Seven years ago, we watched in horror and disbelief as the United States was attacked by 19 people from the Middle East. After the first plane crash, we watched the tragedy unfold on TV on the West Coast. I recall seeing the second plane strike the World Trade Center on CNN live... but it was such a numbing day that I may be misremembering. They certainly played the footage enough to burn it into my consciousness.
After the second crash, the work day was canceled. My wife came home from work at 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. (Pacific Time) and we headed to the local blood bank.
Everyone I saw that day was shocked. I was shocked. Among other things, I'm a writer. As part of my grieving and dealing with the events of 9/11, I wrote an essay and e-mailed it to a few friends. I'm posting it below the fold to share with any who care to read it on this sad anniversary. I haven't modified the original, although I added a personal postlude.
An Essay Written September 11th/12th 2001
Nobody Moved:
Thoughts on the events of September 11th, 2001 and our response as a Nation
We will have a challenge in the coming days. As we come to grasp the full extent of what has happened, as we mourn, as we move to anger and outrage from shock at this senseless act, we will want very much to have a tangible target for our frustration and fury. Some will pray, "Please god, give us a lightning rod for our wrath and pain."
As I was giving blood earlier today in California, sitting among stunned citizens, catching bits of the drama as it unfolded on T.V., I heard several fragments of conversation.
"...turn their homes into a parking lot..." said one man.
"Someone is going to be blown into the stone-age." Said another.
Neither had a specific target in mind. Both were ready to circle the wagons to defend their homes, families and country. They were ready to lash out. So was I.
Other people sat in somber silence, muttering occasionally about needing to do something and winding up at the blood bank while trying to figure out what that might be.
I heard a news report this afternoon in which some current or former government official suggested we should strike now at the nations we know "sponsor terrorism", and sort out who is responsible for today’s events later. This is exactly the kind of thinking that that was likely at the center of the senseless loss of life today.
As I write this, there is not yet a body count. We do not yet know the extent of the destruction. How many mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters have been killed? Too many... that much is sure. We also don’t know why an organized attack ended so many lives. We all wish there was a reason. We all know that it will not be sufficient.
The victims did not and will never have an opportunity to debate the merits of the political or ethnic or social situation that motivated their murderers. Some might even have been sympathetic to their killer’s cause. I doubt any would approve of their methods.
Our challenge lies in the days ahead. Can we condemn the evil acts of whoever is responsible for this terrible tragedy, while maintaining the values and respect for law we profess in the United States? More than one commentator has suggested our very way of life is what is being threatened here. I agree. Can we work to guarantee the right to trial by jury for the monsters who are responsible? The right to a competent defense? Can we assure that we hunt down and arrest the guilty, without resorting to punishment of the convenient and collateral damage to the uninvolved?
We all aged more than just a day today. Let us hope that we can be wiser. Let us hope that we can have the courage to be patient as this sorts itself out. Let us honor the wounded and fallen by demonstrating our values in the face of this tragedy. Let us not accept blind or blunt retaliation. If we sacrifice our values, sacrifice our way of life, the killers win.
"Let the jury consider their verdict," the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.
"No, no!" said the Queen. "Sentence first--verdict afterwards."
"Stuff and nonsense!" said Alice loudly. "The idea of having the sentence first!"
"Hold your tongue!" said the Queen, turning purple.
"I won't!" said Alice.
"Off with her head!" the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved.
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Postlude: I didn't learn that I had a friend on the first plane to hit the World Trade Center until a few days after the attack. A week later, I received a letter she had posted on September 11, 2001 on her way to the airport in Boston. We had spent the prior weekend at a conference together in Colorado and she had borrowed $60 at some point for an unexpected expense. She wrote a follow up note longhand and included it with her repayment because there was a power failure in Boston on September 10th. I still treasure that letter. I miss you Anna Allyson. I'm sorry that you died before your time.