Thoughts on 9/11

My 20th birthday was a Tuesday. It was the beginning of my sophomore year at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.?Like most days that year, and most days since, the first thing I did that morning was check email and news. The top story scrolling across the screen at 9:00am that morning as “Plane crashes into World Trade Center in New York City.”?

My first thought was of the B-29 that crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945. I imagined that perhaps a pilot of a small plane had gotten lost and hit one of the Twin Towers. I grew up in New York State, and visited the city often. Because of the height of the buildings, you could tell where you were in New York City by how the towers looked. I remembered visiting the World Trade Center observation deck and looking down at the city from there.?

Before heading to my 10:00am class, I went up to the lounge in our dorm and found many other students there. That was the first time I realized that this was no ordinary event. Both 1 and 2 WTC were on fire. There were reports of terrorist activity all over the country. The rest of the day was like a dream. Floating from place to place and not fully processing the events. By the time I was out of class for the day, the scope of the attacks was known. The world changed that day.?

I had trouble reaching my family in New York by phone, as circuits were overloaded. My brother was in college in Boston at the time, and we had trouble reaching him as well. Thankfully, no members of my family or close friends were directly affected, though we did know people from our hometown who died in the attacks. We later learned that Flight 93 flew directly over my (future) wife’s workplace in Cleveland and was close to us at Oberlin. The event affected me more than I thought it would. Even today, it is difficult for me to watch video coverage of the event. I suspect that 9/11 is partial factor for motivating me to enter my career in law enforcement.?

It took me a long time to get to Ground Zero. Although I had been to New York City in the years after 9/11,?I didn’t visit lower Manhattan until January 2015 when I?attended a police funeral for NYPD Detective Wenjian Liu. Another member of our department’s honor guard joined me. That event in itself is a story. After attending the funeral in Brooklyn, we thought: “Hey, let’s go down to the memorial at the Trade Center.” We were still in full dress uniform, which felt like the armor I needed to go to such a place.?

And we did go. It was an incredible honor to be in that place while wearing my uniform, probably one of the highlights of my career. After milling around the outdoor memorial for a while, we wandered over to the 9/11 Museum and went through that also. The experience there was overpowering. If you ever get the chance to go there, do it.?

A few years later, I was fortunate to run the New York City Marathon with Team Answer the Call, an extension of the New York Police and Fire Widow’s and Children’s Benefit Fund. I ran the race in honor of the first responders who died on that day. This too was a moving experience.?

The events of that day profoundly changed the course of history, and the lives of many people. Even though it happened 21 years ago, the emotions and sharpness are still profound. If nothing else, 9/11 has inspired me to live a life of service to others, to celebrate the small things, and not to ever leave “I love you” unsaid.?

As we reflect on that day, I encourage you to do the same.?

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