The recent commemoration of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil is an occasion to grieve and honor those innocent and brave souls that were lost. Thousands of American civilians lost their lives simply for showing up to work on a beautiful late summer Tuesday morning. Additionally, hundreds of brave first responders consciously made the ultimate sacrifice trying to save them. Still hundreds more American civilians sat helplessly aboard low flying airplanes and watched in terror as they careened into a skyscraper, the Pentagon, or a field in Pennsylvania. After placing one last agonizing and tearful call to say goodbye to their families, some were forced to make the inconceivable choice between burning alive in a towering inferno or plummeting over 1000 feet to certain, hopefully instant, death. While the media mercifully spares the families by not broadcasting the footage of those who chose to jump, perhaps some among us need that graphic reminder of the reality of that day.
The entire metro NYC area barely functioned in the months that followed. We were all emotionally drained from the feelings of grief, sorrow, fear, rage, and most of all- helplessness. Fear gripped the nation as we desperately pieced together the events leading up to the attack and dreaded the next one. We were introduced to names like Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden, and new terrifying terms like “dirty bomb” and “sleeper cell” entered the lexicon. The highways leading into New York City were lined with thousands more volunteers desperately seeking purpose than could ever be utilized. The skies over the entire nation were eerily silent and absent of commercial aircraft for weeks. We struggled to maintain basic functions while coworkers were making funeral arrangements or still frantically trying to locate spouses and children. Initially, we held out hope to hear news of a void in the mountain of rubble that contained survivors but that hope dimmed with each passing day.
It’s important to provide a glimpse into the impact of the events of 9/11 for those too young to remember, and perhaps Americans geographically distant from the region– not only to honor the memories of the victims, but to prevent a reoccurrence. 23 years later I can still hear the reaction of one of the women huddled around the television in the fitness room of our office as the second tower fell. She let out a tearful, desperate yelp like the sound a tortured dog. I vividly recall the slow and orderly 45 mph drive home on the Garden State Parkway surrounded by uncharacteristically cautious and courteous drivers. When I arrived home, I joined several others on the roof of my apartment building across the river and watched the smoke rise from lower Manhattan as I tried to account for all my friends and family.
Whenever a catastrophic event occurs its natural to agonize over what could have been done to prevent it. After the fact, we often come to realize that there were flashing neon warning signs right before our eyes, but we somehow ignored them. What if ICE had only followed up with the students who overstayed their visas? What if the flight instructors pursued their curiosity as to why their foreign students showed little interest in learning how to land? What if the federal agencies, which each had separate pieces of the puzzle, were allowed to communicate? Perhaps if any one of those actions had been taken thousands of children, including those of the catcher on my fourth-grade baseball team, would have grown up with their parents in their lives.
“See something, say something” became the mantra at airports and on mass transit systems to thwart another terrorist attack. However, just as time heals all wounds, it also breeds complacency. Too many among us seem to have forgotten the anguish we felt in the autumn of 2001; they have forgotten the anxiety they felt the first time the boarded an airplane after 9/11; they seem to believe that the threat no longer exists. Too many Americans are as dangerously naïve and unaware as we were on September 10, 2001. Yet, the threat has not abated. Our enemies are relentless in their planning of future attacks.
Over the last 23 years our vigilance has faded to apathy. The empathy and generosity inherent in the American people have been weaponized by those who believe they will benefit from unchecked illegal immigration. Democrat politicians and their media acolytes bully and intimidate anyone who advocates for practical immigration policies. They collude with big tech oligarchs to censor inconvenient facts and control the online narrative. Anyone who questions the orthodoxy that 100% of the unidentified people pouring across the southern border are innocent, hardworking refugees seeking a better future for their families in the land of opportunity is slandered with baseless charges of racism and xenophobia. But we know it only takes a handful of bad actors to execute a catastrophic attack.
After the Biden administration followed through on their campaign promise to roll back the policies the Trump administration had enacted to secure the border, our border czar, Kamala Harris, spent the first three years in her role gaslighting the American people that the southern US border was secure. When that narrative became too preposterous for even their media lackies to promote, she acknowledged that the border was not secure but shifted blame to congress. Now, after promoting open border policies for 3 1/2 years, we are supposed to believe that a member of the administration that deliberately destabilized the border will re-secure it, should she be elected president.
What would you give to time travel back to early September 2001 and warn authorities about the imminent attack? What would thousands of Americans now, in their 20s and 30s, give to have grown up with their parents? If you could speak with any of the thousands who died on 9/11, could you explain why the current administration incentivizes hordes of unverified military-aged males to enter the country uninhibited? Unfortunately, we cannot hop in a DeLorean and stop 9/11. But, after the next attack, wouldn’t we give anything to travel back to the present? We are here now, and we can acknowledge the alarms going off all around us. I will do what I can to prevent a scenario in which I, you, or our children must spend our final moments choosing the gruesome way we will accept our fate. I refuse to make another 9/11 easier just to placate ill-informed, irrational lunatics with a misplaced sense of moral superiority. My vote will be an important action to secure the border and deter the next attack. My vote will be for Trump/Vance, and for Republican control of the house and senate.
By Peter Farrell
