As a child I felt no emotion for the observance of Pearl Harbor Day. As the event took place some years before I was born, I could not feel or understand the connection adults had with that day. The day a man shot President Kennedy I was but a few months old, and again I could not understand the emotion. However, on September 11, 2001 I had come into work to find a man talking about a plane striking one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. At first, like most everyone else, I thought that it must have been some tragic accident; probably a small plane flying where it shouldn't have been as had happened before. This day would be different. Not much later a second plane struck the other tower and suddenly I knew along with everyone else that this was no accident. The Internet news sites were overwhelmed, the company Internet connection was overloaded, and people scrambled to find a television or radio somewhere to see what was going on. The Pentagon had been hit; the President had taken flight in Air Force One, and much of our government had gone to the bunkers. At work, we were sent home. At that time, no one could tell how many attacks would be carried out. The news at home had more to feed our fears.
For the first time in my life all commercial and civil aviation had been grounded. The first military planes to respond had been too late and armed poorly, if at all. Another plane had crashed in Pennsylvania and reports of last cell phone calls to loved ones had begun to appear on the news. I put out my flag at home and wandered around the house with a loaded rifle. I would imagine that many a home was guarded in much the same way that morning. What was going on and how far will this go? Along with many others I prayed.
Later in the day, the skies were clear above us. Not free of clouds, but free of jet trails and the sound of commercial jets overhead. As it became apparent that no more attacks would happen I set down the rifle and just watched the news... and prayed. Many had died, but as of this time no one could tell us how many or even who they were. The first stories of heroic firemen and police officers began to appear. The military was no longer sleepy, but fully armed and ready across the nation. The empty skies prevented travel for many, but also prevented further tragedy as one wrong move by a pilot or two at that time might have caused regrettable accidents. The President had landed in Kansas. Many lives had been lost, but not as many as had been feared at first. However, the twin towers that so many of us knew from so many films and photographs of New York City were gone forever. Children suddenly had lost one or both parents; husbands had lost wives and wives had lost husbands. Even in Nebraska, suddenly I could understand the emotions my grandparents had felt after Pearl Harbor, and those my parents had felt in November of 1963. I didn't know anyone who had died in the terrorist attacks, but I knew people like them.
We know that our nation came together after 9/11. Flags came out of storage and folks went out and bought new ones. Churches held packed services and memorials. A few survivors were even pulled out of a mountain of rubble in New York and Washington. People did look around their towns and neighborhoods and ask, "Who's that?" But many incidents that could have occurred did not. Condolences poured in from around the world. More than a few young men and women went down to volunteer for service to their nation. At that time, quite a few older ones wanted to, but we would cool down in time. Gradually, as it had after World War II, life began to go back to not quite normal.
Work, homes, careers, family, friends, and other things we list on our resume of life seemed much the same, but at the same time just a little different. As the years passed, 9/11 references would arrive less in the popular media, but have never quite disappeared either. Our nation has sent many men and women to war, though some folks do not remember that nearly enough in thought and prayer. On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the leader of the group who carried out the attacks, Osama bin Laden, is no more. Many of his comrades are also dead or have been captured. Saddam Hussein and his sons are gone. Some problems still exist in Iraq, but the nation is rebuilding and our military presence has become less and less. War still rages in Afghanistan, but not in all areas and much civil progress has been made. 9/11 happened, but God can work a mighty change from the worst of tragedies.
Ten years later, some things about the economy seem a little rough to us right now. But overall I am optimistic that our nation will continue to seek God. A great revival seems just around the corner to me even as things may seem dark when I look around. In the history of the United States, God has brought forth great revivals by an outpouring of His Spirit just when things have been very sinful and unbelief rampant in the land. Send your prayers up to God for our nation today. Remember the changes that have come from 9/11 and rejoice in God's providential blessing on America.
Bucky
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