{"id":460173,"date":"2026-09-11T05:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T05:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460173\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T05:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T05:04:10","slug":"bakersfield-residents-reflect-on-9-11-lessons-25-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460173\/","title":{"rendered":"Bakersfield residents reflect on 9\/11 lessons 25 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, a day that forever changed the nation. <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

Jorge Alesna was 19 years old when he learned that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my dad waking me up telling me that a plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers,\u201d Alesna said. \u201cAnd I actually saw the second plane hit the second tower live, and I didn’t know what to make of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dust<\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

Alesna said the memory of that morning remains with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Former President George W. Bush recently reflected on the attacks at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former President George W. Bush’s remarks on 9\/11. Courtesy: CBS News<\/p>\n

That prompted Eyewitness News to ask Bakersfield residents whether they believe Americans have learned that lesson 25 years later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know what the right answer is,\u201d Alesna said. \u201cI’m assuming they do look at gas prices, right? Things that happen overseas do affect us here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachelle Chaneyneira said it remains unclear whether the country has fully learned from the attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that’s still to be seen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NEW<\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

For Chaneyneira, the anniversary is a reminder not to take peace and safety for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As communities mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Bakersfield residents said the memories of Sept. 11, 2001, remain clear \u2014 along with the questions about what Americans should carry forward from that day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, Bakersfield residents are reflecting on how the day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-460173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}