Twenty years later, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the response to the attack still define America in many ways — and continue to shape the world far beyond U.S. borders.
On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air, we heard from community members as they shared reflections on 9/11.
Chief Dennis Jenkerson of the St. Louis Fire Department joined host Sarah Fenske for the discussion. He recalled having just started his shift as a battalion chief in the city’s 5th District the morning of the attack.
“The phones started ringing within the [St. Louis] firehouses. … As everybody knows, it went from bad, it skipped worse, and went to horrific when the towers fell,” Jenkerson said. “Right away you started thinking about all the firefighters up in New York, all the police officers, all the workers in the building.”
A total of 343 members of the New York City Fire Department were killed, including someone Jenkerson trained with.
The conversation included reflections from a local priest, a military veteran, a teacher and two St. Louisans who remember being schoolchildren that day, among other perspectives.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
