KEWASKUM, WI (WTAQ) – When we think of 9-11 images of the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C…..or the field in Shanksville P-A may come to mind. You might recall what you were doing when you first heard about it. The 9-11 Anniversary gives us that chance to remember. Then, there’s another group of people …..members of a club no one wants to be a part of.
“To me, everyday is 9-11.”
That kind of emotion can only come from someone whose connection to 9-11 goes beyond the shock and horror the rest of us might have felt.
“I understand the public’s feeling on it. To us it’s very personal of course.”
Meet Gordon Haberman, a small business owner near West Bend, in September of 2001….
“I know the 20th anniversary is coming up and the hype is incredible. But the reality is for my family this is just another 9-11 day.”
That’s because Gordon’s daughter, Andrea, was in the World Trade Center on 9-11.
“They were on the 92nd floor of the north tower. No one from the 92nd on up got out. If you wanted to get out the 91st floor on down you might have made it.”
The 25 year old Saint Norbert College graduate was engaged to be married, lived in Chicago, had a good job, and was in the Tower that day for an important business meeting. Gordon last spoke to Andrea the night before, when a couple of flights to New York had already been canceled.
“I said why don’t you go home and get on the flight with your boss in the morning ? She said all my luggage was on its way to New York and and she didn’t want to lose it. Yeah….lot of stories like that out of the towers.”
Gordon Haberman didn’t let it end at Ground Zero. He wanted answers. He has travelled to the American military prison in Guantanamo, attended trials of terrorists, and been part of sessions of the commission that investigated the 9-11 attacks.
“When I first found myself on Ground Zero I said I’m going to find out. I owed it to her. I was not done being her father.”
Like he has every year, Gordon Haberman will be back in New York on 9-11, for the reading of the names and the Memorial service near Ground Zero. Some of Andrea’s personal effects, like her purse, are on display in the 9-11 museum that’s also nearby. Gordon has kept her cell phone…the one he kept trying to call when he first heard about the planes hitting the towers. As for the future….keeping Andrea Haberman’s memory and what happened on 9-11 front and center is important.
“There’s over 100 million people in this country that were not alive when 9-11 happened. It’s important that they get the factual information on what happened.”
And finally….
“It’s been a substantial lift as you can see. This is a well done memorial.”
The state of Wisconsin’s official salute to the story of 9-11.
Check out Part 5 of 9-11, 20 Years Later: Wisconsin Remembers. That’s Saturday online at WTAQ.COM
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