Bradenton-Sarasota played key role in events that unfolded around terrorist attacks of 9/11
Although the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, took place on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93 over western Pennsylvania, the Bradenton-Sarasota area will always have a close association with that tragic day.
President George W. Bush was speaking to students at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota when White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispered in his ear that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center.
After receiving word that the United States was under terrorist attack, Bush boarded Air Force One at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. The plane lifted off at a steep angle to avoid potential enemy attack.
Former U.S. Rep. Dan Miller was traveling with President George W. Bush that day as the incumbent congressman for District 13, serving Manatee and Sarasota counties.
“We took off about 10 a.m. We were heading back to Washington and then suddenly we took a hard left and flew west. They told us we couldn’t return to Washington. We would be going to Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana,” Miller told the Bradenton Herald in 2021, the 20th anniversary of the attack.
Miller described Bush’s demeanor as calm, focused and determined that day.
“As long as I am president of the United States, I will do everything in my power to keep this from ever happening again,” Bush pledged to those on Air Force One.
It later emerged that three of the terrorists involved in the attacks had taken flying lessons at an airport in Venice.
Michael Williamson, division chief of the Parrish Fire District, has coordinated the Bradenton 9/11 memorial service in recent years.
It is important to remember the event that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and led to America’s longest war in Afghanistan, especially with the local connection to that tragic day, he said.
Children and families enjoying the Bradenton Riverwalk and splash park may not realize the significance of the nearby 9/11 memorial.
For that reason, Williamson is inviting families to the service 9-10 a.m. Sunday at Rossi Park, 400 Third Ave. W.
The Tribute to Heroes event is to remember those who perished in the attack and to honor Manatee County’s first responders.
Speakers include Steve Litschauer, deputy director of Manatee County Public Safety, Dan Barion, retired detective for New York Fire Department, and Dan Spino, retired captain for the Elizabeth, N.J., Fire Department.
Also scheduled for 9/11:
▪ SCF Student Veterans of America and Veteran Services will have a service 9-9:45 a.m. Friday at State College of Florida Bradenton, 5840 26th St. W. The service will be at the south entrance flagpole on 60th Avenue West near the Library and Learning Center, Building 3.
▪ The University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus will remember victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and pay tribute to survivors, first responders and members of the military with a special ceremony on campus starting at 8:15 a.m. Friday.
The remembrance is free and open to the public. To prepare for the event, volunteers on Tuesday planted 2,977 small American flags on the Sarasota-Manatee campus’s courtyard, one for each of the people who died in the attacks.
The remembrance ceremony will start Friday with an honor guard raising the flag at the campus’s entrance.
After that, attendees will be directed to the courtyard where the featured speaker will be Peter Abbott, who on Sept. 11, 2001, was executive officer in the Office of the first deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department.
Abbott, who later was Sarasota’s police chief for eight years and received a master’s degree from USF, responded to the World Trade Center from his office at nearby police headquarters after the first hijacked airliner was flown into the North Tower.
The ceremony will also include remarks from USF President Rhea Law, USF Sarasota-Manatee campus Regional Chancellor Karen A. Holbrook, patriotic performances by the Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School children’s choir, a moment of silence, a 21-gun-salute and a bugler playing “Taps.”
▪ Tidewell Hospice and its Honors Veterans Program, in partnership with Tidewell Foundation, are bringing retired Air Force Col. Mark W. Tillman for a presentation honoring America’s veterans.
Tillman, Air Force One’s pilot and commander the day of the attack on 9/11, will speak at 10 a.m. Sept. 28, at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. The free event is sponsored by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.
Tillman was at the controls on Sept. 11, 2001, keeping the president out of harm’s way and connecting the flying Oval Office to the nation’s first responders—a journey that began in Sarasota.
The program is free, with open seating and requires no tickets or reservations. Visit tidewellfoundation.org/news-and-events/events/colonel-tillman-speaker-event to learn more.
