What remained and shall continue, a true democracy, matters so much more now than prior to that day.
Tom McNaughton
The September 11 attacks, referred to by most as 9/11, were four terrorist attacks against the United States executed by al-Qaeda in 2001. On that day, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial planes headed across the United States. Nearly 3,000 Americans were murdered that day, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history.
Like many other young people, I learned about 9/11 around first grade, but never understood what happened until much later. Even now, I struggle to know how people have so much hate in their hearts that it compels them to do something so appalling.
I remember being in high school and talking about 9/11 with my dad when he told me he was in New York City that day.
9/11, even though it was the most chilling, dark, and tragic day in American history, can teach us so much, especially how to be kind to each other again. I wanted to ask my dad, Tom McNaughton, some questions about his experience to better communicate this message.
How did you find out about the attacks?
TM: I was driving down to the city with my boss. It was a beautiful day, deep blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Spectacular fall day. We were on the FDR or East Side highway, around 34th street, when the traffic reporter mentioned that he thought he saw a small plane hit the World Trade Center. My state Tahoe had police and fire radio in it, and I immediately turned to the New York Fire Department radio transmission. Without hesitation, they called for an all-alarm response. Sending every available truck to the World Trade Center, and they then offered a warning that “This action might be a result of a terrorist act.”
At that point we knew that there was a problem.
What was the first feeling you felt when you heard the news/saw the towers?
TM: Dread. That morning, we had ninety employees scheduled to take a train from Albany into the city for a meeting in lower Manhattan. Traditionally, those people would have been exiting the World Trade Center between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. As we pulled off the Eastside highway at the southernmost tip of Manhattan, it was chaos. Tower One was spewing smoke as a result of the fires that were burning. Traffic was chaotic. I dropped my boss off a couple of blocks from my office and, with lights and sirens, pulled my SUV up onto a curb and began directing traffic to make way for the responding fire trucks and ambulances.
It was mass chaos.
After I was relieved of traffic duty by a uniformed NYPD officer, I headed to the Trade Center to see if I could find those that were scheduled to get off the train for our meeting.
It was then that the second plane struck the towers.
How was your life directly impacted by 9/11?
TM: The horrors of that day will remain with me forever.
But in contrast, the kindness shown from one to another resonates greater than the tragedy. The evil that took place on that day by 19 men with hate in their hearts for the gift of freedom and liberty, the rights we take for granted, freedom of religion, and equal rights for all is a footnote.
What remained and shall continue, a true democracy, matters so much more now than prior to that day. I haven’t and am confident that I will never find room in my heart for forgiveness for those actions on that day, but the hatred has subsided. The manner in which we live our lives has been dramatically impacted. I hope others can see or appreciate the value of the liberties that we enjoy that were taken from so many that day. So many families lost so much.
What was the most impactful thing you saw after or on 9/11?
TM: I was down there when it happened, at the site, until after 2:00 a.m., so I have a different perspective. I saw President Bush on the Pile and paid my respects to Father Mychal Judge, OFM, at St. Francis of Assisi church on W. 31st St.
On 9/11 and in the days directly thereafter, I didn’t have time to watch the news. On 9/11 at about 2:00 a.m. on 9/12, after being at the site most of the day, I walked about a hundred blocks north to a bar on 82nd and 3rd to meet a dear friend who waited for me at the bar. Around 3:00 a.m., I saw for the first time news coverage of the event, and I just turned away.
Three weeks later, I visited my brother-in-law, who was dying of colon cancer. This giant of a man, former police officer, SWAT commander, and Marine sat in his chair fixated on the ongoing coverage of the site cleanup, and the despair was palpable. For both of us.
What is the most important thing you think young people who were not alive during the attacks should know about that day?
TM: I don’t think it’s that simple; that there is any one thing. I believe collectively those that weren’t around or old enough to understand what happened should consider the many rights and liberties that they enjoy. The very fabric of our democracy and how that was attacked on 911.
While the building, all of those innocent victims, and heroic firefighters died as a result of that cowardly act, it was an assault on our Constitution, the rights, liberties, and freedoms fought and died for.
Additionally, no story, no recollection of 9/11 is complete without mention of 343 firemen that ran into danger. Knowing, certainly knowing, that they would not come out. Fathers, grandfathers brothers, sons, husbands. Heroes in the truest sense.
I would recommend anybody that wanted context of the events of that day research chief Peter Ganci. Read about Mychal Judge, OFM, the first victim of the attack, living and giving his life in a manner so consistent with St. Francis. The dichotomy is almost biblical in nature.
It’s human nature to look for good in horrific events, and while I’m not sure that there is any, it could be found in how the tens of thousands of survivors in lower Manhattan that day cared for each other a little more than before.
Tom McNaughton, on the most important thing young people should know about 9/11
I am so lucky to have been raised by such an amazing and strong father. Throughout our years together, he has never failed to ingrain the values of love and kindness into my and my brother’s lives.
His experience, and the attacks in general, can teach modern America so much about loving each other.
If you turn on the news right now or research any political coverage, you will see grown adults pointing in each others face, slandering each other, yelling, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
In an online class I take, my peers and I briefly reviewed 9/11 and its effects on the political climate at the time. Our professor wrote, “It was a strange but heartwarming time for American politics that restored faith not only in democracy but in people in general,” of the time after the attacks on the campaign trail. A perfect example of this is when after the attacks, Congress gathered on the steps of the Capitol and began to sing “God Bless America.”
But in contrast, the kindness shown from one to another resonates greater than the tragedy.
Tom McNaughton
The raw moments of bipartisan unity, kindness, and love after the attacks not only within Congress, but across our country, provides a lesson that must stay with us forever.
We must never, ever forget the lives lost that day, but to forget the kindness, help, and love that was shown to each other on that day and after is just as bad.
We must remember that even though it is easier to spite those we dislike, to slander our political running mates, or to be cruel to each other, it is far more rewarding to show love to all.
As young Americans, we must try to remember that day, but to also reach within ourselves and understand that we are Americans. We are one body of people; the very lifeblood and future of this country.
It is high time we learn love each other again.
If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.
Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot, Jason Dahl