The stories...
We need them now more than ever
This past Thursday, my son’s homework assignment included interviewing me about Sept 11. It was his turn since my daughter had the same teacher a couple of years before.
I was immediately transported back in time twenty-one years ago to United Airlines Flight 93. How when it left the gate at Newark Airport, it found itself delayed forty minutes because of the NY metro air traffic grind. This delay was not something the terrorists had planned for. Instead, their plan was to synchronize the 4 hi-jackings and further surprise our nation. What else the terrorists did not count on though was the courage of the folks on Flight 93 that day.
Because the plane was overdue, once it was taken over and the passengers contacted their loved ones, they realized they were part of a larger suicide bomber mission. What came next made history. Passengers from diverse backgrounds and unknown to one another banded together to do the unthinkable: run towards the danger and take back a hijacked airline in flight.
Facing certain death, the passengers fought back to take control of the plane and ultimately prevented it from striking its intended target in Washington, D.C. Flight recording transmissions revealed the harrowing scene in the cockpit, and the courage exhibited by the passengers in the face of overwhelming odds. All souls would perish.
Just hearing the mention of the date “September 11” will forever evoke emotions in me no matter how much time has passed. The sights, the sounds, and the smells of that fateful day are as clear for me now as there were then.
Like so many people who lived or worked in close proximity to Lower Manhattan, Washington, DC, or a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the tragedy and devastation that was carried by terrorists touched all of our senses.
Yet, one thing I would never have expected with the passing of time was how the importance of the different stories from “9/11” that illuminated the bravery of everyday men and women who did things on that day that were extraordinary would be needed now more than ever to help us navigate the challenges we face today.
The stories of who attacked us, why they did it, and who responded must never be forgotten. I am thankful for people like my son’s middle school teacher for making sure those stories are told and passed on. In doing so, she is paying it forward.
In closing, the battle between right and wrong, good, and evil are timeless and will always challenge our sensibilities regardless of how the human experience evolves.
Today, we need heroes to model as we confront the challenges that lie ahead as society evolves. The heroes of September 11 remind us all that when faced with uncertainty and against all odds the human condition can and will prevail.
We can never forget the stories of September 11. They instill upon us an absolute understanding that selflessness, serving others and defending freedoms are core to advancing our democratic ideals and will always require sacrifice.
Lest we forget…