Charleston mayor recalls son’s first ultra sound was same time as 9/11 attacks

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sept. 11, 2001 will forever be etched in the mind of Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin who saw a photo of her baby boy for the first time moments after she received an emergency call that a plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City.

Amy Shuler Goodwin was pregnant with her son Joseph in 2001. Credit: Charleston Mayor’s Office

“I was pregnant with my first son, Joseph,” Goodwin said. “I had my first ultra sound scheduled for that morning. The nurse comes in and says you have a call from your office.”

Goodwin was serving as communications director for then-Governor Bob Wise. As she was leaving her doctor’s appointment, her pager read ‘911’, so she got dressed and headed back to the state Capitol.

“I remember sitting in the parking lot looking at Joseph, the very first picture we have of him, and it said Sept. 11, 2001 at 9:03 a.m.,” Goodwin said, the same time the hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower.

“That picture still sits on his bedroom dresser as a reminder of that day,” she said.

Governor Wise was attending a conference for southern governors in Frankfort, Ky. that morning when he watched the towers fall on his television.

“I immediately jumped in a State Police car and we began racing back to Charleston,” Wise told MetroNews.

Wise said his top priority was to identify potential targets that could threaten West Virginia.

“We began positioning police, National Guard and others. For instance, at the chemical facilities, Charleston and other areas have a large amount of rail lines that cross through,” he said.

Gov. Bob Wise held a news conference at the state Capitol in Charleston on Sept. 11, 2001. Credit: WV State Archives

The decision was made to evacuate nearly 4,000 employees from the state Capitol after receiving word that a suspicious plane had been circling the Elkins area. It was later determined to be a military aircraft.

“I remember trying to rationalize it,” Goodwin recalled. “Was it a mechanical error? Where is the closet airport for that flight pattern? You run through these scenarios in your head. It’s a sickening feeling and I think we all had that.”

Without the popular use of cell phones, state workers had to carry equipment to their vehicles in hurry.

“We literally unplugged printers and fax machines and were dragging them to our cars,” Goodwin said. “It was a chaotic day. It was so scary. Even though New York is a long way away, you just felt so close.”

Wise held a news conference on the state Capitol grounds that day to alert the media of what they knew so far as fear mounted about separate plane crashes in nearby Shanksville, Pa. and at the Pentagon.

Being in Congress as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for years before that had helped Wise respond to an emergency of that magnitude at the state level.

“I knew what federal response would be like and I knew where to go to get information,” he said. “All units of government were under attack that day.”

MetroNews News Director Jeff Jenkins (right) interviews Gov. Bob Wise on Sept. 11, 2001. Credit: WV State Archives

Meanwhile, every plane was grounded nationwide, including Charleston’s Yeager Airport. Mostly everyone stayed off the roads.

“People weren’t out eating or shopping. For a period in time, it almost froze,” Goodwin said.

Wise said no body knew what to expect next. “Was there more coming?” he asked himself at the time.

On this 20th anniversary, Goodwin said she still has “monumental grief” for the families of the nearly 3,000 people who died on a day that said “shattered America to a million pieces.”

The feelings of fear and anxiety still remain among Americans two decades later, Goodwin said, but in a different way because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

“I think this period in time and over the past year, a lot of folks have those same emotions. We are separated from one another. We’re angry, anxious and sad,” she said.

Her son, Joseph, will be 20 years old this March. Goodwin hopes Joseph, her younger son Sam and future generations can learn how the country came together in unity that day.

“I hope for my child, who was born in that time, and for other children, that we can always find common ground with another. It holds true to what we’re going through right now,” she said. “I hope they always have empathy and sympathy for other people.”





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