On September 11, 2001, Deirdre Fitzpatrick wasn’t at home watching the news with the rest of us. She was anchoring it. The KCRA 3 morning anchor was on air when the first plane struck the North Tower, working alongside co-anchor Walt Gray and ad-libbing over a static skycam shot while the information trickled in. Their first read was a small plane crash, possibly a pilot who had suffered a heart attack. At 6:03 a.m., the second plane hit the South Tower live on NBC coverage, and the control room gasped.
Fitzpatrick first wrote her account privately on the 20th anniversary, and she’s now sharing it publicly for the 25th. In it, she remembers turning to Gray and saying,“It’s on. Whatever it is, it’s on.”KCRA 3 stayed with NBC coverage until the following morning and didn’t resume normal newscasts for a week. The people in that studio that day, producer Gretchen Littlejohn, executive producer Kendall Miller, director Mike Baldwin, all lived through it together.
Twenty-five years later, Fitzpatrick and Baldwin still work the same 6 a.m. shift. That’s the part that stays with people: the same hour, the same studio, the same bond formed on the hardest morning. For Sacramento, those anchors were in our living rooms that day, figuring it out alongside us.
Where were you on the morning of September 11th, 2001? Tell us in the comments.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
