RESILIENT

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but rather where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

—MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., Strength to Love

FROM AN AOL POST, 9/17/2001 9:43 AM EDT

SUBJECT: LADY LIBERTY . . . A RAISED FIST OF DEFIANCE

I stand here in New York Harbor . . . the smoldering ruins a backdrop to my world stage. My arm is raised high . . . the lamp in my grasp a symbol and beacon of hope to all who came . . . and still come . . . to my shores, seeking refuge and freedom.

Today it is more than that. Today my arm is a raised fist. A show of defiance. You came to my shores thinking you would destroy me . . . break me, humble me. You thought wrong.

You murdered some of my children . . . but you did not kill my soul.

You destroyed my buildings . . . but not my spirit.

You robbed me of my security . . . but you did not steal my will.

I am America. I was born amidst valor, sacrifice, fire and blood. I have survived much . . . and I will survive you. I do not bow to tyrants nor cater to cowards. Like a phoenix from the ashes I will rise from the ruins that you left behind. Bigger . . . better . . . stronger . . . more powerful than I ever have been before.

So still I stand . . . . .battered but not broken . . . .arm raised high.

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

—CONFUCIUS

FROM AN AOL POST FROM A 17-YEAR-OLD, 9/13/2001 10:24 PM EDT

SUBJECT: MY POEM AND MESSAGE FOR AMERICA

God bless America

We will not crumble

We will not become ashes

We will not be defeated

We will rise like lanterns

We are the land of the free

And the home of the brave

God holds our quivering country

In the calmness of his arms

“You have to go and participate in the good things.”

—MAYOR RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI, 9/17/2001

FROM AN AOL POST FROM AN 18-YEAR-OLD, 9/17/2001 3:45 PM EDT

SUBJECT: THEY HIT THE BUILDINGS, BUT MISSED AMERICA

An open letter to a terrorist:

Well, you hit the World Trade Center, but you missed America. You hit the Pentagon, but you missed America. You used helpless American bodies to take out other American bodies, but like a poor marksman, you STILL missed America.

Why? Because of something you guys will never understand. America isn’t about a building or two, not about financial centers, not about military centers, America isn’t about a place, and America isn’t even about a bunch of bodies. America is about an IDEA. An idea that you can go someplace where you can earn as much as you can figure out how to, live for the most part like you envisioned living, and pursue happiness. (No guarantees that you’ll reach it, but you can sure try!)

You guys seem to be incapable of understanding that we don’t live in America, America lives in US! American Spirit is what it’s called. And killing a few thousand of us, or a few million of us, won’t change it. Most of the time, it’s a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of spirit. Until we’re crossed in a cowardly manner—then it becomes an entirely different kind of spirit.

Wait until you see what we do with that spirit this time.

“It is such a privilege for us to perform for you tonight and to see you make a choice to come out, to laugh and most importantly to carry on and not be ruled by fear. Together we are all going to get through this and we are going to be OK.”

—VALERIE HARPER, ADDRESSING AUDIENCES FOR THE BROADWAY COMEDY The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, Salon.com 9/17/2001

FROM AN AOL POST, 9/16/2001 5:28 PM EDT

SUBJECT: STRONGER THAN YOU’LL EVER KNOW

The beautiful country of America and its loyal citizens are stronger than anyone will ever know or realize. People have tried and will probably continue to try to knock our esteem and our power down, but no one has succeeded yet, and no one ever shall.

This week terrorists have only reminded us once again what living in America really means . . . standing by one another, respecting everyone in a time of need, and staying loyal to our country.

“Before a catastrophe, we can’t imagine coping with the burdens that might confront us in a dire moment. Then, when that moment arrives, we suddenly find that we have resources inside us that we knew nothing about. What I’ve discovered is that we are able—all of us—to do much more than we think we can. Just look at me.”

—CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ON BEARING UP UNDER DURESS, U.K. Telegraph 9/27/2001

FROM AN AOL POST, 9/16/2001 2:29 PM EDT

SUBJECT: SCARED SILLY BUT STILL STRONG!

I’m 13, and when I heard about what happened in my 2nd period math class, I freaked. I live in Natick, Massachusetts, which has the 4th best Army labs in the whole country, so you can tell a lot of us kids were afraid of getting bombed because of it, but we are still alive and the point is we need to keep on going strong, don’t let that light that all Americans have go out . . .

“Great men, great nations, have not been boasters and buffoons, but perceivers of the terror of life, and have manned themselves to face it.”

—RALPH WALDO EMERSON, The Conduct of Life

FROM AN AOL POST FROM A 16-YEAR-OLD FROM OHIO, 9/15/2001 2:11 PM EDT

SUBJECT: MEMORY IN WORDS

We wake up tomorrow in a different world.

But though our hearts are broken, we will not break down.

Though our tears are falling, we will not fall.

Though the fires have burned, our fire will not burn out.

Though we have lost, we are not lost.

We wake up tomorrow in a different world. . .

But we wake up. . .

And for that, we are thankful.

“The markets open tomorrow, people go back to work, and we’ll show the world.”

—PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, The New York Times 9/17/2001

FROM AN AOL POST, 9/21/2001 5:36 PM EDT

SUBJECT: EVERYONE LISTEN TO ME, AND QUIT YOUR BICKERING!!!

Before last Tuesday, we were living in a bubble that someone crashed a jet carrier into and burst. Now is this time for us to unite. Now is the time for race, religion, political party, ethnicity, and any other boundaries to be put away! We are Americans, and we should be standing up for our country.

The day the towers fell, American pride soared. Now we need to stand behind our leaders and use every ounce of patriotism we possess to support those who lead us. America will not fall, and American resolve is something that cannot be broken; it’s stronger than steel or concrete. And it doesn’t matter how many buildings fall; we will still be Americans and we will still have American pride.

“I wore this because we are going to rebuild. I wanted to drape my body in the America flag, is what I wanted to do.”

—A MAN WEARING A T-SHIRT THAT READS “WE WILL REBUILD,” The New York Times 9/14/2001

FROM AN AOL POST, 9/21/2001 8:32 PM EDT

SUBJECT: AN OPEN LETTER TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE

You must have been very pleased Tuesday morning as you watched those planes slam into the towers. You must have felt great satisfaction as you watched the Pentagon burn. Images of men and women jumping to their deaths, of our grief and our horror, must have brought a smile to your face.

But you have not defeated us—look again:

Heroic firemen and policemen, running toward the flames, offering their lives to save strangers. Wounded men and women struggling to carry to safety someone they didn’t even know. Bystanders ferrying wounded to hospitals in their own cars. Volunteers frantically trying to clear the rubble by hand, their fingers raw and bloody.

The horror and the carnage are your images.

The acts of heroism, of selflessness, of compassion and caring—those are our images, the images of America, of democracy and of freedom.

We will grieve, and we will be comforted. We will haul away your rubble and we will rebuild. We will turn your evil into resolve, and resolve into action. Like the mythological Phoenix, the towers will rise again from the ashes and the rubble that resulted from your unreasoning hatred.

“We have to express our grief and pause and say our prayers. But we also have to stay strong and we also have to continue with the search and rescue . . . And we have to send a clear message that New Yorkers aren’t intimidated.”

—GOVERNOR GEORGE PATAKI, Newsday 9/13/2001

FROM AN AOL POST, 9/23/2001 8:16 PM EDT

SUBJECT: MORE AWARE OF MY SURROUNDINGS

Since the attacks on September 11 I have become very aware of what and who is around me.

As a flight attendant I rarely ever paid much attention to who boarded my flights. Now I seem to remember details. I remember the guy from two days ago in the emergency exit row wearing a blue shirt and the couple in first class who hugged me and thanked me for coming to work.

I have become a more positive person, and I now know that I can’t take things for granted. So now I am enjoying every day to the fullest, I am flying three to four flights daily, and I am proud to be a flight attendant in the United States of America.

I wear a red, white, blue, and black ribbon every day to show how patriotic I am. I continue on with my life as normally as possible. And if I am one of those unfortunate ones to get laid off due to low passenger loads on my flights, I have already got the paperwork done to join the military and go fight for my country.

I will always be aware of my surroundings from this day forward, and will never look back and feel ashamed, because I know that what I do makes a difference to many people day after day.

“When Tower 2 came down, we just started digging. We keep on going ’cause that’s what we do.”

—NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER, New York Magazine 9/24/2001

FROM AN AOL POST, 9/17/2001 9:18 PM EDT

SUBJECT: MEMBERS OF THE WALKING WOUNDED

I drove to work today, and I served the public. I looked into the faces of the walking wounded, and I took my place among them again at the close of day.

I reassured people who said, “I feel so guilty for coming here to shop.”

I touched their hand, and let them know that they were doing their part to keep the fabric of our society from falling apart.

Freedom is not just a word. It is a living, breathing concept that bin Laden can’t understand. It resides in our soul, and is treasured from our mother’s womb. He can’t understand how we can go on with life in the face of such loss. He can’t understand a nation that values Muslim Americans as he could never value them (as gracious, gentle people).

He doesn’t see the shame he has brought to them . . . not because they are part of his fanatical cause (for they are not), but because his race is theirs, as Tim McVeigh’s race was part of us. Ashamed that a man of Islam could take something so holy and distort it, twist it, and mangle it as he did the structure of the WTC. Please remember that Islamic Americans are not to blame. See them, as we all are, as “members of the walking wounded.”

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

—ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 3/4/1865