9/11 – Twenty Years Later

Around 7:30 on the morning of September 11, 2001, I came up from the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) train station, multiple levels below the World Trade Center.

Twenty-five years earlier, I had started a “go for” job in that same neighborhood, which continued through my college years.  Back in 1976, the outsides of the towers were complete, while work remained inside.  My parents, as well as my favorite aunt and uncle, were local office workers.  My mom would exit the subway early each morning, in a never-ending hunt for bargains at Century 21, Modell’s, or Odd Lots.  My Irish immigrant dad would venture to Battery Park at lunch to watch ships go by, and/or visit one of the area’s Catholic churches for Mass and Confession.  Knowing the area better than a native, he would tell us about Castle Clinton, the Customs House, and Federal Hall where George Washington took his oath of office, as well as other sightseeing treasures.

Like my dad, I also loved to sightsee, right in my own hometown.  I enjoyed the room-sized elevator that would shake, as it raced to the 110^th floor WTC observatory.  There was always some sort of entertainment on the local streets.  I counted myself extremely fortunate to have been in the right spot on May 26, 1977, to see a young man from Queens scale the outside of one of the towers!  And nothing matches the 20-minute cruise in the harbor that is the Staten Island Ferry!

On September 11, 2001, I unlocked my bike to cycle across the Brooklyn Bridge – the last leg of my morning commute.  It was an exceptionally beautiful September day.  When I later heard talk of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center, I was in disbelief – I was just there!  When word came of a second crash, everyone’s worst fears seemed realized.  I later saw throngs of people escaping Manhattan, reminiscent of 1998’s The Siege.  Yet much different than that movie, I cannot recall New Yorkers singling out any groups as enemies or crying for vengeance.

Everything closed early that day.  As tremendous confusion filled the air and communications were impacted, most people just wanted to get home to their loved ones, whom they feared could be hit by another strike.  Rumors were floating that there would be additional attacks outside the city.  While most means of travel were compromised, a co-worker and I made a pact to figure out some way to get across the Hudson River.  When we later boarded a train, and it emerged from under the Hudson, we looked back in stunned silence at the massive cloud of thick, dark smoke that had been the World Trade Center.  Twenty years later, that co-worker remains the colleague/friend with whom I am most in touch in retirement.

Later Came Awareness

Later, I became more aware that anti-family practices had been getting imposed on the Middle East, which certainly did not win us any friends (cf, The Hillary Plan, Bucks County Courier Times, 2001).  Yet the terrorists who struck the World Trade Center didn’t strike global elites, financial tycoons, or population control masterminds.  Their victims were primarily office workers from the five boroughs and New Jersey.  On a very personal level, I felt as though someone had desecrated my parents’ graves, as their lives had been so intertwined with that neighborhood.

Current Events

When I started writing this reflection about a month ago, I had hoped my experiences would be good to share – at least for me.  I hoped to look back with the benefit of a Catholic moral reflection.  At the time I found it startling how quickly things seemed to have moved on, and how I had grown accustomed to not hearing about the “Taliban” or “Al-Qaeda.”  Then came the shockingly fast events of August 15^th.

I listened live to President Joseph Biden’s August 16^th address about “the unfolding situation in Afghanistan.”  The president certainly conveyed his conviction that the collapse was inevitable, but what about the images of desperate Afghanis left behind so similar to the 1975 images of desperate Vietnamese left behind in Saigon?  American soldiers must feel bereft to have had their sacrifices so sabotaged!

I do not know if it was deliberate, but President Biden confused the decision about withdrawing from Afghanistan with what appears to have been an ill-prepared operation that effectively abandoned people.  Yet, hasn’t he long exhibited a defective moral compass in his decision-making.  His apparent belief that he can reconcile policies/practices that are anti-human life and anti-marriage/family with a profession of Catholicism are bizarre and scandalous – to say the least.  Those in positions of Catholic authority who have not challenged these blatant inconsistencies will have much for which to answer.

Needless to say, this is not how I imagined we would collectively be remembering September 11 on its 20^th anniversary.

Hope, Inspite Of It All

However, back on Wednesday, September 12, 2001, Saint Pope John Paul II the Great managed to articulate both the shock and horror that gripped the world but also reminded us that darkness will not prevail, not twenty years ago and not today.

How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ’s word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it (St Pope John Paul II).