INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) Former U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, like many Americans, initially struggled to process the news of a plane hitting the World Trade Center in New York City.The Democrat from Indiana was having breakfast with Sen. J oe Lieberman, D-Connecticut, on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, in Washington when he learned a plane had struck the World Trade Center. He returned to his office as a second plane hit the South Tower. At that point, he said, everyone knew it was no accident.In my office, my staff was scared. Every once in a while, they'd peek their heads into my office, just to see how I was doing, I think. After it happened a few times, I realized my staff needed to be talked to, he said. So, I pulled them all into my office. I said, look, you know, Washington, D.C., is probably the safest city in America right now because of all the military operations that we have here when something like this happens. And no sooner had I said that, I looked down at my TV and the Pentagon got hit. And I looked up at my staff and I said, 'Forget everything I just said. Get out of here and go home immediately.'While senior congressional leaders like the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore moved to secure locations, other members had to find their own way to safety. Hill said people at the Capitol did not know where to go. He sent a group of visiting Indiana University students to a location where he knew they could exit the city. Eventually, Hill, his friends, and his staff reached his apartment near Capitol Hill.One of the things that I wanted to do was call back home and make sure that my family knew that I was OK, he said. I called my wife, Betty, and called my daughter, Libby, at school. I wanted to reassure my family that I was OK, and I felt like, as the day progressed, that it was going to get better as we got new information.Despite serving on the House Armed Services Committee, Hill said he did not receive any security briefings during the day. He said rumors circulated about additional planes that might strike the Capitol or the White House. Investigators now believe United Airlines Flight 93 would have hit the Capitol if passengers had not fought back, causing the plane to crash near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Hill said word of that crash brought a palpable sense of relief because, by then, officials had cleared nearly all other planes from the air.That evening, Hill joined other members of Congress on the steps of the Capitol for a vigil where they sang God Bless America.It was very emotional. It was bipartisan. We sang songs, and it was a moment that I'll never forget. I mean, everybody, all of the politics went aside, he said. There was no politics whatsoever. We were just Americans at that particular time.Hill received several classified briefings in the following days. He lost his seat in the 2004 election, regained it two years later, and was defeated for the final time in 2010.Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Hill said the country is more secure and more vigilant. He said the United States had become complacent in the years leading up to the attacks, and the best way to honor those who were killed is to ensure a similar tragedy never happens again.The world is a dangerous place to this day and I think we're much more vigilant today than we were back then, he said. ...read more read less