I was sitting in my home office not far from the Pentagon when it happened. The TV behind me had the sound lowered but I suddenly became aware of a major development. I reached for the remote and cranked up the audio.
A plane had struck one of the twin towers in New York. TV anchors initially speculated it must have been a small plane that had run off course, but soon a much larger plane struck the building and then a second one hit the other tower. It quickly became clear America was under attack. I saw smoke rising from the Pentagon and went up on the roof to get a better look. My son, who was a firefighter, later told me he pulled bodies out of the wreckage. He still doesn’t like to talk about it, likely because of the horrible experience.
Later, United flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, because of the bravery of Todd Beamer who led other passengers and crew on a revolt that stopped the hijackers from possibly hitting the White House or Capitol Building.
I wrote six columns in a row and many others following that modern day of infamy. Here are some excerpts that ring true 25 years later.
On the day of the terrorist attacks, I wrote: “It brings into clear focus the state of war that has existed for some time between America and those who oppose our values and way of life.” I called for the expulsion of people and organizations with ties to radical terrorist groups. Unfortunately, that did not happen and the threat from within remains and appears to be growing. There are still unanswered questions about how those attacks were allowed to happen.
It didn’t take long before the “blame America first” crowd was heard from. They are still around as we see in the current election cycle. The Mufti of Jerusalem had recently called on Allah to destroy America, which he said, “is controlled by Zionist Jews.” Nothing has changed and antisemitism has gotten worse.
I noted that in many Muslim schools, hatred for Jews and the U.S. is drummed into children from the earliest grades. A 7th-grade Palestinian textbook said: “(Islam) will defeat all other religions and it will be disseminated, by Allah’s will, through the Muslim Jihad fighters.”
Something else died on 9/11 besides the deaths of 2,977 people. I wrote it was the doctrine of moral equivalency – the idea that people everywhere are just like us or can be made so by acquiescing to their demands. Unfortunately, that flawed line of thinking continues to exist (consider those making such a case in the Iran war). Unfortunately, that worldview is still alive. The moral equivalency crowd, I wrote, will try to wear down our resolve. They have lost all credibility, just as the “peace in our time” crowd did shortly after Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II.
Energy independence, I said, would free us from the grip of the Middle East. That, too, has not yet been achieved.
I was fortunate to be able to visit Ground Zero when others were barred. A friend knew the fire chief, who let us into a roped- off area. Three images I shall never forget: the blocks and blocks of store windows with pictures of the missing and pleas for help in finding them; the parked cars that were filled inside with dust from the collapse of the buildings; an unopened soft drink bottle lying in the debris. I have kept the hard hat they made us wear on which I wrote “NYC 9/11/2001.”
A New York City police officer gestured at the ruins and said: “Look at this. Here is the result of years of illegal immigration, softness on crime, cutting the defense budget and lack of attention to right and wrong in this country.” Not a bad summation.
It’s easy to say “never forget,” but each generation must be taught to remember and one generation has been born since 9/11 and others were too young at the time. Most importantly, it depends on who is teaching the history and whether that teaching is based on facts, or if it is filtered through the teacher’s own biases.
Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).