9/11/11

The 11-year-old boy watched his dad climb down the attic ladder. He was holding a dusty cardboard box.  On its side was written “9/11.”

“C’mon.” The dad motioned to his son. “It’s time.”  The both walked out of the hot garage and into the kitchen.

The dad set the box on the old oak table.  “I made this box for you ten years ago. It’s time for us to go through it.”

The son watched intently as his old man opened the dusty lid. The first thing he took out was a yellowed newspaper page with a flag printed on it.

“Why a flag, dad?”

“The days after 9/11, this country came together like it hadn’t since World War 2. The newspaper printed this special flag. People and businesses put these in their windows.  They also hung flags outside of their doors.”

The dad then reached in and pulled out a magnetic American flag.  “Your mom had this on her van.  Americans weren’t Conservatives, Liberals, Blacks, Whites, etc. that day.  They were Americans.  It’s like your Aunt and me.  She bugs me sometimes, but if someone from outside hurt her, I’d be there to defend her. That’s the way we were as a country.”

The boy held a flag pin in his hand.  “I wore that on my suit jacket,” his dad said proudly.  “I have one like it that I still wear.”

The dad then pulled out some color cartoons.  “The cartoonist printed copies of these cartoons and donated all the proceeds to 9/11 victims.  People all across America stopped thinking about themselves and thought of total strangers.  It was inspiring.”  The boy looked at an eagle head made up faces.  Its caption said, “United We Stand.”

The boy then pulled out a photo of firemen raising an American Flag over some wreckage.  The dad explained, “While others were running away from danger that day, police and firemen were running toward it.  It was a powerful example of pure unselfishness. ”

The dad then handed the boy a bumper sticker that said, “Let’s Roll.”

“That was what Todd Beamer said when the brave passengers of Flight 93 fought to retake the airplane from the terrorists. ”

“What’s a terrorist?”

“We’ll get to that.  The terrorists crashed the plane into the ground in Pennsylvania.  But the passengers either saved the White House or the Capitol.  They used the in flight phones — remember the one we saw at the Smithsonian?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That was one recovered from the wreckage.  When they found out from their loved ones what was happening, they took action. They were the first Americans to fight back against the terrorists.”

The dad dug around in the box and pulled out a front page from the local paper, USA Today and The New York Times.  On all three papers was a picture of two large office towers on fire.  “That’s the World Trade Center.  I went there when I was a teenager in 1986.  It was amazing — you could see it for miles. Each tower was  110 stories tall. The terrorists crashed two hijacked airline flights into the towers, causing them to burn and collapse.”

“Did you see it happen?”

“Yes. On live TV.  You were a baby.  Your mom and I were arguing and trying to get out the door.  I saw the first tower on fire on Good Morning America. I told your mom that we needed to stop arguing. That something was seriously wrong.  The black smoke billowed into the deep blue sky.  I knew it wasn’t an accident.  While the TV anchors speculated about the source of the fire, we watched as the second airliner crashed into the second tower.  It was horrible.”

The boy watched as his dad’s eyes watered. His dad collected himself and  continued.

“We sat and watched as the world as we knew it ended right before our eyes. People burned to death on the top floors. Some even chose to jump. We were watching people die on live TV.  Then the first tower collapsed.  It was too horrible for words.”

They sat there in silence for a moment.  Then the dad continued, “I had to go into work.  But I didn’t want to leave. I just wanted to be with you and your mom. I remember driving into work. Cars were going 50 mph on the interstate. We all were in shock. I remember gas was $1.35 a gallon at the station near the interstate.  Airplanes started to land. The FAA forced every plane down to prevent any more terrorist attacks.  You know about Flight 93. Another flight crashed into the Pentagon, killing hundreds there, too.”

The boy looked at a photo of a burned hole in the side of the Pentagon.

“When I got to work, we all watched in horror as the second tower crashed to the ground.  I will forever remember the shot of the Statue of Liberty standing proudly in front of the smoke pouring from Manhattan. ”

“Who did this?” the boy looked at his son. “Is this why we are at war in Afghanistan?”

“Yes.  It was Osama Bin Laden.  He’s now dead.  He’s the ones the Navy SEALS killed.”

The boy looked at his dad. “So he was a terrorist?”

The dad silently nodded.  “The very worst. But for all the terror he tried to cause, he failed.  Yes, there was horrible death and destruction, but this country came together like it hadn’t in years.  Today, they will dedicate a memorial where the World Trade Center once stood. Mr. Bin Laden misjudged our country. We didn’t quit. We rebuilt.  When things got bad, we got good.”

The boy looked through a book on 9/11 and then asked his dad, “Why did you save all this stuff?”

“I wanted you to understand the world you’ve now inherited.  Life changed forever that day.  What was left of our innocence was lost.”

The boy took out a yellow ribbon with his name on it.

“That was your uncle’s. He was deployed to Afghanistan to fight the terrorists. He died when you were four.  He’s buried in Arlington Cemetery near where the plane hit the Pentagon. ”  The dad couldn’t continue.

The son hugged his dad. Both sat there for a few minutes until the dad could continue.

“The days after 9/11 were powerful.  Congress even came together and sang on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.  People stood in parks and held hands.  The terrorists tried to plant seeds of fear. Instead, we came together.  It hasn’t been perfect. There has been war, waste, death and destruction.  Our country became divided again. We’ve had our rights threatened in the name of security. And don’t get me started about airport security. But at the end of the day, we’re still here. And today, we will come together to remember and honor those who we lost on that fateful day ten years ago.”

The dad and the boy packed back up the box.  They carried it into the living room and watched dedication ceremony of the memorial at Ground Zero.  As the water from the fountains poured into the former footprint of the World Trade Center towers, the boy looked at his dad and said, “United We Stand, dad.”

The dad put his arm around his son and said, “Yes. United We Stand.”