Unless you don’t own a calendar and have been cut off from society in recent weeks then you obviously know that it is September 11th and today marks the 10 year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington DC (and a failed attempt at a fourth attack that resulted in the plane going down in a field in Pennsylvania). If you don’t know what I’m talking about, well, I don’t even know what to say about that.
In recent weeks it has been impossible to escape the fact that this important anniversary is coming up. Stories of personal experiences from 9/11 have abounded in the media, news reports and tv specials have focused on the day, the White House circulated several guides for government agencies at home and abroad as to how to commemorate the day, and my friend Danny encouraged me to watch a movie about how 9/11 was a conspiracy (something that is worth a whole other post but I don’t really want to waste my time discussing such nonsense). My personal way of commemorating 9/11 is to think about how my life has changed in the last 10 years and reflect on the ways in which 9/11 shaped the course of the last decade.
The attacks happened on just my 4th day of High School. Like I did every morning, when I woke up I went into my mom’s room and, having heard it on the radio, she told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I originally thought it was an accident, and despite the fact that all the planes had already hit their targets (considering CA is 3 hours behind NY), I didn’t realize the full extent of what had happened until we turned on the tv. We didn’t actually do any work in class that day and simply watched the news all day long. I remember that many people were afraid LA would be a target despite there not being any indication of what they would want to hit in Los Angeles. Although, if you think about it, if you want to hit a target that represents America’s moral degradation and cultural depravity, Hollywood would probably be a good place to start. Apart from the marquee events like President Bush’s speech and the photographs of him standing on the rubble of the World Trade Center, I don’t remember much of what happened in the following weeks. When Operation Enduring Freedom began I was 100% behind it and was excited by the seemingly easy progress we were making militarily in Afghanistan.
Throughout the next few years of high school everyone talked about how we were now living in a “post-9/11 world” in which our lives would never be the same. However, apart from stricter security at airports (which I was used to flying in and out of Israel as often as I do), I didn’t feel that my own life was really any different. I was one of those people who was blessed with a place in American society where my life changed very little after 9/11. My parent’s jobs weren’t affected, the economic downturn didn’t really impact our lives, none of my family was in the military and therefore sent overseas to fight, I didn’t do anything any differently in the “post 9/11 world.” I lived my sheltered life just as I did before the towers fell.
Three and a half years later I was accepted into the Air Force Academy and, with my decision to go there, I knew that for the first time in my life, my world would truly be affected by the events of 9/11. Going to the Academy was an eye-opening experience for me. I found myself surrounded by people with a true sense of civic duty who were willing to give their lives for out country and the principles it stands for. I know it sounds trite but it was in actuality true. The people I met, especially in my first year at USAFA, will remain my brothers and sisters forever because of that common bond we had that was service to a greater cause. In my first year I even got caught up a little too much in the patriotic fervour that I was suddenly immersed in—my taste in music tilted severely towards uber-patriotic country music (I mean really, Toby Keith? What was I thinking?) and there were those back at home who were convinced (some excited by the prospect, others dreading it) that I would become a Republican. Ultimately, my political views didn't change, but that was irrelevant because the patriotism and dedication to America and her ideals was not a political thing at the Academy, it was simply something everyone believed in and everyone was passionate about. If there is one thing that all Academy cadets hate its mandatory formations, especially those that happen at Reveille (which is early in the morning, somewhere around 6am). However, on 9/11 we would have both a reveille formation and a taps (end of the day) candlelight vigil and you wouldn’t hear a single complaint because everyone knew the significance of that day and what it represented.
My most profound 9/11 memory came in my 3rd year at the Academy when I was lucky enough to be in a Political Science course taught by Hal Bidlack, a retired AF Officer who eventually ran for Congress in Colorado. Dr Bidlack was an incredible instructor with a real passion for knowledge, debate, teaching, and discussion. He was never afraid to push the envelope and get us to question our beliefs so that they may be altered or strengthened. He even ate chalk once to demonstrate a point (I can’t for the life of me remember what that point was, but it was a good one at the time). The most sobering time in that classroom, however, was on 9/11 when Dr Bidlack shared with us his memories of that day; he was in the Pentagon that morning when the plane hit. I won’t tell his story here because it is his story to tell and he doesn’t tell it often, but I will just say that his recollections of the sights, sounds, and, most chillingly, smells that he witnessed that day were unbelievably moving and left an indelible mark on me. To have heard the story of someone so intimately involved that day really brought the event home in a way that I had not yet experienced. It was no longer a day of pain and sadness for thousands of faceless Americans but a face was put on that suffering and it made it all that much more real.
Looking back and reflecting on 9/11 evokes many emotions. There’s fear that, despite our feelings of safety and invincibility, we were so easily and so devastatingly struck. There’s anger that there exists such hatred in this world that would inspire people to carry out such acts. There’s confusion as to how this event could happen and how the aftermath could take such unforeseeable turns. But I think that the overwhelming emotion that I feel about this day is actually a positive one, one of thankfulness and blessing. I feel blessed when I think of 9/11 for several reasons and I’ll try to explain them.
First of all, I am blessed that I live in a country that, despite all the bickering and squabbling, the partisan hatred and the ideological differences so entrenched in our culture, truly has the ability to unite. I have seen that when a crisis arises, Americans are able to rise to meet that challenge and come together as one. The response in the US to 9/11 was incredible and one that I wish I would see more often under less horrifying circumstances.
Secondly, I’m blessed to live in a society that has the ideals and beliefs that inspired this act of hatred in the first place. We were attacked that day in part because we are a country that believes in pluralism, in freedom, in liberty, in openness and in understanding. Yes, we often get it wrong and are far from perfect, but more often than not we get it right and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Next, and this is a slightly more depressing thing to feel blessed about, but I can’t help but feel grateful that I live in a society in which an event like this is as rare as it is. There are places all over the world in which citizens live in daily fear that their lives will be disrupted by acts of terror. The obvious example that my personal connections bring me to think of is Israel, but I know there are many other places around the world that fit this description and I am blessed to live in a country where that is not the case.
Finally, I feel blessed that for at least the next 10 years of my life I will have the honour of helping to maintain these things for which I am blessed and perhaps even make it so that other people in other countries around the world can one day experience the same things that I have been blessed with my whole life. Being in the military is so much more than flying airplanes or playing with cool gadgets or wearing a uniform or following orders. It is a way of life, a life of service to others, that I am truly blessed to be a part of. My life will be spent helping others, serving others, working to better the lives of others. 9/11 reminds me that I get to help create a world in which 9/11 won’t happen and I can’t think of many better things to do with my time.
