For 9/11’s 20-year anniversary, LBCC staff members reflected on their personal experiences on the day of the attacks and the impact the attacks had on the United States.
LBCC professor and former journalist, Gary Metzker, worked as a front page designer for the L.A. Times when the attacks took place.
“I leaped up out of bed, put the television on and there was the second airplane flying into the second tower. Without hesitation, I jumped into the shower, got dressed and made my way over to the L.A. Times building,” said Metzker.
With no time to waste, Metzker was busy designing the Extra edition paper copy of the news that day.
“At the moment, I wasn’t feeling any emotion. I was too focused on working and knowing that we had a very small window of time to create this Extra edition,” said Metzker.
LBCC Interim Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz and Assistant Professor Nick Carbonaro both heard the news of the attacks on the radio that day.
Carbonaro initially thought the announcement of the attacks was part of the radio hosts’ ‘joke of the day’ segment, which he usually heard every Tuesday on his way to school.
“That whole day at school, it was just a daze for everybody…none of the classes did anything,” said Carbonaro.
Muñoz said that 9/11 was the most traumatic global event that he had experienced at that point in his life. He said that he never expected America to be hit by such a large-scale attack.
In an email, LBCC Adjunct Veterans Counselor Danielle Bejarano said, “Sept 11, 2001 was an extremely difficult day for all Americans. Something we never thought was possible, an attack on American soil, was happening before our eyes”.
Muñoz recalls that in the weeks following 9/11, there was a period of national mourning in the U.S.
“For a few weeks, it was very somber…you could see this national, collective grief that everybody was going through,” said Muñoz.
In the aftermath of the attacks, Carbonaro and Metzker both witnessed the American people put their differences aside and become undivided for a short period.
“For a nice window of time, it really brought everyone together. There’s no political divide when something like this happens,” said Metzker.
“On September 12th, the United States was the most unified I’ve ever seen it in my lifetime. The moments after 9/11…there were no political parties. It was everybody about America. It was about rebuilding it, getting it back together,” said Carbonaro.
Metzker is uncertain about how 9/11’s legacy will live on in the future.
“20 years from now it will be noted, I’m sure, as an event that should never be forgotten. But as far as what type of impact it will have, I’m just not sure,” said Metzker.
For videos of the interviews conducted with Metzker, Carbonaro, and Muñoz, visit our Instagram.