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Sept. 11 Changed Everything

Patches across Northeast Ohio and America are talking to people about how their lives have changed since that day 10 years ago

By Susan Ruiz Patton
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September 7, 2011

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Sadness, pride and honor drove him to join

Stow, OH – Stow resident and infantry combat adviser for an Afghan National Army infantry company Nick Gibson has mixed emotions reflecting on the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Sadness, pride and honor drove him to enroll in ROTC at Kent Sate University to “make a larger contribution to this great nation.” He was deployed twice following the attacks. Gibson said he gave up being with his friends, family and two daughters while gone and given the chance to do it over?” “I wouldn’t change a thing.” The events of 9/11 and a drive to serve have instilled a sense of pride and loyalty for defending our country, he said. He hopes that his children will one day say their father was willing to give the ultimate sacrifice to enjoy our freedoms. Gibson is pictured in front of Stow City Hall, where a monument will be built when a piece of the 9/11 wreckage arrives. “It’s wonderful. Many people in this community served this country honorably and I believe it should instill a great sense of pride and to let others know what sacrifices have been made by many, including people in Stow, when they drive by the steel from Ground Zero.” Roger Sommer

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Avon, OH – Avon, OH, Fire Chief Frank Root's most treasured possession isn’t just a hat (pictured) he never wears. It’s the lesson of 9/11 that he treasures the most: Someone will always be there for you. He got the hat from a New York City firefighter he befriended in the years after Sept. 11, 2001. The firefighters in the Bronx, NY, and Elyria, OH, became sister-stations when Root was still a firefighter in Elyria. When they visit each other’s cities, it’s more the fun of camaraderie between fellow firefighters. It’s a chance to leave the stress of the job behind. But when the joking is over, they’re also there for each other when that job stress gets to them. That’s when the lesson of 9/11 comes in. They know they can rely on each other for advice and support to get through it. So when an Avon firefighter, Kevin Criss, was killed in a motorcycyle accident last year and firefighters from around the area came to offer help and support, Root saw once again the lesson he learned from the New York firefighters: Someone will always be there for you.

Credit Roadell Hickman

Avon Lake, OH – Gjergj Haxhiu of Avon Lake, OH, could not contain his emotions after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, so he commissioned a statue and built a memorial garden to honor the dead. He moved to this country seeking a fresh start from the former Yugoslavia, which was in a bitter civil war. “I felt that I could finally soar and that nothing could stop me,” he said. “This nation that has empowered me to believe in myself.” He took the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks personally. He worked with his students to create a 9/11 Memorial Garden to remember those who died that day and those who died serving their country in the aftermath. The garden contains a commissioned statue representing people who died in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Haxhiu hopes the garden will inspire students not to take their freedoms for granted. “On that September day, we were attacked not because of our power, but because of our ideals. History has shown that democratic ideals cannot be eradicated. I hope as those heroes of that day look down from heaven they realize we will continue their American dream.”

Credit Roadell Hickman

Bath Township, OH – Since Sept. 11, 2001, Tim Lombardi of Bath Township, OH, never leaves the house without telling his family he loves them. Before the Cuyahoga Falls firefighter was sent to the World Trade Center to help in a 10-day rescue effort a decade ago, he watched an airplane in the sky from his driveway. “I had a clear view of what could very well have been Flight 93,” he said. “Maybe 10 minutes after, I saw two fighters, F-14s or F-16s, shoot right over my house.” Capt. Lombardi is a member of Ohio Task Force 1, the first urban search team outside New York to arrive at the Twin Towers. Once at Ground Zero, “It was the Apocalypse … a barren, smoking landscape, trees with no leaves. The whole 10 days I never saw a piece of concrete bigger than a football,” he said. “But you knew, theoretically, the possibility … in some of those voids there could be people who survived. Lombardi doesn’t go to 9/11 reunions because he doesn’t want to be honored. But it has changed him. “I just learned to live day by day … I’ve seen the worst people can do to one another but I’ve also seen the best.”

Credit Roger Sommer

Beachwood, OH – On Sept. 11, 2001, Lynn Katz Danzig was on her way to the Cleveland airport when she heard news of the attack on the Twin Towers. She had planned to fly to Albany, N.Y., to visit her dying father, Samuel Katz, but by the time she got to the airport it had been shut down. She spent the rest of the day unsuccessfully trying to arrange another flight, and finally resolved to leave by car the next morning. By the time she made it to Albany, her father already had died. "I’m angry that these people did this, and I’m terribly sad that these people died, and I’m angry that I didn’t get to see my father,” Danzig said.

Credit Roadell Hickman

Brecksville, OH – “You want to help,” Matt Harper said. “You want to do something.” When Harper learned that his neighbor, Bill Moskal, had been in New York on a business trip on Sept. 11 and died in the terrorist attacks, he was frustrated. So Harper decided to use what he had – his business – to help Moskal’s wife and two children. Harper, an owner of Creekside Restaurant in Brecksville (then called Eddie’s Creekside), picked a Sunday in October and decided to donate all the sales to the Moskal family. Sundays are the restaurant’s busiest, he said. When he told the restaurant’s employees, they wanted to get involved, too. Some offered to work for free, he said, and others gave up their tips. “It was just very gratifying to see that,” Harper said. The day of the fundraiser, the restaurant had its busiest day ever, serving about 1,300 people and raising about $17,000. “It was non-stop all day,” he said, noting that people would eat quickly and leave so the tables weren’t filled up. Giving the money to the Moskals was an emotional experience, Harper said, as Moskal’s wife – his neighbor to this day – reminded him to not take anything in life for granted.

Credit Roger Sommer

Cleveland Heights, OH – Army veterans Dirk Barnes, Doug Barnes and Kyle Beattie, along with Beattie's wife, Samantha, participated in the second annual Run for the Fallen 5K around Shaker Lakes in Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights on Aug. 20, 2011. Beattie served in Iraq and has been working with the Barnes brothers promoting memorial runs in Cleveland to recognize those who fought and died in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Beattie and his wife live in Cleveland Heights, and the Barnes brothers are from Holmes County.

Credit Roadell Hickman

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Whether they decided to join the armed forces, learned life lessons on the compassion of others or just paid closer attention to world news, Americans were changed by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, in so many ways.

This Patch and others across the country are commemorating the anniversary of Sept. 11 by documenting how our lives have changed – not just the security measures at airports, but how we feel and what we are doing about it.

This photo gallery is taken from the 17 Patches in Northeast Ohio. Photos and stories from Patches across the country will be posted on the Huffington Post website Sept. 11.

Below are links to some of the Sept. 11 Patch stories published in Ohio:

Beachwood: 9-11: Day of National Tragedy, Personal Loss for Beachwood Woman

Cleveland Heights: Photos: Second Annual Cleveland Run For The Fallen

Solon: Solon Police Officer Decided to Serve After 9/11 Attacks

Kent: Northeast Ohio Welcomes 'Ride for 9-11' Firefighters

Brecksville: Remembering Sept. 11: A Fundraiser to Help a Local Family

Avon Lake: 9/11 Memorial Garden a Labor of One Teacher's Love

Bath: Bath Township Resident Recalls Time at Ground Zero

Lakewood: 9/11 Ceremony Slated at Lakewood Fire Department

Strongsville: A Close Call on 9/11 for Strongsville Official

If you want to join a national remembrance effort, check out ActionAmerica.com to tell the country how you're taking positive action in your town.

Related Topics: 9/11 and September 11 anniversary