I saw a thought in many spaces over the days leading up to the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, that people say they miss the America we were on Sept. 12, 2001.
And for sure, there was a spirit on that day that was like nothing we have ever seen since in this nation. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the United States really did feel like united states.
But this is also the kind of thought you have when a generation has passed. Yes, that was a time of unity — American flags literally everywhere, with spontaneous applause for public safety workers, members of the military and veterans, plus long lines at blood donation centers and as hard as it seems to imagine now, a common purpose in Washington, D.C.
It was also a time we were terrified. Despite the attacks being done largely by lunchtime on Sept. 11, no one truly knew it was “over.” A plane crash in Brooklyn two months later had the nation on edge that it was happening again. Before Sept. 11, the vast majority of us would have assumed — correctly, it turned out to be in this case — there was pilot error, if not a mechanical issue.
I still think of a plane crashing into a tower every time I see a plane flying over, say, downtown Atlanta, near skyscrapers.
We can debate what happened to that commonality of purpose all day. The fact the War on Terror was not a quick success was definitely a factor. It’s also true that getting back to normal means we were never going to hold up that level of politeness.
As I look back, though, I can’t help thinking of the world on Sept. 10, 2001.
It was my friend Stephanie’s 21st birthday. A group gathered in my dorm room and drank cheap wine. I can’t remember what we talked about that night because it was so unremarkable. Yes it was a celebration but in the Before Times, college students getting together to hang out and celebrate milestones was just another day. We didn’t worry about our futures.
The biggest news stories of the lifetimes of those of us tagged as “elder millennials” was the Challenger explosion and breakup of the Soviet Union, two things that were monumental in different ways but that also felt distant to most our age.
The Columbine High School shooting happened in 1999, a month before I graduated from Albertville, but as awful as it was, it felt like it would be a one-off, not the start of a world where parents had every reason to worry about their children’s safety at school.
Last week’s ceremonies, local or back at Ground Zero, revealed how raw the pain still is. We mourn the lives lost. We mourn the innocence we had before the second crash at the World Trade Center made us all realize everything had changed.
We mourn the lives lost in the wars fought trying to prevent even more attacks.
While there was so much to like about the way we responded, it’s impossible to forget that we just lost so much, and the ripple effects continue.
Something like a third of the nation now doesn’t remember what happened on that day. They weren’t born yet or weren’t even old enough. Those of us who lived it and continue to see the effects must make sure the stories — and the nation we were just before and just after — are never forgotten.
David Clemons is an Albertville native who published newspapers in Alabama and Georgia and now works in healthcare marketing in Atlanta. His email address is [email protected].
People gather to pray at First United Methodist Church in Birmingham at a special prayer service after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Ten Alabamians died in the attacks as passengers in the hijacked planes, in the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon. BERNARD TRONCALE | BIRMINGHAM NEWS (ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY)
