MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) – For decades, viewers across the region welcomed Curt Crandall into their living rooms. After beginning his career at KEYC in the 1960s, Crandall retired in 2001.<\/p>\n
Shortly after stepping away from the anchor desk, Crandall and his wife, Helen, traveled to New York City. They arrived just ahead of Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five years later, Crandall looked back on the morning that altered American history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, first of all, I partially grew up in New York City, so I knew it very well,\u201d Crandall said. \u201cAnd we were going downtown, which there is called Uptown, and we were going to go see some plays, Broadway plays, and we came out. We saw the people looking up at the big screen they have there, and we looked and saw one of the towers was burning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decades of journalistic instincts immediately kicked in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought, \u2018Oh, my goodness. Here I was a newsman for all those years at KEYC. We\u2019ve got to go down there and get a story,\u2019\u201d Crandall said. \u201cBut at that moment, then we saw another plane, and I said, \u2018What\u2019s that plane flying so low for?\u2019 And we saw that second plane ram into the other building and saw it collapse, and we decided we weren\u2019t going down there then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead of heading toward the disaster, the couple walked to St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral to pray for the victims, first responders, and everyone caught in the attacks.<\/p>\n
With air travel grounded nationwide, their return trip was delayed by three days. During that time, the couple attended an interfaith memorial service for the victims where then-President George W. Bush was in attendance. <\/p>\n
In the 25 years since the attacks, the Crandall\u2019s have returned to New York City multiple times to visit Ground Zero and the 9\/11 Memorial.<\/p>\n