Colorado pays tribute to 9/11

Two decades later, the shock and magnitude of 9/11 remain seared in many of our minds.

Ahead of the Saturday anniversary, we collected reflections from Coloradans who carry the weight of the attack in their memories, and try to crystallize what this milestone now means:

Democratic state Rep. Iman Jodeh of Aurora, who is a Muslim:

• "There was definitely a sense of disgrace. I felt almost violated and insulted, because [the hijackers] had a perverted view of my religion and the West," she told Colorado Politics.
• "That was a big experience for non-Muslims to realize the huge separation between [the hijackers] and the 2 billion people."

Dale Chu, education consultant in Parker:

• "9/11 is one of those rare life-defining moments ... The recent image of the Afghan boy falling from the U.S. Air Force jet over Kabul brought back for me — in stark relief — this picture of a falling man from the World Trade Center," he told our reporting partners at Chalkbeat.

Oren Bersagel-Briese, Castle Rock Fire and Rescue Department's division chief of training:

• "For the fire department community as a whole, 9/11 changed our profession, period. It changed the way that we operate. It changed the way that we think through things strategically and tactically," he said in a KUNC interview.
• "And while not every city, including ours, has high rises, the lessons learned from that day — from incident command to accountability to other things — have translated and transcended every organizational level in every geographic area."

Steve Aseltine, former task force leader of a Colorado search and rescue team deployed to help with recovery efforts:

• "We’ve since learned that cancer is such a huge risk for firefighters and continues to be … I never ever at the time would have imagined that we would lose so many responders," he told CBS4. "Would I still go today? Absolutely, and I think everyone would say that."