Sumter leaders look back on 9/11 attacks and how they changed their work

JIM McCAIN

On 9/11, current Sumter County Council Chairman Jim McCain was living in Atlanta and manager of UPS' Georgia District Call Center there that handled all types of customer inquiries on packages.

McCain said there was a television in the center's breakroom and an employee came to his office that morning and told him that he needed to come and watch what was happening on the news.

"I actually observed the second plane fly into the second tower," he said. "When I got there, the first tower was already in flames."

As the manager of the operation with 108 employees, he said he could watch more of the TV coverage in the breakroom, while the hourly, clerical employees would just come in during their break periods.

"Everybody was pretty much in shock, as everyone was," McCain said. "It was just a sadness about what had happened. We were sitting there watching people jumping out or falling out of the buildings. That was pretty traumatic to watch."

But business continued as usual that day because it was the transportation industry.

"Phone calls from customers didn't stop coming in," he said. "Nothing stopped.

"UPS did have some planes back then, and all planes got grounded. So it interrupted our air service."

When he got home from work that night, he recalls watching the news, and that was when all the other news started to come in concerning the plane that flew into the Pentagon and the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.

McCain said his two sisters from Chicago did call him that night to check on him.

During his later years with UPS, he traveled more with the company and noticed the increase in security checkpoints and measures.

BRENDA HAFNER

Liberty STEAM Charter School's new Superintendent Brenda Hafner was a high school social studies teacher in Hartsville on Sept. 11, 2001, with the unique story of having former Gov. David Beasley visiting her classroom as a guest speaker that morning.

After losing his re-election bid for state governor in 1998, Beasley moved into international economic mission work and economic development and was sharing about that path in his life with students, Hafner said. Students were also able to ask him questions about being the governor, she added.

The morning class was an Advanced Placement U.S. History class at Darlington County School District's magnet school, Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology.

Shortly after the attacks and news coverage began, another teacher came down the hall, and Hafner's classroom door was open and she came in.

"She said, 'Turn on your TV. One of the towers has just gotten hit by a plane,'" Hafner recalled.

Hafner turned on the TV, and she, students and Beasley watched, and shortly thereafter the second airplane hit, she said. Then Reagan International Airport near Washington was closed.

She said Beasley stayed for at least a couple hours, and he gave "kind of a play-by-play to us - the staff and my students in the room - of what was happening.

"As tragic as it was, it was such a great experience for my students because he would say, 'Now, they have closed all the airports, so this means they think there might be other planes out there.'"

While Beasley stayed in Hafner's classroom, airplanes crashed into the Pentagon and Pennsylvania and both towers collapsed in New York City, she said.

"That day, of course, is etched into all of our minds," Hafner added. "I think it was almost 11:30 a.m. before he left. Mr. Beasley was as casual and comfortable as he could be. He was super great with the students and just so patient in giving his time.

"And after a couple of hours, he said, 'OK, well, I feel like I probably need to check on some things.'

"We thanked him graciously, and off he went. But everything he shared was extremely impactful."

As far as changes in education, Hafner said she felt there was a greater sense of patriotism in schools just like in our communities for at least the first five years afterward, and more schools wanted to become Purple Star schools connected to the military.

"The schools have kept up the Veterans Day assemblies and 9/11 ceremonies on the benchmark years," she said, "and this is one of those benchmark years. I cannot vouch for the years in between.

"In my previous job experiences, 9/11 was a big part of the discussion on Veterans Day because a lot of those guest speakers had served in that era."

GERALD GARY

Sumter School District's first-year superintendent Gerald Gary was a lead teacher and also had administrative responsibilities at Blythewood Academy in Richland School District 2 on 9/11, he said.

The academy was the district's alternative school, and because of its relatively small enrollment, Gary taught middle school math during the first half of the day and then had administrator duties like an assistant principal after lunch.

After hearing of the terrorist attacks that morning, he said all teachers and staff went to a small planning room where there was a television during their first available break to find out what was going on.

"A couple of people had relatives who lived in New York City and, of course, they were alarmed and scared," Gary said. "We were all just in shock and were just trying to process exactly what was going on."

As far as changes in education since 9/11, he noted that all schools have had more procedures when people and parents are visiting with officially signing in and out of the school.

Another big change has been increased security with school doors.

"There were always locks for doors, but prior to 9/11, from my experiences in buildings when teachers went out for recess or someone was going out to their car and back," Gary said, "doors may have been propped open.

"For me, I realized that really stopped at that point. School resource officers were checking the doors more. Custodians were checking the doors more. There has just been an increased awareness of people's surroundings."

GIFFORD SHAW

On Sept. 11, 2001, Sumter City Councilman Gifford Shaw was a regional vice president of manufacturing for Builders First Source and was leaving Bunnell, Florida, after visiting a truss plant there.

Shaw said his wife, Marian, called him as he was leaving.

"I don't even think she knew exactly what was happening," he said, "but she knew something bad had happened and I needed to be watching the news."

A little later, Shaw said, he was driving back to Jacksonville, Florida, and Builders First Source's facility there.

"And the interesting piece is our facility in Jacksonville is right across the street from the main gate of the large Naval air station there," he said. "President [George W.] Bush was in Sarasota, Florida, that morning and reading to an elementary classroom when his officials let him know of the terrorist attacks in New York City.

"He was scheduled to leave Sarasota and go to the Naval air station as his next stop. When we got there, there were all kind of planes protecting that base. Of course, Bush never came and stayed in flight and went elsewhere."

Shaw later drove back home that day to Sumter, he said.

Regarding 9/11 perspectives, Shaw also said he has the unique outlook that he personally had been on a hijacked plane nine months earlier with nearly 400 passengers taken over by a Kenyan Muslim man on Dec. 28, 2000.

His flight was traveling from London to Nairobi, Kenya, for an international mission trip on Dec. 28 when the hijacker entered the cockpit and took over the controls. He had put the plane in a dive mode to crash it, Shaw said.

In a story that was chronicled by the major U.S. television networks, he and fellow Sumterite and close friend Clarke Bynum wrestled the hijacker off the controls and out of the cockpit.

He said the biggest change from his perspective since 9/11 has been locked cockpits.

"With international flights, cockpit doors were not locked when I was on that plane," Shaw said. "But after 9/11, now all commercial flights have locked cockpits. As far as for me and what has changed since then, that would be something that is important.

"On the 747 that I was on, all they had to do was walk in and grab the controls. One of the pilots was asleep, and there was just one pilot in the cockpit at that time. So, now they can't do that."

SELENA RUTH SMITH

Sumter Fire Department Lt. Selena Ruth Smith said, "On Sept. 11, 2001, I felt an overwhelming sense of deep sorrow as the world changed in an instant. Amid the heartbreak, I watched neighbors and strangers pull instantly together, creating a powerful collective grief and unity. However, that tragic day also exposed profound vulnerabilities that arise from deep global divisions and cultural fractures. It made me realize how urgently our world needs greater civility to prevent hatred from dictating how we treat one another. I found myself wishing for a lasting, global commitment to understanding different cultures instead of walls. Decades later, I still hope we can reclaim that spirit of togetherness to foster a more compassionate and unified future."