September 11th, Twenty Three Years Later
On this day 23 years ago, I was driving in to work very early in the morning to go to a parole hearing for a guy I had recently arrested. September 11, 2001 was going to be my first day as a solo patrol cop as I had finalized from training the day before.
On my way in, my music radio station was not playing music. There was news on and I was not paying much attention to it, but something caught my ear and I turned up the volume. What I heard had me wondering if I was hearing some sort of War of the Worlds fake news story (if you don't get that reference, google it).
I called my wife and woke her up. I told her to turn on the television and when she did, she gasped. That is when I knew it was real.
By 9am, I was told the parole hearing was cancelled. I was working swing shift and did not start until 3pm, but I was already at work. I reached out to a dayshift patrol sergeant and I hit the field to help just in case something popped off.
That was a very weird day in terms of calls for service. People who were legitimate victims of real crimes apologized for calling because their problems seemed so small in comparison. People as a whole were acting differently than I had ever seen. They were more concerned about others than themselves. We were all in a weird state of shock, and those of us working were simultaneously on very high alert, not knowing if more attacks were imminent.
On that day, 2,977 people were murdered by terrorists. Besides the US, 57 other countries lost citizens that day. Since then, another 4,343 survivors, first responders and rescue workers have died from complications related to all the chemicals, carcinogens and hazmat they came in contact with that day and in the following weeks and months while trying to save their fellow Americans.
In the months that followed, and even the fist couple years after, the United States had never been more united, at least not in my lifetime. Pride in this country was higher than I can ever remember. Tragedy like we had experienced has a way of bringing people together.
Sadly, since then, this country has become insanely divided. If you are old enough to remember 9-11, then you know exactly what I mean, and if you are like me, it probably makes you sad to see what has become of this nation. If you are too young to remember the unity of that time, I feel bad for you. My kids are too young and have never seen it. They only know the divisive, argumentative, self-centered, deteriorating US that we are currently living in.
I hope that can change. I pray that younger Americans will someday know United States that those of us who lived through 9-11 experienced. I also pray that they can experience it without some sort of horrendous tragedy as the catalyst.