'It Still Feels Like Yesterday': MA 9-11 Victims Remembered On 25th Anniversary Of Attacks

PEABODY, MA — As Linda LeBlanc looks out the front window of her Peabody home toward a memorial pond adorned with benches, stone plaques and figures, flowers, and dozens of American flags in memory of her sister and her sister's boyfriend, she said one thing strikes her about this year's 25th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on America.

"You ask somebody what they did last week, and they forget," she told Patch. "You ask somebody about 9-11, and they remember exactly where they were that day. They remember everything about it. That's something that never left anyone's memory.

"It's never left mine and it's been 25 years."

While the events of that morning touched every corner of the nation and the world, they touched Linda and her family even more than most. Her 46-year-old sister, Janis Lasden, and her husband, Don DiTullio, both of Peabody, were passengers on American Airlines Flight 11 that left Boston's Logan Airport for Los Angeles at 7:59 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001.

Forty-seven minutes later, that was the first of two planes that struck the World Trade Center between the 93rd and 99th floors of the North Tower.

All 92 passengers and crew of Flight 11 were among the 2,996 people killed during four hijacked plane crashes and the heroic rescue efforts that ensued that day.

"It still feels like yesterday," Linda LeBlanc said. "I can't believe it's been 25 years. It feels like it was just (Sept. 11) last year. It goes by so fast.

"Twenty-five years is a long time. But the feeling doesn't change."

For a quarter-century, she has cared for the memorial at 28 Grandview Avenue that she said was refreshed this year with new flags, mulch, flowers, and frog figures for the 25th anniversary.

"It's basically always the same, but we added to it this year so it looks really good," she said. "We're trying to keep her memory alive after 25 years, so we always do it."

Lucille LeBlanc, Linda's daughter and Janis's niece, was 16 years old on the day of the attacks. She told Patch that her aunt and boyfriend were teaching her how to drive before the crash.

Now, Lucille said she is teaching her own 16-year-old niece how to drive, while also teaching her about the day nearly a full decade before the niece was born that those old enough to remember vowed to "Never forget."

"She is not understanding it so much," Lucille said. "Neither are her friends. She just says that she hopes a 9-11 never happens to me. It's more to be careful what you say because history can happen to you.

"They are a part of it. They just don't realize how much they are until something tragic like this happens. That was the first step I had to go through when I was 16. It's hard."

Lucille designed special T-shirts, including the American flag, an eagle, and country & western boots, to honor the couple's love of country line dancing, which family members said they and neighbors will wear on Friday morning during the uniform Peabody officer march down the street to the city's public safety memorial for a remembrance ceremony.

Linda said this year, for the first time, DiTullio's son is planning to make the six-hour drive from Vermont to see the memorial and for the ceremony.

"My aunt was a very happy person," Lucille said. "So on that day, I am trying to remember her and Don. But for most people it is more about America. I want to celebrate her life, but it's hard because it means something else to most people.

"I just want people to remember my aunt."

The LeBlancs invite those on the North Shore to visit the memorial over the next few days to remember Janis, Don, and all the lives lost of those who woke up that morning to go to work in public safety or aviation, board a plane for a trip, and the Peabody couple that looked forward to their California vacation and their next night out line dancing together.

Peabody's memorial march and ceremony is one of hundreds planned across the state for Friday's 25th anniversary.

The Beverly-based Massachusetts Task Force 1 — one of the first organized search-and-recovery teams to arrive at Ground Zero from out of state following the crash — invites the public to an open house at the memorial and museum on Airport Road in Beverly. The gates will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. that day with a moment of silence at 8:45.

Gov. Maura Healey directed flags across Massachusetts to be lowered to half-staff and called on residents, schools, businesses, and organizations to observe a statewide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., marking the time Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

The State House will also be illuminated red, white and blue on the evenings of Sept. 10 and Sept. 11.

A State House commemoration will include the reading of the names of more than 200 victims with ties to Massachusetts.

"We stand with the families who have carried their memories forward, and honor the first responders and everyday people who showed extraordinary courage in our darkest hours," Healey said. "We also remember how people came together in the face of tragedy — to help their neighbors, support grieving families, and serve their communities.

"Twenty-five years later, we continue to have a responsibility to carry that spirit forward and make sure the next generation knows their stories and understands what this day means."