Potomac Residents Remember 9/11

Vivid memories of Sept. 11, 2001, will never escape the thoughts of many Americans, and some Potomac residents will make special plans to remember the day nine years later.

Marco A., an employee at Strosniders Hardware in Potomac, is visiting the World Trade Center site in New York City today. The day has added significance to Marco — a serviceman who was deployed to Iraq from 2001 until 2002, shortly after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

"I remember everything about the day. I was watching the news when it happened, and I can never forget those images," said Marco, a Bethesda resident. "I was ordered to go to Iraq, but everyone was ready to go there and support our country. There was a feeling of unity."

Katharina Karnahl was not an American citizen in 2001, but remembers horrifying details from watching the events unfold on the Internet and television. Karnahl, who moved to Potomac two years ago, lived in Germany at the time. She does not have any special plans for Sept. 11.

"You didn't have to be American to be shocked by what was going on," Karnahl said. "In a way, I feel like it brought everything closer to America."

Sitting in traffic outside of Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, Stephanie Bellistri remembers thinking about the repercussions of the tragedy: She didn't want her kids to grow up in a country fearful of attack, she said. Bellistri, a Potomac resident who shares the same birthday as the tragedy, will reflect on the significance of the day.

"People need to take the day to look past the controversy and remember what the day is about," Belistri said.

Potomac will not have a formal event to remember the events of Sept. 11, but there are other events in the county to honor the 11 Montgomery County citizens who lost their lives on Sept. 11.

Montgomery County residents should remember the area's members of the Armed Forces and fly the American flag over the weekend, said Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett in a statement he released Friday.