Twenty-five years, gone in the blink of an eye. Yet those of us who lived through the September 11 terrorist attack a quarter of a century ago will never forget where we were and what we were doing the morning it happened.
My family wasn’t in the habit of having the TV on as we scurried about getting ready for school and work, so I didn’t know right away that the World Trade Center had been destroyed and the Pentagon attacked and a plane aimed at the U. S. Capitol brought down in a field in Pennsylvania by passengers so brave I still can’t wrap my head around what they did. But, like everyone else around the world, I knew soon enough.
Last week, I attended a fascinating talk at the Putnam County Library by retired Ambassador Matthew Klimow, whose recently published book “As the Pentagon Burned” recounts the harrowing events of 9-11 from the vantage point of those inside the National Military Command Center. Klimow pointed out that, with the focus often on what happened at the World Trade Center and in Pennsylvania, some may have forgotten that 184 people—125 who worked at the Pentagon and 59 on American Airlines Flight 77—died when that plane struck the western face of the Pentagon. We mustn’t forget. Not ever.
At the end of this month, I’ll travel to Nashville to hear author Jodi Piccoult talk about her soon-to-be-released new novel “Hollow Bones,” which tells the story of a young woman who was two months old when her mother was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center.
Country radio stations are playing the late Toby Keith a lot these days. And I’m not talking about his hit songs that I love. “How Do You Like Me Now?” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” And “Beer for My Horses,” which is my absolute favorite because it contains the line “We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces.” The song that we’re bombarded with these days is—no surprise– “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” Radio stations played it over and over and over again in the wake of the terrorist attacks. I disliked the song then and I dislike it still because it glorifies blind patriotism and aggressive violence. I’m not crazy about the idea of the Statue of Liberty shaking her fist, but I really, really hate the line that says “We’ll put a boot in you’re a**, it’s the American way.”
Because that’s not what I want the American way to be.
Of course I don’t want this nation to be a pushover or a weakling. Of course I want us to stand straight and strong. But I despise chest-thumping. And I fear mightily that’s what we’ve become over the past several years. Aggressive chest-thumpers, in the worst possible way.
In late September of 2001, I wrote a column for this newspaper with the headline “In tragedy we have found something precious.” In that column, I talked about the good things that happened in here in the days following the terrorist attacks. We hugged each other and spoke kindly to one another. We lined up to donate blood. We gave generously of our time and resources to help victims of the terrorist attacks and others who needed help for whatever reason. We put our hands over our hearts every time “God Bless America” was played, which was often.
It’s hard to think of that tragic time as a blessing, but in a way it was. We weren’t waving weapons at each other. We weren’t screaming obscenities. We weren’t using social media to insult or threaten people we didn’t even know. Despite political differences, we were united in those days. We can, I hope, be united again. But it will require a gargantuan effort on the part of our citizenry and political leadership that wants that change to happen.
Perhaps the 25th anniversary of September 11 is the perfect time to start.
(September 12, 2026)