Reflection on 15 Years

A decade and a half have passed since the 2001 terrorists’ attacks on the United States. The nation sent up a solemn promise that day: We will never forget. Since that day no airline traveler has entered a commercial plane without first going through a security check. 
Any unattended luggage at an airport, bus or train station is liable to be confiscated for fear that it contains explosive devices.
As a stunned people watched in disbelief and horror, in person or on television, the attacks unfolded. Episodes of human valor were unfolding minute after minute. The mettle of first responders was tested as never before in recent history. Soon, they would become heroes, although many would shun the title. They rushed into the bedlam as countless others were fleeing for safety and their lives.
What many at first believed to be two terrible airplane accidents in Manhattan quickly turned into something far more macabre. Shortly after those attacks, another hijacked jet crashed into the Pentagon; only minutes passed until yet another jet plummeted to the ground in Shanksville, Pa.
Emergency responders from Cape May County were among those who first answered the call for assistance for New York City. Members of the local National Guard unit were also pressed into service in the aftermath of the attack. What they witnessed etched indelible scenes into their minds that some could never erase.
Some local families quickly learned their loved ones had perished in the attacks while others knew friends or associates who were victims.
Everyone, it seemed, knew someone who was connected to the attacks. Those who had no personal connections to those lost empathized with others who knew the painful sting of loss.
The county united with the rest of the nation. American flags waved from homes, vehicles and emergency equipment. Donors lined up at Red Cross blood banks to donate the life-giving fluid which was so desperately needed by the countless injured.
Airlines were ordered to the ground stranding some county residents who had been vacationing or visiting family members. The prohibition against all flights, ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration, was unprecedented.
Fear gripped the nation as it had not done in decades. Homeland security was to become the new catch phrase.
Riders aboard the Cape May-Lewes Ferry watched in amazement and some fright as Coast Guard vessels escorted the ferries for the 17-mile trans-bay crossing. Passengers were searched; vehicles were inspected and scanned for possible bombs. Officers with trained dogs were soon to become a commonplace thing at those and other transit facilities.
Anyone of Middle Eastern descent soon became an unjustified suspect as seeds of misplaced suspicion toward anyone dubbed “an Arab” took root in many minds.
A brief summary of the attacks:
8:46 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into floors 93-99 of the North Tower. All aboard, as well as many in the offices, were killed.
9:03 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into floors 75-85 of the South Tower. All on board and hundreds inside died.
9:37 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the western facade of the Pentagon, all aboard and 125 in the building died.
10:07 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pa. All 40 aboard, passengers and crew, were killed.
A coordinated air attack had taken place as the nation began a crystalline workday in September. Never again would Americans believe themselves secure from foreign terrorists. The most powerful city in the world was shrouded in clouds of smoke, covered in ash. The nation’s capital was wounded by an enemy. Pennsylvania, the birthplace of this free nation, was scarred by the crash of a hijacked jet. The state’s soil was reddened by the blood of patriots who had made their last best attempt to prevent further tragedy and died as a result.
The war on terrorism had begun.
Memorials to the horror of that day are located in several places in Cape May County.
At the County Administration Building, 4 Moore Road, is a collection of pieces of every attack site that day. That memorial is to the left of the main entrance under an oak tree planted in remembrance to those who died Sept. 11, 2001.
Stone Harbor and Avalon secured artifacts, pieces of I-beams that made up the Twin Towers. Both boroughs made those centerpieces of memorials. To those places many go so that they might never forget that day in September 2001.