Tragedy brings U.S. together, but time pulls it apart

By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Twenty years ago, the vision of America changed. Before that time, we thought we were safe. We thought that nothing bad could happen on a massive scale in the United States.

That fantasy image of our country shattered abruptly on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, as two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, sending the Twin Towers falling. The image was erased from our minds and replaced with the sight of another plane crashing into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Any remnants of hope that the incident was just a dream or hallucination faded as we learned a fourth plane, suspected to be heading for the White House, was thwarted by American passengers fighting back and causing it to crash in Pennsylvania.

That day shook all Americans to their core. Our combined vision of the United States being a utopia and the greatest place to live was interrupted by the sight of structures on fire, people fleeing from plumes of smoke, dust and rubble, and emergency officials racing toward the danger zones to hopefully help survivors.

The numbers from the horrors of that day are staggering. We lost 2,977 people from the attacks themselves while over 25,000 were injured, and over $10 billion was spent to deal with the infrastructure and property damage. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in human history.

Even before the absymal anniversary came upon us, we’ve had constant reminders of that fateful day. When America was attacked, we took the battle back to the enemy as we descended on Afghanistan to battle al-Qaeda — and we only left the country a few days ago. Whenever we go through airports, we must go through security checkpoints and have our bodies and belongings searched. We’ve seen stories on the news about police officers, firefighters and other rescuers dying from being exposed to the tons of toxic debris believed to have more than 2,500 contaminants.

Not that we’ve needed any reminders of Sept. 11. Most of us who were alive that day remember all too well where we were when we turned on our televisions and saw the fiery carnage. I was in my hometown getting ready to go to work and chase down the news of the community. It was supposed to be a relatively easy day for me, but my plans on shooting photos of community events were quickly scrapped as I, like many other journalists, had to shift our work to capture the local angle of what had just happened.

On that day, everybody in the community came together. It didn’t matter if you were Republican or Democrat, what color your skin was, or any of the other differences that put us into conflict. Even if you hated your neighbors, you checked in on them to make sure they were all right, and they did the same for you. The petty squabbles that kept us apart were pushed aside as we realized we needed to unite as a country if we were to avoid having something similar happen again.

What happened to us?

Our unified vision has fractured since then. Where we once stood together, we now have become no different than the splintered pieces of glass from windows blown apart from the force of airplanes, only worse than before. If someone’s views differ from ours, we call them deplorable and an enemy. Not even a global pandemic or an attack on the U.S. Capitol early this year have been able to bring us back together.

We’re better than this. I saw America on that dark day 20 years ago and in the days following. We were a cohesive society that was united in one belief — that America was not going to fall. We realized we’d become too complacent and vowed to do what was needed to make sure that our country continued to be a beacon of hope for the rest of the world.

We need to find a way back to where we were 20 years ago. The death and carnage, we should skip, but the part where we found a way to agree to disagree and realize we’re all one people, that needs to come back. I don’t know if it’s possible, but we should figure out how to do so without terrorists coming to town and trying to destroy our democracy.

As we observe the 20th anniversary of this pivotal moment in history, we should all look inside ourselves and figure out how to make this a better world to live in. Too many people paid the cost the last time our country drifted apart. Keep them in mind as you go about your weekend and realize that it’s all too easy to tear something down. We were lucky in 2001. The next time, it might cost us more.


Lee Pulaski is the city editor for the Shawano Leader. Readers can contact him at lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com.

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