This week marks the 20th Anniversary of the infamous 9/11 terrorist attacks on our nation. It was a day in your life where you remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard of the attacks on the New York World Trade Center and Pentagon. It changed our world.

Like most people, I thought the first plane that flew into the towering Trade Center, was an accident. However, when the second plane hit you knew it was not pilot error. It was traumatic and terrifying. I asked several of our state leaders their memories of that fateful day. Allow me to share some of their experiences.

Today, only two members of our current congressional delegation were in Congress at the time: Senator Richard Shelby and Congressman Robert Aderholt. Our senior senator, Richard Shelby, was actually chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. He was immediately briefed by the CIA, however, amazingly, he was not placed in a protective bunker. He quietly sat in his office with his staff and watched the day unfold on television.

Congressman Robert Aderholt, who was a brand new 33-year old congressman recalls he and his wife, Caroline, were taking their daughter to her first day of school while all the 9/11 events were unfolding. That daughter, Mary Elliott, is now a senior at Auburn.

PSC President Twinkle Cavanaugh had just left Washington and was back home in Alabama getting ready for a conference call. The call was cancelled, and she sat in shock all day.