Twenty-five years ago, students at White Knoll Middle School in West Columbia raised more than $500,000 dollars for firefighters after the 9/11 attacks. On Sept. 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists in a coordinated attack. Two of those planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City's Manhattan borough. A third plane, flew into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington, Va. A fourth plane flying towards the nation's capital, ultimately crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers and crew members counterattacked their hijackers.
That day, nearly 3,000 people were killed in an attack the FBI says "were the most lethal terrorist attacks in [U.S.] history." The toxic dust that covered the city after the attacks had adverse effects first responders, survivors, and residents are still reeling with today in the form of severe illnesses that, in some cases, have led to more deaths.
Dr. Nancy Turner, the Principal of White Knoll Middle School, came over the intercom to notify students and staff of the attacks. Post the attacks, administrative staff and students came together to support first responders. Collectively, White Knoll would fundraise to purchase a new firetruck for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).
One of those students, was J.P. McManus; now a sergeant in the Lexington County Sheriff's Department's Training Division, where he helps train deputies for the job. McManus say he remembers administrative staff and teachers "brought us all in an assembly and they just wanted to really send the message of why this was important and we've got to look out for our brothers ... especially [for] something so horrific as this."
McManus says that at 12-years-old, he didn't really understand the scale of what had happened in New York City. But, he says, "you could just feel the heaviness in that room all the way in South Carolina, just sitting there watching it on TV. I just remember that day was different than any other day as far as the normal operations of school, after the attack happened that morning."
And for the next few months, days continued to look different as the school and students did multiple efforts to raised the money. There were bake sales, button sales, car washes, T-shirt and other memorabilia sales to reach their goal. Donations from the local community, both small and large, pooled in.
White Knoll Middle School was able to purchase a new firetruck that it donated to the FDNY, "and we had enough in surplus," says McManus. Two months later, a handful of students and administrative staff from the school traveled to New York City to present the check. McManus was unable to attend the presentation due to financial straits, but says seeing the distance bridged between two cities to do something left a lasting impression.
Maurice Hallman, then a sixth-grader, attended the presentation in New York City.
"It was definitely a special moment, [a] special opportunity to be a part of somethings that's bigger than ourselves," Hallman said, the experience of seeing the firefighters, chief and crew, an unforgettable moment for him.
Hallman and McManus both say they had conflicting feelings. Hallman saying he felt "helpless," at the time and McManus saying he wished "more" could have been done, but largely understand that their efforts as young kids was enough. "The sheer loss of what New York experienced that day," McManus says, you don't know what act of service, what ripple effect [it'll] make."
McManus has now worked in law enforcement for the past 13 years, and these lessons of service he learned in 2001 coupled with his parent's teachings of "doing good unto others," shaped what he says is his calling.
"I saw all the different opportunities I would have to, [maybe] not [change] the world or make a difference on a global scale, but [making] a difference for one person," he says.
He started as a patrol officer with Lexington County Sheriff's Office before serving in the Warrant and Civil Process Division, to now working with the Training Division.
The similarities of providing service so people have "one less thing [to] worry about," that he practiced in fundraising for the new firetruck, shows up in his current work, in particular during his roughly eight years in the Civil Process. It's a division where work takes shape in evictions, court papers, and mental health transports.
"I did everything I [could] within my powers and [limits] to help, [and] a lot of that may have been giving them enough notice," McManus says. "Giving them resources."
He recalls a story where a gentleman had nowhere to go, saying he would call Transitions to see if beds were available and offered to transport him downtown.
"I did an eviction on some people and next thing I get a letter in my box and it says, 'Hey, Deputy McManus, I just want to thank you for the way you treated us, the way you gave us time, the way you treated us with respect,'" he says, "'And I just want to let you know that we're financially stable now. We just bought a house.' And it's just those little moments like that where it's like, that's awesome. I love to see that."
Reflecting on the 25th remembrance, McManus says he's looking at all the recent natural disasters that have happened in South Carolina since 2001, particularly Hurricane Helene and the 1,000-Year Flood in 2015. The demonstrations of community in those times —locally, statewide, and nationally — have given him a chance to recall a time where White Knoll Middle School and South Carolina answered the call for service from a different vantage point.
"Being a law enforcement officer for going on 13 years and not experiencing anything on [the level of 9/11] ... in the same profession as a [first responder]," he says, "you understand when things happen, it's that selfless sacrifice ... I got to to work. And that's what it is."
