HUDSON, MASS. (WHDH) - On the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, a retired United States Air Force Fighter Pilot was recognized at the Massachusetts State House Friday for her heroic efforts on that day.
Major Heather “Lucky” Penny recounted the critical minutes in which she and her commanding officer took off in preparation to intercept the hijackers.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years because in some ways it seems so long ago, and in other ways, it was just yesterday,” Penny said. “When you think about how the world has changed since then.”
Penny said she remembers taking off in her F-16 fighter jet from Andrews Air Force Base in Washington with her Commanding Officer Mark Sasseville. She said there was no time to arm the aircraft, a process that would have taken an hour, meaning they might have had to intercept Flight 93 by ramming it. Ultimately, however, the hijacked airliner crashed in Pennsylvania before they ever reached it.
“My nation called. If God had put me in that moment, then that was my purpose,” Penny said. “Those passengers were the real heroes, because they attacked the terrorist and sacrificed their lives to protect all of us.”
Penny’s efforts were recognized at the State House by retired Air Force National Guard Major General Jonathan Tracy, the man who lead the air defense response from Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod.
“We had to prevent additional aircraft from being used as weapons of mass destruction, and that could have required one or more of them to take down an airliner carrying hundreds of passengers. They fully understood, and no one backed away,” Tracy said.
Now 25 years later, Penny reflected on all of the acts of service, sacrifices, and heroism displayed that day.
“Extraordinary acts were totally ordinary in terms of people sacrificing themselves, helping each other, coming to the aid of each other. We really realized that there’s something special about America, and that we all belong to this,” Penny said.
The F-16 fighter jet Penny flew on 9/11 will be brought to the American Heritage Museum in Hudson once it is decommissioned.
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