Jeanerette native Lionel Ayro was motivated by the 9/11 attacks to join the military. He perished in the line of duty in Mosul, Iraq in 2004. 

Educators and administrators at New Iberia Senior High School and Loreauville High School honored the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks by sharing their memories from that day.

David Broussard, Principal, Loreauville High

I was teaching math at Jeanerette Senior High School. An announcement came over the intercom telling us what was going on. We had channel one TVs at the time so I quickly turned it on. The first tower had been struck already. As we watched, the second tower was struck and i quickly realized what was going on. Needless to say math was no longer the focus. I spent the day discussing the events of the day with my students as we both came to terms with what was going on. At the time you knew it was a big deal but the gravity of the day did not truly set in. As we tried to move past what happened in the following weeks I added an assignment to my math class that pertained to 9/11. The assignment had nothing to do with math but it gave students a chance to put their thoughts on the day and the days that followed on paper. The assignment that I remember the most came from Lionel Ayro. He wrote a poem about 9/11. He later went on to serve in the military where he paid the ultimate price trying to help others

Emanuel Harding, Principal, New Iberia Senior High

I was on an elementary school playground when the world stopped turning on September 11, 2023. A 10-year-old at the time, and a 5th grader at Avery Island Elementary school. We had just come back from recess and our teacher had a blank stare and very dim tone, as she greeted us at the door of the portable building that served as our classroom. She told us that a tragedy had just occurred, and a lot of people were killed from an airplane hitting a skyscraper. It felt like almost immediately that parents begin to check out their students out of fear, but I rode the bus home. Our bus driver Mr. Jasper had the radio silent, in an attempt to shelter what we heard. That night we had an family meeting and my step father assured us we would be safe, but this was my very first feeling of true fear. The response from our Nation was overwhelming, and I never felt more like a brother to my neighbors, friends, and classmates than on September 12th.

Sarah Badeaux Landry, Loreauville High

I remember clearly where I was the day of 9/11, especially when news of the attacks just broke. I was driving down University Ave. in Lafayette on my way to class at ULL. I was a very new freshman, the semester had just started and I was still learning how to navigate campus, so I was barely paying attention to the radio. The voice of the radio announcer caught my attention as he was describing the first attack on the Towers with confusion and fear in his voice. I didn’t really understand the gravity of what was happening until I walked into the Quad and it was so quiet. There were lots of people there, but there was a hushed tone – much like at a funeral. One friend tried to make the joke that we would probably get out of class that day, but the punch line was interrupted by a rise in the volume of the crowd – the second tower had been hit. Many of us decided to leave on our own because we didn’t know if we were safe, there was no indication of whether this was happening anywhere else. The rest of the day was spent with my eyes glued to the tv watching images none of us will forget.

Victoria Courville, New Iberia Senior High

I was standing in a new hire orientation for a Wal-Mart opening in the small town of Cornth, Tx, near where I had just graduated high school. I knew I was meant to do more, and that better things were out there than where I was, but I didn’t quite know yet what that was. The events of that day gave me the direction I was looking for was the sole motivation in my decision to join the Army and serve my country. A year later, to the day, I was sworn in as a Chemical Operations Specialist in the US Army where I served for one term of enlistment. By far it was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. Never forget.

Monica Hymel, Loreauville High

I vividly remember exactly where I was when I heard of the first plane hitting the twin towers. I was sitting in the auditorium at Wharton Hall at UL waiting for class to start. I was an older returning student so I wasn’t paying much attention to the other students around me until I heard a voice repeating, ” Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!” The look of horror mixed with disbelief on this young woman’s face is still so clear to me. Around the same time, more and more people were getting the news about the crash. Then even more horrifying was the next 5 minutes when we learned a 2nd plane had hit the second tower. By this point, everyone in that auditorium knew it wasn’t an accident but instead a deliberate act of terrorism. The professor came in and just stood at the podium, and then he started crying. All he said was, “Go home, go home and hug your family.” I did, I went straight home and held on to my children and watched the same scene over and over again on every news channel. I wondered to myself, did they know? Did everyone in that second plane know they were going to die? The images from that day and the following days will never leave me.

Leah Pesson, New Iberia Senior High

I remember like it was yesterday. I had just dropped my two oldest kids off at Live Oak Elementary. I came home with my two year old son, turned on the tv and was prepping to do house work. The news was broadcasting the first tower billowing with smoke and was reporting it had to have been some kind of accident. They had very little information. I called my good friend down the street to tell her to turn on the news. I was on the phone with her as we prayed for the people in the tower when the second plane flew into the other tower. It took me a moment to grasp that it was intentional. We both cried out in horror and began to weep at what we had witnessed on live television . I immediately hung up and went to pick my kids up from school. When we returned home, the news stayed on all day as we were trying to decide how to proceed. As I was alone out here, except for my children, my parents urged me to consider driving back to California. It was such a scary humbling experience that I will never forget.

Megan Broussard, Loreauville High

I was in eighth grade when the September 11th attacks occurred. I was sitting in Mrs. Alexander’s English class when it was announced over the intercom for teachers to turn on their classroom televisions. It was unusual because it was in the morning and we would normally watch a school-wide news program called “Channel 1” everyday around 1pm. The most prominent memory of what I saw on the TV was the large plume of smoke coming from the first tower. I don’t remember if we watched long enough to witness the second plane or the buildings coming down, but I do remember being very interested in the aftermath and the news coverage in the days that followed. I visited the memorial pools at ground zero in 2019 while on vacation in NYC. Despite New York being one of the largest and loudest cities, the waterfalls drown out the noise incredibly well; it’s as though ground zero resides in its own bubble universe within the city.

Jeanne Stiles New Iberia Senior High

I was 18 years old and driving to work at Red Lerille’s Health Club in Lafayette. I was not listening to the radio so when I got to work, everyone was crying and freaking out so it was really a moment I will never forget. So much changed from that point on as I was a sophomore at UL Lafayette. Security was heightened, people didn’t trust anyone, yet the entire country come together as one! Never Forget!

Allister Viator-Martin, Loreauville High

Shortly after the planes hit, I remember exactly where I was. I was on the 5th floor of Acadian Hall at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. My room faced I-10, and I could barely see the Mississippi River Bridge in the distance twinkling at night if I squinted my eyes hard enough.

I had just woken up for my early class and was on my way to the shower when another girl approached me and told me what had happened. In my innocence, I didn’t believe her, telling her that it was a spoof show like Mad TV or Saturday Night Live. She eventually convinced me to see the news coverage with my own eyes. As I walked into her room, I was hit with a wave of shock and horror. How could I believe that my brave and free country could be under attack like this? I carried on my day as usual and headed to my classes, where I was met with “Class Canceled” signs one after the other. After I checked all of my professor’s classrooms, I decided to head back to the dorm and call my parents. I had a cell phone, but it was turned off when not in use and was to be used for emergencies only. With heavy hearts, my parents told me to stay put. It was my last semester of classes before I started my Student Teaching, and I couldn’t come home just because I was terrified. My father explained that if Baton Rouge became unsafe, that I should attempt to take Hwy 180 if I thought I could cross the bridge safely. If, for example, all of the chemical plants were getting bombed in that direction, and the bridge wasn’t an option, then I should head towards my brother’s friend’s home in the opposite direction and more on the outskirts of Baton Rouge. If that wasn’t an option, I should wait for my daddy or my brother’s friend to come retrieve me. I always kept a Louisiana map in my car, so my dad explained the different routes for me to mark on the map. I felt a little better with this knowledge, but I also had to keep my blinds open so that I could see any incoming threats.

I remember that there was a somberness to that day like I had never experienced. I remember huge, black war helicopters flying over the LSU campus. There seemed so many, and they seemed to be flying so low. I felt like I was in a war zone and was constantly in a state of anxiety from that day forward. I slept with my blinds open for months; I can still remember the orange glow the city cast into my dorm room. I just thanked God over and over that I wasn’t in a room of children when it happened. Even though I was adult, I don’t think I could have explained this or calmed children because I felt like a small, scared child myself.

Brittni Duhon, New Iberia Senior High

I was in 6th grade at Daspit Elementary at the time. About mid-morning, I remember my teacher, Mrs. Joy Hudson, telling our class that something terrible was happening in New York. When I got home from school that afternoon, my mom and I watched the news in shock. Every major news channel kept replaying the footage of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. I also remember a surge in American flags hanging outside of people’s homes immediately following the tragedy.

Kelly Thompson, New Iberia Senior High

I’ve visited the 9/11 Memorial & Museum twice and it never fails to humble me. I recently turned 44, and I still bracket off life events and happenings as both “before 9/11” and “after 9/11.” I didn’t truly understand, in the moment, how much of an impact that one day would have on all of us, and just how far it still trickles down to our daily lives today with all of the heightened security.

Deborah Locke, New Iberia Senior High

I remember every detail as if it were yesterday. I was home alone and had the TV on “for noise” as I went about my day. A breaking news bulletin caught my attention describing how a passenger jet had crashed into one of the World Trade Towers. Reporters were speculating on how an accident like this could happen on such a clear, sunny day. I stopped what I was doing to watch the newscast as theories like equipment malfunctions, or one of the pilots became suddenly incapacitated, or any other stretch of the imagination. Terrorism was not conceived of.

As I continued to watch the live coverage, reports of evacuation challenges and firefighters climbing all those stairs were interrupted by the second plane crashing into the other building. Immediately we knew this was no accident; we were under attack on our own soil. I phoned my husband to tell him to turn on the news and to say “I think we’re at war!”

I continued to watch the coverage as tears came to my eyes. Thinking and praying about all those people on the floors affected. While I was wondering how the floors above the crash would be evacuated, I watched in horror as the first tower fell. I stopped breathing and began to cry – hard. I sobbed at the thought of the hundreds of people that just lost their lives on live television. Hundreds of people turned into thousands when the second tower fell.

Reports were coming in about a third plane crashing into the Pentagon and then eventually about United Flight #93 crashing in Pennsylvania. My emotions quickly turned to anger as more and more details were discovered. I was sickened at the footage of people in far-away lands celebrating the event.

Each year since, I pray and still feel the shock, sadness and anger. I wear my American Flag pin and hope that someone asks me why.

Kenel Williams, New Iberia Senior High

Well I was 32 at the time. I remember arriving at NISH on the morning and I remember how still the school was. I did not know what was going on till I got to the classroom to see the news of the incident. I remember when I got back home my mom told me of two other incidents when the earth felt this way. One was the shooting of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and president John F Kennedy. It was definitely a WOW FACTOR!!!!

Linda Graham, New Iberia Senior High

I was teaching 8th grade at that time. I remember the news started filtering in and spreading through the faculty. We were in shock and disbelieving that this could be true. I was teaching across the hall from my brother, so it was comforting having him there and being able to talk with him.

It was confirmed for us when the administration put Channel 1 News on for us. We and the students were able to see first hand what was happening. We dealt with student fears and anxieties, as well as our own. I will never forget that day.

Brad Clark, New Iberia Senior High

I was coming back into the Guidance Department from an on campus meeting and Mr. Luke Lucas, who was a counselor at NISH at the time and a Vietnam Veteran told me what had happened. I was having a hard time comprehending what he was telling me because I couldn’t imagine anything like that happening. Our department was in absolute shock. Given his military background, Mr. Lucas was a blessing to have with us that day for support. Social media wasn’t as readily available at the time so we watched some of the coverage on a TV in the library. After seeing the footage, my thoughts and prayers went out to everyone involved. I also remember that evening sitting around the TV with family members watching the President’s address. It was a very sad day.