Ocean City’s Kaye Stewart: They saved lives that day
OCEAN CITY — Hundreds gathered Friday evening outside the Ocean City Fire Department headquarters to mark a quarter-century since the devastating terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
That morning, two hijacked passenger jets slammed into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City while another crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. Passengers on board the fourth airplane, Flight 93, averted even more destruction by trying to regain control of the airplane. As a result, the hijackers downed it in a field outside Shanksville, Pa. Flight 93’s intended target was likely either the White House or the United States Capitol.
Nearly 3,000 victims died, including 343 firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers in New York, and 55 military personnel at the Pentagon.
Guest speaker Kaye Stewart, an airline stewardess for the past 45 years, shared a perspective that most likely has been missed by many of the ceremonies marking the tragic event’s anniversary for the past 25 years.
Stewart thanked Mayor Jay Gillian for the opportunity to honor her colleagues who were killed in the attacks and share her thoughts on the events.
She said police officers and firefighters who responded that day are remembered as heroes and first responders.
“Their bravery and their sacrifices should never be forgotten that day or any day. Many not only gave their lives in an effort to save others’ lives, they will forever have my gratitude and my respect,” Stewart said.
But she also believes that the flight crews, who were the first to face the attackers that day, also deserve recognition.
“It perhaps means something entirely different for me as a flight crew member, and I’ve been saddened that the flight crews who lost their life that day have seldom been remembered or mentioned in speeches,” she said.
Stewart noted flight attendants receive training in emergency response and medical crises.
“They did nothing out of the ordinary until they did,” she said. “Until they had to, until they fought for their lives and their passengers’ safety, until they faced hell, until they became first responders.”
Stewart said before anyone else knew of the things that happened that day, the flight crews were “caught in that nightmare that they could not wake up from.”
“Before their eyes, the flight decks were being breached and taken over. Our colleagues were being harmed and killed. The same was happening to the passengers under their care,” she said. “There was no one to come to their rescue. They were alone and faced an unknown brutality and hate from people who were masquerading as our everyday passengers.”
Stewart said the hijackers expected to take the planes without resistance.
“This did not happen. Flight crews did react; they fought back. They became, in my opinion, the original first responders of 9-11 that day. They looked evil in the eye before anyone on the ground could have known what was coming their way. They fought. They never wavered,” she said.
It is common knowledge that the passengers and crew fought back on the flight that went down in Pennsylvania.
“Their efforts saved the loss of more lives on the ground by prohibiting the planes from going down in a populated area,” she said.
But other events and actions of flight attendants and crews are lesser known and seldom spoken about outside of the industry.
“While the terrorists were killing and harming their colleagues and passengers, some of the flight attendants were using in-flight phones to reach out to their company’s operations,” Stewart said.
Betty Ong, a 14-year flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, relayed invaluable information. She said the words that became one of the first warnings: “The cockpit’s not answering. I think we are being hijacked.”
Ong provided information that crew and passengers had been harmed and killed and the seat numbers of the attackers.
“While she couldn’t control the events happening around her, she could help. And she did help for as long as she could. Betty only had 27 minutes to live when she picked up that air phone,” Stewart said.
Betty was still on the phone when Flight 11 flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.
“They gave vital information to the authorities, allowing the decision to be made to get all aircraft on the ground as safely and as quickly as possible,” Stewart said. “They couldn’t save their own lives or the lives of their passengers, but they saved the lives of others. They acted. They became first responders. They should never be forgotten. They deserve to be mentioned along with their fellow first responders.”
Michael Allegretto, aide to Mayor Jay Gillian and a frequent emcee for city events, read an anonymous poem about the events.
“We remember the smoke, the silence, the skies, the stillness that followed, the tears in her eyes. We remember the calls, the courage, the cries, the brave rushing in as the world watched us with sighs. We remember the lost, the names etched in stone, each soul a bright light that carried us home.
“We remember the flags, the candles, the hands, strangers united in all corners and lands. We remember the day when the world held its breath and the hope that rose up from the ashes of death.
“We remember the vow that we made on that day to cherish each moment, to not look away. We remember always.”
Ocean City Boy Scout Troop 32 presented colors and Alexa Rosetti sang the national anthem.
Pastor Tim Bromhead, chaplain of the Ocean City Fire Department, delivered the invocation.
“Lord, we remember the innocent men and women and children that lost their lives. We remember the firefighters, the police officers, the EMS personnel, the military members, and all the first responders that ran towards the danger while many ran away,” he said. “We honor their courage, their sacrifice and their willingness to serve.”
Capt. Bob Reichanek provided remarks for the Ocean City Police Department.
“The officers and first responders who answered the call that morning did not know exactly what awaited them. They did not know whether the building would stand, whether another attack was coming or whether they would return home. But they knew people needed help, and they went,” he said.
Chief Bernard Walker provided remarks for the Ocean City Fire Department, saying the solid participation by the public is heartening.
“It makes me proud to be part of this department, this community, and of this country,” he said.
Walker said it’s important to maintain the tradition of holding the ceremony “to honor not only the memory of the 2,977 people who lost their lives on 9-11, but also the memory of the many first responders and civilians who have since passed away due to the exposure of toxic chemicals, smoke, fumes that they encountered during the heroic recovery efforts that followed.”
Walker said about one-third of the U.S. population, about 100 million people, were not alive at the time of the attacks.
“Many millions more were too young to remember or grasp the severity of the situation,” he said.
The fire service will forever be linked to the tragedy.
“The entire world witnessed group after group of firefighters and police officers entering the Twin Towers in a monumental effort to save lives and extinguish the raging fires,” he said. “Many of them knew that this was a task that was incomprehensible. It was something that they probably would not be able to do.”
He called that “an extraordinary example of firefighters and police officers running toward a danger and not away from it.”
“Tragically, 343 of our brothers in the fire service perished that day, along with 72 brothers and sisters in law enforcement, 55 military personnel, eight paramedics, and 2,499 civilians. This includes the flight crews on four separate commercial airliners,” Walker said.
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
