LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — For anyone alive on that day, September 11, 2001 will be forever etched in their memories.

Frightening, devastating and shocking.

This is how people describe the intense emotions they felt on September 11, 2001, when a terrorist attack took place before their eyes.

“It was a very traumatic day for us. No one knew what was going to happen or what would happen,” said Nat Marshall, a local.

People we spoke to told us they were shocked to see an attack on America, with planes flying into the World Trade Center right in front of their eyes.

“I was scared, I was just – the people. I was just so hurt that those people had to go through what they went through. Trying to jump out of windows and you know, it was just devastating,” said Sherry Simmons of Lynchburg.

RELATED: Freedom Flag Decals on Emergency Vehicles in Lynchburg Pay Tribute to 9/11 Heroes

One woman said her family worked at the site of the terrorist attacks.

“Greg said he thought this had to be terrorism. I don’t know if I thought that far ahead, because I immediately thought of my brother in Midtown and my cousin in the Pentagon,” said Denise Tuttle, a woman who once lived in New York but now lives here.

Another went to Ground Zero two weeks after the tragedy.

“It was extremely sad. There were pictures of missing people everywhere and after two weeks there were still ashes,” Steven Francis Coates, who photographed the aftermath, told us.

Some say that 9/11 took a lot from us as Americans.

“I was 13 at the time, but it was just a whole new thing. Everything has changed since 9/11, I think,” Raenn Reynolds said.

Now, 23 years later, this tragic day brings Americans together to honor and respect the victims, and to pledge never to forget them.

Click here to watch the full interviews.