I went to a newspaper conference for editors and writers one time and heard one of the important speakers say, “If you’re having trouble getting started on your story and can’t find a lead, lower your expectations and just start writing.”
The speaker was a famous sportswriter and broadcaster. I think it was Bob Costas, but I’m afraid to say so because I’ve forgotten so much. But I haven’t forgotten what he said, and when I’m stuck, I just start writing, and soon find what it was I wanted to say. But when I was asked to write about the 20th anniversary of 9/11 for The Augusta Press, I couldn’t imagine what I could say that thousands of writers and newscasters haven’t said many times before. It would have to be profound. But then I decided to lower my expectations of being profound and start writing what I remember about 9/11.
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Everybody old enough to remember that day remembers what they were doing when they heard about the attack, just like old timers remember what they were doing when they heard that JFK had been shot in Dallas. That was a terrible thing that changed the course of history in the country, but it cannot touch what happened when that airplane slammed into the first Twin Tower.
It was the end of security and trust. It was the beginning of hatred and thirst for revenge. It was the beginning of endless stories of bravery and courage, of America’s finest heroes rushing to their deaths when duty called. It was the beginning of horrible scenes of bodies falling from the burning building and of people running to escape the black cloud of death pursuing them down the street when the first tower fell. It was the beginning of stories of unbelievable bravery and harrowing escapes from death. It was a time of great leadership on display in the person of New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani. It was a time when the word “terrorists” was on everybody’s lips.
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And it was the end of life as we knew it and the beginning of metal detectors in every courthouse and government building in America. It was the beginning of getting serious about security badges and removing trash cans in lobbies of public buildings where bombs could be hidden.
At the newspaper, we were looking for angles to localize the tragedy. People would call in to report that a close relative had died in the attack. The editors would send reporters out to speak to members of the Arab community in Augusta to see what they had to say.
MORE: 9/11 Retrospective: Teacher and Former School Children Remember That Day
The editor sent me over to Augusta State University to interview some of the students. They were all transfixed on the unfolding events on the student center TV.
And unbelievably, I got a call from former Augusta Commissioner Moses Todd who’d been working as a union pipefitter atop a building in New Jersey. He said he could see black smoke rising in the distance in New York. Everybody in the newsroom was in awe. Moses Todd had seen smoke from the burning tower.
Sylvia Cooper is a Correspondent with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
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