9/11/01. Can you believe it's been five years? So much has changed and yet in many ways we have gone back to "life as normal." It didn't seem possible at the time that we ever could. But aside from some inconveniences at the airport and a special set of prayers each Sunday in church, I would not be as consistently aware of what happened. (The daily news from Iraq being the other ever-present reminder.)
I remember being in an Old Testament Survey class in college back in 1998 or so. The professor was commenting on 722 BC and 586 BC as dates that were etched on the Jewish mind. His generation had the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King as those frozen moments in time that a generation could never forget. We talked briefly at how fortunate our generation had been. The closest thing we had was the Challenger explosion, but even then most of us were too young to really experience and remember the tragedy. There was an awkward moment of silence when we collectively seemed to wonder what tragedy lied ahead for us.
I was in my cubicle at work listening to the radio when it happened. At first I couldn't understand what was going on. I thought a malfunction had happened causing a plane to crash, and that it incidentally happened to be over the WTC at the time. Then came more details. I remember yelling into my manager's office behind me when the news came across, "They just hit the Pentagon!" I think that's when I really knew this was for real and was something bigger than any of us could have imagined.
I went over to my girlfriend's house after work. I appreciated having somewhere to go. That's when I first saw the news footage and watched the towers fall. I remember how gentle and kind everyone was immediately following that. Neighbors I had never spoken to before were checking in on each other and asking how each other was doing. All the flags came out on the cars. Like everyone else I was glued to the television. Half trying to cope with what happened, half trying to brace for what might happen next. I didn't cry until about the fourth day when "Please Remember Me" by Tim McGraw came on the radio while I was driving to work. I lost it.
I remember gathering with my small group and listening to President Bush's address to Congress a weeks later. I loved it, and I still have a transcript along with a copy of the newspaper from September 12th. I know a lot of us have trouble with the Iraq war, but in those early days after 9/11 and into Afghanistan I remember being thankful that he was my president, and I believed that he had been elected and made it through the contested judicial process for such a time as this. I greatly admired Mayor Giuliani. He was tireless, brave, confident. Everything a leader needs to be in a time of crisis. We sometimes overlook how relatively calm people remained in New York City.
I remember being back at my girlfriend's house when President Bush announced the invasion into Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban. Inside, part of me wanted to sign up with the Army. A month had passed. We were dealing with the anthrax scare and beginning the work of clearing ground zero.
I had saved the daily office calendar page from that day. Each year afterwards, I would pen that up, along with the transcript of President Bush's speech and hang a large American flag on the wall outside my cubicle. My co-workers seemed to appreciate the gesture.
I made it to ground zero for the first time in May. I saw the steel cross that had been standing underneath the rubble. We should pray today for all the families that will be reminded once again of their losses. And for all of those fighting in our armed services, sacrificing their lives so that, with God's graces, the tragedy does not happen again to our families and friends.
Take time today to remember.
President Bush's Address on September 11th.
President Bush's Address on September 20th.
"Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom -- the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time -- now depends on us. Our nation -- this generation -- will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail." - President Bush
3 comments:
I distinctly remember being picked up by my father at school. He actually came to take me home to my mother, and they talked face to face without pretense or barely veiled anger for the first time I could remember. It was a strange time; I felt slightly disconnected, having a hard time transcribing what was on th television to the emotional part of my brain, and was qite numb. I wondered what was wrong with me, that I couldn't cry when everyone else was. I supposed I had to be there. The first true emotion I felt was roiling anger- a insatiable lust for revenge and jusice (if the two can ever truly fit together). I felt the desire to join the armed forces, and flirted with joining the Marine Corps during my senior year of high school, but decided, perhaps wisely, that the military life was not one for me. I think that we all as Americans felt that way on that day. That if someone had said, "Come with me, for the Lord will deliver them into our hands," as Jonathan had once said to his armor bearer before falling upon the Philistines, we would have followed.
I was watching the history channel on Saturday when the inveitable '9/11 Special' rolled around. In particular, this show was about the structiral challenges and unique decisions that made their building possible. It started with a rags-to-riches Japanese American whose unique look at architecture and acute intelligence combined with a certain degree of humility that was rare in someone who made big things allowed him the chance at something epic. He made every effort to consider every possible scenario: Fire, earthquake, flood, hurricane- the Towers were made to last. His structural design of the towers was both unique and inovative; the outside 'skin' of the towers was what gave them structural support, while the center held all of the elevators, stairs, etc.
When the first plane it the first tower, it banked so that it hit as many floors as possible. It also hit a it high, but tragically destroyed all of the elevators and stairs that people on thefloors above could use. The second aircraft hit a bit lower, but more to the side, barely leaving one stairwell intact from sheer dumb luck, allowing people above to get away.
The second tower hit fell first because there were more structural stresses on it, and because the second plane had hit harder and made a more lopsided hole in the building, therefore making it much less stable.
World Trade 7, which was a large building across the street from the World Trade Towers was the center of the city's emergency evacuation effort. As one man who had worked there said, "I don't know who ordered to evacuate WT7, but it saved a lot of lives, and the hub of the rescue effort." Shortly after World Trade 7 was evacuated, the second tower hit fell, the debris ruining World Trade 7, which would also eventually collapse (which I did not even know about until this past Saturday).
Minutes later, the first tower's massive communications antenna speared through the roof like a spike, and the last tower fell.
The attacks on September 11th only show how truly fragile the creations of man are. We can build towers ever higher, but the inevitability of mankind's sinful nature will bring them down, for there are few forces on this Earth stronger than hate and malice. Just. Through God's Grace, there is one structure that has prevailed throughout time, famine, flood, desecration, riot, rebellion, war, fire, terror, and opression: That is the Church of Jesus Christ. It is the only building that can truly ever stand. Not as a physical structure on Earth, but a structure made of people's hearts, minds and faith. God is my Strong Tower, and his foundations never crack, and his sublime architecture will never fail under any load. God has decreed it shall stande evermore,until the ending of the world. Amen.
I remember... I was at home sick from school and watched the Challenger explode live on tv. I remember... I was at work when they told us about the first tower being hit. They sent us all home - I stared at the tv the rest of the day and just wept - I was in shock. I remember calling my cousin, who lives/works in Manhattan, to see if she was alright. I actually was able to get through to her and she was ok. I remember... and I will not let myself forget. I take SO much for granted.
JenVare
Challenger -- I was at school when I heard about it. When I got home, Mom had to turn the TV off to stop me from watching the endless replays of what happened.
9/11 -- I was at work, and just in shock all day. I stayed to work, although mostly we just kept monitoring the news -- no point in going home early, I would have been alone. I kept calling and e-mailing friends and family to verify that they were all right and that I was, too.
There is a store just down from my office, closed today in remembrance. I like that the owners put lots of American flags up in the window.
Patrick
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