‘We are living history’: How Muncie reacted to the 9/11 attacks – The Star Press

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, The Star Press rushed to publish a special extra print edition that afternoon,the cover of which bore the headline "U.S. UNDER ATTACK."

One local article in the special edition began: Remember this date: Sept. 11, 2001. "We've lost our innocence today," said Bryan Byers, a criminal justice professor at Ball State University. "We really have. This is a turning point for us as a society."

Byers, an expert in hate-crimes, added in the article that the attacks' ramifications were likely to be profound: "We will understand ... this sort of thing can happen here."

Students at local schools who were taking ISTEP+ that day didn't learn of the attacks until breaks in testing; state education officials notified schools of options for suspending later testing if necessary.

Rick Kaufman, a teacher at Cowan Junior-Senior High School, told The Star Press, "In my history classI told my kids that this is exactly what their kids will be reading about years from now. We are living history."

As the day progressed, Muncie City Hall and the Delaware County Building remained open, but nearby federal offices were closed. "We are still here, but we've got the building locked down, so nobody is going to be getting in," an FBI official said. Security at the downtown jail was heightened; bomb-sniffing dogs searched the county buildings, and armedofficers patrolledoutside the Justice Center and guarding the ramp to the jail.

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Muncie Mall closed in the afternoon out of respect, afterschool activities and school sports events were canceled and flights at the Delaware County Airport were halted, stranding a couple of pilots who'd been scheduled to fly from Muncie to Oklahoma that day.

Bill Gosnell, the director of Delaware County Emergency Management, warned, "People should not call 911. They probably know more than what we do. It's not like we have a pipeline to the FBI."

People determined to do something to help overwhelmed the Ball Memorial Hospital Blood Bank with unsolicited offers to donate blood, waiting up to 2 1/2 hours to have their blood drawn the afternoon of Sept. 11.

A photo from the Muncie H.H. Gregg that morning showed Christy Arnold and her 2-year-old son watching news coverage of the attacks on a wall of TV screens. "Gosh, maybe we should stay home," Arnold said. "It seemed kind of silly to come out and buy something when all of this was going on."

In an article quoting local military veterans, World War II veteran Clinton Beaty said, "This is a terrible thing, It comes as a heck of a surprise. I was thinking about Pearl Harbor all over again. This is as bad or worse than that. Everything is shut down all over the country. Lord help us."

By noon Sept. 11, drivers were lining up at gas stations to fill their tanks, prompting official concerns about panic buying by consumers and potential price-gouging by businesses, particularly when the price jumped to $1.99 a gallon locally though that was still well below reports of $4 to $6 a gallon elsewhere in the state. One local gas station owner said he'd let his gas pumps go dry that day before he'd raise the price.

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New Castle Police Chief Darrell Jackson doubled the number of police officers on duty and patrolling the city overnight, not because of fears of terrorism but for concerns a little closer to home. "Nowhere in Indiana that I know of has been threatened," he said. "It's just crowd control. ... The main problem we're having is people who are going crazy over (gasoline) and at the grocery stores."

By Sept. 12, many local churches and religious organizations planned prayer services and vigils, or simply announced their sanctuaries would be open all day. At a community prayer service at High Street United Methodist Church that drew about 200 people, religious leaders referred to the victims, their families, and political leaders. Leading a prayer for emergency responders, Pastor John Kiefer said, "We are especially grateful for the emergency people who fled toward the disaster, who not only risked their lives but lost their lives in an attempt to save others."

Travel plans were canceled for East Jay and West Jay middle school eighth-graders who had been scheduled to leave Sept. 11 for a field trip to Washington, D.C., and for Ball State students who had planned to fly out of Indianapolis for international programs. similarly, Muncie Mayor Dan Canan and the Delaware County commissioners canceled their plans to travel to Washington, D.C., the next week to talk about federal grants and programs with Indiana's congressional delegation.

As the strange week progressed, local mental health experts noted that the sadness, anxiety, lack of focus or trouble sleeping many were experiencing was normal after such a devastating tragedy. Informal group counseling sessions were offered at the Center Township trustee's office for those who needed help.

By Sept. 14, a Star Press article noted, American flags and flagpoles were sold out as people rushed to display Stars and Stripes.

Exactly a week after the attacks, a prayer service specifically for emergency personnel was scheduled at the Justice Center to honor emergency responders who died in New York City and Washington, D.C., on 9/11.

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Starting on the day of the attack, Star Press coverage made note of people with local ties who'd been in the vicinity of the various attacks, including Delaware County Sheriff Steve Aul, who was on a D.C.Metro train a minute away from the Pentagonwhen that building was hit. Other stories told of several local families relieved to hear from loved ones who worked in or around the World Trade Center but who were safe.

By the weekend, however, The Star Press reported that Gary Bright, a 1983 graduate of Muncie Southside High School, who worked on the 90th floor of Tower number 2, the second to be hit by a hijacked plane, was among the missing. Bright had moved to New York City six years earlier and had worked for an insurance company in the World Trade Center, but had recently quit that job, his sister, Michelle Hornback of Muncie, told The Star Press.

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Unaware that he had just taken a new job with another company in the World Trade Center, his sister's first reaction was to assume he was safe: "I was like, 'Well, I'm so glad he doesn't work there anymore.'"

After learning her brother might have been in the tower after all, Hornback couldn't bear to watch televised news reports from the scene, she said. The family was still awaiting official word at the end of September, but by Oct. 3 his obituary appeared in The Star Press, with a memorial service scheduled for the next day.

Two other people with Muncie ties also were reported dead or missing after the attacks.Lauren Grandcolas, wife of former Muncie resident Jack Grandcolas, was aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. And Ball State graduate Lt. Gen. Timothy Maude, a three-star Army general, was missing a week after the attack at the Pentagon.

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'We are living history': How Muncie reacted to the 9/11 attacks - The Star Press