25 Years Later, Alpena First Responders Say 9/11 Must Be Taught — Not Just Remembered

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people, Alpena-area firefighters and residents are confronting a new challenge: teaching people who were not alive at the time what happened and why it changed the country.

The anniversary has particular meaning for local first responders. Among those killed were 343 members of the Fire Department of New York who climbed into the burning World Trade Center towers while others fled. Alpena firefighters say that sacrifice remains a standard against which their own profession measures courage, readiness and service.

Alpena firefighters remember watching the attacks unfold

Alpena City Fire Chief Andy Marceau was already working for the department on the morning of the attacks. He has now spent 28 years with the department, but his children were not yet born when the towers fell and know little about the attacks unless someone explains them.

Marceau was at home having his carpets cleaned when the first reports appeared. He turned on the television, drove to the station and sat with fellow firefighters in the kitchen as the reports developed.

“At first it appeared to be an accident and then it turned into, wow, this is real, what's next,” Marceau said.

After the second tower was struck, the Pentagon was hit and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought the hijackers, Marceau said those at the station could only watch in disbelief.

“In shock,” Marceau said of those hours at the station.

Alpena Township firefighter Ryan Mendyka was working in Rochester Hills and listening to the radio when the first reports aired. Early accounts suggested a small plane had accidentally hit one of the World Trade Center towers, but the radio host quickly warned that the country was under attack.

Mendyka immediately thought of his brother, who was serving in the military. He said the early hours were marked by terrifying uncertainty because no one knew which major cities might be targeted next.

Alpena Township Fire Chief Tim Baker was living in Holt, working on homework for a fire science degree and serving as a shift leader with the Delhi Township Fire Department. A military veteran, Baker went to the station as agencies across the Lansing-area region considered whether local crews would be sent to New York. The region ultimately learned that an immediate response was not needed, but he said the readiness to help remained firm.

Residents recall a day that changed ordinary life

Christina Klimczak, now a certified medical assistant in Alpena, was eating breakfast and preparing to leave for college when the news broke. She said the second plane and the collapse of both towers made the event feel impossible to comprehend.

“I wondered if this was the beginning of another war. I was scared, shocked and heartbroken as the events unfolded before my eyes.”

Her husband, Matt Klimczak, was walking into English class when his teacher turned on the television. He said every classroom kept the news on for the rest of the school day. He was not yet in emergency services; he joined the Alpena Township Fire Department in 2009. Looking back as a firefighter, he said he has a deeper appreciation for the first responders who answered the call.

Sarah Benjamin of Alpena was in a criminal justice class at Alpena Community College. After her instructor told the class what had happened, students gathered around a small television before being sent home.

“It was one of those moments when you knew the world had suddenly changed,” Benjamin said.

Jeremy Jones and his wife were in Traverse City because their son was in the neonatal intensive care unit. As they left the hospitality house for the hospital, Jones saw the first tower burning on television, then watched the second plane strike.

“I wondered what kind of world our son was going to be born in,” Jones said.

Public safety changed, but remembrance is not meant to create fear

The attacks reshaped security, emergency preparedness and response. Marceau said federal funding and new standards brought major changes to fire departments, including additional training. He also said the attacks brought many people into emergency services because they wanted to help.

Baker has participated in memorial stair climbs honoring the 343 firefighters and traveled to New York City for the Tunnel to Towers 5K. He said honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice remains important to him.

“We honor those we lost not by living in fear, but by moving forward - strong, resilient and unwavering in our commitment to protect our communities and uphold the freedoms that define our nation,” Baker said.

Marceau said changes such as reinforced, locked cockpit doors have made air travel safer. He also pointed to the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, one of four Air National Guard sites in the country, where military aviation and emergency response units train on the edge of town.

For local firefighters, the lasting lesson is not only the destruction caused by the hijackers. It is also the courage of firefighters who climbed the towers, passengers who fought back over Pennsylvania and communities that continued serving others.

“Every single one of them was a hero, and we will never forget,” Mendyka said.