“Some things cannot be fixed; they can only be carried.” — Megan Devine
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omorrow will be the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, the audacious and traumatic attack on America by al-Qaeda. We’re approaching a generation since that day. While the physical destruction has been cleared, new buildings constructed, the Pentagon repaired, and memorials erected, the emotional scars remain. In the words of Megan Devine, “Some things cannot be fixed; they can only be carried.”The echoes of 9/11 persist. This morning I want to share my reflections on a few of the many.
John Ogonowski and his family — wife Margaret and daughters Laura, Caroline, and Mary Catherine — lived on a 150 acre farm in Dracut, Massachusetts, not far from where John was raised. Beyond raising crops — hay, corn, pumpkins, blueberries, and peaches — he was known for promoting farming in Massachusetts and helping Cambodian farmers who had settled in the area after the Vietnam War.
9/11 dawned a crisp fall morning, with not a cloud in the sky. I recall that morning, as I lived in nearby New Hampshire. John Ogonowski was up early to drive to Logan Airport. In addition to farming, he was a pilot for American Airlines, scheduled to captain a Boeing 767 from Boston to LAX. He and First Officer Thomas McGuinness were among the first to die, possibly before their plane struck the north tower.
John’s daughter, Laura, was 16, just starting her junior year in high school. She was in class that morning. A teacher led her out into the hallway and, as she recalls, said, “Laura your father was killed in a plane crash.”
“Watching the plane fly into the World Trade Center towers was, and still is, the most horrific thing to see,” she says. “That day that started out so bright and crisp turned out to be the darkest day of my life.”
The Ogonowski family turned their grief toward memorializing John’s love of farming. And trying to resume their lives. John’s widow says, “There’s just this undeniable void. They took a person bigger than life, and he disappeared in a heartbeat.”
John Ogonowski was one of the 2,977 people who died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. They ranged from 2 to 82 years old and came from some 102 countries. The medical examiner staff of New York City continues to identify the remains of victims using DNA samples. As of two years ago, some 1,100 people had not been identified, their families waiting for closure.
Some 71,000 individuals who responded to the destruction at Ground Zero and were exposed to the smoke and dust and trauma, suffer physical and mental health illnesses. More than 300 fire fighters have died from illnesses attributed to their exposure in the aftermath.
Another echo from 9/11: The failures in security that allowed the 19 hijackers to pull off 9/11 led to the formation of the Homeland Security Administration and the Transportation Security Administration, dampening the fun of air travel, likely forever. Our airports have been restructured into people chutes, so TSA can assess each one of us as a possible threat.
After an intense 10-year hunt, the U.S. finally found Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and killed him in a surgical strike. While that brought some sense of justice, al-Qaeda remains active in the world. It took the U.S. another decade to find Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over the leadership after bin Laden’s death.
The U.S. government had demanded that the Taliban leadership of Afghanistan turn over bin Laden. After the Taliban refused the ultimatum, President Bush ordered an invasion of the country to capture the elusive leader. Bin Laden escaped, leaving the U.S. with a misguided and unsuccessful attempt to turn the country into a peaceful democracy. After nearly 20 years of what became known as the “forever war,” the U.S. hastily and chaotically withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban in control. Other than the destruction of war, the U.S. presence in the country disappeared like an oar lifted from the water.
Yet our vengeance echoes with deaths and injuries. During the two decades, 2,462 U.S. military and 1,822 civilian contractors died. Almost 21,000 service members were wounded. The Costs of War Project estimates at least 176,000 Afghans were killed, comprising civilians, Afghan military and police, and opposition fighters.
One short-lived success of the U.S. occupation: Afghan women gained many freedoms: going to school, working, and participating in government and public life. Tragically, the Taliban quickly reimposed its patriarchal interpretation of Islamic law, leaving only memories of those freedoms.
Another echo: As the U.S. sought the perpetrators of 9/11, it established a military prison at the isolated Guantánamo Bay Naval Base. The secluded location was outside the sovereign territory of the U.S., enabling the Bush administration to argue that detainees did not have the rights and protections of the U.S. legal system. Further, the island location made it unlikely any of the prisoners could escape to threaten U.S. citizens.
The New York Times reports 780 people were detained at Guantánamo since January 2002. 30 are still there, five accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks. The trial of the five has been stalled for years because each was tortured by the CIA. Torture undermines confessions and other evidence that would be presented at a trial.
Prosecutors have proposed a plea deal, where the defendants admit guilt in exchange for life sentences. The five have agreed to that point, also asking to serve their terms where they can eat and pray together, which they do now. They fear being isolated in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives. They have also asked for medical treatment for the sleep disorders, brain injuries, gastrointestinal and other health problems which they attribute to repeated torture. Last week, President Biden rejected those requests.
Three of the 30 prisoners at Guantánamo are being held in a category called “indefinite law of war detention.” They live in a Kafka-esque world where the U.S. keeps them imprisoned as a “national security necessity,” not eligible to be transferred to another country. Yet they have not been formally charged with any crimes and may never be.
Another echo: 9/11 launched a wave of anti-Muslim attacks in the U.S.: verbal and physical assaults, murders, vandalism of mosques and personal property. Donald Trump used anti-Muslim bias as a pillar of his 2016 campaign for the White House. After being elected, his proposed policies were slowed only by the courts. Islamophobia remains a simmering part of American culture, resurgent with the rise of Christian Nationalism.
These echoes continue to reverberate 22 years after 9/11. Sitting with them is heartbreaking. As a nation that calls itself religious, what should we learn from this past?
First, we should never forget the evil perpetrated that morning. For those of us who witnessed it, the trauma surfaces every 9/11, every time we see a photo or video from that day or its aftermath. So many innocent lives were lost, causing unfathomable pain for those who loved them. “Some things cannot be fixed; they can only be carried.”
Second, our military forces are most effective deterring the aggression of other countries. Our military is a blunt instrument of destruction when used offensively, leading to tragic civilian casualties. An initial welcome by civilians usually turns to resentment and a guerrilla war.
Third, regardless of our intentions, an American occupation cannot create a democracy with enlightened human rights where the history, culture, and religious traditions of the country won’t nurture those seeds.
Fourth, torture and interminable detention are appalling violations of human dignity. Our first principle calls us to respect the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and those words reflect the values of religious people and the foundation of our Constitution.
Last, and most pertinent for us, our Muslim neighbors remain targets of bias. This is likely to become more threatening and visible with the hateful rhetoric of the upcoming presidential campaign.
22 years after 9/11, it’s easy to be so busy with life that we lose track of these continuing echoes. On this anniversary, let us remember we are called to turn our faith into action and to engage in the political process, doing what we can to right the wrongs that still echo from 9/11. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
As I researched and wrote this homily, I found the message depressing. Being an optimist, I want to end on a hopeful note.
Likely, you have heard the story told by Mr. Rogers: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”
We can’t tell the story of 9/11 without recounting so many acts of bravery and selfless kindness. Here’s one:
That morning, the FAA ordered all aircraft in U.S. airspace to land, to determine whether other planes had been hijacked and were heading for destruction at unknown locations. There were many flights coming from Europe that were too close to the U.S. to return to Europe. 38 planes carrying some 6,600 passengers and crew landed at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland, which had a very long runway but a population of just 9,000. The residents there rallied to feed and house their stranded visitors until their flights were cleared to return to the U.S.
Victoria’s song this morning, from the musical “Come From Away,” shares the story of Beverly Bass. She was an American Airlines captain flying from Paris to Dallas-Fort Worth that day. “Come From Away” tells of the goodness and generosity of the Canadian community that responded to the tragedy.
With the vision of peace for a hurting world, let’s join our voices to sing our closing hymn, “Imagine” by John Lennon.
