By Katie Beauregard
STAFF WRITER
Friday marks the fourteenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when an American Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into the World Trade Center, and 18 minutes later the second Boeing 767- United Airlines Flight 175 hit the second tower.  With a total death toll of 2,977 victims, 343 of which were New York City fire fighters, Sept. 11 marks the largest terrorist attack on the United States soil.  People around the world, country, New Hampshire and UNH are remembering and commemorating this anniversary.
Close to campus, the timely arrival of a 1,100-pound beam from the World Trade Center will be displayed at the Portsmouth Sept. 11 memorial, where an observance ceremony will take place this Friday. Although it is only a temporary placement for now, the city of Portsmouth is working on designs for the beam to find its permanent place as the centerpiece of the memorial.
Moving 6 miles to Durham, students and staff are commemorating and talking about their personal experiences of the date.
“When Sept. 11 happened I was in kindergarten, and that’s pretty much all I remember,” Juandiego Carmona, a sophomore at UNH said.
“I have visited the Sept. 11 memorial, though.  It was impacting to see all of the names written along the edge—that was a ‘wow’ moment,” Carmona said.
Many current students at UNH were still in preschool and elementary school when the attacks happened.
“I was in my third grade classroom,” said Audrey Walker, a super senior at UNH.
“I just remember my teacher crying,” she said.
Walker, who was living in Orlando, Florida at the time, talked about how open her parents were about the attacks, and what she did to help.
“I remember my sister and I baked cookies and went around the neighborhood to try and raise money for support funds,” Walker said.
“We were pretty aware of was going on,” she said.
Douglas Lanier, a professor of English at UNH recalls his thoughts about this day in history.
“My thought is that Sept. 11 showed us the very worst and the very best of humanity.  And it should be remembered for both,” Lanier said.
“I recall the first few days afterward, and America came together in mourning and resolving in a way I’ve only seen once in my lifetime,” he said.
Living in Portsmouth at the time, Lanier did not know anyone who was directly affected by these events, but he did live in the same neighborhood as one of the co-pilots killed on that day.  Lanier said he still remembers the impact of this death on his neighborhood.
While recalling this day, the University of New Hampshire also remembers the late Professor of United Cultural Geography, Robert Leblanc, who taught at this university for 35 years.  Leblanc was a passenger on Flight 175 on Sept. 11th, and is now honored with a memorial bench outside of Murkland Hall.
“I didn’t know Robert, but having him and several students die in this tragedy made the event all the more overwhelming,” Lanier said.
Professor Monica Chiu, who briefly worked with Leblanc in regards to internationalism and the Honors Program, talked about the loss of a professor at UNH and its affect on the campus as a whole.
“Like the nation, we grieve for everybody who lost somebody,” said Chiu.
This Friday, many people around the world will grieve the losses of Sept. 11 and remember the acts of heroism that so many showed on that day.  Many memorials will be held around the state of New Hampshire as well.  The Windham Fire Rescue Department will hold their Sept. 11 Memorial Remembrance Service at 8:30 a.m. at the Windham Fire Rescue Department located at 3 Fellows Road, Windham.  In Hudson, there will be a 9/11 Ceremony at Benson Park, 27 Kimball Hill Road, at 6:30 p.m.  And on Sept. 13th, the Fire Instructors and Officers Association of New Hampshire (FIONH) will be hosting their fifth annual New Hampshire 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb which benefits the National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation; more information can be found on their website.