Looking Back: 9/11 in Olney

On the morning of September 11, 2001, the world changed forever. Four hijacked planes, two striking New York’s Twin Towers, one crashing into the Pentagon, and another forced down in Pennsylvania, took nearly 3,000 lives and left a mark on every American who lived through it.

This week, as the nation observes the 24th anniversary of the attacks, Olney residents recall exactly where they were when they first heard the news.

“Turn on the TV!” For Mindi Kimbro, then a journalism student at Texas A&M–Commerce and future Olney Enterprise editor, the day reshaped her view of the media.

“I watched what was going on for as long as I could, horrified, and then I had to go to class,” Mrs. Kimbro remembered. “The professor told us immediately to go back to our rooms and turn on the TV because it would be the biggest thing we would ever see in our lifetimes.”

As she and her classmates wept watching the towers fall, Mrs. Kimbro also saw fear ripple across campus. International students faced harassment in the days that followed. “It was very eye-opening when it came to news coverage, which in my opinion changed forever after that day, as well as how humans treat other humans in the face of tragedy,” she said.

Silence at the Enterprise

Shawn Jones was at The Olney Enterprise office, working as advertising director.

“I was in the editor’s office, listening to the radio when the news came on,” Mr. Jones said. “The entire office fell silent— no visitors, no phone calls—and on a Tuesday, our busiest day before press run, that was unusual.”

“How do you explain the impossible?”

Teresa Ward was on duty at Seven Oaks Nursing Home when the towers were struck.

“The residents wanted to know why their TVs stopped working, and all they could see was tragedy,” she said. “They didn’t understand what they were seeing. The employees didn’t either. How do you explain the impossible chaos to people, when you can’t understand it yourself?”

Later that evening, she found herself at the American Legion, among a crowd seeking comfort. A friend handed out small American flag lapel pins and the group quickly turned it into a donation drive for the Red Cross. “It was a small thing to do, but it made us feel like we helped a little,” Ms. Ward recalled. “We just became stronger and closer.”

Schools, Homes, and Workplaces

For others, the memories remain sharp: Christy Watkins, working at a medical billing company in Greenville near a Boeing plant, remembers the street shutting down as employees were evacuated.

Charlotte Taylor Mahler, then a second- grade teacher, said she spent the day trying to reassure her students while processing her own fears.

Lydia Sallee, managing the Texaco station in Olney, recalls cars “lined up down the road from all directions” as panic buying swept the town.

Richard Miller, working at True Value, remembers heading home that night to what should have been his birthday celebration—overshadowed forever by tragedy.

Childhood Memories

For many Olney residents who were schoolaged at the time, the memories are filtered through the eyes of children: Dr. Chantel Taylor, in her eighth-grade classroom in New Jersey, could see the smoke from the Twin Towers outside the window before her teacher lowered the blinds.

Rodney Silveira, 13 at the time, thought the news footage was a movie until his grandmother told him otherwise. “I remember that day and the following days after and how the country was united,” he said. “I remember American flags everywhere.”

Jennifer Symank recalls entering Mrs. Laura Heath’s class and seeing her teacher in tears.

A Day Etched in Memory

Even 24 years later, the emotions of that day—fear, sorrow, confusion, but also solidarity— remain deeply etched into the lives of Olney residents.

As the community pauses to remember, one truth is clear: though far from New York or Washington, Olney felt the weight of that day as heavily as any American city.