This feature appeared in the September 9, 2026 edition of the Star Valley Independent.
Perhaps one way to look at the events of September 11, 2001 and how they impacted the world could be examined even on the local pages of the Star Valley Independent. In the September 6, 2001 edition of the paper, there’s a picture of a combine harvesting a crop while the sunshine backlights a scenic area of the valley. A story about the Wyoming Business Council meeting in Alpine and another about a change in the local school bus schedule are also on the front page. A week later, the front page was awash with half-staff American flags and the Thayne and Afton Fire Departments stopping drivers for donations with all of their trucks parked outside their stations in a show of solidarity for an attack that happened more than 3,000 miles away. But it didn’t feel like it was that far. It felt personal. And it still does.
More than $5,000 was raised by local efforts and as we know now, the loss of life for first responders was staggering and only got bigger with time. Thayne Fire Chief Jay Hokanson was on the street gathering donations 25 years ago and he and other firefighters felt the loss of life.
“I can’t believe it’s been that long, it seems like yesterday,” Hokanson remarked. It’s kind of like Kennedy getting shot; you remember what you were doing. I was doing some cattle with Byron Titensor and my wife had it on the TV and one tower was hit and then the other one hit and we knew it was an attack. My first thought was the firemen rushing in. We never thought the tower would fall.When those started falling that’s when it really hit home. It was a wake up call for all fire services.”
Hokanson remembers residents wanting to do something. Anything. So they began donating and bringing gifts to their own area fire stations. “We had the public bringing us gifts and we want to help those that were there. They talk about the 343 firefighters who were killed. But there were 2,000+ killed. The firefighters have a choice. They ran in because of the choices they made, the mothers and the dads and kids didn’t have a choice. So that was hard on us.”
Among the thousands of dollars donated, one still sticks out to Hokanson a quarter century later.
“We had little kids who were saving up to go to Disneyland and he put his savings in the boot because he was so heartbroken,” he said. We gave it to NYFD Lt Joseph Gullickson who was on Ladder [Company] 101. His widow, her father flew up from Florida to console her. There was another crash after 9/11 and he was killed on that crash. What an awful set of things she had to go through. We were glad we were able to help.”
As time passed, many more died after their exposure to the toxic environment of the cleanup.
“I’ve had friends who got to go and help clean up and people are still dying from cancer because of the debris of ground zero,” Hokanson remarked. “People are still affected from that to this day. Its still affecting the fire service in New York. We said we’d never forget but [COVID-19] seems to have made us ornery. People thanked them through us and I think people just wanted to reach out to their local fire department in hopes it made a difference.”
• “That is one beautiful airplane” –
For Bill Axford, SVHS Class of 1995, he had his dream job. He still does. Now over 25 years of flying for American Airlines and regularly on a 777 aircraft. On 9/11 he had been in the air for approximately nine months and had experiences he will never forget.
“It was quite a crazy day,” he told SVI. “I was Boston-based as a brand new pilot at 24 years old. I was just happy to have a job. I started off my morning at 7:45 to go to Burlington, Vermont. I was driving a Saab 340 turboprop. Which was a pretty popular regional plane back in the day.”
As Axford taxied to the runway at 7:48, he was told “Eagle Flight, taxi down the alley and give way to American Airlines 767.” The American jet moved past Axford who said he was forced to remark on it’s beauty.
“American Airlines had a silver polish paint job and the sun was just shining on this polished silver 767,” he explained. “I said that is one beautiful airplane. It was just gleaming. So it passed from left to right. That airplane took off on Runway 9 heading east. We realized later that this plane was Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center that morning. That was pretty dramatic. We found that out a couple days later.”
Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m., just 58 minutes later, where it collided with floors 93-99, killing a total of 92 people. 76 passengers, 11 crew members and five hijackers.
Axford wrote down notes of the day’s experience which he shared with SVI and it detailed a fog of information that will be familiar to those who experienced the day.
“After we are flying I heard something I’d never heard and hope I never do again,” Axford related. “Boston Center. All U.S. airspace is closed. You must land the plane in 15 minutes or you will be escorted via fighter jet.”
Axford asked his captain if it was a potential bomb threat, to which he replied no, this affected all flights.
“I gave my intentions and was told I would have a jet on my wing tip,” he continued. “We approached and they said what they thought was going on. They said they thought a small plane hit the World Trade Center.”
As non-pilots who may have entertained the idea of a simple accident, Axford as a pilot knew better immediately.
“With that visibility that day, there was no way that was an accident,” he remembered. “We thought it was one of our small regional jets when we landed. There was lots of confusion, nobody really knew what was going on.”
They were met by police at the terminal and passengers were not allowed to collect their luggage and they were all asked to leave.
“I tried calling my wife and she was in Plymouth Mass. back in the day the calls wouldn’t go through because the circuits were all full,” he continued. “I passed an empty sports bar and I witnessed live on that TV the plane hit the second tower. Me and the captain couldn’t believe what we were seeing.”
That second plane, Flight 175, took off right behind Axford on that day. A total of 65 people died on that plane which hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.
“Flight 175 took off right behind us out of Boston; we couldn’t believe our eyes,” he remarked. “We knew we were under attack. We made our way to the hotel because we weren’t going anywhere for awhile. I turned on the TV and as soon as I did, the initial reports were there was a bomb at the Pentagon. After an hour or so the reports had a video of an American 757 hit the Pentagon. There was just so much confusion.”
The world changed and the aviation industry was at the forefront of those changes especially as it pertains to security.
“There was no TSA, it was a contract thing,” Axford explained. “Pre 9/11 you could bring a pocket knife and box cutters onto airplanes. Things you would never try and do now. Afterwards people were very curious that I fly for a living. Honestly it’s probably the safest point in aviation with some of the changes. A better level of security.”
Axford also commented on the various conspiracy theories that grew out of the day.
“When I hear conspiracy stuff, I say I lived that day we knew many families who lost family members,” he replied. This paralyzed the whole country and especially the east coast. The old saying was ‘never forget,’ and every year the coverage gets less and less. Over the years it may not be as impactful but we can never forget. As pilots we have to have the attitude that 9/11 happened yesterday. We don’t forget. A lot of people lost a lot of family that day. For generations they will remember.”
