TERRE HAUTE —
Social studies teacher Rick Petty had many stories to share with his students about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but there was one “that just ripped my guts out,” he said.
He spoke on Patriot Day, the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, to an eighth-grade U.S. history class at Otter Creek Middle School.
Among those who died in the 9/11 attacks were three 11-year-olds from Washington, D.C. The children, their teacher-chaperones and National Geographic Society staff members were embarking on an educational trip to the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary in California.
The three academically talented children had been chosen to participate in a research project, and it was the first airplane trip for at least one of the students, Bernard Brown.
The children — Brown, Asia Cottom and Rodney Dickens — never made it; they were among those killed when their hijacked airplane, Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon.
“They were at the top of their lives,” Petty said. But they got on a plane, and an hour later, they had perished.
As a teacher, “that story dramatically affected me,” Petty told the history class.
He went through the 9/11 timeline of events for the class and described his own recollections of that day.
Petty, a teacher at Chauncey Rose Middle School in 2001, remembers that it was a “beautiful Tuesday” outdoors. It also was ISTEP test week.
As news events unfolded, people began to realize the U.S. had suffered a terrorist attack. “All day long, parents were flocking to schools,” Petty said. “They wanted to take their kids home to keep them safe.”
Later that day, he remembers sitting outside with his own son, and for the first time he could recall, there wasn’t a single jet trail in the sky. No one was allowed to fly or they risked being shot down by the military, he told his transfixed students, who were about 3 years old on Sept. 11, 2001.
On Tuesday morning, Petty encouraged his students to go home and talk to their family members about their own recollections of 9/11.
He pointed out that some people may still be dying as the result of 9/11, in particular, emergency responders who ran into burning, smoke-filled World Trade Center buildings and, years later, developed cancer.
The federal government announced Monday that about 50 cancers will be covered by a nearly $3 billion settlement fund set up for victim compensation and signed into law by President Barack Obama last year.
Petty told students that 9/11 was orchestrated by “a group of bad people,” not any particular religion or country. “You shouldn’t have any animosity toward anyone” or show intolerance because of someone’s religion or country, he said.
Principal Tammy Rowshandel, who also sat in the classroom, related her own story. Her husband is from Iran, and the post 9/11 period “was kind of a scary time for us,” she said. “There was a lot of racial profiling.”
Her husband has his own business in town. After 9/11, people would go up to him and say, “So where exactly are YOU from,” Rowshandel recalled.
For a few weeks, her husband kept his business locked from the inside and people would have to knock to get in.
Eighth-grader Alex Davis found Petty’s stories about 9/11 compelling. Events surrounding the terrorist attacks were “a tragedy and sad. … It took everything I had not to cry about it,” he said.
Another student, Summer Cooper, said she’s learned a lot about 9/11 since elementary school. Teachers “want us to learn about it,” she said. What happened 11 years ago is “sad and depressing.”
After listening to Petty and Rowshandel, Cooper said it reminded her that it’s important not to judge people based on their religion or where they are from. Instead, people should be judged “on how they act and what choices they make,” Cooper said.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
On Patriot Day, Otter Creek students find out what it was like when terror hit home
- Local & Bistate
-
-
For Piper: Annual ‘Rush the Punter’ event dedicated to Dixie Bee student who died Wednesday after a short illness
Steve Weatherford’s “Rush the Punter” fundraiser at Fairbanks Park on Saturday was dedicated to a little girl who lost her life unexpectedly to pneumonia.
-
Vigo schools prepare to tighten belts
State funding for the Vigo County School Corp. will remain “pretty flat” for the next two years, said Donna Wilson, chief financial officer.
-
Veterans take to the trees
Cristal Bednar took photos of her husband, Justin, as he laboriously climbed his way up a “Dangle-Duo” to get to a zipline at Indiana State University’s Sycamore Outdoor Center.
-
Property owner seeks halt to Hulman Lake dam project
A Terre Haute property owner is seeking an injunction that would at least temporarily halt the city’s work on the Hulman Lake dam project.
-
Tornado veterans balance preparedness, practicality
Few things in nature are less predictable than a tornado. They can form quickly. They strike weirdly, leveling one building while leaving its neighbor untouched. They can fling a car a half-mile and turn a piece of lumber into a wall-piercing missile.
-
ISU unveils interactive Bayh Family Legacy Wall at school
A who’s who of Indiana Democrats paid tribute to Evan Bayh and several generations of the Bayh family Friday during a dedication of a new interactive display at Indiana State University.
-
Can you smell me now?
A contraband cell phone has been discovered by the Vigo County Jail’s youngest and most unique officer.
-
GIVING BACK: Steve Weatherford buys shoes for kids day before charity run
Terre Haute’s Steve Weatherford, punter for the 2012 Super Bowl champion New York Giants, showed once again his generosity Friday by donating new athletic shoes to more than two dozen Vigo County kids.
-
N.Y. Giants honor Weatherford as ‘Man of the Year’
Dan Tanoos, superintendent of Vigo County schools, remembers the first time he saw Steve Weatherford as a freshman at Terre Haute North Vigo High School.
-
Sunday recital at The Woods
A recital featuring songs from well-known composers is at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
-
Police investigating rash of car window shootings
Terre Haute Police are investigating a rash of shootings that have shattered car windows throughout the city.
-
City hospitals get passing grades for patient safety
Two Terre Haute hospitals have been ranked for patient safety by an independent organization that assesses safety, quality and affordability of healthcare for Americans.
-
Three from Operation Turn and Burn sentenced in federal court
Three co-conspirators in a Wabash Valley methamphetamine trafficking ring were sentenced this week to several years in federal prison.
-
Illinois Senate approves medical marijuana bill
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn must decide if he will sign a measure allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes after the state Senate approved legislation today.
-
Vigo County Jail Log: May 17, 2013
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Thursday, based on jail records.
-
I-70 resurfacing project will close westbound exit ramp
PUTNAM COUNTY, Ind. – The Indiana Department of Transportation announces the resurfacing project on Interstate 70 will close the westbound exit ramp at Indiana 243 beginning Wednesday May, 22 at about 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. that same day to mill and resurface the ramp.
-
UPDATE: Fire damages buildings in downtown Greencastle
GREENCASTLE, Ind. — Fire badly damaged several buildings today near the courthouse square in Greencastle, with flames shooting through the roofs as firefighters from several communities were called in to the central Indiana city to help.
-
Get outside this Memorial Day weekend
Although DNR campgrounds and cabins at state parks, state reservoirs and recreation areas are booked to capacity for Memorial Day weekend, some shelters remain available for picnics and other day-use gatherings.
-
Skateboarders, BMX bike riders working to improve area of city park they use
The sound of small wheels rolling across smooth concrete fills the air, accented by the clacking noise of a wooden skateboard coming to an instant stop on a metal edge before rolling on again.
-
Indiana State to host 2014 MVC baseball tourney
Build it… and they will come. The Missouri Valley Conference and Indiana State University made that famous line from the movie “Fields Of Dreams” reality Thursday.
-
Overlay recommended for 812 area code
The state agency that represents Hoosier utility customers is calling for a ten-digit solution to southern Indiana’s vanishing supply of 812 area code telephone numbers.
-
Elementary school saddened by student’s death
A 9-year-old Dixie Bee Elementary student died unexpectedly Wednesday evening as the result of pneumonia, said Vigo County Coroner Susan Amos on Thursday.
-
Vermillion CSX crossings undergoing maintenance
CSX maintenance crews are working on railroad crossings between Dana and Chrisman, Ill. this week and next, a CSX official said Thursday.
-
Beware of scams everywhere
Ever get a phone call in the middle of the night from a person claiming to be your grandchild, who unfortunately has been jailed in Canada and needs bail money?
-
INDOT to start work on Indiana 163 in Vermillion County
Maintenance crews will begin a pavement preservation project Monday on Indiana 163, between Indiana 63 and the Illinois state line west of Clinton.
-
Union Hospital community garden spots now available
Community gardening spots are now available at the Union Hospital Community Garden for Wabash Valley residents interested in planting and maintaining a garden but may not have the space. The garden is located west of the intersection of North Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue in Terre Haute at 1430 N. Sixth St.
-
Correctional officer remembered at memorial
Greene County native and Wabash Valley Correctional Facility Officer Timothy Betts was honored during a memorial ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
-
Money donated for Dresser sculpture
100+ Women Who Care of Vigo County on Thursday awarded a $20,200 grant to Art Spaces that will help make the Paul Dresser sculpture, “A Song for Indiana,” a reality.
-
Powerball jackpot quickly jumps to $550 million
The Powerball jackpot jumped to $550 million on Thursday — the third largest lottery in history — as dreamers in all but the seven states where the game isn’t played snatched up tickets for the minuscule chance at a life on easy street.
-
School bus carrying special-needs kids rolls over
INDIANAPOLIS — A school bus carrying special-needs students rolled over today on a highway near Indianapolis, injuring a dozen people including five children, state police said.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-




