MILWAUKEE – Sept. 11th, 2001 will be a day forever seared in our collective memories. For many Americans, the memories are far more painful.
“I remember fragments,” Julie Henneberry, of Bay View, told WTMJ’s Wis. Morning News. “I remember being at school. I was in art class. The teacher turned it on the TV. I had no idea what the World Trade Center was.”
Henneberry, who grew up near New York City, was sent home early that day, she recalled.
“I remember seeing my mom’s face and something clicked: Is he hurt?”
Henneberry immediately thought of her father, Lt. Peter Freund, who responded to the World Trade Center that fateful day.
Hours later, Henneberry worst nightmare would come true.
“I remember watching TV and seeing the ticker (at the bottom of the screen) say ‘an estimated 200 firefighters were killed,'” Henneberry said tearfully. “I remember getting sick.”
Henneberry is now married with a 5-year-old son. Becoming a parent was a “sliding glass moment,” she said.
“I want to be able to tell my son how brave his grandpa was.”
Henneberry has conducted research to learn more about the specifics of what happened to her father. She’ll share her story at a Milwaukee Fire Department ceremony Thursday morning and will speak at the Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial and Education Center in Kewaskum at 1pm.
