When Lisa and I visited New York City in 2023, we built in time to spend at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. We felt it was right and appropriate to pay our respects.
The museum is in Lower Manhattan in the area referred to as Ground Zero in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks 25 years ago. When you enter the museum, one of the first displays you see is a large graphic that recounts the times and locations of the four crashes of the highjacked airliners that formed the terror attacks.
It is a stark reminder of what we encountered that day and a prelude to what museum-goers will experience during their visit.
Not far away is another display. It features a video display of quotes from various Americans telling where they were and how they first heard about the 9/11 attacks. As Lisa and I watched the screen, one flashed by quickly. We didn't quite believe what we had seen, so we waited for the messages to cycle back around so we could see it again for confirmation.
Indeed, it read "I was in a coffee shop in Knoxville, Tennessee." Seeing our town featured in the exhibit was a jolt. But it also brought home the fact that terror was felt in the heartland even if not so accutely as in the Tri-State Area, the Nation's Capitol and a field in rural Western Pennsylvania.
As the sites of the attacks, themselves, of course, those areas bore a much heavier brunt. But at a coffee shop in Knoxville, Tennessee, the news also hit hard.
I was at my office, near Knoxville, Tennessee. Lisa was at our home. We still remember the sights and sounds of the day vividly. In a previous iteration of the blog, I wrote about 9/11 multiple times. You can find links to those pieces at the bottom of this post.
It hardly seems possible that 25 years have passed since 9/11/01 and, yet, here we are. Many Americans–more than 100 million people says the New York Times–were born after 9/11.
A CBS News Poll says Americans generally feel the country is safer after the War on Terror (60 percent to 40 percent) although 47 percent still feel some degree of uneasiness. A majority of Americans (74 per cent) said it is very important to remember 9/11. That number goes up (or down) by age.
Nearly a quarter (Lisa and I included) have visited a monument or memorial according to the poll. In addition to our visit to Ground Zero, we also visited the Flight 93 Memorial when we were in Western PA this time a year ago.
There are more interesting nuggets if you choose to peruse the article about the CBS poll.
Across America and around the world, ceremonies will mark the 25th including many here in East Tennessee.
Outside the museum in Manhattan, a water feature includes the names of those killed on 9/11/2001 and in a previous terrorist attack in 1993. As I recall, this is where the annual New York tribute will take place. Others will surely happen at the Pentagon, in Shanksville, PA, and at many other sites around the country.
As for me, as I do each year, I will take time to reflect and pray - prayers for the victims and those who mourn; prayers for those who still suffer physically and emotionally all these years later and prayers for our future safety. And for peace.
Likely, I won't be at a coffee shop but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that others were.
JG
In the previous iteration of #CoachJeff's Blog, I posted thoughts about 9/11. Here are links to those posts:
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