Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On September 11, 2001, at least eight Iowans died during the combined al Qaeda attacks on the United States. Iowans perished at the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and while aboard hijacked airplanes.
At the Twin Towers in New York, Jim Cleere (Newton), Michael Tinley (Council Bluffs), and Timothy Haviland (Ames) all worked at the World Trade Center at the time of the attack. After the plans struck the tower, Jim Cleere left two voicemails for his wife Jean in Newton. Tinley and Haviland both worked for software developer March & McLennan, where American Airlines Flight 11 struck One World Trade Center.
At the Pentagon, SPC Craig Scott Amundson (Cedar Rapids/Anamosa/University of Iowa) and Lieutenant Colonel Gary F. Smith (Council Bluffs) died in the attack on Washington D.C. Smith, a Vietnam Veteran, served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Administration, and Logistics before retiring in 1991. At the Pentagon for a meeting when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building, Smith perished.
Aboard AA Flight 77, Karen Kincade (Waverly/Central College/Drake), Mari-Rae Sopper (Ames/Iowa State) Sandra Teague (Des Moines/ DMU) all died in the attack on the Pentagon. The flight, initially headed to California before the hijacking, carried the three women for different reasons. Sopper, a former Iowa State gymnast, boarded to head west to coach at UC-Santa Barbara. Kincaide, a senior attorney, traveled for business. Teague celebratorily boarded for the first flight on a trip to Australia. All three perished when the plane struck the Pentagon. #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryCalendar
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