Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Steve Aaron was with Tom Ridge on Sept. 11, 2001, when the governor of Pennsylvania toured the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville – and in the hours, days and weeks that followed as Ridge helped the state and the nation respond to the terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

Aaron, the governor’s deputy communications director in 2001, recalled watching Ridge step forward to embrace and inspire a shaken America – meeting with survivors’ families and emergency responders at Shanksville as governor, then becoming the country’s first homeland security director. ×

This page requires Javascript.

Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. kAm{2E6

See Full Page