by Trent Rosser
This past week the news has been filled with the rescue efforts of Hurricane Harvey. People are coming from around the world to help out with the efforts to bring food, clothing, fresh water, supplies and shelter to those affected by this disaster. It reminds me of another time that the country and the whole world came together like this.
Sept 11, 2001 is a day that will be remembered as the day the twin towers came down. At 8:46 am, a passenger jet carrying 76 passengers hit the side of the first tower. Within the next few hours we watched as 3 more planes went down. All taking out a specific target, one hit the other tower while a third hit the Pentagon. With the exception of one…. The passengers of flight 93 learned of what was going on and banned together and fought back. Yes, they all perished that day, but saved the lives of others. That plane hit the ground in Pennsylvania and missed the target. We have come to the assumption that it was the White House that was the target. We were attacked and the world was shocked as they watched. Thousands of people perished in a matter of hours. It was all caught on TV. and broadcast around the world. We watched in awe and in horror as people jumped from hundreds of stories above just to escape the fumes and heat of the burning jet fuel.
At 9:59 the South Tower of the World Trade center collapsed. Just 29 minutes later, the North Tower collapsed as well. As the towers fell there became a panic on the streets. People hid behind cars and inside pathways just to try to avoid the onslaught of the white dust and debris. On that awful day, 2977 souls were lost to the terrorists that day. America was hit and it was hit hard. Today the death toll is still rising, due to the cancer that is still claiming the lives of the first responders and the others that were at ground zero that day. They showed the world what a real hero looks like.
It was miracle after miracle as lives were saved. Survivors were pulled from the rubble. On September 12 just after 12:30, Genelle Guzman McMillan was pulled from the rubble. She was the last survivor. She was buried under 30 feet of rubble. An angel came to her rescue named Paul. This is a miracle that I will hope to talk about soon.
As you know I do not get into politics very well. But I must say, what President Bush said at ground zero. As he was speaking, you could hear some people in the back say something about “can you hear us” President Bush reply was true American “ I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world can hear you! And the people… and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” Donations started pouring in from all over the world. There was an increase for church service and flag sales went through the roof. Even the armed forces felt the increase in people wanting to join. One of our greatest heroes, Chris Kyle, joined the military just after the towers fell.
After the dust settled that day on September 11, the cameras were still rolling. There was a very big difference. There was no skin color on anyone. It was all white. No Hispanic, no African American, no White. Everyone was dust colored. No one looked at skin color. No one asked if they were a Jew or a Christian before they helped them escape the terror. If there was a hand reaching out for help, someone was reaching back. At this time, no one cared about color or nationality. All they cared about was survival.
The past week all the news coverage has been about the hurricane that has devastated the Texas coast. Complete towns have been erased off of the map. Thousands have become homeless. And it makes me happy. Because I get to see something that everyone sees, but does not recognize. Something that happened 16 years ago, the country is coming together again. Neighbors are helping neighbors escape the flood waters. People are coming from all over the country bringing boats to help in the rescue. Donations of food, water and even shelter is coming in from all over the world. A local radio station had a truck and driver donated to them to haul donations to the affected areas Donations came from all walks of life. Tommy “The Hacker” was quoted as saying, “we want to get as close to ground zero as we can to help. We want to not only meet the people that were struck with this tragedy but to personally give them a donation and pray with them”.
Within this tragedy I get to see something great. I call it “the big brother syndrome”. You see, a big brother will pick on the little brother or sister and beat them up all the time, but the moment someone else does? The big brother is there to defend them. That is what we are doing now. We fight among ourselves. We complain about the election results or race issues and even police brutality, but in the end, we stick up for each other and help each other. We have protest and freedom of speech. We fight with the neighbors over petty things and we have that right to. We have the right to say what we want to say without repercussions.
I am thankful for Hurricane Harvey. Harvey did something that only the terrorist could do 11 years ago…. They brought America back together. We are proud. We will survive and we will prevail. WE ARE AMERICANS!
