9/11 memories survive

By Unique Larry

On Sept. 11th, 2001, Clements teacher Kandie Bradshaw was preparing to allow her students to watch Channel One. She was not prepared however for the shock that she was about to receive.

Teachers were told not to allow the students to watch Channel One due to the fact they might be alarmed by the terrible news. The announcement then came from the office for teachers to check their e-mail immediately. But before Bradshaw could do so, Shelley Elliot told her about the grim situation. Bradshaw had been hit with the worst news she could have ever gotten.

“I believed that there was absolutely no way for my husband to be alive,” Bradshaw said.

The horrific attack on the New York trade center was positioned directly across from the Hilton, which is the hotel that Bradshaw’s husband was staying at for his job. When the first plane hit the building Dale Bradshaw believed it was only a loud advertisement plane flying over and was preparing to leave the hotel. Fortunately for Dale Bradshaw and his fellow businessmen, he believed that he had lost his money clip, so he, along with his group, went to look for it in the lobby instead of heading outside. At that moment all of the debris began to fall.

“That money clip is what saved him as well as the others that day,” Kandie Bradshaw said

Dust, debris and rubbish in the air, Dale Bradshaw was able to escape the scene on foot. He ran miles so that he could take a ferry to New Jersey. When he approached New Jersey the shore was lined with firefighters that hosed all of the passengers down in fear of contamination.

“The things that he saw that day impacted him, it was like a war zone out there,” Kandie Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw was unable to contact his wife but she was comforted by being told that he was okay by one of the businessmen that he had been working with. A day after the tragedy occurred husband and wife were finally reunited.

“I was very relieved that he was home, but it was hard to be happy knowing about what was going on with everyone else,” Kandie Bradshaw said

A decade later Dale Bradshaw is still effected by what he saw that day. He has been told that he has post trauma stress disorder. The first time a plane flew over head he literally dove to the ground during a game. However, he is also comforted by what he is able to see now, including the memorials, fountains, teddy bears, and letters.