Her flight eventually left late that evening. The Tuesday flight was hijacked and crashed into a field 80 miles east of Pittsburgh. Dianne returned home from the West Coast on Monday. McCracken's father, David, also was close to another tragic scene last Tuesday. Working on a construction site in Elizabeth, N.J., his father saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center.
Security is tight at West Point.
Military police officers man the entrances to the school with blockades, check identification and record license plate numbers. West Point was on a maximum state of alert known as Threatcon Delta shortly after the four planes were hijacked. That has been lowered just a bit. The cadets have not been allowed to leave campus. Like the rest of the country, the cadets watch CNN in their dorms and discuss the events of the day in class.