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EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is one of a series devoted to changes and experiences in the region since September 11, 2001, as we mark the 20th anniversary of the national tragedy.
MANISTEE – On September 11, 2001, most of the country came to a screeching halt. Airports were closed, government buildings evacuated, and most of the United States watched in amazement on television.
For newsrooms across the country, however, there was barely time to process what was going on, let alone pause to figure it all out. The attacks came out of nowhere and it was the editorial staff’s duty to educate people on what was going on. .
“The most important thing about the whole situation was that no one knew what was going to happen next. It was before Facebook and everything, so there was no word online,” said Ken Grabowski, former journalist and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Manistee News Advocate. “The media ran it all, including us.… I remember when the first tower fell, I was typing and someone said ‘Oh my God!’ I looked up and on the screen you could see the tower collapsing.
“It was so surreal.”
Then-editor Dave Barber recalled looking at his young news staff and, growing up with his father’s stories about the bigger generation and the selective service system, worried about it. that the terrorist attacks would mean for the country’s youth.
“I can honestly say it was, if not the worst day of my life, it was probably one of them.… I remember walking into the bathroom after the Pentagon strike,” a- he declared. “The towers had been hit, and when I saw the Pentagon hit, I knew we were at war. I mean, who hasn’t? We were at war. . We had a very, very good, young staff. And I thought of my own children. … I thought it was war, and for so many young children – I thought we were going to lose them. I don’t know if I ever bounced off that. “
Very early on, it was decided that the News Advocate would publish an additional edition to provide coverage of September 11 to the community.
“This has only been done twice in News Advocate history. The first time was on the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,” Grabowski said. “The only other day this was done to the News Advocate was September 11, 2001. So we had published the newspaper for that day, and then we had to go in and we published this document. We started working on it at around 9 or 9:30 a.m. and at 3:30 p.m. we took it out into the streets here in Manistee. “
Greg Gielczyk, who was a sports writer at the time, had just woken up after burning the midnight oil covering athletics. When he turned on the news that morning, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
“I was at home watching TV. It came to the screen with the planes going into the towers, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said. “At first you don’t really realize what you are seeing. It’s kind of like a movie almost. I just kept looking at the report… and then the phone rang. It was the office.”
Every aircraft in flight had been ordered to land at the closest possible location. Gielczyk had been called on duty to check on the situation at Manistee County Blacker Airport.
“It turned out that no planes had landed there. After a while the office called me back and I told them there weren’t any planes coming or whatever. it’s like, ”he said. “I went to the office to help with whatever I could – call people. I guess they were getting leads on who to call and that sort of thing. It was almost surreal.”
Grabowski was also scheduled for an afternoon shift, and when he was first called in to arrive early, he wasn’t sure what the fuss was about.
“Every time the first plane hit the first tower, Dave Barber would call me and say, ‘Hey, I need you to come in. York.’ I didn’t have the TV on or anything at the time and I’m like, “That’s a big deal. A plane hit a tower. “It’s like, ‘You want me to come for this?’ So I walked in right away, and as soon as I walked in we used to have the TV on all the time on CNN during the day. At that point they showed the tower with the smoke coming out of it I was like ‘Holy shit!’ I didn’t realize it, you know? “
Grabowski was able to receive a first-hand account of what was going on from a Manistee resident who was in the second tower.
“It turned out to be John Balcer, Frank Balcer’s son.… He told us how, after the first tower was hit, they evacuated the second tower but they didn’t let anyone use them. elevators or whatever because they didn’t know if another attack was coming at that time, “Grabowski said.” They were all going down the stairs and he said coming down the stairs he felt the building shake. He kind of knew something was going on. He said what was amazing was that there was no panic – everyone kept going down the steps as fast as they could to get out of the building. He said they got underground a few blocks from where the towers were.
“It was really amazing because here it was around 11 or 11:30 in the morning and I’m talking to someone who was actually in there.”
Barber suggested that Grabowski call the office of state representative Pete Hoekstra. To Grabowski’s amazement, against all odds, someone picked up the phone.
“I called and Hoekstra’s press officer, who I knew very well, Jamal Ware, picked up the phone.… We knew each other very well because they came here all the time.… They came and they knew us by name, “Grabowski said. “When Jamal picked it up, he thought, ‘Ken! Oh my God! How did you get through? Every phone in Washington is locked. I couldn’t even call my mom to tell her I’m fine. I said, ‘I just picked up the phone and dialed.’ “
Ware gave Grabowski a description of what was going on outside his office window.
He said, ‘I can see the smoke coming out of the Pentagon. I can see it all right out of my window, “” Grabowski said. “… He was describing how it was when it happened and stuff. I was like, ‘Holy smoke! I’m sitting here on one of the greatest stories ever and getting the game by. game of the people who actually saw him. Finally he said, “They tell me I have to evacuate, Ken. I have to go. “I said, ‘Well take care of yourself. Make sure you’re safe.'”
After the special edition of the News Advocate was written, it was printed in Big Rapids and transported to Manistee for distribution.
“The newsroom did a terrific job. I think people wanted this edit,” Barber said. “… The reporting was different 20 years ago, just like it was different 40 years ago. It wasn’t that immediate.”
With the importance of online news and social media, Grabowski said it was unlikely that a newspaper would bother to publish a special edition these days. He said it required a Herculean effort.
“I didn’t even have lunch that day – you just worked it through,” he said. “What’s amazing is that you turned around and started working on the newspaper the next day. … In less than 24 hours, we published three newspapers. “
Gielczyk said everyone involved in making the Special Edition has done a wonderful job.
“It just reinforced in my mind what the staff could do in this kind of situation. You don’t really know until it happened, but it was really impressive,” he said. “I was proud to be a part of it.… It didn’t seem like anybody cared whether or not they were going to fix things or something like that, everyone just pushed and got the information in them. stories. It was definitely an adrenaline rush. “
SEE ALSO:
KYLE KOTECKI: Remembering the sense of oneness caused by 9/11
SCOTT FRALEY: It is no longer possible to come home
20 years later, air transport is still impacted by the September 11 attacks
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