AP journalists recall 9/11 trauma as memory concerns surface 25 years on

On September 11, 2001, AP reporter Karen Matthews heard a boom in her Manhattan apartment, rushed outside with her daughter, and began recording eyewitness accounts as the North Tower was hit. Photographer Richard Drew, originally covering Fashion Week, captured the collapsing towers and the haunting “Falling Man” image, later wrestling with its legacy. Reporter Larry Neumeister arrived at a nearby hospital to find empty wheelchairs and realized the death toll would far exceed expectations, while photographer Amy Sancetta, on a day off after covering the U.S. Open, described the South Tower’s fall as a white, snow‑like landscape. A personal reflection piece now warns that knowledge of the attacks is fading among students, attributing the gap to “woke” curricula and to left‑leaning politicians, raising worries about how future generations will understand the event.