“I can still see the whole thing very vividly,” he said after the Sept. 11 Community Remembrance ceremony Thursday morning. “Some of us fell to the floor when the airplane struck our building. There were screams and smoke and the smell of jet fuel.”

Manville said the airplane struck the side of the building where the army offices were located and were immediately destroyed.

“Fortunately we had moved for renovations two weeks prior and were in a different place,” he said.

Because it was the morning when the first airplane hit the World Trade Center, Manville was coaxed by a colleague to watch CNN in an exterior office and witnessed the second plane hit one of the twin towers.

“We were also aviators and were trying to discuss a plausible explanation,” he said. “None of us believed or accepted that it was a terrorist attack.”

Manville said he was less than 100 meters away from where the airplane struck the Pentagon.

“The fact that we were around the corner saved our lives,” he said.

Manville said the emotions he felt the day of the attack were easy to describe.

“Disbelief, shock, sickness for those I knew were dead and concern for the survivors in the burning building or the injured (who) weren’t rescued,” he said.

Manville said the biggest emotion he felt was the fear for his pregnant wife and son, who were scheduled to fly into Washington, D.C. the morning of the attack.

“I had no idea then (if they were alive). Both cell and telephone lines were impossible to get through,” he said.

Manville said it took him three to four hours to know his family was safe; but it took about six hours before his wife knew he was alive.

“I’m not a hero, neither am I a victim,” he said. “Several of my peers evacuated to the center (of the building) and from that point were able to go into the crash site and save others.”

Manville said he is a patriotic person by nature and appreciates people attending ceremonies like the second annual 9/11 Community Remembrance ceremony.

Around 175 faculty, students and city officials aided in remembering the historical events of 9/11.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mount Pleasant Mayor Adam Miller said the United States was founded on optimism and hope and that was the message he wanted to reflect in the ceremony.

“The events of two years ago forever altered the course of our nation,” he said. “(The ceremony) presented the message of looking back to remember and to look forward with optimism of what will become.”

Though attendance was lacking, Miller said he still appreciated the enthusiasm of those present.

“I think the second to last poem (”Memorial Day” by Edgar Guest) summarized the duty we have to carry on the memory of the lives that were lost, and we do that by ceremonies like these,” Miller said.

Lapeer junior Jennifer Gilbert said her finance and law Assistant Professor Brian Maes let his students out early from class to attend the ceremony.

“It brings everyone together and shows everyone still remembers,” she said.

Manville said it is important for Americans, particularly college students, to remember 9/11 because they are the country’s future leaders.

“Being a military service member I’m a part of the new war and our cadets will soon be part of the new – and long – war on terrorism,” he said.