By Arthur Schaper
September 11, 2001. 8:46 am. One plane. American Airlines. Flight 11.
New York City. The Big Apple, the pulsing envy of the world. The World Trade Center.
One unprecedented, unforeseen catastrophe.
Seventy-six passengers, eleven crew members, and five hijackers died instantly.
Yes, five hijackers. Where they had failed in 1993, al-Qaeda finally succeeded in attacking, wounding, then destroying the World Trade Center.
Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower. Another plane, Flight 175 of United Airlines, would crash into the South Tower at 9:03 am.
September 11, 2001, is one of very few dates that live in infamy for the American people.
Only three times has the United States suffered attacks on our soil:
- The War of 1812, when the British invaded Washington, D.C., and set fire to our capital.
- December 7, 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
- And 9-11.
It signaled a severe breach in American hegemony around the globe. Yes, we won the Cold War. The Roaring 1990s was a decade about nothing— nothing terrible, but prosperity, good times, easy money, Dot-com booms and busts, OJ going crazy on the LA freeways then getting away with murder, and Bubba acting the fool in the Oval Office. But we also had Seinfeld, Friends, a balanced budget, low illegal immigration, and a cultural affirmation with The Defense of Marriage Act, welfare reform, along with a strong military and economy.
Besides the scattering of al-Qaeda terrorist attacks (which President Bill Clinton should have taken more seriously) and the Balkan Wars following the Soviet Bloc Breakup, we enjoyed a widespread Pax Americana, with the stock market hitting all-time highs, and a conservative resurgence, starting with Republicans taking back the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. The Democratic president tried to resurrect the New Left, but ended up governing more conservatively than some Republicans from twenty years prior. Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, the pushback against neo-liberalism was in full swing. Ann Coulter started writing books, and William F. Buckley was still interviewing on The Firing Line.
Life was good. Nothing could harm us. Even the moral laxity of media, academia, and business couldn’t drag down the American Dream.
All of that Americana harmony came thundering down with the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
That seminal moment stands out in the living memory of every American that day. I can tell you to the hour where I was when I heard about the plane crashing into the World Trade Center. I was starting my third year at UC Irvine. I got a job at one of the housing complexes on campus earlier that year, which guaranteed me a spot on campus: cheaper housing, closer to classes, and all meals prepared.
That week, we were preparing for the incoming freshmen class.
When I was eating breakfast in the dining hall, thinking about the week’s training, I saw the TVs in Pippin Commons. Smoke was billowing out of the World Trade Center, and we all heard that a plane had crashed in New York.
Then the housing director instructed staff to attend a special meeting at the Crystal Cove auditorium on the other side of campus. There wasn’t a sense of urgency in the change of plans. The entire staff from all the housing complexes met together, and the director from Mesa Court informed us that our country had been attacked by terrorists.
It was unreal, but so distant, too. This was across the country, and we were just learning about what had happened. A couple of college counselors gathered with different groups of students, giving everyone a chance to process what was happening. Many of the staff were from out of state, and they had relatives in New York, or they had been flying out of Boston to Los Angeles. What a terrible moment that must have been for them.
It took me a while to process how devastating this attack was on the country. Not just then, but now. I still remember President George W. Bush surveying the carnage, the horrid aftermath of the attack three days later. No tears, but grit and determination, he made it loud and clear to the whole world: "The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!"
A mere nine days after the attacks, I watched a special session address from the President of the United States. The president held firm before both chambers of Congress. A sense of somber strength manifested among the members of Congress as Bush outlined what faced the country in the years ahead. “Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen.” Indeed. The fight continues, against global terror, against Islamic jihad determined to force the rest of the world to believe, bow down, or pay the jizya.
We should thank God that so many survived that awful September morning terrorist attack. But we must never forget those who perished, including the brave passengers of United 93, who fought their hardest to subdue the terrorists who hijacked their plane to destroy the White House. They died, but America survived.
Bush was the right man for the job that day. A mere month after the 9/11 attacks, the UC Irvine student newspaper interviewed the student body about their thoughts on the president’s leadership. Many of them conceded that they were glad Bush had won in 2000. “I don’t think Gore would have handled things nearly as well as President Bush.” These were stunning admissions from a fundamentally liberal cohort!
Let us never forget, not just the horror of 9/11, but the victorious rebound that followed. What a time to be alive! The nation came together with one heart, one mourning soul, but one determined spirit. We would not be cowed or bow down to whatever tyranny was unleashed upon us.
