By Bob Davis, Special to The Trussville Tribune
Where were you when the world stopped turning? Does it seem like it has been 15 years? Yeah, I know I stole the title from Alan Jackson’s iconic song that helped us get through the horror of the 9/11/2001 terror attacks. This was not unlike Kate Smith’s rousing rendition of Irving Berlin’s classic “God Bless America” that helped us get through World War II.
Here are four Trussville natives who will never forget where they were on that fateful day:
Adm. Robert Natter Commander, U.S. Atlantic Fleet/Fleet Forces Command U.S. Navy Norfolk Va 635 miles from Trussville. Trussville native Grew up at 121 South Mall Trussville.—-U.S. Naval Academy.. Rudy Washington Deputy Mayor of New York places an emergency call to request air cover for New York City. Mayor Rudy Giuliani cannot be located and is feared dead. Adm. Natter answers the call and calls NORAD.
Lt. Colonel George Peoples M.D. U.S. Army
Walter Reed Army Medical Center Washington D.C. 646 miles from Trussville. Trussville native and graduate of Hewitt Trussville High School. Grew up at 207 Magnolia St. Trussville. U.S. Military Academy, West Point. New York, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He led the first surgical team on site at the Pentagon on 9/11.
A helicopter was dispatched to his home in Maryland to airlift him to the Pentagon.
He was chief surgeon of the first forward surgical team (247th FST) on the ground in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003).
1st Lt. Jaimie Melton Anderson U.S. Air Force Columbus, Ohio. 481 miles from Trussville. Trussville native and graduate of Hewitt-Trussville High School. U.S. Air Force Academy. She grew up at 114 Glenn Ave. Trussville. She was trying to catch a flight from Columbus to Washington for an afternoon meeting at the Pentagon when the airport was shut down. She still has her unused ticket.
Midshipman 1st Class Paul Davis United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York. 948 miles from Trussville. Trussville native—-Graduate of Hewitt-Trussville High School. Grew up at 208 West Mall Trussville. He was getting a Naval Reserve commissioning physical at Fort Hamilton, Army base Brooklyn, NY. Approximately six miles from Ground Zero. Returned to the Academy that morning and helped prepare campus for use as triage/staging location for victims of the attack.
Where are they now?
Adm. Robert Natter
Retired from Navy 2003 He is President of R.J. Natter & Associates, LLC, a consulting firm, serves on the McDonald’s Corporation Advisory Board; served as Chairman of the United States Naval Academy’s Distinguished Graduate Selection Committee and in May, 2012 became Chairman, Naval Academy Alumni Association’s national Board of Trustees.
Colonel George Peoples Jr. M.D. U.S. Army Retired after thirty years active duty 2014. He is actively involved in research and development of cancer vaccines. He lives in the San Antonio area.
Lt. Colonel Jaime Melton Anderson Reservist serving on active duty, currently serving in the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force’s Executive Action Force.
Capt. Paul Davis New Orleans La. Ship Pilot Lower Mississippi River member of Federal Pilots and Docking Masters of Louisiana. As an apprentice in 2014 he and another pilot had the honor of piloting the USS Somerset from the Avondale Shipyard near New Orleans down the Mississippi and out to sea on its way to be commissioned in Philadelphia, PA. It was the last ship ever built at Avondale. Somerset is the county in Pennsylvania where the United Flight 93 crashed. The ship was one of a series named in honor of victims on 9/11.
All four grew up in Trussville within a half mile radius.
They attended four different federal service academies.
They were all affected by an event hundreds of miles away from Trussville.
None of them have ever met.
19 Comments
Heather Weems
Amazing
Jessica Garrison
Interesting read!
Meloney Kay Thompson
Good read
Meloney Kay Thompson
Good read
Cicily Welch Mobley
Great article. Thank you to each of them for their service.
Cicily Welch Mobley
Great article. Thank you to each of them for their service.
Danny Evans
Nice Bob!
Bonita Price Bigbee
Great article! Thanks to each of them for their service to our country!
Sandra Merchant
Great article!!!
Alisa Fyfe Anderson
I’ll never forget the turmoil on base that day. We started the propulsion plants to get underway at a moment’s notice to help in New York, but the most horrible part was – they didn’t need us. Too few survivors. We were the first aircraft carrier to deploy.
Chris Smalley
I will never forget that day, I checked in off of leave and I just wanted to get underway. I felt so helpless.
Alisa Fyfe Anderson
Me, too. The world changed in a moment.
Dorothy Hall Sasnett
Bob Davis, great article.
Carole Helton Cope
Great article Scott Buttram! God bless America❤️
Bob Davis
Dang Scott! Mighty kind words.
David Humphries
Still remember being in grade school at Hewitt. My teacher was pulled out of class by the principal, and had obviously shed a few tears before coming back in. One of the girls in my class asked her if she was okay, and she said “Yeah, sweetie. It’s just allergies,” and kept teaching.
It wasn’t until I went home that I found out what had happened
Betsy Hardy Schmitt
David, I was the principal at Hewitt Elementary on that very horrific day in September. You are correct, the administrative team went to every classroom to inform teachers about what was occurring and to ask them to shield you all from the news in order to allow your families to tell you and to help answer your questions.
That afternoon when school was out, we talked with teachers about how our students might react to the tragedies and how we should respond to any questions. We left work prepared to welcome you all back the following day, ready to listen to your fears and concerns and comfort you if needed.
The next morning was bright and sunny as I stood on the office sidewalk with our 4th grade safety patrol greeting students as they arrived for school. Precious Brooke Oliver was on car patrol duty, and she looked up at me and asked me if I knew about some planes crashing into some buildings the day before. I told her I did and how sad it made me feel, but how proud I was of the way our President and our country was responding.
After the tardy bell rang, we had our morning announcements, briefly talking about the families who had lost loved ones in the attack. Then we proudly recited the Pledge of Allegiance. I will never forget. God Bless America!
David Humphries
Mrs. Schmitt, you and your faculty did an outstanding job handling the situation and doing your best to preserve everyone’s innocence. We definitely thank you for that!
I can’t help but imagine how different that situation may be in 2016, where smartphones are abound. I don’t think really any of us were old enough to understand what happened back then, and the magnitude of it all, but looking back and reflecting on that time as a child with no worry in the world is almost surreal.
Pat Vivier
Wow. Thanks for sharing.