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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News AP Entertainment Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Holiday Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend September 10, 2006 The twin towers of the World Trade Center burn behind the Empire State Building in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. (Associated Press) 9/11/01: Five years later At home or abroad: They remember the day that changed our world By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Many Rogue Valley residents will forever remember the moment on Sept. 11, 2001, when they heard planes hijacked by terrorists had toppled the World Trade Center towers in New York City, slammed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and crashed into a Pennsylvania field, the latter's mission thwarted by heroic passengers and crew. Most were home, staring at their televisions, frozen in disbelief. Others were abroad, comforted by strangers who mourned with America. Medford resident Steven Dodd, a master sergeant with the U.S. Air Force, found himself in a sea of chaos at the Pentagon, where he nearly lost his life. "I was about 100 feet from the aircraft entry point," Dodd, 36, wrote in an e-mail to family members about a week after the attacks. He decided to share it with the Mail Tribune on the eve of Sept. 11's fifth anniversary. Advertisement "I remember the compression of the blast as it knocked me to the floor. The glass breaking around me as the walls came tumbling down. Suddenly there was the skyline filled with smoke. The voices of screaming victims as I watched in horror as they jumped from the third and fourth floors." Dodd is now stationed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. At the time of the terrorist attacks, he was undergoing two weeks of training at the Pentagon to become a general's aide, he said. Dodd wrote that when he heard the Manhattan towers had been hit, he said something to a coworker that would haunt him the rest of his life. "I can't believe they hit the World Trade Center," he said then. "You'd think they would hit the Pentagon." After saying those words, and after the Pentagon's glass doors closed behind him, compression from a blast slammed him to the floor. A Boeing 757 hijacked by terrorists had plowed into the Pentagon, killing 184 people. "Just as that last word left my lips the room exploded in a ball of fire," he wrote. Family members say the South Medford High School graduate hasn't discussed many details of what happened at the Pentagon that day. "When he's around, he doesn't talk much about it. He's very private," said Russel Dodd, his father. Because Steven Dodd had been stationed in Guam before being sent to the Pentagon, his father didn't even know he was in danger — at first. The 55-year-old Medford resident said it was about four hours after the Pentagon was hit that he realized his son's whereabouts. "It was kind of nerve-racking for a while," said Russel Dodd, who works for Batzer Construction. He said he received a call from his son later that day and was relieved to learn he was all right. Steven's mother, Susan, said he's recounted parts of his experience to her over the years and was particularly upset right after Sept. 11. Steven Dodd still doesn't feel comfortable describing everything he saw that day, but he recalled victims screaming, the walls crumbling around him, the smell of jet fuel, and a feeling of chaos as 23,000 people tried to evacuate the building. As he left the Pentagon, the aircraft fuselage exploded, sending people scattering, Dodd wrote in the e-mail. Up to 10 helicopters began circling, and people were warned to take cover because fighter jets were ordered to shoot down any incoming aircraft. "The roads were full of people in disbelief," he wrote. "I was unable to call anyone to let them know I was OK." Dodd was called back to the Pentagon at 2 a.m. to help prepare meals for generals and 500 rescue workers who toiled through the night. "While we worked there through the day, the Pentagon was still on fire," he wrote. Dodd received a commendation medal from the Air Force for his efforts on Sept. 11. In the morning, he saw row upon row of bodies lined up in the courtyard. He kept thinking that each person could be someone's mother, father, sister, brother or friend, he wrote. "I look back now and think how close I really came to dying that day," he wrote. "Forty-five seconds longer and I would have been in the exact area that the plane had hit." Finding comfort abroad On Sept. 11, 2001, Jane and Mack Gossett arrived in Paris, relaxing in their hotel room with a glass of wine while playing a game of gin rummy. The Medford couple went out for a stroll when another American told them their country had been attacked. While they don't agree with the French government's response to the attacks, the Gossetts said they were overwhelmed by the warmth of the French people. "We received enormous sympathy from complete strangers," said Jane Gossett, 72. "If we walked into a shop, as soon as they heard our voices they put arms around us." Mack Gossett, 80, in an e-mail to the Mail Tribune, stated, "I think one of the things that we remember best is the number of French people that put their arms around us, cried with us, and commiserated with us, saying how sad and horrible a disaster it was." Still with grown children back home, Jane Gossett said they felt like cutting their vacation short. "Your initial reaction after that is, 'I want to go home,'" she said. But the flights were canceled. After talking it over with their children, the Gossetts remained in France, visiting a little known winery in the Champagne region. The champagne to their surprise was called "Gosset," near the famous Dom Perignon cellars. The Gossetts have many friends in other countries, some of whom have very strong opinions about the U.S. reaction to the attacks. Jane Gossett said she and her husband try to stay clear of politics when they are traveling, finding that most people in other countries are friendly. "Frankly, I wish the world could get together and leave the politicians out of it," she said. The Gossetts, who have travelled often to Europe, will be leaving Medford on Monday for a flight to Paris — five years to the day when the terrorists attacked the U.S. Close call When Ashland resident David Bjurstrom turned on the television to hear more about the Sept. 11 attacks five years ago, he felt a sinking feeling. "My partner and I had been there on vacation, and we remembered seeing the tops of the towers," he said. Bjurstrom, 47, and his partner, Bill Bloodgood, 55, had left New York on Sept. 9, taking a late flight from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco. They arrived at the airport early enough that a United agent offered to put them on Flight 93. Two days later, passengers on Flight 93 fought back hijackers and the plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. "It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it," said Bjurstrom, who owns an art gallery in Ashland. He remembers talking to a flight attendant about how eerily empty the flight was. "I've often wondered, and have never been able to determine, if that flight attendant we spoke with might have been on the same flight on Sept. 11," he stated in an e-mail sent to the Mail Tribune. Bjurstrom remembers hearing reports that the terrorists had scouted the airlines looking for flights with the least number of passengers. Bjurstrom and Bloodgood, a scenic designer for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, visited family in the New York area and remembered walking around the base of the towers. "Our brush with fate was more than close enough," Bjurstrom said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or [email protected] . Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2007 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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