The 20th Anniversary of the Terror Attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, plus a plane crash in Pennsylvania is soon here. I remember that day as if it were yesterday much like people remember Pearl Harbor or the JFK Assassination.
On September 11, 2001, I was 26 years old and lived in a studio apartment. I worked at Payless ShoeSource at Southridge Mall (no longer there)and National Car Rental at the airport. I just started the car rental job the month before so I was still in training with the manager. No pets yet.
I woke up exhausted from working 2 jobs at the same time. I didn't turn on the TV and just ate my breakfast to take off for work. On my way to work, none of the radio stations were playing music. All the stations were talking about some plane crash in Pennsylvania. I arrived at work and asked my manager what the heck was going on. She replied I missed the excitement that morning of every plane in the country landing at once and hundreds of people wanting cars cause they couldn't wait for the buses to be provided. She then said to go watch the TV in the airport bar. I go and see the twin towers on fire, the Pentagon was damaged, and the plane crash in Pennsylvania was from the passengers rebelling against the hijackers so they crashed the plane. Nobody ever figured out the destination of that plane. While I was watching TV, the first tower collapsed and I went back to my manager to tell her the one tower had fallen. She went to the bar and came back later announcing the 2nd tower had fallen. The only connection to the terror attack victims/survivors was the car rental gal next door (I think her name was Lolly) had a son who worked at the World Trade Center and she was worried all day if he were alive or dead. We heard the next day that he had called her that evening cause it took him all day to get home. He was at his desk when the first plane hit the other tower. He thought, That's it I'm outta here. It turned out the 2nd plane hit his floor so his desk was incenerated.
So I spent most of September 11 sitting in a corner of the car rental while my manager explained to people we had no cars to rent out. I got home to watch the news. The news people said that the terrorists committed this attack over Israel. I sat in shock. OK, let me wrap my mind around this: Over 2000 people died today over freaking Israel? What does Israel have to do with us? Unless a bomb goes off and people are killed, the news people never mention Israel. I watch the news on TV, read newspapers and magazines, I watch movies and TV shows, Israel isn't there. I know politicians will "Stand With Israel" and give foreign aid (which they apparently give a lot of countries). Don't ask me why cause I couldn't even tell you where Tel Aviv is located that keeps getting hit with suicide bombers. In fact, I couldn't tell you the name of any of their Presidents, or Prime Ministers, or whatever their leaders are called. Beyond being the holy land of 3 religions, Israel doesn't mean much to Americans. To most Americans, Israel is just a foreign country on the other side of the world. If devout people have access to holy sites, they don't really care where Jews, Christians, and Muslims live in Israel or who gets elected to office. What the heck did Israel do to justify this mass murder of these innocent people going about their lives?
As the days went on, security at the airport got more strict. At the shoe store, we collected donations for the American Red Cross. American flags suddenly popped up everywhere, even on jewelry and clothing. I got a set of flag pins at a retail store. 1 I still have and wear on September 11. I heard of tourists visiting at the time were surprised at all these American flags appearing from nowhere. That didn't suprise me at all. Americans are very patriotic on Independence Day. Soon Halloween came a month later and the most popular costumes were first responders. Horror movies were also popular and articles were written to explain this popularity of horror movies after witnessing a real life horrific event. The conclusion was horror in movies is fake and people walk away unscarred. Many people joined the military after the terror attacks. Then the War of Terror began in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know a few people from school I found on social media who went to Afghanistan. Every time a terror attack occured in the world, the airport made all the employees get new badges and criminal background checks. The cops at the airport were always tense after an atttack somewhere in the world. They got real upset when people parked their cars in front of the airport. A year later I went to England with my family with extra security policies. These were the days before digital cameras and I prayed my disposable film cameras I was forced to put through X-Ray machines didn't ruin my photos of my trip.
Time went on and people began to move on from September 11. Child were born who only viewed September 11 in the history books and documentaries. But for a time, we learned to tell people we love them and cherish our time on earth.
Now American troops have left Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq next battled ISIS or ISIL and Afghanistan was retaken by the Taliban with a rival ISIS-K group waiting to overthrow them. Who knows what will happen in the future cause it has not been written yet.
I'm sure many Americans wondered why other countries hate us so much. Is it our freedom they don't have? We are the polar opposite of a absolute power dictatorship. Is it our prosperity and influence over the world as a superpower? I know they love our technology such as weapons, computers, internet, TV, and cell phones. I can tell them how to get prosperity like us. Prosperity needs a stable economy where businesses can assume they will be in business next year. A stable economy needs a stable political system where leaders change without bloodsheed (Revolution, Military Coup d'etat, or Civil War). A stable political system needs a strong army (I say strong army instead strong military cause bombs are nice but you need ground troops to occupy the land) that can withstand invasion from the outside and rebellion from the inside. A strong army/military needs cultural unity. America is a unified culture where we all call ourselves Americans. Of the victims of September 11, Americans don't care what race they were, what religion they followed, who they voted for in the last election, or how much money they had. We know they were Americans who didn't deserve this fate and therefore, we mourn them even if we never met them.
Are these people we give democracy to on a silver platter unifed cultures? Democracy won't survive places where people are shooting their neighbors. I think sometimes politicians forget that.
We Americans cherish our freedom and democracy so much because we fought for it. Well, not me personally but my ancestors did. General George Washington fought an 8-year war to secure our independence from Great Britain, with French help. Then when the 1st government under the Articles of Confederation wasn't working out so good, the miliary planned a military coup d'etat and intended to crown George Washington as king, or emperor cause he could have had his choice. General Washington was invited to speak at a meeting plannning to overthrow the fledgling government. He joked how he was old and needed his spectacles (glasses) to read his speech. He explained (I'm summarizing here) that his soldiers did not fight and die to overthrow a king to replace him with another, there will be no King of America, not him and not anyone else. So instead of King George we got President George under the US Constitution. Then, after 8 years, 2 terms, he left office to pass the torch to someone else. Which is why after President Roosevelt was elected to 3 terms that the Constitution was changed to prevent anyone from holding office indefinately. Americans will not tolerate a absolute monarchy. George Washington fought for the idea that all men are created equal, not to crown himself king. Americans don't fight for power, they fight for equality (generally speaking).
I read how foreignors stated that if Americans lost their freedom, they have nowhere to go. I can say with absolute certainty, if that day came, Americans would fight to take their freedom back. Nobody handed our freedom, our rights, or our privledges on a silver platter. Americans past and present fought marching down the street, fought in the courts, and fought lobbying politicians. We have unions, voting rights, end to segregation, and sexual harassment laws because they were fought for. People died fighting our rights. People were thrown in jail and beaten fighting for our rights. It wasn't fun and it wasn't easy fighting for the rights we have today. I think politicans forget that. What are the people in other countries we give democracy to fighting for? Are they going to fight to keep the democracy they just received? Do they fight for equality or do they fight for power? Only time will tell.
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