In Scranton, echoes of September 11 resonate through memories and education, as locals recall personal connections to the tragedy and its enduring impact.
SCRANTON, Pa. — On this sunny September day in Scranton, remembering the bingo numbers was top of mind at the West Side Senior Center.
But 25 years ago, most of these folks were in their working days. And remember exactly when they heard the news on September 11th, 2001.
“I can absolutely remember where I was. I was on North Washington Avenue, the 100 block,” said Joanne Kahee, Scranton.
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“It’s unreal that it was that long ago because I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Mary Jule Kapacs, scranton.
Mary Jule Kapacs remembers something hard to fathom: in 2026, she couldn’t reach her cousin, who was working as a pilot. “My cousin Ray was a pilot for Eastern Airlines, and his wife was a pilot for Eastern as well, and they both flew out of Newark. And they both flew for that airline; I think it was Eastern Airlines. Not only that, his brother worked in the Pentagon. So, my poor Auntie Ann was a wreck because a couple of her kids she didn’t know if they were flying that particular flight,” she said.
News moved more slowly back then; we’d eventually learn of the local impact of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
“That day I was at work, my wife called me, she said, ‘Do you know that this is happening?’ And being a loan officer, no, you’re with customers most of the time. So, when you heard that, everybody’s running toward the TV; everybody’s thinking, ‘Who do we know that could be on those planes?’ A week later, I find out that one of my best friends from the hunting camp; his daughter was on one of the planes that hit the Twin Towers,” said Robert Karoscik, Dickson City.
That was Laura Defazio of Clarks Summit. 25 years later, her loss still stings in her home county.
“My wife and I later went to the monument just searching for Laura’s name. It just brings back too many memories,” said Karoscik.
Another memorial hangs inside a chapel at the University of Scranton, a place where the majority of students can’t possibly remember the deadliest attack on U.S. soil.
“2007 I was born, so,” said Cadence Moore.
The memories here are mostly from the classroom.
“There were assignments where we needed to ask our parents, and it was kind of sad, learning about what they went through,” said Aaron Blasi, Tunkhannock.
“I’ve learned about it multiple times throughout school, and my parents are both teachers, so they experienced that while they were teaching a class, so they’ve had lots of talks with me about what their experiences were with it,” said Moore.
But Dr. Teresa Grettano serves as a firsthand historical source. “My cousin was a firefighter who died at Ground Zero; my brother-in-law was a firefighter,” she said.
The native New Yorker teaches one of several courses offered this semester at the University of Scranton, teaching the history of 9/11.
“And every year the course grows this way; we have more history and more events that happened as a result of 9/11 and its aftermath,” said Dr. Grettano.
A curriculum that becomes more crucial the more time passes because, whether we remember it or not, we all live in a post-9/11 world.
“We are still living in the effects of September 11th, so much of our daily life is shaped the way that it is as a response to September 11th, whether we realize it or not,” said Grettano.