Leah Clawson Lassinger

Leah Clawson Lassinger of Meridian had flown all over the country and globe for competition as a member of the U.S. Archery Team by the time she was 20 years old in 2001.

When the first leg of the team's United Airlines flight to Beijing, China, for the world championship tournament landed in Chicago, Ill., on Sept. 11 that year, something seemed odd, she said.

The flight information display system screens in the airport were off, the stores in the airport were shuttered and there were long lines of people at the pay phones.

“It seemed very odd. It was just very odd,” Lassinger said.

She said she asked someone in the airport about the unusual goings on and was told that airplanes had been flown into buildings in New York while she was flying from Pittsburgh to Chicago.

“He said, 'Oh my gosh, did you just land?' I said, 'Yeah, I just landed.' He said, 'Oh my God, it's a catastrophe, New York. There are United airplanes flying into buildings,'” Lassinger said. “I couldn't wrap my head around it. We were in the air when the whole thing happened.”

Knowing her parents would be worried about her, she said she borrowed a cell phone from someone, called home and talked to her mother.

“I'll never forget the tone of her voice on the phone. She said, 'Oh my gosh, You're OK,'” Lassinger said. “She was so glad to hear my voice and that I was OK.”

The 16-member team of eight men and eight women team made its way to a hotel in Naperville, Ill., with a plan to proceed with the second leg of the trip to San Francisco, Calif., but Lassinger said she had already decided not to go because she was worried that no flights would allowed to leave China as a result of the attacks.

She recalled her reaction to seeing news reports at the hotel about the terrorist attacks.

“It was just mind-blowing. It was devastating. I couldn't believe this was happening. I was 20. I never saw anything that devastating before,” Lassinger said.

They learned the next day that all flights were canceled, but it took them seven days to find a car to rent to drive back home.

One teammate got dropped off in Michigan, another one got out in Ohio and then it was Lassinger's turn. She said her parents met her at the interchange of Interstate 79 and Interstate 80.

“They just gave me the biggest hug and said, 'Thank God your home,'” she said.

None of the travelers at the airport were allowed to retrieve their luggage due to the attacks. Lassinger said the airline delivered her luggage to her in November.

She said the team was in New York about two months before 9/11.

“It was heartbreaking and devastating, and so hard to wrap your mind around what was happening,” Lassinger said.

A Seneca Valley High School graduate, Lassinger lived with her parents in Evans City at the time.

After 9/11, she retired from archery, went to college, landed a job, got married and started a family.

Her children are too young to understand 9/11, but her husband knows about her ordeal that day.

“When I first told him, he was in shock. It was such a hard day for me, I didn't really talk about it,” Lassinger said.