On this day at this approximate time in 2001 I was about 5 miles off the coast of Vinalhaven Island, Maine doing contract research work. My nightly duties were done and I had thrown myself in my rack exhausted. I hadn’t slept long before the captain woke me up to let me know that America was under attack.
As I watched the towers fall on live TV, floating offshore, I felt like the work I was doing was so petty. I called my boss back in Portland to ask if he wanted us to continue our work, or return to port. He wanted the survey completed, and we weren’t to let the act of terrorism effect our work.
It felt good to be so far from civilization, for there lie peril. I felt the very opposite after the Boston Marathon bombing as I was surrounded by people, and felt very much like a target.
Still these reflections are not all of American resilience. We now get sexually assaulted and deprived of our 4th Amendment rights every time we travel by air, and our President is currently arguing that we should send American troops to fight for the very bastards who attacked us this day.
I remember watching the towers fall and feeling very sad for those killed, but also noting that those lives were just a drop in the bucket compared to the total of the American people. My research work continued, as did many other jobs. I couldn’t imagine how the Terrorists might win.
Only they did…at least in some senses.
I remember today, for the worst thing is to forget and carry on like nothing ever happened.
