Awful Anniversary: Remembering 9/11
THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of Union
County, Georgia
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Awful
Anniversary: Remembering 9/11
"Where were you on
the
morning of September
11, 2001?" No doubt you have been asked that question many
times
since that awful and terrible day when America and the world were
shattered by deliberate and targeted crashes of four hijacked
commercial jet
airliners.
In the seven years intervening,
we have
recalled with both alarm and disbelief that date of attack which
brought
terrible reality, not just threats to our safe and secure lifestyle.
We know the events happened. We
saw
television news coverage of the billowing smoke from crashes into the Twin Towers
of the World
Trade Center
in New York.
We saw the Towers topple, heard confused cries, saw the devastation,
observed
with disbelief that such could happen in America, the "land of the
free
and the home of the brave."
We heard reports that a third
hijacked
airliner crashed into a portion of the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
Our worst fears surfaced. Had this center of America's
military operations been
rendered completely ineffective?
With the brave action of some
passengers on
the fourth hijacked airliner, its direction was thwarted from its
intended
target in Washington,
DC and the crash occurred
in a field in
rural Somerset County,
Pennsylvania near
Shanksville.
There were no known survivors of
the four
jetliners. The 19 hijack- ers went to their deaths with a sense of
accomplishment that they had done the deeds with martyrs' bravery and
allegiance to their god. The passengers, no doubt, had boarded planes
with
confidence, with no thought that manipulations already in place would
result in
their untimely deaths that fateful day. Victims within the Twin Towers
and others who died as a result of the travesties numbered over 3,000.
Countless hours of rescue and recovery work resulted in airborne and
contaminant afflictions that would follow victims the rest of their
lives.
Nine/Eleven is an awful
anniversary. Since
that date in 2001, neither America
nor the world has been the same as it was before.
We had rather not be reminded,
but it is
indelibly written in our history as a Day of Darkness and Doom.
To fight such an enemy as
perpetrated these
attacks on America
on September 11,
2001
is a hard battle. Was Al-Qaeda behind it all—that dreaded terrorist
regime that
hides out in caves in the desert and plies its poison throughout the
world?
Were the enemies an army that could be confronted on a given
battlefield and
engaged in warfare which would eventually declare that the best side
won?
Hardly so. But the battles
began. And we
are still in the midst of the war seven years later.
Immediately after 9/11, a surge
of zeal and
patriotism swept the United
States. A turning again to the God of
our
nation was evident in songs, in messages, in websites, in patriotic
gatherings,
in churches, in town square meetings. America had rallied in the
past to
similar threats to her freedom. We could do so again. War was declared
against
the Taliban with forces deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Saddam
Hussein was hunted and deposed, brought to trial and found guilty. The
efforts
to find and bring to justice the world-wide leader of terrorism
continued.
Osama bin Laden became the most wanted, the king of the terrorists, the
person
to find and depose at any cost.
America passed the USA Patriot Act,
which was
drafted by Representative Frank James Sensenbrenner on October 23, 2001,
passed in the House
on October 24, in the Senate on October 25, and signed into law by
President
Bush on October
21, 2001.
The name of the act is an acronym standing for its major aims: "Uniting
and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept
and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act).
Erection of memorials is under
way in many
places. Many, still in the building process, are geared to solemnly
remind
Americans of the fatal 9/11 invasion. The Freedom Tower
in Manhattan,
now being built, is to be one monument to the toll the day had on our
sense of
safety and freedom. At "Ground Zero" in New York City, pictures and memorials
tell
the story of the heartache that came on a bright sunny morning in
September,
2001.
I'm sure you, as I, have read
survivors'
reports, accounts from persons who narrowly escaped with their lives,
and lived
to tell the story of fear and an about-face in their own lives. One
such story
is by Kyle Crager, who descended from the 71st floor of the World Trade Center
and lived to tell
the story. He described himself as having "a cushy office high over the
streets of Manhattan,
a view of the Statue of Liberty, a fast-track career." But all of that
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
Speaking at churches, schools,
colleges and
community events, Kyle Crager now quotes lines from the 17th century
English
poet, George Herbert: "Thou hast given me so much… Give me one thing
more,
a grateful heart." And one of his rallying cries uses words from C. S.
Lewis, English apologist, minister and writer:
"God whispers to us in our
pleasures,
Speaks to us in our conscience,
But shouts in our pain:
It is His megaphone to rouse a
deaf world.”
Anniversaries dredge up fearful memories at
times, as is the case with 9/11. But the event can, as it did with Kyle
Crager
and others sharing survival, give one more thing: "a grateful heart."
c2008 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published Sept. 11, 2008 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
[Ethelene
Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian.
She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708
Cedarwood Road,
Milledgeville,
GA
31061-2411.]
Updated August 10,
2009
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