Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

I was in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001 attending a medical conference. On that morning while walking to my first session of the day, I noticed a large group of people gathered around a large screen TV. I joined the group and in horror watched a plane fly into one of the World Trade Center's towers. Everyone was numb. There was complete silence. I turned around and went back to my hotel room to where my husband was. We turned on the TV and began to watch.

Soon, there was an emergency announcement coming through hidden speakers in the hotel rooms. Washington, D.C. was on lockdown as a...