Patrick Anderson: World Trade Center Survivor Reflects 25 Years Later

0:00Well, usually we talk to Patrick Anderson because of his expert economic prowess. But as we sit here this morning, 25 years ago, our country was attacked. And there are always our Michigan connections to instances like this. And virtually every corner of our country was impacted by the morning of 9-11. Patrick Anderson has a unique perspective on that day because he is a World Trade Center survivor. And in these last 25 years, he's established the Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund. And we sit here this morning as another reflection on what happened on that terrible morning in New York City. And Patrick Anderson joins us. It's good to have you this morning. Thank you for taking some time. Good morning to you. We know it's a tough day for you, but take us back to that day and how that changed your perspective on how you would want to leave your impact on Michigan in particular.

1:09It is a tough day for me and an even worse day for people that lost loved ones. Just for people that are sensitive to America's role in the world and realize the huge loss we suffered, almost 3,000 people that day. If you go back 25 years, which I do often, I remember that day quite vividly. For those that don't remember, I mean, this is September 2001. It was a time of great optimism. I mean, America was the only superpower in the world. The Berlin Wall had fallen. We just elected a new president towards W. Bush. People really optimistic. And in New York, it was a beautiful day. A lot of folks were there, you know, coming on, you know, bright sky. So the day started on a very, very positive note. And America was generally very optimistic about the future in 2001. You know, when the first jolt hit while you were in your hotel room and announcement came over the PA telling guests to stay put,

2:16but you described it feeling almost like an angel tapping your shoulder telling you to run. What went through your mind in that split second when you chose to trust your gut over what the instructions were telling you? Well, I was told and many people were in World Trade Center, one, World Trade Center, two, World Trade Center, three. These are all three buildings, the World Trade Center that were all hit by planes. Many people were told to stay in the room and I don't blame the folks that made those statements because until that day, there really wasn't any experience with with terrorists trying to run planes into buildings and buildings falling down. So I understand whether we're thinking that I did feel a sense of doom. I could already see death outside. I'd already felt something very wrong. It happened. I heard and felt the first plane hit. And so I was getting ready and at some point, I did feel a tap on my shoulder, which I interpreted as,

3:19leave hours or stay here forever. So that's when I ran out of my room. And I tell people when they ask me about that, they say, you can believe whatever you want, but there's no in the room, but me. And I felt a tap on my shoulder. They say that about 103 million Americans have been born since September 11, 2001. So 25% of the population, how can we tell the story the right way to these young adults who can't relate because they weren't even alive yet? You're absolutely right. It's one of the reasons why we started the Michigan Remembers Fund. I was very concerned about 20 years ago that we'd start losing the first hand knowledge. We would forget what had happened. And I was also afraid that we would allow for revisionist history to come in, where people would be saying, oh, nine levels was really about this or it was really about that. Now, it wasn't really about any of those things.

4:21September 11, there's a simple and very, very painful truth of that, that you had terrorists, evil people who tried to kill Americans because they hated America. These people that died were innocent. They didn't do anything wrong. They just happened to be in the United States. They weren't all from the United States. The people from apparently 60 countries that were killed on that day. But it's a very, very brutal, unhappy truth. But it's one that we need to share, which is you had people killed because you had evil people wanted to kill lots of folks in America. And that's one of the reasons it's so important to maintain the first hand stories. It's one of the reasons they all do an interview like this. Because if people don't hear directly from folks that were there, they might fall prey to the growing number of folks out there that want to reinterpret September 11 to somehow make it seem like something it wasn't.

5:27You're going to be an event this morning at Selfridge Air Force Base. Tell us a little bit about what's going on there. Yeah, Selfridge Air Force Base or Selfridge Air National Guard Base. As an important military installation there and they've asked me to come and speak to to their airman firefighters. And I'm going to do that because it's so important for these folks. I mean, some of these folks were not alive or were just barely aware at that time. And they might be called upon. The next time we have a September 11 type attack or a different kind of attack to defend the country. And I think I want to share with them from somebody who was there. And if you're not at Selfridge, look at the other things that are written. Please go to the missionerremembers.org website. Look at the 42 people that we know from Michigan that died. And also learn about some of the positive stories because there were heroes.

6:29And there were people that helped each other at that time. And America really did show its strength at that time as well as suffer a grievous loss. And Patrick, you know, through the Michigan Remembers 9-11 fun, you know, you spent these 25 years ensuring that those 42 victims with ties to Michigan are never forgotten. Kind of talk about why keeping their specific names and personal stories alive is so vital to counteracting the intent of that attack. Now, because these people should not be erased, they weren't ciphers, they weren't, you know, some kind of political representation. There were real humans with families and careers in futures. People who went to college here, people who grew up here, people who were starting career in New York. We're all excited about it. And came from Detroit, came from Flint, came from West Side of the State. And these people should not be forgotten.

7:31Also, we shouldn't forget folks that did good things. I mean, one of the things I've mentioned, there's a nice Detroit news article that I wrote about things I remember. I remember Sheriff Mike Mouchard, the Mokun County, taking a crew out to ground zero. I had the former chair of the Democratic Party in Michigan, call me up in New York and say, I'll come out and get you because I'm a refugee out in New York. There were a whole lot of people. There was a young lady that helped me out there. I didn't even know that basically got me on my way and got me a direction. So I had a chance to find a place to sleep that night. So there are a lot of stories of heroism and those also need to be told. Well, we know it's a tough day for you, but the efforts that you're making to keep these stories alive. And sharing yours are so vitally important. We appreciate your time as always. And remembering those people that we lost on that day, Patrick Anderson.

8:32Thank you so much. We'll talk again soon. All right. We'll take a break more next.