What I Learned on September 11

[John Coffey]

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September 11, 2008 - by Jazz Shaw

It was a PowerPoint presentation. On the darkest day in modern American history, the single focus of my attention was a series of slides on my hard drive. I was visiting a client’s office and preparing to deliver a pitch to two existing and three potential customers. To this day I still recall that I was on page three, switching back and forth between two graphics under consideration. One of my associates walked hurriedly into the room and instructed me to “tune in” to CNN on my laptop. A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.

It is only with seven years perspective and having had the question put to me for purposes of this column that I realize exactly how small and self-centered I had become. My reception of the news was accompanied by the smallest of shrugs. This is the modern age in which we live. On occasion, planes fall from the sky and people lose their lives. In more horrible circumstances, they hit populated areas. It was only a matter of time before one struck a skyscraper, reminiscent of the foggy day in 1945 when William Smith parked a B-25 in the 79th floor of the Empire State Building. I couldn’t think of anyone in my family who had been planning to fly that morning, so I returned to my work. In a matter of moments the news was brushed from my attention and the upcoming proposal consumed me once again.

Having finished the piece, I packed up my computer and moved to the media center where the presentation was to take place. I found two of my colleagues who were in on the bid staring at the wide screen display. Another moment of eternal embarrassment ensued. “This is a big bid, guys. I think we can find something better to do than watch television.” I was ignored. A second plane had struck and the day’s business events were quickly canceled as the news continued to roll in.

Events rapidly morphed my blasé demeanor into a sense of personal urgency. I learned that my brother and one of my nephews were both in New York City that day. Each was within a mile of Ground Zero according the last plans my mother and sister had received. As the full range of attacks was revealed, even worse news loomed on the horizon. My father-in-law is a career military intelligence man who traveled weekly between an air base in upstate New York and the Pentagon. My wife was beyond the point of rational speech by the time I arrived home. It was only later we learned, after many phone calls had been thwarted by lack of service, that none of our loved ones had been lost. My wife’s father informed us that he had, only days earlier, been walking down a hallway in the Pentagon precisely where the aircraft struck. The brother and nephew took days to make it out of the city, but were physically intact. We had dodged all the bullets and the family heaved a sigh of relief, but it had been too close for comfort.

In retrospect, even the comfort we felt in finding our family members safe was a source of guilt. The magnitude of the disaster we all witnessed on our television screens, playing out like the cruelest of screenplays, was simply too great to incorporate. Our own joy for the security of our loved ones was a feeling I could wrap inside my mind. The losses facing thousands of others were something foreign — these things just don’t happen in the real world where I live. It was easier to lock those feelings away and let the CNN commentators do the mourning for me.

Everyone took their own lessons from that day, but it was with some sadness that I watched various people try to usurp our memories of the tragedy to their own purpose. A moment which initially unified the country in a way not seen in the modern era was eventually spun in every direction, resulting in divisions among our various American tribes. But for me, if there is any lasting education to be gained from the smoke, fire, and violence, it is a reinforced understanding of our basic shared humanity.

Tragedy is tragedy, regardless of the scale. When we drive by the scene of an accident it is never simply fodder for the six o’clock news; real people with very tangible lives are lost or in peril. Even if it doesn’t touch us directly, it still reaches out to our common condition as human beings and the bonds we all share.

A shrug of the shoulders is never the correct response. September 11, 2001, taught me exactly how small I had become and reminds me of how much larger my soul needs to be.

[Mako Koiwai]

Thank you John. I spent the other evening watching various 9/11 documents on TV. And a couple of weeks ago I drove by the WTC in New York. I'm always surprised how often I think about that day ...

[Bob Beamesderfer]

I've also watched several documentaries and read a good op-ed challenging the conspiracy folks to come up a complete and detailed version of the supposed secret plan.

The only time I saw the WTC in NY was a few years after it was completed on New Year's Day, 1979. Few if any of the surrounding buildings were there yet, so the towers stood out on large plaza. I thought I might have photographed them, but so far haven't found the negatives.

[Jeff Shyu]

i have a picture of the WTC from the plaza, looking up, with the 2 towers bracketing the frame. it's on film though, i wonder where the negative is.

I feel bad for the people who lost loved ones from 9/11, and i honor the emergency crew that showed up to help, especially those that gave their lives doing so. I am thankful for the men and women of the military who go out into the battlefield to fight in our defense (though i don't agree with the necessity of it).

overall though, i think 9/11 was a brilliant success by the terrorists. in 1 day, over the span of few hours, they have managed to turn the "melting pot" into one that is suspicious and fearful of Islamic people. The events of 9/11 have seen the forfeiture of many of our constitutional rights.

I can go on and on about the far reaching negative impact that day brought, but mostly, i'm reminded by how fickled and short seighted the American people are/were. Lets not forget, before the war became unpopular, there was bi-partisan support for it.

20 years from now, i hope we can point to 9/11 as an example of why national security decisions should not be made in the heat of the moment.

[Bob Beamesderfer]

20 years from now, i hope we can point to 9/11 as an example of why national security decisions should not be made in the heat of the moment.

Absolutely. America struggles with the dichotomy [sorry for the big word] between being more secure than the Europeans or Asians by virtue of two oceans vs. the struggle to forge a long-lasting foreign policy that demonstrates an awareness of the rest of the world's concerns.

Contrary to the politically valuable claim that Islamic extremists "hate our liberty," what they dislike most about the U.S. is the support of Israel. Of course, because they're extremists, the don't give us any credit for efforts to foster peace in the Middle East. That's because they believe that Israel shouldn't exist, along with Jews. In addition, there's that whole Western decadence thing, which we're only one part of. They'd like get rid of that first, then move on to Hindus, Budhists, B'hais, Zoroastrians, the older Christians and pretty much any religion other then their form of Islam.

[Mako Koiwai]

[Kurt Rahn]

Wow, what a cool pic! Did they set up lasers in the former locations of each building or something? Was it a one-day thing or is it up all the time?

[Jeff Shyu]

i think has been up for the past few years. I know i've seen similar pictures in the past years.

i don't think they're lasers though. probably a higher power, narrower focused one of those special-event-lights that you see around car dealerships.

[Kurt Rahn]

Haven't been to NY since I left EarthLink. It's really cool looking.