9/11 anniversary is a reminder of freedom's vulnerability

This Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — now knowingly referred to as 9/11.

In the days leading up to it as well as Sunday itself there will be many remembrances of that awful Tuesday morning 15 years ago when, as many have put it, “our world changed forever.” It’s a fair statement to make, regardless of where you live on this globe.

The remembrances taking place will range from simple memorial ceremonies to broadcasting of numerous documentaries about the day 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial jetliners, flying two into the Trade Center’s twin towers in New York and one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing 2,937 people.

The other hijacked plane, United Flight 93, crashed into a Pennsylvania field after passengers stormed the cockpit in a desperate attempt to regain control from the hijackers. Forty passengers and crew died.

One of those documentaries aired Sunday night on the History Channel, and it’s worth watching again if the network plans an encore performance. “15 Septembers Later” not only chronicles the attacks, but also provides insights from 16 people who participated in events that day, people ranging from members of the George W. Bush administration, including the former president himself, to New York City officials, actors and military personnel.

It also provides previously unreleased information, photos and video. The individual accounts, however, are what prove to be the most fascinating.

For instance, you notice above I included actors. One element of Sept. 11, 2001 I did not know was that the FBI asked actors such as Bebe Neuwirth (“Fraser”) and Vincent D’Onofrio (“Law & Order”) to visit the World Trade Center site — Ground Zero — several days after their collapse to talk with as many rescue workers that wanted to talk.

The idea behind the FBI’s request was that morale was low and many rescue workers were experiencing mental and emotional problems dealing with the carnage. The actors’ visits would hopefully allow some of them to open up, while also letting them know — through people like Neuwirth and D’Onofrio — that the country was proud of them and behind their efforts.

What really resonated for me, however, came near the end of the documentary. In speaking about the memorial to those who lost their lives, that occupies the footprint of the former World Trade Center, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the memorial, and the memory of that day, serves as a testimony to the “vulnerability of freedom.”

Since then, that “vulnerability of freedom” has been subject to a balancing act in this country and other democracies. That balancing act is between being free and being secure.

There is no doubt that we are not as free as we were on Sept. 10, 2001 and before. One trip to the airport to board a flight somewhere will tell you that.

Other freedoms have been lost. While many people are wary of strangers, today more of us eye those who are not like us in dress, dialect and manners with more suspicion than might have been done in the past.

One definition of freedom is “the quality of being frank, open or outspoken.” In the post-9/11 world, using this form of freedom can provoke condemnation if directed at some of our institutions, even if that frankness or openness is meant constructively.

The saying goes that “Freedom isn’t free,” and that’s very true. It’s earned, like a lot of other attributes, such as respect.

But working to preserve freedom is something all of us do, whether it’s someone who enlists to serve in the military, an individual who volunteers to protect voting and civil rights or the office worker who can do neither but works hard to earn a good paycheck that supports his or her family, as well as their country.

Freedom is vulnerable. It is open to attack, harm and damage not only from external forces, but from those within ourselves.

Perhaps this Sunday we can take a moment to think about this and rededicate ourselves to protecting freedom, for everyone. Even if that means sacrificing some personal safety.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].