Watch KSAT archive footage from September 11, 2001

SAN ANTONIO – Editor's note: This story was first published in 2021, on the 20th anniversary of the attacks. Some of the footage in the video player above may be disturbing to viewers.

The often grim themes of news are presented daily on television screens. Images and footage of crime and war are nothing new in the modern world of 24/7 news available at the click of a mouse.

But 23 years ago, four hijacked airliners collided in the middle of America, shaking the nation in ways people could never have imagined. Since then, after nearly 3,000 people were killed on September 11, 2001, the words “never forget” have been ingrained in Americans' minds.

KSAT looks back at its coverage on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Watch some of the archival footage in the video player above. Some scenes may be disturbing to viewers.

That day, KSAT used the words “America has attacked” to describe the horrors in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in the field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“It's unthinkable – America is under attack,” said KSAT anchor Steve Spriester during a news broadcast, updating San Antonio residents on President George W. Bush's current whereabouts following the attacks.

Looking back, Spriester said there were certain parts of 9/11 that he had blocked from his memory.

“I honestly don't remember moderating that day. I remember sitting in the news room and in our main conference room where we had a big TV, just shocked and saddened by what I saw,” he said.

He said that never before or since had he forgotten to be at the news desk during an important news event.

He remembers visiting the local military bases – the structure of Military City USA – and watching ABC News.

“It's hard not to feel the emotions of that day, but our job is not to let that stop us from giving people the information they need. No day compares to September 11,” he said.

“I remember my little daughter in a baby swing and thinking that innocence and evil were right in front of me: my innocent daughter and the evil that was playing out on television in New York.”

Former presenter Ursula Pari also sat at the moderator’s desk during the development of the story.

“I remember waking up that morning with my newborn baby, Jackson, and watching the morning news like it was a normal day. Then I saw the confused anchors trying to figure out what was going on at the World Trade Center, and then I saw live another plane crash into the towers,” she said in a 2021 interview.

She knew she had to get to work, she said, even if it meant leaving her baby behind in a new, unknown world. This was the modern-day Pearl Harbor, she added.

“I called the babysitter and said I didn't know when we were coming back… we could be at war, in which case we could be stuck there for a few days. I even warned her that there could be more attacks while she was there, so she should pack her things and plan to stay,” she said. “It was surreal knowing I was leaving my baby behind to deliver important information to our viewers.”

Pari described September 11, 2001, as an “incredibly long,” tense and frightening day in which he assured the people of San Antonio that everything was OK.

“But learning that thousands of people were injured and killed that morning is a game changer,” she said. “To this day, I can't look at a plane in the sky without wondering if it will happen again and saying a prayer.”

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