“Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?” - Alan Jackson
“Have you forgotten when those towers fell? We had neighbors still inside, going through a living hell.” - Darrel Worley
Every year I sit, put my fingers on the keyboard and try to figure out how to start what has become my annual remembrance of Nine-Eleven. To this day, the thoughts and emotions swirl together in such a confusing mix that it’s hard to find a place to start; hard to find the right words; hard to make sense of the swirl of images and memories that can still bring tears to my eyes and an ache in my soul. What helped me this year was a meme (of all things) that I saw in my Facebook feed just a few days ago. It had a blue background with images of the American Flag and read:
I would never want another 9/11, but I miss the America of 9/12.
Stores ran out of flags to sell because they were being flown everywhere.
People were Americans before they were upper or lower class, Jewish or Christian, Republican or Democrat.
We hugged people without caring if they ate at Chick-Fil-A or wore Nikes.
On 9/12 what mattered more was what united us than what divided us.
I certainly will never forget the events of Nine-Eleven and all the conflict that followed. But I do my best now to balance that against the strengths and blessings America realized or recognized after the fact. As we remember that horrific day, now 18 years later, society seems to have forgotten the reality of the day and instead become focused on the challenges and differences of today. Those challenges and differences seem so major, but if today was 9/12, they would seem so petty.
I will never forget the look of uncertainty and fear on my 12-year-old daughter’s face when we told her that America had been attacked. The fact that we didn’t know if the four planes were the limit of the attacks or if there were more coming scared hell out of us, and she could easily see the concern we were doing our best to hide.
That morning I was on a work site that was normally a two hour drive from our home. I was also in the Army National Guard. The two-hour drive home took about five hours because a lot of it was around the Washington DC Beltway. As I drove I listened to my radio and heard reports (later proved to be false or unrelated) about car bombs in the District of Columbia, planes being hijacked in other parts of the country and more. My cell phone rang during the drive and I was told my unit had been put on alert; I had four hours to gear up and report to the Armory. I wasn’t even sure I’d make it home by then and was told do the best I could as fast as I could.
I can’t imagine how many thousands of military spouses felt their guts clench as their active, reserve and Guard significant others got similar calls. It is a defining moment. The words that were spoken to me just moments after United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center proved more accurate than the man who spoke them could possibly have realized at the time: “Oh my God, we’re at war.”
Little would that man know… little could he have known at that time, the war was coming. The declaration of war against the United States, not by a foreign power or nation state but by a group of radical extremists who hated us for little more than our way of life and our ignorance of their belief structure, brought a return sentiment. Perhaps a few lines from Toby Keith’s song “Angry American” say it best:
Justice will be served and the battle will rage
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
And you'll be sorry that you messed with The U.S. of A.
Cause we'll put a boot in your ass
It's the American way
In the days, weeks and months that followed, the United States of America was truly united like it hadn’t been, possibly since December 8, 1941. We as a people knew what it was like to be hated for nothing more than where we were born, the liberty we enjoy and the free will we exercise on a daily basis. No matter what your social class, race, religion, gender, etc. is, every American citizen is born in liberty with the freedom to execute their own free will. Those blessings aren’t the same across the globe and many hate us for it. The Global War on Terrorism was launched in secret within days of the attack and publicly on October 7th, 2001.
Many people refer to The Cold War as WWIII. I’ve always felt that the Global War on Terrorism is World War III and I don’t think it will ever end. It’s been fought on every occupied continent and in every major nation. It is an on-going battle, not against a specific religion or political bent, but against those who would actively attack that which they cannot enjoy and don’t understand – therefore they hate it: liberty. They simply don’t understand, “Live and let live.”
We, the American people, I do truly believe lead the world in fostering this outlook – and that’s what I miss about September 12th, 2001. Everyone was American first and their differences were cast aside temporarily. How great would it be if that “temporarily” was permanent?
As you remember the events of Nine-Eleven, I beg of you: Be American first. Set aside every difference you feel with a neighbor, the cop down the street, your employer, whoever. Be American first and foremost. Fly that flag and do it EVERY day. Smile and wave to your neighbor. Check on the elderly and those with young children. Focus on what binds us instead of what divides us. If there is a single great lesson to be learned from the attacks of Nine-Eleven it’s the value of being united against a common enemy and in the common liberty we share as Americans.
And as I’ve said nearly every year…. Lest We Forget…
