SERVING THE TOP OF UTAH SINCE 1888 Memories of toug y sought Where were you, and what were you doing when you first heard the news that planes had crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? How has your life changed since 9-11? To mark the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that claimed more than 3,000 lives, the Standard-Examiner is asking its readers to answer those two questions. The responses will be published as part of a four-day package of stories focusing on how this tragic event touched the lives of Top of Utah residents. Send your responses to “9-11 Memories,” attention Pat Bean, 332 S. Ward, Ogden, UT, 84404 or e-mail them to pbean@standard.net. Please include a daytime telephone number. Deadline for responses is Aug. 26. Terrorist attacks changed Utahns Firefighter, Red Cross workers still feel emotion of tragic day By PAT BEAN Standard-Examiner staff Tears stung the eyes of Ogden firefighter Rich King as he talked about America’s heartaches this past year because of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Kathy Allen, a North Ogden swimming pool manager, interrupted a phone interview on the subject to get something to wipe her eyes. “It turned people’s whole lives upside down. The anniversary of 9-11 will be hard… Life is so important and so short, you really have to value each precious moment,” Allen said. to New York twice to help the victims, said every time she talks about that day, she wants to cry. Clarke also said she dreams about the firemen who died. It’s evident that the emotional wounds of 9-11 are still bleeding almost a year later. King, who created a piece of artwork just hours after the tragic event to honor both fallen and living firefighters, has been selling prints of it to help send at least five Ogden firefighters back to New York City for the 9-11 anniversary. He was on eo fht efirefighters who went back East to Year From 1A help and console the families of some of the 244 firefighters killed when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. “Think of it; 244 firefighters dead. That’s every firefighter in Weber County.” He said his daughter asked him if he would have been in one of the towers if he had been a New York firefighter. “I told her probably yes. That’s what firefighters do.” King, who has been a firefighter fir 18 years, said he will be working on 9-11. Meanwhile, he has been keeping in touch with some of the families in New York. “They’re doing well, but still struggling, living one day at a time… As for me, I know singing the national anthem has become more meaningful, and more tearful.” Chad Tucker, a firefighter colleague who went back to New York with King, said the upcoming one-year anniversary of 9-11 marks “a dreadful, horrible day.” “It changed the way we look at everything,” he said. Bank of Utah Senior Vice President Scott Parkinson echoes that. He said there is no doubt 9-11 affected the business community. “While not all that is going on with the stock market today had to do with 9-11, it has had its impact… It put a big dent in it, but we’re pounding out that dent.” Parkinson expressed optimism for the future of the business community, and also said he felt that 9-11 brought out and “showcased the American spirit.” The bank, he said, plans to treat 9-11 as a regular work day, although it may do something to mark the occasion. Paul Thompson, president of Weber State University, which is planning a “Patriotic Celebration of Freedon” on the 9-11 anniversary, believes the tragic events of that day strengthened this country’s appreciation of freedom. “It certainly did for me,” Thompson said. “And obviously you celebrate freedom,” he said, noting why the university 9-11 anniversary program is being called a celebration. Clarke agrees. “I feel more American,” she said. “I loved it the other day when a fire truck went by with a big flag on it.” Red Cross worker Bill Lyons, meanwhile, is still seeing images from the aftermath. He said he was entering the building in New York City where he had been assigned to work with families who had lost members in the attack, and that a father and his young daughter were just ahead of him. “The little girl ran ahead and opened the door for her father, then looked up at him expectantly. ‘Will we find Mommy here?’ she asked her dad.” Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner said just as he remembers that he was sitting in Mr. Giles’ seventh grade algebra class when he heard the news that John F. Kennedy had been shot, he will always remember the morning of 9-11. “I had retired from the Army Reserve the day before, and had been reflecting on my 21 years in the military when I walked into work. People were fixated on the TV and everyone was crying. “Just as I walked over to see what was going on, I saw the second plane crash into the building. Is this an accident? I asked. “Someone turned and said ‘We’re under attack.’ And for the next hour, other than for absolute emergencies, everyone in the station stayed fixated on the television,” the police chief recalled. Now almost a year later, Greiner said, as police chief, he feels a heightened sense of responsibility to the community. “9-11 will always be a significant day… and on this first anniversary, I will be reflecting back on how our lives have changed… and saying a little prayer for the families of the victims.”