VIDEO: Local Leaders Reflect on Their 9/11 Experiences

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) –

Most of us remember where we were and what we were doing September 11th 2001.

For two Golden Triangle leaders, the attacks that day hit close to home

At the time of the attack, Mississippi State University President, Dr. Mark Keenum, was working as Thad Cochran’s Chief of Staff in Washington D.C., and Mayor Lynn Spruill was a pilot for Delta Airlines.

The experiences they share are two of many in one of the darkest days in our nation’s history.

“That’s a day I’ll never forget for the rest of my life,” said Keenum.

The morning of September 11th, 2001 began with a plane hitting the north tower in New York City.

For Dr. Keenum and Mayor Spruill, their interpretations were similar.

“At the time of the first attack that I saw on the television that morning, my first thought was this is really a terrible accident,” continued Keenum.

“Well, initially, I thought someone had strayed into restricted airspace and flown into a building, because it’s happened in the past. You know, private pilots, particularly in a congested atmosphere, which around New York City is very congested,” said Spruill.

18 minutes later, that interpretation changed.

“The second hit, you knew it was something else, so it quickly became something else entirely different and something far more sinister,” said Spruill.

“I saw the second plane hit the second tower, and I knew that this was no accident,” said Keenum.

In Spruill’s career as a pilot, this attack was something she had never seen before.

“Before this happened, back when we were having hijackings, which we used to have, what the intent of the person who did the hijacking was was to fly me to Cuba or fly me somewhere else or to hold hostages until they get X. We never in our wildest imagination believed that we were going to find ourselves in a situation where someone wanted to commit suicide and take everyone with them,” said Spruill.

For Keenum, he was a part of the first evacuation of the nation’s capital since the war of 18-12.

He told us normally it took him 30 minutes to get from work to home.

That day, it took four hours.

“Right across the river, I could see the Pentagon, which had been attacked, and it was just pillars of fire and smoke that you could see for miles,” said Keenum.

All Keenum could think of in that moment was his friend who worked in the Pentagon, Lt. Col. Jerry Dickerson.

“I was wondering about him and how he was doing in that situation, and unfortunately he was killed, which was very tragic for me personally and for his family,” continued Keenum.

Sixteen years later, both Spruill and Keenum see this nation forever changed in both travel and everyday life.

“Flying is still incredibly safe. I think as we respond to all of the situations that come out way and we tweak what we do to meet the situation I think it’s still the best way to travel,” said Spruill.

“How we travel how we interact with other people, other nations. We’re not the same country; it’s not the same world anymore since 9/11, 2001,” said Keenum.

Though the event was a tragic one, both leaders agree this was an event that brought the American people closer together.