On the morning of September 11, 2001, my husband and I were lying in bed before taking our kids to school when Ray turned on the television to watch the morning news. Suddenly, I heard him say, “Oh, my God!” I looked up to see footage of the first plane plowing into the first tower of the World Trade Center.
We were both frozen with shock.
Our children gathered in bed with us and watched as well. We all stared in disbelief at the events that followed.
At that moment, it was impossible to know if other cities were also targeted. Beverly Hills High School rests in the shadow of two tall buildings in next-door Century City and it wasn’t difficult for our imaginations to extend to what might happen if the terrorists decided to also have a Los Angeles target. We elected to keep our kids home from school that day.
The whole family watched the television coverage, all day and into the evening.
We felt – along with the rest of the nation – a mixture of horror, fear, indignation, and anger as we learned what had happened, followed by a strong sense of national pride as we watched our fellow Americans risk their own lives to help others in need.
Over the next few days, we watched as people attached miniature American flags to their car windows and radio antennae as a symbol of national unity over the attack on our country. Red, white and blue flags seemed to be flying everywhere as cars crept their way through LA traffic.
So much has happened since then: the Iraqi invasion, war casualties, suicide bombers, Guantanamo Bay detention camp, Abu Ghraib, Saddam Hussein’s death, American soldiers suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury and amputations due to roadside bombs, Bin Laden’s death, Afghanistan, Pakistan, drones, etc., etc., etc. Regardless of one’s politics, there is no doubt that our government’s reaction to 9/11 set a whole series of events in motion that have deeply affected our country’s economy and morale, not to mention how the United States is viewed around the world.
We are now faced with Syria and the atrocities that have recently surfaced there and we, as Americans, gaze at that profound injustice with true sadness and concern. We also know from these past twelve years that we must tread lightly or we’ll find ourselves enmeshed in yet another war in a country halfway around the world from ours.
We are older, wiser, maybe more jaded now. We are certainly more cautious. How could we not be after what our nation has experienced over these past twelve years?
I applaud the opportunity to publicly debate whether or not involvement in Syria is something the American people will support. We may actively disagree with each other, but we, at least, are allowed the option to actually discuss these concerns. Unlike other parts of the world, Syria included, where those who disagree are made to pay for their dissenting opinions.
Salmon Rushie has a wonderful scene in his children’s book Haroun and the Sea of Stories. A motley group of highly opinionated citizens go into battle against an enemy who are stealthy, expert soldiers who have their mouths sewn shut. The motley crowd complains the whole time about their leaders and offers up countless suggestions – some good, some bad – on how the invasion should be handled. Still, this clearly under-prepared group meets the enemy with the fervor of unified resistance and the expert opposition slips away, one by one, and abandons their cause. You see, the motley crowd experienced true unity because they were able to express their varied opinions; the expert soldiers were easily defeated because with mouths sewn shut, they had not been allowed to articulate their feelings and, therefore, had not developed bonds with one other.
I am grateful we are talking.
9/11 happened. We continue to live with its aftermath. Let us learn from what we have done right and what we have done wrong over these years.
Perhaps if we talk, listen and learn, we can avoid much of the pain we’ve seen and experienced since that fateful day.
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