Indiana University Clinical Associate Professor Emeritus Marc Lame, like many others, remembers exactly where he was on 9/11.
In the fall semester of 2001, Lame was a professor in the Washington Leadership Program, a semester-long program through IU’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs where students intern in D.C. while taking classes.
Students in the program had internships throughout D.C., Lame said. Some interned at the Pentagon. Others interned on Capitol Hill or for nonprofits.
“I was there with my wife and twin daughters, and I'm a news hound so I'm watching the news first thing in the morning. I saw the planes go into the towers,” Lame said. “At first everyone thought it was an accident, (a) plane crashed into the towers, but then the second plane went in and we knew it wasn't.”
Soon after, a plane hit the Pentagon.
“Things just went crazy,” Lame said. “Literally, you know, it was non-stop sirens and jet planes and helicopters.”
Lame was in attendance at the Sample Gates on Friday, when IU held a series of memorial services for the 25th anniversary of the attacks starting at 7:30 a.m. at the flagpole.
At the event, veterans, active-duty members, ROTC cadets and members of the Bloomington community came together to remember the day, honor the lives of those who perished and grieve together.
In his opening speech, IU Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold quoted former President George W. Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address.
"After America was attacked, it was as if our entire country looked into a mirror and saw our better selves,” Reingold said. “We were reminded that we were all citizens with obligations to each other, to our country, and to our history.”
Reingold acknowledged that many current IU students were born after 9/11.
“For our students, however, September 11th is a moment of history rather than a stark, painful memory, that perhaps above all makes remembrance especially important,” Reingold said. “As a university, we have a responsibility and a duty to preserve the memory of moments that have shaped our nation.”
The Sept. 12, 2001, edition of the Indiana Daily Student is pictured.
After the plane hit the Pentagon, the phone lines went down. Lame said he spent the rest of the day alongside his wife and 11-year-old twin daughters, emailing students to find out if they were safe. He recalls that it was especially scary to not know if students made it out of the Pentagon.
Lame still feels the impact that 9/11 had on him, and he’s sure that his students from 2001 still feel it too.
“Try to understand the fear that goes through your nation and your neighbors and your family during a situation like Pearl Harbor or 9/11. As much as the government tried to keep us informed, they had a hard time doing that,” Lame said. “It's almost like being a little kid that hears something in their bedroom and doesn't have any information and the lights are off. It’s that kind of really deep, visceral fear.”
After everyone had been accounted for, the students decompressed at Lame’s home with pizza and beers. But the fear didn’t go away after just one day. Lame recounts that for months, Americans were scared and also angry. However, he felt the nation had a unique sense of unity.
“It's very divisive right now, especially with politics,” Lame said. “So, you guys [those born after 9/11] have never felt that unity. It really was there, a real pride in our country, in our countrymen.”
Although many students may not remember the events of 9/11, Lame said he hopes that the IU community doesn’t forget the significance of the day.
“I want the IU community to remember it for themselves but also remember it for those who were maybe a little bit more closely impacted and for those that didn't make it,” Lame said.
After the 7:30 a.m. memorial service at the Sample Gates, Janette Fishell, chair of the Jacobs School of Music Organ Department, played an organ reflection at 8:46 a.m. in Alumni Hall. The performance coincides with the time the first plane, flight 11, hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.
Later at the Metz Grand Carillon, at 9:03 a.m., the same time that flight 175 hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center, graduate student and Jacobs School organist Elijah Buerk performed the “Poème pour Arlington” by Émilien Allard.
About half an hour later on the steps of the IU Auditorium at 9:37 a.m. Jacobs School Ensemble in Residence “Pacifica Quartet” performed Adagio from Samuel Barber’s String Quartet Op. 11. This event took place at the same time flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
Finally, at 10:02 a.m., the same time that flight 93 crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, student trumpet duo Jasmine Dickson and Lane Myers performed a 90 second rendition of “Echo Taps” on the Musical Arts Center lawn.
The Sept. 11, 2006, edition of the Indiana Daily Student is pictured.
In his speech, Reingold emphasized the purpose behind these events.
“Today we gather to remember those we lost, to honor those who responded with extraordinary courage and to thank those who continue to serve our communities and our country,” Reingold said. “There may be no better way to commemorate 9/11 than to carry forward their example and commitment to one another that we felt on that Tuesday morning.”
