Rev. Douglas J. House, M.Div.
“It was the worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us” – US Senator John Kerry
September 11, 2001 was a Tuesday that started out like any other day. There was beauty in the morning sky and a crispness in the air which hinted that autumn was not far off. At that time, I was teaching mornings at the University of Bridgeport and on my way to school. I was listening to a New York radio station, when all of a sudden news broke that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. Immediately, those on the air went into “comedic mode”, reflecting that plane crashes in the city happen occasionally. One person said, “Probably a student pilot who was learning to fly”. And then the news came that the second tower had been hit as well and the radio station went silent. It’s not that it had lost power, but rather the seriousness of the moment had come to enshroud them.
As I walked into the classroom, one of the students who had arrived early asked me if I had heard that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon in Washington. I replied that it wasn’t the Pentagon, but the World Trade Center. By lunchtime, I discovered that we both had been right. In addition, another plane had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
People who can recall the events of this day and the days the followed, discover that memories have been etched into our national consciousness. Many people today can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when the news about 9/11 broke. As was true of earlier generations, there were people who always remembered the day when President Roosevelt died, or when Pearl Harbor was attacked. These moments in our common history are seeds in time that our nation never forgets.
“Memories are collections of sacred moments.” – Anonymous
In the years just following 9/11, I could walk into a classroom and ask the question, “Where were you when 9/11 took place?” The answers would vary, but every hand would be raised. I remember the stories of students whose fathers were among the first responders, as they were NYC firemen. Others shared stories about being let out of school in Manhattan early amidst the frenzy of parents and family members attempting to find their children. Even my international students shared that they watched the unfolding of events that day from various places around the world. It was a day that touched so many people in so many ways.
Sadly, so much time has passed that students today do not have that “primary source” experience of those earlier students. Today, if I were to ask a class where they were and what they remembered about 9/11, no hand would raise. Most of today’s students were not even born by that time. So, the question is asked, “How do we make certain that present and future generations cherish the value of memory, and specifically the memory of 9/11?” Our memories, personal and national, serve us in so many ways, and one of my memories is what 9/11 did for our country. It seems odd that anything positive could have come from such a tragedy, but 9/11 had a way of bringing us together as a nation. I believe that is an important memory.
“Remember to look for the helpers” – Fred Rogers
Fred Rogers was a television personality that my kids, and many other children, grew up with. Watching Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood afternoons on Public Television offered a slow, quiet style in teaching many young people about the joys and challenges of life. It was a style so different from the excitement and fast paced action of Sesame Street.
I remember Mr. Rogers once telling the story about an occasion when he was a child and something terrible had happened. Rather than attempting to make sense of the tragedy in ways that a child might understand, his mother reflected on the event in another way. She told him to “look for the helpers”. It’s good advice for a child wrestling with a tragic event, but it’s a wise lesson for us as well. We remember that 9/11 brought out a number of good people, doing helpful things, in an effort to ease the burdens of people caught in a crisis. They were people who showed compassion and a willingness to care for others beyond measure.
As September arrives each year, may we never forget that Tuesday morning so long ago when so many innocent people lost their lives on 9/11. And may we never forget the thousands of people who worked day and night to help relieve the losses of so many others. They were the helpers. “It was the worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us.”
