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Life Since September 11

NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner
Vikkie Noble poses for a portrait at her home in Ogden. Noble was working in a building near the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

No more 'sweating the small stuff'

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:28pm

"It was good to get it out," says Vikkie Noble, of writing for the first time about her close call on Sept. 11.

Noble was just one block away from the World Trade Center that day when she escaped from the office building where she worked and saw the Twin Towers collapse into the streets.

"As the time's gone on, it gets easier to think about," the Ogden resident adds, although, looking back, "It was so surreal, you wondered if it really happened."

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Hanging on to her brother's ashes, Roy woman endures

Becky Cairns Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:17am

She fingers a gold heart that hangs around her neck as she talks about her brother and how he died more than four years ago.

Then she tells you that the necklace holds some of his ashes -- a little bit of Michael that is always with her.

"Just something you can hold on to," says Katelyn Pursel of Roy, her voice breaking.

The 19-year-old's brother, Michael Pursel, died May 6, 2007, fighting in Iraq nearly seven years after Sept. 11 ushered in the war on terror.

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NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner

Diane Mueller poses for a portrait outside her home in Ogden. Mueller worked inside the Pentagon on 9/11 and has since suffered chronic panic attacks.

Diane Mueller: 'The fear of an attack is always there'

Diane Mueller Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:13am

My life was forever changed the morning of 9/11. I was sitting at my desk on the fifth floor of the Pentagon and everyone was talking about what was happening in New York. My husband had called to ask if I had heard about New York. We spoke briefly, then said goodbye and (I said I) would see him later that day at home.

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NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner
Katelyn Pursel poses for a portrait at her grandmother’s home in Roy. Pursel’s brother, Michael Avery Pursel, was killed by an IED while serving in Iraq.

Katelyn Pursel: 'A sibling gone for the rest of my life'

Katelyn Pursel Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:14am

I was a child (at the time of) the attack of 9/11, but I can remember coming down the stairs with socks in my hand, ready for school, and seeing my dad sitting on the arm of the chair, as there was no time (for him) to make it to the seat.

His face was blank but said everything he was thinking.

Little did I know that, years later, this event would bring the loss of my brother, Cpl. Michael Pursel, KIA, May 6, 2007. My whole life has been military -- military family, parents, boyfriend and friends.

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Pentagon became a place of wild panic

Becky Cairns Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:28pm

The panic Diane Mueller felt when a plane hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11 did not vanish when the sun set on the horror of that day.

A week later, back at her job at the Pentagon, Mueller suffered her first panic attack, with symptoms so severe she thought she was having a heart attack.

And such episodes kept coming, for weeks, for months ... for years. "Anything would set it off," says Mueller, and that's still true today, a decade later, although the dizziness, sweating and racing heartbeat happen less frequently.

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Vikkie Noble: 'We appreciate life that much more'

Vikkie Noble Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:11am

I am British, I have lived in the U.S. since 1992. I was living in New Jersey and working only a block from the Twin Towers in September of 2001. I had recently been transferred to my company's office in New York City.

That morning was just a beautiful fall morning. Instead of getting the subway to World Trade, I got off a station before, grabbed a coffee and walked the rest of the way -- heading south along Broadway. As I got closer to the World Trade Center, people were looking up -- there were flames and smoke coming from some of the higher floors of one of the towers.

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Gayleen Bennington: 'I have an overwhelming urge to block my doors and windows

Gayleen Bennington Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:03am

In September 2001, I was dating a man I thought the world of. After 9/11 he went off the deep end emotionally and finally ended up taking his life on October 14. I blame 9/11 for his downward spiral.

I had always felt safe; I never imagined we would experience an act of war on our own soil. I had a sense of protection by being inland in Utah, and that our U.S. borders were secure. That evening, I was afraid to go outside. I felt vulnerable, that I could easily be victimized and that was a new experience for me.

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Grant Johnson: 'Never felt so far away from home'

Grant Johnson Standard-Examiner

Last updated Saturday, September 10, 2011 - 11:55pm

I was in Portland, Ore., delivering goods for the company I drove a truck for. It all happened about 7:15 a.m., as I was unloading the last item. The receiver came out and told me what had happened, but he really didn't know much. He signed my papers and I was off for Ogden. I listened to the truck radio and couldn't believe it. I drove nonstop to Ogden in 10 1/2 hours. I have never felt so far away from home.

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Matthew Reed Farley: Before 9/11, I was the laughingstock of the entire school ... now people stick up for me

Matthew Reed Farley Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:03am

Hello, my name is Matthew Reed Farley. I am a 17-year-old artist.

My life has taken a significant change since 9/11. I was 8 years old at the time of 9/11. At that time I was in second grade and had nearly no friends. One day after the attacks on the USA, my teacher asked the whole class to write a one-page essay about how we felt about the attacks.

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Judy Gabourie: 'The terrorists took away our innocence'

Judy Gabourie Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:03am

On Sept. 11, 2001, we were on our way to Green River, Utah, with our Good Sams Travel Club. After we got there and settled, someone turned on their TV in their RV. No one could believe it, and it reminded some of the attack on American soil in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, as we had a lot of veterans of World War II in our group.

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Abby Chase: 'I credit 9/11 for changing my life for the better'

Abby Chase Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:00am

I was living in Florida when 9/11 happened. I worked in Boca Raton, where a man died down the street from my office from anthrax. I then decided to to change my priorities and sell my condo and move to Utah to be near my family. Nine months later, I was in Utah. Since then, I have been helping to raise my grandsons and make wonderful memories for them.

I credit 9/11 for changing my life for the better. I knew that I didn't want to have regrets years later if I had missed my grandsons growing up. I wanted them to know who I was and share their lives.

-- Abby Chase

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Wendell Thayne: I made an entire career change

Wendell Thayne Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:00am

I was activated twice with my National Guard unit, the 1/145th Field Artillery. Once on a homeland defense mission to Deseret Chemical Depot in Tooele and once to southern Iraq to guard prisoners of war. I made an entire career change following the activations. I now work for the Department of Defense, a job I was able to get because of my military service. My life drastically changed because of that.

-- Wendell Thayne

Brigham City

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Carl Jeerings: 'I started experiencing unexplained anxiety attacks and depression'

Carl F. Jeerings Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:00am

The events of 9/11 caused a profound change in my emotional well-being. I was on a business trip when the 9/11 events occurred. I found myself stuck in a hotel in Norfolk, Va. As I watched the terrible scenes on TV and saw the whole airline industry shut down, I was soon overcome with anxiety as to whether I would ever get home to Utah.

After three days of living in a cramped hotel room, I and another stranded party rented a car and drove to Rochester, N.Y., where I have a daughter. After two days at her house, I was finally able to book a flight home.

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Janice Bechel: 'I probably will never fly again'

Janice A. Bechel Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:00am

Yes, it has affected me. I probably will never fly again (which I didn't like in the first place). When security is so stupid that they don't know what a breast prosthesis is (and I happen to have one), that's ridiculous. Going through security is embarassing enough. They need to keep their personnel more informed about those things.

-- Janice A. Bechel

Uintah

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Gerry Allred: Excuse me, I don't mean to offend you, but are you trying to kill me?

Gerry Allred Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:00am

My life since 9/11 has changed a little. I've become a little more angry, a little more cynical and a lot more disgusted with the apathy in our government. Muslim extremists want to kill us and we're afraid to say anything for fear of offending someone. Excuse me, I don't mean to offend you, but are you trying to kill me?

Please don't take that the wrong way.

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