I was in one of the few high school classes that witnessed the 2nd plane hit live on TV

It's been 25 years, and, like so many of us, I still remember this day like it was yesterday. And today, running the board with Eric Scott for the morning show hit in a new way that it hasn't ever before.

It was 8:46 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, and we had our moment of silence. It was surreal. It was Eric Scotts first year filling in as host for the morning show on 9/11, and my first year engineering it. We both struggled to get through it.

I was still a senior at Brick Township High School on Sept. 11, 2001. We were in Mr. Kennedy's history class when we were about to watch a video. Back then the classrooms had VCR's.

So Mr. Kennedy had the video in hand and turned on the TV. This was around 9 a.m. or so. As the screen came on, we saw the coverage of the first attack.

We were shocked and amazed, and just glued to the TV. How can such an accident happen? It got us talking in the classroom, and we kept the coverage on for a few minutes.

After a bit, Mr. Kennedy resumed to put the video into the VCR. But literally just as he was about to push the video in, we all saw the second plane hit live on TV. It was 9:03 a.m.

Even now, I can still recall all the events that happened from that point on from that day. What's especially unique to our class is that we were a group of high schoolers who actually got to see the second plane hit live on TV. I don't think there's many of us who were in school at that time that got to see it happen in real time.

Our high school eventually forced all the teachers to turn the TV's off. But when I went to vo-tech later that day, they told the teachers to turn the TV's on. And I can only imagine what that had to be like for the teachers and school administers whether or not to allow us to see what was happening.

I still remember the closing announcements that recapped the events that had happened. I remember all the cancellations. I remember how we were told to go home and stay safe. And I remember the smell of metal in the air after leaving school despite blue skies and sunshine.

I have to thank both Eric Scott, and you for sharing your stories and helping me get through this morning. And I hope we were able to do the same for you. You didn't hear me on the show today because we wanted the focus to be on your stories, but I was there.

It's hard to talk about, but it's important that we never forget, 25 years later. Thank you again for sharing your memories on-air with us.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.