BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK/KBFX) — Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, Bakersfield residents are reflecting on how the day changed the country and the lessons they believe Americans should continue to remember.
Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Photo by Robert Giroux/Getty Images)
Jorge Alesna was 19 years old when he learned that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers.
“I remember my dad waking me up telling me that a plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers,” Alesna said. “And I actually saw the second plane hit the second tower live, and I didn’t know what to make of it.”
Dust swirls around south Manhattan after a tower of the World Trade Center collapses September 11, 2001 in New York City after two airplanes slammed into the twin towers in a terrorist attack. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Alesna said the memory of that morning remains with him.
“Even when I see videos nowadays, it sends chills down my spine, because it’s something that happened during my lifetime when I was a younger guy,” he said.
In comments reported by CBS News, Bush questioned whether Americans have fully learned one of the lessons he drew from 9/11: that events overseas can affect national security at home.
Former President George W. Bush’s remarks on 9/11. Courtesy: CBS News
That prompted Eyewitness News to ask Bakersfield residents whether they believe Americans have learned that lesson 25 years later.
“I don’t know what the right answer is,” Alesna said. “I’m assuming they do look at gas prices, right? Things that happen overseas do affect us here.”
Rachelle Chaneyneira said it remains unclear whether the country has fully learned from the attacks.
“I think that’s still to be seen,” she said.
Alesna said people may still pay attention to events around the world, but he believes the fast pace of news and social media can make it difficult to stay focused.
“I think people do, but I think because everything is in real time, especially with social media, people’s attention spans are probably not as expansive as maybe they once were,” he said. “Because you have so much stuff being thrown at you, like online, social media, all that stuff. So it kind of takes your attention from one thing right to the other.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11: Firefighters observe a moment of silence outside of Firehouse, Engine Company 10 and Ladder Company 10, during the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on September 11, 2025 in New York City. Government officials joined family, friends, and first responders as they gathered at Ground Zero honoring the lives of their loved ones on the 24th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)
For Chaneyneira, the anniversary is a reminder not to take peace and safety for granted.
“I think that we should realize that no one is impenetrable and that everyone’s at risk every day and be grateful for the days that we’re at peace,” she said.
As communities mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Bakersfield residents said the memories of Sept. 11, 2001, remain clear — along with the questions about what Americans should carry forward from that day.