Concerns override Just as he won't forget where he was when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Jim Lozier of Tyler, Texas, won't forget where he was when he heard the news of yesterday's terrorist attacks.
disrupted plans
Hawaii tourists watch the events
on TV after flights are canceled
and attractions closedBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comHe was watching the television in his Waikiki hotel room and called to his wife, Carolyn, who was showering, "You gotta see this."
"It's just a devastating thing to see in the morning," he said, as the couple were out for a walk trying to clear their heads.
Visitors to Hawaii brushed aside cancellations of neighbor-island flights, longer hotel stays and closures of visitor attractions because of overriding concerns about events unfolding in New York City and Washington, D.C.
The Loziers were going to the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri, but the attractions were closed for security reasons.
"I hope it's over with," Jim Lozier said. "That's what's important."
That and finding out who did it. "In a war, we know who to fight," he said. "In a terrorist attack, they don't even know who (they're fighting)."
Tom and Julie Dovidas of New Jersey were asleep in their Waikiki hotel when a friend in Manoa called them a little after 3 a.m. yesterday to tell them that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center.
So they turned on their television.
"All of a sudden we turned it on and the second airplane, we saw it crash into it right at the same time," Tom Dovidas said.
The Dovidases work in Long Island but have friends and clients who work in the World Trade Center. Their son-in-law works in Building 5 of the WTC.
They tried to call New York but their calls would not go through. Their son-in-law and daughter were able to call their grandparents in New Jersey, so the Dovidases had to call New Jersey to find out whether their daughter and son-in-law were OK.
Dominic and Diana Sacchinelli were awakened in their Waikiki hotel room at 6:30 a.m. It was their travel agent informing them that their trip to Kauai yesterday was canceled because all flights were grounded.
The Sacchinellis, on their honeymoon, are from New York City.
They immediately turned on their television and called to see if family members were OK.
"I have a lot of family who are federal agents," Diana Sacchinelli said. "They're fine and one of the agents is with the president right now."
Dominic works outside the city but Diana works for an accounting firm in midtown Manhattan.
"I knew people in that building; I'm sure they're not OK," she said. "A lot of our clients are there. A lot of the restaurants in the trade center, I knew people there."
Jeff and Karen Zimel of Portland, Ore., were in the middle of getting shuttled to Honolulu Airport for a day trip to the Big Island when their flight was canceled because of heightened security. Karen Zimel said they were concerned about getting home today as scheduled.
Just in case, she said, "We checked to see if (the hotel) would have a room. They said they wouldn't put anybody out on the street. If we were guests, they'd keep us."
Walter and Kitsa Kuhn's planned day trip to see the volcano on the Big Island was canceled yesterday.
So they too stayed at their hotel and watched the coverage of the terrorist attacks.
"In Australia, this sort of thing doesn't happen," Walter Kuhn said. The Kuhns are from Brisbane.
Tom Dovidas said he went into the World Trade Center many times following the 1993 bombing. He said it is different now since many people he knew may have perished in yesterday's attack.
"How I feel is we have to retaliate against whoever did this," he said.
