Remembering 9/11, Five Years Later

It’s hard to believe that it has been five years since the United States suffered its greatest terrorist attack.

I’m sure we can all remember where we were on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Here’s my recollection:

I just started my first year of college only days earlier. I walked into my freshman seminar that morning not knowing what I was about to witness. As a side note, the seminar’s semester-long theme was “The World Through the Eyes of the Media,” strangely enough.

I was the first to arrive and noticed my professor standing near the door, watching the images on the projector’s screen intently. Paying no real mind, I thought she was reviewing news clips for the day’s discussion and didn’t want to disturb her as I stood nearby. As I turned my focus to the screen, I realized it wasn’t a video tape.

“Oh my God,” was all I could utter as I watched the events unfold. The rest of the class soon filed in and we took our seats around the conference table. Whatever was planned for discussion that day was scrapped – all we could do was watch the images before us.

Not a word was said as we all sat in disbelief of what we were seeing. Was this all just a movie? … A horrible dream? Sadly, it wasn’t. We witnessed the second plane crash shortly after class began and we sat with our mouths agape as the towers plummeted to the ground. We learned the Pentagon had been attacked and another plane bound for Washington, D.C. crashed in Pennsylvania as well. As our class time expired, we filed out somberly with the knowledge that things would never be the same.

We all rushed back to our dorm rooms to call our parents and check in. For most of us, the lines were jammed for a long time. All we could do was take turns and pray that everything was OK. I can still close my eyes and see the image of at least 16 of my floor mates and I huddled around a 19-inch television, wondering what could possibly happen next.

The days and weeks that followed were very intense as we worried about anthrax scares on campus and the possibility of a terrorist attack on Three Mile Island. My college was in the 10-mile danger zone so it was a bit unnerving to attend a high school football game a few towns over, trying NOT to think about the threat of attack, when it was really all around us. I will never forget looking up from the stands toward the nuclear reactors clearly visible in the distance with a military aircraft flying constantly around the perimeter to make sure everything was secure.

We weren’t the only ones dealing with the aftermath and “what ifs,” – the whole nation had been turned upside down.

The fact that the U.S. is not as invincible as was thought in recent years is indeed a tough pill to swallow. Yet, what the nation did gain from all of this was an unbreakable resolve. Liberty may have been down for a little while, but she certainly wasn’t out. Perhaps the Lady herself showed that to us as she proudly stood against the smoke, amid the rubble as her backdrop. Old Glory was there as well as a continuing symbol of the pledge thirteen colonies made 230 years ago for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They were not going to take this from us. Not without a fight.

Amid the chaos, firefighters, police officers and civilians sacrificed their lives to save others. People everywhere wanted to help, no matter what the cost.

Public Relations practitioners also took up arms for the cause but in a different sense; they tirelessly worked to bring a sense of order in the midst of a chaotic scene. Richard Edelman’s recent post about 9/11 reflected on the day itself and once again lauded the work of his employees who rushed to former client Cantor Fitzgerald’s aid* in an effort to communicate to the relatives of the dead and missing. (*Cantor Fitzgerald is a bonds dealing company that lost more than 700 of its 1,000 employees housed in the WTC)**.

Interviews were scheduled and crisis communication plans were set into motion. Because New York City is considered the financial capital of the world, it was vital to reassure all stakeholders that there was no need to panic. Had it not been for the great effort of the dedicated members of our profession, just imagine how much more frenzied the response could have been.

If there’s one thing that 9/11 has taught PR, it’s that a plan must always be in place. What we lack in preparedness when the time of tragedy comes, we must make up for in our ability to adapt to that change and continue pressing on.

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius

9/11. Never Forget.

Photograph is property of september11news.com.

**Information taken from page 548 of “Public Relations: A Values Driven Approach,” written by David Guth and Charles Marsh.