09/11/2025
My annual 9/11 Remembrance Day post…
It's the strangest thing when somebody tells me that it was my voice that first told them about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. Trying to explain what was going on live on the radio when we actually knew very little and then quickly becoming aware of the importance of our roles during a national crisis was overwhelming. WBNQ turned off the music and commercials and went into 24/7 news and information mode for more than 24 hrs. This was now the job, to inform and be local, and we did it better than a lot of bigger cities could.
My radio building was filled with ultimate professionals who taught the rest of us through their actions how to just "get it done" and freak out later. Nobody was tweeting, or posting information instantly from their phone online, as that kind of technology hadn’t arrived yet. We were the main source for news at that time. We did our best as local broadcasters, which meant trying to answer the questions, calm the crying, and do our best no matter what was to come our way.
Luckily we didn’t face many hardships in central Illinois on 9/11, but we felt the world change. The skies were quiet as all commercial flights stopped, but we saw fighter jets scrambling. The fear that this was day one of a world war was terrifying. At home, the television was now on 24/7 with something never seen before , a bottom of the screen scroll of news information. You could try to sleep, but it was so hard to turn the brain off. Conspiracy theories at the water cooler, questions and suspicions about suddenly missing neighbors during the dog walks, but we had plenty of toilet paper! I can’t remember people hoarding until the Covid lockdown.
Bloomington became my forever home town after the community outdid themselves during the American Red Cross Radio Bloomington Fundraiser in the parking lot of the Bloomington Schnucks. My amazing coworkers put that event together with just a few phone calls and a promise for us all to show up and broadcast in the parking lot all day. Well, it turned into 4 incredible days, with over $1 million dollars total donated. Most was donated of the money came in small amounts of cash and change. Lots of heavy lifting trying to handle the overfilled water bottles that now had thousands of dollars in coins. It was truly unreal.
The best hugs I've ever shared happened that weekend. Americans came together as one in a way I haven’t seen since, and even though I despise the horror that caused it, I will never forget that unified spirit we all shared. I wish we could bring back the September 12th vibes.
Susan Saunders
