Mormons and 9/11: Survivors, Rescuers, and Victims

This story originally appeared at LDSLiving.com. The following is an excerpt:

As we observe the 15th anniversary of 9/11, we take a look back through the eyes of LDS Church members who lost loved ones, narrowly escaped death, and helped with relief efforts. We also honor the victims who lost their lives—including five Latter-day Saints.

By all accounts, Tuesday, September 11, 2001, was a beautiful, clear day.

In Boston, Mary Alice Wahlstrom and her daughter, Carolyn Bueg, boarded American Airlines Flight 11 at Logan International Airport. They were on their way to their respective homes in Utah and California, having dropped off Bueg’s 18-year-old twin daughters at the Rhode Island School of Design. But the unthinkable happened when five terrorists hijacked the Boeing 767 and intentionally crashed it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. Wahlstrom and Bueg perished instantly in a fiery explosion, along with 79 fellow passengers, 11 crew members, and hundreds who were on or near the 93rd floor.

Victor Guzman, an attorney who was working on the 85th floor, caught himself as the plane’s impact rocked the building forward. “There was a lot of smoke, and there was debris falling from the ceiling,” he recalls. “We didn’t know what was happening.”

Guzman and another attorney jumped into action, evacuating everyone from their floor and down the stairwells in a single-file line. “I remember saying a silent prayer,” Guzman recalls. “The first few levels were pretty dark. There was smoke and a strange smell, which I later realized was fuel.” Seventeen minutes after the North Tower was struck, United Airlines Flight 175 collided with the South Tower.

Read more at LDSLiving.com.