Seven years to this day, nearly 3,000 people died in the terrorist attacks that forever changed much of American life.

The images are still fresh in many of our minds and that's especially true for Brookings native Joe Kippley. He was in Washington D.C. when a plane crashed into the Pentagon. Kippley was a page for Senator Tom Daschle and remembers being evacuated from the U.S. Capitol.

Before a room packed with people at Sioux Falls' VA Medical Center, Kippley remembered the horrors of the terrorist attacks seven years ago. He was just 16 years old. As two planes hit the World Trade Center, police evacuated him and hundreds of others out of the U.S. Capitol.

"The moment that it became real is when you could look to the southwest and see the smoke rising from the pentagon," said Kippley. He told the audience that the experience changed him forever and taught him that America would get through the attacks if they put service before self. He saw that happening in the Capitol Police, who helped evacuate the building.

Tom Gilbert was one of many people listening to Kippley's accounts. A veteran of foreign wars, he takes the lesson of service to heart. He said, "I fought for my country, a lot of these guys fought for their country, and we honor each other and that's what we do."

So together they paid respect to those that serve others and will never forget that crisp September morning seven years ago.

"It brings back a lot of emotions that are hard to get over that another plane, a fourth plane, was headed possibly for us, so it's a day you look back and are happy to be alive," said Kippley.

Entitled A Page In History, Kippley has written a book about his experience.

Drew Sandholm contributed to this report.

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