OUSD Remembers Wanda Anita Smith Green: An Oakland Tech Alumna and American Hero

Dear Oakland Unified Community,

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, we remember a day that forever changed our nation and our world. We remember the thousands of lives lost, the families forever changed, the first responders who ran toward danger, and the countless acts of courage and compassion that emerged from unimaginable tragedy.

Today, I also want to make sure that our Oakland community remembers Wanda Anita Smith Green.

Wanda Green is part of Oakland's history, Oakland Technical High School's history, and our nation's history. Twenty-five years later, it is important that a new generation of Oakland students, families, educators, and community members know her name and understand the extraordinary life she lived and the courage she demonstrated in her final moments.

In the spring of 1970, Wanda Green graduated from Oakland Technical High School. Like so many Oakland graduates, she carried with her the promise, determination, and possibilities of a young person ready to make her mark on the world.

She became a real estate agent and a deacon in her church. But she also broke barriers in an industry where few Black women had been represented. Shortly after graduating from Oakland Tech, Wanda Green became one of the first Black flight attendants for United Airlines, embarking on a career in the skies that would span decades.

On September 11, 2001, Wanda Green was working as a flight attendant aboard United Airlines Flight 93. When the plane was hijacked as part of the terrorist attacks that day, Wanda Green and her fellow crew members and passengers confronted an unimaginable situation. The people aboard Flight 93 learned that their aircraft was being used as a weapon and that the hijackers intended to reach another target in Washington, D.C.

They chose to act.

Wanda Green and the other passengers and crew members courageously rushed toward the cockpit and fought to regain control of the aircraft. Their extraordinary bravery prevented the hijackers from reaching their intended destination. Flight 93 ultimately crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Everyone aboard Flight 93 lost their lives.

But their courage almost certainly saved the lives of countless others on the ground.
Wanda Green was not simply a passenger on a historic flight. She was an Oakland daughter, an Oakland Tech graduate, a trailblazer, a professional, a woman of faith, and an American who demonstrated extraordinary courage when our nation needed it most.

That is the legacy we must remember.

Wanda Green's story reminds us that courage can come from anywhere, including Oakland classrooms, Oakland neighborhoods, and the graduates of our public schools.

Today, the Oakland Unified School District honors Wanda Anita Smith Green and all those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and aboard United Flight 93. We honor the first responders, the families, the survivors, and all those whose lives were forever altered by the events of September 11, 2001.

And we remember one of our own.

May Wanda Green's life remind our students that where you begin does not determine how far your courage, your purpose, and your dreams can take you.

May we continue to tell her story.

May we continue to say her name.

And may we honor her memory by educating young people who believe deeply in the value of every human life and who are prepared, when their moment comes, to stand with courage, compassion, and purpose.

In remembrance and with profound gratitude for her extraordinary life, service, and sacrifice.

With deepest respect,

Dr. Denise Saddler
Superintendent