Sept. 11th is a significant day for one Arden Hills man. 

Robben Todd was in Washington, D.C., serving in the Minnesota Air National Guard on Sept. 11, 2001.

Todd was part of a crew of eight flying home to Minnesota when they witnessed the attacks of Flight 77 on the Pentagon and Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

“I just saw this mushroom cloud, big black mushroom cloud over the Pentagon,” Todd said. “I’ve never seen flames that big. I’ve never seen them that angry, that active. It took me a long time to come back from that. My perspective has changed on life.”     

The eight Minnesotans are believed to be the only eyewitnesses to hijacked crashes in Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania that day.