SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – It’s been two decades since Sunshine Elementary students gathered around an American flag outside of the school to pay their respects to those who were killed on September 11th. KOLR10’s John Adams was able to track down two of the students that were there that day.

One of them was easy to find. His younger brother kyle spoke to the kolr10 crew that afternoon.

I met kyle at sunshine last week to reflect on that day. This was the first time he had seen the video in 20 years.

“At the time, it was more monumental of an experience than I had had at that time …. It was hard to comprehend the magnitude of exactly what was going on. The absolute number of lives that were affected, and the changes that would occur. It would literally set the pace for the 20th century,” he said.

Brittany Jehle was also there that day. She vividly remembers the panic that was felt on September 11th, 2001.

“None of the teachers shared any of the actions that occurred on 9/11 with us. I think it was because of how young we were. I do remember that they told us something serious happened, and they couldn’t tell us,“ said Jehle.

Both also wanted to show their lasting appreciation for those who lost their lives on 9/11, and in the war on terror.

“Those people will never be forgotten … especially the soldiers that came after the fact too as well,” Jehle added.

“I feel for everyone who was affected by it, either directly or indirectly, it affected so many lives, and you know, we need to still show our appreciation for those who did what they needed to at that time of crisis,” said Adams.