knows how long it'll be until they get home?"
The FAA shut down the airport. Only rerouted planes could land there.
Up at Fort Campbell, cars were backed up down the street as people tried to get back home on post in the middle of heightened security. In those lines of people was a worry about how lives in a military community were about to change.
"I have two little boys," a woman said, speaking from her car in the line.
"You're worried about their father?" a reporter asked in 2001.
"Yeah."
A lot of people headed to church. NewsChannel 5 talked to people in downtown Franklin, walking through open church doors.
"I'm just horrified by all of this," a man said. "My first thought was say some prayers for everybody and for our country."
A lot of people just wanted to help.
Immediately, the American Red Cross and Meharry Medical Center were packed with blood donors.
'The only thing I could think of to do was give blood," a woman said, standing in line. "There's so many people out there who need us."
"I've never had a situation where we've had 'em lined up in the parking lot and in the back dock," a Red Cross worker said. "It's unbelievable."
Some locals were even going to the airport and offering up their homes to stranded passengers.
That was key to so many, finding something they could do.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
Every night, Forrest Sanders brings us stories showcasing the best of humanity. This story profiles, perhaps, Tennessee's most eccentric resident who made an impact on an aspiring journalist. I'm always in awe of Forrest's storytelling; I truly appreciated his vulnerability with this one.
- Carrie Sharp
