WRAL anchors reflect on covering 9/11

We were talking about our memories of September 11 2001

and I think it was so emotional and so overwhelming

on both a personal and a professional level

I think I just cried all day and on the

air off the air

I mean it was just such a difficult day and

I think you're right you can't separate yourself from being

an american and what we went through that day as

americans as well as you know being a professional journalist

as well

And I just remember I've got such vivid memories of

that day but my first experience on the air that

day Was every 25 minutes we were breaking into the

CBS coverage which was of course continuous at that time

And I remember that dan rather never stopped to say

we're going to pause and go away to our local

stations

We just wanted to do updates for people in this

area

We knew that people wanted to try to get in

contact with people up north

We knew that there were people here locally who were

impacted um from a distance

So we were just doing local updates every you know

we'd be on the air for like five minutes

So when it was my turn I remember looking at

the screen and they were counting me down in the

studio and the image on the screen was something black

falling from one of the buildings and the camera person

zoomed in to see what it was and then we

quickly realized it was a person and you see the

camera person zoom out and then all of a sudden

I was on tv and so I tried to apologize

to everyone for what they had to see

You know that day I think we were so hungry

for information but at the same time we were really

scared to see what was going to happen next

And that moment for me I just remember having tears

in my eyes and thinking that poor person that decision

that that person had to make

The horror of that of of the choices that they

had to stay in a burning building or to jump

was just so horrific

And I just tried to take a breath and just

keep talking

But it was really hard to be on the air

while people people were watching

And I think the way you describe it is good

in that it just kept coming

We cover so many terrible stories but this one was

just overwhelming

I mean first a plane into a building is in

an accident that it's not another one

And then there are other flights

It was just an overwhelming day of uh just terror

truly terror

And I can just remember like it was yesterday where

I was when I found out I was driving to

the y with my wife and my son who was

about two years old at that time

Uh and we just started hearing something on the radio

and we walked into the y and obviously never even

tried to work out and then I just immediately went

home and then I came to work it was just

it was just an absolute blur that day

It was my husband was a commercial airline pilot at

that time

So the way I found out was my mother in

law called and I was asleep at the time and

woke me up and immediately turned on the tv and

thank goodness he was not in the air at that

time so we didn't have to worry about his safety

But it was just just that sense of what's going

on and and how do we help people through the

process of disseminating information that's relevant and important and yet

not so frightening that we jump to conclusions of what

happened because you're right at first we just weren't sure

right right

And I just remember it became so personal

You know usually there's a professional detachment but that was

one of those stories that I mean like you said

we're americans we were all under attack

And I can remember you know tearing up and then

just shaking at times and then having to do my

job

In fact my job that day was to go out

and interview members of the muslim community here in Raleigh

So obviously that was extremely sensitive for for them at

that time it was just such a huge personal complicated

story that day

I've never been through something that horrific

And so for me it definitely just impacted me emotionally

and I could not keep that off the air and

I think um you know that's what we do here

at wre although we're people first and you know we're

journalists as well but I had somebody stopped me in

a grocery store just a couple of years ago who

remembered that day and said you know thank you for

sharing that emotion and not trying to hide it because

it was something it was pervasive we all felt it

So we were just just being real

And I think what what because I'm a glass half

full kind of person

So the other thing that I took away from that

day is the sense of unity that we all had

I don't think I had never experienced that before

And unfortunately I think it's faded away but that sense

of unity of everybody coming together that we had that

shared since that you didn't even have to talk to

one another you just knew right I mean I was

with my family when I first found out and then

you're just what's going to happen next

And just that that that sense of unity within your

own family and plus L

A

My wife was was pregnant we just found out she

was pregnant at that time to with our second child

So you're thinking about you know the love for your

family but again I agree with you that sense of

community that we all had and the stories that followed

and the heroism and you know how we really took

a second look at first responders and and those people

who we really took for granted until that day and

then our military response which obviously is very important to

our community and in that sense of everyone wanted to

just support them and okay you know what do we

have to do now as a country come together and

figure this out

So I just can't believe it's been 10 years

I mean I can remember that day as if it

were yesterday

So can I I mean again unfortunately but I think

the positive thing that came out of that was that

sense of unity that you talk about

Those are our memories uh and we welcome your memories

as well