HeroicStories: The Attack on America

Terrorist Attacks on America

HeroicStories Issues #'s 235 and 236

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HeroicStories #235: 13 September 2001 www.HeroicStories.com

Remembering Their Smiles
by Connie Cushing
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Story Editor:
Joyce Schowalter

I was shocked, to say the least, by the news I saw on 11 September, 2001. We turned the television on about one minute into the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster. I know this is devastating for New Yorkers who work and live in the city, and for Americans who mourn the loss of fellow countrymen.
This event really got to my family, because my three boys and I were just in New York last week. I'd always wanted to see the city that never sleeps, and thought it would be a unique experience for the boys. We started in New Jersey and crossed the Hudson. We took pictures of the famous skyline, toured the Statue of Liberty, Staten island, Times Square, and rode buses and subways. By far the most impressive sight was the World Trade Center Towers. Their grandeur and awe-inspiring mass was overwhelming.
At first my boys were a little frightened to go up. They had heard of the bombing at the WTC eight years before and were skeptical. A WTC employee heard me trying to relieve their fears and chimed in. He said that the Towers were designed to withstand earthquakes and other disasters, that he'd been working at the towers then, and that he felt safe there. So then my children felt safe also.
I fear elevators, so going up to the roof of the South Tower was challenging. The elevator operator was jovial, teased me, and made me laugh despite my anxiety. One of our companions is afraid of heights and suffers from vertigo. When on the roof she was too anxious to take a picture of the boys and me near the edge. A security guard came over and took the picture for us and eventually talked her over to the edge to look out. It helped that the guard rail was there and that the section wasn't exactly on the edge of the building but had a roof beneath it. So we were all in the picture.
Everyone in New York was friendly and helpful. After all -- we had "tourist" written all over our faces. All in all it was one of my most memorable experiences ever. Now my memory will be forever ingrained with those people. They went out of their way to make our trip more pleasant and enjoyable with a smile and a joke.
The New Yorkers we met had a gentle way of setting a stranger at ease in a big and daunting place. I will always remember them for that -- but even more so now -- for today I know those people may be no more. I feel privileged for knowing them, even if for only a moment in time.

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This will be long -- it deserves to be. The core of our mission allows ordinary people to become authors: to speak of ordinary heroism to people around our globe to "Restoring Faith in Humanity -- One Story at a Time". Publishing your letters is part of that mission; at a time like this, a very important part.
Our Denver picnic organizers write: "Just when you need something to make you feel good about your fellow man, there's a picnic for people who appreciate the humanity and heroism which lives in all of us. On Sunday 16 September 2001, we will meet in Denver, Colorado, from 1:00 p.m. until everyone goes home! E-mail: Denver@HeroicStories.com for place and directions. Let's send a message that we won't be scared into staying home. Join like-minded subscribers to the Internet's most inspiring free mailing -- HeroicStories!"
Thank you to all who've written from around the world with your solace for the American people. Lina from Singapore: "So sorry for such a tragic thing to happen. United States, please be strong, you have the world to support you. Americans, you are the strongest people in the world -- emotionally, spiritually and physically. Please accept my condolences. I am wondering if I can donate my blood in Red Cross Singapore to help in this matter?" Gary: "A small note to all Americans. I was watching CNN as the second plane crashed into the twin towers yesterday. I was so stunned that I actually didn't realise what I had just witnessed,and was horrified as the rest of this miserable tragedy unfolded I just want to say that my prayers are with you all. Condolences to all that have lost someone special. (In South Africa -- was in Zimbabwe but had to leave because of the violence and uncertainty there.)"
Eva from Scotland: "I also want to express my deepest sympathy to those whose loved ones perished in yesterday's unbelievable disaster." Lisa in Singapore: "Yesterday was the official opening of our plant but atmosphere was sombre. We had a moment of silence in place of a planned celebration. Our hearts go out to you. We really hope to help. Our local TV channels have been replaced with news of NYC. We have forums about the probability and motives of the attacks. We hope Americans stand united and will not fall for speculations of media from unreliable sources. Do not be biased against those who are Muslims or Arabs. Having the same religion does not mean that people have the same thoughts." Dawn wrote: "From South Africa With Love! We support you all and we cry with you and we feel your pain. My heart goes out to you all, to the victims, families, friends, all the care-workers, policemen, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel."
Americans so appreciate your comments! Linda wrote: "I am a teacher in New Jersey and I started to cry when I read the comments you published from people in other countries. North Jersey has been in turmoil helping out with the tragic loss in NYC. About 200,000 people travel from New Jersey into Manhattan to work daily. We are really suffering as we wait for a list of people who can't be found. They are our neighbors, friends, children and parents. You don't know what it means to hear these kind words from people from other countries. Thank you so much for making us feel better." Katie: "Thank you to all those from other countries who have written in support of America. I am deeply moved and comforted by their letters and prayers." John in Illinois: "I just read the letters from the people from all over the world and would like to say 'thanks' for the comforting words to all of us here in the USA. I work in a midwestern town that has a population of 10,000 people. It hit me this morning that the entire population of my town had lost their lives in New York yesterday. Please do not let these people be forgotten. They were Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents. Friday the 14th of September, show your love for the survivors and wear red, white and blue and if possible."
Please share the comfort within these issues with co-workers and friends. Show them how to subscribe to receive more stories of the good in humanity. HeroicStories is a tremendous resource for people searching for emotional sanity (as we're hearing from so many people daily!) Please feel free to share the address of our new web page. It contains the last two special issues, including the many comments from readers around the world: http://www.HeroicStories.com/11sept2001.html
Our readers spoke up on steering away from prejudice. Mary in Oklahoma: "I have to acknowledge that I feel not only for the victims and their families, but also the Arabs and Muslims in this country who are innocent, but will be looked on with suspicion." I hope you speak up so those around you are aware of your convictions. I know it's not easy in every corner of the country, but it matters. Violeta in Australia: "Already, Arab Americans are receiving threatening phone calls, and being the recipients of other such harassment. I must take issue with the media for helping this along. When they first showed scenes of jubilation on the Bank, the television journalist was careful to point out that this was happening in one street corner, but since then, we have been led to believe that such scenes are common all over the Middle East. Let us hold on to our sanity in the face of an insane act!" Joanne in Australia: "We don't know who did this heinous crime against all people, including their own. The people helping after the devastation have no 'country' -- all races are blank because of the dust on their faces. We all need to care and protect the people beside us regardless of their 'country'."
Amanda in California: "I received an utterly revolting racist e-mail today, which asked me to forward it to 'all red-blooded Americans.' To say the least it disturbed me that the hate could start so early. I forwarded a copy of the HeroicStories issue you sent yesterday so that everyone who received this would also get something positive." News flash for the originators of that e-mail: all Americans, and everyone in the world has red blood. In making those statements, you show the exact same mentality as the bombers: "Lump people together and hate them." You are ringing the wrong number -- we are not going there with you. Don in California: "Even if some Islamic group is behind the attack, this does not mean we should hold Muslims or Middle Eastern immigrants responsible for this crime. Islam is not the motivation for this insanity, though it may be used as an excuse. Murder in the name of Islam is no different from murder in the name of Christ. No major modern religion teaches savagery and hatred. I was raised a Baptist in southern Georgia, but I for one will not attach blame to Islamics or Middle Easterners in general for the actions of the rabid few. This is a particularly important for Americans -- defenders of freedom, dignity, and equality -- to remember at a time like this. If we really believe we can hold a light aloft for the rest of the world, it's time for us to stop talking and start leading, with a lesson that we are now peculiarly suited to teach."
We must remember: people of all nationalities and all religious faiths died in these events. We must not in any fashion stoop to perpetuating stereotypes of any race or religion at this time. We must not sink to the level of the people who created this carnage. Booker T. Washington said: "I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him." No matter how many times we are bombarded with media repetitions of one particular group's responsibility -- from any source -- we must not stoop to allowing hateful thoughts to rule our hearts or minds. If we do, we shall be absolultely equal in stature with those who committed these acts.
It is time to build bridges. Bridges to a future where there is more peace in the world, not less. We must discover ways to "wage peace". Humanity has boundary-less creativity -- let us begin using it to create harmony and safety. Let's brainstorm positive ideas, from the smallest to more universal in impact. What can we do which is positive in the midst of this tragedy?

Speak up for tolerance when conversations head elsewhere.
At your business display a sign: "Muslims welcome here".
If you're a Christian, suggest to your church that they post on reader-board: "We stand in Love with our Muslim and Middle Eastern brothers under God."
Call for three minutes of daily silence in your workplace next week.
Call for 10 minutes of silence in your town one day next week.
Help do paperwork, call donors, etc. at a blood donation center.
Make an appointment to donate blood in October or November.
Take baked goodies to airport personnel as they return to work while scared witless. (Take your kids along so they get to help.)
Organize your child's class to write letters to NYC relief workers. (Kids' letters meant the world to relief workers after the OKC bombing.)
Ask your kids to brainstorm all the ways they think we could create a more peaceful world. Pin up their lists.
Call the Red Cross to see what they need for their shelters.

Merchants of hate and terror are even now calling for vengance, more hatred and violent actions against members of specific groups. If we create enough peaceful actions and signs, perhaps the hate-mongers will know that they are surrounded by people willing to stand up for principles of decency.
Add your voice. Do you have a suggestion for "waging peace"? Have you seen something innovative and inspiring which someone has done? Please share it with us, to the Comments@HeroicStories.com address.
Our readers have been sending in great ideas already. Jim in Oklahoma writes: "I work at the airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Today, I was sitting in a meeting when a local Girl Scout Group began bringing in hundreds of sack lunches for stranded travelers. What a magnificent gesture by these young girls." George in Washington State: "Didn't we once use yellow ribbons to show our support and sympathy for others' tragic circumstances? Why not again?" And thank you, Tom from Texas, for sending us the following written by your wife, about her drive to work on 12 September, 2001: "As I was driving into work today, I saw a man running at a fairly quick pace up a main street. He was in his late 20s or early 30s, tall, athletically built, with short hair and wearing a muscle t-shirt and olive running shorts. He was carrying a large American flag (the size you would see used by a color-guard at a military facility). I found it eerie, but also compelling and even reassuring. It was if the man was saying, 'We are Americans, and terrorism will not defeat us.' I flicked my high-beam headlights at him to acknowledge that I had seen and understood what he was doing. He nodded slightly and kept running at the same quick pace, with the flag fluttering in the wind proudly behind him."
Joyce Schowalter, Editor in Chief
Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place

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HeroicStories #236: 17 September 2001 www.HeroicStories.com

The Spirit of Service
by Helen Rubenstein
New York, New York, USA Story Editor:
Joyce Schowalter

I had the good fortune to help at the Red Cross today. At 7:40 a.m., 12 September 2001, I arrived at the American Red Cross (ARC) building. Already scores of people milled around, including red-jacketed staff. I approached a friend from my days of teaching supervision at ARC and offered help. I was instantly put to work greeting those who'd come to volunteer their services. "I'll carry rocks," one man said. People approached by the hundreds, some shy, some chomping at the bit, all eager to do something -- anything.
The ARC is adamant about not endangering volunteers. Yesterday alone, they trained 3,000 volunteers in disaster-related work, from clearing debris, helping families seeking loved ones, or assisting evacuated families. Three thousand people.
Soon we, behind our volunteer registration forms, had to tell people training classes were full. They asked to donate blood. We sent them to Martin Luther King High School, the blood drive site. By 10 a.m., we had to tell people burning to do something, anything, "Come back tomorrow."
One woman said her son had worked nine hours assisting firefighters to move rubble, and it was her turn. She wouldn't leave. I sent her to a supervisor, and later passed her busily working. I told a young man -- barely 20 years old -- that we'd call him back. He replied, "I came from New Hampshire." With a Red Cross group? "No, I just came." He got to help that day.
At 10:30 a.m. I answered phones. I saw disaster-workers return with haunted, glazed looks. They came for "debriefings" -- a talk with a mental health professional about their experience working a disaster.
A company called asking whether someone could accept a check today. "Yes!" Someone in Chicago had a truckload of produce in the NY area to donate. A pastor who worked disaster relief in Rwanda wanted to trauma-counsel disaster workers. "Come directly here." A nurse with EMT training wanted to know where she's most needed. Medical personnel were being sent to Chelsea Piers.
By lunch every form of comfort food known had been donated to feed the hundreds of volunteers and staff working at ARC headquarters. Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, peanut butter and jelly, cheese doodles and chocolate chip cookies. Oh, look! There's a can of water-packed tuna and a plate of spinach. Naaah. Not today.
I stood and ate, listening to TV and the conversation around me: "Let's destroy their camps." "I don't think killing more people will do anything to stop this." "The economy." "Who'll fly?" The talking heads on TV finally have something besides the trivial to talk about.
New Yorkers (who won't wait in line 5 minutes for a restaurant) lined up for four to eight hours to donate blood. In the face of increasing danger from unstable buildings, workers returned again and again, searching, hoping for signs of life in the rubble. There were thousands of heroes that day. May the awe-inspiring spirit of all who helped that day resonate around the world.
(Editor's Note: to donate to the American Red Cross New York chapter online, go to http://www.NYRedCross.org/donate. If that server is busy, mail it to ARC, 150 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023 USA or call toll free 800-514-5103. You can also donate online via Yahoo or Amazon.com, but beware of fraudulent donor sites that are trying to take advantage of your generosity. Please donate directly via sites you recognize! Sadly, there are fraudsters out there trying to take advantage of this tragedy.)

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I have found great comfort last week from being out in public. Right now four Japanese 18-year-old girls are staying with me because their flight on September 12th was canceled, stranding them in the USA. Friday evening we shopped at Costco, and sat to eat hot dogs afterwards. The Costco near my house is always a rainbow of Americans, and that evening was no exception. Behind us a father and kids spoke Spanish. In front of us, a Middle Eastern Muslim couple and their children ate pizza. A Chinese family was to our right. Also to our right a Caucasian man sat across from his mother, who sat next to his Thai wife. Suddenly their faces lit up, as a Hindu couple came by pushing a baby in a stroller. They leapt up, cooed over the baby, then lingered, talking with their friends. Scenes like this reassured me that the promise America has held out to the world is still alive.
It seems to me that one of our core American values is incredibly important right now: the acceptance of diversity. Diversity of race, diversity of religion, diversity of thought. I've talked with both friends and neighbors about this event, and many of us have differing views. That's beyond OK -- one of our strongest virtues is that people may have differing ideas, and can express them. What we're willing to defend are our freedoms, which includes diversity of thought.
Saturday evening the four girls and I went to Seattle Center, taking flowers to add to the memorial display in the Seattle Center Fountain. Parking at Seattle Center lots was free for those bringing flowers. People of every race and religion streamed toward the fountain, carrying flowers. They placed them on bowers, or laid them in ever-widening circles around the fountain. People chalked messages on the cement sides of the fountain bowl. One woman stood at the edge of the gathering, curling and giving away red, white and blue ribbons for people's lapels. She had a bowl for disaster-relief donations, and paper for people to write letters of condolence to victims. "Believe me, doing this helps," she said. Hundreds of people left flowers, notes, and candles. People grieved together, slowly walking around the circle reading the notes others had left. We held candles and watched them burn. Pictures at: http://www.komotv.com/stories/14069.htm
We left Seattle Center and ate hamburgers at a drive-in, standing next to bikers lounging on motorcycles, a policeman, and people of every age and description. We then went to St. Mark's Cathedral, where four Buddhists were welcome to sat amid burning candles in a majestic church.
It is becoming clear that not just American lost lives at the WTC. Tony Blair said that 200 to 300 English are among the missing, and it has been said that 36 nations have lost citizens in this attack. The world is uniting to express its sorrow for all who were lost. For incredible images of people around the globe mourning those lost, see: http://www.dd.org/world-mourns/
People with very diverse voices have written us this week. People from around the world sent condolences, Americans have responded with thankfulness. People have sent suggestions for ways to help, and ways to cope with grief. We have FAR too many letters to publish here. Please see many of our letters on our web site at http://www.HeroicStories.com/11sept2001-comments.html You may also still access our special issues from last week at http://www.HeroicStories.com/11sept2001.html. Please pass these URLs to your friends who need the healing power of such positive reactions.
Many readers wrote mentioning the need for the media to rise above its obsession with the negative in everyday life. Don in California wrote: "As I watched the TV coverage of our national tragedy, I was surprised and heartened by the many acts of kindness shown by strangers to strangers. Then I was surprised by my surprise. Where I had gotten a view of the world -- of America -- that did not have kindness as a prominent part? Then I realized that every day, the 'news' is almost always that of the worst side of humankind, of murders, rapes, terrorism, greed. The bad news drives out the good news. We need, we really need, a dose of 'good news' every day, for our own emotional health, to put life in proper perspective. We have a daily weather report, a daily traffic report. Let's have a daily 'good news' report! Let the reporters get out, search for and find our better side, every day! Please, HeroicStories, keep up your efforts, and may others get on board!"
Joyce Schowalter, Editor in Chief
Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place

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