In two days, we will mark the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks on America by a group of radical Muslims.
And how things have changed since September 11, 2001. Suddenly terms and organizations unknown to most Americans became commonplace. The names of Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden peppered our conversations.
The United States went from a country united in grief, anger and despair to a country that finds people making citizen arrests of school principals for enforcing a government mask mandate. We are a country in which just more than half of Americans have been fully vaccinated against a deadly virus, with the other half refusing to be vaccinated and to wear masks out of some misguided sense of 'patriotism' and loyalty to a disgraced former president.
Personally, I like the nation of 20 years ago a lot better. As NBC News anchor Lester Holt asked at the end of a story about the differences between America in the aftermath of 9/11 and America today: :What has happened to us?"
September 11 is one of those days when everyone remembers where they were when they heard news of the attacks.
I was on my way to work around 7:15 a.m. PDT when my car radio carried a report that an airplane had hit one of New York City's Twin Towers. It must have been a terrible accident, I thought. Then came news that a second airplane had hit the other tower. This was no accident. I was numb and in disbelief. And I was worried, as I worked for a federal agency in the San Francisco Bay area.
My agency shared property with the military. Traffic on the highway was at a standstill. I soon learned why. Immediately after the attacks, all the access gates were closed, with only the main gate remaining open. Every vehicle was searched inside and out and underneath for explosives as it approached the gate, and our IDs were carefully checked. We also were quizzed about where we were going. Which building was I going to?
As I waited in my car to be cleared to enter the property, I called my parents in Illinois so they wouldn't worry about me. They weren't home, and as I later learned, they hadn't yet heard the news. But I left a message on their answering machine.
Nearly all employees were sent home, but I was among a few employees designated as essential personnel who stayed at work to handle the deluge of requests from local news media wanting to interview our senior managers for their thoughts and 'reactions.' I still wonder exactly what kind of 'reaction' reporters were expecting. So I and a couple of other people in my office arranged interviews, coordinated our efforts with headquarters in Washington, D.C., and developed talking points for our senior managers tapped to do interviews.
This went on for several days, with little time to mourn the horrendous loss of life. I worked long days and was exhausted when I got home. Finally, on a day off work, I had time to process what had happened. As I sat in my favorite chair in the living room, watching the endless replays of the airplanes striking the Twin Towers, and listening to the non-stop news media coverage, the tears started. And they would not stop.
I went for a walk every day during my lunch hour. One day, as I walked near a fence that separated my agency's property from the military side, I heard an airplane approaching. This sound filled me with fear, as all flights over the US were still grounded. It was a US Air Force plane bringing a high-ranking person to the military base. But my nerves were so on edge that just the sound of an airplane sent my heart racing. Luckily, I was near the runway and saw the plane as it landed.
Life has changed in so many ways since that day, when cowards perverted their Muslim faith and used it as justification to kill innocent people. Now we must remove our shoes, coats, belts and sometimes our watches before we can board an airplane. We go through multiple document checks and are subject to patdowns, scanning and swabs for explosives. We are advised that if we "See something, say something." Security has been drastically increased at federal buildings, airports, stadiums and other places where large numbers of people gather.
The would-be terrorists continue to change their approaches to killing innocent people. They have hit 'soft' targets such as airports, subways, restaurants and other unprotected facilities. They kidnap, torture and murder innocent people. But American and other intelligence agencies and police departments, along with private citizens who are quick to report anything or anyone suspicious, continue to fight back. Terror leaders have been captured or killed, terror cells and plots have been interrupted, and people are willing to get involved in the fight against terrorism on land and in the skies. Passengers on airplanes quickly jump into action if another passenger appears to pose a threat to the plane, crew or other passengers.
I believe that Sept. 11 should be a national holiday. It should join other days of remembrance such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Cancel Columbus Day, which is a minor holiday celebrated by the federal government, but not by anyone else. And it is a growing source of irritation to Native Americans who resent having to honor a man who enslaved and killed so many of their ancestors.
And now, with our country horribly divided when we should be pulling together to defeat the virus that is our common enemy, let us work to regain the sense of a common humanity, a nation united, that we experienced in the aftermath of this horrible day. In 2001, people around the world joined in a common sorrow for a country with which other governments were sometimes, even often, at odds. Those differences were set aside in grief. People lined up at US embassies in countries around the world to sign condolence books.
That sense of fellowship and support was two decades ago. National tragedies should bring us together. They should drive us to set aside our differences. Instead, we are a nation divided over nearly everything, from voting rights to abortion rights to getting vaccinated to protect us and everyone else against a disease the does not discriminate by age, gender, race or political affiliation.
Let us never forget the tragic events of that September 11. And let us never forget that above all else, we are all Americans. We share a common pride in our country. We have a proud history of pulling together when times get tough.
It's time to set our petty differences aside and work to find common ground once again.
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