They were no different from any of us. They had jobs that paid the bills, kept the families fed and clothed, and permitted them to use their skills to the best of their abilities. That day was nothing special, certainly not out of the ordinary. It was simply another beautiful September morning in 2001, so off they went to “the office.”
Like us, none of them knew the future. There were plans to attend children’s athletic games after work, or maybe get ready for an all-important dinner date with that “someone special” that evening. Perhaps there was hope that an expected promotion would be announced shortly and then, they would enjoy the rewards of the American dream: work hard, do your best, and you’ll get ahead. That was the plan that motivated so many, and does to this day.
To be sure, good-bye pecks on the cheeks many experienced were not romantically charged. Maybe some did not even exchange such short departing niceties, for them it was just a shouted “Have a good day! See you tonight.” “What? I’m in the shower…” “I said…good bye.” “Yeah, make sure the door is locked.”
As they left their homes and apartments that unassuming day, many clutched their most prized possessions, a briefcase, a cell phone, maybe that day’s “Star Ledger” or “The New York Times” of “New York Post.”
Whether by bus or subway or by walking, they all had a general destination: World Trade Center.
What a beautiful day it was, so sunny and terrific, a day that many of them would have loved to have been in the Catskills, the Poconos or the Jersey Shore. Instead, they had to work.
Offices were beginning to be populated. The early birds, who normally got in around 8 a.m. were probably preparing copies, making coffee, and setting out plans for the day, checking their “things to do today” lists, and wondering what the day would hold in store. Little did they know they were akin to being on the RMS Titanic with an iceberg just a mile or two away.
Others, in airline passenger terminals were antsy, just as you or I become when we simply want to get on our plane and take off. This was a time before going through security screenings and baggage checks, a time when there was no reason to be fearful or look with question on anyone who was not a “normal” fellow passenger. They, like us, were so naïve, so innocent, and, though many did not realize it, so brave.
We are today, as we were on that bright day, just normal Americans, enjoying life, liberty and pursuing interpretations of happiness. Never did it enter our collective thinking that we could be targets of anything much less a series of coordinated aircraft hijackings that would turn those passenger jet planes into missiles filled with men and women with the intent to kill men and women. Such thoughts were more distant from our minds than Anchorage is from Cape Town.
That was the dawning of the 21st century only 21 months and 11 days old.
Enter evil and hatred into the minds of a group of men. Guided by ideals foreign to every decent human, they decided to become judge and jury on innocents none of them knew. Those moms and dads, sons and daughters, grandparents and friends next door were deemed enemies. The pack of crazed killer hijackers felt they were worthy of death, from their deranged perspective, since they were classified as “infidels.”
So it was that they commandeered the jetliners and steered them directly into the Twin Towers. News of the first strike on the Twin Towers was considered by most that day as a terrible tragedy. In short order came another strike that could be no accident, many began to think.
As the stunned world reeled from the initial news, in short order came word of yet another plane strike at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa., where passengers did their valiant best to thwart their plane from heading to the nation’s capital for more destruction. They all died stopping the mad men from their target.
Today is Patriot Day. Such a named day did not exist on Sept. 11, 2001; there was no need for one. It was just another day in the life of America. The events on that Tuesday altered forever this nation and, perhaps, our view of each other. Some of us responded in curious ways, we locked our doors that were never before locked. We began to be fearful of those of different ethnic groups. There was unfounded anger against anyone who wore a turban. “They,” whoever they were, automatically became our avowed enemy.
New regulations were put in place, especially in and around airports.
Collectively, we did what Americans do best: First, we responded in every way possible to help the victims. We rolled up sleeves and donated blood and money. First responders headed to Ground Zero to offer whatever aid possible. Our National Guard unit spent months doing the unthinkable helping sift through debris. Congress opened fund floodgates and money poured forth to save us from another attack.
We are warned to be on the lookout for strange bags and packages in bus stations and other public places. In short America’s collective life has never returned to that pre-Sept. 11, 2001 level.
Today at 5 p.m., when Cape May County holds its 12th Patriot Day ceremony outside the County Administration Building, 4 Moore Road, artifacts from all three target sites will become part of the Patriot Garden in the front of the building. It is believed by county officials that this is a first in the Garden State, having artifacts from the World Trade Center and Pentagon and a sample of soil from the crash site in Pennsylvania in one place.
It could have been any one of us; in fact, it was all of us on that sunny day in New York and Virginia and Pennsylvania who were targets of hatred. It was said and sung after the attacks that we would never forget, that those tricolors would never run; would stand tall.
Have we forgotten? Have our colors run? Are we standing taller than ever?
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
