The Day Long Remembered

The Day Long Remembered

By Myles Loren Edmundson

Former Marine Science Technician, Third Class

United States Coast Guard



         On September 11, 2001 Islamic Extremists hijacked four airliners.  They held the passengers hostage, while they flew the planes on suicide missions to attack four key sites within the United States.  Their targets were the twin World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon, and the White House.  In the early morning hours of that fateful day, the first plane struck the north tower of the World Trade Center.  Before anyone could determine what had happened, the second plane struck the south tower of the World Trade Center.  Because of the disaster of the World Trade Center being struck, we were staggered when we learned that the third plane had struck the Pentagon, headquarters of the United States military.  As badly as those three strikes hurt, I personally felt for the people on the fourth plane.  Those brave souls took it upon themselves to overpower the terrorists, and stop them from carrying out their part of the terror attacks.  They saved the White House from being destroyed, but their heroism and bravery was rewarded with death as their plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

         I was enlisted in the U. S. Coast Guard at the time.  I worked at a Marine Safety Office in New Orleans, Louisiana.  I had just gotten to the office when I heard someone from our Hearing Room (a courtroom where a Coast Guard Hearing Officer can hear criminal cases within the Coast Guard's jurisdiction) called the the whole of the office that the World Trade Center in New York had been hit.  The whole office, some sixty Coasties (more or less) piled into the Hearing Room, and watched on CNN as the North Tower burned.  We were shocked when we saw the South Tower struck.  We mourned when the towers fell.  We were angered when we learned that the Pentagon had been struck.  We were saddened when we heard of the deaths of the brave people who overpowered the terrorists on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania.  That was the first I had heard of the Islamic Extremists who attacked America, and heard of their hatred of us.  Because they hated us, I began to hate them.

         Now it is ten years later.  My hatred of the terrorists has died a slow death, starved by the worst poison that hate can suffer...UNDERSTANDING.  I think back on that horrible day.  I think of the 3000 people who died.  I wonder what their families think.  I pray for the victims.  I pray for the families of the victims.  But most of all, I pray that Almighty God will get through to the terrorists and convince them to give up their hate and learn to share this world with people who pray differently.

         In the last ten years, I have asked myself the same questions.  What did the terrorists want to accomplish by attacking the United States?  Did they want to anger us?  If that was their intent, then they have accomplished that in spades.  Did they think they could destroy our economy by destroying the World Trade Center?  This did NOT happen thanks to our decentralized economy.  The companies that lost offices in the twin towers simply set up shop in other locations, hired new people to replace those that died, and continued on with business.  Did the terrorists think they would destroy our military by dropping an airliner on the Pentagon?  They only damaged one side of the complex, and began a war that destroyed the governments of two Middle Eastern countries (Iraq and Afghanistan).  I do not envy the military men of the United States who had to march into those two countries and fight a war with people who were not directly involved with the terrorists.  I do not envy the Iraqi and Afghan soldiers who stood and fought the United States military forces.  While I do not know much about the Iraqi and Afghan armies at the time, I am reasonably certain that most of those Muslim soldiers did not even know all that much about the terrorists (and may not have cared all that much about them), and may not even have known WHY the United States was so determined to remove their leader from power. 

         But every time I hear ANYTHING about the antics and doings of the terrorists, I ask myself the same questions.  WHY DO THESE PEOPLE HATE US?  WHAT DID WE DO TO THEM?  WHY WILL THEY NOT TRY TO LIVE WITH US IN THE SPIRIT OF BROTHERHOOD?  Of course I have heard the excuses and claims of the terrorists of all of America's crimes.  While I agree that the leaders of the United States are not ALL entirely honest, I do not believe we deserve to be called a “Criminal Country” any more than any other nation on this God's Green Earth.  EVERY country on the planet harbors criminals of some sort.  Should we call all the world's nations “criminal countries that corrupt the rest of the world”?  Should the United States begin hating the entire Middle East because of the actions of a few Extremists?  I say we are ALL God's children.  Just because Americans value LIFE, LIBERTY, and THE PERSUIT OF HAPPINESS does NOT mean that someone else has the right to KILL THREE THOUSAND OF US, JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN NOT STAND THE FACT THAT WE DO NOT PRAY TO GOD THE SAME WAY THEY DO!  Just because some of America's corporations and industries decide to conduct their business and sell their products to the people of other nations does NOT GIVE A FEW TERRORIST THE RIGHT TO ATTACK US...any more than the United States has a right to attack her enemies for being who they are.  The answer I always get when I search my heart and my soul for the answers to these questions is always the same.  Hate is born of intolerance and ignorance.  A man who hates another man (in the way the terrorists hate America) is because the first man knows very little about the second man, does not want to get to know the second man, and absolutely will NOT tolerate the existence of the second man.  Hate blinds us to reality.  If permitted to grow it becomes a black cloud that eclipses the truth, and forces us to believe rumors and lies as though they are solid facts set in stone.  If allowed to grow long enough, hate will actually cause us to forget the reason(s) WHY WE HATE OUR ENEMIES.  Ultimately the reasons will be forgotten, and all that we will remember is the HATE!  Hate is the true criminal.  Hate is a demon that plays us all for fools.  It causes us to do terrible things to each other, and laughs at our foolishness as it picks us back up and starts it all again.

         On September 11, 2001, I began to hate Muslims.  But my hate did NOT last long.  Over time, I remembered a young Muslim woman that I had met in college.  She was in one of my Cultural Anthropology classes.  We were studying Islam, and she was very helpful in telling the rest of the class about Islam, and what the religion was all about.  What I remember most of all about her (though I do not remember her name, sadly) is that she was very nice, and friendly.  She did not hate Americans.  She was glad to teach us about her religion, and help us to understand a different way of worshiping. 

         When September 11, 2011 comes, I will think of that terrible day ten years ago.  I will pray for the three thousand people who died.  I will pray for their families.  I will pray that Almighty God helps the terrorists to abandon their hate and live with their fellow humans in brotherhood.  And I will wish yet again that they would take the time to get to know us before they decide to kill us.  I firmly believe that if a killer took the time to get to know his victim before killing him or her, there would be a lot less killing in this world, because when you get to know another person, especially someone you hate, you just might discover that you do not actually have any reason to hate that person.  Hate thrives on ignorance and intolerance.  Peace thrives on understanding and acceptance.  I ask you, brother and sister humans to let go of hate!  Do NOT let that terrible demon, Hate, continue to amuse itself with our spilled blood.  Instead, try to learn about the people you hate, and ask if you really have a valid reason to hate them.  As yourself “WHY DO I HATE MY ENEMIES, AND WHY DO THEY HATE ME?”  I end this editorial with a quote from John Lennon.



“Give peace a chance!”